When facing a wall of fear and pain, I stand.
Laughing, as hope and calm slip from my hand.
I climb tree branches, easily, swiftly and timely.
Each thread a steady beam that holds me upright.
Up in the canopy, I cheer up, and start to sing,
A hymn of praise that only being there can bring.
I rise higher, holding trunk and bough with delight.
Each fork a foothold lifting up into the light.
I rejoice in the chaos of tangled twigs and leaves,
That encases me with living walls, roofs and eaves.
Their whispered voices rustle solace in the breeze.
Bringing peace and joy, untangling my spent unease.
A careless slip — I lose my grip and start to slide.
But the tree clutches me, with a sudden, saving guide.
It breaks my fall and sets me softly onto the ground,
Its roots bear and steady me — till deep peace is found.
Oh Lord I admonish and acknowledge that I kiss
As such I embrace so
As I encases sorry
My emotions and praise around as
I hold you so long
You’re loving touch your breath in me
creative life you have done so much
Oh Lord I want to praise you up
Surreal breath kisses my heart sweet beats such
10/14/24
written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
Cars are the wind on the streets
semi-truck wheels shriek thunder,
rain shatters against stone and brick walls
on dusty roads, oak trees fence with twigs—
wushu wooden clatters.
Dreadful arrays of dryads
azure and amethyst gossamer haze,
sleek, silken strikes gist an opera of wisteria,
as they sway to silver breeze's sibilant rustles.
They chant lullabies in lyrical lilts of hued iridescence,
of hearth and opals back to my scarlet nest.
Angelus silver trills, the sylphic sways of pure rays,
Coral rosary—incense strands of aurulent rimes
hum, endless hymns echo as choral evensong
alleluias softly peal out—doves with wet eyes
that drift upward on whispery—ethereal wings.
Ocean's plea emerges from apothic abyss,
a voice conveys the core of faxed shores and stars,
with earth and wind in a solemn tone.
A cosmic biography—in loud squeals and sighs
sea vernacular hinges on nature's lasting awe.
Breath goes to fog—snow melts into puddles—rain returns,
a china-white grave—encases the deceased deer,
before thawing in the morning—icy skin lies frozen.
An eerie distance holds my hand in a purifying blizzard.
I scream but you don’t hear me
No, please don’t go
The darkness encases me
Please just stay
I promise to change
I promise to try
But you don’t hear me
I cry but you don’t see me
Tears of silver scars
The darkness engulfs me
Droplets of hurt
Thinking of loss
Thinking of grief
But you don’t see me
I shout but you don’t hear me
Why hurt me?
What did I do?
My rage fuels me
Stabbing me once
Stabbing me twice
But you don’t hear me
I write but you don’t read me
Deafened mind of ignorance
Immaturity
My pain tortures me
Message unread
Message read
But you don’t read me
I vent but you don’t hear me
This is what hurts me
Alone with anxiety
Aching vibrates through me
No problem here
No problem there
But you don’t hear me
I weep but you don’t see me
Pretending to not see
Wet cheeks of sorrow
As loneliness languishes me
Heaving sighs
Heaving mind
But you don’t see me
I whisper but you don’t hear me
Please help
Save me
Despair devours me
Silently screaming
Silently slipping
But you don’t hear me
clear ice encases
sharp, fragile, gray branch styli
rain frees spring’s heralds
Each finger performs forthwith
the assigned functions freely,
aware that interference imposed
and the suffocating attire slipped in,
can be unpleasantly chaotic,
disturbing the digital harmony,
for the fingers feel stifled.
The garb of glove desensitizes
their discerning dexterity,
the hand dislikes.
The cathartic outfit of ease,
the mitten encases the fingers,
strengthening the fiber of comaradarie
that fosters the spirit of togetherness,
except for the odd one,
solely signaling thumbs up,
the hand appreciates.
_________________
January 18, 2023
Contest : Of What Use Are Gloves To Fingers
That Only Understand Mittens
Sponsofred by : John Lawless
Come to the hill named Flagstaff
Climb to the top and glimpse the emerald expanse
In summer when kites are flying and students laugh
Or the crystalline mounds in winter when tobogganers prance
From here we'll stroll past the Carnegie Library toward the Cathedral of Learning
Where we will embark on another ascent before we proceed
To devour pierogis in the Strip, kayak along the Ohio, and go tunneling
Through the Fort Pitt and emerge at high speed
Into this land of golden bridges and charming neighborhoods
The Steel City will not disappoint
For adventures await amid Appalachian backwoods
Where a dazzling skyline encases a capitalized Point
A colorless void encases a cardinal mind
Aesthetically stifled in a lonely heart
Its beauty therein has flown worlds apart
Entrusting true love, one day it’ll find
Until then, she’ll dwell in memories
and shadows that haunt every dream
Her tears flow in an endless stream
when love was more than reveries
July 30, 2020
Be Inspired Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Regina McIntosh
The subtle crust slowly encases around my beating heart
Where the layers of scars have formed a dance line
Stepping in time to the angel of deaths tambourine
Beckoning and persuading me to surrender my last breath
But that crust is now my fortress
My last line of defence
So the battle rages intense
As I make sense of my enemies senseless quest for my soul
It is my own destiny to control
Some might say I have hardness of heart
Yet their feet cant fill my shoes
Or bear the scars or constant bruise
Which has enabled my crust to blossom
Into the flower God created me to be.
My Crust his gift to me.
The love I have for you is so;
Is that your heart and spirit shines so;
And if I never existed;
It's you that I shall consistence...
And I love your aura
And I love you aura
And I love you with your spirit and your soul;
I do love you evermore
And evermore I love you so;
There's a warmth that encases me;
and there is a breath of life God breathe in me;
And if you never existed;
I would awaited your creation;
From our Lord, our God
I would wait for you darling...
And I love your aura
And I love you aura
And love of you I do your whole mind, spirit and soul
And evermore I love you so;
This I truly do, I love you evermore true;
Throughout your mind, body and soul I do;
8/31/19
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2019©
End of summer arrives over the hill
with yielding flowers in little red buckets
half eaten pizza boxes discarded at will
theme parks lay vacant as open lockets
a Japanese lilacs gives one last gait
the birds fly south with Autumnary song
shaker knits aired as bathing suits deflate
life begins to slow as we lose the throng
mother earth encases bereft of cloak
and golden fields lay barren without fruit
regardless of the change we opt to stroke
the last of summer as it spills out mute
as the season configures and declines
I go higher up where the sun still shines .
8/11/2019
Writing Challenge 1, August 2019 - Just Write
Sponsor, Dear Heart
The iced earth encases within hidden depths
a dormant forgotten fossil, enslaving each limb's tendril budding like pebbles locked
in chains forged, contorted by rock and stratified slate twisted by snowy sleet,
spiked corkscrews drill clay, marble and compact soil, root through the dreary winter
blackened grass and heather, popping spring's nuevo vintage exploding over the curb's ridge,
where alabaster petals brim over, winking
under a spiky hedgerow overflowing in beads that bristle like pearls enamelled but brittle
dangling in emerald gowns that deck the lay-by in greens, edged by slush and white crystal,
Then the freeze retreats, growing frail
as a snowdrop nods its head,
spring sends a February friend.
Missing wind-up key
lethargic symphony
doll missing its dream
How do I break out
of this maddening nightmare
my unfulfillment
Branches in the road
which path leads to my passions
Fairy-tale Journey
Life's uncertainty
energy deficiency
path blocked before me
Where am I going?
fog encases around me
Possibilities
Manifestations
the apparitions discuss
the game of my fears
Fighting listlessness
penetrating light calling
to keep on going
We,
We are alone, together.
Yes, you.
Floating,
Bobbing like buoys.
It's strange,
That I am not alone
In this ocean.
Bubbling to the surface.
We,
Now together,
Looking out to the mist
Smelling harsh salt and cold.
Like ice, hail, slicing our senses
But the rain skips creamy stones
Over our tongues.
Fighting to breathe
In the cold, wintery
sea.
White waves
Crashing on to the sand, snow
That only you can see
From this floating, makeshift island.
Go,
To the land.
And let me drown,
Back to the depths
Of a solitary
existence.
Wind shaking your
Bones,
But water encases
the.
And dose more than chill
Me.
You,
Still on the floating dock,
Wondering,
where
the
light house
Is.
I can never get enough of you
and that confident smile
as your wit encases my mood
you're an afternoon splash of fervor
a gleam out off in the seas
a hope that's suddenly excited
the tide rushing in with each beat
a toast to the moon and the sunlight
a laugh in the favourable breeze
aimlessly we float with each other
when life doesn't always breathe peace
I can never get enough of you
as your blues look straight into mine
so I remind you each day you are beautiful
and offer you all of my time
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