Two hungry bears are poised to fight
Razor sharp claws, like daggers drawn
One stole a fish, theft is not right
Two hungry bears
They’d stalked brown trout since early dawn
They’re ravenous, and that’s their plight
Last trout had swum upstream to spawn
A tasty trout bears love to bite
But now all the fresh fish have gone
No wonder both are so uptight
Two hungry bears
2
Your Love
Its foreign to me
I find myself
In Beijing
I swum
Through life
To wash up
Upon your body
I lay my head
Gently
On your tummy
The sun
Beating down
Upon this
Foreign shore
I ‘am tired
For I swum
Against the tied
bam …
the thought explodes -
a tritium fusion reaction of epiphany
engulfing my every concern
knocking me on my bloated ego …
I have swum your gaze
a hundred hundred times
and more …
I have drowned in those depths
with no thought to the danger
and no sate to my thirst …
it has been my refuge
and my prison -
a warming blanket, and a frigid reality
it has revealed to me mysteries, unequaled
and a brume of toroidal chaos
my joys, my sorrows, my all …
my nothing …
passions and pains and pardons
purgatory … and heaven
have all saturated me in the
emerald abyss that is your eyes
yet …
until this very moment
the diabolical truth of that enigmatic expanse
has eluded me …
it is not the unknowns that swirl there
it is not the beauty or the ire
it is not the acumen or ardor or equity
it is not the anger or the grace of your gaze
that so troubles me now
and seeks to destroy my very being …
it is the glaring, ghastly realization
that the horrid blackness I find there
is nothing less …
than ME -
I am your darkness …
and that is the ONE thing
I can not be …
bam.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, January 2, 2024
I dreamt that I went swimming,
Into the deep blue sea
And from nowhere appeared a mermaid,
That had swum right next to me
The next thing I remembered,
She had pulled me underneath,
Into a cave, where it was dark,
Well below the coral reef
She had opened up my vest,
And she dropped a pearl inside
And then she said, "Hop on my tail...
You're going for a ride."
She had taken me to a shipwreck,
On the ocean's floor
And she wanted me to go with her,
As she pointed to a door
So, then we swam inside the door,
And she guided me to some jewels
That long ago, were thrown overboard,
By some drunken pirate fools
She then pointed to the pearl,
That she had stuck inside my vest
And wanted me to take it out,
And return it with the rest
As soon as I returned the pearl,
The mermaid lost her tail
Then just like that, she walked the aisle with me,
And she was wearing a white veil
The next night when I had fallen asleep,
I was as happy as can be
Because I dreamt about that mermaid; again
And this time...she had married "Me"
so many moons have danced a-sea
and swum in eyes, entrancing me
but such dear blessings pale to one -
the chance to rise with each new sun.
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, October 6, 2023
( photo of sunrise at Portland Headlight taken by Gregory R Barden 1974 )
When is it okay to swim out of here?
Solo fish laps in a loch
Wide eyes turn back in fear
My pool was safe, I knew each rock
Grab the edge, a wall once held
Tiny tank I kept so well
Tide does turn to lift me up
Dive into a deep vast sea,
Run a race of lung drum pump
Your glue gaze is a hook, with glee
Gate open lets life raft bob away
I’ve swum in your fast new sway
Out into salt and mess, wind howl
Sail taut to tilt us, roll wild rage
Yin Yang curl can’t part us now
Ship long hour, flip over next page
A song to sing with zany note
Zeal to feel wave beat on boat
Slow zone I made sure to keep
Sits in the past, eats acid
Jump for love, a huge bold leap
Care can wash a soul once arid
Take it to grow, aqua lush
Lone fins come to find twin rush
1st October 2023
Written for Contest:
Love Poem Four Letters
Sponsor: Darla Seely
A Florida man on a dive
was swept out to sea, still alive.
To his friends' great relief,
he had swum to a reef;
the joy they felt, hard to describe!
----------
A happy tale, when a man was dragged by currents and missing for over two hours, family and friends took a boat to a favorite place of his and found him in the channel near the reef. All ended well for a Florida man for a change!
Don’t you know why Ted is slimmer?
His eyes no more with hopes glimmer:
Had long swum in pools with shimmer,
As long in frustration swimmer;
Ted would not bear Todd’s New Tipper
Plus dreams of making ‘A Shipper!’…
But one’s knowledge of life deeper,
One no more, in spirit, Sleeper,
Entrance one blocks against Creeper
And proves Goodwill Lover Keeper…
Now, you know why Ted is slimmer
And walrus moustache not trimmer:
Chances of making it dimmer,
One gets slimmer and face grimmer!
Sea alongside where they are, where they go
Undercurrent of cover, keep upset under wraps
Run a watertight routine within swim safe zone
Emit words washing white magic swell flat relax
Pervade far lands, exotic tainted by Australia
Leisure takers pack high hopes among low funds
Enamour for contrast demands modes familiar
Affluent rabid urgency, serene temples shunned
Swum lagoon lounging, legs glossy mahogany
Upscaled servers strive for measly tourist custom
Resort afforded sirens their thriving economy
Ethos of plentiful offering for Gods stay trusting
4th October
Faraway from Before
Turtle so slow
Has emerged from below
How does he breathe down there
Without any air
Don’t ask me how
At least not just now
I’m feeling a bit peckish
And could stand a nice fish dish
Earlier, I saw some bass
Hiding here in the grass
Ah, I see you there
Swum by with no care
I will have you my pretty
Though you are itty bitty
With a frawnk and a swoop
I will fly around my loop
What’s that in the deep water
By that pesky old otter
Shinny shad make nice meals
If I can just close the deal
It will never sense my presence
And I will leave only my oily essence
A last lunge and a lurch
And I’m off to my perch
I’m the most graceful of birds by the way
And really should be in a Monet
A spherical fish lenses larger
And smaller with each turn that's swum.
Size defying, the fish upon a plant stand
Towers over a cubically curled cat.
The cat sleeps inside a cardboard box
Among dank fern era smells.
Eye lids arise slantwise
Like through louvers of a shade.
The eyes close once again
As though in slow motion ecstasy.
Whiskers twitch and paws, taking turns,
Knead dreamscape, Siberian turf.
It is a lazy happiness, the cat has,
Swaying nothing but a tail's end.
Centered, the cat has no need
To find a fourth flap out.
But the bulgy eyed fish is held
By the weight of water and of glass. (7/16/22)
DID YOU?
Did you ever care?
Did you ever love
Me as I loved you,
With a true desire
To make me happy?
I would have walked
A thousand miles,
Swum the oceans,
To be with you
To hold you,
Caress you,
To love you
But no,
You left
20th June 2022
Diminished Hexaverse contest your choice of subject
Sponsor - Caren Ktutsinger
Me
Hastily stretched, crackled urgent ocean edge relents
Ashamed attempt to escape rejoins campaign of mass
Furtive dig below propels conspirator spasm, next next
Murders brash bouys, cranky spa champagne embrace
Swum undulations, bare back mermaid's dips resurface
Her furvour ploughs halobiont plenty scape, nourished
Snapped lobster lavishly celebrates bountiful turquoise
Sway gaze brazen by bobbing safe island encouraged
Crill swirl sweeps dripped lips, sun baked rock decreed
Beacon mound majesty painted daily in sea gull exhalt
Coconut snow flakes sparkle on cockle clamour bleed
Wave blown eroding scales slow exhales evaporate salt
Ripe globes ground reaped glug nectar so gluttonous
Fibres hibernate ivory rich liquors tipsy Secret Benefits
Land languish survivor devours sugar shards sumptuous
Wipes moreish mouth aft treasure trove haemorrhages
Fifth May
Finesse Saves
I have walked through Fields of doubt,
I have driven across arid plains,
I have swum the rivers of life,
And still, hope eternal, remains.
Never yield to the frailness without,
It is the strength within that shapes us,
There are no negatives, only inaction,
Climb your own mountain, trigger reaction.
Age and sickness are not the same,
You can be young, and not be sound,
You can be old, and not be lame,
You can be both, yet be unbound.
Do not write me off just yet
My intentions are not to go,
In fields of passion I still walk,
And may it ever be so.
.
Pressed into cavity, wardrobe holds captive
Constrained where space is a premium
Love lodged squashes logic, lungs ravaged
Quicksand scenarios draw a dreamer in
Denigrated to respondee in his spare time
Hung on railing to wear at convenience
Smiling nicely to speeches of a shared life
Passed opportunity pops my congenial
Friendliness strung with fun doesn't endear
Resists my charm like chalice poisoned
Realms kept seperate lest wretch interfere
Rationed portions bring a brief rejoicing
Abruptly leaves, impetus sprung immediate
Swum mosquitoes among murk spread
Sting truth beneath a furtive fable feeding it
Sore heart can't receipt his ebbing debt
Cement devoid of tears ceases to imprison
Desert sand manuevre accomplishes
Shatter of shackles farewell shadow limits
Dazzled escapee has copious oxygen
2nd January
Sacrifice won't suffice
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