Fettering Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

CEASELESS CHASE

Chasing the unforgiving cruise of fleeting years,
I dash at lightning speed hoping to apprehend
Slowing impediments and crippling fears; 
Fettering setbacks that arcs of successes bend. 

And I know not if I’ll at last prevail
Or shall to failure’s claws succumb;
But whether I will excel or dismally fail
I’ll keep trying till all toil’s rewards come.

CEASELESS CHASE

Chasing the unforgiving cruise of fleeting years,
I dash at lightning speed hoping to apprehend
Slowing impediments and crippling fears; 
Fettering setbacks that arcs of successes bend. 

And I know not if I’ll at last prevail
Or shall to failure’s claws succumb;
But whether I will excel or dismally fail
I’ll keep trying till all toil’s rewards come.

Derma

their nails were rimmed with blue and grey 
a clinical circle was bordering stain
noisily blossoming; smeared by the pain
the indigo purpled and mantled her flay 
a bruising delusional; deafened contusional 
denting and doubling and bubbling inflamed
detriment gently, vain hysterectomy sectioning skin by the strain

derelict centering
feigning and fondling 
further and fairly deveined  
hemophilia setting in 
azure limbs fettering 
murdering pale for her stay 

cracked from a stutter their 
lips turned in color with
blue blooming out of the brain 
drained on the flooring panes 
still and yet subtly 
shivering like it would rain 

granted their status by 
siren with blood in eyes 
poisonous digits dig in 
mild dim underskin 
derma tint muddling
water spills out with a feign


Adieux

After three decades and a kicking more,
I deem it glaring waste and blatant loss
To play sad part of second servile fiddle
In elite cadres agleam with ersatz gloss.

Whatever charged scrolls attuned to pelt
With loaded deterrents deft souls that try,
I now must with age's ever-tightening belt
Stand to trite spites and their swipes defy. 

Despite your puffed plots sick to the brim,
Those smiling streaks quite honed to trim 
Purest dreams spruced by endless hopes;
I must pull down your fog’s fettering ropes. 

Your lusts-spitting spikes I'll at last shame,
And sink them beneath your gloomy mast;
None of your snaky snares again shall trap,
Nor any of your foiling fangs soil this name.

All your trussing tentacles I must bid adieu,
Now that I am at last wholly done with you!

Unbowed

How would it feel having no single woe to bear,
In that sooty heart oft stung by ceaseless tear?
Wouldn't the sobs-accustomed soul court pain,
To save those melancholic rhythms in its stain?

It's abnormal for usually teary eyes not to cry,
For that erstwhile crestfallen spirit not to sulk.
Used to endless gall it's sickly to feel brighter,
It's a health disorder to let go of that acid bulk.

And can this be the preponderant reason fair,
Fate gives each mortal breast its itching care? 
Could earth's being all-free from fettering cries
Birth taboo alien studs obnoxious to the skies?

I'd wish to pass life's mean hour in gayest glee,
But if Wiser Lot considers it far much saintlier
To lead a gloomy existence by ruings checked,
Thus rightly eschewed by oily mirths let me be.

There's huge heroism in every iron dragon slain;
None in safest paths unmarred by battle's stain.

Tunnel

From a developing land
The body shakes 
Trembling in ancestral amber 
Swirling and flowing 
It must penetrate the light
Its destiny is that light
Away from the closing space
Mother-bound
Nourishing and holding

But then they come
Proclaiming and brandishing 
Curled tightly in this place
Hiding and frightening 
The amber turns to mud
Green and thick like tar
There is no escape
Pulling and separating 
The limbs freeing or fettering

Same result.
Unwanted here in a plentiful land


Premium Member Facing the Stroming Vicissitudes of Nation Building

Standing at the bow of the rugged ship,
Blistering tears cue up in the wrinkles
Of faces worn weary with anguish;
Uncertainty becoming a bleeding wound.

The raging storm swells with tormenting waves
Splashing on the shores of human dignity and honor;
Leaving the despotism of doubt and fettering fear
Frothing in the humidity of the politico-sands of time.

Yet, despite the toil and fatigue of the hour,
Hope remains on the horizon--rising with the sun;
And the searchlight of truth will dissipate the cloud of deceit
With its enlightening rays emancipating lost, stiff-necked souls   
Seeking stillness of peace in the coming raging winds of change.

Premium Member Spiring

SPIRING

jumping over hoops,
getting caught on iron needles high.
dogs nipping, gnawing,
clawing at skin and rags,
rolling,
                          rolling in mire,
slithering round and round
the spokes of unwritten thoughts.

thoughts that teach a fettering,
flattening, fostering
                                        of doubts.
printed plates invisible
    in misty blue, burgeoning blots.

drowning ink               expiring,
perspiring, perhaps

i
n
s
p
i
r
i
n
g

flames of dung.  did you think
a match, could claim
to hiss and hAtCh?

it rebels!
rings hell’s bells,

until you quench its thirst.         cursing cursive dance
melts in the cool sun,

satisfied by ashes, stoked.
smokeless sentience, reticence of cheer,

yet a new year...a promise to yourself,

to rise on black and blue,
or tapping the matrix of stars and moon,
spiritual spiring of heart and soul,

            indelible ink.

4/12/2018
Bring Me Back To Life Contest

Premium Member Nowhere To Hide

Cascades of stretching autumn ivy
snuggle close to the verdigris hardware
of an intricately carved, but sun-bleached
walnut door under a collapsing portico.

Droplets of sweat trace jigsaw trails
through the clinging film of dirt, revealing 
the white of fluted pillars looming crookedly and
hunched by centuries of unappreciated exertion.

An eerie nostalgia laps at my consciousness
fettering my imagination to that very portal. 
What yearning is this, to peer backward through 
the impenetrable curtain of time?

Curiosity gives way to fearful dread;
wandering thoughts to waking realization;
that it’s a frightful thing indeed, to love
as death relentlessly pursues the same.

What can be built that cannot be toppled…
What can be polished, that will not erode…
What can be loved that cannot be taken…
behind that impenetrable curtain of time?

08/13/15

What You Think: You Are

I am a winner, a thought to be spoken.
You are a winner, your pride has awoken.
Faith in yourself, your achievements are great
Don't let doubt become your weight.
Don't be afraid, let your talent soar high.
Don't be put down, or you will never fly.
Don't sell yourself so lowly to others,
For people see value, your friends, sisters and brothers.
You are capable, you must tell yourself now,
Or obstacles will rise and doubt will avow.
Why can't you see, this talent within?
Why can't you admit it, you could truly win.
You are intelligent, nothing like a fool,
Don't believe your lies, that isn't the rule.
To brand yourself these fettering names,
Your colleagues and friends would believe the claims.
This is why you should not falter,
Negative opinions, you should definitely alter.
For You are a winner and i believe it so.
Now convince everyone else, get out and go.

Emeralds and Sapphires

Human.
Strangers in beautiful buildings
Bouncing away from each other
Conforming to individualism

Nostalgia.
Pays handsomely for memories
Prays haphazardly for miracles
Drowning in the sands of time

Strife.
Hotdog vendors
Wasting oxygen and living space
Dreaming of superstardom

Debt.
Trapped in a fishbowl in California
Immersed in the abstract
Drunk on force-fed cruelty

Gravity.
Giant magnets everywhere
Littering galaxies
Fettering free minds

Death.
Army dreamers making love
Two-halves human
Tap dancing on Father Time

Colorblind.
Studded with emeralds and sapphires
Caressing each other like a rainforest
Brushing against the clear blue sky

Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

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