There was a house.
There is a house.
There was a kite.
There is a kite.
There was a clock.
There is a clock.
When I
dig the earth
with a spade,
the earth falls into
the spade’s memoir.
The spade falls into
the earth’s memoir.
In the pond nearby,
a blue water-lily
does not fall
into anything.
It
calls out to the kingfishers,
saying,
Come,
have some fish and go.
In an island amidst the seamless seas,
lost in the warmth of a dream-like enchanting moment,
I sense a smooth placid stillness and repose.
As the golden ball ascends,
light bids adieu to the dark with a soft kiss -
the sky welcomes her beloved with a vermilion smile.
Mind greets thoughts anew that evoke delight,
when the koels and kingfishers sing hymns of hope.
The morning sky glows in rays of nature's lamp,
warm and vibrant, it heals my soul.
Ten lines taken from the following poems:
1. In My Dream
2. Sunflowers
3. To Leave All Cares Behind
4. Waiting for Light
5.The Glory of Dawn
6. Vermilion Sunrise at Kanyakumari
7. Mindful Moments
8. My Blossoms
9. Soothing Serenity
10. To Belong
I rock in this outdoor cheap chair
Its cushion foam like ice cream
Half-eaten by the winter mice in storage
I don’t mind
Don’t need a full seat to see before me
The drop off on Torch Lake
Its fine line drawn between sky and space
So turquoise on one side black and blue on the other
Top to bottomless cliff
A mere step to reach one side from the other
If I dare walk on water
Wind carves the lake into slices of pie
Pulpy blueberry squeezes out the sides
Dragonflies bob in lilac updrafts
Broke open moments ago from their crawling lakeshore nymphs
Split open on the rocks
Their brittle wings snap in the wind
Snacks uncrinkling to a Kingfisher’s snatches
Fate born that way is hard to take
Of course many of these spindles escape to the flowers and meadows
But not all
I stand up
Boy to Dad to Grandpa
When did this happen? To survive this long?
To still hunger these many wonders?
To grow to know I am no more important
Then this oozing lake
Divided
And Memorial Day wind colliding with dragonflies and Kingfishers.
A good friend once told me that kingfishers know the secrets of the universe
But dear friend, what about this moorhen on the rivers verge?
And as I sit and wonder what my moorhen thinks
Around me dance bright thistles of pink
A river ripple rides the collected current
Long green reeds exist with no need to repent
A family of mice not ever so nice
But look at that face, too cute not to embrace
So my precious moorhen, tell me what you know
There must be more to life than gluttony and sorrow
More to life than anger, pride and lust
Tell me please, it's such a must
My sweetheart moorhen don't swim the day
While I sit here wondering my life away
As I walk by the bubbling brook
fixated on intricate crannies and nooks
quaint voices encircle, relaying rhyme
in a plethora of rhythms, perfectly timed
Adonis blue butterflies flaunt their wings
messages ensue as four swallows swing
in between worlds, swept into a dream
as one finds a path up the sunlit stream
Kingfishers perched on the bared roots of
a tree skewer some fish for afternoon tea
an otter prepares a fresh banquet of cray
wind rustles the birch to faint calls of a jay
Wrens nesting in the hedgerows nibble on seed
Willow sheds her woe down by the water reeds
Damselflies rest upon a cast of white flowers
as rolling clouds breakout in freshest shower
If I can not hold the bird
It's prudent to let it accompany the kite
When the hues take a distant flight
Won't it be a fun with black and white
Desires to become, we do have a lot of
Dense grass, blue sky, three kingfishers
The river, we have got, never looks back
Nevertheless, I smile in your mirror
Notebook and red pens beckoning us
Olive branches call at the window
At midnight, the moon gathers the guts
to creep slowly toward my pillows
While observing the pictures,
I fill many a pitcher
Drinking the embroidered water,
I become richer
I write upon mountains from whence I view the sea
soothed by the rhythmic motion of the tide
my muse goes into overdrive
Soon my pretty notebook
is bursting with simple scribbles and rambling lines
as I watch a heron stalking its prey
I’ve a picnic to eat as I go on my way
and I’ll sketch vivid purple columbines,
then re read the scrawled notes I took
in my notebook archive
Initial thoughts are edited and modified
guess I’m striving for perfection you see
Nature’s beauty inspires me to pen poetry
and I love strolling in the countryside
I'll watch kingfishers as they dive
into a babbling brook,
cool water glistening as the golden sun shines;
outdoors in the fresh air I long to stay
12 10 8 6 12 10 0 12 10 8 6 12 10 0 12 10 8 6 12 10 checked with HMS
My Invented Form - I Write Upon Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Constance La France
01/30/21
A quiescent misty lake in center of hillock,
surrounded in soundless old oak trees.
Sheen of mercury looks ethereal in sunbeam,
blue headed kingfishers, in sly glances skim.
silvery air sparkling in splash of wildflowers,
a frescoed terrain painted in élan,..
but happy faces never make life
smile is heavenly only with sad eyes
Suddenly....
wrapped in snowwhite glossy feathers
white blossoms glide in majestic drift.
across motionless ripples of clear stream
curved necks entwined in heart shapes
mute love sing their last farewell song
Swans....
Cygnets of myth
Created by man
to see pain,... listen to pain
and still admire the death of beauty.
20th April 2019
Maureen Mcgreavy's Suddenly Swans Contest
wildflower meadow
as tall as a muntjac
cuckoo cuckooing
-
farmers haymaking
grasshoppers stridulating
don't touch a stinkbug
-
wood admiral glides
honeysuckle its host plant
humid the hot nights
-
warm is the river
fish rising leaping for flies
life seeking cool shade
-
inverted swimmers
water boatmen taking in air
cygnets follow pen
-
as fall approaches
swifts are well on their way
second brood blackbirds
-
hungry mosquitoes
human siestas a nap
insect repellent
-
sunbathing insects
flowerflies hovering free
mowers thrashing lawns
-
farmers cutting hay
a smell not forgotten
wildlife be afraid
-
sunbathers warning
cream up or suffer sunburn
worse melanoma
-
swifts immature
three years on the wing
unbelievable
-
sand martins nesting
adorning soft sandy clifts
freshwater skimmers
-
dragonflies masters
watch them fly backwards a thrill
kingfishers posing
-
super hot weather
droughts not good for wildlife
reprieved... thunderstorms
-
climate warming
both poles can't take the heat
humans all sweating
-
a countryside walk
on a warm sunlit day
foxes sunbathing
Winter gives some wildlife a rest,
But most birds are put to a test.
Most do try, most do their best.
Kingfishers migrate to the coast.
Rivers freeze, can no longer host
Birds can feed on crumbled toast,
But prefer wild bird seed the most.
Peanuts, preferred by most ****.
Wild mammals, feed them bits,
Of what you think their diet fits.
Grey squirrels just greedy gits.
Badgers, foxes, and stray cats.
Winter hibernators, like all bats,
Reptiles, amphibians, more facts.
Have built-in automatic thermostats.
Spring approaching, warm sun.
Winter almost over, almost done.
Cock birds singing, for a mate, a mum.
They'll help it to feed their young.
Winter gives some wildlife a rest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Entered in 'Rhyme Time III', sponsored by Laura Loo
Where are those gay flowers in this spring night?
Where are those dancing butterflies in this moonlight?
Ah my rose! Why can't I appreciate your redness?
Why do you decline from morn to night without grace?
Where are those glittering streams with Kingfishers?
Dear cuckoo! Why are you silent among silence?
Yet spring, I don't think this night a spring with colours.
When time tunes not with the dance, spring is but empty Hall!
Let's leave this abode and live in tranquility forever.
They fettered our love, strangled it in its cradle and nothing seems better.
O, paramour! Your love is my soulful treasure.
So pure, so refined, so laudable of endless pleasure.
Alas, the enduring love is under pressure.
Oh, permanent dweller in my soul.
will we ever be together?
We wrestled over the course of years..
i know it is an immutable tenderness..The fiber will never wither.
They tyrannized our love, but we won't succumb...we 're enough clever.
Don't let them hold you back, stand , fight as ever.
Just like salt will never blossom, they said love will never flourish.
But deep in the bottom, i believe their fallacy will soon perish.
The paucity of money, that's the matter.
They frowned at you and said: he's a beggar.
For me , you are the KING with whom i would be forever.
Let's leave the earth, blast the obstacles and warble with love’s kingfishers.
Let's live or die together.....
birds interesting
a collection from nature-
all so beautiful
The Storm Petrel's are small birds that seem to hover,
little sea birds that appear to be walking on the water.
Loons unable to walk on land they shuffle like old people-
oh so graceful and skillful underwater can run across a lake . . .
Rails just love eating dense green vegetation,
Plover's like to run across a sandy beach hunting;
Roosting on a building is the beautiful Pigeon,
Oh so remarkable the Hoatzin is intriguing;
And electric blue Kingfishers are truly amazing.
___________________
October 31, 2015
Combination of - Haiku, Couplet, Free Verse, Quintain
For the contest, A Poets Dozen (12 lines)
Sponsor, Silent One
Third Place
Birds have always captured my imagination,
They have such a beauty and a unique nature;
Oh, what an array of birds for my inspection,
I write this for the birds that fly in the azure.
They have, such a beauty and a unique nature,
White terns on the wing or pigeons in a park;
I write this for the birds; that fly in the azure,
Tiny hummingbirds and the owl in the dark.
White terns on the wing, or pigeons in a park,
The eagles and hawks, the swan and the duck;
Tiny hummingbirds - and the owl in the dark,
Dazzling fly-catchers and kingfishers that pluck.
The eagles and hawks - the swan, and the duck,
Woodpeckers that drum a beat or a tuneful wren;
Dazzling, fly-catchers and kingfishers that pluck,
Beauty in the wild, city; or in a green forest glen.
Woodpeckers, that drum a beat or a tuneful wren,
Oh what an array! Of birds for my inspection;
Beauty - in the wild, city or in a green forest glen,
Birds have always captured, my imagination.
_______________________
October 22, 2015
Pantoum
Submitted to the contest, For The Birds, sponsor, Anthony Slausen
Sixth Place
Kingfishers So Deeply Water Diving
The moon filled nights are now waiting
In a sky filled to its fullest view
As life catches the fish we are baiting
Hope brings love forth once again anew!
Sweet trees are now ripe and bearing
Huge fruit destined to be our gift
Faith and love are both softly caring
For streams flowing with us so very swift!
Future days await our faithful arriving
Hours we spend storing our hopes in dreams
Like Kingfishers so deeply water diving
Sweetest loves flow in the brightest streams!
Forever our hopes hold us in this deep embrace
We that love God and accept his eternal grace!
Robert J. Lindley, 07-23-2015
Note- Forgive me for being on a sonnet blitz and writing so many as of late.
This was written tonight and posted on another forum where I moderate a Creative Writing sub-forum.
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