Her serene beauty was unparalleled.
We could only watch in blessed awe.
With grace she morphed into a butterfly.
Gently she flew far beyond our realm.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Wherever you roam, the shadow of death,
Keeps dancing upon the rhythm of your breath,
As and when the rhythm ceases its measure,
Your life dissolves into the black shadow of death.
You work day and night for some hollow delight,
You sacrifice your rest, consumed by restless nights,
Every fleeting moment poured into empty pleasure,
At the end of the day, you find yourself prey to decay's diet.
Histories and all the stories hum a hymn of glory,
For which every life became a black and white story,
All heroes got no chance to dance upon the songs,
Of their epic and immortal tales of glorious victory.
The souls are intoxicated by the drug of the maze of life,
A husband is dying to satisfy his beautiful wife,
All the wives are making efforts to control their husbands,
Childhood dissolving into oldness follows the mortal rite.
The stars lead
and I follow – Your
darkness deepens
and I wade in – Primal!
There are no charts for
such hazardous journey.
Light and darkness
both omnipotent in their
own illustrious ways.
Puppy enchantment
morphing to howling pack. Following
the blood-lust scent. Nature warns. Heaven
cringes. But it is a ruse they dissuade
both part and parcel
of the insatiable "Rite Of Spring".
Bold atlas moths congregate
Around lily pools... then wait
Until stars' resplendent light ,
Awakens their flitting rite.
And winging through air- brushed haze
Each laced rafter all ablaze--
As peak twirlings gleam anew
Like pearled gauze of every hue!
1st place
Smooth the day,
seize that curled and tousled head
grease its creased and mottled entrance
come all wailing to a waiting world,
slide from the arms of midwife night
attempt to keep the light
as round and full as well remembered,
bend each hunkered cornered shadow
pull it hook and line
pierce the fish flesh bone
stretched and knotted twine about your fingers
skewer any little patch of dark that lingers on
heavy in that morning scented room,
fling the curtained windows wide
cast that latch aside and breathe,
fill your foggy winter lungs with spring
embrace the gasp and grab yourself
a newly minted season
bursting fresh with sweet unsullied air
this is not a moment,
it’s a revelation
just for you
and one you might not want to share
Can a man be be both blessed and cursed,
by long memories of combs and curls..
and is there any true penance to be done
believing anything could be worse?
The girl of aubern riding fast past my porch
always laughing into the dusk-
still, smile
in spite of myself,
remembering it just as it was.
Popcorn smell wafting down the cinema hall,
and what's more, thank the lord!
invited to sit with two college sorority girls
replete with rice and loaded squirt guns
at the late night Rocky Horror Picture Show.
Holding hands with the girl nextdoor,
Miss Dear to Heart and friend.
Return to that wonderous world of before-
ah, to be sixteen at Six Flags
again!
Just wish I could remember the names,
that belong to all those laughing faces...
in fine pigtails and shining braces,
held now, and forever
in a heart's Hall of Fame.
First steps, a new world,
Tiny hands reach for the light,
Life's path has begun.
Small boys stand so tall,
Jockeying, testing strength,
Manhood's door ajar.
Whispers of the past,
Old skin sheds, new life unfolds,
Spirit takes its form.
Leaving the warm nest,
Owlet's eyes see the moonlight,
The wide world awaits.
The old view is gone,
Seeing the world with new eyes,
Choices shape my path.
Wisdom's gentle dawn,
Embracing the elder years,
A life fully lived.
In rare gustation dine we here tonight!
For you, my feast; for me, your pleasant sight!
And for them both, I raise my glass to cheer:
Let all that’s sober end before the year!
Let music, wine and wantonness prevail!
Let revelry erase the dry and stale!
And light your mortal youth that burns so strong,
For I, the God of Wine, who’s lived too long.
And when my followers stand - or rather, sprawl -
Across the landscape, shall the dreary fall!
And when my wine the final frown shall lift,
Then sprawled amidst the rest, I’ll share the gift!
Let wine make us wise, and feasting for all!
Till morning shall rise, or each of us fall!
Evil sobriety! It shall not last the night!
For I have found munitions, ample for the fight!
The vine divine, from whence the grapes of wine!
I tend its thirsts, and it doth water mine!
The beasties of the Earth and air,
I do invite to be my fare!
We shall all die
One day.
It is the way
Of this Universe.
We walk upon
The dirt of life and death.
We are but a speck
Of Cosmic dust
In comparison to the vastness
Of Space.
Our little orb appears to be unique.
The stars overwhelm the night sky
As I gaze
Into its sparkling darkness,
I can only wonder
At its brilliance,
And what could possibly
lie beyond . . .
a tender voice recites, muse’s lyrics flow
non-believers have poisoned Earth Mother's waterways
She unleashes winds blown hotter and dryer
perennial white blossoms swoon midst zephyrs
dangle from sterling chaste trees
twisted maple bark echo braids sacred hair unscathed
gold filters branches
thousand-year rooted Algonquin memories
elders and granddaughters amble amongst crackling twigs
streams pristine align to augur a promising path
within a bison pelt tepee awaits the knowledge keepers embrace
fire and smoke dense and opaque
evoking a bittersweet melancholy
broadleaves tremble breathe and sway
hymn chants of traditional wisdom expel
severed is the braid as is the child from the woman
her nascent efflorescence
transition is significant as we are wedded
and bound to nature’s perennial sentient
let the path before us grow wider and brighter for future generations
the plump raindrops fall
glad blooms drink their age-old wine
sunrise colors soon
Group 4
“The streams are in my veins”
quote from the sponsor
Guided
Through the ages
Endowing the future
An heir aroused by sage wisdom
Ancestral blood pumps and streams through my veins
A pulsating rhythm from the heart
through life’s restless currents,
A destiny
Guided
Date: August 5, 2022
For: Let your muse be inspired ~ R form poetry contest
Sponsored by: Constance LaFrance
Form: Rictameter
Syllables verified on howmanysyllables.com
Placed 2nd in contest
Rite of Passage
Ebon skin debutante
contemplating spring’s arrival,
counting blossom petals.
in graceful flight
they glide with ease
across a skyline
that’s doused with fire
a sacred rite
upon a breeze
sun sets divine
and wings soar higher
AP: 3rd place 2022, Honorable Mention 2023
Submitted on March 17, 2022 for contest A BRIAN STRAND 1091 sponsored by BRIAN STRAND - RANKED 1ST
Bury the hurt
to get over the pain
As memory relines
with forgiveness again
Bury the past
for new light to break through
With darkness abandoned
—your spirit anew
(Las Vegas: January, 2022)
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