At twelve forty-five, the clock struck one,
and when it had seen what it had done,
after sixty more minutes flew,
that timekeeper struck two.
It never learned, next to the shelf:
"Always keep your hands to yourself",
so, it continued its violent spree.
An hour later, it struck three.
Reinforcements came through the door -
but, too late, that timepiece struck four.
We could only hope to stay alive,
when Big Bad Ben struck five.
We knew we were in a terrible fix
when that chronometer struck six.
Three went to hell, four to heaven,
when that outsized watch struck seven.
The FBI came to investigate
when that mad sundial struck eight.
The national guard stood in a line,
and the ticking demon struck nine.
I prayed it would never happen again.
Just then, the awful beast struck ten.
When I cast my eyes up to heaven,
that hunk of gears struck eleven.
Into the hour's nature, my mind did delve,
as the clock, time's agent, struck twelve.
A riddle: how much blood did it spill?
Seventy-eight, it would kill.
And now, by order of fate's decree,
time is racing after me.
So, when I hear the clock strike one.
I know it's time to run.
Categories:
outsized, humor, murder, time,
Form: Rhyme
Two Small Verbs/Nouns
Love and hate,
two peas in a pod.
Two words so alike
yet not alike.
Both filled with passion,
evoking strong feelings.
We act on them,
or not, each in our own way.
Both, the opposite end of
an emotional spectrum.
They are the root and evolve
into other verbs or nouns.
Two peas in a pod, so
similar yet so different.
They both lie deep within us.
Which one will we choose,
we are capable of both.
Two small verbs/nouns
with outsized results.
Categories:
outsized, hate, love,
Form: Free verse
That tiny infant you held in your outsized hand
gently held your arm as you stumble-walked
down the block for a bit of fresh air, and when you turned
toward him, you looked up to him, as if to a father figure...
Long ago, you showed him how to hold a hammer and nail
though now his body vibrates energy while your skin is pale
You hit him fly balls that flew so far, his little-boy jaw
dropped in awe at what a powerful dad you are
When you put your arm around him and brought him close
the both of you felt nothing ever could, nothing ever would
come between you
~ until it did
Categories:
outsized, father son, feelings, lost
Form: Free verse
Bejeweled, in and out of the Gothic architecture,
Conceived by Abbot Suger, through a constant conjecture;
With perfect glasswork etched out of the then-time silica,
Found its place In Saint-Denis Cathedral Basilica...!
Modestly outsized splash-smeared gorgeous goblet casements,
Renaissance classic styled stone accent wall sacred basements;
Prettily pointed piercing cumulative curly curves,
Rib vaults great and small intertwining like the war of nerves...!
Soaring airborne ramparts; metaphysical adornments;
Perpendicular proportions; lopsided floral fronts;
Steady solemn designs that flounce upward in height and grace;
Domed arched ceilings that charms of times, ages, and eras embrace...!
With no shrinks and wrinkles like the perfection of pure youth,
Enticing grand elegance like the fullness of the truth;
Tracery is a treasury of architectural forms,
Within which dwell, fine ethereal elemental norms...!!!
26 January 2023
TRACERY Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Julia Ward
Categories:
outsized, art, culture, gothic, inspirational,
Form: Rhyme
Lingering longingly, lost love laments
Obstreperous outrage, overintense
Sorrowful solitude, sad, sluggish since
Tumultuous tantrums, terrible, tense
Amorous affections ambivalent
Nerve numbness nearing, now needs nourishment
Dissatisfied, disengaged, discontent
Flaunting flirtations, furtive fleet flashes
Overt optimist, outsized, outlandish
Unlimited upside, unwound, unselfish
Normalcy now, no neuroses nightmarish
Dazedly dreams, delights, daringly dashes
—————
First Place Winner
For the My Lost and Found Love Poetry Contest
Sponsored by JCB Brul
Written 03/17/2022
Categories:
outsized, love,
Form: Alliteration
He is outstandingly out-of-bounds
asserted the outlandishly outspoken outlaw
He can outshoot, outtrump and outride you.
He is outrageously outranked, the tenderfoot replied.
But he did feel outsparkled and outvalued.
And a little bit on the outs...
The outsized outsister tried to sooth the tenderfoot
but she was an unfamiliar outsider and not totally respected
So they both ended up being outwitted and outslickered
by the outspoken outlaw who outsmarted them
The outlaw’s outlandish gang outroared their protests
Making them both feel outclassd and out-of-sorts.
Categories:
outsized, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
Discover a country by bus and train
Listen to the sound and look at the sight
Buildings may crumble but people remain
Santander port welcomes with loud refrain
Old station front, new inside, mix just right
Discover a country by bus and train
Valladolid's masonry masters reign
Once seen just leave on high speed vista-byte
Buildings may crumble but people remain
Almagro calls with its thespian vein
Crafts museum a hidden gem so bright
Discover a country by bus and train
Ciudad Real outsized for train and plane
Hotel welcome is more than just polite
Buildings may crumble but people remain
Peoples, cultures and tongues all wax and wane
Spain a wonderful place there to delight
Discover a country by bus and train
Buildings may crumble but people remain
Categories:
outsized, culture, spanish, travel,
Form: Villanelle
Begin
by composing grandly outsized mission statements,
"To end racism, ignorance, sin."
Continue
to accept past win/lose separations,
divorces,
fragmentation
as tolerable compromises
while power-wrestling business as capitalistically, financially
and politically, socially, culturally, historically
and psychologically, individually, ego-systemically
and ecologically, tribally, communally, eco-systemically
and theologically usual competitions.
"My gospel,
self-empowering truth,
is more divinely inspired than yours."
Rather than,
"How have our diverse gospels become inherited
from past compassionate win/win
divinely inclusive,
multiculturing SacredSources?"
Conclude
with all your old right answers
and not any newly shared curious
and open questions.
"Why are we so sure/unsure
racism, ignorance, sin
are original causes of climate pathology
rather than either/or competition's symptoms
following left brain cultured dominance?"
Categories:
outsized, culture, health, integrity, peace,
Form: Political Verse
You had me at Aloha
all through Aloha again,
between banks of outdoor clouds
sailing sigh,
some lighter whiter
faster,
some darkly starkly stable
yet even these passing through
this invite and disinvite farewell
Aloha
You greet me as Shalom
through our health as wealth commencement,
fleeing indoor fleeting noise
for outsized peace
flights of radiant fancy
seeing colors
revolving cultures inside out
where we belong
in our less seething sheathed Shalom.
Are we only our inside resonant voices
ending at odds
where outside resilience begins?
Our outside voices
ending eventually within,
evenly without,
within and between
clouds both bright incoming
and dark outgoing
Greeting
and regretting
in-between Aloha.
Categories:
outsized, beauty, culture, education, health,
Form: Parallelismus Membrorum
Portrait of an Unknown
Written: by Tom Wright
7-18-2016
It was just an outsized oval portrait,
Dusty and washed out by time;
Always featured in the same location
During my life at home years;
Mom couldn’t retrieve his name,
Only that he was kinfolk.
It always looked out of place
On the wallpapered wall it occupied.
Perchance it was the ornate oval frame
That captured my curiosity.
Memory’s snapshot that I recall
Is of a distinguished looking man
With rosy cheeks, fedora, suit coat, and tie;
Was he a Minister, Banker or Mortician?
This face that was unknown to us,
Nonetheless induces wonderment,
Concerning many things about his life,
Primarily how his portrait found a home
On our papered bedroom wall;
Categories:
outsized, remembrance day,
Form: Blank verse
An old man staggering and begging
Outside the doors of Walmart…
There but for the grace of God go I
Perhaps most look askance
Not even giving a second glance…
There but for the vagaries of Fate go I
Does the miscreant chuckle to himself
At the naïve charity of strangers
Or does there reside a tear in his eye
His hands tremble…His eyes dart about
Is his sad condition real
Or just a well performed lie
Life’s not always fair
We all bear some sting
Of outrageous misfortune
But some seem to bear more
Than their fair share
A seemingly outsized portion
So how is it that they’re overweight
How can they afford to smoke
How can that be… if in truth they’re truly broke
Perhaps their lives are
Not all that meets the eye
I can only surmise (and sympathize)
And wonder whether
It’s by luck, or fate,
But for grace of god
…Go I…
Categories:
outsized, god, humanity, life, poverty,
Form: Dramatic Monologue
It was night sin
of domesticity. Dyed, I am loading
the white secret of pain
in the hollow of a mayhem.
Till every blunder takes a
downward flight striping the outsized
image of a kill. His flames are
now singeing the eyebrows of angels.
His foes have entered the compound.
The black was alluringly looped in
a stream of blood. Death did not
wait for a ceremony.
Lips forgetting the golden sheep,
tongue apologies for the wronged earth.
Satish Verma
Categories:
outsized, art,
Form: ABC