We cast a spell, to cage our light,
for descent and ascent,
that rising thus we feel delight,
fulfilling heart’s intent.
With mind rested, thoughts cease,
whence we flow on with ease,
in mode embrace-release.
Stories we tell ~
We cast a spell
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ a rosy cheek,
¦¦¦ a coral lip ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ starlike eyes ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦
Fuel ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ his fires;
As ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ these decay,
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ flames ¦¦¦¦ waste away.
But a ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ steadfast mind,
Gentle thoughts ¦¦¦ calm desires,
¦¦¦¦¦¦ with ¦¦¦¦¦ love combined,
Kindle ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ fires.
¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦
No tears, ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ shall win
My ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ heart to return;
I ¦¦¦¦ searched thy soul within,
And find ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ pride and scorn;
I ¦¦¦¦ learned ¦¦¦ arts, ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
¦¦¦ disdain ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦¦ power, in ¦¦¦ revenge convey
¦¦¦¦ love ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ I cast away.
(Blackout of Disdain Returned by Thomas Carew)
The dreams that are by minnows cast
Cannot engulf the sea;
The splinter from an ancient mast
Cannot become a tree.
But then, the measure of a thing
Is not in what it’s not;
A note by which the world may sing
Is doing what it ought.
There's stillness in the air.
A silence hovers heavy in the distance.
Reigns an uncertainty of what's to come.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
How to cast a magic ring for protection
Make a circle of salt in the forest
Light four candles:
green for north, yellow for east, red for south and blue for west.
A bowl of fresh clean water
A tree branch to touch the bowl when asking for purification
Walk round circle clockwise
Chant to the Spirit
What it is you will.
You may visualise this.
Then imagine a gift for the spirit
Sire Marcus Barracus.
Starlight and Blue Moon cast color above
Inspiring artists and thinkers alike
To aspire to reach their twinkling sky heights
In an artistic act of dreamy love
From all sorts of passion that they speak of
Nature’s lightening will vigorously strike
Embedding its golden whip in their psychs
Until creation of a morning dove.
A striped cat sneaks around without a care
As it embodies true simplicity
Such cat puts all ideas into its snare
Artists rely on such felicity
They’re whimsically mixing words to prepare
For hidden cat-like authenticity.
I heard that he was cast out of Halloween City
For he was frightening children, and not very witty
He tried to be a comedian but that did not work at all
We did not see him again until the very next fall
Was it his costume, his attitude or what? We will never know
But he was off-putting, unfriendly, and had a weird glow.
We stayed away from him, crossed the street when we saw him arrive.
I remember this well said my uncle, and I was a wee lad of five.
( ( ( ( BACKATCHA ) ) ) )
MR PRESIDENT
Black, brown, white, a colored quilt unites us no doubt
Red states, blue states, sees only green our chief lout
Racist humor, filled with glee,
makes not a monkey out of me
Obamas envied, no master race three Reichs you’re out!
For President's Day (early)
2/16/26
Superbowl Sunday
Winter Olympics
2/8/26
I climbed in bed
to wait for death
the past
a fleeting memory
I pled the case
in my defense
whose verdict
found me guilty
My sentence cast
without appeal
a victim of
my trials
Alone to die
in hope belied
my condemnation
— final
(The New Room: January, 2026)
When I was cast in mire,Thy hand was near,
Thou sent a ,man, O Lord,to succour me;
Bless him with grace,and guard his path sincere.
I had no roof,no kin,no friendly cheer,
But lay 'mid thorns and cold hostility;
When I was cast in mire,Thy hand was near.
My name was curse,my past a thing of fear,
My bread was shame,my cup iniquity;
Bless him with grace,and guard his path sincere.
That stranger spake-''Thy mother loveth,hear!''
He gave me gold to find mine ancestry;
When I was cast in mire,Thy hand was near.
Now in the Cape I left my heart,a seer,
And pray for him with pure simplicity
Bless him with grace,and guard his path sincere
Let Heaven's light attend his every year,
And lead him,Lord,to thine eternity;
When I was cast in mire,thy hand was near-
Bless him with grace,and guard his path sincere.
A veil of lace on summer’s face,
the sky a sketch of shifting grace,
Where light’s bold hand meets cloud’s soft sigh,
a brief dance for the watchful eye.
No full eclipse, no perfect blue,
just moments borrowed, old and new.
The sun may hide, then peek below,
a coy performance, airy flow.
A patchwork quilt on blue’s expanse,
where clement light leads genteel dance,
Beyond blaze peels, a break of day,
midst rainbow’s colors fade away.
A silver fleece, of soft, veiled sheets,
A passing wink of calm caprice.
the world speckled in cool relief,
a breath that’s instant sweet and lief.
What does it mean to live a finite, fragile life in an infinite, indifferent universe? ~ Prof. Brian Cox.
As the Moon rises in the east
barely showing its face above the horizon
the Penumbral Eclipse takes form
heralding the full weight of the time
a new Shadow was about to be cast over me.
Dark has cloaked my deeds up until now.
The Blood Moon enchants with its splendour
and ultimately the reflected light from the Sun
is embraced by illuminated corners of my heart—
subdued, as it reflects tentative forgiveness
rewarding me for changing my ways.
I’m set in my ways.
I yearn for unconditional forgiveness
of the ingrained dark corners of my heart—
reflecting my own perception of me.
A Blood Moon stirs fear in the heart
as my darkly disturbing thoughts reveal secrets.
Old shadows are difficult to cast off—
taunted by the recall of lighthearted times.
When the Penumbral Eclipse faded
remorse latched onto the dark side
of the moon on its arc to set in the west.
Wary glances are cast;
They look at me now
But by tomorrow -
I'll be as dispersed vapor.
If rumors shot bullets -
I'd be in the grave.
Thank you, Lord - I'm alive
But I wonder, what for?
Broad-Cast Fabric
Weeds Flower And Seed
With The Same Innate
Needs As All Desperate
Seek Some Survival.
They Have No Word,
No Sanctuary, No
Desire For Hatred.
Not Like Humans
Who Will Hate Just
To Hurt…
For The
Name.
-Gray Squirrel
07-10-2025
Written: July 4th, 2025, for contest: Sponsored by: JCB Brul
****************
a — l — a
| |
b a s
| |
t — e — r l
o v
e
m s
a t
r i
m l
o—real in l— ness
ormolu h
e a
r t t/*i/*c/*k/*s
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.