One of the benefits to being an early riser…
is I am blessed to hear and see the interplay
between the night as she clocks out
and cedes the mountains to the day.
There is a lonely owl who, if I’m early enough,
from her spot hidden in the trees
sings a lovely nightly swan song and sets it on the breeze.
She sings in a beautiful soprano…
clear, peaceful and bright…
as she anticipates the day…
with one final nocturne to the night
I think of it as the concluding song of an opera
and how, once her final song is through,
the birds who wake up with the day
begin their musical revue.
Perhaps she’s singing a wake-up song
A gentle musical number
into the ears of the morning birds
awakening them from their slumber.
And perhaps their singing in the morning
once their music fills the sky…
which to me seems like a symphony
to the owl …s a lullaby.
At any rate is it a wonderful way
for each new day to begin…
watching and listening to the nigh clock out
while the day is clocking in.
Welsh poet Thomas better known for his amusing masterpiece 'Milkwood' play than as a major 20th century poet presents in four rhymed tristich & a concluding quatrain(abcc) his most famous & popular poesy ,a delight for those old enough to recall his live recitation thereof on national TV(sadly an unlikely event in the modern era despite the proliferation of available channels)
In this (an appropriate PS choice for a Sunday morning)abba sonneteerJohn Donne (1572 – March 31, 1631 Jacobean poet, satirist, lawyer and preacher/cleric in the Church of Englan considered the founding figure of the so-called metaphysical poetry movement dwells on this most significant rite of passage with his 'concluding couplet' a paraphrased evangelical 'revelation' quotation on this topic.
Herfordshire born Cowper(pronounced Cooper) poet & of evangelical 'Olney hymnal' fame (with a fragile mental history) produces a very recitable cadenced eleven six lined verses in which the concluding couplets ten&eleven identify his overiding but underlying self--concern theme.Each stanza has a (abab )quatrain for the narrative with a (cc) couplet providing a running observation throughout revealing Cowper's elegaic state of mind
I wonder if I'm a Prophet
That God would use
Instead of being sinner
The Devil would accuse
I wonder if the knowledge
I receive from above
Add up to be messages
God sends with love
I piece together fragments
putting them together
and while I watch
pieces become leather
Holding the things
we call words
soon to become as
what has occurred
Warning, teaching
With the words of Cassandra
Facts becoming fiction
With the sound of laughter
Looking not seeing
for seeing becomes death
Despite the truth
True witness has left
Only liars remain
Disguised as the truth
The lies in their hearts
The forbidden fruit
And still I wonder
If what I learned from youth
That God uses men
For His own use
The chains of life
To whom they belong
Evil spirits and devils
To pay for their wrongs
The Lions Whelp
To finally come along
We won't see it coming
But said it's very strong
Soon the whole house
1,000 times 144 strong
Already on earth
But soon to belong
To Be continued
will gain it strong
After this no words left
Concluding the song
FASCINATIONS
monumental
variations
to
extoll
great
passions
&explore
provoking
interesting
parallels
to
share
imply
&
suggest
detailed
contextual
displays
of
intriguing
coincidences
in
complex
explicit
auras
concluding
the
distinctive
designs
Bloods dripping down my face, im a disgrace
A fool for thinking I could ever win this race.
I’ve solicited my life to be replaced,
All my possessions, sanity, and sociality erased.
Though it seems that change and development have been taken away,
My mind plays around with possibilities of future arrays.
Instead of concluding my story with misery and decay,
I’ve decided to be grateful and live fully each day.
Once upon a Witch full thought
Deceit and hate on her mind
An Evil Wicked Witch living in Witchcraft Manor planning to terror on everyone
Turning human into Evil toads for the Witches bidding
The Wicked Witch had been terrorizing all the citizens in Fernwick Center
Citizens who were humble and thankful
Happy people in family togetherness and love
The Evil Witches wanted to change good into bad
Determined to reign and turn people into her slaves
Punishment detail came to people that didn’t behave
Into the hot pot cook
Serving to her liking and taste
Scare rang through the air in shook
Casting all kinds of incantations causing fear
Darkness that came even though it was day
Total atmosphere change that the Wicked Witch could control
Spell here and there
Eventually everywhere
Promises
Designated to follow through
Nothing new
Attempt to pursue
One day, the Wicked Witch herself will be thrown into a pot being the stew and concluding with a slew.
TWENTY-FOUR HOURS
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
daybreak
arising, dawning
originating, illuminating, exhilarating
dawn, illumination, darkness, nightfall
slumbering, dreaming, concluding
shadowy, placid,
nightfall
The rustling of leaves interplays with the ocean breeze,
as traces of moonlight escape through blackout curtains hanging from steel rods.
Bolts of illumination highlight stacks of books caked in dust,
while a man, decrepit with age, sits on a worn auburn-coloured leather chair.
His balding hair is grey from years of turmoil.
Wrinkles lay heavy, nestled deep within his face,
exposing the fragility in his demeanor.
Placed before him: stark white paper and a singular obsidian pen.
Removing his wire-thin spectacles, he wipes them gingerly with his nightshirt
and returns them safely to perch on his sunken cheeks.
Ruminating words flood through his mind
as he picks up the pen with his slender fingers.
The grandfather clock approaches three in the morning to the left of him,
reminding him that time is not on his side.
Scribbling fragments of what he can remember on the paper,
his last will and testament begins to unfold—
final wishes interwoven with untold life stories.
Loneliness weighs heavy in his heart
as the wavering flames of his existence extinguish
with his concluding pen strokes.
The Future as Irony
If we try to look ahead, say ten years when ex-president Trump sits in a cell in Arizona sent by Elon Musk, who rules the world and has an army of all-seeing AI officials, people will wonder why Trump lived that long, living on burgers and Pepsi Cola, concluding it is a long-life diet they too must live by to become very old.
They don’t know that Elon Musk, the Titan planted a chip in Trump’s brain to keep him alive showing us he has no hard feelings against the man, who got him sacked in 2025 from a job he had taken delight in because there had been many protests from other wealthy people, who the truth was told about their thieving.
Elon Musk is a remarkable man, he puts on a false beard, puts in old clothes and pretends he is poor, walks into cafés, asks for a burger and coffee, if the staff refuses to serve the poor man food, Elon Musk reviles himself and fire the staff who has to beg for food to survive as a moral lesson, the chart-savvy people applauded him
With a single step
for this new chapter in life
Focus on future -
can some times be difficult
A turning point ... that matters
Some concluding thoughts
as the year changes numbers
From old to a new -
take lessons from the old year
- don't have pebbles in your shoes
I loved you so much, Sweetheart,
Yet not satisfied ,
but wish to love you more and more.
My love for you in galore.
My ardent ardour to love you more and more.
I loved you so much Dear
but my heart is craving
to be flooded in your love !
My blood is bubbling .
Heart beats rumbling tumbling.
My dreams to soar high
fluttering wings of amour.
I loved you so much Dear.
How can I make you clear !
I love you so much Dear !
Yet seems not that enough,
Not exaggerating, please don’t laugh
I wish to love you more and more
and also to be loved by you,
both in rapture and in rue.
Love me ! Be mine !
Let our hearts be entwined .
Our love story
to shine in grace and glory
concluding in unison.
Throughout our Joint journey
My sweetheart: My Honey !
I wish you to love you more and more,
also to relish your love in galore.
Encore ! Encore
Did silent lullabies make you fall asleep peacefully
while some child of your blood squealed in his cradle: He was left alone.
He wished you had stayed longer
and yearned for a better life.
You gave him promises,
You gave him hopes,
But none of those came true
Until he realized it was a hoax.
Did you think he misjudged the situation,
concluding you were not a good example?
Contrary to your proud wife’s opinions,
You are the delight: A source of joy.
So tell the boy he is wrong.
You might love how things went downhill for him when you left.
He thought that you enjoyed it.
He had a lot of questions to ask,
But no one from his clan wanted to answer his confusions:
“Why is life getting more eccentric as time passes?”
“Why did you leave him so soon?”
Do you know that his pain gradually worsens each year?
It drives him to the depths of delusion.
Still, he hoped to celebrate this day,
But he could not find a reason to say, “Happy Father’s Day.”
All he thinks about is…
You are not a good father.
Never were, Never will be tomorrow,
Not even in his midnight musings.
“Let’s fly together
I’m the pilot; you’re the stewardess…”
Such is articulated by my special child!
Thus, we soar beyond clouds
inside his wheelchair-turned space craft.
Devoid of wings, there we zoom
toward the stars
enthralled by celestial bodies
midst triumphant glee.
Exploring freedom with zest
we bow gratefully to God
praising Him midst miracles
acknowledging His specialization
for impossibilities*...
Concluding our journey
we meet angels of sweet kindness
ready to distribute heavenly goodies
for well-wishers in the orphanage.
*Luke 1:37 For with God nothing shall be impossible.
February 25, 2024
3rd place, "Fantasy" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Chetta Achara; judged on 2/27/2024
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.