I passed it almost every day
standing tall at the end of the street -
its massive trunk was like a stone pillar
holding up the sky with a hundred years
of history sheltered under
its vast reach. There was never
a thought it could fall.
Deep underground, a leaking sewer
had slowly slurried the earth around its roots
and loosened its grip …it let go
in last night's savage wind
and toppled over. It lay across the road
monumental in its mass.
The canopy was now ground height.
The secrets it had hidden
in the high branches were revealed -
touchable, without mystery -
tattered and insect eaten leaves,
strands of lichen matted like unwashed,
uncombed hair and branches
riddled with rot.
In its place now is empty space,
something hollowed out that before
connected the earth to sky
and gave a solid perspective
to the make and manner of things.
In such desolate spaces,
form is seeded.
Tonight, her footsteps crack and moan —
She's useless when her tears frost over,
The gutter running without her, alone
There's another ghost inside porchlight silver,
A foot melting on the banister —
She's dark as the wind that picks her up,
This twisting whirl of white clumps
Against wind now seeming touchable —
Outside, the snow jumps
With the draft...and then the window's wail,
Being broken apart like snowflakes assails,
She touches the real parts in foggy glass —
The cold that blasts through a girl's face,
Years after, the woman outside this table —
So the terrace is her cup, white laughter, dark tastes.
Intentionally hunt for fire's content
Out of deliberate brain's obscurity
The mind to rely cannot find portent
All is ghostly absent of purity
Appearance left blank, thoughts untraceable
They are words that do not exist at all
Yet passions though, are not erasable
Ordering thinking to answer its own call
Empty visible crafts, untouchable
Thinking you are doing the right thinking
Should we say words are duly touchable
Creating brave meaning and order linking
Mind and man in their own clueless substance
How hope and dream cling to varying essence!
A lifetime passes
but she lives on, touchable now
only with mind-beams.
Walking through a cornfield together
seems like Elysium.
Imagination fills in the blanks,
her hand in mine
leads to a future memory.
That cornfield, that soft sunlight
it's all smolder and smoke now,
but she is invulnerable.
She has moved to a place
just ahead of my eyes.
I see her in new yellow robes
the dazzle of her,
waving
between the suns fading rays.
Deep strike..New missiles, are coming on stream.' Russia is getting serious.?
So it seems.' Deep state denizens
No bunker is now too deep, no food truly
Un-touchable..Watch what you eat.'
The co-ordinates are astounding..I don't
Think Putin ever sleeps.' Also on the
Other hand.? You have enemies inside.'
In truth my info is, you can't succsessfully
Hide.)
(“Anagogical Moments Merit Badge”, 2011, original oil)
Godlife
God and Life are one and the same
Synonyms you could say
But with differences.
God is the intangible,
Life the visible and touchable.
No matter how much we try, God
Remains just out of reach
But Life is what we know without a doubt.
Yet even within the tangible and sensory
There is the intangible always present.
If you doubt this, find a person who is dying
And see how different they look
After they have gone.
(9/5/25)
OPEN FORM VERSE
a poem
is
touchable
&mute
silent
as a stone
where moss grows
beautiful
as birds at dawn
singing &chirping
motionless
as the moon above
dangling in time
speaking of
tangled forests
&autumn leaves in red
&yellow drifting
a poem
is an open doorway
to step through
have a heartbeat
&soul
a poem
should just be
He took her there most days
They rowed out to his small yacht
They sat and drank take away lattes
She just cried a lot….
She was so full of sadness
Tormented by relentless fear
So very troubled
Her mind clouded and unclear
She liked it on the river
It gave momentary relief
Life seemed a little clearer
Though be it only brief
She saw them in the distance
Hoped they would come her way
Unbelievably without deviation
They were there without delay
Swimming underneath the small yacht
In water so clear and blue
So close they were touchable
He cuddled her and said,
“This is just for you”
The dolphins swam away….again without deviation
A direct path into the open water
She knew in her heart those majestic creatures
Had sought her…
The emotions they evoked in her
Mere words cannot describe
With heart and mind now smiling
She sipped her latte
And just cried….
Only snows up there
in the mountains, distantly
horizon's mirage
Hypothetically
we could drive all the way there
but gas costs too much
So they just sit there
like un-touchable artwork
beyond the cities
I've gone there before
trips in California snow
a long time ago
VIDEO: The Old Friends Do by ABBA (LYRICS) YouTube
AUDIO: Listening Version
What Makes Friendship
What makes distance so touchable,
What makes arm wrestling physical,
What makes fun a thing for two,
What makes tears of missing you,
What makes secrets last, insiders,
What makes smiles, to be tear-wipers,
What makes fighting, ugh, forgivable,
What makes forgiving unbearable,
What makes oops somewhat culpable,
What makes cleanup punishable,
What makes laughs, the one-legged wins,
What makes others say, "Not twins?",
What makes saying goodbye really hard,
What makes memories my field of regard.
2022 August 05
*1st Place*
FRIENDSHIP
~~Beata Agustin: Judged 2022 August 08
As the sunbeams come through the pines
Their illumination
Reaches aging eyes with their beauty
And amazing refraction
It seems they are touchable lights
More revealing, more might
Than any lightbulb in the dark
Shining out in all's sight
It becomes clearer with each second
More revealing of life
The clouds become whiter, the sky
Paler as with life's strife
As life becomes more revealing,
Open my eyes wider
To human needs and ways, so I
Can from the heart cipher
Helpful words to this open page
Untangle for reader.
As the old sage that sits, listens,
Listen to and be a seeker
John 4:10, Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
A lifetime passes
but she lives on, touchable now
only with mind-beams.
Walking through a cornfield together
seems like Elysium.
Imagination fills in the blanks,
her hand in mine
leads to a future memory.
That cornfield, that soft sunlight
its all smolder and smoke now,
but she is invulnerable.
She has moved to a place
just ahead of my eyes.
I see her in new yellow robes;
the dazzle of her,
waving
between the suns fading rays.
Eagle-Rare is The Union,
All her members’ arms pinion,
Not with a from-behind arm twist
But thrills that can dare a long list …
You join her you pray to not leave,
You indiscreetly go ahead to leave,
You never cease to piteously grieve
Or emotive sighs endlessly heave.
But please, in the open say it not:
Still on her white sheet parades a blot
And lives with a touchable problem
Singularly bought her by her cultist emblem:
A pair of squinted eyes,
Whose owners’ broad smiles are lies;
And teeth that can one stagger
Farther than an Arab’s Dagger …
And Alakara isn’t bothered about it,
Wherefore many think it is her dug pit!
Desired in the courtyard
And required in the graveyard,
Planted with a shovel
And transplanted with a trowel;
Enriching the glamour of lawns
And concealing a grave that yawns;
A frightening coffin making touchable
And unacceptable dead women lovable…
A noticeable presence in vaults,
Still to be fingered, it’s faults.
The proof of a lover’s affection
And clue to a suitor’s intention,
A boost to the Bride’s courage;
The very one she needs during marriage;
Truly a woman makes what she is
And a man yearn to kiss.
Now, frequently enclosed in a letter:
An understanding of how this is better;
The pleasant heartbeat it drums in the receiver,
How it makes the sender, no Deceiver.
Flower parades a stubborn variety
Worth everybody’s time and sincerity;
Often treasured in every color
The reason for their unending honor;
To burn any flower is cruel,
To bring close to it, fuel;
Its leaf one could place in a locket,
Rose’s I’d stick in my pocket
I didn’t see a flower last week and took ill
If I don’t this week, Hospital bill!
As I breathe I contemplate
The word and its pervading Ethos
Penetration has been subtle
Steeping my awareness;
My Soul and my reasoning
To the point
I hesitate to revisit the
Chapters of Gods instruction
For there I found elucidation
That increases immeasurably
To the point of
Overwhelming my acumen
Giving ever more details to
A mind reeling with
Revelations tumbling and
Stretching my understanding.
Challenging a reality
I knew for so long!
Now my reality is Eternity.
That is almost touchable to me
I must revisit the Scriptures
But not today not in depth’
I am getting lines of enquiry
Hints that nudge my mind
Enough for now
It is good to check against the Scripture
More is for the time I must
Immerse myself fully
A Naked soul in the gaze of his Divinity
To be diligent in
Studying ready for the riches
Of eternal reason
My brothers have penned in
Obedience and humility.
©Joe Maverick 21-12-2020
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