A covered bridge once spanned across
this deep, dividing stream
and anxious reverence filled the thoughts
of all to trek its way.
Wrought iron bolts held taught and fast
this might of chiseled beam
as shingled roof and clapboard wall
held brevity at bay.
It stood the days when horses drew
their harvests to the mill
that lay beyond the river’s weir,
along the channel stride.
Its wooden slats were burnished clean
by spindled wagon wheels
and planks would whimper hallowed moans
as wind and stream collide.
Its stalwart strength held stoic
as a darker day encroached
and bore this Nation’s burden when
Her war was in its prime.
And some still hear the cannon wheels
engrave as they approached,
and Brogans pounding cadence as
formations march in time.
As time will do its passing drew
the strength from timbered bone,
and soon it came to call upon
this faithful trodden friend.
Two hundred years of lumbered toil
gave way to man-made stone
so, generations still to come
could bridge divides again.
The corrupt officer schemed throughout his years,
Amassing great wealth beyond his peers.
But once retired, his heart did stir,
He dreamed to be known as patriot and social worker.
The social worker preached to keep things clean
Yet dumped the trash where it should not be seen-
By roadside or river the rubbish he threw
A bitter irony the people knew.
The patriots and reformers proud and tall,
As they liked to be addressed by all,
Encroached upon the public land,
Taking more than they had planned.
They speak out against corruption's blight,
Yet ask their children to thrive in its night.
The social activist, with care and knack,
Got government contracts through the backtrack,
Jobs for his kin, all neatly aligned,
Through hidden doors, deals well designed.
The society nods, though it may shove
The life one chooses to live and love,
Need not align with words they say,
Actions and truths may drift away.
Death came in
like a creeping fog;
it’s presence sinister
yet formidable,
pervading the air
as it encroached upon
her frail body,
which for just a few more
brief moments
would continue to harbor
her soul
before being pulled
into death’s carriage
and taken away into the void
for eternal rest.
The sky is leaden,
season's first rain
begins to fall.
The earth is thirsty
but cannot quench it's thirst
and the sound of rain
is not soothing in summer.
For a shower's while
water spills over
the roads,lanes,yards.....
as local ponds vanished,
drains,rills encroached
and filled with clay.
The hills from where
the rivers originate are barren
trees fallen in large scale.
Though the paddy fields
await with glee the rain,
pitter-patter on the roof
brings little comfort,
for the price is still
to be paid.
The rain once welcomed
with elation
now falls on a jaded land.
Each time they are ready
to shift their belongings,
but not ready
to right the wrongs.
Screech of owl with shrieking caterwauling
doesn’t startle me at all
until wings shroud the sky.
My blessed-courage takes cover real fast
as the rodent alongside’s
encroached on by talons.
The thick presence of the owl says don’t look,
turn a blind eye to his kill
as neck turns one slick eye.
He has no taste for human flesh except
if two legs gets in his way -
predatory suspense.
Grandma gave rugrat a gift,
Into the toy box I did lift,
It was so plastique,
Not quite fantastique,
Grandma, Grandma, where were you,
When I stepped on Lego at 4:32?
Foul language approached,
On my bare foot it encroached,
Sheer hell, granny, thank you not,
No wonder I am now a sot!
a yearning of alabaster guilt given birth
from this mouth of words mesmerising
like rings of Saturn, behold encroached
by your retort, cutting if not comic, life
adjacent to corners of some death, you
lit fires with a tongue and let them burn
reeling in oceans, as salamander heads
lined exotic craters of timely eruptions
yet honey melts heaven in a single kiss
Sleep lifted its gossamer veil from my eyes this morn
before dawn's roseate beams of light had been born.
Silence reigned as the world around me still slept.
I watched a cat in the garden as it stealthily crept.
Towards prey it encroached, on a songbird trilling.
To let nature take its course today, I was not willing.
I opened the window to chase the stalking feline away,
and heard the distant chiming of bells holding sway.
Sunlight peered through clouds with a glow of inflection,
and the songbirds I'd saved, sang a melody of perfection.
"Ring, bells of hope." I whispered as night was breached.
"Ring out to empty hearts that faith has never reached."
If only the sonorous sounds of the bells could be heard,
would mankind accept the truth of God's written word?
Would the warring of nations then come to and ending,
and peace among races of men never again need mending?
I listened and prayed for all men to join in a brotherhood.
"Ring aloud so all may feel the need for love as they should."
Blaring horns and loud voices intruded upon my tranquility.
I closed the window from the world's clamorous hostility.
the fins
of human
quake tremendously
spills grotesqueness while dumping
the ox cosmos in the middle of smoothly
mirrored
ocean Walls
where ones choice is fixed
at dawn stagnantly brimming
in obsolete enviable damp colours
woven in a volcanic
oasis of anguished circles embraced in
loneliness fronted
with shuttering frozen stars
moulding through a sunny cheerful darkness
reinvigorated with
strident current in
waves staring
hovering and invading through the thorns of
the barren mountains
wrapped in swings of an
encroached moonlight piercing in
the vacancy of
my enchanted soul
channeling through my so preceding exist
in steam of redolence reek
from the garden frowns
and grins
call me a piscine
but even as a sly tamed fox hereafter
I would soar on footprints of
ceaseless fogs
to unveil your gleam
leap through the reflection of
sunlight to sway you
exasperatingly siren my scales on
your prime lips
fading with a spin
submerged in a longing savory passion
He always endeavored to win alone
And over the years, his methods he honed.
He projected strength and never seemed evil,
But others (to him) were throw-away people.
Most were people he barely knew,
And some were souls whose use was through.
A few were kinfolk that he knew well.
But in the end, they also fell.
People resented his wiles and ways
That he achieved his selfish goals each day.
He lied, cheated, and encroached upon rights,
So that he could win his impossible fights.
Lives were destroyed and futures were lost,
Leaving many with deep emotional costs.
But now he’s alone after merciless toils,
With no one to love and share his spoils.
He is an ostracized soul who won alone,
Now emptily reaping what he has sown.
STRATEGY
a spatial
boundary
dismantled
from
memory
tranquil
cropped
in
an
encoded
facade
encroached
by
eloquent
realms
of unspoilt
semi- abstract
crests
glistening
phenomena
patterned
representation
consonances
plays of light
in recurring
ambivalent
composition
indifferent
intractable
invisible
dynamic
contrasts
summed up
in the
unfamiliar
ELOQUENCE
a
reticent
celebration
of ambiguity
latent
licit
straightforward
yet
oblique
interpretation
beyond
the
inner image
nurtured
in
connected
tendencies
to evolve
closely
obsessive
an ambivalent
narrative
observed
in
dreamy
abandon
of
unmistakable
pleasure
initiated
in
the
unconscious
made
manifest
by
desire
once
repressed
derived
by
a sense
of
intimacy
"I did not expect death to knock on my door.
Now I keep it securely locked." ~ by poet
I bade the knocker at my door, "Please come in."
The visitor to my home, whoever it might've been
But frigid air left a chilly atmosphere in the room
The hand of fate entered; I heard the voice of doom
I sensed my end was near as it swiftly approached
Across my dwelling's threshold, death encroached
Its icy breath etched frost upon my window panes
Blood seemed to stop flowing within my frail veins
Death's wildling wind pelted its anger on my roof
My fear of it climbed higher as I cowered in reproof
Huddled in a corner, horror mounted and spurred
This room was the chamber where I'd be interred
How foolhardy of me to leave my door unlocked
I shouldn't have bid welcome when death knocked
Every gliding step its darkness took in my direction
subdued my will until I could not raise an objection
Terror compelled me to curse what my fate now bore
I should've run when hearing the knock on my door
Demonic eyes searched mine with a look of disdain
Out the door it flew, but my fright will long remain
Like an omelette I am cheesy and I tell some hammy jokes
When I flip it to the punchline I don't always land the yolks
I scramble at the thought of keeping it farm fresh
Cracking under pressure like a shell in place of flesh
Whenever I look way up, I can see the sunny side
That can be exhausting and I really feel fried
Sometimes it comes overeasy, not to say they've never spoiled
Still breaking if you drop em' even if they are hard boiled
Maybe I can make you queasy if I'm being really raw
So I will never claim to be totally free range of flaw
Hope this hasn't been too runny, and a laugh or two I've poached
If so I'll take, shake it, bake it for the time I have encroached
Next time you're feeling beaten, just whisk it up aways
Turn up the heat, add some spice before starting the hollandaise
Not to nag or rag or beg, but crack a yolk and shake a leg
To be a fun egg or a pun egg or just a damn great egg
June 11, 2023
When encroached buildings on water beds are removed,
The water beds stretch
More water birds they fetch
Pink flamingos, pelicans, crake
And purple swamphens, fill the lake
Kaleidoscope of colors they make
When the use of plastics is reduced
Soil becomes more fertile
Good organisms cheerfully grin
Biodiversity sustains
Healthy food they make us avail
Help flourishing all our lives
When the ecosystem restoration is done
Our mother earth will happily smile
And our mistakes, she'll forgive
The more she smiles, the more she gives
The more she gives, the more we smile
So let's make our Earth smile...
June 05 2023
No rooster crowed the tenebrous morning
I woke to somber skies aflame.
As dawn rose across a crimson horizon,
a firestorm blazed from a golden core
and scarlet lava flowed above the plains.
Charred, were black mordant clouds.
Menancingly, they swept over my barn.
A rubicund threat; a hazard to the earth,
an inferno; a warning of ill-fated death.
Terror filled me as fire encroached,
knowing I would become a torch,
kindled when scorching embers approached
to ignite me, rendering a fight for life futile.
Laughter heard as I became ribbons of smoke.
Soon, my ashes would be airborne,
and all that would remain of me would be
carried on the whim of the wayward wind.
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