I was once a window, a gateway to the unbounded light of the sky,
Through which rays danced like spirits in the midst of a clear night,
The moon bowed to whisper to me the secrets of stars forgotten by time,
And people looked through me, their eyes full of dreams and hidden longings,
Each gaze was a thread of a story I wove in silence,
But then they began to fear my clarity, the light that shone,
What I let in and what I revealed without asking permission,
So they came with bricks of silence and words heavy as lead.
At first, it was a curtain of shadow, then a plank of forgetfulness,
Then they began to tell me I was too much, too open, too fragile,
And stone by stone, I was walled in a silence of stone,
Not broken, but hidden under a veil of frozen memories,
Not destroyed, but locked in a world where light no longer penetrates,
Now I hear the light as a distant whisper, an echo of the past,
I remember warmth as a song lost in the wind,
People pass by me, forgetting I was once a window,
But I still remember, and my soul still longs,
For the endless sky and the light that sang my name.
Whispers of fingers an apparitions touch
took residence inside my mirrored bones
frantic rationale is a skeletal destination
crunchy landing of hard fossil dust
This sad beast of remains stands low in the sag
dry tears of sand drips down to mandible mayhem
its remnant clothing, phalanges hanging in defeat
while random flutist sings it's hollow tune
Fleshly hand, the kindly reach gazes in piteous questioning
living site navigates the reflecting path
the maze door answered with a riddles remedy
the skulls slow lift, the femurs rise, the mirrored ripples open
Toiling around the town I grew up in. Never knew there was another way. My footsteps followed those before, keeping my ship anchored at bay. Staring out on the horizon and noticing far off lands in the distance. Dreaming about a journey, but couldn't fathom risking my existence.
Maybe I can draw up a plan to get out there and discover. Stepping outside my comfort zone to see what I uncover. It's time to set sail and swing open a new door to unearth what I've been waiting to explore.
Look into the eyes,
Dark colored gate, flame and greed,
Eyes reflect the soul.
Wind can be a bit pushy
at times
Though I would be first
to admit
of needing nudges in different
directions
inclined to linger too long
under shady canopy
or at the seashore
gazing off into dreamy
horizon
my mind inclined toward
repainting sunsets
rearranging stars into
unique constellations
or writing poetry
strictly for sojourners
each poem a gateway
to ports further unknown
Outside the sanctum, clenched teeth, tension,
a sense of being spun slowly, in comical ocean drift
Bobbed cork barely able to rein my orientation.
Luckily, current flux of haphazard happening flapped
a variable vantage.
Blown as though by silk hankie butterfly blessing
launched under lead light detail dragonfly wing
Inside the sluice.
tender seagrass arms greet me, surprise caressed
Silky entry to a tepid tub, a calm community
of smug inner sanctum club members, afloat.
Blind to bedlam, their faces automatically accepting
Smarmy, aloof, knowing the code
Clicked into correct holding pattern
Galvanized now among the longed for,
unlocked passage
Boasts a right angled me, porthole refuge
Catatonic sanctum immune to struggle
Bay of steady abundance
Top step mission for admission somehow granted mine
Spotlight shon on my cloned social demeanor,
Meticulously honed modesty of highbrow gallery.
24th February
Written for Contest: Gateway
Sponsor: Constance La France
My passage, sometimes narrow, the other times wide,
I know it's a vent through which I glide and slide;
It's my opening; it's my passage; my birthright,
Through this, I witness my liberty light and bright...!
The entrance; exit; Through this, I go straight or bend,
My communication; my web; mild and wild blend;
It's my progress; my success; my activity,
Proclivity; productivity; privity...!
22 February 2023
Be still and know that I am who I am
and I know the comings and the goings of your heart
Behold the scepter and embrace the light within you
I am the fire that stokes your emotions and if you allow me
I can calm your worse storms and ease your tears
Believe in the gateway of heaven
all that you want shall be yours if you only trust me
Dive into the moment as if it were your inner sanctum
for tomorrow I will bless you with all that I am and more
I am the gateway of Faith at your door
Be still and know that I am who I am,
Your God,
The paths I walk,
I trace them with my mind...
They are made and remade...
other paths are shortened
for strange reasons
to our judgment...
free paths in which
all pass and repass...
crooked paths are
inventions of men...
the heavenly paths,
are gifts from heaven,
the paths of life and light,
they are works of God!
The paths are,
tests and awards
that we must walk... !
''With hailing glory, forever, I pray --unto God's treasured gateway.''
November, as the poets say -
autumn's demise, winter's gateway.
Its shortened days and longer nights
descending, death is in her sights:
leaves fall, as is their yearly fate,
while beasts prepare to hibernate.
November, as my lady lies
so silent, moving not her eyes -
with ashen skin, lips cold as death,
I wait in vain to feel her breath.
Her soul immortal, this I know,
yet in this life I'll grieve her so.
Written 26 November 2020
Calamities come, nudge humans to pull
Apart from past, to forge their world anew,
A golden move of an olden life school--
A gateway from old world to skies all blue;
If geography wills history to repeat
That, earth gets her youth lost in hundred years,
If mankind makes her mind new world to greet,
No greener fronds might flash to wipe our fears.
Hope, man chooses to walk through this gateway
Leaving skeletons of the past aside,
All prejudice, hatred, vultures' greed grey,
All dead ideas on grandeur growth beside,
If only man sticks to the old adage-
Of walking light with Spartan life's luggage!
__________________________________________
Historically big pandemics have happened with a span of hundred years.
Nearly hundred years prior to Corona virus world suffered Spanish flu.
Before that, there was a plague and huge chunk of life was wiped out.
As a silver line, world always saw some substantive change for the better.
This calamity also can be viewed as an opportunity to change.
And change for a better tomorrow , if only....
Sonnets l 16.09.2020 l
"Down, down, down into the darkness of the grave Gently they go, the beautiful, the tender, the kind; "
Edna St, Vincent Millay
*
*Death*
*Will come*
*At some point*
*No one is spared*
*And in the darkness*
*Will appear a bright light*
*That guides you to paradise*
*Your family should not mourn you*
*Because spirit and soul are at peace*
*Having left behind all your earthly woes*
**
**
**
**
*********
*********
Written 20th May 2020
For Etheree Poetry Contest
Theme chosen number 3 - Death
Sponsored By Dear Heart.
Don’t give away the best part of yourself
to structure
Don’t organize yourself into
spiritual oblivion
Keep the magic of the instant
close at hand
And the gateway to eternity
—will remain open and pure
(Villanova Pennsylvania: January, 2020)
A kiss is a tender gateway station
For those who cherish procreation
Yet should it lack some passion
Its promise may not be cashed in
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