Long Riverbanks Poems

Long Riverbanks Poems. Below are the most popular long Riverbanks by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Riverbanks poems by poem length and keyword.


Premium Member The Home We Made

Pike Place Market and Space Needle
race tracks out at Indy
stands Jefferson's Memorial
Nashville's Grand Ole Opry

Biking somewhere downtown Beijing (Bay-jing)
Great Wall nearby Xian (Z-on)
wow, thirty million in Chongquing (Chun-king)
pass Hong Kong on sampan (sam-pon)

St Petersburg a sweethearts tryst
ballet at Mariinsky (a theater hall)
an icon city of artist
like those by Kandinsky

Cars on freeways not stepping gas
fans run after The Rock
L.A. Lakers sign autographs
strolls in Hollywood Park

Chinese market in commotion
kids playing fingersticks
riverbanks in Tai Chi motion
reruns of Bruce Lee flicks

Stunning St. Basil's Cathedral
posing pics on Red Square
pass the Kremlin on a night stroll
goulash supper affair

Golden Gate, city by the Bay
Gateway Arch, St Louis
down Bourbon Street Mardi Gras Day
Graceland out by Memphis

Like that of Poe, in his real life,
to write was his haven
suffering the loss of his wife
two years since The Raven

Lamenting a loss is noted
though before it to be
guess a premonition floated
Poe writes of death, mostly

As you can read the no-frilled rhymes
a few strokes on the board
nothing compelling no-thrilled times
such things should be ignored.

Merely go out and drive somewhere
steer from them who forebode
Just be able to simply say
"Are we on the right road?"

While at homes here, or homes o'er there
Just living the homelife
Enjoying each other here--there
Live as one, free of strife.
Form: Rhyme


Premium Member Loafers and Leather Shoes

Let's race out,  where the  riverbanks surround
The grasses flitting upon ladders  of pine:
Kick  your loafers, my soles not  leather-bound
Carefree as toes grind through a hillside climb.

Leave those pairs while tender moments  begin, 
For  sunset rises till  gazes behold
Our summers of youth, our love deep within
To recall theme songs, and never grow old. 

Come dance me barefoot, ignoring night’s hours 
That we waltz along , down  through sand’s floor 
Igniting fire- glow amidst wildflowers;
Shoeless into dawn...this pleasure I adore.




Two Pair Of Shoes Contest
Sponsored by john lawless   8/4/2017
Form: Quatrain

Early Morning Merriment

The mist of the morning bathes the riverbanks, whetting my appetite for nature
I sit here letting the early morning tease my ears with the sweetest harmony, as
little angels flutter on wings, darting to and fro in early morning merriment.
Oh, this morning is in motion, swaying to the music of nature, as I breathe the crisp air enchanting my senses.
The poet in me is awaken as nature’s choir touches my ear, lifting my spirit to soar to its fullest heights.


I notice the wild bounding of the buck deer and the gray squirrel rises from his bed to meet a new day and awaken to a free serenade of sweet sound.
Can this poet be true to himself or will he refuse and spoil the moment?
How can I sit here on this bank and look across the mighty Mississippi River
with eyes and ears and not perceive creation? Nature sings to my senses.
It anchors me to my purest thoughts and guides the heart and soul of my being.

I have learned to look on nature, not as I did in the fantasies of youth, but in the solitude of a man, something far deeper that elevates my thoughts;
my senses honed to a fine edge, my spirit impaled.

I have fears that even in my serenity the words will not come, leaving nature to write for me.
I know it will never betray me who loves it and has reaped its beauty for my own use.
I dwell in the light of the rising sun, breathing the crisp air, surrounded by the best nature has to offer.

I know God is blessing me in this place where I sit. 
I hear his voice in the songs of birds, his breath in the breeze and his hand on my solitude.
It cheers my faith.
His presents is here on this bank and it stirs my soul.

Premium Member Dysfunctional Dignity -

I can see us now Luv,
pettin ponies, musing in warm moon light,
free versin in satin style, a smile born from genuine form,

Two hearts too stubborn for apologies or effigies of maybies,
sunburned by stardom, kingdom of monsters fathomed,
forlorned by the "Cloak and Dagger" of fox hunt horn,
withholdin my love from you feels like a wasted martyrdom,

The riverbanks of apocolypse may swell over my joy
but I will not drown Luv, I will not crumple,
winds of hysterical 'what could be' scratch my face
still I do not frown, I collapse not to the ground,

I am not a runaway from your palace of peeps & pain,
nor am I a tresspasser in your orchard of ecstacy,
I can no longer accept lovin you in the third person,
these masks of merrigold manipulation have become dreadful,

Much of my life has been spent defendin
against manipulators, abusers, haters, and mockers,
I needed to hear you say
that my affection for you was not taken for granted,

Thanks for being my Eve on those evenings of earnest thirst,
my Viper Rose, that it was I you chose, as God knows,
my love is not runnin, its stayin,
not prayin or playin
just gainin from the sayin,
love once levied is forever bevied,
gotta keep certain that my spine is mine Luv -

J.A.B.
Form: Epic

Premium Member Room at the Water’s Edge

What remains:

              a quieter, gentler world—
              no busy highways,
              no heavy freight trains,
              no factories casting fumes into the air,
              no steel birds cutting through the sky.

              Water speaks, bubbling in the creek.
              Birdsong echoes through the hills.


What returns:

              first, what had waited at the edges—
              seedlings held in the dark,
              moss covering the abandoned tank.

              The earth remembers every crack
              where it was made to wait.


What enters:

              small animals
              once shunned—
              snakes and lizards
              warming in the sun;
              birds nesting safely
              in eaves and sheds.

              Slowly, tracks gather
              around the empty sheds.


What loses its name:

              feral—
              the word loosening
              from hoof and paw,
              from hands that know
              to leave the gates open.


What is returned:

              water to the low ground,
              shade returning to the riverbanks,
              hands lifting wire from the reeds,
              room for the creek
              to rise and fall as it must.


What gathers:

              frogs in small ponds,
              dragonflies above the shallows,
              small fish flashing
              through the reeds.


What remains:

              space at the water’s edge
              as day gives way—
              each life making room
              for another.


Sunset

Sometimes I see you standing alone
Before the ruins of your past; you moan
For the withered leaves that were trodden
By you along the riverbanks, your mundane

And prosaic hours transforming into dream
Hand in hand, the soft woodland mist, the gleam
Of your crimson heart; the inevitable kiss
Opens up all the secret caves of bliss

A silent breeze caressing your careful tresses
Your sojourn to the domain of clouds that bless
All the magical fountains sprouting love
Dancing down through vales, the treasure-trove

You stand perplexed before the labyrinth of present
Where love’s fairy tale is shrouded in its end.
Form: Sonnet

Premium Member Sometime's Too Hard

Some days and nights it feels too hard
not to turn back former times,
ages and stages,
agreements and arguments,
investments and divestments,
births and deaths,
to ask all rebirth questions
I had no voice to ask yet.

Sometimes it hurts ache deeply
not to turn back able time
to ask my wiser questions of today
before we slipped apart.

Deep time may help to remember
I never could have learned to ask
if I had ever known more power
to stop time's flow

Remembering why this time 
in this wide place
we could ever hope to meet
just right 
on riverbanks of questions.

What were our odds
of landing here together
given all of time's vast space
invested to remember
what to ask each now together,
and why,
and how long is too short.

When Fields Becomes Cities

Once there stood a golden field,
Swaying crops, a farmer's yield.
Morning songs of birds took flight,
Beneath the sky so vast and bright.

The village paths, of dust and stone,
Where children laughed and cattle roamed,
Now paved with tar, so smooth and wide,
Where restless cars and buses glide.

The thatched-roof homes with lantern’s glow,
Replaced by lights in glassy rows.
The banyan tree where elders met,
Now stands alone in cold cement.

The riverbanks where stories flowed,
Now buried deep where buildings grow.
The marketplace of voices loud,
Now lost beneath a concrete crowd.

Yet in the heart of progress’ run,
Echoes of the past still hum.
For roots of earth, though hidden deep,
In memories, they softly keep.
                                                    - Phin Jiu
Form: Quatrain

A life dream

Life is a journey through darkness.
It contains many lessons and challenges,
Where mornings can be difficult.
We do not eat fish every day;
We often spend hungry nights.
We want education but have no money,
Yet we ask for the things the rich possess.
They do not understand our poverty,
Which today resembles slavery.
We dream of touching wealth,
As if birds could kill lions.
In our dreams we enjoy life,
Building beautiful houses,
As if owls worked during the day.
Then we wake up and see nothing,
Thinking that robbers have come
And stolen our yellow flowers.
Heartache has become a habit,
Filled with endless worrying thoughts.
Horses are nowhere to be seen;
We are forced to walk all day,
Sleeping on riverbanks,
Like broken horses
Haunted by evil,
Which ruins their entire lives.

Premium Member Drink From the Well

When the bird no longer cares, the rushing 
river cannot be crossed. All strength I 
possess, but if springtime does not boil my 
blood and laughter falls not; in summer 
rain, then~
The sun shines, but blossoms wither.
Tickets cost a pound, half shilling in my 
pocket.

Still I hear!

 Clouds echo with lightning, straight to my 
heart. Comrades thought fallen; rise to 
greet me, once more at my side!
A raft, secured to both riverbanks, will 
lead us across the troubled water.
Together, the purser waves us through, 
taking what he needs from our collective 
deposit.

  The day is still long, the sun 
bright, and flowers bloom once more.



02/23/14
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