Short Cloister Poems

a slick mime had only one dime

bought a slivery pot of slime

world’s no oyster

went to a cloister

sacred graffiti thickens the crime


23rd November 2020...

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Leaning pine trees yearn for the open coastline,
needles pointing far and away from vernal
bondage. Left with relics of restless newborn
butterfly's cloister.


for Craig Cornish's 
"Sapphic Stanza Number Three" Contest...

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These, the accepting responses
This, the affirmative nod
To one who feels, fearing greater
Merits not the love of God.

Through that, in its shady cloister
Wild violet's; weak smelt, stemmed.
Heartburst's, not cloud's, sympathetic
Formed from out. Saintly emblemed!...

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This harsh light, back on you
Piercingly cruel aimed
Is of no sun, though it burns
In heart, as hot yes?

And however thickly
Shaded, walled off are
For protection, there's just no
Hung bough, cloister, right?
Unless counter-eying bright!
Love's, for that loveless!...

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Chained between church&cloister she chose to be
A picture of the Christian walk,for all to see;
A mystic life was her remit
Visions of Divine love,was her writ-
In the world..but not of it !

Tribute to Julian of Norwich(note Julian was both a man's& woman's name in the 
1300's)...

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Chained between church&cloister she chose to be
A picture of the Christian walk,for all to see;
A mystic life was her remit
Visions of Divine love,was her writ-
In the world..but not of it !

Tribute to Julian of Norwich(note Julian was both a man's& woman's name in the 
1300's)...

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Jade scythes
of areca fronds
slice slate air;
Medusa's snakes writhe.
Pewter arrows pierce
my garden.
I sit beneath an eave
pondering
the nascent storm.
Geraniums cloister
like vestal butterflies
in darkening loam
as a multitude
of emerald tufts
bend on the fleeing lawn.

5/12/18...

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Wrapped in clothes of holy writ,
Evil wears a sacred guise,
Shielded by its faithful flock,
Fooled by decades of comforting lies

Outside its hidden cloister it parades,
The naked ego cloaked in robes of white,
While deep within the dark it forges chains,
To trap the hearts and minds of happy slaves....

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In autumn's brisk crimson
she weeps for summer.
September courts her
with scarlet and fire,
but xanthic plains
and sun's saffron blush
on cobalt lakes
stain her cheeks.
She'll sleep
in winter's bereft cloister,
the lambent trickle
of peach orchards
seeping into her dreams,
memories embossed
on a gold-stained pillow....

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A RACE TO DE-BONE FISH:
Filet
Relay

A CONVENT FOR SHELL FISH:
Oyster
Cloister

A MEMBER OF THE UNDER SEA MAFIA:
Mobster
Lobster

A PROMISCUOUS SHRIMP:
Trampy
Scampi

A MUSICAL RED SNAPPER:
Snapper
Rapper

A COMPASSIONATE FISH:
Caring
Herring

A LAW ENFORCEMENT FISH:
Grouper
Trouper

2/2/13
Entered in Brian Strand's All Yours Contest...

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If the world was my oyster
The pearls would be my friends
Without them would feel like a cloister
in the garden of love I attend 

Kindness will soon open my shell 
A chain of hope would then hold it near
Round my neck I would proudly wear it
feeling brave without any fear

No bond is stronger than those of a friend
Who is always there in the wings
hovering, waiting to attend
to any problem that life brings...

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Skies falling, upon the ragged heart pasquil
Tranquility ripples across the lake in plethora
She is there, in my heart, a sweet delusion
As I cross the waters wishing I was omnipotent
I drop my oars on forest floor, seeking Aurore
I run along the earth clad pathways towards the cloister
Praying that accrued love still has her beholden 
Kneeling on one knee, I look up with a glint of promise


The Lantern reflects back the softness of her eyes...

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Twelve men in the beginning
reporting unto God
Ten Commandments to proclaim…
devotional synod

Sacred by their nature born
each man immortal bound
Divinity in every word
salvations thorny crown

Choices come and choices go
judgment waits beyond
The weight incumbent, buried deep
embedded in a psalm

Nine will cloister, locked in place
the future theirs to choose
Decisions based on marble text
—Noah’s Ark in view

(Villanova University: June, 2022)...

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My loved one
she is an oasis
a rare species
lemon of the cloister grape
in  Savannah

she parades beauty
she made a proposal to God
before her creation
hips to happily embrace
eyes that cares me with joy

she is not ordinary 
she isn't the stereotype
her complexion,
a manuscript to read hymns from 
when she walks, all the world behind her

you are the beat of me
you are like holy water from paradise
flower of the firmament
wrought by divine craftsmen...

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Tucked among the hedge rows
in winter green of backyard glen,
the tiny maple grows.

Its leaves a golden bed
for rabbit, mouse or partridge hen,
with strands of pine straw wed.

Beauty to all who see
the silence deep on scene of night,
pureness akin to chi

Rising sharply from brush,
doves cloister in concord of flight,
at mornings's hint of blush.

Nov. 21, 2012  Charles Henderson
I have this listed as a triolet, but it is not.  
My rhyme scheme is aba, cbc, ded, fef...

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