Daydreams of summers’ past
are vivid in my mind’s eye…
…sandcastles with moats to build
beachballs to chase and throw
loud voices echoing along the beach.
Salt water, lifeguards and whistles…
…my toes curl through hot summer sand
large, loud waves glisten and crash
in an endless rhythm and flow.
We ran headlong into the waves
cheap styrofoam boards in hand
recklessly splashing, wet hair dripping
taking whatever waves we could
laughing, radiant with joy…
…I miss my sister.
Tilting windmills, chasing rainbows
I run and run to catch up with the sun
Instead of simply waiting
For it to come around again.
Like a child I build my castles
At the edge of lapping waves
With moats and berms and bailing bucket
Knowing the inevitable awaits.
To cry just the same when it comes
Wave after wave,
Cleansing and removing
All my efforts, all my dreams.
Seasons come and seasons go
In every realm and stage of life
And still the child remains within
Wishing upon a star in vain.
Please give it all to me,
Make it last, make it mine
And never take away
What is nothing but a dream.
(1/10/26)
Long, wide, vast, high, dreadfully deep protective walls
Battlements, ramparts, bulwarks, and tower folders
Living quarters, arrow slits, gatehouses, and halls
Monstrous walls built as though with steel-alloy boulders
Water-filled deep massive moats to obstruct the foes
Bastions and merlons within majestic meadows
Forts and castles are mysteries of histories.
They are focal themes of bewildering stories.
Stone castle forts fall,
their wet moats dry to parched dust
power mutes silent
yet tyrant's demand to rule
remains coiled in naked might
Drawbridge now unfolds
as policy, law, decree
the moat, a filter
controlling information
behind wall of secrecy
Fortress power stays
autocracy hewn in stone—
unbreachable walls
the moat of politicide
changing form, not its intent
Coveted entrance opens again for the sunrays
Whisper with the tinges of clouds succeeds
Coats of fog and moats of hesitation dropped
Sunbeams set to get into the tidal summit
____________________________
7 September 2025
All aboard the bizarre Farage barge..
Unless of course you are from abroad..
.
Narcissist catalyst.. old school fraud..discord twist..
Can't resist.. staging the raging red mist..
Fist of Mob rule tryst does persist..
Depraved raves..insist..craved faves..
Won't save slaves & knaves..
Hellbent they are sent..
To graves under the waves…
Foolish votes for ghoulish gloats..
Seedier media leaders lying..
Defying the dying..
Folks crying..ghastly ghostly boats..
Crude jokes delude..lewd masterstrokes denude..
Corporate rascal castle debacle floats..
On dank murky murderous moats..
Scuffles.. muffles ruffles & kerfuffles
Pokes & provokes just for bank notes..
The ubiquity of inequity
This poem or tome..
Every face…race should be.
Free to roam..
In this place..
We all call home..
I want to stop the world.
Not freeze the spin.
I want to critique inertia
Still the blind momentum.
Interrupt the cycle of noise,
The pull of distraction,
The serpent of deception.
To stop the world
Is to reclaim your attention.
Not just mine,
It’s ours.
Like a constructed Mandela effect
I jump and I land,
And the grass beneath me bends.
But imagine—
If we all jumped at once?
We could shake mountains,
Build ladders,
Rewire thought stations,
And touch heaven.
We could finally separate
The poor from the hopeless.
We could,
Unpause,
as we please
Not by wealth—
But by will.
By love, or illusion.
If 25 cents is half an hour
How much can I buy with debt?
And change needs time.
Yet we keep filling
Other people’s time
Just to feed ourselves.
The Pope lost the Ark.
The sun and moon now rule time.
They cut the legs off our ladders
And built moats around the mountains.
But if you jumped with me.
We could start earthquakes.
A global fast.
A universal dream.
A moment of divine absurdity.
A means to a mend,
Not an end,
Amen,
I don’t think she’s really aware
That the touch of her soft flowing hair
Takes me drifting through time
To that evening at nine
When she stole my heart without care
I had just held the door
Nothing less – nothing more
A flash of eyes blue
A whispered “thank you”
Made me wish to perform an encore
The hook had been set
Though she wasn’t fishing
I sat alone at the bar
Silently wishing
She’d said just a little bit more
Thus, fate intervened
As we left in the rain
Draped beneath our old coats
Leaping o’er curbside moats
Setting sail on an endless affair
All our secrets abide
Even those that we “hide”
In those quizzical grins
That mask all or our sins
‘neath the touch of her soft flowing hair
we spent the afternoon
throwing ourselves off castle walls
jumping into moats we spent
our time pierced with swords
having arrows hit us and many more
miss us in aching arms in shields
that's what we did sharing blood
and last breaths and mountains
didn't matter and forests didn't matter
we spent our afternoons dying
and that's what really mattered
You sunny day people, so busy and bright,
You bring us the joy of a gypsy in flight,
You dance in the dew of a beautiful morn',
And capture the flag in a field of corn.
But I love the drip that you get from a drop,
The joy of a plip that you get from a plop,
Where hail and snail are home on the range,
And serious people are now acting strange.
Oh raindrop, thy image, is misty to me,
You came from the salt of a sunny blue sea,
You blew in a cloud that was puffy and white,
To land on my tongue with a sailor's delight.
You wake up the creatures that I love the best,
That rinse in the rain of a tropical quest,
You splash in the rivers of small paper boats,
That race in the gutters of rainy-day moats.
The lightning and thunder are thrilling to me,
They pass in the pride of a loud jamboree,
They fizzle in raindrops that dance on my pane,
A drizzle of drops in a barrel of rain.
A warm, summer splash is for girls and boys,
Who need a respite from a closet of toys,
Where moisture and mischief are rolled into one,
And rainbows are free to the victory won.
Up the shore the rhythmic tide strides.
Twice a day, the army marches in succumbing.
Then retreats, tail between its legs, discharging
Its grip and flooding embrace, releasing, disengaging,
It's ebb and flow, a never-ending sleep-breath sigh.
The tide's hidden master and conductor is the moon.
A general seldom seen leading the troops on the battlefield
Rending the tide as irresponsible, willful and unaccountable.
A creature wail-fully uncaring, inconsiderate, wayward in consequence.
In the woe betide comes, seeping into the castle moats and holes dug by kids
Flushing away the fun of seashore frolics,
dampening the joy and the shrill of beach laughter
reminding us that there has to be a morning after,
After the coming,
someone, not me
has to
clean up
the
mess
and ebb
to bed.
I’m looking forward to
letting my bare feet sink in silt
the waves weighing me down
salt sea leaving me breathless
I’m looking forward to
the sun bleaching my hair
heating my arms, legs, scalp
and the coconut scent of sunscreen
I’m looking forward to
sand between my toes
shifting, drifting, flipping
and coating my shins
I’m looking forward to
the playful splashing of the sea
watching kids make moats &
build and destroy sandcastles
I’m looking forward to
looking over my shoulder
for alligators and snapping turtles
on the loose, near every canal
I’m looking forward to
the tropical sips and eats
the lightning that strikes
right in front of my vehicle
I’m looking forward to
Florida highs and lows
The Mean Girls musical
My grand in the lead
2/22/2023
O great people in a great forest land
From the land of the Igodomigodo to the kukuruku
I know you and the tragedy of your heroic tale
You are the pulse of a great nation
The heartbeat of many tribes, cultures, and beliefs
Seated in their midst from east, west, south, and north.
Oba gha to kpe e, the great conqueror
With you, no kingdom matched your wealth and domain
From the east, west, south, and north
Your reign is like the eagle over the sky
And like a mother hen, sheltering her chicks
With walls, moats, forest, and war cries.
Great land, your artistry is beyond compare
Woman, your beauty and history are adorned in bronze
The Portuguese came to spy on your beauty
The British came with a false romance
And they ravaged her
Even the forest land, the northern men assault
Against her will, her culture, and belief.
And my love lay wasted and abandoned
O great people in a great forest land
Arise as we put our past behind us
Today we have healed our wounds
By our diligence and resoluteness
Binis, Esan, Afemai, all who dwell in the land
Let us together build a great land
And be the heartbeat of a great nation!
When the final sunset happens
when the moon no longer shines
when the castle moats are empty
all anger will decline
When the lunar sin
is counted
and death is in defeat
all our dragons will be slain
and laying at our feet
No harm be our incentive
into the dark we creep
crying demons
rising from the deep
cats mewling
no more belonging
to the rose or tulip
they lay upon the heap
dead dreams
We forever more shall sleep
O children how beautiful the sea
with its white foam clouds,
its turquoise blooms,
its kiddish push’n pull,
its whirlpool, its briny drink…
salt like liquor — be careful of
where the sun beats you red.
…the brothel of the sea
don’t look for its meaning
…just mind me - stay away from
sirens and ethereal rocks.
O children take your pails
build your fairy castles,
fill your moats, until
it gets dark…when crabs
cut loose from the sand
and gigantic jaws comb the surf.
take your boats in hand,
wear your orange vest
in daylight, where the blue
kicks your boat playfully,
and like a friend, the waves shake
the hands of your oars.
be wary of shadows prevailing
upon the tendril waves, creeping,
daring to persuade you out
…just a little further…turns you about -
stows away the bread and buttery sun.
Sleep soundly in your cave,
under your sea-scented quilt.
remember mama always told you
…don’t turn your back on the deep.
3/4/2022
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.