Best Vanquishing Poems
Vanquishing Fear
by
Odin Roark
Her unwritten diary
Read of descriptions
glittering private
Her hourglass of
diamonds
Where forever truly
destined forever
Her beauty made
artists shy
Their palettes’
ablaze with
unfettered colors
Her trail of
fragrance brought
flowers about face
Her presence in
crowds like a warm
tropical breeze
Suitors rifled their
pockets of tricks
Bent on conquest of
the untamable
For beneath her
silk-like curls
Dwelled the
inexplicable
The enigmatic
defense
Protecting the lost
Never to be found
Lips not yet ready
to part
So grew the nymphet
of patience
Often confining
herself to shoreline
treasures
Where shamans
fathoms deep
Shared sonnets of
passion
From sea shells to
auricle passage
Personal imaginings
to echoing without
end
And then…
A man did appear
Heretofore merely
another serial lover
Leaving traceable
imprints
Evidence for
confirming
He did exist
Her first glance
fostered nightmares
Burning fear of
losing that
Which she knew not
of
So virginal her
experience
Yet rarities do
happen
Pen and paper gave
birth
To offspring of word
and symbol
The poetry of two
reflected many
Where shamans and
sea shells
Imprints and
nightmares
Poetry’s family tree
of shared resonances
Became transcendence
together
Lurking in my mind*, challenging its sanity
Attacking it by skepticism's tenacity
Toying with my intellectualism's vanity...
Fear**, I vanquish you through God's certainty.
*"Fear is a slinking cat I find beneath the lilacs of my mind." - Sophie Tunnell
**2Timothy 1:7 For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
January 2, 2019
2nd place, "Explaining Sophie" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Julia Ward, judged on 1/30/2019.
As I lay in the cave of my mind
Alone and in the dark
My eyes opened to a beacon of light
Leaking through these scattered thoughts
I follow this sea reaching the shore
That seamlessly is waving through me!
Words swirling inside my mind
As the eyes of this deep ocean
within hypnotizes me
As I float, in inexplicable emotions
Flooding this refuge within me
My heart caught in the middle carrying impatience
Holding space, I journey through
rising to a new dawn, working out my destiny
1.06.2021
”But thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.” 1Corinthians 15:57 of the King James Bible
Vanquishing blight for victor’s flight
My heart is gripped with mother's love
Assisting son’s development height
While he propels himself above.
Optimizing promise of hope
Vanquishing blight for victor’s flight
My patience is stretched with peace-slope
As special child smites spastic blight.
Beholding each milestone delight
My faith trusts God for strength and grace
Vanquishing blight for victor’s flight
Possible upon prayer brace.
Maneuvering wheel chair with zest
My dear son conquers struggling fright
Secured around faith's caring best
Vanquishing blight for victor’s flight.
August 11, 2023
2nd place, "U or V Words" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France; judged on 8/13/2023
...Then, as expected, came a post-rider,
with a new letter he had to deliver:
A rancher facing evils not of this Earth,
so Sol saddled up, double-checked the girth.
Then rode out northwards in the morning dim,
never again would Victorville see him,
but this was God’s price for things he had done,
fighting monsters to earn his redemption.