ARRESTED MOMENTS
foreshadowing
visual
unambiguous
noisy
narrative
symbols
repeatedly
referenced
precipitating
portents
involved
&
valorising
Inventive
&stressful
implications
by design
anticipation
&the
inspirational
distinguish
formation
begin
&supposedly
remain
a prosaic
&
mirrored
moment
Phosphorescent planetary
paths petrify prematurely,
Profoundly powerful
photospheres perish
pathetically,
Prominences polarize,
Propagating parabolic
phantom - shadows,
Preterite plasma - bursts
petrify periodically,
Precipitating permanent,
pitch - black primordial -
gloom,
Prototypical pulsars
paradoxically portend post-
stellar doom,
Profound planetary
patriarchs perish perpetually.
The summer rains they came today
washing winter woes away
seems so long since they were here
welcome back old friend to near and dear
memories awakened from the sky
with the petrichor of years gone by
precipitating dreams of lazy days
illuminating sunbeams in a haze
which full-circle brought me back to you
and the fun things we used to do
walking on weekends in the park
looking like bookends on a bench after dark
sun-drenched rain-soaked anyhow
but where in the world are we now
I tune in to the channel coming forth & then
present what's coming through
A train of thoughts move like locomotives only
stopping for a few
From the ethers they descend like falling rain
precipitating flow from the sky
When they come all are drenched in declarations
bathing in the waters of divine
Surfing the annals of the mind can cause historical
waves to erect
Tsunamis destroy paradigms in a flash before
proceeding to redirect
By many it's seen as a disaster but viewed as a
blessing by a few
Sometimes we have to destroy to rebuild again &
make room for the new
Your ships may be docked for a spell but will sail
again when weather breaks
The will can be an unstoppable force to behold
moving like a train without its brakes
It's wet after clouds formed & quickly passed bringing
out the sun after the rain
Tears fell from the heavens to what's below washing
away the dirt & the pain
The eye in the sky sees all in one take illuminating
what's low from a higher place
Open channels flow with higher purpose seeking their
level & making waves in another space
As I kneel down to this great monolith a black rectangle tablet has droned in through boundless space. My eyes rose with tears precipitating. A blinking of coup d'œil of a great being calling as an adherent red glowing goo comes trickling down my chin and neck from the bottom of my lip. For I see the birth of an old universe beyond invisible walls. and god calling was an earless wolf serpent with many quills and arms.
river
running with force
impatiently, of course
not waiting, evaporating
rising in shrouds, quickly crowds, forming clouds
precipitating, creating
rivulets, fast and loud
back to the source
river
----------
for the Radical Rictameter Poetry Contest
sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
written 07/12/2022
Wooden half-desk folded down into place
Textbook open, pencil poised
Einstein poster on the wall observing
Equations flying across the blackboard
Cumulonimbus clouds of chalk dust
Float across the classroom precipitating knowledge
I am an eager student with eyes fixed straight ahead
Teach me
Compare and contrast:
the Art of a sunset
the Astronomy of a total eclipse
the History of former warlords
the Architecture of new beginnings
the Geology of relationship tectonics
the Archaeology of buried dreams
the Poetry of first impressions
the Sociology of boy meets girl
the Physiology of a first kiss
the Calculus of two bodies in motion
I am an eager student at the Academy of You
Teach me
written 15 Jul 2021
If my words could be fashioned into a weapon,
I would write a poem for each of my brothers on the other side of the world as a means of self defence
against one false accusation to the next,
to the constant failure to pass an "innocent appearance" test
due to the misreadings of an ill-literate society that have been preset
and extended to triggers that are pulled without an ounce of regret - but then;
it seems that words have been deemed irrelevant
and all that exists in this reality
are the faint sounds of sirens, gunshots and protest cries
that soon evaporate into memories,
condensing into injustice
until precipitating into yet another life lost
all while the guilty hide under an umbrella of privallge - the cycle continues.
A commoner King usurps the crown
Marries a blueblood of royal renown
Drunk as can be, in an imperial mood
Orders the Queen to appear stark nude
Before his commoner friends, no less
She refuses, of course, precipitating a mess
The King has the Queen killed
Then sobers up and isn't too thrilled
At the loss of great beauty
For just doing his duty
To ensure that every man is king of his castle
Not subject to wifely disobedience or hassle
So, he holds a beauty contest, and the girl who won
Won't tell her real name, who she is, where she's from
'Til the day she tells the King that his right-hand man
Is plotting to kill her, her family and all Jews in all lands
Wicked Haman is hanged, and the Jews skirt disaster
The Holiday of Purim's today ~ May we never outlast her
According to Jewish tradition, the Coming of the
Messiah will cancel all Jewish festivals---except Purim.
Idle hands
Twiddling thumbs
Taking an unpredicted walk through the Devil’s playground
Fallen Angels with flames still scorching their wings are tying off at nearby picnic table
Swings hang low and empty
Where future class valedictorians used to sit
Now they sit in the darkness where the Angels cry
The vacant basketball court is littered with torn “I’m sorry” letters, used needles, and smashed Wild Roses
The air is polluted with “I miss you’s” from loved ones who had to save themselves while there was still something left to save
Sneakers from morose motherf*ckers hang from the telephone wires
A place where junkies are at peace while the inner Angel weeps
Lonely in isolation
Dark corner desolation
Destination f*cking nowhere
Tears of friends and family hiss as they hit the pavement
Steam rises from the cracks of broken dreams and shattered hearts
Humidifying every lie and bad excuse
Precipitating our concrete pain forest
In the circle of strife and squalors of nodding heads
Childhood memories
Brief - impactful moments in our lives
Profound neurological occurrences
Strongly anchored in our subconscious mind
Like an iceberg in the deep blue ocean
Immersed are the feelings frozen down below
Precipitating thoughts, emotions, and behaviors
Tragic and beautiful – inescapably manifesting as the whole
We revisit – we reflect
Moments are embellish or minimized
At times it’s hard to discern the reality
From the story we've created, a blatant lie
Our vessel carries the drink of our knowledge
Like our palettes preferred cup of tea
Perceptually we see what we want
Dogmatically we confirm what we believe
Nature has provided a framework
Nurture guides and confirms our beliefs
We see through a glass half empty
A preoccupied mind steals our life like a thief
Time provides clarity from a distance
It's easier to see our habitual patterns from afar
The identity we’ve chose to live with
Couldn’t be further from the person we are
The memories from our youth are profound and precious
They are the foundation for our thoughts and beliefs
They are the substrates for our conscious identity
They are our palettes preferred cup of tea
Rain - A Didactic Cinquain
Rain
Misty, sweet
Pelting, dewing, precipitating
Ever so warmish
Rainwater
Spring rain
Droplets wet, refreshing
Delighting, happening, crying
It was a surprise to us all
Cloud
Cloudy rain
Wonderful, stripy
Jumping, swimming, rolling
Such feelings of happiness
Thing
3/29/19
by James Edward Lee Sr ©2019
outside, it was raining
as it was inside
drinks spilling onto the floor
from incessantly topped-up glasses held by
forgetting, gesticulating hands
spittle flying from mouths attached to people
in love with their own voices
their little huddled audiences salivating
over every word or the prospect
of taking their turn as court-holder
the room drooling with
go-to anecdotes and jokes
rehearsed at a hundred parties like this one
disgorged from speech bubbles like fat storm clouds
filling dead air with stories on life support
sudden thunderclaps of laughter
precipitating further precipitation
the floor must have been wet but thankfully
not gleaming like the pavement twelve floors down
the rain let up outside
I slipped out onto the balcony
and between sips of my stale beer
gulped the laundered air
ISALE EKO (LAGOS)
A rooster of discrete tongues
Culture, tradition
Where,
Zillion specters resonate
Quantum croak.
Cock crow,
Erupts whirl, barge at Alaba
Descry of sea of soul cases
Kibbling in, out as Emmet over nectar,
As husky ell of murk drench dawning,
Eviscerate NEPA's spasmodic spitfire
To stupor, obloquy.
The hindmost geezer nestling,
Drenched in diaphoresis of animation of dog days
Eludes unforgiving hail of bug blitz,
Hallowed howl of ole! ole!
Arched in his decrepit nest
Deploys a taper
Until,
Sunup deflowers night jaded sockets
As,
Resonance of one more Naira
To breast billion mark
Percase, perforce, precipitating
The epogee in mores
Rummages his cranium:
Top dog never capitulates
Vanquish countermands blossom
In kernel of hovel, wreck, quagmire
From mainlands of Iddo,
Bog of Badagry
To Favela of Ijora, Ilasamaja
Colonize the cocoon
Which,
Burgeoned Whiz Kid, Davido and Nollywood
Confuting phantasm
That,
Golden fleece
Is muted in the jaws of no man's land.
A colossus who never unwinds
No arrears in innuendos
Paris is your headrest
Rio de Janeiro your ottoman!
Saudade, assiduously dumping buckets of gelid-infused water overtop my vehemently flickering flame.
Arrogantly reigning my banished feelings of joie de vi-vre.
Undermining my drumming heart, snapping both ligneous sticks into splinters.
Duping our garish star, precipitating a myriad of inexorably raucous winters.
Absentmindedly amending my evocative, gaudy-slathered soul.
Dowsing my dullsville, dreary inside with black and white.
Etching my gunmetal grave with my name and date, sizzling my emotions with crimson cracked coals.
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