Written: August 07, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Mark Toney
***********
Corset of steel tightens—ratified pain,
Vestigial breath trapped in ischemia thrall.
The ductile hope failed to placate
This Pyrrhic ache, this woebegone gall.
A sojourn in the squalor of soul,
Where sylphlike dreams maunder, downcast.
Ogle the embers of the miraculous nexus—
A seraphic visage lost, quickly.
Vivacious once, now virile with woe,
Panacea tastes of pabulum, slipshod, and cold.
Tinkling memories coruscate as zeugma—
Bright, yet untoward, they never hold.
Quixotic penchant for connection,
Grasping too late the nebula beneath.
What puissance is this—this throe, this tumult—
When tulle-wrapped love meets a gyre of grief?
Ululation beneath pavonine skies,
Adumbrate every glance, every sigh.
Crimson weave keeps a skirt in place,
Valuable, stained, adorned, and slain.
Categories:
sylphlike, analogy, character,
Form: Free verse
He appeared gently from the shadow,
hovered for a moment;
then slowly slid his willowy fingers
across hers;
beyond her palm,
damp with perspiration,
to rest on her sylphlike wrist;
where he measured her pulse.
It had risen,
slightly,
but not yet enough;
it would,
when she opened her eyes.
He waited patiently
he had all the time in the world,
she did not.
Categories:
sylphlike, dark, death,
Form: Free verse
her ethereal gaze tucked me into nirvanic waves
tore me asunder amid quixotic abyss and seraphic throe
I harvest pearls from mollusks in swimming oysters
strip it in kaleidoscopic iris fiercely fleeced mote sand
pearls evolved into a sumptuous elixir necklace
a seashell conceals a jewel-like hair as dark as obsidian
pristine girl with a pearl necklet and mellifluous voice
with her smile flings delicate pearls
her eyebrows cling to me beckoning me near
abrim with tears cleansed her azure iris
I tidied her sylphlike trail some sobs stuffed a cup
It soaked roses threw daffodil pearls bit jujubes with hail
hence my previously sealed heart thawed
a phoenix in its zenith sweeps me to skies
In a cosmic splay studded with stars I dwell
her wispy eyelashes distract me from her gaze
she eviscerates dumbfounds me with dark detritus
may my love ram-raid and induce her to ponder again
Categories:
sylphlike, appreciation,
Form: Free verse
Written: March 09, 2024 For Charlotte Puddifoot Contest
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with serendipitous moans—ocean lulls
It's russet embers
ignite her soul's quilled longings
she flies to bloomy sky-scape
last sigh of waning twilight
chirpy mirth—katydid sounds
waves of
soft silk canzone
to whispering crimson
of ephemeral serenade
waves of arid shadows— ebb in
blurring haze of lingering longing
besotted in spumy scatters sighing
In epicede of hushed Elysian quiddity
quixotic susurrus—shorebirds' sapidity
horizon in cinereous ululation of Peacocks
rainbows and sylphlike threnody
my heart too, mirths... waiting
for you to return to me—in spring
renascent wings wings of crimson
gold and plums of purples!
Categories:
sylphlike, longing, spring,
Form: Free verse
Wrapped around the sylphlike waist
the sumptuous silk chiffon sari
is hand-gathered into even pleats,
likened to the petals of a flower,
and is tucked bewitchingly below the navel
baring the midriff alluringly.
The loose-end Pallu, crosses over
a sleeveless bosom-hugging choli
and is draped caressingly over the shoulder.
As she bends over to fix the hem of her sari
one gets to sneak a peek at her cleavage
before she clutches the gliding Pallu.
Ha, the vision of the divine!
like catching a glimpse of heaven
before the Pearly Gates slam in your face.
A symbol of fragility and femininity,
Sari is the embodiment of elegance and grace
An outfit for the Apsara—
At once demure and saucy!
(Pallu: loose end of a sari; Choli: a blouse; Apsara: A celestial Nymph)
~Contest: Imagism Poetry contest
~Sponsor: Emile Pinet.
Categories:
sylphlike, sensual,
Form: Imagism
THE SECRET WITHIN
Eyes
- dark, seductive
Glancing at each face
with the hint of a smile
Body
- sylphlike splendor
Floating like an ocean liner
on calm seas at twilight
She is the center of attention
gliding effortlessly
across the room.
Men drawn in by those hypnotic eyes.
What secret do they hold?
Beneath that lush exterior
is a drag queen I am told.
Marion Sheridan
Categories:
sylphlike, gender, imagination,
Form: Blank verse
The wind is a Giant.
He chases clouds, sends them
scudding across the sky,
seduces trees to sway
sylphlike as a ballet.
Flags become flapping,
snapping whips in his grasp.
The wind is a Devil.
He uproots trees, bends
and twists them into pretzels,
crushes dreams, flattens homes
into piles of kindling
and slings raindrop bullets
against windowpanes.
The wind is a Kitten.
He lifts kites high then sends
them dipping and diving,
scatters dandelion fluff
to seed far and wide,
wails and moans as a banshee
and rattles bare limbs like dry bones.
The wind is a Lover.
He caresses the back of my neck,
whispers secrets in my ear,
massages my scalp
as he ruffles my hair
and kisses my cheek on his way
to everywhere.
Categories:
sylphlike, wind,
Form: Free verse
IS HE ME?
Today, whichever man is now with you
Whoever is doing that which we used to do
Whoever gets to feel what I once felt
I hope he appreciates the sexy, sylphlike and svelte
To whomever your heart has now been led
Whatever man now shares your bed
I’d give him the following information
You get my unrivaled recommendation
Does he worship you as a goddess at once born,
and treat you just like an angel foresworn?
Does he now know what I knew at one time,
and does he realize he sleeps aside the sublime?
Is every day an adventure like the ones we once shared,
back when I still mattered and when you still cared?
Do you play in the surf like we did in bare feet,
and as I did does he bless the day you both came to meet?
Are you as comfortable with him as you were with me?
Or will you burn him like you burnt me in effigy?
Did you swear your lasting allegiance with a sip of sacramental wine?
Or will you implode his world the way you exploded mine?
© 2012…copyright PHREEPOETREE ..~free cee!~
Categories:
sylphlike, angst, day,
Form: Quatrain