Trailing clouds of glory do we come
Until by the end we are left dull and glum.
How it all came to this
We are responsible
For being so remiss
The magic of our early moments
Emblazoned in our minds
Fades and disperses with every pressure
Our world brings to bear upon our pleasure
Exams, bills, targets, workday worries
blunt our perceptions
And drive them undergound
Occasionally to spark alive in a dream state
Eluding our grasp
once we come to our senses
Wide awake and once more blind
How to recapture
And to resurrect
That rich inner spirit
Which came with our birth
That should be our aim
Too many earthly concerns
Within our clay
Must take the blame
For that loss of courage
To break free from the constricting frame
Forcing us
To forget the beauties of the day
To play the stultifying economic game
The stifling straitjacket of life
Keeps us playing
Categories:
stultifying, corruption, slavery,
Form: Free verse
THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT
When the desert sun melted away
The armour I wore for protection,
Leaving me free to find my oasis
Of unalloyed pleasure, offered
Without stultifying conditions,
I no longer looked back, anxious
Of retaliatory strike on my spirit,
And in that momentary flash, knew
There would be no comeback
From any hypocritical source
Of self-righteousness.
Needing no filter through which to view
What's plain in sight, I stripped away
The false image of a broken promise
And clothing myself with the clear vibrancy
Of unadulterated love,
Found that peace, like a thief in the night,
Had entered the inner core of who I was.
Categories:
stultifying, blessing, celebration, freedom, peace,
Form: Free verse
AS I GO ABOUT MY BUSINESS
As I go about my business, dazed by
The stultifying immediacy of it all,
How can I reach out to what I once had
Before the great sadness overwhelmed me
In its grey cloud? Do I wait patiently,
Trusting the morning sun will melt
The frozen wastes, covering the truth
Of my natural landscape? I believe I have
No choice but to linger in the foothills,
As I relearn the ways of inner peace
In the cold frame of inexorable time.
I have my hands tight-fisted to protect myself;
Perhaps I need to open them out
To new possibilities where I can see
That kindness easily draws within,
Embracing the broken heart,
And shows that love can be rekindled.
Categories:
stultifying, confusion, courage, depression, love,
Form: Free verse
Labyrinthia P. Babineaux …………… The White Witch of the Lower 9th Ward
Papa Babineaux …………………………… The Father, an honest apothecary
Algebra Babineaux ……………………… The even-tempered Mother
Bumblebee Babineaux ………………… The precocious younger Sister
Gnat Babineaux …………………………… The curious little Brother
Cabernet Babineaux …………………… The distant Cousin
Ulysses “Zully” Kowolski ……………… The world-weary Sailorman
Nikita Something ………………………… The learned Creole Seer
Mitchell Hollywood ………………………. The adulterous Inn Keeper
Tom Sickley …………………………………… The disingenuous Feather Merchant
Fr. Marcus Paternoster ……………...... The lecherous Clergyman
Steve Merkin ………………………………… The unscrupulous Accountant
Vince Fettish ………………………………… The nefarious Fantasy Man
Xerxes the Great …………………………… The Emperor of Persia and Media
Dante Foolhardy …………………………... The Stultifying Court Jester
John Travailleur, Esq. …………………… Just another John
Plus … townspeople, pirates, Indians, street musicians and beggars, Cajuns, swamp rats, women, young ladies, and girls.
Categories:
stultifying, allegory, psychological,
Form: List
fools
misguided, gullible
blundering, stultifying, erring
dunderheads, imbeciles, rajas, emperors
reigning, succeeding, conquering
powerful, mighty
kings
Date written: 08/06/2020
Categories:
stultifying, art, creation, truth,
Form: Diamante
The Princess and the Pauper
by Michael R. Burch
for Norman Kraeft in memory of his beloved wife June Kysilko Kraeft
Here was a woman bright, intent on life,
who did not flinch from Death, but caught his eye
and drew him, powerless, into her spell
of wanting her himself, so much the lie
that she was meant for him—obscene illusion!—
made him seem a monarch throned like God on high,
when he was less than nothing; when to die
meant many stultifying, pained embraces.
She shed her gown, undid the tangled laces
that tied her to the earth: then she was his.
Now all her erstwhile beauty he defaces
and yet she grows in hallowed loveliness—
her ghost beyond perfection—for to die
was to ascend. Now he begs, penniless.
Categories:
stultifying, age, angel, beauty, bereavement,
Form: Sonnet
There aren't many games I play
For most of them require
Some patience and some strategy
Or, at the least, desire.
I quite enjoy my "Words with Friends"
But usually I lose.
The very first word that I see
Is likely what I'll choose.
Of course, I should peruse the board
And calculate the score,
But doing that would make the game
A stultifying bore.
My mah jongg buddies hem and haw
Before they make their move.
I play real fast so rarely win;
The pros would disapprove.
For competition means that all
The effort we extend
Should serve to help us play the game
And win it in the end.
The only real advantage
Of my non-competing flair
Is that when I see the outcome,
If I lose, I hardly care.
Categories:
stultifying, games,
Form: Rhyme
I toss and turn and lay awake
Inviting dreams to come and take
My mind to some enchanted place
Where cares and worries get erased;
But no erasing: just a racing mind.
I wish and pray for sweetest sleep—
Ah, even if a nightmare creeps
Inside my peaceful, placid head
It would be better than this dread;
This dread inside my head: with worse ahead.
If I could only stop and rest
Imagine how much I’d be blessed!
But no: Anguish multiplying,
This sanity…stultifying:
I think my thoughts have their own ideas.
My cheery outlook saddening,
And slowly growing maddening—
……………………………………………
…While there’s a badness…in sadness,
…Is there a…gladness…in…madness?
HA! I choose the LATTER! MAD HATTER!
splatter
Categories:
stultifying, anxiety, dark, joy, pain,
Form: Rhyme