Wandering the world
in far-flung foreign lands
I found myself
in the capable hands
of total strangers
whose innate curiosity
was matched only
by overt generosity
poor tho' they were
yet never complaining
their politeness and hospitality
was life-sustaining
one can only hope
should they call my name
I am able to repay the favour
and gratefully provide the same
(In the opera "La Bohème", the four friends
need money for a medical emergency, so
each is selling-off something precious.)
Listen to me, old friend
of sixteen years, and counting:
it's you who must ascend
- alone - the sacred mountain,
while I stay on the plain.
You know you have my thanks:
whether we'll meet again,
triumphant in the ranks
of the righteous, I don't know.
You never bent your back
to any rich man, though
we often felt the lack
of life-sustaining sous.
These pockets, gaping, worn,
have borne their fill of booze
when we caroused till dawn.
Poets and thinking men
found shelter from the storm
in here. I don't know when
you failed to keep me warm.
Our hands abrade and age
the very book they cherish:
it's time to turn the page,
for even love must perish.
Farewell, you care-worn sleeves,
buttons, I know by heart.
And see, your master grieves,
for now the teardrops start.
Music has always been the life sustaining incubator in my life that Is filled with its vibes, its cords, its beats, its harmonies, its compositions, and its arrangements. Music will forever be for my venting, my releasing, my therapy, and healing
Like all my siblings, I dropped from my mother's crown, oh, about twenty years ago now
Fortunately, though a tough nut to crack, I eventually poked my green head up out of the ground
Turns out that I'm a tree, an Eastern Black Walnut to be exact, or Juglans nigra to be super exact
Now, nearly thirty feet tall, I can feel I've slowed down in growth some, normal for us black walnuts
If I keep my roots, and that pesky walnut caterpillar doesn't find me, I should double my height
My leaves are busy factories turning sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide into life sustaining oxygen
You humans love the pungent taste of my healthy fruit and use it in a slew of your culinary delights
They tell me studies show that the antioxidants I host are beneficial for human medicinal purposes
That chocolate wood I lumber around is top notch for constructing beautiful, long lasting furniture
So whatever our destiny may be, dresser, medicine, or tree, us black walnuts will always stand tall
Those we love don't go away
They walk beside us every day
They assure us telling- “Fear not,
We’ll abide with you and never desert”
They may not gift us with incense, myrrh or gold
But their loving assurance makes us bold
In darkness, they burn like a guiding beacon,
In loneliness, a sweet presence never letting us weaken.
When broken, I look up to my Dad and Mom
Their prayers from above make me calm.
I am sure, their love won’t part from me.
Their blessings make me swim across the turbulent sea.
Rich, I am with a treasure that never ends—
Nothing beats the love that comes from true friends.
Like the early rays of morn, they fill me with joy
Like the dulcet notes of a flute, they make me enjoy.
Our friends, a chosen crew who walk with us along life’s shore.
Their love, a strong thread, saving grace and an open door.
Their presence, a lingering scent, a life sustaining breath.
They stay on, activating and energizing us till our death.
Friendship – a seamless sky,
far too complex to gauge or delve.
At times like the early rays of morn,
it fills one with joy.
At times like a gentle breeze,
it cuddles and cossets.
At times like dark clouds,
it overcasts the mind.
At times it comes blowing like a gale,
sweeping us off our feet.
At times it sprouts like a seedling,
growing out into a tree, giving shade.
It blossoms like a Night Queen,
diffusing in the air, a heady scent.
At times like the plaintive notes from a flute,
it saddens the soul.
Like a rainbow it may swiftly vanish,
or remain like a beacon,
guiding us when storms rage.
In darkness, it burns like a candle.
In loneliness, a sweet presence.
At times so silent
At times so very eloquent
Finally like an unfinished tale,
A fond memory,
A lingering scent
Like the life sustaining breath
It remains…..!
August.2. 2022
~ Placed First~
Resubmitted for Brian Strand No. 1199 Poetry Contest
Friendship Poetry Contest
Sponsor – Beata Augustin
Orange feathers in the warm air,
Blackberries seem to be floating in a lair.
The dry season in June is bountiful,
A video that lives in the days of plentiful.
Birds land with absolute elegance,
Designed ice cream and blackberry grace.
Feed the frenzy; all hunger is quenched,
Life-sustaining food in berries drenched.
Scarcity and deprivation soon follow,
My ears perceive the winter ominous hollow.
Every day they must contend with the weather,
In every form, I'm aiming for food and heather.
There are almost endless varieties of berries,
from speckled blueberries to gnarled blackberries.
The flavor matches the bursting thrill of a single cherry,
But to fully grasp it, she has to relish it fully.
I am longing for the end of the year,
Until a rich, fresh life brings berries here.
Written: July 31, 2022
Your Thoughts On Blackberries Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Matt Caliri
Our love is lofty and infinite as the sky
On love’s filmy wings we soar ever high
It has the might of a towering mountain
And the upward thrust of a sprightly fountain
Our love soars like swift birds in flight
With the boon of newer vistas in sight
It is like the sweet lays of a song
All through life, its rhythmic notes do ring
Our love renews itself like the rising sun
Each day in golden flame, it does burn
It is like the life sustaining breath
That shall keep us alive until our death
Our love, we hope to keep it aflame
As a living monument in Time
Even after the sun of our life sets
In heaven we shall sing love’s duets
Placed First
Strand's (1072) poetry Contest
There are good days
when poetry leaves me alone
and there are bad days
when I want to write a poem,
but nothing comes out.
Let me tell you a little bit
about that nothing,
it's all about a life review,
there is so much I never want to feel
again...
do you?
Now I'm on that eight hour regimen
that tiny life sustaining pill.
Look -
I can stand, walk, reach again.
I know that eight hour mark,
the loss of Independence
the loss of pain.
I could go now if I wanted to,
but love keeps me here.
I am Earthbound.
tied and tethered
by love.
Breath
Silent, hidden in dark shadows place,
I bide... waiting... waiting for my time.
In repose, when weakest I shall rise,
your soul to embrace in natures way.
Breath a gift of life sustaining need,
breathe deep... breathe long... it may be your last.
Every breath is life... inhale...exhale,
to steal the next or the last may be.
I wait in place shadowed counting beats,
for each is mine and I hold them close.
Every pulse holds my purpose at bay,
single moments pause will loose my bonds.
Dwell not on days that will never be,
you'll know... when I steal your breath away.
Robert Gene Stoner Jr
6/22/16 ©
Form: Blank Verse
Nonameter
When your breath you are not feeling
and your heartbeats you stopped hearing
When who are around you, you are not seeing
and your very missed world started objecting
When you feel lost as you lose the sense of belonging
and you wonder if your compass you are following
When what you are feeding on, far from the soul fulfilling
and you remain the subject and the object of your seeking
When you feel a pain of no trace, the Self ravaging
and you keep for a magical elixir looking
When the touch of a dried inflamed pen burning
and you can grasp the nature of your suffering
When alluring wonders in silence you keep admiring
and the words within you are still and hiding
When you muse and long for verse reciting
and the Muse of poetry, your soul invoking
When to all the missing links I am yielding
as every ounce of me aching for poetry, my life sustaining.
August 5th, 2020
You brought joy to our longing souls
How we cherished thy languid days
Thy bright sun and blooming flora
And thy life-sustaining showers
Yet, thy season was all too brief
Winter storms we foresee with dread
Oh! How we yearn for thy return
Entry for nette onclaud's "Farewell, Summer" Contest
(6 September 2019)
Rated 2d Place in the contest
From microscopic neutrons to the mighty Milky Way
The universe reveals its sundry span.
Magnetic fields preserve a perfect balance night and day
Facilitating life on earth for man.
Our life-sustaining earth parades a stunning rich supply
Of colours, textures, symmetry and art,
And as the master clock ticks off the seasons passing by,
It charts the cycle of each beating heart.
The awesomeness of life should make us pause;
Can random forces really be the cause?
Date:03.07.19
Contest:The universe poetry contest
Sponsor:Nina Parmenter
What is rain
But drops upon a window pane;
With form and shape
Of natures liquid grape,
Their journey spent
Exhausted by their long descent.
They rest a while emboldened by their feat,
Savoring the warmth of the sun’s embracing heat.
Not ice nor sleet, but the purest of all forms,
Nature’s wonder abiding by no norms.
Life sustaining, magnificent, sublime,
Born this day yet old as time;
Awaited with suspense, welcomed with glee,
The greatest friend for any living thing to see.
So pause a while when next you see dark clouds,
Their journey caring for neither obstacle nor bounds;
With payload rich of purest treasure known,
The source for life just waiting to be sown.
Vacation Bible School 2006
A Child’s Eyes
By
Tom Wright
Each time we peer
Into the eyes of a child there’s a choice
We can walk away or become involved.
For behind each child’s colored windows
Lay the answers to future problems unsolved.
Their innocence
Directs the eye’s communiqué.
Unwitting children needing Godly training,
A vehicle of choice is Vacation Bible School
Lessons there learned, could be life sustaining,
There is Jumping Juniper
And eye dilating Bible stories to hear.
To a young child, Bible School is one big deal.
With crafts, prizes, cookies and ice cream cones
Or wearing a cool aid mustache as they run and squeal,
Lord, let each participant
Summon from within, Patience,
Acting not malicious or being in too great haste.
But make them as sponges to soak up your teachings*
For the minds of precocious children we dare not waste.
*Train up a child in the way he should go:
And when he is old, he will not depart from it.
Proverbs 22:6
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