Best Wades Poems
In a mire brewed
betwixt puddles of hell and mute dissent
a martyr wades -
weighed down by chains of shame and disdain
alas the thirsting self-absorbed swamp
distills and swills her stewed silence
and swallows the last embers
from her goblet of dreamer’s fire
pursed breaths are pickpocketed by the shallows
in a breathless vertical twist
an escapist is lost in the swirl of a chambered nautilus
distanced and deserted in the dance of descent
stillness belies the waterline’s greed
as a heroine’s salvage is suffocated -
the slick of self-appointed apathy anoints the surface
and a disquieted wind rises to bend the will of reeds
their flutes airing plainsong in forced supplication
yet carelessly cast away like spindrift from broken crests
while storm clouds blindfold wide-eyed skies
stifling any play of sun on water
Susan Ashley
May 1, 2020
~ Third Place ~
Premiere Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 1
Sponsor: Mark Toney
~ Fourth Place ~
Premiere Contest: Spiral
Sponsor: Kai Michael Neumann
Rhyming Doubles On My Muse's Stern Command
He who Lives, to green woods explore
and bathe in glowing moonlit streams
shall find his Love, begging for more
than pale ghosts in late midnight dreams!
She who his hot passion bestirs
in its fires, warms her eager heart
asks not for gold, diamonds or furs
instead, he a sweeter path chart!
He that her hand truly adores
in her light and grace, truly shine
oft wades along paradise shores
where sincere poets oft opine!
She that in his stead, falls to pray
accepts life's wrath and its dread
as for his sins she must then pay
sorrows born, when to death he fled!
He who lives, to green woods explore
and bathe in glowing moonlit streams
shall find his love, begging for more
than pale ghosts in late midnight dreams!
Robert J. Lindley, 11/21/2019
Rhyming doubles, on my muse's stern command
~~ ~~ ~~
I Then In Silver Silence Fell
My muse cried in my night dream,
to you, I gift a lyric sweet
so your honor you may redeem
and thus your hide, I will not beat!
I wept, you are oft my sad woe
in humble pride, I write my tales
caring not which way each spell flows
thus with freedom, my true ship sails.
My muse, to this cry was bemused
but with anger great, she then rose
tis' I that you truly abused
after I your worthless hide chose!
I then in silver silence fell
and in my morrows, saw so true
I had her under my dark spell
and thus my freedom could renew!
My muse cried in my night dream,
to you, I gift a lyric sweet
so your honor you may redeem
and thus your hide, I will not beat!
Robert J. Lindley, 11/21/2019
Rhyming doubles, on my muse's stern command..
Note:
Sometimes you just gotta cut loose and let the
captive rhymes dance and outward flow....
as in verses from a past youth's meandering
and lighthearted compositions....
As in the in the dark abyss of *Dark verse* one can not be embrace its blackness for too long.
The Amazon River
The Capybara wades the shore
A Wooly monkey climbs a vine
To search for food up on the trees
The Amazon that I adore
Its total nature I will bind
Bromeliads have blushed with love
Blending in the waters shore
The Jaguar stalks to hunt his food
The Anaconda will digest
His conquest on the night before
Humans carefully sense the mood
The Fuana find their time to rest
Anteaters sniff upon the floor
for ants and bugs to sense for food
The Dolphins rise up then they fly
Agressively create a scene
Boats pass on by and view the sight
As a silent Caiman wades on by
The quiet of the night serene
Stars surround the forest night
The Dragonflies decide to fly
Stillness in the eerie night
Nature's forces will blend in
Insects sit on exquisite leaves
A struggle of each species plight
Resplendent as they'll all akin
Coalescing as they interweave
The Amazon and all its might
Human Nature Contest
sponsored by Marugu Mu
Ralph Sergi January 28, 2016
Sun poures its hot rain.
It wades drinking away the race body heat,
beneath their feet as they walk the baking street.
Neighborhood kids play upon the streets
splashing in the muddy water.
No one silent,
their mingling voices,
squeal with joy and laughter
in the gushing waves of a fire hydrant
drenching their limbs, a treat to its coolness.
8/23/2017
Murky sea this day as she wades chest deep
Battling strong waves with every step
No other swimmers, no lifeguards, no sun
Nary a gull on the beach so windswept
Solitude is her preference, she floats
Closes her eyes, attempts to clear her head
She’s tossed about, but opts to remain
She’d rather be here than alone in bed
Suddenly she feels a slippery nudge
To her feet she slips, scans surrounding sea
No life in sight, but she’s drifted out far
Her heart pumps fast, she swims feverishly
Another bump! Is this her worst nightmare?
Sea creature preying ‘neath turbulent surf?
White caps surround and her cries reach no ears
A painful sting, she’s p
u
l
l
e
d
.
.
.
For Gareth's "Leave Me Hanging" challenge
Her breath catches with each infliction. Her pain their addiction. She wades water in a sea of strife. Her day, her tomorrow, her animosity toward life. She allows them passage only to feel their sharp talons once again grab hold. Softly she cries love can not be bought bartered or sold. Bleeding from their pain she limps onward. Her heart broken down yet her gaze upward. Hope remaining intact for you still hear her heart beat. Her destiny her future her fate has never been exact surely one day they shall all meet. So broken down, bleeding, and crying. Oh their stubborn blindness. Quietly you can hear her praying Father please save us.
She wades along a bustling Texan street,
A line of roses drifts on like a fleet
While unicorns climb in her head;
Galloping with dreams, refreshed
By softened mist, that eases eyes
To ride the carousel of skies.
She breathes a thrilled wish on Lone Star
As gems pour, showered by centaurs
On nightfall when breeze wisps her hair,
Ringing out tunes with precious care.
Pure magic of horns romp with beats,
Till natal cheers make her complete!
P.D. POEMS CONTEST
by nette onclaud
*dedicated to PD..reach for the moon,
happy birthday!
Water rushing through the brook
leaving drowned out laughter
and a blooming lilypad
A mother with a weary look
as she wades through, feet clad
It’s her children she’s looking after
Hair threatens to fall in her distant eyes
She remembers when she hadn’t worried
stealing kisses under barnyard roofs
She begins to chastise
“Children put on your boots”
She raised the voice, and they scurried
But inside she was grinning ear to ear
Thinking of sweet-smelling memories
and grass-stained linen
As her children crawled near
She said, “Now listen,
I must share some stories…”
A young couple sits together on the beach
As he holds her close darkness approaches,
The sun free falls toward the sea.
Refusing to let her go he kisses her,
And whispers in her ear,
“I love you”
He lets his true feelings show
Three words so simple yet so meaningful
She smiles realizing she wants to be no where else in the world.
“Let’s never forget this” she says
60 years later…
An old couple celebrating their anniversary,
Wades into the water as the sun drops to the horizon.
Holding hands the woman looks at him with teary eyes,
“Do you remember…” she begins to say
“The first time I told you I loved you?” the man responded with a smile
“You told me never to forget” he chuckled
Tears roll down her cheeks as he holds her close
Refusing to let her go he whispers in her ear,
“Let’s never forget this”
Stars of Clarity 11-22-23
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Stars of Clarity
Lost in ebony
Void of bursting astral intuitions,
Alabaster amber stolen,
Abandoned in delirium’s decay
Of dying brown dwarfs
Hoarding lavender purple leftovers,
Hidden remnants of disguised advent,
Ashen sojourner wades through impotent stardust
Numb in faded platinum insight.
Out of grey vertigo
Carmine dwarfs arise to overshadow ebony
In a giddy sense of spangled glitter
When enigmas and puzzles
Step out of nebulas into mystic purity.
Pilgrim, found in neon,
Incandescent cavalcades of exploding chartreuse
Guide ephemeral crystalline visions,
Burnished auroras splash across epiphanies,
Rounded shards divulge silver nativity,
When salient flashes nurture constellations of certainty,
Astral sparks of cosmic scarlet explosions,
And shrouded a-ha’s emerge like incandescent sextons
Leading to stellar sequins - champagne diamonds of clarity.
Beneath the fury of sun
Wades a wobbly nun
Stomping on thorns
Her soul burnt and torn
Scars on her skin
Carried wounds engraved
Trust, her sin
So were snakes she once craved
She sucked and spitted
Bouts of venom from her blood
Tainted by flood
Of emotions she once knitted
Silence crept loud
In the woods still stern
Moon upturns
Summoning weeping clouds
Tears unfolden
The woven maze
Outside the haze,
Lies a fern pretty golden
Threads, now vines
Adored her bruises
Illusion's penchant to divine's
Were flood sailed cruises
Time passed by,
Venom decays
Has been watching the sky
The fern now sways
Kite-Surfer prepares for his thrilling ride
With double-checked gear, wades into the tide
Observer sits noticing all that’s around
And sees the direction where’s Kite-Surfer’s bound
Like an outgoing message that’s waiting to send
Kite-Surfer is patient, then catches the wind
Observer sits calmly beachside near the trees
From safe distance he knows more than Kite-Surfer sees
Soon, he in the water takes off like a flash
But direction of winds can never long last
Change in conditions, The Observer sees
From breeze on his face and the movement of trees
Kite-Surfer in wetsuit, armored head to toe
Cannot know direction of the next blow
And so he must catch the wind swiftly by feel
Attachment to moment seems all that is real
But never is able to choose any course
Like a passenger on a wild unbridled horse
And if judgement falters, momentum is lost
He sinks to his neck, failure could be the cost
When he’s low in the water, his only ambition:
To capture the wind and continue that mission
Watching bold Kite-Surfer safe from the beach
The Observer surely knows much they could teach
Vantage point lets Observer see mistakes
That Kite-Surfer made before leaving long wakes
The one who sits beachside, safely observing
Is totally void of all longing or yearning
Not caring which direction the wind blows
He watches Kite-Surfer like someone he knows
If you find yourself sunk, at the end of your rope
And the sky seems to fail you, one should not lose hope
Instead change your view
As if you’re outside you
And witness your actions like you’re far away:
A perspective-shifting game we can play
Detaching your ego, dissolving all fear,
Put yourself out there instead of being here
Seeing bigger picture can make one clairvoyant
Like Observer helping Kite-Surfer stay buoyant
Basking under moonlight glow
midst meteor rainfall wish
hearts struck with Cupid's arrow
soar high by love's blissful swish...
Enthralled around each other's warm embrace
their endearing gaze reflects partner's face
expressing care along joyous terrain
to conquer pain by compassion's gain...
As music wades, echoing grievous tone
they bend toward horrific end
turning like frozen bone
light* should amend...
now!
1 John 1:5 This then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.
February 16, 2026
9th place, "The Vester Step" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Jami Patterson ; judged on 2/18/2026
Tall crane wades the pond
he spears a perch and swallows.
Look out for gators!
Cancer - The Invader
By Betty Harp Butler
Cancer does not knock-
It invades.
It comes when you least expect it,
When things are going just fine.
Then boom!
And in it wades.
It takes you by surprise,
When you have always been so healthy.
It is no respecter of persons.
It’s comes to the poor, and also to the wealthy.
You must not think, “it couldn’t happen to me.”
It can, and it does, as many people see.
Don’t be complacent, check things out.
It could happen to you-there is no doubt (get tested).
It did happen to me
When I least expected it.
A routine doctor’s exam,
And a quick mammogram,
Revealed the ugly truth,
I had Cancer with a capital C.
When you get news like that,
It frightens you, just hearing it.
Along with the fear, I remembered,
“I have faith in God!”
He will be with me through all that.
It took a long time to recuperate.
I had very good caretakers around the clock at my home.
I came through the surgery just fine.
I had faith.
God was with me all the way.
It happened in August 2018.
I was eighty-five years old.
I am eighty-seven years old now and doing well.
God has been very good to me.
He has blessed me with good children and caretakers.
I thank God for adding years to my allotted days.
God is good!