Long Whereof Poems
Long Whereof Poems. Below are the most popular long Whereof by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Whereof poems by poem length and keyword.
For Epiphany Poetry Contest sponsored by Constance La France
“Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent.” ~ Ludwig Josef Johann Wittgenstein
As I embarked upon the world,
I absorbed an idea
that there was some great truth to find.
Coming to believe
that if I didn't possess it, I would be missing
something essential -
like a tin man without a heart.
How could I find this truth?
Would it be through hard work -
study or life experience,
or would it be powerful or divine,
an epiphany
delivered by some kind of angel?
On all the stops that I visited on the road to find out -
parents, siblings, teachers,
books, religious texts, gurus,
philosophers, artists,
people with degrees,
I asked, "What is the truth?"
and my mind became a jumbled, cacophonous mess.
I took a break from the road to truth
to take solace in nature.
For fun, I asked a tree, a hummingbird, and a lake,
"What is the truth?"
No epiphany -
I heard only silence,
beautiful silence.
'tis not the first that i have found
but in my heart it does seem so.
whereof can this be?
it passes understanding for me to know.
and yet i dwell upon the mystery
confused and in bewilderment.
yet must i contemplate all that is before me.
but there is no logic or presentiment.
so how should i travel on my quest,
how best to proceed in my darkness?
there is no choice but to forge ahead
and hope that there no precipice lies.
we are in the dark where enlightenment rarely falls.
like a flash of lightning,an epiphany fleetingly shows
and then it darkens into doubt and despair.
oh god,light up my darkness.
for where else can i turn in this bleak chaos?
school outing …
prep school day trip -
the Isabella Gardner Museum, Boston …
I round a corner inside,
a sunny courtyard to my left
ahead, an exquisite scalloped arch
sculpted columns on each end
and beyond, softly lit ...
- I gasp, air sucked from my lungs
in the literal sense
my hand clutches my chest,
knees wobbling ...
noticing, someone asks if I'm okay
"physically, yes ... thank you"
(when my breath finally returns)
blown as a mind can be, I'm transfixed
minutes pass, then hours ...
tranquil water, am I -
no ripples, no vacillations
no concern of what’s taking place around me
an entire multi-floor museum -
exceeding artistic genius on every wall
yet the bulk of my day is spent ... right there
entirely and utterly spellbound …
light, dance, music
romance, color, shadow, laughter -
every motion and emotion, churning
I can hear the guitars, the clack of her shoes
feel the heat of el club nocturna, pressing
mind spinning with the feigned haze of absinthe
the waft of cigar smoke and perfume
words stir deep inside me
wound in phrases I can not speak
phrases and fires unknown and unspoken …
and unquenched …
I am but a child -
in the presence of The Divine
frozen to my marrow by the bloom of
resplendent brilliance
my soul, a chaotic milieu of terrifying beauty
and all I can manage,
all I can do ...
is breathe.
~ 2nd Place ~ in the "Creativity In Visual Arts" Poetry Contest, Line Gauthier, Judge & Sponsor.
* This happened when I was fourteen ... art became very real to me that day, as did the phrase "divine Inspiration", thanks to the painting above, by John Singer Sargent. If you've ever seen it in person, (or SO many others!), you know whereof I speak. (Above image is slightly compressed). *
There's an island paradise located in the blue Atlantic.
No place on earth is quite as charming and romantic!
A shangri-la where beaches are pink and everyone smiles.
The place whereof I speak are the quaint Bermuda Isles!
There are no streets with mundane names like Elm or Main,
But you will find Shinbone Alley and Old Maid's Lane,
Or Aunt Peggy's Lane and unique Featherbed Alley,
Where quaint shoppes welcome you for a spot o'tea!
Brave tourists straddle motorbikes to go for a spin,
Perhaps stopping for a rum swizzle at famed Swizzle Inn!
Or if it's something delectable they desire to munch,
May stop by the Hog Penny in Hamilton for a leisurely lunch!
If looking for a sheltered beach on which to cavort,
There's no finer than Tobacco Bay nigh St. Catherine's Fort!
Ah, to spend an evening at Ye Olde White Horse Inn,
Slurping Bermuda fish chowder and sipping tonic and gin!
At night the shimmering sea reflects the magnificent moon.
Dulcet calypso music wafts from across the glassy lagoon.
Bermuda is known for its lilies, onions and friendly blokes,
And for the beauty of its sunsets the Master Artist invokes!
Entry for Thvia Shetley's "Foreign Travel" Contest
YeeHaw! We are about to be entertained with America's favorite sport!
No, it ain't football, baseball or basketballs bouncin' on the court.
Nor is it soccer, wrestlin', NASCAR racin' or tennis whereof I speak.
Nae! 'Tis the inane antics of politicians we'll watch as our votes they seek!
With bated breath we'll watch debates where buckets o' mud they'll sling,
Babblin' on and on about big schemes that in the end don't mean a thing!
They'll promise us anything, anything they think we ought to hear,
Includin' a rooster in every pot, more welfare and free pilsner beer!
We'll receive tons of useless stuff this election year in our mail slot,
Touting stellar records - no way to believe whether it's true or not!
People will be bangin' on our doors and buggin' us on the phone,
All pleadin' for our votes - all I'm pleadin' for is to be left alone!
We'll see Oberman and Matthews from the left spewin' venom,
And Limbaugh, O'Reilly and Beck from the right goin' after 'em!
There'll be vacuous panels on cable news includin' contradictions.
Self-appointed prognosticators will charm us with their wild predictions!
Politicians promise never to raise our taxes lookin' us dead in the eye.
We've heard that one too often - they'll increase them bye and bye!
I suppose we'll have to abide the hoopla and circus atmosphere.
After all, there are few other sports to entertain us at this time of year!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Poetic Delirium
In this most poetic holy state I now do live.
Whereof, my entire self, I most desire to give.
Raindrops of new feelings and divine, colorful thoughts.
Of these, like a storm, in a constant, pummeling onslaught.
Nay, nay..peaceful nights, doth this poetess ever have!
Both quill and parchment, be my saving salve!
One poem a day, my Muse cannot bear.
"Thou lazy, sloth of a poet, I shall pull out roots of your lazy, pitiful hair!"
Frightened wench that I am, I proffer,
"Alas, no great ideas do I have to offer!"
"What sheer nonsense, you lazy, liar you."
She's a stern taskmaster, 'this poem a day,'she strongly eschews.
Food, that masses normally eat, lies cold on the floor at my feet.
I cannot eat, before a new poem, is fed to her first, 'tis her Olympian
treat!
"Don't you even consider going to sleep!"
In protest, tears I cry from sheer exhaustion and yes, I do weep!
The sun greets me, with her,in Greek gown standing there.
A smile, so wonderfully bright, welcoming me to a day of writing poetry,
original, and hopefully touching and rare!
"Hide not behind words of beauty fair, an entertainer, you are not!
But do thou freely open your life and of your tender, beating, heart!"
Let your written melodic, celestial harmonies,
Bring love, hope and kindness to this orb, everywhere!"
With that mystical midnight message,an
opalescent chariot whisked her majestically away.
Imagining I wore Aphrodite's wise, sweet crown
to begin yet anew, a poetic,soul awakening day!
July 24, 2020
Contest: Strand Completely New (13)
Any Form, Any Theme
Sponsor: Brian Strand
What thou art to me may I gladly
shout and proclaim to thee most well?
Thou art to me a high-born lady
of style whereof I'd love to tell,
a princess that's sage and lovely—
whose mind is like a pleasant dell.
Thou art to me a raven-haired
of graciousness that's never seen.
Thou art the friend that boldly dared
to be the one and hopeful Queen,
a source of ruth who cried and shared
her tears through eyes of limpid green.
Thou art to me a fresh new start,
a renaissance of hope that's true:—
God's gift of grace to my sinful heart
and to my shame that I so rue;
thou art thus the most blessèd part
of faith and joy that now ensue.
Before the traffic awakes me,
Or the train slowly vibrates my sleeping zone,
Silence defeats the sounds and demands the morning.
As the early morning rises, most often with smiles;
Before the sun rises from the eastern sky, or even
Before the bright and morning star starts to stare,
Silence awaits to break forth in my thirsty soul, and
The acquiescence of my entire being bows in harmony,
offering not the slightest trace of resistance, because
silence has shown me the pathway to calm, poise, and peace.
Silence teaches me to beware that she hides from unwise ones
but handsomely rewards the anticipating and alerted ones
who crave freedom from the overflows of sound. She blesses
those who long for never a whisper for just a while.
Silence, like precious gold, wraps herself in seclusion
away from all the confusion, but unlike fools gold, silence
makes no pretensions nor displays any trace of delusions.
The deepest core of me thrives hard for silence, a treasure from
the heavens and I treat her tenderly as I quietly relax in her loving arms.
Through reflections of my surrendered mind, silence takes me places I could
never go otherwise, shows me things I can bravely do, and by God's grace,
convinces me that I can be the man God made me to be.
I tell you, the birds and the trees know whereof I speak.
Listen, if you dare, to their chirping to the rhythm of silence.
Listen to the slow-moving gentle winds giving homage to silence.
Even heaven speaks of a 30-minute pause, giving way to silence*
062220PSCtest, Reflection In Silence, Silent One *Bible, Good News Translation: "When the Lamb broke open the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven for about half an hour." Rev. 8:1
Swinburne form
Suspended on a hilltop,
I sit in reverie
considering my future.
How life is just a vapor,
yet worlds continue nonstop.
Is this how things must be?
Suspended on a hilltop,
I sit in reverie.
What can I do that matters
for good before I’m gone?
Lasting legacy, I know
thus far, my input – zero,
just bits and pieces, tatters,
when life on earth is done.
What can I do that matters
for good before I’m gone?
Descending from my mountain
I seek new destiny -
to write the grace of God’s love,
His wisdom, mercy, whereof
a pure, glorious fountain
will flow eternally.
Descending from my mountain
I seek new destiny.
Convinced of God’s omniscience
my soul's within his care.
And when my feet do falter,
His Spirit's my Gibraltar.
I tell of God’s sufficience
See Him, He’s everywhere.
Convinced of God’s omniscience
my soul's within his care.
June 7, 2019
Soul IQ contest by Chantelle Anne Cooke
October 28 Scripture Meditations Based on Romans 4-6
Key Verse – Romans 4:2 For if Abraham were justified by works, he hath whereof to glory; but not before God.
MY GOD, THANK YOU FOR JUSTIFYING ME
Thank You for justifying me against iniquity
By Your grace of great bounty
Toward precious salvation’s security
Letting me repent with humble sincerity.
Thank You for justifying me against transgression
By Your mercy of complete compassion
Toward forgiven soul’s redemption
Letting me pray with genuine devotion.
Thank You for justifying me against sinfulness
By Your love of righteous effectiveness
Toward cleansed heart’s holiness
Letting me worship with praise-filled joyfulness.
Thank You for justifying me against deficiency
By Your satisfaction of entire sufficiency
Toward contented spirit’s persistency
Letting me continue with revival-fervency.
Thank You for justifying me against defilement
By Your protection of watchful involvement
Toward bright testimony’s encouragement
Letting me serve with powerful enduement.
Thank You for justifying me against idolatry
By Your presence of miraculous entry
Toward victorious stewardship’s ministry
Letting me triumph with prayerful infantry.
Thank You for justifying me against ignorance
By Your wisdom of truthful endurance
Toward fruitful faithfulness’ perseverance
Letting me prevail with biblical assurance.
October 28, 2022