Long Substantial Poems
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While shepherds watched their flocks so white
All contemplating dusk,
Their ’phones received some breaking news
All thanks to Elon Musk.
His Tweet announced a virgin birth
In a stable by an inn,
They danced around the windswept heath
To a flute and violin.
In Bethlehem was born a child
A-sleeping in a crib,
They scrolled the Twitter crowd’s response
And thought it rather glib.
The innkeeper was quite concerned
That crowds would congregate,
Quick-thinking Joseph found some wood
And made an extra gate.
A star was shining overhead
That none had seen before,
No pundit was prepared to talk -
Not even Patrick Moore.
The stationers caught unawares -
They hadn’t got a clue;
A strong demand for calendars
For ADs One and Two.
The cattle started lowing -
As only livestock can -
The news spread fast across the plains
To every working man.
The shepherds all were gobsmacked as
Emotions ran so deep,
The spectacle of three wise men
Sure beats watching sheep.
A cub reporter scrambled
As the iPhone users scrolled,
Instructed to get pictures of
Some frankincense or gold.
The wondrous child lay fast asleep
In swaddling clothes and fur,
A shawl fell from His mother’s back
As she spied the gift of myrrh.
When wise men booked rooms overnight
The licensee did smile,
But camels tethered in his yard
Left a substantial pile.
The faith that followed Jesus’ birth
Did prosper and endure,
But spare a thought for stable lads
Recycling that manure.
Vladimir Putin itching
to loose nuclear bomb
end of the world scenario ofttimes
iterated throughout history
though an atheist (actually Unitarian),
no doubt this, that or another psalm
countless times the Bible
references Armageddon and doomsday
impossible mission to remain
cool, collected and calm.
Whether affiliated with donkey or elephant
Democrat or Republican viz
blue war red respectively
political hot issues don't amount
to a (Sam) hill of beans
when Sword of Damocles count
approaches zero hour
as global tensions mount
signaling increased chance
trigger finger will free
avast nuclear winter
(across world wide web) re:
leasing plethora, pyrocumulus
mushroom clouds tree
mend us planetary explosions
annihilating webbed wide
world, an irrevocable
indeed earthlinked debacle
spelling widespread species
multitudinous extinction
ex post de facto after super
bowling powers (wannabe) vied
to wrest empowerment spanning
entire realm sans third rock
from the father, sun and holy ghost,
who turned substantial pock
kits of flora and fauna
once populating oblate spheroid ad hoc
significant swaths of life forms
pulverized and/or turned to ash
transformed into radioactive wasteland
after war mongers brash
lee usurped hegemony
(ruling inhabitants
of Gaia with an iron fist
with a smidgen of flavoring
courtesy of Missus Dash
superfluous taste enhancer,
when sibling burnt offering views
between Venus and Mars incendiary
tolled mourning news
smithereens sole remnant
poisoned every square inch
from weapon of mass destruction
that did cruise
engendering thick noxious fog
disabling fox but not cockroach
while smoldering seas and continents
skull and crossbones didst poach
amidst the gasified, liquified, pureed
where holographic ghoulish super bowl coach
rendering lifelessness home for menagerie
where virtue trounced vice as organisms
(particularly one primate) didst try
(predominant 21st century simians)
tool heave with amity, comity, and empathy
animals and plants an experiment
that went awry
presaging a nuclear winter with nary a winner
implicating mankind as the absolute sinner
instantaneously after Doomsday Clock
signaled point of no return
where grim reaper the sole grinner.
PERCHANCE, pure ignorance led me to thine fate,
this insensitive cast of shadowed ills,
master of melancholy,
captain of misery,
pukes wormed to,
fester my sole.
WROUGHT, I to thine chambered bed of tear-filled filth,
thy soulless disposition of dogged bitten maladies,
mastery of wanton death,
captain of pistols gift,
giveth thee eternally,
peace lest mired,
in wretchedness,
be thine indeed,
forevermore.
BOUGHT, thee an earthly infirmity gift of thine underworld,
a substance of substantial kaleidoscopic wonderment,
masters of the Gorgon green powdery eyes,
captain favor thee and keep me stoned,
the zodiacal tamed universe in,
infinity delusion,
aloft.
OUTDATED is not part of modernity, an obstacle of fluidity,
utter nonsensical befitting of untruths worthy of,
frontal page jibberish for a stoned audience,
be the damnation of liberal bitterness and,
prosaic palfrey gallops expelling feces,
edible for domineering soulmates,
lost in love, fools that they are,
spiraling aspirants sticky,
cesspool of the,
damned!
2020 February 09
blue war red hot political issues dont amount
to a hill of beans
when Sword of Damocles count
approaches zero hour
as global tensions mount
signaling increased chance
trigger finger will free
avast nuclear winter
(across world wide web) re:
leasing plethora pyrocumulus
mushroom clouds tree
mend us planetary explosions
annihilating webbed wide
world, an irrevocable earthlinked debacle
spelling widespread species
multitudinous extinction
ex post de facto after super
bowling powers (wannabe) vied
to wrest empowerment spanning
entire realm sans third rock
from the father, sun and holy ghost,
who turned substantial pock
kits of flora and fauna
once populating oblate spheroid ad hoc
significant swaths of life forms
pulverized and/or turned to ash
transformed into radioactive wasteland
after war mongers brash
lee usurped hegemony
(ruling inhabitants
of Gaia with an iron fist
with a smidgen of flavoring
courtesy of Missus Dash
superfluous taste enhancer,
when sibling burnt offering views
between Venus and Mars incendiary
tolled mourning news
smithereens sole remnant
poisoned every square inch
from weapon of mass destruction
that did cruise
engendering thick noxious fog
(disabling fox and roach)
while smoldering seas and continents
skull and crossbones didst poach
amidst the gasified, liquified, pureed
where holographic ghoulish super bowl coach
rendering lifelessness home for menagerie
where virtue trounced vice as organisms
(particularly one primate) didst try
(predominant 21st century simians)
tool heave with amity, comity, and empathy
animals and plants an experiment
that went a wry
presaging a nuclear winter with nary a winner
implicating mankind as the absolute sinner
instantaneously after Doomsday Clock
signaled point of no return
where grim reaper the sole grinner.
Form:
(Author's note: Traditions of walking a labyrinth as a form of meditation go back many centuries. Labyrinths in Christian contexts usually have a single, winding path instead of a maze’s many possible dead-end paths. Mazes are puzzles to be solved. Labyrinths are tools for meditation.)
Life Labyrinths
By Mark D. Stucky
Nothing frightful lurks in sacred labyrinths.
No Minotaur inside waits to devour us.
No complex branches exist to confuse us.
Only a single, circular path,
winding back and forth,
silently invites us.
A path sketched on the ground.
A path for prayerful healing
of any monsters in our minds.
A path intended for mindfulness,
peace, and private pilgrimage
toward contemplative centeredness.
As in life, our path curves
and endures sudden detours
and substantial reversals.
Our goal comes closer to us
but then recedes from us
over and over again.
But we can be certain
we’ll eventually enter
that elusive center.
(Originally published on Amethyst Review, 1 July 2022.)
(Photo by Erez Attias on Unsplash.com.)
part 2 of 2
“How’s school going?” Annick asked later, moving some of my fly-away hair out of my face - a trace of the maternal in her solicitous fussing - but I liked it.
“Easy peasy,” I said, the lie warming me like an ember or black magic.
There’s no real sibling rivalry between us. Imagine you’re Beyoncé’s sister, what are the odds that you’ll eclipse Beyoncé? Yeah, it’s ZERO.
“Ha!” she laughs, “you are such a little fibber.”
“I am NOT,” I hotly say, but my defense is ruined by my laugh. “I’m doing ok - but it’s a lot,” I say, to erase the fib.
They’re ENGAGED!
I tried not to act stunned but I doubt I was very convincing. The news thumped me like a gust of wind. Suddenly, I knew. Our yesterdays were no more substantial than a story we’d read together growing up, that you can mourn and rejoice at the same time.
Otherwise it was a family lunch, although at first I was a bit nervous around Gerard. At one point Annick says, “What are you doing?” as the table gently quivered.
I smiled wincingly, “Making circles with my ankles,” I said.
Annick smiled knowingly.
Police cars block the side streets;
The avenue’s car-free
To make the strolling easy
For pedestrians like me.
The booths hold clothes and jewelry
And crafts of every type,
But front and center is the food,
Deserving of the hype.
Most every nationality
Is represented by
Whatever meals the chefs at hand
Can chop or stir or fry.
Aromas fill the neighborhood
As people buy and munch
A snack to tide them over
Or a more substantial lunch.
Distilleries display their wares
Near smoothies packed with fruit,
The locals and the visitors
In purchasing pursuit.
A lovely way to spend some time
On a fall-like afternoon,
Succumbing to the urge to buy,
To which I’m not immune.
Wood's voices are loud, and the wind is weary.
It hurts and hurts as the fall leaves turn dreary.
On the saffron-robed eastern dark tally swarm.
Sheets dropped in a thin line from a massive storm.
November arrives, and a cool breeze follows.
Cheer meals and fireplaces are roaring bellow.
Warm passion beguiled the blizzard and brief days.
And December ushers in cool breezeways.
The sun had fallen, and the moon was nearing.
The dawn brings fresh vitality and jeering.
Lights wander into the night without remorse.
Skylights rejoice, and azure woven waves hoarse.
Winter winds sweep across during November.
It was the first snowfall I can remember.
At dawn, a mystical miasma peeks through.
A blade of grass has silvery drops of dew.
The sound of the rain is soft hum on the roof.
Tinkling against the glass window of my woof
Abet me figure out where the muse came from.
Both gentle and substantial rain seems to come.
Tenderly tethered snowflakes flutter downwind.
The realm of presence enters its dozing bind.
The land is fully coated in sparkling white.
Let's remain indoors, where it's nice and quiet.
Sounds and recollections are being consumed.
Dewdrops in the mornings of winter are doomed.
Unmet sorrow, your gaze snatched my breath away.
Winter winds obscure the sun's buoyant display.
1st Place Contest Winner
Written: November 10, 2022
Checked by HMS.COM/11 syllables per line.
November or December Quatrain Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Caren Krutsinger
In your eyes I see the person I am becoming.
Contemplation, the art of seeing the magnificent in the simple.
I searched for wisdom within myself and found God.
Forget all others, until I am the last thought on your mind.
You hide, hoping that I will seek.
Do not set limits on your dreams, that's your boss's job!
I tried to give her a French kiss, unfortunately she was not bi-lingual.
I turned practice into luck, what others see as easy comes from hard work.
If you search for yourself in darkness, how will you find your way back?
His mind traveled at the speed of sound, yet no one could hear him.
She bent over backwards for him, with disappointment she lost her flexibility.
She was an emotional anorexic, starving for a substantial love.
You will always have a friend if you truly get to know yourself.
Instruments of God we can only create music if he is blowing through their lives.
If all she had was her eyes, she would still be able to smile.
It is impossible to betray someone who has never considered you a friend.
I love the way you bend the sun in my direction.
He promised he would stay forever, some men have no sense of time.
She was hired to be a Girl Friday
I refuse to answer to that, she said
Not during the hour-long interview
But her first five minutes on the job
Her demands and preferences were many
She wanted top billing if she helped him edit his books
She expected a substantial raise after two weeks
She threatened to sue him twice in the first ninety days
The boss was a bit smitten with the woman
He had finally met a woman who was a match for his mother
Overbearing, dominating, demanding,
He wanted to woo her and wed her
Marriage to her would have been his mother’s thorn
The former Girl Friday sued him for sexual harassment
She took half his company and a lot of his money
Forty years later he still thinks of her fondly