Steeled Poems | Examples

True silence

how still is our silence if thoughts intrude
even as words in the conception stage
since symbols distort, being always crude
even latent stirrings, mind battles wage

negating this form and the universe
piercing pores of space, stopping flow of time
we as spirit have no need to rehearse 
mirroring God’s heartbeat felt as love’s chime

vibrant thus in a unified force field
transcending the limitations of mind
divine aligned, resolve of our heart steeled 
we attain truth that cannot be defined

being both immanent and transcendent 
we are fully love and light resplendent

So spake simple Simon

Truth is known when ego is shorn
but what’s imbibed, we can’t pass on,
for how may sunlight be revealed,
to the deluded who shun dawn?

Soul’s light within is not revealed,
unless our heart’s resolve is steeled,
discarding dark desires mundane,
to embrace power God does wield.

Pitter patter of falling rain,
moments when fears are to rest lain,
entwines soul with the universe,
freeing us from thought forms that chain.

A nightingale does not rehearse,
trills of its melodious verse,
flapping wings of muse in delight,
free from ego cravings perverse.

that’s all it takes

soft murmurs of the heart concealed
allowed not the soul to be healed
contracting its heart day by day
yet displaying persona steeled

bleeding hearts see blue skies as grey
sit beside them, for a while stay
offer a healing transmission 
touch of love, warmth of a sun ray

hush the blush

a question is asked
and we are so tasked
to ignite a mind
yet in ego’s bind

we let silence speak
that thus a sneak peek
to soul be revealed
when focus be steeled

the cosmic dancer
becomes the answer
flowing on with ease
and thus questions cease

TRUMP'S HANDS WIELD THE POWER

Soft and smooth, freshly manicured with
No trace left behind of struggle or woe;
Hard to gauge the multitude of daily trials
Or the enormous good and success bestowed.

He’s not afraid to let harsh enemies see his strength.
Strong and firm, his grasp telegraphs immaculate powers,
His steeled convictions and unyielding determination,
And the hell that might rain down in furious showers.

From all directions his enemies test his mettle
Then find themselves wilted on bloody ground.
Respect replaces immature, misguided disdain and fear
When he wields the power of Light and sound.

Gentle, with kindness and bountiful praise
He guides his family and subordinates through remarkable lives.
To others, “You will do it because if you don't...” his favorite phrase,
As he looks intently into their cowardly eyes.

There’s no wavering, no fear. His hopeful message is crystal clear.
Each declaration of his executive powers is deliberately penned 
To fight prior injustices, selfish evil, and despicable greed.
The American people know in his powerful hands is all the strength we need.

Pearl Harbor Day was Today

    Pearl Harbor Day was today
      feels like it’s gone away

    Emotions it once ignited
      no longer invited  

    Determination it long ago steeled
      faded forever, without appeal

    Forgive Old Glory for shedding a tear
      lowered to rest after all these years

Rumors of War

("Creation Myth - Anthropomorphic Nebula Merit Badge” #65, 2016, original oil)

Rumors of War

War, war, rumors of war,
Whispered on the winds
Screamed from the rooftops.

Who does it benefit,
What is it good for?

I can tell you this as someone
Who has known it in a million lifetimes
Hand to hand, across trenches,
Behind ramparts and within
Tanks and Hellfire missiles,
It’s not the soldiers, or generals
Nor even their countries 
Who ever come out on top.
It is simply humanity
Willing to sacrifice one band for another
So the germ can spread,
Steeled in conflict, hardened by fire
Purified in the sacrifice 
Like a virgin on the crest 
Of a mighty pyramid.

And when it comes to us
Where will we be?
Cheering in the crowd 
Or running for the hills,
Or perhaps hiding in the sewers
Laying low 
Waiting for the perfect shot.

(11/27/24)

Black Colt Vesper

I lay my dark and spiraled finger 
against pure and corded wildwood,
In the wailing current
of the rich wheels of wilderness,
Before the sonant vesper 
of dreaming by a worshiping colt,
Shielded from sheaths of stone
by a tree marked in enfolding moss;
The flashing tongues of rolling air
in fluent, black, and breathing flesh,
Smoking in its morning cloak
of great, weaving draperies of fog:
Steeled ink, lashed still and damp
against the awning jaws of dawn.
And from the deep comes soaring
the melody of waters roaring,
Suspended in elephantine glory,
in masterly paintings of old quarry.

Silent Night

We remember

That night of horror
When the future was stamped and the cogs were slain
When the execution ground shone red with blood
The blood of the helpless cogs

We remember the horrors
Gunshots like fireworks 
The cries of cogs like wolves in the night
As devil's favourite demons feed on raw flesh

We remember the depressed winds
The howling of the tortured winds
The breeze of grief. Of cold steeled grief.
As the cogs kneel with tears in their cheeks
Hands grasping the blood stained shield
Songs of hope in their trembling lips.
Fire! The only noise from the blood crazed hunters
As more cogs fall on the blood soaked floor.

Mother's in pain
Father's groaning inward
Siblings gathered around the dining table
Waiting for the blood filled dinner plate.

We remember the silence
The blood thick silence
The howls of the winds
As it whispers "gory" "gory".

We Shall Not Forget.

Aunt Rose

Politely stood 
with feet together 
and socks not up
resigned and ready 
the boy awaits 
as towards him sails
coos and quivers
powered cheeks
and bright red lips
gently lifted 
and tightly folded
into that powerfully perfumed 
and well known chest
the boy succumbs
at last released 
the boy stands silent 
stoutly anchored 
by straightened arms
whose purple-painted pointers 
firmly grip 
a set of shoulders not yet manly
then steeled and stoic 
with eyes shut tight 
the boy endures
as lips swoop down 
still tirelessly exclaiming
to leave on his forehead 
all wetly red
the grand finale
to the ever exuberant 
softly yielding 
yet firmly buttressed  
obligatory embrace  
duties now performed
and ritual complete 
they return to their different worlds
carrying with them that inner glow
that mysterious warmth 
each gives the other 
that wondrous bond
the love of family
the power of blood.

American Revolution Reaffirmed

Our Revolution sought limitations
On imposition of regulations,
But supplications met deprecation
And castigations not reformation.

Such condescension sparked protestation
And contemplation of separation;
This supposition stirred apprehension -
A premonition of confrontation.

But, declamations and remonstrations
Spurred agitation toward Declaration,
While provocations and deprivations
Steeled resolution for liberation.

War's prosecution, through execution,
Forged dedication for recognition;
Its culmination brought dissolution
And vindication for aspirations.

While extrication brought satisfaction
States' acclamations lacked definition.
This Federation showed imperfections;
Low validation forced redirection.

Deft composition penned Constitution;
Strong propositions scored affirmation.
Hence, generations find inspiration
And preservation their obligation.

       -------------------------

Tell all the people yet to come
Democracy is what we chose;
Their mission's goal: protect it from
All foreign and domestic foes.

Sonnet For Spring

Spring marches its way south, inundating
the winter steeled earth struggling to drink
the season’s flood. So I bide time, waiting
for thirsty trees to flourish red and pink.

Yet when the heavens seal their divine doors
and the portal outdoors reopens wide
the red-pink promises of spring are floors
of brownish, brackish sludge when rain subsides

The birds are singing, or are they crying?
The mud is clinging to every footfall
Grasping with desperation, decrying
walks in the woods, holding me in its thrall

So I yield to the season’s iron will
and listen to the songbird’s somber trill

Swing Set

the sun was fixed in the sky
like a fugitive in an orange jumpsuit
radiating anger.
the evergreen forest was shedding
to carpet the steeled winter
earth. pinecones and needles in
a mosaic of brown and green. 
the swing set sat neglected
chains rusted, slack like 
abandoned moorings. 
it creaked under the stress
of your weight, unsure of itself.
its chains, yawning after years
of hibernation, start to sway,
back and forth, picking up
speed and confidence.
In a flash you’re off the
swing,  gliding through thick,
wet air to land on your
hands and knees in the
mulch. The intractable wood
opens the soft flesh of your
palms. The strawberry red
blood glistens in the late
Sunday light.
A dog barks indifferently
at the sun as it sheds its
cumbersome bonds and
falls back into the earth.

Dragonslayer

(for J.B.P.)

A polarizing figure
A catalyzing force
A man for all seasons 
He’s a man called Horse

A strong man in the wheelhouse
A tall man in the field 
No crow of ruin touches him
His constitution, steeled 

What dragon of today 
Could touch that mighty pen?

Demonized, lionized
All faces at once
Like Einstein or Picasso
An immortal eminence

His enemies can’t catch him
Though they try and try
Their straw-man feats of idiocy
Are quickly sent to die

What dragon of today 
Could still that mighty voice?

And now he fights the dragon
Of an ideology
That seeks to reinvent the world
And up-end reality

But Saint George has his hood on
His chainmail and his flail
And he’ll take that sword to the cynics’ board
And remove the serpent’s tail
So to prove that truth can’t fail

What dragon of today 
Could singe that mighty heart?

Kiss Kiss Bang Bang

We marched two by two along
Muddied path leading to gallows 
Corner, singing with voices strong ;
Full of hope as dashing callow. 

Ripe to be picked and Ripe
To be plucked for we had yet
To taste the battle of snipe
And shot, splinter; bayonette. 

We arrived at our trench
Paid for with the King's shilling 
And breathed in the stench,
Our home for the killing

Of the Bosch a hundred 
Yards in front of us.
Through the looking glass thread-
Bare suits steeled to cus!.

The shelling sprang to life
And screamed overhead 
At enemy lines, and strife
Clothed them as they lay dead.

Or so we thought with shell
Of victory diminished, like lambs
To the slaughter we fell, fleeced
Of our youth, once boastful rams.

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