Brigand Poems

Arose

Darkness imbues sunlight,
 Stars adorn pitch of night.
 Pristine as north winds blow,
 Huddled in loam, primroses grow.

Razor clouds streak across sky,
 Starkly bleeding is dawn to eye.
 Sangria balm touches azure skin,
 Contrast like yang and yin.

 Shadows shrink, ignoble retreat,
  Selene, curtsey, obliges defeat.
 Emblazes arise, heat carries,
 Tip to root blushing varies.

Dawn serenades coming day,
 Phoenix arose from ashes of grey.
 Pigments leak from wounded sky,
 Serene, expanse gone awry.

 Restless in sound of silence,
 Darkness stalks with defiance.
 Bated pounce as sun depletes,
 Across waned skies, color secretes.

 Bloom resigns, surrenders,
 Bows to infinite splendors.
Brigand moon ‘neath covert night
 Abscond again, posies light.

Memory Speaks

Echoes from the past
Thunder from the tongue less cavern of the earth
To rouse my anesthetized sail from slumber,
Sutured wounds crack open, oozing fresh flood
As the pain of yesterday visit suddenly
-drawing rivulets from sunken eyes.
Blind eyes see shattered dreams in a shroud
Encircled by living dreams.
The bullet pierces my heart again and again
On its journey to vex my grieved soul.
My ravaged heart leaks out multitudinous emotions
Into a putrid flood.
He wanted to live and earn a living,
He wanted to earn a living and live;
But death riding on the shoulders of brigand said No!
Daily this bitter demise of blood
Lives on in my mind

The Human Pendulum

Why's the "Left" at times viewed as a meddlesome brigand,
And, "Golden Rule" seem such a stretch for our race?
Is it "Right" to hate most the folks (you haven't met yet),
Why's "Fear" such big deal in a world "Blessed by" Grace?

Why do some hate the thought ALL deserve a flat playfield?
Or quail when a friend fares much better than you?
Can't we celebrate smart folks who float all boats higher,
And let go of jealousies clouding our view?

Can a human who vacillates say they've found answer?
Ripe fruit in maturity sways in the wind.
And can you save yourself (with soul dying of cancer)?
Unless you endorse my dreams, you're no one's friend.


Long Tooth
April 3, 2018

Sweet and Sour Man

He makes a cradle with his arms 
for the pup to sprawl in
and languidly lets his swarthy body
sag in the rocking chair.

Something about him smacks
of black magic; maybe his eyes.
Sometimes, like an impenetrable 
wall of darkness, they could almost
physically force you to step back 
in retreat, or else, they may be smoldering
under the heavy lids and you find 
yourself orbiting in their magnetic field.

There’s also a look about him 
of a mountain brigand
maybe in the small suggestion of a welt
on his cheek, or is it his mahogany toes
that are protruding shamelessly
from his torn disreputable sandals?

A sharp bite from Sidney on the chin
jerks him back to full consciousness
and a tender, unnamable rush 
of understanding fills his face 
as his fingers gracefully
move over the hungry pup.
He smiles, and the smile spreads
through him like warm wine.

As-Shanfara

My ancient Arabs know exactly how to tell a tale,
Of hardship, kinsman, outcasts, how to be so strong,
Withstanding weather, find your way, what it does entail
To fight a world alone, with nowhere to belong.

I like to think it is a metaphor, not an exact rendition.
A simile of sorts, no different from Bible or Qur’an.
A handbook, of how life can cast you out as clansman.
If preprogrammed molds don’t fit woman or man,

Shanfara found his way by choosing a direction,
Completely opposite of where his brothers rode.
He found his new kin amongst beings, all not human.
To him man does ascribe this still illustrious ode.

For you, my brigand poet, I write this loving poem,
You mean so much to me, like you I do not fit so well,
And am forever searching, But I am not seen as scum.
My su’luk, my traveler, I stay and have your tale to tell.

***

January 17, 2016
© Darren White

Dear Diary

Dear Diary,
You are my only friend
The only one to bear with my stand
So, do lend me your ears, why even your hand
I wish to confess, of how, in love, I am a total brigand!

Dear Diary,
I do not know what floats all over my body
If it is insanity
Or if it is simply an object of amorality
For I am filled with thrills; and they spark up my feminity!

Dear Diary,
He is a man I see only in my dreams
I am pretty sure, he knows not of my silent screams
He is powerful, respected, strong and bold
Faced with him, bland seems to be the whole world!

Dear Diary,
I keep my hope burning
Maybe, hopefully, someday, we shall have a meeting
Someday, he shall show me romance
Even if we have, in age, a huge difference
It matters not, for the heart remains always young in essence!

Dear Diary,
Am I basking in sin?
Has my head gone on a spin?
His name turns me into a butterfly
A new born one, having just discovered the expanse of the sky!

Thoughts On Citizenship Day

Thoughts on Citizenship day.

                               Frank Halliwell

Can you hear the trumpet fanfare?
And the crowd shouting "hooray"?
Cause they're making me a citizen
Down at the hall today!

Who will make the presentation?
Will it really be the ones
Who have the greatest claim on it,
Or those who had the guns...

To wrest it from those peaceful blacks
Who owned this ancient land
To make a place for criminals,
...The thief and the brigand!

But I'll front up for the paper
And attend the little bash
While the pollies in Canberra
Dip their fingers in the cash...

...And fly around the country 
Visiting ficticious joints
While the Australian taxpayer
Funds their "frequent flyer" points!

"Matilda" always stirs my soul
A song without compare!
But I have reservations on 
"Advance Australia where?"

But I love this land of blue skies
And I have for decades past,
And when the dealer calls my hand
It's here I'll breathe my last...

Where sparkling diamonds fill the night
And nothing dulls the gloss,
Of paradise in southern seas
Beneath the southern cross!
             ****

Job's Dilemma: Sinful Man, Untamed Nature

Nature's, raw fury can no man withstand,
nor deeds of malcontent brothers understand
Natural calamities from: wind, water, divine command;
Man-made disasters by: leader, follower, brigand
Nature's untamed, mystical hand;
Man's marauding, sentient brand
Unseen forces generating chaos in each, hurricane
band ;
Contrasted with marksman's contrived, murderous stand
Without warning, listless gales shiver each, balmy strand;
Foreordained. work strikes with targeted violence planned
Mysterious, random tornadoes o'er storm trough spanned;
Calculating armies o'er demarcated lines fanned
Perilous, isolated earthquakes no instrument had scanned;
Callous looters colluding when supply does not meet demand
Spontaneous, volcanic emissions scar the land;
Gangs marked by sign; through attrition  sculpting an urban island
Unforeseen floods lawful lives, endeavors do remand
Dictator coffers overflow; with taxes, kickbacks panned

Confederate Private

Hauteur brigand bound for gratuitous strand
Knows not he is country's chattel, enemy's contraband
As gallant marauders o'er ages spanned
His quest for glory fate will countermand
Gleeful lad starting out on quick, definitive errand
Becoming grizzled veteran in war that will opportunistically expand
Raw recruit ready to fight for: family, honor, land
Feted for trivial pursuits, political ends; on mission clandestined
Tailored uniform, coiffed hat, shiny ordinand
Destined to be sullied by the designs of ruthless marksman
In ritual parade of arms on regal, stately stand
Unaware of his wistful foe's unremitting hand
With loyal comrades bivouacked in tidy 
band
Soon to be in raucous tumult marked with a beastly brand
Dutiful, diligent soldier always firing on demand
In the heat of battle, only self preservation will command
Pre-war sprawling tenements; deprivations can withstand
Later, in squalid camp morphing into looting, pillaging firebrand
Vital piece in war game carefully mapped, planned
Innocuous pawn anonymously falling in unmarked, lowland.

Wooded Cottage of Highwayman

Nestled deep in the tawny, drab woodland
Sedate cottage neither haughty nor grand
Sparse hovel of unassuming, itinerant brigand
Martial decor of detached highwayman starkly bland
The etched path sculpted by intemperate hand
No manicured garden on the scrubby strand
Briers and brambles errant straggler must withstand
Thatched clapboards stable his stallion firebrand
Unruly swine garnish acorns from scraggly wasteland
Buried deep in his cellar pilfered contraband



Per chance drifter did the terrain assay
And chose that toilsome, forsaken way
A spartan welcome hauteur did convey
No lodgings, accoutrements could sway
If for grace, mercy they did pray
Only a cold shoulder he did relay
If they tested his temperance and sued for trite parley
He reconnoitered their belongings through wordplay
If no net value they were beguiled to betray
Their worthless lives he did indignantly slay

Bride Price: Gratuitous Marriage

In bridled hovel on denuded strand
Tanned damsel loiters on barter stand
Waiting for purloined fealty her title to brand
Festooned in ritual garb, decked with lavish garland
As noble peacock, her fecund colors are fanned
Waiting eligible suitors her utility, virility to scan
Her father a lofty price doth rightly command
To root out pilfering charlatan, worthless brigand
A reputable family with aspirations noble, grand
Bids for the honor of reticent, sheltered hand
Her elder for propriety doth initial offers withstand
Until the esteemed value of his ward family doth understand
A suitable piece of fertile lowland he indignantly demands
In order his tribal status and perpetuity to expand
With gratuitous stipend in token parlance panned
In customary deference, contrite bride accepts husband

Theft of the Heart

brigand connoisseur
embezzling my precious stones
counterfeit romance
stealing but the refined part
sterile, barren heart remains

An Ode To 911

Each Twin Tower encased in steel bower
Billowing masts did to horizon crest, as the fibrous 
sunflower
Wrought to withstand the shearing winds and the 
mightiest shower
A symbol of America's limitless capital and economic 
power
Perched on the precipice of greatness until 911's 
sentient hour
In a prescient moment, steel caissons did the steel 
girders scour
Mighty sentinels of the skyline succumbed to a roaring 
stour
In the dust-swept corridors, the shell-shocked 
remnants did cower
Anon, as residual to the surface imploded; exploded a 
national fervor
As free enterprises' symbols crumbled in New York's 
harbor
A wave of national pride rumbling across the fruited 
plains did succor
With steeled nerves and stealthy acumen did lab our
Our tarnished symbols of freedom to defend with 
unblemished might, valor
In faraway lands, in shielded hovels, bastions; tracked 
enemy with vigor
With soaring wings and pounding hooves, girded with 
invincible armor
Did fleece the brigand cowards restoring the nation's 
honor

Mythical, Menacing Crow

Black spright as dark as night
Dark wizard eclipsing the light
Menacing vandal from perch alight
With guile give wing to flight
All of the airy spirits to spite
Your jealous suitors with envy requite
Spread ebony cape; your brigand kite
From eerie heights with steely eyes blight
With devilish caw a quaking fear incite
With razor-sharp talons ignite the sparring fight
With sharpened beak your helpless foe smite
Then with callous indignity glide over rendered plight

Robin Hood's Merry Band

On yonder strand
In bridled land
A motley band
With vigor fanned
Across hill, lowland
With self righteous brand
Seeking brigand contraband
From each licentious hand
To forthrightly remand
Every highway spanned
Tolls, tribute to demand
Each pilfering cleric did reprimand
Then every bloated collection was 
panned
Every royal vestige scanned
Gratuitous coffers to expand

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