For shining so bright, you burn out and die;
for soaring too close to the sun, you fall
to the hard earth below and crash: “Too high,”
judge the gods; so, as lesson to us all,
you're chastened for your lofty, prideful flight.
Like Icarus, I test life's great divide
between deity and men: visionary sight,
God-giv'n, and penetrating—eagle-eyed!
What seems like pride is for history to laud:
so, as Jesus the man was, so am I.
Only a God humbles another god;
that's destiny no man can e'er defy.
Though the world crucifies, God testifies
with fulsome laughter that I, His child, rise!
I can’t rid of the bags under my eyes
The crowfeet despise, all were lies,
Conjured was an illusion of you
Throughout my groping confusion
evasive, flimsy
A-m-o-r-p-h-i-c, innuendos
I was subjected to your derision
dissing me relentlessly
deriding my appearance,
disparaging my intellect
as I stumbled and fell into the abyss
Mocking doesn’t suit my countenance
My lips desert dry, thirsty, parched
An amazon no longer beats its drum
My buoyant nature now laden with coarsened shroud
Leaving a cardboard moon deprived of its shine
Stars like candles blown out one by one
No use waiting for the rising Sun
The end of world does come,
stopped spinning neath heavy ebon clouds
Expectations unreal
All zeal gone, listless is my spirit
along with my illumination
Now you see me
unmasked in raw anguish
I d
r
o
o
p
jowls hang from endless
torment endured
like the drenched and cold, wounded hawk
taken flight, eagle-eyed, a warrioress
more determined and bold, traveling on
with unlimited range
and self-esteemed
This bird,
you
c
a
n
n
o
t c h a n g e
You marrow-deep in the bone-dry field,
sprawled like a wishbone snapped wrong-
the ground drinks your weight,
but won't swallow you whole.
wind combs its fingers through the wheat,
a mother's touch turned phantom.
That house- small as a postage stamp,
licked, sealed, and sent too far-
waits with its back turned.
your arms are bridges to nowhere,
your legs, two broken clock hands,
stuck in a time that does not move.
still, your gaze- sharp as a knife-edge moon-
slices the dance like a butcher's twine.
the land here is a tight-lipped secret,
a locked jaw of yellowed grass,
a lungful of dust that never exhales.
you wear silence like a second skin,
but your eyes, keen as a needle bite,
thread the gap between longing and gravity.
eagle-eyed girl, you have the hunters staring,
but the hunted bones
tell me- does the sky ever blink first?
teeny tiny field mouse did not have a chance there
eagle-eyed red headed buzzard spotted him from the air
swooped down, then took mouse up to fifteen thousand feet
making him into a squirming wiggly tasty treat
Just like the vulture watches its prey
From atop the roof top
Scanning every moving rodent
And rotten s by the gutter,
He watches eagle-eyed,
Every car on the traffic lane.
He watches with keenness ready
To pounce on any traffic offender.
Not because he respects the law
but for self-gratification.
"Kiss the Leopards"
Kiss the leopards
before dying
confiscate their spots
for memories
ever changing
to place as stars
stamped across a sky
of evergreen
where hidden lions smile
writing out their scores
on blank canvas
clean sheets for clouds
waving sober dreams
turning pages dog-eared
notes marked in pens unclear
the eagle eyed watching
sunflowers pressed in between
where azure bluebirds
fly invisible, messages unseen
(LadyLabyrinth / 2022)
“Isn’t it a Pity” / Nina Simone
https://youtu.be/DitOFrGBEQA
“Isn’t it a Pity”/ George Harrison
https://youtu.be/nFxYsWCT6_k
I cut my hair and dyed it this morning.
On the way out of the bathroom I snipped another piece off.
My eagle-eyed-first-and-last-husband said “Don’t tell me you cut your hair with my kitchen shears.”
So I didn’t.
I just put them into the knife block.
Exceptions especially encouraged--
Every encounter emerges,
Eventually enveloping everyone
Eagle-eyed; ecstatic, energetic
Early earthlings enjoyed elegies
Effusively effected, each eloquent.
March 23, 2021
Life is a giant puzzle; how can one solve it?
I marvel at the universe and its wonder,
For it is pleasing to my eyes as I just sit;
Eagle-eyed, I realized my search was plunder,
Seeing creation with new lenses humbled me.
My vision was more clearer, and I felt quite whole.
Yearning to take it in, to experience glee.
Stopped worrying about things out of my control,
Trusted in the creator and this vast universe.
Earth and life are so complex must accept what's shown.
Ready to consider changing as I immerse,
Inwardly to discover me accepting the unknown.
Each day of my life, as I traverse through these lands,
Soaring high, I grasp that blessings outweigh the sands.
I guess we can struggle when we sit down to write
But use your own words - to plagiarise isn’t right
When I read a poem that’s simply too good to be true
I then begin to question, was it even written by ‘you’
If I google a few lines it will give me the answer
You’ve been caught red handed – you were a chancer
I just want to read poems that I’ve never read before
If I find stolen work I won’t read ‘yours’ any more
Why claim words from another writer, as it is a crime
You’ll never find stolen words in any poem of mine
Part 1 posted on soup 7th February 2015
Part 2 ...
To obtain contest glory and gong
You stole another's words, it's so wrong
Plagiarism is vile
You've done it quite a while
I’m hoping this is your swan song
Hollander died aged eighty three
So tell me how could it be
His work’s here on soup
‘you’ wrote it – that’s poop
Soup booted this fraud speedily!
Sadly the culprit has once again been posting stolen work soup even entering it for contests, thanks to eagle eyed souper's he has been removed once more.
30th December 2019
d-e-p-r-e-s-s-i-o-n
doesn’t know what nerve end hurts.
easygoing he’s not.
pleasing himself? he fo-
rgot the rules.
eagle-eyed demonic-
s attack, never giving any
slack. they’re in
it to win it, but G-
od
never forgets...the cross firmly placed.
9/4/2019
I stand sentinel in the hot fierce sun.
Wondering why I’m in this hostile land
It’s not my style to ever turn and run
Fixed to the spot sweating from gun in hand.
The training never led us to expect
the fear and horror of modern warfare.
Seeing such Pain, blood and fear leaves us wrecked
For all our comrades we really care.
The time has come for us to move inside
Streets brimming with woman, mothers and child.
Forward, stride by stride keeping eagle eyed
No one knows who is our foe in full streets
Then from a place to my side, woman drops
her rag doll child and opens fire. Silence
Long prior - I took to the wheel
On a day, fairly, surreal
Amid one of my visits back home
I went to see, tailgating, all alone
My boyhood city. A city on its knees
I began patrolling, unemotionally
Among, the hollowed, disintegrated, arteries
I've gone into a run-down, stepping ground
Of relinquished houses, torched down
Cess-pool of spoiled industries, shook
Dismal, diminishing, to tears look
A catastrophe of block, smoke, and gook
Miles and miles of wrongdoing, invaded places
The most exceedingly awful, that humankind embraces
Free, with the blazing fury
Of youthful, spontaneity
I started to take pictures, ardently
Of drifters, hobos, winos, and the beggarly
Wearing, worn out, robe of strands
And vagrants with solidified hands
Crouched around, enormous, hot drum cans
Without modesty, I eagle-eyed
The crestfallen, with nowhere to hide
That permeates, everywhere, I spied
Offering itself for examination
A photo of urban immolation
I was alone in a no man's homey
And in a no man's city
Cold howling winds have finally died
And a spring sun’s decided to abide
There’s no sweeter place than countryside
What a wonderful time to send the kids outside
Reclaiming a chunk of ‘me’ time I decide
To tackle that novel and sit by the fireside
Hang stress out like an old faded apron to hide
It’s the perfect moment to feel thoroughly satisfied
Plenty of time later to be busy and preoccupied
Children intoxicated with spring are wide-eyed
Exude joy and freedom in their stride
Silly with excitement, wild and cock-eyed
Running free up and down the hillside
I see no reason for chide
As I watch them eagle-eyed
Smiling with so much love and pride
Thinking of days gone by as a guide
When I'll call them back inside
The kids will be exhausted, bonafide
With rosy cheeks into bed they’ll glide
Won’t take long choosing a side
For tonight’s treasured stories at bedside
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on March 10, 2018 for contest SPRING FLING ZING KING (OR QUEEN) sponsored by MICHAEL VASEK - HONORABLE MENTION
Eagle, what do you see from the top of the tree?
How wonderful to be able to fly, fly free.
Do you see every mouse as it scampers past?
Can you still catch it when it’s running very fast?
Do you have hungry babies in the nest to feed?
Do you only kill what you actually need?
Do you know every bird fears you in the sky?
For they know you see all with your eagle eye.
With your beak and talons do you know your power?
When for prey you are searching and all countryside scour?
Yet, when you soar wings outstretched, opened wide
Are you aware that you have a beautiful side?
Do you really care if you are loved or hated?
Do you think that your status is over-rated?
Amazingly it is me that scares you to fly,
When you spot me with your eagle eye!
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