after Ho Chi Minh
I
The stone basin holds
still water. The still water
drinks the arid sponge
as rays of pure energy
slake their thirst on
the ebon wings of crows
II
Yangtze flows from widows peak
pooling briefly in the lock
of a tired eye. Dirt
and salt cry brackish tears
before leaping from sallow chin,
like rain from languid boughs
III
Frogs turn dirges beyond
translucent glass, their croaks
fold and crease the air
putting dusk on the shelf.
Aphids eat the pithy stalks
and drown in sudden morning dew.
IV
No callused hand washes
in the same basin twice
V
The kettle boils, pallid
phantoms push through iron
walls. Prescient tea leaves show
time’s current—fish swim
upstream. Two worlds away,
a young girl draws a bath.
VI
Forehead donning liquid rosaries,
each dawn anoints a king anew
Each afternoon, grains of rice
cling to one another, fulfilled.
Ink spills quickly each evening,
the white page laps at pitch waters.
VII
Eleemosynary sunlight burns
through the keyhole, tumblers
click in the lock. The stone basin
is once again filled with still water.
Another moment goes by, another monumental stride
day by day, year by year wind-borne dreams
cascade amongst perpetual memories, gifts of light
that penetrates through the windows of time, the clarity
of it all giving hope to a fading prayer.
the inept causeway
a track into the unknown
life’s a survey map
The village supreme basks in the delicacy
of a summer sunlight, the moor-side bleak, in the
shadows of winter’s hoarfrost moon, fluvial waters
jostle amidst ancient limestone, kisses floral river banks
of wooded ghyll. Even the folk remain incessant,
anchored to an inflexible pace, bridled within their
time warp of conformity.
a cosmic spirit
for grace t’was never to be
in chains an outcast
With memories to conceive, each precious moment an
endless reaching out to embrace a time gone by,
only I it seems, cannot find a place there within
the dream. ‘Looking in, alas always, looking in.’
enigma of keys
to unlock a shackled mind
with an open heart
© Harry J Horsman 2022
Seated in a cell of this prison world
I watched the night sky
Through a window,
A tiny one
Sealed tight by metal bars
Seeming to tell me
That mightier they surely are
Mightier than me
Mightier than everything else!
The night sky is where freedom lies
The night sky is where freedom loves
Itself,
Or other sorts of creation
All like me
Floating in glass cylinders
Filled up with chemical compositions
Meant to sustain me with enough energy
As to allow me to stay alive
Yet, wanting me not to be strong enough
As to break free!
Seated in my prison cell,
I saw,
A shooting star
As it raced in the night sky
Going there where its own fate willed it
Going there where I shall never go
Even if I yearn for it
With the might of a broken poet!
If only,
I could be one too
I'd feel so free, so light, so burden-less
I'd soar wherever I would have wanted
Feeling like I am a mighty heroine of a video game!
But I have no means to be that which I seek
I can only sit in my prison cell
And watch the night sky
And dream while being conscious and awake!
For Contest Shooting Stars
Sponsored by: Nayda Ivette Negron
Written on 13 August 2019
a prison cell for me
with six foot walls a grimy gray
an eight foot ceiling mothen light
today is nothing new
my gruel will come to greet the noon
Writing challenge 2 May 2019
Lind68868 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Dear Heart
May 16, 2019
(a living theme)
CAUGHT UP INSIDE THIS PRISON CELL Yet On the Outside Someone Still Prays--
I find myself within the cross hairs
My life is just a pen rail
Circumstances got me tied to a chair
Persist can’t I this impending cell
Caught up inside this prison jail
Someone on the outside yet still in prayer
I stand alone here in err
The heir apparent to the lost
Dare I come between this flare
That lights the hearts at any cost
Caught up inside this prison jail
Someone on the outside yet still in prayer
I find myself freed from my sin and misery
In the lair of liberty
Now I see the freedom clause
Joy to my soul my mind draws
Caught up inside this prison jail
Someone on the outside yet still in prayer
Gnaws my stomach teethes eating
Meats of the elements of fleshly hurts
Inactivating captive truths fleeting
Nothing left to vomit but confectioned blurts
Truth be known, I’ve finally grown
Imprisoned I’ve learn my lesson
Captured done time now I’m freed person
4/28/18
Any Rhyming Poem in April - Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Laura Loo |
Never had a mom,
Dad was never there.
Orphaned in my own home, I'm lost and scared
My home is broken,
I find no comfort.
Locked in my room.
Ashamed of myself,
Lost in my own thoughts of death and corruption.
And no one ever cared,
Without escape,
I walk alone.
So here I sit in this prison cell,
Choking on their poison.
Silence so loud, I am deaf.
I want to live, not die of restrictions.
Dwell on the past,
Plan to die.
Just to fill the void in my heart.
But I won’t give up; I won’t die here and now.