Stoked Poems

That first second in hell

It was so hot, my features melted off my face.
It was so hot, my body blistered in every place.
It was so hot, because an angel stoked the fire
to keep hell hotter than a funeral pyre
for all those who'd died outside the state of grace.

The Silent Kiss

“The fusion of her lips with his took him 
to the edge of the stilled time,
across the silent waves of euphoria.” – By Poet


The pristine patina of the unfurled rose 
          glistened like garnet on your lilac lips,
mingled with mine they seemed like the melody 
    of the shimmering dew at sunrise,
resonating in the flushing meadow 
of my heart pulsating with longing
         that rolled the waves of euphoria
from the receding shore of the ecstatic time.

Floating entranced on the fragrant air of your allure 
         I devoured the flavor of lust 
    from the luscious contours of your yearning lips. 
Your crimson enticement stoked up
         my flaming desire, turning my craving 
into gleaming ember of fervent love.
In its afterglow fused with the hues of the setting sun 
    I still feel the sensual pleasure of the silent kiss.

Grateful Reflections

My mind races at times
dreaming I could sit at a piano and teach my fingers a new language,
or feel the wind on my face as I master the art of riding a motorbike.
I picture myself behind turntables,
mixing music for ten minutes straight without a single hand to guide me.
Life, to me, is about acquiring more skills, more experiences,
more ways to grow.

I sit in a room that feels like a prison,
Yet somehow it is also my furnace 
a place where the fire is stoked, where my spirit is forged.
I lift my eyes, feel the cool air brush my face,
and I know that through every trial,
through every tribulation,
I have become a better version of myself.

I stand so close to changing my fate.
I will not give up, Lord.
Whatever lies along the path You set before me,
Bless me with the wisdom, knowledge, and understanding
to walk it as a great man should 
to take the responsibility that many never lived to carry.

I am deeply, humbly grateful 
happy to still be here,
to see another day,
to be in this position…
and to keep moving forward.

Unshod Dreams

Rattling through the bogs, my love in limbo

Battling against the odds, arms akimbo 

Too late to tear down the walls that they've built 

Ate a cat-o-nine tails and swallowed their guilt 

They demanded, then broke, my humanity 

Hot branded, and stoked, my insanity 

Purely for sport, the game, and the kill

With orders to READY, AIM, and FIRE at will

Now hobbled in pain, where the crossroads meet

On a cobblestone lane, with unshod feet

I've groped, so long on this road, I'll just say

I've hoped, I've dreamed, now I'll just fade away

Black Hole Love - I'm Calling All-in

I stoked the fire, you drank the flame.
I poured out my soul, you ditched the game.
I'm gutted, bone dry, howling in pain -
You reeled me in, gave nothing back again.

Black hole love — you ripped me apart.
I'm holding the line, playing my part.
I gave and gave, you drained and drained. 
How did our love become so unchained?

Oh Black Hole Love,
I Give, You Suck,
Getting nothing back, in return.
I'm calling All-in!
Black Hole Love, Black Hole Love.

You twist my pleas - I'm on my knees.
Let's play it straight, oh, baby please!
All I want is some fire back from you.
Not choking smoke on black strap blue.

I won't break for you, anymore.
I'm standing, knocking on your door.
I want to love you more and more.
You're the only one that I adore.

Oh Black Hole Love.
I Give, You Suck,
Getting nothing back, in return.
I'm calling All-in!

I won't break for you!
No more, No more!
Black Hole Love ...
Black Hole Love!

Embers in the After Glow

In the ashes of silence spent,
cinders glow, tattooing the scene.
Even when I look away
the after-glow is still there,
with scars of burns that won't heal.
The after-glow sears into the days ahead
with a red-hot branding iron
scorching the future 
with cries of regret,
and the aftermath
of lies unforgotten, 
errors unforgiven.

I close the door,
close my eyes
but the smoke knows the cracks,
knows the way to stain
my eyelids with
embers glowing 
bright orange-red.
After-embers that haunt
my sleep, memories and dreams
with flickers, sparkles and taunts.

The afters glowed in the rafters
above my bed.
After the door slammed shut.
After your departing shouts.
After your last goodbyes.
After the raging fire, 
you started and stoked, 
to roaring fierce flames, 
and black billowing smoke,
rendered all what we had,
to gray and white ashes. 
With our futures branded
with the afters 
in which the embers glowed.

Candle Celebration

a wax tear formed
on redwood heart
in the dark
yet lit by many
a candle wick
my dry eyes wet

acapella soars
blood sweat tears
adorns
welled up
wall to wall
ascent

hearts rent
and bound
in grief
silent, deafening
defeating
lies

spurs on healing
stoked by
perspective
straight candlesticks
proud, on fire
a Holy Spirit spire

A PARADOX OF NATURE

They scream war for peace,
Not peace for loving kindness;
Human nature stoked:-

War bombing for peace,
No thoughts of building for love;
Wintering hate still dropping:-

Bombs drop like fall leaves,
Busting storms keep blood gushing;
Healing spring postponed.

How far from earth are heaven and hell and other hellish verses?

How far from earth are heaven and hell?
And which way do you go to get there, pray tell?
Did God create a GPS for the soul?
Or did he give little devils or angels the role
to escort you to the place where for eternity you'll dwell?
It was so hot, my nose melted off my face.
It was so hot, my blistered feet got fused in place.
It was so hot because of an infernal fire
that God eternally stoked to fulfill his desire
to flash fry those who'd refused to be in a state of grace.

If not for this fence, there'd be no shade,
and we'd be burning up watching this hellscape parade
of hellhounds and lizards ~
and three-headed wizards ~
and griffins with gross gizzards ~
making the little kiddies afraid.

Black Shrine

This is our black shrine,
Where my father lit the lamp.
With dried dung in the cauldron,
My mother stoked the fire.
In the village, the sheepfold remains,
Where the ewes gave birth to lambs,
Their tails covered in dust,
The camels cried out for their calves.
Everything stayed far away,
When we moved to the city.
But my parents lit a flame,
So the shrine's fire won't extinguish!

I grew up learning farming,
Watering sheep, tending livestock,
Received plenty of guidance,
From the small yard I knew.
A kind mother's heart, worrying for her child,
Her "May you thrive" curses soothed my soul.
Parents are the critics of their child,
May they forgive my mistakes...
I brought them with me to the city,
Keeping the shrine's fire alive.

After turning twelve,
I cut hay with sickle and scythe.
Being the youngest in the house,
I tended the samovar's flame.
While guiding me through life, 
the youngest of the shrine,
My parents rejoiced, 
seeing I could light the fire.
In this house, like my father,
I will now be the owner.
Above me, without rest,
Stands the spirit of the black shrine!

The Market Rasen Witch - Lincolnshire Folklore

upon the Rase a troublesome crone
who meddled in the Rasen folk 
for she a witch!
a witch! their slant and well
she laid upon a cow a cursied blight
a cursied spell 
and lo would not this neighbour’s cow
go to the milking parlour so
this neighbour’s daughter fraught and fair
to seek a wise man, she that hour
left in haste to hear of words 
and met with him though quite by chance
for he appeared to her when needed
invited in somewhat expected
and knew did he of her unrest
as heating in the fireplace a red hot poker
readying
and stoked, enflamed the fire roared
and from by the Rase the witch was heard
to scream and cry
you see now in her weakened state 
another troubled Rasener 
took heed upon the lowered crone
and struck her hand with a blade had he
and brought to her all of her eves
that drew the blood of taintedness
and scream once more 
then again made three
no more trouble will she cause
said the wiseman confidently
and the witch skulked away
her powers lost
made free were then the Rasen folk
and the cow went in to give them milk

Goaded, ego gloats in air

Stoked and stirred up, fire flares,
If provoked, cobra scares,
Hurt by loss of glory,
Startled, beasts show fury,
Goaded, ego gloats in thin airs.        
_______________
Translation |11.01.2025| ego, self, fire, snake/cobra

 Poet’s note: Sanskrit has thousands of verses of wisdom called Subhashhitam. Ego identifies with (lower) self--man, bird or beast. If hurt, it reacts. When stoked fire flares. If provoked, cobra tries to scare. So does human ego. The transliteration of the Sanskrit verse follows:

Jvalati chalite indhana agnih, 
vi-prakrtah pannagah phanaam kurute |
Praayah sve  mahimaanam kshobhaat
prati-padyanta jantavah || 218 ||

La Tomatina

Every year in a village in Spain
Is a festival kind of insane,
For the people are stoked
To get totally soaked
By tomatoes and none will complain.

Thousands flock to the town, well-aware
That tomatoes will fly through the air.
Though they might seem like fools,
If they follow the rules,
They’ll experience something quite rare.

To ensure the event’s a success,
The tomatoes are squashed, more or less.
Then the hurling begins
And, through red-splattered grins,
All participants romp in the mess.

The Heyday of Travel

    angry-gray steam billowing
       from its coal-stoked furnace
    its whistle threatening a reckoning

    speed decreasing with each turn of its wheels
       the mighty locomotive pulled into
    the station, her denizens eagerly waving

    to folks as familiar as the sounds of the prairie
       adventures to unpack once back home

What you ::don't:: see is what you get

The “Green New Deal” will go down as the largest PONZI SCAM on a global scale! ~Jay McKinsey, 2023

There was a young man from the coast
Whose mind the Democrats stoked
With Green Energy scam
When he couldn't find sand
The man buried his head in the moat!

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