Contest: All that glass
Sponsor: Nette Onclaud
Date: 10.06.2026
Casting dappled coloured shadows
on darkened streets at night
The chapel's stained glass window glows
like a hued beacon bright
Giving out the message of hope
on a moonless night black
Watching its glints, one can then cope
with life's any attack
Shades of maroon bleed on the street
with golden yellow tints
Tinges of soft blue and green meet
to highlight subtle hints
The chapel's open at all times
Even at twelve midnight
The stained window reflects and chimes
that Jesus is The Light.
The dulcet night veneers my heart’s horizon with sparkles,
spreads the starlit tinges of my timeless yearning,
paints a golden garden blooming with the luster of my love,
unfurls the facsimile of your astral floral face, I adore.
The patina of radiant rose flushes your cherubic cheeks,
glitters with the grandeur of resplendent diamonds of dew,
rhapsody ripples in the mesmeric meadow of my mind,
my heart feels your allure, in the ether of euphoria I float.
In the vivacious vale of mind contoured by your charm,
as I carve an ardent conduit of longing to reach you,
the fervent stardust of my craving surges in a torrent,
makes my love for you a cascading stellar stream, I swim.
Pulled by the current of your charismatic magnetism,
my possessed passion sails to the moonlit bay of bliss,
where your love weaves the constellation lattice in my sky,
with its sequins I compose a lyric for you, written in the stars.
…
In idle, I am prone to the unintentional siren
yet with obligation, I can pretentiously delude
concealing the apprehension... and the desire
Remarkably discernible from a mere moment glimpse
in her ivory mask with tinges of light rose
looming unmistakably regardless how afar
Yet, I keep my distance; becoming too nervous
propinquity may induce "Untamed Attraction"
in defiance of the restraint that I impose
Amongst the mundane, I unwillingly exclude
in fear of displacing the facade over this ruse
all to hide my veracity from ridicule
Is it in timidity that I indulge this notion?
Incapable to go beyond being elusively platonic;
in favor to the ethics upon which I've stood upon?
...
Alas, I bury any sentiment as a mere fantasy
to haunt me within my dreams; as I lay vulnerable.
In favor to the ethics upon which I've stood upon.
Written on 02/26/2017
The dulcet dawn veneers my heart’s horizon with hues,
spreads the sunburst tinges of my timeless yearning,
paints a golden garden blooming with luster of my love,
unfurls the facsimile of your astral floral face, I adore.
The patina of radiant rose flushes your cherubic cheeks,
glitters with the grandeur of resplendent diamonds of dew,
rhapsody ripples in the mesmeric meadow of my mind,
my heart feels your allure, in the ether of euphoria I float.
In the vivacious vale of mind contoured by your charm,
as I carve an ardent conduit of longing to reach you,
the fervent cloud of my craving melts in a torrent,
makes my love for you a cascading stream, I swim.
Pulled by the current of your charismatic magnetism,
my possessed passion sails to the moonlit bay of bliss,
where your love weaves the lattice of stars in my sky,
with their sequins you beautify my life to complete me.
The sparkling dawn veneers my heart’s horizon with hues,
spreads the sunburst tinges of my timeless yearning,
paints a golden garden blooming with luster of my love,
unfurls the facsimile of your astral floral face, I adore.
The patina of radiant rose flushes your cherubic cheeks,
glitters with the grandeur of resplendent pearls of dew,
rhapsody ripples in the mesmeric meadow of my mind,
my heart feels your allure, in the ether of euphoria I float.
In vivacious vale of mind contoured by your charm,
as I carve an ardent conduit of longing to reach you,
the fervent cloud of my craving melts in a torrent,
makes my love for you a cascading stream, I swim.
Pulled by the current of your charismatic magnetism,
my possessed passion sails to the moonlit bay of bliss,
where your love weaves the lattice of stars in my sky,
with their sequins you embellish my life to complete me.
Coveted entrance opens again for the sunrays
Whisper with the tinges of clouds succeeds
Coats of fog and moats of hesitation dropped
Sunbeams set to get into the tidal summit
____________________________
7 September 2025
A lanterne is a five line quintain verse shaped like a Japanese lantern with a syllabic pattern of one, two, three, four, one.Each line able to stand on its own, and the poem may or may not have a title which sometimes forms an integral part as a 6th line
#1
Black,
yellow,
brown, or white--
partitions skin
deep.
#2 WATER MEADOWS
rush
and sedge
hide shady
ponds--teeming
with
life
#3
by
the stream
so shallow,
weeps a willow
tree.
#4 DAYSTAR
dawn
tinges
the bleak sky--
hope enlightens
all
#5
a
sea mist
rolls inshore---
daydreams deluge
me
#6 BIRDSONG
lost
in the
soft mist of
a September
dawn
#7 EQUINOX
Rain
droped leaves,
spotted gold--
scatter in the
wind
#8 MONA LISA
Her
gaze and
smile followed
his every
step
#9
bells
tolling
on the wind--
old memories
die
#10
a
dry rock--
out of the
white water of
life
#11 HIGH RISE
Thin
spires
in the breeze---
tasselled teasels
touch
Lanterne #12
Faint
May breeze----
in the trees
ripples shaded
green
Life’s mélange of motifs fades
as time’s wheel turns on the last lap.
Tangled hues of memory spectrum converge
while the spider crawls on the senile face.
I haven’t closed my eyes on the magic mirror.
Kaleidoscopic snapshots.
Show of polychromatic pictures;
entranced reflection flickers in the glint of eyes.
As cobweb contours the sanguine face
corridors to the past converge in nothingness.
Yonder haze shrouds the last mile trail;
twilight tinges life’s frail lattice.
i ride the waves of translucent hues
in shades of blues playfully reflecting the sun
i exude tones of capricious seagreen and
while scattering flecks of iridescence
shift in tinges uniquely unpredictable
to the core ~ i am aquamarine
AP: Honorable Mntion 2025
Submitted on August 14, 2025 for contest IMAGINE YOURSELF AS A COLOR sponsored by ANDREA DIETRICH - RANKED 1ST
I climb high up the tortuous path
Of a ragged hillock and
In pensive solitude I look around
Upon the universe that surround me.
There from on high
I spy so many mysterious wonders
That God endowed this worthy earth,
And blessed all His creations
With wealth, momentous and great.
The waning sun creeps down over the horizon
To gain its well-earned rest.
A reddish dusk tinges the hilltops
As swallows glide serenely below the ridge
In search of a homely sanctuary
To dream the dark night away.
The multicoloured flowers in the valley
That swing in nightly breezes,
And feed the insects bright;
The trees that grow so mighty
Whilst bushes provide haven to so many
Graceful creatures of the wild.
The glorious stars that light the dark
The dazzling sun that ripens crops,
The lakes and seas that ripple
And reflect the mountains high:
Is it not easy to understand
How blessed we all are?
Yet do we ever stop
To thank our dear Lord
And ponder on these gracious gifts?
Summer is over; kids are back at school;
Everyone is thankful for the cool nights.
People are beginning to drain their pool,
Thankful, there are no more mosquito bites.
Each day is shorter than the day before,
Moving closer to Autumn's color change.
But the forest is still green at its core;
Even though the lack of songbirds seems strange.
Red tinges are spreading amongst the leaves;
Fall is now entering its start-up stage.
And people are unrolling their shirtsleeves,
Like they're getting ready to flip the page.
Little things keep September in my heart;
Such as the fact, Fall is about to start.
The titular touch of day and night
builds the bud layer by layer,
the blossomed design of destined time
opens the petals,
the floral essence of existence
gradually unfurls
the transient beauty of life,
until the flower withers.
The wilting flower doesn’t even know
when it’s time for the call to come
in the cold night’s slashing silence
from the abyss of the gloomy ground
where it will fall
to disappear drifting
to obscurity in the tempest of time.
On life’s rough garden path
I walk the trudging moments,
steps tracing the last mile meandering
to disappear at the vanishing point.
The spectrum of the setting sun
tinges the fading fringe of time,
turning into specks of eternity,
sinking within the sated soul.
I float in the ethereal waves
in the bay of infinite bliss,
drifting to the yonder shore,
configured in the cauldron
of timeless emptiness.
ill never get used to
the numbness that tinges away at everything
every movement
a rusted nusiance
as if the words that make up my reality are too much to bear
there are no creaks
or technical things to tweak
because i am still
unfortunately, a biomechanical thing
instead there are aches
pains
issues that, like the rain
always streaming down my face
struggles to catch the hint and go away
despite my attempted ignorance though
do you think my erosion shows?
"Seize the day, then let it go" - Marty Rubin.
I capture the first chirp of the bird in admiration.
My heart merges with it. My hands fold in adoration.
The color-changing beams of the morning sun, like prisms, spread
Varnished Verses from my heart, like waterfalls, flow ahead.
The mist dip mesmerizes. The clement breeze caresses.
The untimely rain cools. Thunder, as though throat-blocked, hisses.
Amidst decomposing mango-neem-jack leaves, banyans sprout.
Amidst the sun’s hide-and-seek, shades shred their tinges throughout.
Each bloom tells me tales. Each bee and fly mimes a moral.
Thoughts, words, and deeds, like meadows, seem flowerily aural.
I see soul in each grain. Each drop of water brims with life.
Doesn't here, between good and evil, creep a constant strife?
Like lilies of the field and birds of the air, I feel free.
Why, about an imaginary act, should I worry?
Each split second of an hour has a universe within.
I know that failing to feel this fact within is a sin.
"I carry your heart with me (I carry it in my heart)
I am never without it..." E.E. Cummings
The sparkling dawn veneers my heart’s horizon with color,
spreads the sunburst tinges of my timeless yearning,
paints a golden garden blooming with luster of my love,
unfurls the facsimile of your astral floral face I adore.
The patina of radiant rose flushes your cherubic cheeks,
glitters with the grandeur of resplendent pearls of dew,
rhapsody ripples in the mesmeric meadow of my mind,
your heart becomes mine, in the ether of euphoria I float.
In vivacious vale of mind contoured by your charisma,
as I carve an ardent conduit of longing to reach you,
the fervent cloud of my craving melts in a torrent,
makes my love for you a cascading stream I swim.
Flowing with the current of your charismatic allure,
my possessed passion sails to the moonlit bay of bliss,
where your love weaves the lattice of stars in my sky,
in my heart the shine of enchanting sequins I preserve.
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