tho' I am but the sparrow's twining strains
the palette and the pen of whisp'ring souls
I'm sweeter still if dashed upon the shoals
or bleeding from the hem of day's remains
tho' I may weep from all a scoundrel feigns
for what each soldier's dying breath extols
it's grander even morning's meadow rolls
as spindrift tossed upon the grassy plains
oh I am found the coursing thru all things
as warm within your veins, as sunset's sky
my constancy to love and swoon and hate
to stir in hopes or see what passion brings
so guard me close or open me and cry ...
I'll bound and thrum and patiently ... await.
Copyright © 2020 Gregory Richard Barden ( rewrite )
from the news
A tomato met a non-tuber plant
sweet music
a birth to what is known
as potatoes, these days also called fries
Just think if the tomato had not
been so unfaithful trying it on with
any passing plant
What would our diet be like
without the beloved spud
I read this in a paper that extols the free press
With the mild hand of exceptions
These days, the paper has fallen on hard times
and had sold out to real estate
not the two-up and one bathroom
houses in the millionaire class, after all
One has to show class
This morning, an article about jellyfish, that
In my youth, there were plentiful along the coast
of Norway, some of them stung
Now we have to go to the Outer Hebrides to
Find one in shallow pools
What I took away from the morning paper
was of potatoes, tomatoes, and the selling
of posh houses
Hiding inside a box
While my rivers run wild
Gardens dance to my tunes
Songs sung in a voiceless mode
Eyes sparkle with shiny stars
Poems bleed on empty pages
Mundane structures matter not
Love, free, extols of itself
Suffering, once heavy, gets shed off
And a thousand moons illuminate the nights
Hiding inside a box
While my rivers run wild
Evergreen forests
Fairies' delight
Rainbows sparkle with gurgling laughter
Once humans
A God and a Goddess lose themselves in each other
Finding in each other,
Oceans yearning to be explored
Creatures seeking to be discovered
Hiding inside a box
A whole world thrives
Imagination plays games known to no one else
For Contest Pick-A-Title, Vol 50
Sponsored by: Edward Ibeh
Written on 12 April 2025
If one extols the beauty of your face,
Question their gaze—can they see your place?
You are far more than a fleeting glance;
A heart filled with purpose; a spirit’s dance;
Can they truly cherish your light?
Or judge your worth by just shimmering sight?
Greet the sanguine dawn’s mauve sunrise,
A crimson pizzaz blushing opaline skies
Where eagle flies questing higher highs
Thrilling endearing vibes of enamored eyes
In sparrow’s glance, in cardinal’s dance
In the call of passion, in trill of romance.
Feel the gentle tease of buoyant breeze
And rhythms lilting on blossoming trees
As resplendence extols nature’s appeal~
White-blooms scintillating magnolia’s zeal,
Blazing red-peonies, flaming gold-daffodils,
Glint panorama glistening verdant foothills.
It’s the bubbling spirit of burbling stream
It’s budding impulse of meadow’s dream
It’s passionate horizon of magenta gleam
It’s the dawning aspiration of sunlit beam
It’s colorful ballet of splendiferous theme
It’s heavenly spring of earthly daydream.
Hear sweet songs of love strumming air,
Seductive melodies wafting everywhere
As birds hop, waltz, frolic, sing, and play
Serenading welcome to a beauteous day
Warbling verse of joy, trilling “cheer, cheer”
Oh! the spring is here, the spring’s here!
February 24, 2022
Placed 1st: A Brian Strand 1091
Placed 1st: A Lovely Day Poetry Contest
Sponsor: BJ Legros Kelley
A brook cascades daintily extant
~ flowing gayly heart’s incited joy
Meandering, nestles on Peace
~ quivering restraints strain ‘n squirm
Breaking-bank, careens downwards
~ extols faith’s grim heart-bomb
Undulating, veering waves extrapolate
~ Yonder’s zooming blue-adieu
Sojourns, so-longs, traversing under veils
~ weathering wry extremes
Heart’s incessant journey keels love’s mainland
~ new opaque's reach...
(10/7/21 For 'Islands in the Stream' contest)
in the public square
you are not to be questioned
just admired
for your dark demonstrations
of being
the hanging black spider waves its life at you
perhaps the arachnid lover is demoralized
by your hidden beauty
hard to tell
you cringe under its radiant otherness
in the public museum
take the tour backwards
let the man with the megaphone mouth
spin his webs not from the center out
but outer to inner
inwardness opens windows in closed walls
be kind to the blank eyed watchers
here is a beautiful oil on canvas
there is a spider in the corner
that no one notices
for it has no frame
its eight legs tremble
The man in the bus-driver cap
extols her still not living attractions
the ugliness of the moment
is memorized by the whole gallery
only the Picasso remains free
of the taint of paint
A fat woman sighs into my face
threads exude
multiple silky spinnerets
droop from sticky glands
I want out
the way I came in
but am now too endangered
to weave my way out of this
carry out picture palace
Incarnations Of What Love's Blessed Paradise Extols
Soft and slow each rising tide that your sweetest loving bring
that lush hush and touch setting eager seeking hearts aflame,
those luscious lips that invite passion's hottest heated might
that resounding chorus as our rendezvous night time sings.
Sensual swells of joyous ardor in each breast waiting
for the mounting ecstasy of our heavenly romance
resplendent glory, the power of our eternal Love
treasures so far beyond compare in our teenage dating.
Pleasure surging when moans found unison in gushing glee
dearest of gems stored as love's majestic depths were explored
Into Love's virgin forests as we took that first deep plunge
more than enough, memories for life- our Love you and me.
Destiny! What gift was cast to such young and eager souls
Incarnations of what Love's blessed paradise extols.
Robert J. Lindley, March 19th, 1973
Sonnet, ( Romantic Rendezvous Under A Glowing Moonlit June Night )
Syllables Per Line:14 14 14 14 0 14 14 14 14 0 14 14 14 14 0 14 14
Total # Syllables:196
Total # Words:132
Note: 6-23-2020, Edited slightly to maintain a uniform syllable count.
They tell them the reality of yesterday is their tomorrow
Save the cries for different versions of sorrow
The world is hash but there is a God who is omnipotent
The world has abundance if they choose to be content
If their dwelling is a square foot, they should think about a refugee
If their bowls are empty they should fast, prayer is free
They traded their votes for hope and empty promises
Their offertory is a subscription enticed with a forebode blessing
They should not question their poverty, for religion extols it
They should not question the system, if they are patriotic
The system was designed for the poor to determine who rules
The system was designed for a few rich to rule over the poor
Their poverty gives the powerful power over them
Their ignorance raises few questions
Their starvation hungers for crumbs
The desperation of the governed inflates the egos of the government
Dwarfing the people into fear, inferiority complex and indoctrination
These are the bars of the gate of the prison of poverty
Tho' I am but the sparrow's twining strains
The palette and the pen of whisp'ring souls
I'm sweeter, still, if dashed upon the shoals
Or bleeding from the hem of day's remains
Tho' I may weep from all a scoundrel feigns
For what each soldier's dying breath extols
It's grander, even, morning's meadow rolls
As spindrift, tossed upon the grassy plains
Oh, I am found the coursing thru all things
As warm within your veins, as sunset's sky
My constancy, to love and swoon and hate
To stir in hopes or see what passion brings
So guard me, close, or open me and cry ...
I'll bound and thrum and patiently ... await.
~ 1st Place ~ in the "Open Me First" Poetry Contest, Craig Cornish, Judge & Sponsor.
Liz Warren AKA Pocahontas
Extols med coverage for all of us
No middle-class tax says she
We will have to wait and see
"Methinks she speaks with fork'ed tongue!", said Gus
You wore the blue in the mighty fight
For you knew how to hold up the right
And you will cry
Hallelujah, hallelujah, halle- lu-uuu-yah
And you knew at times for whom the bell tolls
When lives are lost in blood extols
Again you cry
Hallelujah, hallelujah, halle- lu-uuu-yah
On those days when things were bad
All you could see was so very sad
At the end all there is the mournful cry
Hallelujah, hallelujah, halle- lu-uuu-yah
Sometimes the call is left to you
To tell parents their child’s life is through
Wiping the tears they cry
Hallelujah, hallelujah, halle- lu-uuu-yah
And the years of facing all the fears
So you’re not able to hold back the tears
Cry out with all your might
Hallelujah, hallelujah, halle- lu-uuu-yah.
© Paul Warren Poetry
Asserting the Almighty as wisdom-Source
Biblical education is built upon and braced by God.
Christ-exalting, it extols the Saviour's precepts
Directing learners along virtuous beatitudes
Enlightening with His vital truth:
"Fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge"*
Guiding against ignorance, doubts, and selfishness
Heralding genuine heart-transformation midst faith-fortification
Illumining mind for discretion-might...
Jesus, Lord is sought as Master Teacher!
*Proverbs 1:7
Upheld steadfastly by sovereign brace
My existence extols divine grace.
Filled now with earnest gratitude
I ascend toward faith’s altitude
Propped by God’s unwavering might
Midst love-wrought service delight:
Fulfilling commitment from the start
Reaching-out along volunteerism rampart
Ministering well against selfishness’ dart
Pleasing Lord with joyous heart*.
*1Kings 8:66 ... Joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the LORD had done...
March 30, 2019
3rd place "10 Lines, 5 Words: Rhyme III" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Lu Loo; judged on 4/7/2019.
Return again warm glow of Christmas past,
Rekindle precious times I hold so dear.
Transport me back and let my mind be cast
On golden memories of yesteryear.
A fir tree trimmed with fragile fairy lights
Illuminates an angel’s modest smile,
The mystery of secret gifts excites,
Though childhood dreams must slumber yet awhile.
Outside, a serenade of Christian souls
Regales our hearts with warm uplifting voice;
‘Oh little town of Bethlehem’ extols
The Saviour who gives reason to rejoice.
And those I’ve loved commemorate once more
The wonder of those Christmases of yore.
15/10/18
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