Silver moon begins to rise,
One sweet star sings
lullabies,
Bringing dreams to sleepy
eyes!
Rumble Stein gathered all the
children closer to share the grim
legend of the Manor's hidden
archives.
Rumple Stein chuckles, a dry
and rattling sound,
As the children sit quivering
upon the cold hammering ground.
"Deep in the Manor, past the grand,
winding stair,
A secret wall hides a terrible
nightmare."
He taps on the stone with a
long, yellow nail,
Spelling out the dread of a
ghostly old tale.
"Behind the dark oak sits a
library dead,
Where the screaming spirits of
old cluster over your sleepy head."
If a curious child finds the brass
hidden spring,
The wall swings wide open to
a terrifying thing.
Dusty shelves stretch forever
in shadows so deep,
Where a weeping gleaming ghost
never settled to sleep.
"Beware the old books wrapped
in velvet and lace,
And never read lullabies out
in that place!"
For the moment you whisper
those sweet bedtime rhymes,
The phantom awakens from
ancient, dark times.
She will drift from the ceiling
and freeze up your breath,
Singing a lullaby that traps
you in death.
Your sleepy eyes will heavy, your
body will twist and turn cold,
Another lost child for the
library to hold.
A teen aesthete
wanders to the soul bartering crossroads
down from where the bus let off.
Gathering weeds and stray flowers
of windblown cemetery seeds.
To make a shrine, self inspired,
at the wayside of God.
To lend by ritual, and evocation
the passage of their development
lonely and gifted.
Shrugging off the ubiquitous pack
and taking from within; magical finds
discovered during cherished playtimes.
Collected in a self-adorned shoe box.
Things gleaned from treasure hunts
and fantastic pursuits.
A cache of light:
cat's eye marbles, chandelier crystals,
blue, clear, and green, sea glass
rolled and shaped by cousin sands.
Dull till spit wetted, salt licked.
By wave defying bravery
a pluck of pebble or sunny glimmer.
Run to Mom for her glamor, and approval.
Brought home in playful pockets
from beaches and picnics.
Now artfully laid in tearful grief.
Creating a mosaic of introspection.
The last to set in place
a paint chipped, wooden, geometric
puzzle piece.
An icon of fractured lullabies.
A dream ending; bare feet,
wet pajamas, and a long car ride.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Feathers of winter
drift through the hush of midnight~
cold lullabies melt
on my tongue like forgotten
dreams of a child's first snowfall.
Midnight Lullaby
by Michael R. Burch
I.
A measureless rhythm rules the night—
few have heard it,
but I have shared it,
and its secret is mine.
To put it into words
is as to extract the sweetness from honey
and must be done as gently
as a butterfly cleans its wings.
But when it is captured, it is gone again;
its usefulness is only
that it lulls to sleep.
II.
So sleep, my love, to the cadence of night,
to the moans of the moonlit hills'
bass chorus of frogs, while the deep valleys fill
with the nightjar’s shrill, cryptic trills.
But I will not sleep this night, nor any …
how can I—when my dreams
are always of your perfect face
ringed by soft whorls of fretted lace,
framed by your tear-drenched pillowcase?
"Midnight Lullaby" has been set to music by the award-winning New Zealand composer David Hamilton.
Bashed by Basho
by Michael R. Burch
He came to me like an early birdie
and said, “My, my, you are REALLY wordy!”
Keywords/Tags: lullaby, lullabies, music, musical, song, child, children, childhood, baby, babies, midnight, night, rhythm, sleep
Morning dew in my newly bloomed red clover cloak
A warm breeze kissing my cheek
I want to bathe in the sunshine
This creature that I am
tasting the first sweets of spring
I want to hide away in the moss growing beneath my feet
To grow up into the branches of this cherry tree
Would she be my shelter
Please don't wake me from this dream
I smile, still stumbling from this intoxicating stupor
I paid heed to The Wild God's call
Luminous lullabies linger
The other world whispering longingly in my ear
Today I’m grateful for lullabies.
Those love songs our parents sang to us
each night before we slowly closed our eyes….
Those same lullabies that even now
when a new days about to start
still play softly in our ears
and soothe our waking heart
The sun has taken a day off,
sleeping in blankets of silver
while the Earth dances a slow pirouette,
like the venerable ballerina she is, on her axis.
I ponder the grayness
while thinking of haiku to pass the time,
wondering of what the sun dreams
during its times of solar slumber.
A rose awakens,
blooming with the kisses of dewdrops
caressing her brow.
The heavens softly weep.
I know not whether for joy or sorrow.
These tears of God are shed this morning,
but the land and I are cleansed and nourished.
The fabric of the sky is rent
by sudden streaks of violence
that shatter the peace of my reverie
and threaten to unsettle my soul.
Sabers of lightning
duel throughout the morning
to sate their anger.
Their fury sends fear to my heart’s threshold,
but it finds the door safely barred
by the still waters of the Spirit’s serenity,
keeping me untouched by disquietude.
I find lullabies in the thunder,
and the sleep of newborns follows
into a realm where the storm dissolves
within the calmness of God.
God hears the broken
Sees the tears
Hearts broken pieces
Across the years
His Arms open
To hold the cries
Of those bereft
Of lullabies
Lead the lambs
To meadows green
To safety, joy
And peace serene
Lead them Father
Please light their way
Bless them Lord
In Thy Name
I pray
Amen
Did silent lullabies make you fall asleep peacefully
while some child of your blood squealed in his cradle: He was left alone.
He wished you had stayed longer
and yearned for a better life.
You gave him promises,
You gave him hopes,
But none of those came true
Until he realized it was a hoax.
Did you think he misjudged the situation,
concluding you were not a good example?
Contrary to your proud wife’s opinions,
You are the delight: A source of joy.
So tell the boy he is wrong.
You might love how things went downhill for him when you left.
He thought that you enjoyed it.
He had a lot of questions to ask,
But no one from his clan wanted to answer his confusions:
“Why is life getting more eccentric as time passes?”
“Why did you leave him so soon?”
Do you know that his pain gradually worsens each year?
It drives him to the depths of delusion.
Still, he hoped to celebrate this day,
But he could not find a reason to say, “Happy Father’s Day.”
All he thinks about is…
You are not a good father.
Never were, Never will be tomorrow,
Not even in his midnight musings.
When days reflect like the veil of nightfall,
once bright eyes, like somber stars fail to glow.
World looks so big, but your soul feels so small,
as deep sighs mimic heartbeats breathing slow.
Before the storm absorbs my spirit's hope,
I search beyond weeping shadows of clouds,
counting my blessings to help weak mind cope.
Faith always finds me when I'm lost in crowds.
In times when I'm fragile like butterflies,
words from scholars and scriptures set me free.
Soothing chords from angelic lullabies,
help fight the voices that cause misery.
Today I’m thankful for raindrops and lullabies
and how a thunderstorm would always bring
my mom into my room…and how a lullaby she’d sing
It’s a memory I cherish…one I will forever keep
how even on the scariest nights she’d sing me off to sleep.
And I’m thankful in my life for how often this occurs….
when raindrops in the evening..make me think of her
There is a special kind of love,
A gift from the heavens above;
A profound bond forever binding,
A love that's always reminding.
Of how my presence brings smiles to your face,
And how my love fills up so much space.
An overwhelming love of mama,
A love so pure, there's no drama.
And when I find myself in tears,
My mother's love stands without fears. She takes me in her arms so tight,
And hugs away all of my fright.
"Baby don't you cry," she softly sings,
And to my heart, her love she brings . With lullabies, she sings me to sleep, And in her arms, I can safely keep.
Mama sings for me, with a heart full of care,
Her love unbounded, ever so rare.
You are everything me, she says, What I'd give to remove all your dismay.
A love that fills every part of me,
A love that's forever, don't you see?
You are forever in my heart,
And in my love, you'll never be apart.
in the glitter of the night when the moon
has cast its net over one and all ~
swaying to symphonies rehearsed
stars will dance their million virtues
and the midnight breezes will serpentine
towards distant lullabies of mermaids
seek they will hoping to find the enchantress
who forever conspires in the dark with unworldly deities
AP: 2nd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2025
Here I lie, enshrouded
by the orangery aura cast by
the fading rays of a setting sun
I have long waited for sunrise
I sit at the brink of yesterday
wrapped in the arms
of this lingering night, I await
it's ambience to descend
on me like warm sunrays
Here I wait, my heart
benumbed, my soul
in hibernation I await
rebirth, singing lullabies
to the moon, attempting
to lull it to sleep
for the sun to awaken
and pull its crown through
a crowd of lambent clouds.
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