Best Warily Poems
Is it a crime
To pry apart rhyme
Stitch lines, unhitched
From native consequence
To warily marry
Unmetered time
By forced remorse
Unrehearsed
In patchwork verse
In my malaise
My daydreams ablaze
I long for eloquence...
to drip, untripped
From my lips
The devil rides
my prideful hide
Chastise with whip and spur
Damning the span
Between who I am
And who I wish I were.
3/6/20
Categories:
warily, jealousy, poetry, writing,
Form:
Rhyme
The screen door droops lazily, slightly ajar
Crickets croon lullabies, heard from afar
Kid’s sticky faces, betray ice-cream bars
All on a summers eve
Legs peel off chairs, from the sticky, wet heat
Rocking chairs sway, creaking out restless beats
Mosquitoes, they feast upon my grass-stained feet
All on a summers eve
Young lovers strip down, kissing perchance to swim
As jealous moon watches, and sunset grows dim
The sand dunes heat up, begging for skin on skin
All on a summers eve
Bold daisies flirt, nodding their modest heads,
Ivory faced roses blush, burning them red
Tiny seeds toss, and then shoot from their beds
All on a summers eve
Butterflies tease, as they flit-flutter by
Somewhere a windowsill holds fresh baked pie
Magic is born within jars of fireflies
All on a summers eve
Wild, woodland faeries dance in faerie rings
Children will grin, picking flowers to bring, to
Their surprised mothers, whose thankful hearts sing
All on a summers eve
Fishes gaze warily at worm-hooked poles
Marshmallows roast above fiery coals
Keen mother horses watch boisterous foals
All on a summers eve
Impatient winds blow, making love to the trees
Zephyrs entice; then enrage the calm seas
While lilies and hyacinths bewitch the breeze
All on a summers eve
Love will be found, and remembered, and made
Peace is a book, an old tree and its shade
Summer to me, tastes like cold lemonade
All on a summers eve
So, come with ye, summer; be gone snow and sleet!
I long to feel grass on the soles of my feet
And jump in the river as suns rays retreat
All on a summers eve
Shared 2nd place winner in Karen Neary's Summer Enchantment Rhymed
poetry contest. Thank you!!!
Categories:
warily, nature, sea, seasons, uplifting
Form:
Rhyme
If I had but one last sorrowful day of my life left,
there would be words I would say without delay.
Too long have I struggled, uncertain and bereft,
my tongue silent as though mired in a pit of clay.
Until now, I found myself sifting sand from my soul.
Now, willing to bare my heart's unavowed affection,
I must find the bravura to proclaim it and be bold,
and yet I find myself fearing your gentlest rejection.
Time warily squandered shall never be returned.
So, I'm seeking courage to reveal what I am feeling,
while hoping my sweet ardor shall not be spurned
nor the love for you that I have long been concealing.
Gleaming are stars hovering aloft in evening skies,
but if gathered together, never could they outshine
the luster I descry in the fulgent light in your eyes
when the beat of your heart and mine finally align.
When the pale moon rises to Heaven at zenith height,
its glorious beauty shall emerge from a lunar eclipse.
Not as seductively alluring to be with you on the night
when alas I shall feel a kiss from your sensuous lips.
Thereafter, sunlight shall yawn on the edge of dawn
but your love shall warm me more than his golden rays.
No greater fire is there to be compared with love born
by your searing touch that easily sets my heart ablaze.
If this is but a fantasy, I dare not lift tremulous eyes to see
the response to my avowal, if on your face it is defined.
I shall not bear the heartache if you turn away from me,
for then it would be a benediction, if my eyes were blind.
January 29, 2023
2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 26 Contest
Sponsored by Mark Toney
Originally written in 2016
for a contest sponsored by John Hamilton
Categories:
warily, feelings, for him,
Form:
Rhyme
Unsung Hero – The Soldier
Warily he stood at the corner,
Wondering which way to turn.
A weary smile on his faded brow,
As he held out an old worn-out hat hoping for handouts,
A few miserly pennies or perhaps, even a piece of bread.
This once proud soldier,
Now reduced to being a petty beggar,
Was a remnant of a cruel war;
Where he once stood side-by-side with his comrades
And helplessly watched them fall one-by-one.
Cruel memories haunted his saddened heart,
As he each day he desperately tried to survive,
Wondering if it would have been better
If he too on the bloody battlefield had died -
But there was no real answer.
Maybe it was good that he had done his duty
Fighting for those who couldn’t.
But now he was forgotten and forlorn,
With no honor, no glory,
He was just a nobody.
With warm tears streaming down his cold cheeks,
Even now he thought of his fallen comrades,
Questioning if they were really in a better place -
What if?
Why?
His thoughts about his tortured past
Continued to cling to him,
Like the tattered coat
He wore during the day,
And used for a pillow at night.
In his mind, he was still on the battlefield,
Only this time he battled invisible foes -
A mind growing feeble, homelessness,
Hunger, loneliness, and most of all –
Not having anyone to love him.
9-16-2014
Categories:
warily, appreciation, hero, loneliness, soldier,
Form:
Free verse
IMAGINATION
Closed eyes; under a locked prism of unavailable light
subjects our third eye to mind's internal creation;
imagined images viewed by non-existent senses
on an opague three dimensional screen.
In an algorithm of shedded particle waves
Insight quickly fades back into a darkened vision
of only half a picture without reflection.
It leaves with us a broken trail of possibilities
new thoughts, new choices, changes in destiny
warily made under duress of immediacy
trying to conceive a canvas framed
by the hand of God.
It is in response to these panchromatic memories
held back by the sun's blackened light,
that we clearly notice how the prism
reflects an undercurrent. of shadeless secrets
different than the realm of visionary colors.
Sensory detections relinquish an uncompleted picture.
The image within, at times, may reveal an idea.
the transmission of which however placed
when received should strive to become an emotional
mover of otherwise placid thinking where wizened leaders
can in causes wept in sorrow from yesterday's sadness
proclaim a hope for a brighter tomorrow.
INTERPRETATION:
When our eyes are shut tight, there is no light or vision.
We are limited to what we see with our inner mind.
Nevertheless there is an internal sense,
a feeling of a creative process going on.
It occurs as insight and often fades into a clouded vision
of a thought picture barely perceived within.
When we leave the path of contemplative thinking,
we lose the benefit of what could have been.
The choices we make are usually expedient
and we struggle to determine
what it is that we really want.
Often we are faced and challenged by outside forces
many of which we deflect as we espouse our point of view
without exploring all the possibilities.
We see what could be and would like to be
hoping that it will make a difference.
and help humanity move forward
to a brighter tomorrow.
CAK 5-23-2103
Categories:
warily, image, imagination, introspection, life,
Form:
Imagism
In the dead of night veils uplift on Mid Summer's Eve,
still a time for a few live sacrifices, so tread warily.
A time when briefly the gates of hell can open
and unworldly things spew forth intent on evil.
Mid Summer Night dreams can come to pass
most oft to those who's hearts are true and pure.
A night of extremes, of evil versus good, and
of the fires of covens and black magic.
A night where Pan himself comes forth
playing his Pipes with gleeful skirls.
Tempting and enticing the unwary souls
with false promises and exciting dreams.
Goddesses of Light dance around in circles
their task to push back the evils of hell
to allow departed lovers to hold their beloved
for a fleeting moment to love once more.
Categories:
warily, light, night, summer,
Form:
Verse
An Abecedarian Spring
Against the graying beard of winter
Buds push defiantly through the
Crush of weakening ice,
Daring to challenge the strength of,
Entertain the possibility of a
Failing winters frosted farewell.
Golden warmth seeps into the folds of
Hardened soil melting its resistance,
Inciting the seeds of a rebellion.
Jester Jonquils dance in the snow
Keeping time to the icicle drip,
Leaves, long fallen, are consumed
Manna dropped from heaven,
Needs met in Karmic peace.
Overhead, a shadow-less hawk
Preys on the hope of dawn,
Quietly riding its warmth.
Robins begin the search for a
Suitable neighborhood,
Turtles climb warily to feast
Upon the hatching swarms.
Visitors returning
Warm themselves in the soft
Xanthic shades of sunrise
Yielding to the innate
Zen of Spring.
2/13/2015
submitted to – Abededarian – Poetry Contest
sponsor – Shadow Hamilton
Categories:
warily, spring,
Form:
Abecedarian
On the wind-swept Nebraska prairie sits a building in wretched shambles,
Surrounded by a sagging fence and overgrown with prickly brambles.
It was once a bustling one-room school house, abandoned long ago.
Its weather-beaten clapboards, I judged to be a century old or so.
Atop its cupola, swaying listlessly in the wind, was a rusted weather vane.
Eerily, at the whim of the wind, the school bell still tolled now and again.
Two ancient oak trees stood sentinel seeming to provide a guard,
To ensure that trespassers like me would value its past with high regard.
I warily opened the door, its rusty hinges protesting, to take a look inside.
Mice skittered across the dusty floor and cobwebs I had to brush aside.
There were well-worn desks, a blackboard and pot-bellied stove for heat.
To muse about its past and the ghosts of scholars of yore, I took a seat.
I pictured the schoolmarm who taught readin', writin' and basic math,
Who struggled to maintain order with imps who suffered her fearful wrath!
Little girls looked so prim in their pinafores and gingham frocks;
The boys wore knickers, buckled boots and gaudy argyle socks!
I could hear the droning recitations of pupils whose attention would digress,
To the ticking of the school clock anticipating the merriment of recess!
I noted relief on the teacher's face when at last the kids were released.
I sensed that she felt she had been nurturing a horde of wild beasts!
Categories:
warily, nostalgia, school,
Form:
Rhyme
I believe, I may have missed the boat
The water’s deep, I couldn’t float
Perhaps the marks I set weren’t high
The tide’s in now – I’ll wave bye-bye
I read Thoreau and Frost, I know
Of wilderness and falling snow
Of Roads Not Taken tongue in cheek
Of singing trees and babbling creek
With pomp and ceremony flyin’
I stopped to sniff a dandelion
To watch a honey bee rejoice
At making such a tasty choice
I sit beside the croaking pond
A heron blending with the frond
A muskrat watches warily
A dragonfly upon my knee
My pants are frayed, my kayak weathered
I share my time with furred and feathered
Visiting these woods, their home
Leave them, as I came, alone
Categories:
warily, memory, nature, peace,
Form:
Rhyme
Intermingled threads of my fantasies pour
from the ink of my love on the bare soul
of the letter I write for you, my beloved
The windowpane sparkles moonlit dreams
And I submerge into my visions of you
You, my moon bound to your services
Make me wonder how I would write
All the love-soaked words I've never said
I had questions that submerged in tides
Propelled by divine celestial waves
I forgot to savor the fragrance of lilies
That intertwine into my desolate bed stand
Perhaps you will be gulping your tea
When this letter relishes the touch
Of your frozen fingers looking for warmth
You might inhale the aroma of my love
Dripped in my waxing and waning hopes
Rosy shades of mellowed sunrise
Prompt my hopes to flutter and fly
Away to a land where you reside
I have spent last night tossing them
In solicitude of your awaited letter
My feet took a hundred strides
to the door that I opened warily
I await your reply to quench my love
I am the sun that follows her moon
Eclipsed by unending galactic cycles
Let me drape myself in your love
Let your letter wait at the corner
Until I've told you my anxiety faded away
I've been onlooking the desert roads
Oh should I merge into them in daylight
To kiss the path your letter traverses
This time I hope it remembers at last
My name and address on this frayed street
Let it bring to me your smooth embrace
The sun, exhausted of the chase for moon
Over these centuries, awaits the end of eclipse
Drenched in my fears I whisper at sunset,
"Let my love engulf me in soothing waves"
....The sun and the moon in a golden Aurora, unite,
Your letter arrives before you colored in lilac twilight.
*A tribute to the tumultuous emotions of a soldier's wife*
May 26, 2020
The Sun And The Moon Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Chantelle Anne Cooke
~~Premiere Contest Winner: 4th Place
BRIAN'S CHOICE V,any form,any theme Contest
~~Winner: First Place
Categories:
warily, love,
Form:
Free verse
We've taken off the gloves
the "mask"querade continues
a charade of lying eyes
scanning the dance floor
following the "arrowed" steps
viewing a world through fogging glasses
squinting warily at theories
collusion, conspiracy, "coronamania"
Fauci playing Faust
the elderly as pawns
in a political chess game
as children climb fences
to enter playgrounds
and liquor store cash registers ring
guard dogs circle toilet paper towers
the homeless want "venmo" contributions
lest they touch your filthy money
and God sits idly by
locked out of "His" churches
John G. Lawless
7/11/2020
Categories:
warily, scary, society,
Form:
Free verse
A long those dark, dank corridors underneath the earth, an anomaly is growing.
N ebulous in it's beginnings, an as yet unknown species prepares to arise
E longated in it's skeletal structure, slight and slender, they slither about
W ily in nature, these unique elusive creatures are prone to evade the light.
S linking about at night with iridescent, bold bright eyes, they warily
P eek and peer at people, pacing about in dark, dreary alleyways
E xamining interactions, obsessed in their observations, in order to
C onnect and draw upon human energy, like sophisticated sponges.
I ntent on leeching the life force out of human beings, these humanoids wish to
E merge and spike world leaders' drinks with explosive laxatives, thus
S triking and stalling them on their "thrones", subsequently taking over our world!
Written on 2/23/2016
Categories:
warily, science fiction,
Form:
Acrostic
Seven Savvy Sirens
formed a formidable fraternity
of pure-passion purpose
for female fatales.
Murder-minded maids
promised patient pursuit
of tensile tangled truth
while warily watching
crafty crook's coup.
But, busted and bested,
dames drink despair
like lambs laid lame
in trickster's thorny trap.
Categories:
warily, mystery,
Form:
Alliteration
Two-word Lines Free
with Rhyme Verse
gibbous moon The near-full moon—
ashen veil its ashen light—
phantasm strewn ghostly, swathing all
redolent pale with pale glow.
shamed hues In moonlight, colors surrender—
morbid face faces are morbid, semblance
heedless muse of those about to pass,
death’s embrace abandoned by life's essence.
gibbous moon Gibbous moon wanes, as
night reviled night warily gauges its retreat.
morning soon And with advancing dawn,
newborn child. new life replaces the departed.
Sorry, the program doesn't allow for setting up columns, so alignment on the second version of the is incorrect.
Categories:
warily, birth, death, moon, night,
Form:
Quatrain
Neptune must have used as parchment
Mother-of-pearl to inscribe his laws
For he’d richly rewarded the oysters
With an oceanic spa.
So, while seeking calm through deliberation
And enjoying the mud bubbles of my bath
Who should I spy in the distance?
But Calamity trudging up the path.
His foot arched out proud and haughty
Like the neck of a noble steed
As he pulled his crustaceous carriage
At a break-neck snail speed.
The mud began to feel like mortar
As I stonily watched him draw near
That audacious, contemptuous clam
Made my heart cry out with fear.
He passed by slow and haughty
Like an imperious, dismissive sigh
But as my tension began to dissipate
He kicked a mudball at my eye.
I watched warily, his insolent passage
Until he was but a tiny speck of dirt
Knowing I'd formed another pearl of wisdom,
From that impetuous, narcissistic squirt.
Categories:
warily, funny, imagination,
Form:
Couplet