Had lunch with a friend
And we sat in the shade
In a sidewalk arrangement
The restaurant made.
I live on the east side
And she on the west.
We meet to catch up
At each other’s request.
The corner was busy
And traffic zipped by.
With sirens and buses,
I’m not gonna lie,
The noisiness level
Was blaring and loud,
Plus bulldozers rolled
As pedestrians cowed.
Construction just added
More rat-a-tat-tats,
With shouts from the workers
In safety-type hats.
My friend and I chatted,
Our voices both raised,
Delighted to be there,
New Yorkers unfazed.
Recognizing Greatness
Jesus is there in the stillness and
Noisiness of life
He is the power of our existence
In Him, we move and
In Him, we have our existence
Jesus of Nazareth’s Greatness is from generation to generation
Jesus cares
Jesus prepares the Way in our lives
Because He is the Way
The Lord is Good and Loving and
He stays the course with His children
He hears our prayers and answers them.
Recognizing Greatness
Jesus is there in the stillness and
Noisiness of life
Mark Frank
Copyright 2024
The squawk of seagulls punctuates
The quiet by the beach,
Yet the lack of other noises
Makes relaxing within reach.
The wail of sirens doesn’t let
The city quiet stay,
For even in the early morn
The noisiness holds sway.
The chirp of crickets syncopates
The rhythm of the night,
So the quiet of the countryside
For dominance must fight.
A library or hospital,
Both recognized for quiet,
May hush incoming visitors
But I don’t really buy it.
For there are hums and whispers,
Of machinery or voice,
Which may pierce the silence and confirm
That quiet’s not a choice.
Maybe outer space is different,
But on earth I will refute
Any claim that there’s a place to go
Where quiet’s absolute.
First I heard the rotor blades,
Their noisiness supplanting
The birdsong taking traffic’s place;
Then I heard the chanting.
Peering out the window, I was
Shaken and surprised
To see crowds of people marching;
It was later televised.
Wearing masks and holding placards
They advanced with strong intent,
Linked by youth, resolve and passion
And united in dissent.
Would their peaceful protest shatter
Like the ones the night before
And might looting and destruction
Happen right outside my door?
I was pulled back to the 60’s
When we rallied seeking peace,
So defiant with our armbands,
Facing off against the police.
But this time, in my apartment,
Safe nine stories from the ground,
I looked down in disbelief,
My sadness sweeping and profound.
Target
The scream of silence
Piercing through the noisiness
Guilt is the target
Wendy Nipas
Lost in universal wonders...
pondering celestial bodies,
souls I have known...
Lost in firmament vastness...
pondering heavenly ideals,
blessings I have been given...
Lost in the pinion of liberosis...
pondering the concept of freedom,
opportunities I never took...
Lost in the throes of onism...
pondering my humanism,
choices I have made...
Lost in expressions of love...
pondering lissome words,
poems I have written and read...
Lost in continual noisiness...
pondering a sojourn of sorts
taking the time for repose...
Lost in voices of reason...
pondering wisdom and truth
praying to never besmirch them...
May 23, 2018
Eight-Word Challenge-6 by John Hamilton
Third Place Trophy Win
Best Free Verse Poem in May 2018 by Laura Loo
First Place
Best Free Verse April 1, 2018 to July 15, 2018 by John Hamilton
Second Place
somewhere,
along an intersection of a mystical dance,
I have climbed, levitated and roamed
into a pathway of seasonless space,
where my fluid, heightened breath
circles along veils of astral light
sun eclipsing moon: dark-toned, half-streaked...
one flick of a star nestled on my blown hair
while another winked softly combing a fiery sky,
somewhere: a tunnel shapeless and lucent
enters inside the skin, refilling the airiness
of being flown into a time reborn: ethereal,
radiant , fed by something unbidden in my life...
I was outside of my body as if some god
poured angel tincture on my head…
there and then, the noisiness of a kinetic
earth-world suddenly stopped while
a halo of tranquillity releases
all the pride ( ego) dissolving like evening’s ash,
somewhere
*
7/4/2017
John Lawless' And Then It Stopped Contest
Hello, all my fuzzy friends
Embarrassed, but I gottah tell you that cats and dogs are my buddies
Loving my family and friends...so...much
Live life to the fullest and to the best of your ability
Ohhh...what a world full of positivity and negativity...what a messed-up world
Krazy kool kats drive me nuts
Idolizing their cuteness and their noisiness
Totally tricked by their fickle ways
Trained to make an excuse that it's "one of those days"
Yeah...my pets are the best and cutest!
Noisiness neighs your code,
Loud, braggadocios, belching
Shouting sentiments and prophysying plays
As your body disintegrates
And dredges your kidneys fail and your legs lilt frail
Yet you claim life loud and braggadocios.
The football game gimmicks
The baseball booboos all acclaimed and assessed by you
Whose own health waivers with lesions and machines
Mitigate your blood as you shout loudly, “I told you”
To quintessential quarterbacks in your dreams
You chair the channel surfer of your mind as the
Games grab headlines heralding from your hurting heart.
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.