A grain troubles night
horizon opens—
mother-of-pearl sky
sparks luster layers
of opalescence
threading dawn to day.
In the cobalt depth serene,
where silence whispers,
concealed aquatic elegance
transforms the gift of the sea
into spheres of opalescence
within clammed hidden heart,
a beauty shaped from fluid dream.
In entwined hearts’ fathomless niche
the luster of nascent desire nucleates
layer on layer luminous,
into pristine pearl of love,
a treasure covert and untarnished,
the protected epithet of precious oneness.
your skin …
cornflow’r in the moonlite
through louvers that
slice you to tender shards
of opalescence
arranged like piano keys on
Egyptian percale
the sea of sheets we so
often drown in …
“oh baby” -
the way you say those words -
soft candle puffs
as if turning flame to wisps
coyly chasing my name from
where I thought it safe
to its utter peril upon your lips
and its baptism by the
kiss that slays …
my rapture is no longer my own
it exists only in chaos
at the source of the divine -
the wellspring
that indescribable place of
wilding wonder …
and yet …
at this moment of contentment and
joy and security -
where we are timeless and true
where every hour is midnight …
a tear leaps from my chin to its doom
unnoticed by you with
my back strategically to the moon …
because I know with certainty
(though I don’t know HOW)
that someday I’ll be alone -
someday I’ll be drenched by the same moon
remembering this very moment
remembering that I knew
that solitude would be my fate …
that I would one day ache
for the gentle, whisp’ry way
you said …
“oh baby”.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, January 24, 2024
Death by 5… in the Kitchen
or, A Bottle Garden No One Expected
Perched on an oak table, there rests an opulent and ornate glass bijou bottle,
a growing collection of nature’s organic jade.
But hidden below the green finery, concealed from a mushroom nursery,
there develops a frightful opalescence enclave.
A clutch of ravenous slugs of horror are preparing to hatch within the hour,
and raise an unholy terror, with the sole purpose of flora devour! Oh, my!
by Martin Braun
July 28, 2023
sawed-off on the
crimson emerald from a cloudy sky
squeal
and, at times, the reason
low-slung why
sparkles of a pearly salver
modicum of encrusted damask mist
befuddles me
albeit
moon, amber, and opalescence
spawn a charming sight
the perspective
strikes each crevice of the flesh.
and psyche advise
shrouded in a cinereous cloud
hapless and helpless, a glum-blue wolf
growls out a bluesy bemoan.
creating a lacuna
of gallivant love touchstone
leaden wails of anguish
rhythmic echoed refrain
plainchants of auric yearning
reminiscent of challah
aiming for eleemosynary seeds
cahoots to germinate and thrive
2nd place contest winner
Written: March 20, 2023
A Strand No 1201 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
Black brings beauty to white and coral opalescence
Lends obscure luster to gold and yellow’s fluorescence
Artists present wondrous reality with its clear presence
Creation of God* is never complete against night’s essence
Kindness’ purity becomes perfect vis-à-vis grim evil sense.
Bold to stand against neutrality-prevalence
Living ebony blends with varied hues’ iridescence
Asserting dignity, royalty, formality’s existence
Calmness blends with starless somnolence
Keeping balance as cheers versus despondence.
Bestowing sophistication along arrogance-absence
Lightless soot manifests elegance without pretense
Accentuating shades in its wondrous defense
Championing blue, red and yellow shades’ incense
Kindling depth of green, orange, violet – verily intense.
*Genesis 1:5 And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
August 28, 2021
10th place, "The Color Black" Poetry Writing Premier Contest
Sponsored by Chantelle Anne Cooke; judged on 8/29/2021.
When the twilight embraces us, so does the Light
and with the Light comes inspiring encouragement. Quote _ by Poet
When I was a young child, I would lay on the green
Grass and gaze up to the cloudy dim sky.
Captive to the evening twilight.
Sun rim sank and embraced
The boundless horizons breast and moonlight's magics
Reserved silence and cool sweet-scented air.
It's peaceful brief shelter; lashed nightmares dissolved there.
Reflecting on the past days weaved fabrics
Weight as the evening had unlaced
And drew to a closed night.
Those moments my heart would quiver glorious high
As the opalescence clouds veiled the scene.
Time for bed, my bed beside the window I'd glean
The heavens and smile or couldn't help, but cry.
Famished for warmth, I'd wish the sight
Would stay, so much it graced.
The darkness would wake the night with magical tricks
As shadows danced, I'd say The Lord's Prayer.
1/2/2021
A Little Memory
12/10/8/6/12/10 - 12/10/8/6/12/10 - 12/10/8/6/12/10
ABCDEF - FEDCBA - ABCDEF
pearl-like
but not of the sea
pregnant with opalescence
magic rainbows
depths you cannot plunge
mesmerizing many
At nape of my neck
in pendant form, drawing
oohs and ahs from strangers
Moonstone, shining my truth
and my essence
Announcing me seconds before arrival
In the endless expanse
of what exists
and the magic of what can be...
fantasy is the luster of opalescence
conceived in a continual curve of mother-of-pearl panache
spinning through a sacred spiral in effervescence
they arise - in bare necessity
and break the surface -
perceptions of prismatic potential
bending colors in the light of consciousness
daydreams delve
between realms of serenity and dampened spirits
amidst meditations
to unfurl the waves’ curl of life’s mysteries
where faceted riptides flash sun-diamonds
and twilight’s bruised beauty is but an abstract -
in mixed moody moon-shades
of earth’s passion and human nature
enriched with celestial nuances
I reflect within this mirrored space
as I search to adorn my naked thoughts in nacreous chic
breathing bliss and sipping soulful seas
my wild whimsy in wanderlust glides like an albatross
seeking the iridescence of the abalone shell --
a marvel of profound imagination
Susan Ashley
January 10, 2019
~ First Place ~
Premiere Contest: Free Verse Style Only Poetry
Sponsor: Emile Pinet
*nacreous: consisting of or having the luster of mother-of -pearl*
Finally, as afternoon sun splayed
through the picture window
onto wood floor and last pieces of furniture,
I packed that summer on the lake
into a box, mitering indigo corners
between squares of bubble wrap,
ripples appliqued with lilac jacaranda blooms
blown on the water.
Kids would leave for college and grandparents died,
but that year bees hovered in marigolds and violet alyssum.
The moon's marshmallow singed umber, impaled on a hanger
over golden flames. Dawn's opalescence would flicker
in pale aquamarine, receding shadows uncovering
beads of cerulean icing and pink lemonade shimmering
on shamrock and juniper.
Tiers of skinned knees and runny noses now framed
by cardboard and plastic were stacked like red velvet cake
atop a knotty pine picnic table as terns called in the distance,
then sealed with oak and concrete of our final day as we cannon-balled
off dock's end like it was the last thing we'd ever do.
oh, Ivory God,
blessed by your opalescence,
the beast is unleashed
-------------------------
(C) John C Michaels
A Rainbow Sings
Prismatic rainbow graces sky many ways
with brilliant hues of multicolored rays
picturesque goniochromism sings to decorate
a ketch with Tyrian purple sails out late
Sepia hue tinges this kaleidoscopic scene
monolexemic shades threaten to richly preen
majestic phenomena seen in sky embraces
mists, vanishing clouds and aurorae traces
A Rayleigh Scattering sets rainbow apart
miracle that sends opalescence to impart
this sky mingling multitude of colors now
as red, orange, purple and yellow take bow
Interwoven within this prismatic awe inspiring view
The hopes and dreams of gentle poets like me and you!
Robert J. Lindley, 08-10-2014
Tiny orbs of iridescence,
Rainbow clear and glitter,
sparkle, shine, shimmer,
Innocent and bitter.
Twinkle twinkle little sphere,
lilting to and fro,
Dancing on the jasmine breath,
Of kisses angels blow.
Oil slick swirls of spectrum,
Essence trapped in glass,
tumbling on edges of incense,
Whimsical, alas.
Tye-dye smears of rose and
sky,
Stained gold and sea,
Suffocating intoxication,
Breathless objectivity.
Torrid maze of purposeless,
Prismatic, weightless rain,
Opalescent labyrinth,
Fearless, fading pain.
Profane in its ignorance,
Drifting on the wave,
Seconds shy of sixty,
Abrupt and humid grave.
A shapely Spruce or Cypress to dress
A coiffed girdle the base to caress
String of lights bristling foliage to redress
A twinkling symphony to luminesce
Pristine pine cones providing a rustic essence
Gilded ornaments to infuse decadence
Frothy snow exhibiting a natural opalescence
Silver icicles streaming a fabricated opulence
Baked Gingerbread men enshrining traditional precedence
Designer candy canes paying homage to formulated transcendence
A translucent star mirroring seasonal transience
A crowning angel; a shrine of everlasting reverence
Striking colored lights dazzle
Her dynamic dance routines—
Wearing stagehands to a frazzle
Illuminating live scenes
Spotlighting three tambourines.
Her shimmering white tights cast
Opalescence unforeseen
Climaxing one last bright blast.
Caryl Ramsdale
Copyright © 2011 All rights reserved.
Verse Poetry Form
July 29, 2011
"HUTAIN THIS ONE..." poetry contest sponsored by nette onclaud
~ 1st Place ~
08/03/2011
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