We cannot transcend time,
Nor can we outrun the blinding light of that hour.
Yet,
We swallow that very light,
And holding it to our chests, we sublimate it
At the speed of light.
"Good night, our baby."
In the middle of the mess we just made,
In that ditch of ruin and annihilation,
When I look into your eyes,
You are already looking into mine,
At the speed of light—
"Meow."
A quiet apology already seeps into your pupils.
Very well, I absolve you of your sins!
Who am I, anyway?
Just a being who cleans up your every single day.
And should we face that ruinous moment again tomorrow,
I shall gladly catch your mess with my own two hands!
sublimate
with love
your nights
with whispers
enjoyments
ecstasy
I murmur like a rivulet through the
hitch of your hands, where the canyons
carve their parched longing into your fingers—
where silences sublimate like cera,
pooling beneath your glissando touch.
Your tremolo breath convulses rough and low
like sibilant submersion in water—
spilling, sinking, staining everything it meets.
I watch the estuary of your gaze split my horizon—
watch you hush abysmal eyes into
celestially arched surrender.
There is no stillness between starlight,
only the pull of mighty magnitudes,
fuses lit beneath the ribs,
pulses and throbs teaching the air
how to cleave—how to…
sforzando!
Love, here, is neither reserved nor reticent—
it is lightning bottled in glass—
hellfire burning beneath the tide—
language that deconstructs
even as it is uttered.
I step forward—some faltering cadence,
some submitting ascension—placing my hands into your fire,
not to be consumed, but to remember
how stars revel and rain.
We can try to hide it
Most will attempt to push the thoughts down
We’re not naturally virtuous creatures
It’s quite the contrary - we’re monsters deep down
From the savannas we arose
Fighting fiercely to survive
Selfish, instinctive, amoral, and impulsive
Ironically, that's why we’re alive
We were forged in the primordial fires
Evolved, an anxious woman, an aggressive man
For centuries we have deceive ourselves
By saying, it's all part of God's plan
We were thrust into a world
That's far different than our ancestors home
It's a new world of abundance
Where the instinctual beast is losing control
So, we sublimate our behavior
We profess a altruistic loving heart
All the while ignoring
The monster, lurking in the dark
If we can let go of the story
Acknowledge the suffering and pain
There a chance to rise above the instincts
That are causing the most pain
Acknowledge - to live is to suffer
Recognize - conscious awareness is the burden of humanity
Accept the drive within us
Cause that's the truth - and the truth is what sets us free
“We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they live within us”
The Joker
My muse is gone,
good riddance to the witch
And don’t come back,
you extraneous lil b’itch
Off to prey on others,
pour napalm on their souls
Sublimate good poetry,
burn stanzas full of holes
Infiltrate kind minds,
corrupt joyous prayer
Tear apart covenants,
seed corrugated despair
Yeah my muse is gone,
in search of new hosts
To spread vile poison,
through every new post
I’m an angel once again,
deliverance fills each line
A paragon for good,
no more evil rhymes
Champion of the soup,
clear broth I’ll deliver
Served with fava beans,
Chianti, and my muses liver
# Her name is Clarice #
By
David Kavanagh
We can try to hide it
Most will attempt to push the thoughts down
We’re not naturally virtuous creatures
It’s quite the contrary - we’re monsters deep down
From the savannas we arose
Fighting fiercely to survive
Selfish, instinctive, amoral, and impulsive
Ironically, that's why we’re alive
We were forged in the primordial fires
Evolved, an anxious woman, an aggressive man
For centuries we have deceive ourselves
By saying, it's all part of God's plan
We were thrust into a world
That's far different than our ancestors home
It's a new world of abundance
Where the instinctual beast is losing control
So, we sublimate our behavior
We profess a altruistic loving heart
All the while ignoring
The monster, lurking in the dark
If we can let go of the story
Acknowledge the suffering and pain
There a chance to rise above the instincts
That are causing the most pain
Acknowledge - to live is to suffer
Recognize - conscious awareness is the burden of humanity
Accept the drive within us
Cause that's the truth - and the truth is what sets us free
“We stopped checking for monsters under our bed when we realized they live within us”
The Joker
I can feel us slipping away
Down deep into the emotional abyss
Instincts that have outgrown our consciousness
I say this with much remiss
There was an intellectual explosion
An awareness that remains a slave to the drives
We have the ability to use logic and reason
Yet its emotions controlling our lives
We sublimate, congratulating ourselves profusely
We profess dominion over this land
Self righteous and arrogant
"This is all part of God's plan”
As tribalism runs wild
The herd projects an image of strength
Ironically, it's a manifestation of fear
That makes them pathetically weak
If you cant face what you're afraid of
You’ll never find what you need
Cause it's in the middle of order and chaos
That lies your destiny
So don't let life slip away
Wake up, evolve, and grow
We have a great opportunity
Think deep, now let the emotions go
God is Dead?
Hubris, man's nature
A God, self-proclaimed
Nietzsche opined he's dead
Conceit, we laugh and say, no way
Self-professed with special attributes
Sympathy, love, reciprocity; how divine
Exalting our human virtue
So convenient; unfortunately, so blind
We sublimate our consciousness
Valiantly creating a magnificent reality
The audacity
Willfully blind; to only see what we believe
If we were to open up our eyes - our mind
Acquiesce to the grandness, the complexity of it all
Humble
Perhaps we thrive before we fall?
Hubris, mankind's nature
In his image, we reflect piously
Nietzsche opined he's dead - and we have killed him
The narratives not about God - its about you and me
What is life's meaning?
What is the purpose in life?
I'm afraid humanities insatiable appetite for answers
Is creating existential angst in our lives
A brain hardwired on the savannas
Full of fear and aggression has become wise
This is the true devil in the workshop
It has nothing to do with an idle mind
In fact, an idle mind has time to contemplate
Time to gain perspective and unwind
The trouble is the burden of awareness
We are responsible - and aware of our impermanence - we all die
Those who use reason and logic
Pay a huge sacrificial price
Their ability and to stay calm in the moment
Is view by the masses as a cold - uncaring devise
We’ll continue down this path of fragility
Deflecting, distorting reality all the while
We sublimate collectively
Like sheep - following in complete denial
An awakening is imperative
We must learn to accept that which we can and can not control
A commitment to do better
And be dedicated to the process of letting go
A youngster, humpbacked with wisdom, and an old man, burning with love, both of them, commuting to work on a subway, see a lot of interesting people: a budding manager with a red-hot lightning instead of his tiepin; a public toilet's volunteer; a ballerina, sleepy and yawning like a mermaid on ice as well as lobsters and other crustaceans too. I don't commute, ergo, I see nobody and sublimate my social life in the commentaries to Poertrysoup.
Here we have an illustration of the deficiencies of a freelancer's lifestyle.
Have to be ready;
While waiting at death's door step;
Do need a good prep.
Jim Horn
Do have to go see Jill again at the
hospital this morning. Hopefully,
everything will start being okay,
and I can start talking to her again.
How can I keep from showing all
of my anxiety is what I will be
wondering about though. Poetry
Soup helps me to get it out of
my system and sublimate me.
This is why God put Poetry Soup
into my existance. I have never
felt so completely lost in all my
life drawing closer to God each
and every day.
Memories of Them On Memorial Day
So many had died from war's long struggle
Over silent graves hear sound of a bugle
While tombstones will exist row after row
We walk through with respect and slow.
Names on each tombstone we have read
For freedom's cause they now are dead
Thoughts remain not leaving me alone
Are soldiers in Tomb of the Unknown.
High in heaven for a while have been
And someday soon will see them again
Say prayers at night then still seems
Memories of them exist in my dreams.
James Serious Mysterious Horn
Retired Veteran and Poet
While I wait someone will falsely sublimate
Us Veterans which I always truly hate
Tears to my eyes the thought does bring
They think money can buy anything.
Debates and discourses galore
Trees and rivers are worried
Cruelty and hounding are torrid
A raped morning in the shore
Kindness smiles in the water
It fondles the skin still tender
Flying sands drop by to kiss it
Restive waves come on hissing
Intellectuals in the seminar
Shopping at fifty percent
Online bonanza for women
Pious hopes in the twitters
Success is celebrated globally
Molested school girls scoff at
Flesh is what the quest goes for
Pearls of friendship is a far cry
Sharks of powers and muscles
Untamed high-rise castles
Can’t we have joint umbrellas?
To share a grief or golf stick
Sublimate our glare of control
And avoid hundreds of shipwreck?
Discrimination will go away one day
We will need centuries to that end
Life will be the same celebration
For men and women together
_____________________________
No more babies; not now, not ever,
I want to write and I want to read
And I do like a good film
Please ignore your body clock,
That timepiece in your womb.
I want us to fly like eagles and
Eat out more/we can even do your
Yoga on the carpet floor!
No more nursery, a bit more
Playground please; and perhaps
A touch of artistry when you do
That thing with your knees
I’m looking forward to a new life
Now they’re all grown up,
Perhaps you could sublimate?
We’ll buy a spaniel pup.
So shall we go to bed?
It’s late and I have work; I’m glad
We talked about this thing
I just knew you’d understand
Hmmm?
Having A Hollowcaust
Just thought of this after I saw your category of Holocaust.
With my wife, we were having a hollowcaust
And as I am sure you know, I again lost;
Which superfluous show should we watch today?
She always ends up getting her way.
So according to well-prepared latest scoop
Here I am stuck on profound Poetry Soup
Which to me is most marvelous and great;
It can sedate, satiate and lastly sublimate.
As usual, it is the surrogate same story;
I am having a hard time finding a category;
Maybe all of the times, I am greatly behind;
How about a category called, "Blow Your Mind?"
Which is what my poems seem to do if you
are one of the far and in between few. So far,
so confusing. Right?
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.