Don't frame in the midst
You might come across big shot
Bumped into a cyst.
On a city sidewalk, I handed her money
I knew inside she must be someone's honey
After giving her all I had, I walked away
As an afterthought, I took time to pray
It was a clear day, so bright and sunny
She might have thought I the easter bunny
Because her heart I sought, never a phony
As I passed on by, I thought she did sway
On a city sidewalk
The next day I walked along feeling funny
I didn't expect to see her again, the honey
Surprised to see her frame in the doorway
Of an ABC store, where she was waiting to pay
Saddened by the sight, I bowed to the knee
On a city sidewalk
MY FOOLISH HEART Cash Prize Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: L MILTON HANKINS
April 2, 2022
Immortalized in acrylic before you evaporated
as quickly as the paint dried in the autumn sunset,
you stuck yourself in a frame in my mind’s museum.
Rendered motionless by the inherent
motionlessness
of color on canvas,
your feet propped precariously on
our velvet footstool, you toss glances
from your painted eyes, like roses
from our balcony.
You occupy the headspace above
the headboard, the frame’s edge almost skimming
the ceiling, the hem of your evening gown just missing
the floor.
In this endless expanse of time,
stretching out like a cornfield after a harvest,
I must wait for the autumn sunset.
I sit on my canvas, drying like a corn husk
left in the heat, the water of my life vanishing
into the motionless silence.
Say Dog See Dog
By David J Walker
How much easier it would be
If dreams came with closed captioning
And a laugh-track
and perhaps Applause
at appropriate intervals
A deep-voiced narrator
and serious music
Could help explain each frame in
Historic context
of tonight’s documentary
And if the editor could include
soft dissolves Between transition in scenes
I could better Resolve discrepancies
in timelines
Say Dog
See Dog
Comes to mind
if I were writing the script
For this double feature
And by the way
Black & White is dramatic
But I would shoot in color
A fiery red dress infused in yellow sunflowers
green meadows vibrant in a rainbow glamour
smiling eyes shine a lattice of unseen colors
in thousand snapshots of paparazzi clamour
enraptured in your spotlight of radiant flame
zooming in and out my eyes close and blink
in your fireplace my heart, a wild child in tame
wistfully unfocused, I rise and float, then sink
your photogenic frame, in a wide open shutter
love races in speed, it's an exposure mismatch
"photography not allowed", flashes in a flutter
picture saved in darkroom of my cactus patch.
16th May 2020
Sponsor Kai Michael Neumann
Contest Shutter Speed |
Don’t Be As Chaff
Written: by Tom Wright
10-21-2016
It’s a stressful time frame in which we live,
The world situation is making many sick.
Heart’s filled with hate, little love to give,
Surely God readies to come back quick.
Protest and violence plague every land,
And our cry continues for peace once more.
While failing to adhere to God’s command,
Earthly peace, we seek, He will not restore.
Our only true peace is found in Jesus,
No earthly thing that by hand was earned.
They’re temporal, meant to briefly please us,
Mimic the wheat or like chaff be burned.
Glimpse in the breeze the touch of joy,
Ripe words unveil deep affluence here;
Ask grace to squeeze a sparkling ploy,
Now love prevails as warm thought cheers;
Dance in swift swirl that fond insight.
Apt that sweet taste of ample spice,
Feel happy twirls in deep delight;
Frame in swift haste wise touch so nice,
Lift up your soul in mystic scope;
Unleash the trace of mindful poise,
Etch a wise whole in mellow hope;
Note lovely face where style sparks voice,
Charm mingles fast deep rapture sweet,
End first not last as affluence greets.
Leon Enriquez
22 March 2018
Singapore
I AM YOURS AND YOU ARE MINE
On the journey of a thousand miles
What keeps me going are your thoughts
My heart is very fond of you
Told me its difficult to live without you
Together we built blocks of compassion above the sky
Painted the world with the colour of your smile
The night became homely and bright
My dreams came to stay hence forth that night
Love, they say its dispensable
But love is the reason the world is beautiful
Why the sun and moon is alive, and the stars
For I could see them through your eyes
If the frame in my heart get broken into a million pieces
Each will carry but treasurable memories
Of all the moment's spent with you
For life would be meaningless without you
© Akan Udofia 2016
https://akanudofia.blogspot.com.ng/2018/01/i-am-yours-and-you-are-mine.html
Saturday, January 27, 2018
I don’t know how I should speak of you.
Love of my life, my soul’s companion soul,
A breath and heartbeat indispensable as mine,
Yin to my yang and, too, contrariwise,
Keystone to my arch, and cornerstone--
Because I cannot look into your eyes,
Love, you cannot see me keen, and pine,
And ache deep down, sheer to the bone.
(Such is the chronic, chafing toll
Your absence wreaks in me.) I’d screw
Me up to chide you, but that would not avail;
I’d rail against my lot and pound my breast
If that would bring you here to me at last,
Or seek you like some almost-holy grail.
But since I cannot feel you next to me,
Or softly sense your soul through clasping hands,
How can I frame in words the buried deeps
You plumb? My very quarks crave yours, so strong
And fundamental my desire’s become.
And so no matter what or how I say
I love you, all inadequate and tongue-
Tied, the words are merely stereotypes
As timeworn as the Sphinx in shifting sands,
And just as cryptic. Oh, come home;
For then my eyes will redirect my voice,
Inspiring by your nearness all those words
Eluding me till now. Let loose the cords
That keep you from me, and confer your grace.
Pique that sure feel with finesse bright,
Reach with pure zest the way you write;
Opt to wear will with a clear light,
Face words that fest as fancy cites;
One with deep poise the work finds grace,
Urge crisp bold chimes to tell the tale;
Now feel clear choice move rhyme in place,
Dance well such times where surge moves sale.
Frame in a gist the verse that moves,
Ink sanguine lines that captures feel;
Niche charm that lists your craft that grooves,
Ends can define a grand reveal;
Sense how poise fits a precious stay,
See in crisp wit such sparkling play,
Etch thoughts that pit bright charming say.
Leon Enriquez
05 November 2017
Singapore
And I boarded for to sail
a ship called the Northern Gail
and she was
yes she was
a lady
rich cargoes fill the hole
all the story was not told
yes she was
she was a lady
purest silk shone like her sails
she danced in the Northern gales
and she was
she was a lady
a rich traveller with looks and gold
all the story is not told
yes she was
she was a lady
I saw the sea lay her down
white flowers blue satin gown
and she was
she was a lady
all rich stories told
lost the young
lost the old
and she was
yes she was a lady
wooden dreams don't seem to last
as all prayed
the mountains would pass
and she was
she was a lady
one wave made her bed appear
soft pillows lay under there
and she was
yes she was a lady
The roof upstairs opened the doors and Windows.
There is a square frame in the distance.
A brick is not masonry, even if masonry
Sunlight can still be locked indoors
It's like identifying a face, in some flowers
The guide showed a warm face.
A wasp used to live on a branch
It's like getting lost in the wilderness
In an endless city
It's a great place and a lot of fun.
Opposite the building, there was a lucky river
In the mirror, reflections of the fish scales
Shining with light,the only hive is a tender home
It is full of life and vitality.
I saw a group of wasps flying together to the roof.
Deep down his lungs, a full baritone trills
Coughing out for all to hear, "Be safe,
Wayfarers until the sea is clear; "
As transient gulls flit below sail boats
Navigating the hazardous eddy:
Angled rocks ensnare old mollusks
Till sounds of tidal drift grate along ,
While men of the ocean await in silence.
Light Keeper guards, waves crashing the ledge,
Yet golden rays jut out ; the moon his torch
That iridescence glints like heaven’s crown;
Into the pulsing bang of the ebon crest, dark:
With an upright frame in marbled robe
He gazes at pink of stars to rest awhile--
Then stands mightily around the isle
And will stand on, bidding his flock calm passage.
7/27/2017
For Eve Roper's LIGHTHOUSE Contest
There's an old timber, farm gate at the end of a track.
You wouldn't see it driving past unless you looked back.
It's made of roughly hewn wood more than a lifetime ago,
time and weather has worn it down, as the seasons ebb and flow.
A rusty abandoned ute lays near, covered in pine tree nettles.
Where weeds and braken make claim to it as in the earth it forever settles.
Late sunlight filters through the trees, casting shadows through the gate.
Where once cattle on the other side for feed would stand and wait.
Young children used to play on the gate, stand and swing it open wide.
Then climb through the cypress trees for another place to hide.
Atop the rail the magpies perch, warbling away without refrain.
Intently gazing across the fields, the kings of their domain.
The children have all gone now, grown up and moved away.
For many years the gate lay untouched, its frame in disarray.
Who knows? maybe someone will see its worth and fix the old farm gate.
Embed it back into time, for another's memories to recreate.
Voice deep impact with playbook fond,
Ink image well with outline clear;
Seek to know tact that frames sure spawn,
Urge thought to dwell on surge of cheer;
Align sure reach with finesse right,
Lure of fond dream can cluster more.
Plant a pure niche in subtle light,
Love needs no scheme save precious core;
Allow the heart to frame in kind,
Yes dare to see beyond mere fact;
Bloom willing start in active mind,
Observe zest free that inner tact;
Outline due wealth in visual fest,
Keep up good health with precious jest.
Leon Enriquez
19 July 2016
Singapore
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