metallic green head
metallic violet blue!
golden breast starling
Found the abandoned misused tomb
Metallic and ancient it slept
Airstream trailer, silver bullet
I wandered the forest and wept
Found a rusted knife in the ash
Metallic and ancient it slept
A kitchen tool, left in the rain
It was just begging to be kept
Found a can of neon spray paint
Metallic and ancient it slept
I helped my siblings paint our barn
And at time’s end, away we crept
The cobalt mind of ancient mariner of the seven seas,
the surfing sailor tosses on the waves of youthful life,
rolls on the curled crests with the splintered moon,
drawn into dark agony troughs of the drowned stars,
spread pearls of joy on shore embroidering exuberance.
Crushed sands sculpt the trail of the seaward footprints,
designed by the crumbled contours of transient decay.
Time arrow points to the turquoise terrain ethereal,
away from the wistful wilderness abandoned,
where the chasm stratifies the collapsed hopes undying.
The weed-webbed wasteland defined deep within,
piles up the shipwrecked splinters of life unlived.
Withering garden garners tinny bleakness, yet shining,
as the path paved outside the obscure familiarity fence
waits to be walked by the mesmerized wanderer
to the marvelous meadow of tantalizing tomorrow.
The invented alchemic aptitude of the mystic memory
makes glittering gold on the rusted crust of the ruins.
Marigold blooms on scrap heap with steadfast sanguinity
in Midas touched shipwreck junkyard of the metallic mind.
The mobile mind of the indomitable mariner,
the resolute sailor floating on the waves of life,
rolling on the curled crests with splintered moon,
drawn into dark agony troughs of drowned stars,
spread to oblivion breaking on the shore of past.
The crushed sands carve seaward footprints,
designed by the crumbled contours of decay.
Time arrow points to terrain beyond the shore,
away from the abraded wilderness abandoned,
where the chasm consumes the collapsed hopes.
The weed-webbed wasteland defined deep within,
piles up the washed out wreckage of life unlived.
The withering garden garners metallic bleakness,
as the path paved outside the familiarity fence,
waits to be walked by the mesmerized wanderer
to the mesmeric meadow of tantalizing tomorrow.
The invented alchemy aptitude of mystic memory
makes glittering gold on the rusted crust of ruins.
Marigold blooms in the scrap heap of abiding hope
in the Midas touched junkyard of the metallic mind.
_________________
February 19, 2023
For Brian Strand's Your Choice Again Contest
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
nature's winged gadget
cacophonic arguments
reconcile the day
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
August 16, 2021
Black no moon night
Glowing green
No noise to be heard
Gliding overheard
Cowering away
Looking to hide
Blinding white light
Lying on a cold metallic table
Grey faces without features
Stretched out on dewy grass
Two hours missing
Rubbing a lump on my neck
Headaches and rashes
Humming in my ears
Flashes of metallic memories.
© Paul Warren Poetry
Listen to the air,
what cometh on the buffeting winds
of history
are angry birds of prey
With metallic wings that flap not,
they move with frightening speed
Raptor birds carrying atomic seeds in their beaks,
given to feed
the radiation baby chicks which will soon emerge
from the bowels of their womb,
Listen to the wind ... death is arriving soon
Metallic wings
that move with a deadly drone
When they drop their cobalt eggs,
the splattering sound of the scattering dust reveals
the new boundaries of the killing zone
Witness the bones stripped of all flesh ...
instantly gone
And the leveled cities of worms
sink underground permanently
Smell the stench of the wind which is blown
See the metal birds of prey
return to perch on their barren branches
With untiring wings spread,
they sit atop their fallow thrones
the soldier smiled at me
but his smiles were false
I knew by intuition
that the night would be uneasy
things would be bloody
with metallic beans worn
around waste and neck
some in pockets and arms
I was sure the beans were gifts
brought for each man’s heart
in village of hard truth
I taste the metal skyline.
I feel the wind breathe across my face
I fall
Honk, honk, honk
The car alarm screams at me from afar
Bleeding lights streak across my eyes
Hey what's the matter with you?
I am fine I think
Bedazzled by reflections in sheets of glass
Is that the sky?
I wonder bemused
I fly down and up simultaneously
Finally I've caught the wind
On steel wings I rise!
METALLIC
Twisting rusting wire tightly wound round the base coiling its way from electrode to electrode dancing in blue electricity reflecting off the dull tarnished surface, metallic colours shine in the dimly lit light making pain burn through my body, torturing me with pleasure and pain in a collage of hell.
I’m a human mind hooked up for the electrical trip of a lifetime.
Oil stained wings of satin sea,
Ebon quills on blue,
Ruffled whispers, jasmine
breeze,
Echoes of near silent who.
Dripping onyx, puddled, pooled,
Sheets of satin overhead,
Licorice melted, inky glow,
Shadows in spirit and bed.
Silver wisps, shimmer pale,
Hiding from the dawn,
Flames, charcoal sapphire,
Queens lonely pawn.
Interrupted, endless oblivion,
A tease, nothing more,
Luminescent twinkle of
innocence,
Muse of legend and lore.
Strewn and scattered,
imperfect rhyme,
Reason without shame,
Glitter sprinkled, heavy hand,
Never ending game.
Struggling for the top of bill,
Eager to compete,
Diamonds in the dusky rough,
Carbon parted by heat.
Drizzle, navy and tar reprise,
Metallic freckles of light,
Wishes, dreams and
introspect,
Twinkle on, star bright.
Sleepy auburn hills,
Wake to the warm touch of gold:
Under pewter skies.
I own a black metallic lamp.
It has a clamp,
with a spring locking device,
to hold it secure.
It illuminates me,
but in doing so it draws small winged
insects towards it's aurora.
Causing them to experience the bulb's warmth.
Where inside, along the ridge and around
the perimeter of the shade, they gratfully rest.
But, as they bask in the bulb's glow,
these tiny insects become incapacitated;
while the heat slowly burns them to death.
And as more and more join the others I wonder,
are they just foolish creatures or wise matrys?
... hard, soft, heart metal,
cloyingly sentimental,
temperamental...!
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