For Steve with Love
your feel
still comes
to me
when I
recall
our love
filled years
our shared
passion
goes on
inside
my heart
though gone
are tears
decades
went by
while I
cried ‘why
did you
so choose
to die’
I know
in time
we will
unite
where love
feels no
good-bye
Sitting by the sunny sea
by a sweet posh vacation dream hut
suddenly heaven is within reach
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
I gaze at sun drenched mists
deliriously stunned
by rippling echos of
wistful sand dune swirl grains
where spring flames shed twilight
on love’s quaint misty shore
Your gentle touch,
sparks myriads of,
memories secretly lodged,
sequestered on queue,
awaiting slender threads,
of poignant smile so warm,
heartfelt dispensation without strain,
at platforms, bus stops, meeting points,
that simple please excuse benign tone,
amidst the daily lifestyle jostle,
to raise the flustered traveller,
from self-imposed scarlet blush,
when items from stuffed bag vanish,
only for my conscientious aunt to interject,
is this item yours if I may ask?
such a genuinely generous citizen,
it’s that pleasure for me now to recall,
fragments of distilled recollection,
return as simple cordial gesture,
from vaults where vital matters lay
Was your jaw ever hit at some watering place
Yes, I have on occasion hit a fist with my face
His incorrect answer,
Scar tissue, not cancer.
That Doctor was too quick to cut to the chase.
Curtains, at Grandma’s house,
hide the inner sanctum -
memories remodeled.
—Quote by Poet
I Recall Curtains
Loveliness is lace; I recall curtains.
Village without curtains; and lace.
One bow on a pine, lopsided star.
Intricate lace is snow white.
Many pines in the mountain skies,
the chimney and post office spire
pointing at the twinkling stars, all
hover over the curtainless village.
Rocking horse and spinning top, highlight
the two-storied “Toys and Games.”
I wonder who lives upstairs at the “Bakery.”
Such a teeny tiny village offering, yet
the daintiness embellishes a Winter wall;
Loveliness is lace; I recall curtains.
Memory is often
a pale light
in truth the heart
sometimes lies
so blue so blue
I think her eyes
more gray they were
and far less loving
sighs --
but best recall the happy
and forget the cries
Love is not truth nor lies
One distant eve we met, should ye recall,
Our life took off that date, should ye recall.
Despite doubts that dared, misgivings that scared,
We still traveled jet set, should ye recall.
Dark was the night and clouds that had turned dark,
Had drenched us, not just wet, should ye recall.
Many a dream that had dawned in our eyes,
Wide-eyed within were let, should ye recall.
Since then when so separated were we,
Both had felt lost I bet, should ye recall,
And hearts of ours that were sturdy like stone,
Had felt so delicate, should ye recall.
That distant eve as I dwell on it now,
I feel, had set our fate, should ye recall.
____________________________________________
Ghazal |09.05.2024| life, journey, remember
A woman journeyed to the island of Jamaica in the West Indies
The island of be happy and don’t worry
First thing the woman did was laid on the beach
Soaked up some sun
There were many people among
The woman me a Jamaican man
She was American
Romance elevated through the air
They both did moon walks on the beach
Dined and sipped tropical drinks
Nights were intense full of interlude
Kissing being the conclude
The woman’s vacation had come to end as she spent a week, and had to return back to the US, and back to work
The Jamaican man gave the woman a gift, and told her not to open until she got back to the states
The woman was sitting on the plane to return home, but was so excited about the gift, she had to open right there on the plane
When the woman opened the gift, a box into another box
The discovery was a small box Coffin with a note inside stating, “WELCOME TO THE LAND OF AIDS”
Months later, the woman got sick
Death history
The Memory Speaks
I leave…
But…I come back — again. Again
I’ll return
through time’s opening doors,
…Fleeting through peripheral halls
— their floors — so well cleaned
and polished to such perfection, I see
How they mirror my changing face ~
Traveling
Off in the hours
leading away from the withheld moments
That come
Spirited
Forth
Again…Again
Bringing to life scenes and speech
From the heart’s guarded treasury
To be
annointed with your sighs…
—————————————————————————————————-
(c) sally young eslinger 5/2024
Thanks be to God
The Farmhouse
One evening before the sun was set
A memory came and stayed a while
Of a chalk white, sun bright path,
Untrod, passing by where I gazed
By a hawthorn hedge and a wooden style.
And I saw nearby a farmhouse stood,
Empty now and weather worn.
An old post box by an open gate,
In the sky the remnants of a passing storm
Above fields once gold with ripened corn.
It seemed now that a distant memory stirred
Where two children play and horses graze,
As if another had received the thought
And remembered that old abandoned place,
A farmhouse arisen from far past days
A letter lay in the collecting box,
The unknowing sender waiting some reply,
But no word came from that forsaken place
From that far farmhouse weather worn,
Only a distant memory passing by.
Barry Stebbings
March 2024
.
i heard no
Pop
Rip
Tare
Nope
Just
“mmph”
And
“don’t stop”
,)
To tell you that I miss you
Understates the case
If you want to give a bookmark
Let me see you face to face
That's why I like the instances
When we're part of the team
There's then no need to recall
Your image from a dream
I'm filling up a memory bank
It's stored inside my mind
Images and moments
Treasures of the kind
That I can call on anytime
I visit everyday
The pictures of your beauty there
No one can take away
Hearts are meant to be opened, aren't they?
You never failed to make me feel unloved!
With your charming face, charismatic voice, vibrant soul
I recall heartbreaking moments...
I recall a visit to your ailing son, spent barely ten minutes
together, left him empty-handed
I recall moments calling you countless times,
days to the exam to receive the school fees you promised
Frantically ignored calls
Remembering two months' rent was due,
Landlords on my neck, sadly my door was shut
I recall moments being rained on from school,
Not because I lacked shelter but because my house was shut
I recall moments of being dashed out of the exam room, not because I engaged in exam malpractice but because you failed to pay my school fee
I recall countless heartbreaking moments...
Days pass, don't they?
Someday when you need a bill to be settled too
I will be watching, not because you failed to be a dad, but because you never failed to make me feel unloved
Someday you will need money to run tipsy maybe you will
Say my eldest son abandoned me but I will be watching
Because time is kind, and God is fair
I may try not to fret for him,
How can I ever forget him?
Pretending to sing a ghazal,
But hum him in mind, only him,
I may try and not recall him….
He hurts all over like rose spikes,
But can’t if ever upset him,
The sores sting all over my flesh,
I still hug, heavens, can’t hate him,
I may try and not recall him….
People recall their lost dear ones,
My lifetime’s mate, I muse for him,
Left all alone, whom I talk to?
Where I go, whence do I get him?
I may try and not recall him….
He, once my choicest of date,
On verge of goal’s gate I lost him,
Dismayed, nor would it amaze me,
If I’m now an old date to him,
I may try and not recall him….
_________________________________
Ghazals |02.08.2023| remember, love
Poet’s note: Free translation of an Urdu Ghazal by Ahmed Faraz
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