Tortuous Poems | Examples

The Wonder of Creation

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?

Point Of No Return

Across the wandering life’s changing dynamic landscape,
I traversed following the footprints of destiny
the tortuous pathway in the undulating topography,
that winded for me, tracking the trail of racing time 
to the amorphous future, taking the ordained shape,

Many streams in spate I had swam with passion 
across the waves of somber squall.
With the buds of nascent hope clutched close to heart.
I chased butterflies in the blooming valley of flowers,
with dreams flying through the rainbow archway.

Drifting with the whistling wind in the forest,
the radiant rays from the sunburst sky 
seeped in to enwrap me with ecstasy.    
Navigating the wasteland at night I found your arms,
I saw love glow on dew in my meadow at dawn.

The spent sun sinks at the edge of the twilight zone,
across the disappearing trail of the time past,
marked by the fading footprints of fulfillment.
Walking the last mile, I’ve reached the point of no return,
the weary footsteps can’t take me back.

Russia our ally

From Russia with love

Russia is a strange and great country, not quite in Europe
and not quite Eastern, they react to mayhem but seldom
intimate it; for those who are history less they won
The brutal war of 1940 and 1945 by breaking the back
of the German army and making it possible by Britain
and the USA to take the credit.
Norway has up to know had a warm relationship with
this giant, in the form of a barter system, we gave them
fish and they sent us cars for everyman.
It was not the USA that made car ownership possible, but
Russia flooding the market with cheap cars as foreign
cars were hard to come by.
The cars where called Moscowitch and were fundamental
no heating system and a tortuous suspension, but
for the first time, every man could be
a proud car owner.
For those who remember, it was a dreadful car but
nevertheless, a car.
Lately, to our regret the relationship has suffered, this
Is mainly by American political pressure, and partly
by the Norwegian oil industry that has made her
a wealthy country.
This newfound arrogance is miss-placed and silly
we must treat Russia as the friend she is and not
forget we own her a depth of gratitude.

Labyrinth of Your Soul

Why You Should Choose Love When All You Want To Do Is Run. -- Kelsey L.O.

I plunge into the labyrinth of your soul,
          dim-lit corridors,
                        looping, convoluted and tortuous.

I search fervently for your endearing love.
      glimpse dim lights that glow like flashes,
           waves of a calm mountain spring,
at times trickling and sluggish
        often overflowing and surging,
occasionally meandering and gushing.

At your volition 
     I feel your cataclysmic affection:

In my confusion I know not what I feel:
    a relish of pleasure experienced?
        or a neurotic obsession of losing you?

Placed 1

Serpentine Narcissus

My mind hibernates in the void of cavernous complexity,
wakes up in the sensual seasons of mystique living.
The wild psyche forms a sleek and sly unique entity,
as with whisper of intent hiss, dances the reptilian feeling. 

Within the deep cold layers many ancient secrets hide,
the sinuous slither of the silent senses can’t find.
Coiled in still shadows of the verdant world outside,
the echo of hostile footsteps is left to fade behind.       

   A prisoner under the disposable skin of own pedigree,               
with an animated grace of fear in introvert isolation,
I see all the frightened faces flee from me,
as I trace my tortuous path in the web of ardent adulation. 

In self-adoration, as a symbol of style steeped in serenity, 
I see in me a serpentine Narcissus lonely lurk.
Metamorphosed stealthily from an obsessive entity,
it holds the threads of life, waits insulated in the dark.

A Tipping Balance

Listless life entangled in the cobweb of frustration
looks for the escaping pathway of dissociation.
Time for me to listen to the earnest call from within,
the enticing echo of music from the soul’s concert.

I reform the constitution of the mangled mind,
let the strained strings of sensual duress unwind,
discover the covert cavern someone makes for me
within the abode of hope, so long out of sight.

When I’m lost in the tortuous labyrinth of living, 
search the senile senses for the escape route, 
but find the exit door closed, letting me perceive
the released hidden power, tipping the balance.    

I follow the invisible trail of unswerving faith,
feel the fostering resurgence of reassuring fortitude,
for at the end of the tormenting tunnel 
I see the light of self-determination finally appear. 

I’m suffused with the heavenly hues of godly grace 
that inspires the Phoenix concealed within me
to rise from the destressing dust of self-defeat
at the divine dawn of reflective renascence.

Crossing Paths Coalesce

wandering in wasteland 
of denuded life 
                desolate
sinuous track 
takes me 
to the terrain 
of nowhere
                nebulous
I’m entangled 
in enmeshing web 
       of 
enigmatic conundrum 
shall I escape 
from decay delirium
       or not
I can’t decide 

ingrained imprint 
                indelible 
      of 
wheel of time
                turning
in destiny domain
twisted out
of tormenting tangle 
of tortuous trail 
of passive past 
       steers 
with promise 
of pride 
my fraught mind 
out of maze
shows me 
the pledged pathway
to fervent fountain 
of misty meadow
                protected

I break open 
               there
invisible barrier 
you’ve built 
of seclusion
around your garden
                 secret 
       blooming 
furtive flowers 
                hidden 
from me
       but
I’ll saunter 
                there 
suffused with 
seraphic shine
                sanguine 
of sunburst dawn
       new
I wish 
before I walk 
the last mile 
our paths 
will cross 
                entranced
      coalesce
into oneness
                someday

Story Time

The tortuous and hare timeless story 
a vain hare assumed his automatic glory.
He made the mistake of assuming time a friend,
while the slow but ever moving tortuous 
made his way to the race end!

CLERIHEW CAPERS

a short comical
    nonsensical verse
rhyming couplets
  of unequal length
a notable person
  in view
A bio
  on which to chew
in an absurd light
perhaps
  with a tortuous bite

The Subject is Your Mind While Sleeping

A sullen
sickness
befallen me
from whence
a darkening
ventured
nigh
and stolen
the sparkling
embodiment
features of
stars
in the
gloaming
of the mundane
hovering misery
of shooting
dead stars
aloft my
head
aches now
fevers the whole
of me afire unceasing
as it spreads and
grasp my soul 
this simple
cover
to shield
the chill that
stills my blood 
like frost to ice and
flits burning back
to hell's hold
temporal
twas
until the
perspectives
exchanged one
to the other who
now lays its claim
and tortuous
name being
Dante
I wrapped
myself and
snuggling in
hopes to shrug
off this biting cold
that locks its icy grip
on my body and soul
if not for the beating
of my heart that it
reassures me 
that soon it
will pass
and end
malady
pursual of
my deepening
doctorless gloom
that will drift a parting
long-awaited since at first
my eyes had closed and will
soon be opening to the
welcoming vision of
her striking ascent
prepare myself
for that cure
is here ...
Aurora.

Seijaku

The distant mountains gleam and glitter
As the sun rises in all his glory 
A brilliant glow illumines the earth
And the spell of darkness - comes to cease.
Casting the cover of the snowy mantle,
The morn has emerged in serene peace.

The greenwood echoes the song of birds,
Poured in strains of sweet melody.
The silvery rills that run through dales,
Sizzle and simmer in neat prosody.
Birds that leave their nocturnal haunts,
Dart to heaven’s measureless bounds.

Lovely groves and gorgeous gardens,
Buzz with the hum of Bumble bees.
From the boughs of arching trees,
Hang the blooms of colorful hue.
Wow! They look so exotic to view
Bright with the touch of morning dew.

The waking world now warms my spirit.
Love fills my heart and joy spills out in jets.
In this tranquil scene, as nature parades her beauty,
I stand dazed and sup it to my heart’s content,
Filling my mind with fuel enough,
To run my day through the tortuous tracks of life!

Contemplating a Slug

     Stopping to contemplate a slug
       I marveled at this taciturn bug

     Designed to live underground
       occasionally it is found 

     making its way ‘long a crosswalk
       using up half a day’s clock

     on its tortuous path homeward bound
       ~ never making one single sound

There are no Tomorrows

A simple musing about a broken heart


There are no tomorrows when the day is long
and filled with sadness
there is only the slow counting of tears that fall never ending
onto the wet palms of lamination
where the weeping heart yearns for yesterday
that was lost to the empty heart of today
and causes time to be an unbearable purgatory
of tortuous emotions
that washed away the beauty
that once filled the eyes the heart the soul
this trinity lies in a state of mortification
and discontent
wanting to be buried in a ground of hopelessness
that comes with a broken heart

Recital

Recital / free verse / Pride

Expectation rushes in
As her silent walk begins
All eyes staring
Watching for a hint of emotion
But none revealed
As she takes her place among the muses

No one breathes as her studious eyes
Examine the two-dimensional codes
Then silence breaks
As both hands spring into fantastical dance
On an ever changing ivory and ebony stage

Mellifluous tones, conspicuously full and rich,
Transport all on an uplifting emotional journey
Ears, minds, hearts and lungs
Feasting on delicious pabulum of spirit

Soon tortuous movements diminish
The fantastical dance declines
With final notes
Striking harmonious chords
Deep into our psyche
Our ethereal journey ends
And we gently land where we began

She pauses, then rises
To a cacophony of applause
All eyes staring
Watching for a hint of emotion as she exits
But none revealed
Save a quick glance & brief smile
Acknowledging her proud parent's pounding hearts
Misting eyes and beaming faces


Recital / tanka / Pride

smooth operator
flawless rhapsody in blue
climax conclusion
cacophony of applause
with proud parents’ pounding hearts

Ripples of Rhapsody

The desolate wasteland 
of destitute deprivation,  
traversed in tortuous trail 
by my jagged life, 
trying relentless 
so long, 
so very hard,  
to flatten out
anguished angularities
of serrated mangled mind, 
swirling scrunched
in the egregious 
whirlpool of indignation. 

Sucked into sordid abyss 
of despondent delirium,
I searched out sedated
for indifferent me
the possessed passion path, 
leading besotted through 
the pulse of collapsed portal 
to my hollow heart, 
not yet filled with 
the arctic mist 
in prolonged dreary winter 
of despondency. 

The spring of yearning 
came on the sly
with fervor fragrance, 
drifting in furtive flutter
on the delusive wings 
of transient moments,
flowing out
of the fervent flowers 
of my blooming garden, 
where you had flown 
like a beguiled butterfly, 
created the cadence 
of surreal symphony,
suffusing me. 

The tune harmonized 
with the mesmeric music 
of my longing, 
enthralled emotions 
danced entranced
on the ripples of rhapsody 
that rolled resplendent
between you and me, 
to entwine us evermore, 
consecrating the cryptic concept 
of metamorphic magnetism, 
called love…

• Short Tortuous Poems
• Famous Tortuous Poems
• Best Tortuous Poems
• Read Tortuous Poems
• Long Tortuous Poems
• Tortuous Quotes