The time was a quarter past half past to twelve
on the second from last day at the beginning of the month
in the year twenty-twenty-soon, and all was quietly loud.
The dancing had only just stopped after a night of sitting still
and food piled up on the empty tables.
Jugglers had danced telling their jokes and magicians sung
their impersonations. People mingled on their own while
loners chatted in small groups of large numbers.
The party was starting just how it had ended
and the guests were now arriving after clearing out slowly;
hangers-on and lingerers had been the first to leave
with late-comers having turned up too early
and many of the uninvited empty-handedly bearing gifts.
It had certainly been a night that day, a party like no other!
Categories:
lingerers, crazy, fun, funny, happy,
Form: Light Verse
Beyond the wave-sacked,
lie the pockmarked dunes, heaps dug
by the claws of scaly thrashers.
Here they huddle, my blood kin
flogging grim pleasures,
wolfing eggy sandwiches,
dipping tea-stained teeth into beakers.
By a shoaling shale and monochrome spray
one brine-splattered small fry.
A boyhood caught in a swirling freshet,
he whales barefoot in the flounder,
skimming the slimy kelp, stalking
a slippage of tugging surf.
Her demeanor soggy at last, mother
goads to be led to the creaking camper.
Father smokes a plug of leathery shag,
grunts upright, walks toward the sea.
A toppled thermos and leftovers
scooped up and lugged away.
Windswept, the lingerers
trudge from the chilly churn,
while a soused and hectoring bay
records a working-class holiday.
Categories:
lingerers, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Walking after rain
the wind teases and taunts the branches tall
tickling leftover clinging leaves until they fall;
rain-soaked grasses fold and bend
pushed down by the inundating residue of rain escapes
puddles forming at the bend of pathways newest landscapes;
rushes float in the breezes soft and fine
feathery whisps release into the atmosphere fair
frolicking squirrels and rabbits skip and dance in the air;
solemn gray December days slide in
cooled and chilled in icy glazed froth gloss
chastizing lingerers persistent teases of autumn summer loss;
now dark, deep purple shaded clouds
slip in out of their winter nebulous shrouds
declaring phantom silhouettes bold, brazen and proud.
Categories:
lingerers, wind, winter,
Form: Rhyme
I walk along, where myriads
of sunny faces are nodding.
As if to mock fall’s banishment
of summer’s earlier bloomers,
the sunflowers keep on smiling.
Are they dancing in the cool breeze
or are they
waving goodbye to summer?
Written Sept. 7, 2019 for nette onclaude's Farewell, Summer Poetry Contest
Categories:
lingerers, autumn,
Form: Free verse
Beyond the wave-sacked,
lie the pockmarked dunes, heaps dug
by the claws of scaly thrashers.
Here they huddle, my blood kin
flogging grim pleasures,
wolfing eggy sandwiches,
dipping tea-stained teeth into beakers.
By a shoaling shale and monochrome spray
one brine-splattered small fry.
A boyhood caught in a swirling freshet,
he whales barefoot in the flounder,
skimming the slimy kelp, stalking
a slippage of tugging surf.
Her demeanor soggy at last, mother
goads to be led to the creaking camper.
Father smokes a plug of leathery shag,
grunts upright, walks toward the sea.
A toppled thermos and leftovers
scooped up and lugged away.
Windswept, the lingerers
trudge from the chilly churn,
while a soused and hectoring bay
records a working-class holiday.
Categories:
lingerers, poetry,
Form: Free verse
down comforter
down under
under the covers
under the bed
bed the man
bed room
room for more
room for rent
rent a u haul
rent a house
house in the burbs
house of the damned
damned foolish
damned lonely
lonely lingerers
lonely nights
nights in white satin
nights without end
end of the universe
end of the game
game on the table
game players
players are soulless
players stack the deck
deck the halls
deck boards
boards interlocking
boards of the porch
porch light
porch swing
swing under my arm
swing between my legs
legs get you up
legs let you down
down town
down beat
beat me
beat time
time to move on
time to move over
over the rainbow
over the line
line dance
line markers
markers on signs
markers write over
over bruises
over cuts
cuts
bruises
Categories:
lingerers, fear, universe,
Form: Blitz
Thrash without mercy or conscious intent
the torrent rages past consciousness
streaming debris beggared by the breeze
moving life’s with fullness and ease
Governing the listless, the lingerers lost
moving the precious along with the dross
hammering the fragile
soothing the source
profoundly
continuing
an
unending course.
Categories:
lingerers, adventure, introspection, nature, philosophy
Form: Shape