Best Widens Poems
different drumbeats, separate Lives
he inhales the wind song
a static cling to yesterday
held in his heart until his melody fades
life, love, hope circle the drain
aging realist at one with his pain
love’s last aria
melancholy oboe resigns with setting sun
when two are no longer one
chasm widens between haunting roars
tribal drums on opposite shores
Burger boy hangs out
at the A&W
Spare change for burgers
he sometimes has two
He chats up the girls
imagines he is cool
Making up tall tales
but girls ain't easy to fool
He asks the cute waitress
if she's from the Philippines
Tells her he was there yesterday
eating noodles and beans!
She asks where he traveled
he says he was everywhere
But the more he talks
she knows he wasn't there
She doesn't make him feel bad
she just gives a sweet smile
It's enough to make him happy
his grin widens a mile
Like so many others
he hates being all alone
So he sits dreams and fidgets
while he charges his phone
The place is kinda quiet
except cars driving through
If he had his own car
it would be a dream come true
What others take for granted
seems far beyond his reach
He's never had a holiday
or walked a sandy beach
So he finds something
that to others ain't much
A burger and a smile
He hopes fingers might touch
"Closer"
There is a light
hidden in the heart of man
deeply embedded it summons ignition
each day the portal opens further
something beckons
come closer
come closer
the door widens
like the mouth of the whale
in your dreams you are Jonah
inside your vessel waits the one
who walks on water
the heart is a burning flame
lighting minds like wicks
rapturous disbelief
3 days, 3 nights
before closure
there seated steadfast
marking your time
all commanding
beckons the closer
believing your disbelief
the Sun reflects
in your eyes
come closer
come closer
(LadyLabyrinth / 2021)
LUX VITAE
"The Son, The Sun" / Low
https://youtu.be/fPS8ZvWVv0M
"the fish's eyes were like windows and a pearl inside its mouth provided further illumination."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonah
https://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/communion_1007994
Mist feathery drifts
last night’s breath loosening
above basalt slopes of Huatung
Pacific swallows trace morning brushwork
over Fuli’s rice paddies
new green scented with rain.
Xiuguluan River flows jade mountain-born
among ancestral stones
white willows in Ruisui weep
dew-kissed
cycad fronds catching first sunlight
Leaf pearls gather on my thatched sandals
Walami earth holds stories in its coolness.
Bihe Pond rests hidden in Wanrong’s stillness
waters reflecting the tribe’s quiet prayers
Bamboo leaves in green and gold
crested mynas gather in quiet repose
wind moves with the chime of a temple bell.
Ancestral path wanders into the Central Range
oolong tea clouds drift
above Qilai’s blue ridges
A white egret lifts over Guangfu’s terraces
air clear as poured Longjing.
A bulbul calls
blue magpie glides
the slow unlayering of day
Huatung Calligrapher’s span warm to newborn light
time unspools—
bright
unmeasured.
Light widens
dawn follows Yu Shan’s shadowed valleys
the world in quiet promise
soft light
drifting into morning.
The heart I had,
The feelings I possessed,
Are now in vain,
As my heart is in pain.
The glowing cheer died,
My heart now cried,
But the emotions I show,
Makes my heart bow.
The crack that widens inside,
Is getting more and more wide,
No one feel that from outside,
And no one intends to get inside.
My sun has set in my heart,
Feelings to live more depart,
But I need to live,
For the great contribution I should give...
Invited into Her circle
of five points,one for each
of the qualities She crystallizes,
truth as fire, earth as nourishment,
body in water, lights in air, and ether as love,
in Her center a sacred thought having origin in primal purpose,
we embraced as immortals do,
mouth to ear and song to song,
mind to memory and wish to wisdom,
connecting with the ease of melody on morning's hope,
frollicing within the gamble of a galaxy grown mad from curiosity,
the path of the Prime Mover performs a pounce along our venerable vertebrae,
She widens a door which illuminates a portico,columns white marble and red veins,
tempered flames in low tremble make vigil to the death bed masks of ancestors,
who made glory a partner against multitudes of dangers,such as living without loyalty,
encouraged by Her gravitas,Her need for a hero,I stared into those vacant eyes
on the pedestals held upright by iron frames,and I heard them chant I must for Her,
made so lovely with a crown of moon glow,
I kissed this Woman's hand,heaven in my sight,
my oath to vindicate Her from profane might,
I awoke facing a mirror,believing in Her dearly,
my headgear fastened and plumed,
feathers of a hawk and eagle divinely sprout atop,
from then I only knew Her words,and a dreamy picture,
however,I trusted Her affection,I could live on Her meaning -
J.A.B.
" When one least expects...hope illuminates"
Light Shines In Total Darkness
A moment in time where love should leave
when incompatibility muddy crystal waters
dissolves a tie that binds divine connection
widens the abyss as dream loudly shatters
Down on my knees I begged for a reprieve
gazes polarizing for to her nothing matters
in locked cages lay vestiges of desperation
intimacy now in tatters mutated to cinders
Aged moon will not commiserate then give
nebulous promises to stop onrushing tears
nor rays to light the path toward contrition
and turtle doves waving wings that glitters
Weary eyes reaching for salvation perceive
apparitions raising me up to alleviate fears
cleansing this heart throbbing in exultation
as grass springs anew...while grief withers.
Penned: 01/16/2023
2:12 a.m.
West Palm Beach
Florida
2/12/2017
RIZE
Air molecules bursting at the seams with hydrogen
A crafty fish could just about fly…draining a lil’ bit H2o through its gills…flitting from one molecule to another, while delightfully enjoying its very first aerial-panoramic perspective!
Caldron of Sun, heavy trudging through the almost misty air
Pushing, pushing, pushing…slowly forcing the horizon more and more south over the Atlantic Coast…Steaming moisture from the air whilst creating a larger and larger horizon of a grey and pink glow
Other forces of nature…shall not overcome the fiery center of our Universe... no, not this day! As more and more of the sea’s horizon is unveiled…a marbling of pink and at least three shades of grey
Oh, alas! A blank page is as to a new day, Yay! Another chance as the East, Atlantic sky widens faster and faster, forcing upward with increasing momentum, as the blue-white hot plasma forever-thirsty, drinks from the Milky Way Galaxy's precious molecules in its' atmosphere
Once again, I am but a grateful blessed witness
Jill Spagnola
It’s another sordid workplace affair
Organized by the dashing and flamboyant Pierre
There should be a warning to beware
Bad week to start any diet – o what despair
Millions of calories everywhere
On one side a mountain of chocolate éclair
On the other a huge tray of Camembert
It was hard enough to squeeze my derriere
Half-way out of this big cozy armchair
Till I managed to park myself elsewhere
Next to the cheese tray I do declare
There’s more than enough to share
I volunteered to sample so let them stare
Trying to look casually debonair
As my butt widens with each bite I’m aware
No one ever said life is fair
AP: 1st place 2025, 2nd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2020, Honorable Mention 2021
Submitted on November 19, 2018 for contest WRITE A POEM ABOUT CHEESE sponsored by BARRY STEBBINGS - RANKED 8TH
Pardoned through the postmortem black
The green air like gas driving through
The dense flakes laid on my head.
My body lay heavy with the sunken Red Sea.
My clearness clear all eyes, I feel nothing now,
Not the vivacious flashes of a Summer Lady
Nor the rowdy screams of children at funerals.
My body lay cold, cold as a ferret’s nose,
I could hear it scream through pale October.
And all I remember in the weary twilight:
The seat belt clamped against my silent heart
My body threw itself from the vigor of metals,
Your hell widens to the flush of my form
And I felt my psyche evaporate in the clear air
Flashes of red and blue tango perfumery against the senseless black.
And all I remember in the weary twilight
Was a slim light calling my concealed name… I answered.
The red and blue steadily vanished in the blackness.
I watch my numb body lay flat on silver
Piecing together the weary twilight of red and blue
And shutting doors, though dead stiff, it was nothing new.
Rudeness at places of work is a terminal cancer
That reduces and kills productivity
Promoting the dancer
Who feels her rudeness proclivity
Resembles a godsend in her way of thinking
Equating its futility to putting in a full day’s shift without any proof
That rudeness despite its inkling and tinkering
Adds to long faces among colleagues whose home roof
Undergoes strain victims of rudeness export home where their rudeness
Hurts family members who in turn unleash
Their reverse rudeness to kill at home happiness
Inspiring butts of rudeness to dish
Out the taste of the rude message
To new victims enlarging the cycle by tit for tat
Until time passage
Widens the rudeness culture making it so fat
It recruits new rude members
Consolidating and spreading the rudeness epidemic
Insulating no one, hurting everyone to fan embers
That burn, burn, burn and burn so that rudeness no comic
Spares. Then, people wonder why so much rudeness flies about
Crashing good manners, killing decorum
Until a wisecracker reminds the person who in the first instance thought her rudeness clout
Despite a dose of rum
Contaminates and hurts more and more
Unless everybody makes it their business
To observe good manners and tenets of politeness in folklore
Then and only then can a rude-free society exist, pouring boundless happiness bereft of rudeness.
Diamonds glistening until your blinded
Infects the willing and unwilling
Those who hide, smile. those who don’t, cry
It’s still there even for those who give freely
Concealed inside this fantasy
So deeply hidden, this knowledge forbidden
The diamond in your hand
The monster cries
Breathing a dark reality,
Dreams shattered, pieces scattered,
Its journey jagged, the diamond scratched
The monster walks among us lost, and hurt
It looks for comfort and fails
Several times
This kingdom
Overwhelmed with hate, vengeance and crimes
It retreats back into it cave to seek solace from its familiarity
But it also betrays the monster and the monster howls searching for security
The diamond in its hand
A little drop of blood lands softly on to the tip of the diamond
The drop widens like ripples in a pond
Tips and overflows the stone
Dripping into the cracks
The diamond in its hand
Seeking affiliation, singing alone
It’s never safe and it knows
The diamond bleeds and the monster cries
The Monster Cries
At horizon’s crest a faint light arcs
its thin line widens from across the sea
she flutters maiden wings from her nest
on a rocky crag near a twisted tree.
Warm light dances with shadows at dawn
amidst white quartz lines and sandstone cliffs
a young gull flies with confident wings
his sinews are strong as he glides through the rifts.
Sea salt air mingles with pungent scents
as pounding tides pulsate along the shore
his guttural cries echo all around
she hears his sibilant sounds and wants more.
Drawing her wings, she ups and takes flight
lifting her head, croons a soft, soothing song
swiftly he swoops to her side to dance
flying in tandem, they greet the new dawn.
Written 8/28/2020
Twilight whispers behind the blinds;
I barely see, but I believe,
In the ruby and orange rinds,
Moon blossoms of midsummer eve.
I barely see, but I believe
In the twinkling star diamonds,
Moon blossoms of midsummer eve.
Romantic ebon-sky widens.
In the twinkling star diamonds,
Circling like a halo above,
Romantic ebon sky widens;
Where there’s darkness, a lunar dove.
Circling like a halo above,
Juiciness of sluicing hues, wet.
Where there’s darkness, a lunar dove.
Pearly gates preserve the sunset.
Juiciness of sluicing hues, wet,
In the ruby and orange rinds.
Pearly gates preserve the sunset;
Twilight whispers behind the blinds.
Not a true Choka...but uses a 5,7,7,5,7,7 format
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Chill, steaming vapour;
Silence over pale water;
Faded, thin wisps of ribboned
Pink
Above the east gate;
I dip oars...and silence
Breaks.
Trace of flame in lilac sky.
Raise, lean, dip and pull;
Sculling forward little
Twirls
Swirl away from dripping
Blades;
Uplifted soul -- soaring!
Remembering how, when young...
Each new day would bring
New hope.
Extends the shoreline --
Sweeping inwards at the
Point;
Green bulrushes in the bay;
A bittern booming:-
Rising up like slow thunder
Drifting out of jade mountains.
My busied childhood,
Hidden pate not yet shaven;
Shrimping with a fine mesh
Net;
Loud, boyish laughter;
Brimming jars crammed with
Sunbeams --
The golden, darting minnows.
Horizon widens,
Shadow retreats from low
Hills;
Gathering orb comforts me;
Selfsame warm comfort
When held by sleepy women
In cold grey of early dawn.
The vaguest murmur,
Faint as drowsy breathe,
Of the soundings of dim chimes...
A call to prayer?
Hands hard-clenched on the
Staid oars;
Restrained by yesteryear.