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Palimpsest Poems

Palimpsest of Love

Written: August 05, 2025, for contest Marathon Mile 3 Poetry Contest / Sponsor- Mark Toney

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As it rises shakily, the aurora radiates,
 Shore gets battered by periwinkle waves.
 Scarce alabaster turns to an ebonized sheen.
 A sacred, somber, and katabatic sorrow.

A

Categories: palimpsest, analogy, appreciation,
Form: Free verse

Palimpsest

It was past midnight
in my college bed 
above the shuttered café—
the whole town in a hush 
so complete I could hear
my own breath and quiet it,
when a crystalline voice
floated in through the dark
like something half-remembered
from an unfinished dream.
Amazing Grace,
sung soft and distant,
as if the night had opened
just wide enough
for me to hear it
and I ached

Categories: palimpsest, christian, heaven, longing, music,
Form: Free verse

From Palimpsest to Glory: The Music of Florence Price

In Ouachita's tales, where pine needles sigh.
I trace the mountains' ancient, weathered crown.
Silvered river forgotten secrets float by
And fills my heart, a sonorous chamber now.

A flame ignites, dispelling shadows deep,
A beacon for lost souls on twilight's rim.
Forgotten songs within my spirit leap,
A lullaby for weary hearts, I hymn.

Florence, 
Our palimpsest where 
sun-kissed tones reside.
Her heart

Categories: palimpsest, black african american, courage,
Form: Narrative

Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

A Palimpsest

A Palimpsest

I'm slowly becoming a ghost
Speaking softly and never getting to finish a thought
Fading into shadows and doubt
And memories recalled as non stories

It wasnt always like this
I was the one with the most
Time, Circumstance, loss and defeat have taken toll and the bell rings for the end of another round

A Palimpsest. Written on parchment thin

Categories: palimpsest, age, angst, art, fear,
Form: Blank verse

Palimpsest

Beneath the graffiti littered by the years
and the fatigue signed by a thousand cares
Through the scratchings of so many tears
that were summoned or caught you unawares
Under the mottles by done days quarried   
and the shadows writ by a jealous sun  
where disappointments linger unburied  
and age is making its relentless run

My

Categories: palimpsest, age, journey, life, lost,
Form: Free verse

Palimpsest

I made a painting of a happy little house
On a happy little hill
Under a clear azure sky
And the sun was cheerful and bright
Then I covered it with black
Then I splashed it with gray
Then I let crimson drip onto it
Then I took a knife and stabbed it over and over
Then I tore it apart
Then I burned

Categories: palimpsest, depression,
Form: Free verse

Palimpsest

Writing upon the scroll,
year after year
day after day
the monk lives for the painted work

He prays and draws
He prays and writes
Eloquent brushstrokes
fall like soldiers into place.

Who can say that
not an inch beneath them
lies an army of letters
too vulgar for the eye to see
too forbidden for the soul to taste.

Lost in his set serenity, the monk
takes no

Categories: palimpsest, analogy, books, faith, religion,
Form: Free verse

Palimpsest

As you fade into the distance of my memory
I can't help but feel desire that this be so lovely a thought
That even in despair is love
If only thought could be enough

But tragedy cannot suffice
Desire that I realize
In actuality I see before me all the thoughts I thought so tragic
    That I meant

Categories: palimpsest, faith, introspection, philosophy, me,
Form: I do not know?