Soft is the call of the night
She whispers to me in the rustle
of leaves ‘neath an ancient breeze
For time runs headlong into the chasm
~ lunging at moments already passed
I hear it from everyone
Time stops for no one
Though it slows to a crawl
'neath a mean desert sun
For so long, I wondered my life ‘neath the palms
A tropical climax to gild golden years
Each breeze would embellish my thoughts in the sun
I never imagined a context of tears
Though beauty surrounds me in floral bouquet
In hues that are married to sunset and wine
I can’t help but ponder the path I have taken
When leaving behind everything that was mine
The memories are haunting as life lies before me
Still promising sunshine and skies always blue
But nowhere do catalogs count what is missing
Not even the sunrise through palm trees will do
Well, yes I could pack up and sail away homesick
And try and go back to the life that I knew
I guess I am living just what I was promised
I’m certainly having a day that is blue
Every now and again, that old homesick bug bites!
placid… the surface …
not one ripple seen… though ‘neath
dark waters ~ sharks preen
When the cherry blossoms fall
Silent
‘neath the pale moon …
What will my story be?
Will I have found a lover true,
Or will my life-breath leave me
Never knowing lover’s kiss
Or beating heart beside me?
I wait for you …
I search for you …
I dream of you …
‘neath pale moon.
If I cross the sacred shores,
With only my pure dreams …
Perhaps a heart could live with that.
But mine cries for more than dreams.
My grip’s tight upon this butterfly.
How can I let her fly away?
While the cherry blossoms fall
Silent
‘neath the pale moon.
14 November 2023
The pale new moon hides 'neath cloudy skies
~ Restful sleep covers tired eyes
Ferocious jungle predators
Perilous mountain passes
Raging waters o'er stormy seas
For aye buried 'neath pleasure
~ lock lips with me
fall before the snow
midnight's forest echoed sounds
footsteps cracking twigs
Let me write a couple lines
before I go to sleep
I promise not to burden you
nor to make you cry or weep
Lay your face down on the pillow
on the shoreline 'neath the willow
May you the sandman sprinkle
with dreams of stars that twinkle
Neath Fog's Face
Poetic Form: Villanelle
"Within the fog the distant mountains strain
Bruised in shades of lavender and forest green
Each angle decomposing in the rain"
Drowning limbs taxes hanging balls, on chain
Snaps wide-eyed drying few, tense befalls lean
Within the fog the distant mountains strain
Sun starved thins, yet sprigs warm in cellophane
Dubbed genes circles in, sketched lines its routine
Each angle decomposing in the rain
Playthings of the gods, thunder, lightning reign
Angels whispered mist, Heaven intervene
Within the fog the distant mountains strain
The grapes wrathful hue amuse the terrain
A rainbow struggles for space in between
Each angle decomposing in the rain
A ray of hope flickers o'er the domain
Alas, it sinks, darkness filters the scene
Within the fog the distant mountains strain
Each angle decomposing in the rain
2021 May 12
*3rd Place*
Choose Your Form
~~Joseph May: Judged 2021 May 13
Our first kiss whetted my hunger and thirst
I was a budding rose at your first touch
Love bloomed in the garden for me that night
With such affection, my heart was unversed
Romance 'neath a full moon... there was so much
starlight.
Passion claimed my senses; our love extol,
I'd never known such glorious delight
You gave me strength when I needed a crutch
As if I had wings, my body and soul
Took flight.
November 6, 2020
Sara Kendrick's The Speaker Contest
Do the years speak to you
Looking back as away they flew
Did you dance neath a diamond pointed sky
Or at other times wiped a tear from your eye
When you dream about your life
Do you only see the trouble and strife
Or are you lost in your loneliness
Where your memories were not the best
In your twilight hours do you wander far
Staring up at the sun from where you are
Or do you seek some shady place
Resting wearily as your memories do race
So gather up your remaining glad bags
And forget al those things that made you sad
Walking straight ahead not looking left or right
Knowing when it is all weighed you were ready for the fight.
© Paul Warren Poetry
NEATH OLDE SOUTHERN CROSS
‘Neath olde Southern Cross
sparkling stars
show a radiant view,
for we will stand
in this brand-new land,
so far, far away
from toil, trouble and strife
of a darkness past,
where oppressions reigned
amidst religious persecutions
of our faith,
so, in order to escape
to a brand-new life,
our motherland we’ve left behind,
for across the seas we came,
where our journey took many
in under sail
and by fickle winds,
and in doing so
new trepidations and fears appeared
and without much thought we overcome,
now just feeling of an unknown
for as we stepped ashore,
and on strange tree near,
a jackass laughed
its peculiar sound indeed to us,
and for all who came ashore that day
in watching the tide come in,
this foreign land we now call it home,
to be a land of opportunity
and of hope and dreams
and from uncertain pasts left behind.
Francis Cooper – Mac © February 2018
'Neath moonlights glow my dream begins
'neath pale reflected sunlight beams
a dream of you and loves first kiss
which brings me to enchanted bliss
and keeps me there in love renewed
this love that is because of you.
For a while each day I drift away to a place inside my head
The sun shines down on a sea so blue
For my darling I am there with you
And as we stroll along the sand
two lovers forever hand in hand
You and I neath azure blue sky
Waves gently dancing ~ White horses prancing
As slowly on her crests she takes us
to the legendary, mystical Isle of Atlantis
To where our spirits are ~ both you and I in Shangri-La...
Written 28th March 2020
Contest A Cheerful Rhyme
Sponsor Line Gauthier
N/A
Contest Strand Pick 3
Sponsor Brian Strand
1st Place
Contest Who Am I
Sponsor Unseeking Seeker
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