Best Vanishing Poems
In my portrait of life the
palette began in pigments
of blue, red and yellow,
but with each stroke,
my horizons slowly dissolved into
mustard, muddy brown
and burnt orange.
Not everything you portray
upon a canvas is mutually accepted,
so my soul remained subjective
and my heart abstract.
As I collect dust upon my shoulders,
I wish I was a painting never painted.
Visibility has turned into a veil,
resulting in stubborn invisibility,
so everything is an illusion
lingering in a black hole absorbing
the conspicuous.
I know I will regret not expressing one day
but bitter roots remain rooted deep into the earth.
I don't want to hide
but protect what breeds inside.
I'm afraid someone may look deeper
into this façade where time forgets the truth.
My hands resemble a box of nothingness,
as hues fade from indigo into charcoal,
with pastels infusing with the darkness.
My heart is an ocean
beneath a motionless surface.
Not everyone can view the world
like Van Gogh's eyes,
where the longer you stare
the more you become aware.
In blind visions a 'driftwood' mind wanders
between mental blankness and
the angst of actuality,
all that survives is blackness.
If fate was fair
then we would all view and be viewed
in soft pastels of peach,
sapphire and lilac.
The harder I attempt to find myself,
I lose more than I thought I would gain.
At the end upon the edge
in the last exhale all that is left
will be the silence after an echo.
Sam Ebenezer
a sad ol' geezer
was lamenting his shrinkage of late:
my worthless ding-a-ling
is a bell without ring
my manhood in diminishing state
From whence I salute
is thin as a flute
and soft to the touch as cashmere
I search with persistence
it offers resistance
on nature's call to appear
On heeding that call
no waterfall
a few errant droplets at best
where once from the middle
I gushed, now I piddle
and half of my load veers west
Both feet on the urn
pushing forth from astern
I chant 'emerge hocus-pocus'
with my punctured esteem
watch the pitiful stream
dwindle to drops as Limp loses focus
Our wee-membered friend
wished his size to amend
the stiffness rerouted from his joints
have it rise to occasion
and stand to attention
consulted ol' Doc for his viewpoint:
My snake is dead
no flesh; just head
lies comatose and useless
my garden hose
once warmed my toes
now wrinkled, dry and juiceless
The senile old doctor
by name Alfred Proctor
had most of his wit in absentia
his breath smelt cheesy
Ebenezer felt queasy
Doc clearly suffered from senile dementia
Doc's hand took a dip
to just 'neath his ribs
as Ebenezer voiced his concern
Doc smiled all the while
said: your hopes are futile
there's no cure for your vanishing organ
I lost my virility
before my senility
long mourned my lost pride-and-joy
put my plight to rest
on realizing I'm blessed
to have in hand my own built-in toy
**************************************
They thundered across the fertile plains,
Those hardened hooves, those tangled manes,
But now the Buffalo can't be found.
They thundered across the fertile plains.
The long grass has vanished from the ground
Where cities and highways now abound.
They thundered across the fertile plains,
Those hardened hooves, those tangled manes.
Nested in the cat’s cradle
Paraded in a child’s fable
I have no voice, don’t let me die
No longer shall I live a lie
I have no soul nor thoughts to save
Unbeknownst to me is
this life beyond the grave?
A designer dainty as she
silky essence she creeps upon so free
and with sheer elegance
unveils a painted lady in a trance
Wake me before the dream ends
In this a lie I can’t depend
Ochre paint splat on walls
Tinted forewings so not to fall
Hindwings I hold up in pain
Fragile chitin, scales, and veins
Bleeding strokes of mango chutney
Opera gloves cobalt blue, cloak impunity
Wake me up! Before I drop
Still asleep, a standing prop
And when I open my eyes
I’ll have wings like butterflies
The bitter truth sounds insane
Blends of electronic elements
Mesh makes perfect sense distasteful
Nestled neatly prim and graceful
Kept in the dark where it’s unfair
Wake me lest I vanish in thin air
In my dream a translucent permanence
I stand alone and have woken an evanescence
Memories flutter like Post-It notes,
with scribbles faint and worn.
Reminders fade in the winds they’ve made,
my pages are tattered and torn.
Notes twist and swirl, then dip and curl,
in a wild and frantic breeze.
A cyclone spins where thoughts have been,
scattering all my memories.
Papers alight and suddenly take flight,
spinning frantically far and near.
But the harder I try, the stronger they fly,
increasingly more unclear.
I feel bold and reach to hold—
but my notes slip further away.
And piece by piece, I lose my peace,
as my library fades to gray.
The scattered scraps come fluttering back,
then flicker, furl, and flee.
A swift retreat, my memories fleet,
I’m not who I used to be.
An unraveling mind, fading line by line,
my life in vanishing ink.
Clinging to time and what’s left of my mind,
my sanity is on the brink.
But the yellow storm still rages on,
the cruel winds blow with might,
And time will steal all that was real,
‘til there’s nothing left but night.
-Edward
I Was The Sun, You The Vanishing Frost
I will listen to you but will you talk
of sorrow's night, you took that leaving walk
sun-burnt memories all that remains
and tragedy of Love's saddest bloodstains.
I can beg but I know the cause is lost!
I was the Sun, you the vanishing Frost!
I shall pray, your life was later set straight
gone the jealousy that gave you your hate
now ash born, book of lies you believed
healed now, heart's wounds once so aggrieved!
I can beg but I know the cause is lost!
I was the Sun, you the vanishing frost!
I will send, Forgiveness and Love your way
ask the same as I bow my head to pray
your release from the demons in your mind
begging you again, please reply in kind!
I can beg but I know the cause is lost!
I was the Sun, you the vanishing frost!
I was the Sun, you the vanishing frost!
I was the Sun, you the vanishing frost!
Robert J. Lindley,
Sept 17th, 1979
Rhyme, ( Where The Wildest Shining Flower No Longer Glows)
Note: Found this poem this afternoon. Written on the back of an empty envelope stuck in the middle of the second old poetry journal I am now editing.
I have decided not to edit a word of it, as it represents a heartbroken time in
my life forty years ago. I hope you may enjoy it as a poetic piece and see that
even in true abject despair, one can write to show others that life goes on
and life can and does later reward its blessings to those that survive its
horrendous and massively deep gut wrenching blows!
Posting now, least I forget this one and it never again sees light of day.
Defying oblivion-propelled anguish
our eyes linger at family pictures
beholding life cycle's vibrant features
now vanishing, causing hearts to languish…
There’s Dad of boyish grin; Mom with glad smile
juxtaposed along their grandparents’ glow
exposing vitality’s lessened flow
yet, cheering us to preserve good old style…
Though fading from their brilliant hues and tints
home photographs still capture our strong bond
we as members cling to … now ~~~ till beyond
by God’s grace, blessing ceaseless love* imprints.
*Jude 1:21 Keep yourselves in the love of God, looking for the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ unto eternal life.
February 27, 2021
2nd place, "Vanishing" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Carolyn Devonshire; judged on 3/1/2021.
I wish most would
what a beautiful world
we would have
still
I want one back
the poet
I wished you could feel the same feeling, but it was not reciprocal.
Your heart belong to another. I understood. You cannot say to your
heart whom to love. It was heartbreaking, but it was overcame.
I wished you all the best. Although, I don't know if someday I will find
someone who loves me, I will start by loving myself first.
The sleepy day shutting its eyes
As sunlight slides behind the hill.
While brooding lilac shadows rise,
The sleepy day shutting its eyes.
Dawn's final breath of quiet sighs
And all the world is growing still.
The sleepy day shutting its eyes
As sunlight slides behind the hill.
(African populations are being killed off by war,
famine, disease, and neglect...when will we try to help them?)
Time,
stretching out, encompasses curtains,
on distant savannas, of shimmering heat.
And animals vanish:
ibex and antelope; elephant; grouse.
Here once, now going or gone.
Time vanishes now.
Moldering greenery, mute,
moves mainly in wind --
pliant life, submitting to breezes,
passive in sun. Rooted in spots
not chosen or won.
Plants may not vanish;
they prosper.
We do not prosper.
We vanish, as animal;
some go hardly noticed.
A dirge, as animals vanish:
we vanish unnoticed.
Endangered species
Plunging to oblivion
Extinction awaits
two lines converge mirage meets ~ unrequited love on a one way street
A disenchanted lover
paints life with a frugal brush.
For hiding in the shadows,
Love eludes understanding.
Smiles can't camouflage the fears,
that accompany spilled tears.
And navigating blindly;
trust, pursues fantasy dreams.
In a cocoon of sadness,
Love fails to metamorphose.
And your heart spins silken threads
into a dream catcher's web.
Abruptly caught in mid-flight,
dreams arrive on broken wings.
Yet, accompanied by joy,
console disillusioned hearts.
While love rides the winds of fate
to the heart of hope's flower,
and sips the nectar of truth.
As I walk along the soft velvet sand,
I find a pretty seashell wearing a big red band.
The calm blue shades of the light blue sea,
goes on and on as far as I can see.
I could not stay,
I just needed to run away.
Being called by the bright blue seas,
to see what I could see.
The old ship was way too small,
her mast was very tall.
Not knowing where this voyage would take me.
I felt free like a flying yellow bumble bee.
The sun's blanket kept me warm by day,
by night I saw big clouds of gray.
Will I ever return back home,
from this vanishing point I will roam.