My burning red raw, bloodshot eyes,
strain expectantly, under reluctant skies,
counting fingers, with tearful sighs,
longing for sunbeams, to defiantly prys,
open cracks in gray clouded sunrise.
An eye soon cries when a spirit expires,
lowering a curtain over its own demise,
knowing that gray clouds, in soft disguise,
conceal a heart, where storm rage resides.
We can’t grasp, retrieve, or analyze,
every drop of tear that fate applies,
or drown out our faltering hopeful smiles,
with splattered stings, spat from leaden skies.
Let's stride forward beyond what woe betides,
that arise from seeing skies cloudy at sunrise,
to cherish every moment, without compromise-
as bearers of gifts that bring joyous surprise.
Years lay over,
tilt to shed tears,
from eaves of leaves
that sway, stay and,
stray away to far beyond.
Lay, lady, lay.
Come allay your fears
and I'll let your colors shine,
if you'll stay with me, for awhile.
Lest, I lay to rest,
a wreath for you,
for the good times we shared
long gone.
The years drift away,
way out wide on the tide.
Marooned as lullabies
of lilting longing shadows,
echoing woe, and go, betides,
way out beyond the breakers,
beyond the lay of years.
The ring of fresh colored flowers,
you once wore around your neck,
now lies forlornly lain,
as a garland of petals,
dropped from a ring of flowers
onto the ground.
Onto the layers of years,
spread out on a mound of tears,
never to grow old,
beyond the lay of years.
Count your fingers and toes!
It's five that drives betides!
For our minds can't juggle
More than five at once.
Can't grip, grasp sense - six.
How we sense and perceive,
Also comes in five flavors.
Touch, sight, smell, taste, hearing,
Which constrains, contorts our thoughts,
Into believing we know what's
Right, true, all so insightful!
But, why or why five?
Has ego, fear, doubt, desire
Succumbed to fingers and toes?
So we can't go further
Than a high fivefold dive?
Staircase shifts as my footsteps climb
Trapeze tree swing, springy arm chimpanzee
Undulates gripping limbs, gym sublime
Driftwood bone betides baton twirling frenzy
Intimate sub-sand somersault, primate
Orangutang scramble up slope, slip intended
Double view plateau, marina masts poise
Usher terpsichorean dream, breeze buoys
Nautical cavort awkward flap flail sail pelican
Evolves to swan serene seaside glide elegant
Second of August
Serendipity Robust
Hindsight is foresight's foe
Heralding woe betides
Halting the hoodwinking
Haunting the present tense
Hanging regrets in caches
Hype, hope dashed by failures
Holding you back, abjure!
It's all go to woe!
Besides, there's no woe betides!
As reigns let loose,
the strides lengthen
and we say:
"neigh, nay, nay" to "Whoa Up"
It's giddy giddy, G'day!
Let's go!
"Giddy up, Giddy up"!
I sit here on the beach, seaside.
"Sifting sad shadows from the past."
Which like sand flats ebbing with tide,
Expose sadness, in blackness cast.
As I find ashes of loves died,
Sorting it all out, takes its toll.
Hands tremble, heart splits open wide,
Weighing the sorrows, drags on soul.
The shadows lengthen as day dies.
Soon to coalesce to black night.
I must get rid of woe betides,
Before I lose last rays of light.
------------
Quote # 4
Bring in the din of children's cries
the kin of family ties
the chagrin of forgiven woe betides.
Let in the breeze of summer skies
the wherein where laughter resides
the grin of warm welcoming smiles.
Dial in the joys of compromises
that the peacemaker devises
to hide all conflicts with disguises.
Ring in the calls to claim the prizes.
'All In' for all is the call,
which harmonizes.
shadows lengthen
chestnuts roast-
winter betides
Fittingly hallowed gods must intrinsic majesty hold.
Even before deities invoked weigh the caller's case,
The deity's potent title should alone spell the balm,
And tint with nourishing grace the supplicant's face.
Woe justly betides gods modelled by mortal skill,
Conjured to define the worshiper's creative spans.
True deity outdoes their adherent's most avid drill,
And defeats most faithful admirers' keenest scans.
If while engaged they varied ethereal trends display,
But when left alone they silent and unbothered stay;
You already got there a freaking raw deal indeed:
You're the mighty guy your own-made gods need!
The worshiped must by heart the worshiper know,
And both will ever commune as if by infallible law.
It’s the supreme being mightily seeking the follower,
Who grasps it well and submits to the bigger power.
It’s a fake god if it bends to suit whimsical desire,
Or at once plays into your infinite imaginative fire!
As I thought upon the trails of life I have trod
And the many winding roads so rough and hard
I was solaced and embraced by His Presence
And as He grew me close to His side, I once
Again realized that with Him I can ride the tides
Over the ocean wide or climb the mountain high
Through darkened caves on clouded days
And whatever betides, in Him I shall always hide
And forever abide
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There's a path I want to see
As strong as the wave of the sea
Where comfort betides
And serenity abides
That path I want to see.
Wealth is worthless to a sinking soul,
Success is a gift and not a golden goal.
Rotten riches is like resentful roses.
Prosperity pursues all pleasant purposes.
Woe betides the barn built on bribery,
The cocoon of the corrupt crashes quickly.
Sell not your soul for fortune and fame...
Gruesome gains breed shackles of shame.
Power and possessions are not permanent,
Do not trash your true and timeless talent.
Cash, cars and castles will not fit in your casket,
Leave legacies of love in a blissful basket.
Don't break anything if I let you in...
Don't lose everything if let you win...
Don't give it if you won't take it...
Don't fake it if you cannot make it...
Life is more than milk and honey...
Love cannot be bought with money...
Lend a helping hand to the needy...
Loss betides those who are greedy...
Don't be rash when you are angry...
Don't be slack when you are hungry...
Don't expect too much from anyone...
Don't tell a lie to please a loved one...
The restless lizard climbing on the wall
Can hardly fathom where the end may lie
To his audacious quest, and this is why
He does not know that, in the end, he’ll fall.
Again he tries but then again he slides
And into cold obscurity he’s thrown.
Without advice, he cannot grasp alone
What laws the unavoidable betides.
If only he were told that he should not
Defy his earthly bounds and pose as bird,
He would look neither joyless nor absurd,
And could escape the impasse where he’s caught.
Find my poems and published poetry volumes at www.eton-langford.com
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