Eighty-five years since
the tragic Crystal Night
may prayers and stars bind
to remember their plight
Echoing, an ambient hum
a blurry chandelier’s reflection,
red light bending through the skinny stem.
I live inside the glass’s soft curve
yet every breath reverberates,
every heartbeat rings back
in my intimate
crystal cathedral.
The wine is slow,
rich with memory,
yet the glass is but half-full.
Backfloat, don’t sip;
as your surroundings
are intoxicating -
they will cause you to tip.
Tears: the salt vanishes
into the red.
Do they absorb the wine?
or
Does the wine absorb the tears?
Snowflake Thunder Haiku
snowflake thunder booms
shaking ice crystals from trees
shimmering light falls
Beauty of Fall
Flight of leaves, of saffron hue,
A crystal beauty, before winter's view.
CRYSTAL CLEAR*
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boat, a gentle wanderer, seems to float on air,
its hull a feather, its wake a sigh.
its purpose is simple—
to float, to wander,
to trace the edges of sky and sea,
where clarity reigns.
I step into the boat gliding through this liquid dream,
where water glistens crystal clear.
I lean over the edge,
fingers trailing in the cool embrace.
The calm depths are alive with secrets,
the fish darting like my thoughts.
I am weightless, floating through my days,
unburdened by the past,
unfettered by the future,
each breath a buoy,
each heartbeat a sail,
catching the wind of now.
In this clarity,
I found my joy,
the simple grace of being,
the beauty of connection,
as I navigate the waters
of my own heart.
And the boat with its soft swaying,
carries me onward,
into the brilliance of today.
I revel in the light, celebrating this simple truth~
Joy is a vessel, and I am the sailor
of my own delight
*This poem was recently published at Writer Monk (titled "Floating Through Clarity, July 2025), as an entry into its weekly Poesy & Poise Contest, a flash poetry contest.
Rain like crystal tears
Shed from the soft fluffy clouds
To the thirsty earth.
Somehow among the hidden leaves of time
when quietude swerves on a lane,
there is a throb of evening's breath
panting inside those marble eyes
that if I gaze long enough into darkness
your iced look will blink,
to open windows that are locked
by hinges creating angst enmeshed.
The distant screams paint your irises
jutting out from a frame of hard lids
buried deeply on frigid weeds---
and the night loses its elegance
while your crystal tears invade the glow
in the lamp of your eyes-- I understand
how private this time is when you
fade away...knowing not I am there.
First Place
The beauty of the rain when those crystal drops fall on us, is what this poem is all about.
The droplets fall on me now,
As pure as a plain crystal- Even I do not know how,
They fall on my body,
I wish I was called worthy of it-By somebody.
I feel glad and blessed,
When those crystals on my body-Gets pressed,
I feel relived and chaste,
Forgetting my gender, religion and caste.
They fall on me one after the other,
And are waiting to fall on me,
When they clash across each other,
I could feel from this worldly stress- Fully Free!
The picture changes to a serene painting of the sea
Then the evening clouds of late autumn by the ocean
There's a crystal blue lake followed by a lavender
River and mountains and then nighttime stars by a
Highway lit in neon/There is a city viewed from
Miles away and lighted with the colors of dawn
There is a green glow and a pinkish sunset and
Always the ocean and a mountain with a man
Pointing at the sky/The sun rises overland then
Sets leaving a calming new morning
Now there is a purple desert with twinkling stars
And a moon just sinking in a new horizon and
Clouds so thick you can almost taste them
Like cotton candy and there's a dragon
Sleeping on a desert floor with blue sand
And a river in grey pass fertile soil and
The clouds rolling in for the background
And the dawn and the river go on forever
crystal
she held me captive with her fingers
nails rhythmically tapping on sand-colored stone
like a general marching to war
ready to go but wanting to stay
with my eyes i could taste her sumptuous lips
swallowing words was easy
snacking on syllables and punctuation
spilling juices onto her thirsty tongue before a kiss
i nearly drowned in her tears
weighted words pulled like an anchor
as she recounted her story
with talking hands and dejected eyes
i discovered the birth of tears
when the heart hurts and the mind knows
eyes can no longer endure the pain
and they cleanse the soul with wishes
i could have loved her
during days that allowed a gentle breeze
a quicker step, guilt-free innocence
and a season to nurture the blossoms of love
now we sit, fingers interlocked
the marching general no longer trudging to war
syllables and punctuation consumed
until tears mingle, wondering if love has escaped
why does life unleash prisoners of the heart,
forever trapped in yesterday
in places where seeds are planted
and in the parched heat of the noontime sun
they die?
© tolbert
Shattered not broken still as a star
sustained from heaven
no silence can mar
Refractive light * reflections of self
seen through God's eyes,
we are !
Shimmering,
Across the landscape.
A sea of lights,
Start taking shape.
Such delicate perfection,
Under divine protection.
Natural selection,
A chemical reaction.
Elements collide,
Coincide,
Divide.
Creating a core,
The perfect storm,
Falling into place.
Coming to form,
Now face to face.
Shining a light,
Shimmering so bright.
Beaming pure delight,
Innocent little Light
Such beauty in our sight,
As we hold the,
Crystal of Life.
A crystal-pin prick at the beginning
a monumental vagueness at the end
the art of carving peace seems quite lost again
in between granite slabs-a tangle of black tragedies
and tiny clusters of downy light upon a peaceful being
The selfishness of flesh drifting atop the brine
in an endless maze of the triggered mind
where blue devils tap dance so raggedly
around the splintered sundial of God time
• A shiny crystal ball
• Make sure it does not fall
• If it breaks, the spirits who fell
• Will drag you with them back to hell
On the balcony of a hilltop home near Santa Barbara California, late, on a warm, clear summer night, forty years ago, looking out over the ocean, with good friends, after hours of partying, stars twinkled in the black sky, and lights twinkled on an offshore oil rig rumored to be the inspiration for The Doors song, the Crystal Ship. We all just stared, one of us saying, that's The Crystal Ship.
alone, together
vast sea and infinite skies
twinkles in our eyes
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