Short Timpani Poems

mind song riffs*
joining the back beat
nature clicks
timpani** 
drums of black thunder percuss*** 
then the sky opens



*riff a short series of notes
  which create a melody
**skin covered drums
***to tap on...

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Creations Spiral


Life’s tangible presence
vibrations variant
soft rumbling timpani
one place with one accord
awakening to truth

#2 – union with higher self


John G. Lawless
7/7/2015



submitted to – MISTIQUE – poetry contest
sponsor – Nette Onclaud...

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tiptoeing through a minefield of disaster

      in-between games of love and war.

the heart's timpani drum faster and faster;

     the sword of damocles soon to roar.



Bite Size Poem #35 Poetry Contest 
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
Date written: 02/03/2022...

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No-one truly knows what a moment is worth.

The movie's not over till the credits are run.

Life will never be fair for time has no conscience.

...and then we rip their wings off.

Plastic, silencer of the pocketful of nips timpani.

The dog looked as if it had been used to dust under the bed.

A feral cat stared into the abyss of hunger.

John G. Lawless
©6/14/2023...

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The timpani of rushing winds
In constant echoes in his ears
Higher notes of static ether
distorting interference as he sat
Waiting for that moment when 
His thoughts could wander back to then
Without a conscious thread to use
his mind could rest from such abuse
And freely soar alone
To answer all those frantic thoughts
So fraught with tangled weaving
A ship at sail without a port
He felt his aura leaving...

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It was the night of
The first seventh grade
Band concert
I had to play the timpani
For the last song.
I was terrified that
I would mess up
Everybody would hear
Nobody would forget
I looked at the first person
Who came into my mind.
I didn’t know why.
I thought he was irritating
And I’d never thought about him
Before that night.
I guess he had a case of the nerves like me,
Because of the fact that
He
Looked
Back at me....

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see minor classical frequent
da da da daaa
knock of
fate
op67
fine tunes confusing
depressed
victory symphony
louder please
1808
dit dit dit daa
cold december
night
after the sixth
flutes and oboes
slicing the
air
clarinets b flat and sea
horns e flat and see
trombones tenor bass alto
trumpets
timpani strings for sure
piccolo in only fourth
dit dit dit dahhh
louder please louder louder
knock of
fate
da da da daaaa...

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old bones
hanging from abandoned nest
clicking
in a silent breeze

corn stalks
brittle in an August heat
chafing 
in torrid torture

seeds scattering
in tin roof
timpani

clothes pins
humming
on long forgotten
lines

bare branches
chattering
at each gust
of icy rain

church bell clappers
nudging
the edge
of solemn psalms

distant chimes
telling us tales
if we but
listen.


©8/19/2018

for Wind Chimes Poetry contest
sponsor – Edward Ibeh...

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The wave breaks soft yellow tinged
Slow rising on the hoar frost night
Thickened sap retreats in weakened sun

And yet the leaves rejoice in nature’s call
Party hats and favors drape them all
In windblown timpani they fall

Lay their warming truth upon tree roots
Join their crinkling souls in vibrant quilt
Last refuge of the mole and shiv’ring slugs 

The wave will break, in raving red display
As squirrels bid adieu and idly play
Fall’s tide will ebb and take the leaves away...

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