When You Are Old Poetry Contest
Sara Kendrick
Yeats' poem describes his courtship that sank
With his misconnection he is bitter
And he takes digs at his beau's true glitter
Alluding that his fire drew her blank
He paints a now-and-then picture of her
Saying he'd be the one holding her hand
Should old age leave her without charm and bland
Yet she wasn't guilt-tripped at his demur
She then cashes in with another man
Which likely prompted this poem's planting
And Yeats' mocking her with his self-ranting
Saying his being was dwarfed by her span
No trepidation or fear
Of want or rejection
Could hinder my
Escape from your
Clouded vision
I am weary of
Your daunting
Heartless ways
Once the pitter
Patter of your steps
Tandemly danced with
My heartbeats of love
Now tears rain where
Sunbeams once rose
Seeking the stars
A cajoled existence
I fled
A child asks ‘Why?’
An old man cries
Where has youth fled
Lacking curiosity
~ his child is dead
With all voices fled
Her's, included
This evening, further off
Eves now mythic
Is what's heard, despite
This blowy night
Not that, as dream-craved, midst
Fairy music?
Or, whispery, one
But found among
An exile-hearted land;
Ghostly tragic?
Your children are dead.
Go now and lay down your head.
They've fled, it is said.
(Jul 2022)
She had
got mad
and threw
a shoe
he tucked
and ducked
and ran
from Jan
Oh Fred
she said
you make
me ache
Allow
me now
To take
a break
Goodbye
A sigh
12-17-2020
Where has the romance gone
moonlit nights kissing 'til dawn
Where fled the tenderness
from our love once so strong
Where are the conversations
that used to matter so much
Where are the magic moments
when our fingertips touched
Where are the sparks that flew
from our hearts to our minds
Who uncoupled our souls ~
the ties of caring that bind
Won't look a stranger in the eye
She never ever would say Hi
Security is tight at home
Ten hidden cameras eyes do roam
Afraid to let her children play
Outside where they might go astray
Inside she fears the internet
Where bullies are a constant threat
She prays that school is really safe
She's heard the shots; she's read of rape
And once it's dark, she draws the shades
She's terrified when night invades
********
To rural village she has fled
No more suburban life to dread
Iambic Tetrameter
Youth Fled Away, Time Has Shifted
Youth fled away, time has shifted
that cumbersome dark veil lifted
With more Light, my eyes can now see
that lost lad hiding within me.
Years bring wisdom if one lets it
so pay heed, do not forget it
Temptation says, let us do that
for risking is where cool is at.
Yet what else can human life be
than to live and learn, you and me
Life has errors, both great and small
because of greed, we want it all.
If so blessed, one is set right
finding truth's gift, renewed sight
Upon learning, we should scale back
our daring Fate when we attack!
Youth fled away, time has shifted
that cumbersome dark veil lifted
With more Light, my eyes can now see
that lost lad hiding within me.
Robert J. Lindley, 5-19, 2009
Simple Rhyme, ( Time And Its Learning Curve)
Note: A bit of wisdom, youth too oft risks all because they have yet to ever take a great and harmful fall. Sad thing is sometimes that great fall does more than just harm-- sometimes it ends their life. Time's learning curve makes room for such eliminations, so use more caution, less jumping in without thinking. Think long and hard and look before you leap...
Mildred fled when Joe asked her if she
would let him see 'below' for a fee.
As she shot to a run
though, thread caught and unspun...
So instead, Joe got showed it for free!
She was running for her life
feeling his hot breath and his
clutching at her clothes. Crashing
through the trees and thick undergrowth.
Stumbling, still feeling him getting closer
She gave a muffled scream as tumbling over
and over she fell down a steep embankment.
Lying there dazed a tongue started to wash
her face. Opening her eyes she realised that
her pursuer was a friendly boxer who thought
she was playing, never realising he had nearly
scared her to death as he grabbed her clothes.
thankfully she threw her arms around his neck.
Completely lost, she said, you will have to find
the way to her new friend, swiftly he led her back
to the road and sat by her car. Looking closely
she could see he was a stray and let him into
her car. So all turned out well for both.
We have been telling that the time has fled,
Oh, we’ve swept out from shoulders ash of years,
The love said yes in dreams and we were glad,
Reality said no to our stares.
I touched with hand the light of golden stars
And I had known where my illusions lead,
The frail bridge has fallen taking us,
I fell in Deep, you won’t repeat that deed.
And Demon of the night rose drinking cup,
He drinks for us with smile on his face,
I looked for love long time – I found make-up,
He says, take easy, you’ll forget these days.
The tipsy cities will await for me,
The cross on church and tower of the mosque,
The age said yes, but you are proud and free,
Your love said no and I have seized my wrath.
The Priests of love have honesty of need,
What can you give to taste the light of skies?
When bridges have fallen and illusions lead,
When life is torment for my lonely eyes.
I’ll never know, how time is changing course
of planets in the everlasting space,
Your love said yes in dreams it hadn’t choice,
Reality said no with lordly face.
She said: You were my very first
I loved you under the stars and before the sun
He Said: It was without choice, that day I fled
two faces of sadness, two hearts misread.
She said: It seemed a dream that very first night
I was afraid to awaken from such a terrible flight
He said: You were my love, I loved you no less
two years I returned to the fear of being replaced.
She said: You were the light my eyes saw each day
I could never allow another to step into your place.
He said: You didn't know the love that dwelled
A mature heart, I felt it best to let you go, so I fled
She said: The air within me turned a subtle cold.
It was a warm summer day, yet my heart felt snow
the mark you left to never be erased.
I could only believe we'd meet again one day.
He said: Years of memories of a younger love
could love unfold in 40 more
should we meet again before our end
will passion unveil a truth within
She said: Never before was truth untold
years choking on unspoken words
time will tell should we meet again
If the mark you left, still dwells within.
She said, He Fled.
Again.......
My
heart,
my soul,
lie empty
since your love has fled.
Your gentle laughter haunts my mind.
Those brown eyes so soft and warm now shine for another.
Long auburn hair framed your beautiful face, now shared with someone else in loves sweet embrace.
Written 09/03/2015
for Rob Carmack's contest "Fibonacci"
The voice which my throat hurled, I don’t know what happened to it.
Whether the sky swallowed it or it changed into a bird and flew away.
But my fancy keeps floating like a boat around the islands of flowers,
The azure continents of the skies and, the archipelagos of stars in search
Of it. To me that search is enough.
The sky is not an arid desert of vacuum; it is the nest of the winged
Singers called birds. It is the hypnotic city, where the wind constantly works on
The architecture of clouds.
For this prisoner of pitiless life, that little rag of sky,
Fluttering beyond the iron bars is enough.
That fistful of evening which stares at me from beyond
Those clusters of trees-is enough
That little slice of Blue Ocean, whose eyes keep looking at me,
Standing on tiptoe from behind the pearly sand dunes;
beyond the cashew nut gardens- is enough
That particle of desire which keeps whispering
in some remote corner of the heart is enough-
-Seshendra Sharma
http://seshendrasharma.weebly.com
TURNED IN TO WATER AND FLED AWAY/modern Indian classic by
By Seshendra Sharma first appeared in print in 1976
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