I walk dangling, a puppet in a shadow-play,
Dragging along old strings I can't unravel.
Tied to the scars and promises I've made,
Along the way to get here as, I am.
The strings on limbs, twitch my intentions,
Wrenching my will to veer their way — not mine.
My heart aches, knowing who's pulling the strings,
But there is too much at stake to sever them.
How can I choose, when I’m snared this way,
Bridled, and bound to strings I can't reject.
I'm a puppet twofold - I can't cut the strings.
Some knots held tight through joy and pain,
Others snapped, then retied themselves again.
I am swayed by the grief required to end this thing
Locked and bound underneath the weight of strings.
Written: April 17, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Constance La France
Quote: "Lovely days don't come to you, you should walk to them." by Rumi
***********************
Life will not coach you until it happens,
Serendipitously, it flows, upsetting our souls.
When you glance, you feel no longer whole,
Leave dreams behind until the frost blackens.
Love doesn't always reach out to stay,
It often teaches you how deeply you feel.
It seems like it's just dangling a kneel,
as if it were writing you a swiping essay.
Being whole does not teach you resilience,
You discover it when you're crushed by life.
You proceed with wobbly hands and strife,
Grace is born by shaking, not just experience.
It's a quiet place, beneath a grassy hill,
Where the moonlight spills on whippoorwill.
And flowers of apricot, maroon and mauve,
Crowd the blues and yellows, at sunlit cove.
On a large flat rock, at the watery edge,
I'm at golden hour, feet dangling a ledge,
Scents of sea and summer blended with sun,
Permeate the moments, like sunset visions.
This is my sanctuary, my cove by the sea,
A place of green butterflies and honeybee.
I go there to meditate in the sunlit bliss,
And at times to encounter firefly reminisce!
Often I will sketch the gorgeous scenery,
Lost to this world in an ocean of greenery.
Written on August 17, 2020
For: Sanctuary Poetry contest
Sponsored by: Silent One
Fly with me
This poem depicts a beautiful picture of how God often set us up for success.
An Eaglet is hungry in his nest
His body steadied in a cold rest
Mom comes flying in an undulating breeze
In each flight, she came with empty feet
Mom pushes her little one out of the nest
The young Eaglet fell on his chest
Hitting his face against the cliff of the hill
He picked up a beetle and ate it; his first kill.
He stayed by itself, no longer brooded at night
As time passed he was airborne for his first flight
Mother pushes her little one in and out again
As he screamed for food over and over again
“Mom, what are you doing?”?
“Hey! Mom, what are you doing?”?
Mom flew by, dangling a marmot in his feet
The eaglet lost balance in eagerness to eat
The parent swung by, daring him to fly
Lifted up high, he gave it a first try
He sailed across the valley, almost tumbling
In an undulating flight, almost scrambling
He tried to get his bearing, still trying
And for the first time in his life, he was flying.
Snowflakes are falling from nature’s frozen water,
the icicles dangling; a kaleidoscope contrived-
Angels in the snow are made from my daughter,
because good fun and joy I’ve always taught her.
It’s that time of year again…Winter has arrived.
November 30, 2017
Spring is in full bloom
And the festival of colours
Is letting loose the wild side
Of the young and old in India
Drowning old hatreds to start anew
With coloured water guns and balloons
Sprays and powdered colours are splashed
On all and on those who try to escape
People attire in new pristine clothes
For its palette to be more colourful
Spring is in full bloom
And the festival of bullets
Is letting loose the wild side
Setting afire newer hatreds
By the hard liners in Brussels
Explosions and gun shots at the airport
Blasting's and blowing off the smoky roofs
There are screams with wounded and dead
Lying splattered in streams of vermillion
A clear invitation to open war
Spring is in full bloom
For the festival of bullets and colours
Befooling ego's versus fooling with others
In one world there is joy and a carefree holiday
In another world god through the devils
Pins down those he wishes to carry
The wounded themselves are half dead with shock
The tussle between the good and the bad remind us of
His scales that keep dangling a change between
Planned joys and unplanned gory deaths
Balveen Cheema
March 23, 2016
A quilt of snowfall
Interrupts my peaceful sleep
Rest comes into Spring
Blackened clouds looming
Determination of sun
A battle of wills
Rebellious bird
Early spreading of its wings
Mother close behind
Lone apple remains
Dangling a fragile branch
Protesting Winter
Mornings are beautiful at the screen door!
Trees swaying with the gentle breeze
Birds are chirping their hello
Noise of a busy street - steady zoom of cars
Apartment life across the way - yard sales just beginning
Balloons bouncing on a sign proclaiming move-in special of the week
Nearby stores abuzz with their business
A man on his daily walk - lost in thought, but still waves
Mother walks with her daughter-backpack dangling a Dora keychain
Two ladies stride by, discussing evening plans, or last night's secrets
Ladybug lands on a budding flower
Motorcycle roars by, startling a passing dog
Garbage truck noisily approaches
School buses go by, faces pressed to the windows
Familiar cars parked in driveways
A waiting bench in the yard calls my name
Standing at my screen door, a daily life unfolds
The corner house with a perfect view of stories daily told
Looking up at the blue sky, poignant memories of others at this door
A past generation of observation, by those who stood here before
Looking up at the sky so blue
Gentle breeze carries the scent of you
Nose fills with your sweet smell
Look around but to no avail
Just a cruel memory that i can't forget
Broken pieces that haven't been swept out
yet
Teases the heart like dangling a rodent I'm
front of a snake
Why were those choices at the time so
easy to make
So brash and unplanned our fate was
chosen
Moments in my head so still seem to be
frozen
Our separate ways we went but we are
forever bound together in this life
The three lives we created are still here
even through the strife
The beauty of our love that was once so
great
I love them and cherish them for they
share with you what feels like every trait
So, now it has come to this.
Raging fires,
layered against razor-tipped tongue,
ready to land upon eagle’s nest.
Ready for Solace’s oceanic visions...
Visions that never cared to change me,
only loves me enough to embrace.
She didn’t care to see right through me,
only cherishing me enough to see within.
She never caressed my love
while picking past-time scabs,
guilt sway dangling; a presumptuous noose.
She never hung me to out to dry,
a dangling blanket bloodied from ambivalent missionary positions.
No jealousy grasp against my closet dusted skeleton.
She never cut me with diamond ring uncertainties.
She never told me she loved me,
while running towards horizons’ indifference.
She simply wants to be memories’ wind upon my hand,
knowing I shut my palms from judgments’ scythe
and nightmares of distance filling my miles,
wallowing in my sin.
As I,
smell the winds of change.
This scent
lingers,
a wisp crying for release.
A rose petal
no longer willing to come to terms.
A dream
no longer wishing to exist
with minds’ eye shut.
A heart ready
to be
continued...
© Drake J. Eszes
Look deep into my eyes seduce me with your stare.
come close and tease me if you dare
As if to almost have you and then you pull away.
like an unspoken promise for a later day.
You are so close now that you feel my heart beat
As i lay awake just holding you beneath the sheets
You feel me rigid and ready for you
But a little teasing is all you will do
Like dangling a meal in front of a starving beast
Who is tired of waiting and is ready for a feast
And you have teased me enough i cant take anymore
So i lean over and shut your door
I kiss you a little as if to tease you back
As i slide my fingers up your six pack
You moan and scream and whisper my name
Wow your enough to drive me insane
Your back arches as you grab the sheets
I see your toes curl as I glance at your feet
Your legs shake as your juices flow
like lava coming from a volcano
You lay back motionless as if you were dead
You smile so big as your face turns red
You look at me and speak ever so slow
You tell me ( I love you, I don't want you to go)
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