Hesitated Poems | Examples

Ivory Flutes

I played the flute for a rampaging elephant
she hesitated then flashed a forlorn tusk
and rambled on...
She trampled a greed pocked society
gored its steel hook wielding keeper
and his forty-year reign of chained isolation.
 
Men with rifles arrived, expert at finalizing freedom.
It took 200 bullets, give or take, to bend her ancient knee.
She trumpeted to her kin, long ago marked for death...
profits cut away from their gray mountain heads.

I played an Ivory flute for an angel elephant
as she slid into the mist of a sunflower ascension.

Instructions For Walking Away

feet tracing ruts
softened by the weight of others

the path was worn
    polished
not by insight
but by generations
unquestioning the same direction

a weed split the sidewalk
where my foot hesitated

they handed us maps
already marked, folded
creased at the routes
they wanted us to traverse

walls hung with heirlooms
no one claimed
shadows
longer than the rooms

classrooms’ chalkboards of certainty
offices pressed flat with protocol
we learned the art
of veiling the eye behind the eye

we drank from vessels
lips like waiting mouths
etched with forgotten crests
believing the shape of the cup
taught us thirst

air rehearsed its return
like a tethered animal pacing
the same invisible circle

inscribed with grace
shaped like a cage
narrowing the limit
of knowledge
of wisdom

altars made from repetition
shaped our days
to fit the mold
filed down the splinters of doubt
until only smooth compliance remained

tell me—
what is awakening
if not the moment
your hand reaches
for a handle
no one told you was there

and the quiet moment after waking

my heart
uncertain
unshod
hesitates…

the door

                              while   m e a n d e r i n g   a  forest
       I came upon an
 
                          o
                          l
                          d     wooden door
  it had no walls 
                                       was just there
                                                    like magic
                                                            surreal
  a mystery
                        I hesitated but a
                                                 m
                                               o
                                             m
                                           e
                                         n
                                       t
                                                      then, I walked through
                       and that 
                 has made 
   all the difference

IN A GILDED INSTANT

IN A GILDED INSTANT

The monarch’s wings opened as a picture book, fluttering by. It glided, uncertain but undeterred, through a gentle haze of gold and shadow, the garden’s hush punctuated by the faint murmur of leaves. Sunlight filtered in rare skeins, dappling the monarch’s patterned wings as it hovered, hesitated, and then pressed onward—a flicker stitched between petal and air. The world, for one gilded instant, seemed spun from elegant silk.

Painted in oranges, kissed with black lace,
the monarch glides through the air and
pirouettes in a ballet of grace.

Oh, to witness her beauty, a fleeting affair
a living poem, a jeweled muse~
a moment suspended in delicate air.

(Poem written for USPS Stamp Poetry Contest, Robert James Liguori, sponsor)

Misty Morning

I left home one early Misty morning
I took for granted the shoes on my feet
I have worn old shoes ready to be tossed
But never have been forced to be shoeless

The pavement was cold and wet
And I saw a man I'd never met
He crossed the intersection as I 
Waited for the light to change.

I noticed that he was barefooted
And immediately thought that there
Must be something that I could do.
I thought of the shoes on my feet.

Instead of making a Uturn for home,
I turned left that I might meet the man.
By then I'd decided to give him my shoes.
I got his attention and offered him my shoes.

He hesitated, but I insisted that my shoes had
Now became his shoes.  He reluctantly accepted
The gift of shoes and continued on his way, and
I headed home, excited to be minus a pair of shoes.

I was one barefooted happy man on my way home.
I pulled onto my driveway and walked the few feet
To a warm house and put on another pair of shoes.
I was so grateful to God for giving me such opportunity.

Pearl Waters

Pearl Waters 
No shoes 
Two souls flying parallel 
Just bare foot in the sand 
Pearl waters fluent 
Souls running free 
Sky indigo glowing 
Silver ripples amazed 
Zenith mesmerized 
Celestial emerald lands divided 
Open winds collide 
Your the one who stands beside me 
Grow old together heavenly 
Take in the moment 
No one can ever replace you 
Hand in hand on the seashore 
The one that I adore 
Never hesitated  
One day, we will ascend

a bus ride

A Bus Ride

I had bought a
newspaper in town and was taking the bus home
an hours ride
up to my village. I looked at the
headlines
noticed the paper had no date
 was I reading yesterday’s
today`s news or tomorrow`s
The bus was empty this afternoon
it struck me how silent it ran could only hear the swishing
sound of
rubber against the
asphalted road.
Then the bus stopped on this journey outside my house
so many flowers now in November, my dog sat on
the steps waiting
just for me.
The bus door opened with a sigh,
but the dog didn`t run to me
I hesitated; was it the same house
 yet not the same this one looked immaterial
the flowers were pale, a copy of a painting
forgotten  rural art
exhibition arranged by a local culturally interested GP
Not my village
I said to the driver and sat down
“Are you sure?” the driver asked, I didn’t answer
the bus rolled on.
Opened the newspaper
It was Monday.

happy to play our part

within an astral realm
the one needing healing appeared 
we looked at each other awhile
touch of love she feared

we stretched our hands forward 
asking for her permission 
she first hesitated but then agreed 
enabling healing transmission

we were not the doer of course 
lord Shiva performed the healing
that ego not manifest we are silent 
yet in heart lingers a blissful feeling

Ode To Reuben

When I met him, he was hungry and homeless.
Rumor had it that he once played basketball
for the infamous Harlem Globe Trotters.

Three traits that I observed in him would
have proven great for any area of endeavor.
Reuben was bold, persistent, and congenial.

His BOLDNESS did not render him arrogant or rude.
Although our first encounter was eye opening
when he suggested his own breakfast menu,
I found it to be nonthreatening but humorous.

When he continued to drop in for a meal day
after day, his PERSISTANCE was dully noted,
making it difficult for him to go unnoticed.

In spite of his size, looks, and offensive odor,
Reuben was a very CONGENIAL person. He never
resisted or hesitated to conform and comply with
whatever was required of him. He always quietly
agreed, not because he was desirous of a meal,
but because he was simply a very genuine person.

Heading Down under

When a pastor asked a lady
if she was planning a trip 
down under she hesitated:

Yes, I am, she said nervously.
It’s my first trip to Australia
if that’s what you mean

at least that’s what I hope.
Yes, that’s exactly what I meant 
he reassured. 

By-the-way, I’m a pastor.
I thought you looked familiar
she said eagerly.

And though I’m not
a congregant of your church, sir,
I have read a few of your sermons –

and I find them quite radical
given my little knowledge
of biblical Christianity.
 
“Really?”  said the pastor
as the plane began its descent.
Perhaps we’ll meet again

somewhere in down under,
who knows he said.
Yes, who knows, she said.
 
But don't look too hard for me;
by saying down under 
I didn’t mean Australia.

Realia

A poodle lived in her shadow,
it was not ill-treated, just ignored,
its matted form
wandered around the house
looking to be noticed.

The living room
was littered with her underwear,
discarded bras, panties, garters and negligee.
I had no idea
why these things all came to rest here,
scattered around her like that.

I was an occasional pal of her son.
Once she fed a pink baby
from her own white flesh
as if not even noticing us boys.

The soft upholstery of the sittee
settled around her
proclaiming her sovereign presence.

The poodle hesitated to enter the room,
knowing, as we did,
we would never be part of her kingdom.

PARADOXICAL TIE

She met a boy who was a bit selfish and egoistic;
A boy, who was very silent 
A boy, who hesitated to speak. 

The appearance of this boy made her life to bring over a new era:
He made her to feel secure;
He gave the comfort zone like no one else.
He is ray of light in her cold boundary. 

He tolerates her, with the same patience
that the motherland shows it's people;
He whispered words that calmed her fears;
And wiped away her sorrowful tears;
He made her laugh, he made her cry,
He made her suffer but 
She never wanted to leave him. 
With him, She was always a better version of herself!

The yeses i left unspoken

How often have I hesitated,
poised on the brink of "perhaps,"
before unknown paths
that whispered my name.
And there, where the threshold opened
in fevered silence,
I denied the wind its wing,
consecrating the moment
to the still womb of my refusal.
The "yeses" I left unspoken
are grains of light
falling from Mary's womb,
while time holds its breath
in the eternal pause of the Annunciation.
They are Peter’s trembling
on the cusp of the rooster’s crow,
a flickering flame
gathered by forgiveness,
reforged into stone.
The "yeses" I left unspoken
are unseen wounds
in the body of the risen Christ,
traces of nails never driven,
silent as Veronica’s veiled face.
They are Gethsemane’s agony
stripped of words,
the sweat that drips blood
among the gnarled roots of the olive tree,
forever awaiting a dove.
Yet even those unspoken "yeses"
rest in the heart of eternity,
like seeds in the deep furrow
of untouched earth,
and already they stir,
woven with grace,
in the mystery of an hour yet to come.
They are hands brushing the hem,
the blind touch that heals,
they are God’s patient waiting,
brighter than any word unsaid.

headstrong henry and harry hippo

Hazy headstrong Henry hesitated to hide his hilarity
Hindering his healthy hopeful humanitarian habits
Helping to enhance Harry Hippo who hastened
Heartfelt harmony hearing headstrong Henry

Coven in the Walgreens Parking Lot

With twilight a few days away
Answers were revealed in strange places

Alignment of the planets
A chorus only I heard

A coven of 5 female clowns
Holding hands in a circle
In the Walgreens parking lot
Slowly walking in circles
Chanting some unrecognizable omen

Everyone saw them, only I heard them
You see, folks come to Walgreens 
Hoping for a cure
Real or imaginary 

An apparition appeared through the mist
Apparently the chanting showed results

A tall figure, hair aflame
Exulted the coven to disperse

Shooting stars hesitated above their heads
Casting an evil glow upon them

Suddenly the clowns disappeared 
Screams fading into the trees 
Leaving only charred ashes

Omens

       Cast

                Away

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