Retinal Poems | Examples

Blurry Lines

My eyes ache hard in a steady throb
A retinal crack…a nagging sob
I crave the words and lines which flow
The pain reminds me to take it slow

I reach for verses sharp and bright
My vision blurs and dims the light
The poems wait just out of view
Frustration sharp but it’s nothing new

I rest my eyes, breathe and wait
Hoping the ache will dissipate
I close my book and set it down
Still the words spin around

It stings to stop and hurts to pause
A love held back by stubborn flaws
Poetry is kind and will wait for me
Even if sometimes it’s hard to see

I take a break to heal and breathe
The words are there if I believe
Fleeting poetic lines I chase
I'll write again at my own pace

Dying Embers

The day was ending,
But a window was open 
To a view of dying embers
Ablaze on the coastal horizon.
Like a canvas in motion,
It captured amazement,
Reaching out hypnotically
Through clouds awash in fire,
And across amber-mirrored beach sands
To the beholder, burning its image
Into the retinal lining of the soul;
Like a lamp onto pier’s end, 
And an invitation to tomorrow.

RETINALISTA

RETINALISTA
random
  & chaotic
an incoherent
   scattering
abroad
  amplified
stimulalated
to
radiate
     & emit

filter
 the spectacuar
forward
  & back
to
 & fro
made to flow
in
relativities
retinal
      show

S3t Entry Code - Space 3d Time

i...t'was just outside, um...

with a camera's eye
on glistening snow trails
colored rainbow by setting sun

what the eye hides means...

for both retinal and brain cells time
has evolve(d) an innate self-protecting
system with limits seen as a 'shut-down' 

'hence caution means proper-technology only'...

a self-adjusting camera and film that
may be used for science and a computer
to balance the brightness of red and blue and't

"a blackness space-patch appers a 'window' in a blue-sky..."

the sun appears a very close star in a blackened
circular-space seen by adjustable camera lens and film
it looks like a giant moon is too close (like in star-trek some 

times an empty space appears in the middle anywhere) 

stan sand
(caution: do not try without proper equipment; you'll go blind)

Colour Banquet

twist of the wrist,
jingle of glass bangles,
a play of light,
kaleidoscope of colours!
patterns of bright reflections,
each different from another,
and never ever the same!
a garden of flowers,
a forest of autumnal trees, 
orchard of oranges,
a basket of apples,
pouting red lips, 
smiling pink faces,
tearful black eyes,
shades of emotions,
who makes these?
golden crimson sunset,
silver cloud on full moon,
white birds in blue sky,
unending stretch of green meadows
cerulean mountains with snow peak,
red beaked green parrots,
the pink flamingos,
a myriad of colours,
in depths of oceans,
fish among corals,
deadly undulating jelly,
speckled sea snakes,
each colour a language,
each movement a sign,
every vision a gift,
a magic of retinal display!
what hand holds,
twists this kaleidoscope?

Premier contest winner (10)
Written 18/08/2021
Kaleidoscope poetry competition
Chantelle Anne Cooke sponsored
Free verse

Click, Click

Spotted black, crouching low,
Approaching silent,very slow,
Large big eyes,spot him quick,
Race for life! Eyes click click!

Soaring high, measured round,
focussed search on the ground,
Talons poised for a sharp pick,
bunny dodges! Eyes Click, click!

Hooded hiss a deadly charmer,
Forked tongue, venom streamer,
Smooth, soft, and shining slick,
A Flying lizard! Eyes click click!

Sculpted beauty on the cat walk,
Whispers, whistles, it’s fashion talk,
Shutter speed and aperture trick,
A glorious shot! Camera click click!

A black box with a hole and lens,
Retinal screen with light balance,
man made camera size of a brick,
God’s tiny creation! Eyes win click!

Written 14/May/ 2020
Sponsor Kai Michael Neumann
Shutter speed poetry contest

A Strange Galaxy

When I gaze into this realm, I see more than the dazzling array
     of golden starbursts floating in a cosmic sea of blue-green-gray,
   photoreceptors painting post-Impressionistic explosions of colors,
       fibers and dilator muscles servicing your ocular aperture.

I see distinctive melanin patterns of a truly original individual -
     a retinal scan of exceptional singularity,
   each nebula unique, every supernova peculiar,
      no quasar like any other.

I passionately absorb with one brief glance
     an infinity of nuance,
   an eternity of historical archives,
       a heaven and earth of emotional journeys.

I am reading your autobiography, the encyclopedia of you.
     I remain a student of your sclera,
   a pupil of your pupils,
       a Vincent of your irises,

going half-mad with the dizzying vastness
of the starry night within your eyes.

Vision- -

In a kingdom full of perspectives
Much I marveled the ideal principle
Deep into that darkness hunching
Vision - tormentor of my dreams
When I thought of the Vision

~


I heard a designing, happy dreaming
Of binoculars that are mainstreaming
I had dreamed of storms screaming
The light seemed happy streaming


~


Deep into that darkness fretting
I crave the puzzled, preliminary prevue
All my soul within me besetting
Ahh, the beautiful, colorful rainbow view
Deep into that darkness buffering
And the preview never frosting

~


Iris, retinal, view if you see this
I’m sure you do
Panavision multicolored reality decision
And the preview never frosting-vision


4/16/19 
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr.2019©

Reluctant Dawn

Hesitant awakening ... 
misty veil reveals another
24 sixty 
incremental uncertainty

Retinal unwillingness
Indecision guides each fretful,
retrograde step
Nocturnal blurred moral vision 
offers no lucid clarity ... 
only ethical neutrality

What’s the right thing to do?
Hollow convictions refuse to ask,
opaque principles
don’t have crystal 
clear courage to bravely choose

Ain’t nothing left to soul salvage,
a gluttonous life
squats out enamel feelings empty

Leaving just a cockatrice shell
of tear-tainted desires
Temporal reverie of carnal thoughts:
gold mind lust 
foolishly lung expired

The rosy pleasures of youth has age withered;
a sullen heart shattered,
pierced by thorny choices from fallen pain petals

A reluctant dawn
reoccurs 
in the sunset years

Dwindling light of hope
presently disappears

As grave, past misgivings
take hold
of tomorrow fears

Loyal Circuitry Plea

Mister Thought Police,
my twin electrodes agree
with your Mind Kontrol policy

It’s a laboratory disgrace,
that the free speech troublemakers
get to protest this way

Such a predestined malfunction fiber optic outrage

Ms. Chief of the Microchip Morality Division,
your prompt commands
are embedded deep
inside of my loyal neural circuitry

Every Hive authorized memory wipe decision
tightens the beta bands   ~   Obedient oscillation wavelengths
don’t come robo cheap
Propaganda protocols are docile necessary

Mr. Automaton Dispatch Operator,
my artificial pump mechanism
has an ultra-jolt affinity
for your Pavlov call-response methods

Mind Kontrol orders are retinal scan template embraced

Unplug the free-think I.T. instigators,
who want chaos burst aneurysm
Queen emission insanity
will force a droning, self-destruct buzz

It’s a lobotomy shame,
that the non-programmed Grey Matter radicals
get to freely act this way

Miss Thought Police,
discourage any disloyal circuitry
This is my Mind Kontrol plea:

Thoroughly erase any freewill trace of cerebral cortex tampering

Selective Blindness

Blinded to all of the desirable flaws
within pillow reach
Shallow beauty of uneven temperament
rises and falls
with the tide of X-ray attraction

Ultraviolet thoughts in visible range,
scan the scarred marks 
on an arrhythmic, telltale heart
Tender touch select a barely audible
passionate promise of silhouette pleasure
Sarah Vaughan on the playlist,
speaks softly low 
after every Phyllis Hyman kiss

Silky braille scats,
pure Al Jarreau ...
fingering the body fretboard
Leaves an infra-red lip signature

Blind to the faults
of a carefree gypsy, wandering attitude
Wait patiently
to impart a better bosom perspective

Open the clay vaults
while the lava flow of the moment moves
Let love clarity
be the retinal force which aorta give

See those gems of free expression
paint the intimate mood 
Glittering hues of breathtaking ecstasy
is blind to the fact — 
seeking love is a natural obsession

Apoplectic Begat Comatose

Eh, Bebe ... 
clueless you with the wide eyes open, 
which can’t see

So apoplectic of heart,
paralyzed by the cobra sway
of changeling channel charmer words

Gen Z baby gloomer 
remote diaphragm controlled,
go back to analog sleep

Oh  oh ... video comatose — 
Nightmares begat by daydreams
of reel digital silver screams

Lost Vegas patch-eye vision
of one arm pulled down
And the coins keep trickling
into your open palms

Baby Bebe gon umbilical vault cray  cray
Cut the cord of the eyelid dark violet curtains ... 
bling-bling blind birth 
shut the womb of twin retinal glow dearth

So aorta slow,
slug cranial coma critical ... 
lobotomy comatose

Virtual voices say:
eh, Bebe — 
Pull the plug ... let the dying vapors go,
expired from a necrotic nasal

Retinal Lethal

Killer jeans ... 
sidewalk recombinant retinal lethal
Hazardous faded denim optics
Mahogany bombshell — 
moving target  drop-dead beautiful

Double helix ... 
T-virus (Tantalizing) traffic stop double take
Gazelle graceful mitotic movement 
cause pedestrian pause,
magnetic gawk gyroscopic directional

DNA dynamite dynamics ... 
(Double-digit Numerical Anomaly)
Short fuse strutting,
sashay fireworks  ...  body comely 

A chromosomal figure eight 10,
estrogen silver bullet sight no-brainer
Steely sizzle vision ,
	   sultry slow-motion ...
 		           smoking hot chamber

A DNA pristine, walking dream — 
The perfect fit
in a faded pair of twin coarse twill

Fatal attraction struck a coroner pose,
when my hazel eyes told her
that she could do whatever she will 

Dyed denim genetics,
chromosomal femme fatale optical 
Twas crosswalk balk retinal lethal

Bright rainbow aurora halo
yielded a flatline squint,
at the changing of a traffic light

Pedestrian aorta revival ...
it wasn’t pulmonary pulse optional,
at the DNA eye-sighting 
of glow retinal drop-dead beautiful

Spectacular Vision

My first spectacles perched on my nose,
with frame and glasses, my first photo pose.
Optician cried," Wow!, Can you see clear now?"
"Oh Yes, my beautiful binocular,
I could see my world, all spectacular.
But my future still looked blurred
my weak eyes, cured of myopia
yearned to see an  invisible utopia."

I grew old...

Sneaked in bifocals, and life changed gear.
Optician cried," dear, can you see your near?" 
"Oh yes, my reading glass was crystal clear.
But why was my heart so full of fear?
With wide open eyes, I still couldn't see,
so many people who were close to me."

I grew older and older...

My retinal sight, now had vision of night.
Cold darkness spread in broad daylight.
Unlimited vision, I could see a closing door,
waiting for the day...I wouldn't see anymore.

Hiding In a Mirror

Sometimes you can hide yourself in a mirror
Not everything’s revealed within its glimmer
What you see is only your outer reflection
You’re only looking at lights reverse deflection
Your eye’s look forward but only see back
It’s truly an optical mirage, a reflective façade

Sometimes there are lies in the reflection
Walls that are built to provide you protection
Like makeup used to cover flaws and cracks
Hiding blemishes and limiting the attacks
Paradoxes of light, a brightness that is dimmer
Illuminating the truth, obscuring the grimmer

Sometimes the truth is only seen as fraud
When your outer skin hides what is inside
Mirrors are unique as they capture misdirection
Curved paths of light are only retinal projections
Images presented to the world may never lack
But they may not represent a faithful track

Sometimes a reflection is defined by the shimmers
Of the underlying image like candlelight that flickers
Giving up truths behind the lies seen by refraction
In a mirror’s view when you are open to inspection
Less defined by vision compared to the abstract
Of what is promised to your soul through God’s contract

• Short Retinal Poems
• Famous Retinal Poems
• Best Retinal Poems
• Read Retinal Poems
• Long Retinal Poems
• Retinal Quotes