Open Eyed Poems | Examples

Out to Sea

"Out to Sea"

In the immediate times 
we rush to consume it all 
before it is all swallowed, and out it all comes salty,
like an Ocean pummelling our crumbling sures 
eating away our solidarity
insouciantly the sandy impermanent escarpment caves in
on our gossamer dissolving world

and in the eye of the storm 
in the middle of it all 
for a small moment all is calm 
while the catastrophes move blithely around us, 
hitting us brashly like we’ve been hit on a caffeine high 
we are simultaneously aware of time standing still and then,
the swift pull of a rug unceremoniously out beneath our feet

some strange gravity slides 
towards that ridiculous prophecised inevitability
of kingdoms come and gone
we thought we knew everything
the truth is we were the dumb awake
knowing little of everything
and much of what mattered little

and all as one 
we are drowned soundly, gladly, 
like into an open-eyed baptismal grave

we are forever and ever 
naked as a child
washed clean 

out to sea




Candide Diderot. ‘25

AGOG and ANTSY---

Agog
anticipant, anxious
openmouthed, breathless, athirst
Enthusiastic, open-eyed wide
indifferent, unmoved such
impatient, restless
Antsy






3/12/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©

HARD HEART

Closely watch as those hardened hearts
Solid as a rock blood yet still pumps flows
Stagnated loves frozen disguise as beating fawns 
Ringing like metal clanging iron bells
Open eyed blinded open mouth speaking lies

Who am I to have grace
Humanity grace compliance 
Running destination race
Ain't no denial,  just faith placed

Harden heart softening up
Once hard as diamond and gold

2/23/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr

A Poet’s Fore-blurb

In my poems you will find
Introspections from a worldly mind.
Some are pensive, some are kind,
But they helped me pass my time.
I hope that you’ll enjoy my wit,
And don’t consider me a twit.
By the time you read my poems all through,
You’ll find that I am very much like you.

In my poems, you will see
Life’s dominant personalities.
As words poured freely from my mind,
These personalities slowly were defined. 
Some thoughts are flippant, and some are tender,
Some are distant, but still rendered.
Most are harmless, but some are lethal,
And some were borrowed from other people.
Some poems are passionate, yet filled with strife
And though not pretty, they’re part of life.
Some will leave you open-eyed.
So, buckle up for a sentient ride.

My bondage

Nights left open eyed 
red eyed mornings come too soon 
restless floating thoughts

Enigma

How can you miss someone
Who wasn't even there

What do you say then after the fact
When you've offered the best you could share

Why is the cord left unbroken
A tensile strength of steel

Why can't I let the thought of you go
As I feal what I feal of what I feal

Silently ruminating with one hand to the stern
Unrelentingly plotting a course favor seeking to earn

Knowing nothing is garnered
Given freely lovingly through love

Seeking good will wanting return
On this earthly plain and above

I believe in miracles open eyed
I seek them each day

You won't catch me asleep at the wheel
If one should happen my way

So I say my prayers asking guidance
with a heartfelt inclusion of you

And a wish for understanding as to why
I do what I do as I do

Just Another Extraordinary Day At Work

pictures of you
wishes on a forklift
another ordinary day
cannot afford to daydream

pictures of you
extended bathroom break
my cell phone comes in HANDY
cannot afford open eyed wet dreams

pictures of you
reality kicking in after the aftermath
my forklift key drops on the floor like a neglected bell
cannot afford You anyway

Thank God For Disagreeing With Me and For AllWays Being Right

Christmas Eve

When Simon fell asleep on Christmas Eve.  
Dreaming of presents that Santa would leave.
He soon stirred, when his door squeaked.
Open- eyed, as floorboards creaked.
Now he knows Santa, is not make-believe.

    12 / 12 / 2022.
    Sponsor  Tania Kitchin.
    A Funny Santa Limerick Poetry Contest.
    howmanysyllables.com

Tehachapi Waits

Such a fine future, his
for the taking,
as hers aligned,
also
in fine fitting will..

though Tehachapi waits..,
still. 

There's no such thing
as a bright future,
without a silhouetted past..

climbing a mountain
or a single stair,
all the same..
without a foot,
moving forward..

keep up, please
for us,
for me.. 

So much to learn from young women'
stars..
young men too..
using Wim Hof's breathing
technique... 

Then telstar
infinately wise 
requsted more..
from a thousand uncharted
galaxies, for two that  
implored open-eyed.

Please find it in you, streak the skies
in fashioned blaze's touch..
Tehachapi waits,
and so we, 
so us.,
so I.

O, To Be a Cloud

O, to be a cloud and wander the skies untethered,
freer than any bird, as free as the wild winds,
changing shape endlessly, effortlessly, easing
from a stallion to a lion to a bear in the minds
of open-eyed children who love the clouds and
love to watch the clouds as they dance the sky....

Children and clouds, clouds and children--
a love affair that ends as childhood ends
and the once children, now grown-ups can
no longer see a living menagerie way, way
up high where only the purest hearts may go.

Open Eyed

a dross consuming
                         fire
                         in the crucible to come
the expectation
                of the Lord
                    in which
                     the everlasting divine
promise
      will resound

a testament        in miniature
                    of sin   forgiveness&
grace
        rescued
            from the whirlpool of
                                self deception
pertinent with praise
     in the patterns
               of life
lastly    but not least
                   of a forthcoming wedding 
invitation
            to a feast

Karmic Road Map

Secrets in the palm,
are revealed in time.
Head line, heart line,
life, destiny and sun, 
are roads we travel.

Rising mounts, 
reveal one’s purpose; 
decisions and plans, 
are all there, to be seen.
Attitudes and moods; 
beliefs and ideas; 
the past and the future.

As the tempests of life rage; 
we can see the outcomes.
The the open heart and mind;
comes clarity.

Hopelessness, does not exist,
For the open-eyed.  
We have more than two eyes, available.
Rightly utilized vision, 
birth’s the sage; 
knowledge is finite; wisdom, infinite.

The souls GPS, a karmic road map, 
comes with every newborn.
Mistakes and failure, 
consume those, who cannot read.

A Sad But True Thought

A Sad But True Thought

When racing world pales deep, its darkness takes first stage
evil parades as good, soon becomes all the rage.
When humanity walks blind, rather than open eyed
graveyards will fill with those, that far too early died.

Robert J. Lindley, 5-17-2018
Quatrain, ( World Racing Headlong Into The Dark Abyss)

Outdoor Lullaby

first birdsong
of a newborn —
open-eyed kiss

2/1/2018

Gold Plated

I knelt at the river sifting.
Mud, water, rock.
Mud, water, rock.
Mud, water,....
It caught my eye
Woke me from my open-eyed dream.
The glint was possibly just the sun,
Winking from kissing the cold water’s reflection.
I hold my breath give a soft shake to see.
Wink! 
 It was never love
It was just gold plated, a compound lie, a trick, toilet paper covered in....mud
The shade was bright enough to blind
I was the fool I walked in holding hope sweating desperation.
 My fault.
They didn’t get to dismiss me
So she was employed
To remind me
To fool me
To misguide me
To show me
That MY worth is penniless
They can hold on to their own lies
CZ’s despise the diamond so much they didn’t realize that I was something like glass.
No more giving a damn 
No more playing pawn 
It’s dawn I survived 
So far.

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