I stand where silence threatens to consume,
The dark encroaches, hungering for claim,
Yet still I walk, unflinching in the gloom,
Unbent, unbroken, nameless though my name.
Oblivion waits with patient, endless hand,
Its shadows whisper promises of peace,
But I will not bow down to shifting sand,
Nor trade my breath for chains of sweet release.
The void may laugh, the stars may turn to dust,
The years may scatter like a broken flame,
But in my veins endures a stubborn trust,
A will no darkness ever yet could tame.
Though night is vast, and all is swept away,
I scorn the end, and claim my right to stay.
I stood on the isle, winds tearing the veil,
When the Lamb broke seals and Time grew pale—
First came the White, a conqueror proud,
With bow unbent and a crown like cloud.
He rides to conquer, not for peace,
His arrows silent, wars never cease.
A mimic of Christ, but cold in deed,
He plants the lie, he sows the seed.
Then Red did thunder with sword in hand,
To tear all peace from every land.
Blood soaked soil, brother and kin,
He feeds the fire of hate within.
The Black came next with crooked scale,
Measuring grain, but hearts grow frail.
A coin for bread, the poor must choose—
To starve with pride or eat and lose.
And last the Pale, like deathless bone,
Hades followed, cold as stone.
Plague and beast and famine near,
He is the end we always fear.
They ride as judgments, sent from God,
To cleanse the earth with iron rod.
Yet still the Lamb, so meek, so bold—
Holds back the wrath, till all is told.
The sun begins the day,
Providing light to guide my way.
Yet still, I stumble upon
The weight of customs, illusions drawn.
I break each chain, one by one,
Unveiling life self-woven, undone.
Free from the weight of old deceits,
I walk where truth and freedom meet.
Vibrant as the flame within my core,
A light that whispers: “You are more.”
Nature, my guide, in canyon deep,
I breathe in silence, where rivers sweep.
Life flows on, a current bold,
Untamed, unbent, and uncontrolled.
With every step, I rise and see,
The light of Self, wild and free.
No agenda rests, no shelf to fill,
Just life unfolding, as it will.
In lacquered boxes, six feet down,
Rest whispers of the unbought crown -
The paintings left in mental drafts,
The kindness stored away in crafts.
Between the satin folds they place
The morning walks at slower pace,
The letters crumpled, never sent,
The wild dreams left unbent.
A coffee-stained rejection slip,
The novel's pages, torn and ripped,
Three cigarettes crushed in despair
When winter stripped our cupboards bare.
The day we sold mom's silver spoons,
To pay for pills that came too soon,
While mice made nests of unpaid bills
Behind the walls of windowsills.
These fragments sealed in knotted pine:
Dead houseplants, dried in '99,
A pawnshop ticket, never claimed -
Now feed the earth we never tamed.
-
A lantern swings in the Keeper’s hand,
its light a whisper across the land.
Through veils of shadow, time stands still,
a flame persists, unbent in will.
Each word it guards, each breath it takes,
a truth it mends, a dream it wakes.
In the hush of stars, its whispers stream,
guiding the lost through an endless dream.
But Keeper wonders, quiet and shy,
who lights the lantern when flames run dry?
Who tends the soul that forever yearns,
when the winding road twists, bends, and turns?
In twilight, riding the soft winds so slight
Above peaks, about to cradle the stars,
Two avian are flights' whispers of light
Flowing gentle, where the horizon bars
Tracing the lovers; a "V" shape crescent,
Her wingman steadfast, bright and bold his grace,
With feathers aglow, in a hush unbent,
A dance of the heart, in love's warm embrace
Spectating flowers in awe grow below,
Shadows long, they extend to each their wing,
They glide on breezes, where soft rivers flow,
Not fall birds of prey, but the songs of spring
With each graceful turn, they map out the skies,
In harmony's notes, upon sun-lights beams,
A journey unfolds, where their wild hope lies,
Elegant like silk, within looming dreams
In twilight, riding the soft winds so slight
Flowing gentle, where the horizon bars
Trumpets of purity, dressed in all white,
Two swans in flight are the whispers of light
The tongues of men are quick to rise,
With words like arrows loosed at night;
Yet none will pause to scan the skies,
To seek the stars that lend them light.
They weave their judgments, thread by thread,
A tapestry of fleeting thought,
But truths unspoken lie half-dead,
While lies take wings and fly unsought.
How cruel the careless hand can be,
To carve its mark where none can heal;
Each whispered tale, a poisoned sea,
Each glance, a blade that cuts with zeal.
Oh, would they seek the tempered flame,
Where facts stand tall, unbent, refined,
Instead of playing this cruel game
Of shadows cast by shallow minds.
The pain they sow, they may not reap,
But hearts are scarred, and wounds run deep.
Am I light or dispersed star
Scatter or straight to all earthly uneven
Whether the stray comet to unfollow
Chaos or chord to sundry upheavals
Mortal cry pebbles the enshrined path
Luminious moon guide where gleam
Wise that turn to sightless wanderer
Eternal furnace alloy even those flak
Whip of whims encage all beacons
Noble deeds dacay ,utterly numb
Trying our morale in turbulence of time
Comforts or clutter of needs ,indefinite
Men walk towards golden or grey gates
Surrender in mounting rungs and ropes
Dreams shatters like lifeless dunes
Homeless sands beneath benevolent sun
Arrays of aim pierce like pungent arrows
Win or wane for fit to survive in moor world
Featherless souls in sheer free fall;
Can there be ceaseless outbound fountain?
That fearless and frisk in favors
Solo my spirit sway all silos earth bring
Let mind sleeps sight on alpine snow
The genial breeze to free and glow
Altar the heart with care to unrest
Torch of mankind ablaze with brave
Holy human share blessings that unbent
Wish the nourishing rain to furtile and flow
Generous greats render and row.
Breath the brine in waves and wind
Sheer trips that vigil and vile
Brave who conquer and will
Break the wave thousand times.
They wish to steel in steady
They command snake to crawl
Heave the spirit in obscure decend
Pave the gold in gaudy shine.
Hail the ignite that spark unshiver
The grass they seed when arid arise
Kiss the land with motherly lips
Give the smile with benevolent divine.
Gaily sun that welcomes all woe
Raise the flag amid raging foe
Frown death within tyrrant brows
Dare to die in soldiers chime.
The unbent peers let not shiver
Words of viking one victor and valor
Endless voyage to settle ahead
Albatross shore the celestial paradise.
"Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous.
Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed,
for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go."
Joshua 1:9
As falsehood in this world is on the rise,
and even into churches penetrates,
when wolves in sheepskin come in a disguise,
the lying spirit falsehood advocates.
Demonic doctrines find their way,
that promise riches, but from Christ distract,
from focusing on Him they lead astray,
and devastating they leave impact.
The wisdom of this world, alas, implies
that it is good to save our own skin,
but Christians are called to challenge lies,
exposing the wicked deeds of sin.
The others might mock us and disparage,
and threaten us, if we can stand unbent.
The Lord is with us, if we show courage
and to ignore all wrongs do not consent.
8.02.2024
so many smiles have pierced my passions
speared by dazzling white
so much dear flesh resolved to warm me
midst those moonlight nights
for ne’er should once I take for granted
dreams that madness might …
but I have been a scoundrel
and I broke a heart … or two
with aims quite chivalrous and kindly
pride worn on my sleeve
I stumbled through the bracken blindly
bound to hearts I’d thieve
and though I was quite oft’ forsaken
bared to break and grieve
at times I was a scoundrel
and I broke a heart … or two
I’ve never been the kind to tender
pain through keen intent
I’ve made mistakes and poor decisions
left rules broke and bent
but I have loved with gracious purpose
should my soul be spent
tho no doubt as a scoundrel
I did break a heart … or two
this blessing, life, comes sans instructions
we each find our way
while some folks stride unbent and narrow
fools like this one stray
but still we strive to do our very
best with each new day
and change that silly scoundrel
who did break a heart … or two
(for tho we’re far from perfect …
this ol’ world needs scoundrels, too).
Copyright © Gregory Richard Barden, January 9, 2024
POTD 23rd Nov 2023
THE WISH
As the softer rose shades of twilight fades
With a heartfelt gravity, darkness descends
Oblivious to the North winds stinging bite
‘Neath this star-speckled sky, his devotion extends
to that quintessential ‘Component of Time’ that stills
surrendering to the moment, most mortals miss
In this mystical flash of sweet dispose
His ardent wish for her ~ An ‘Immortal Rose’
His Mother ~ so graciously accepting her thorns
Qualms have not stolen her persona, its joy
Unbent by toil, a conqueror of storms
A courageous heroine in the eyes of her boy
Why can’t love embodied in rose petals last?
In solemn simplicity, a child’s query gets passed
Swathe in crystalline warmth from a galaxy far
Gifted Immortality is borne ~ on wings of a star
Were I to stretch my feet on floor,
The walls would lead me to the door.
If I walk tall, a bit unbent,
If not the roof my head would dent.
If only should I sleep all crawled—
As per the training I had ere
In my mother’s womb when I dwelled,
That training all the fruits now bear.
Yet, grieve not O my burial ground,
All crawled I’ll lie in a small grave,
Precious space of graveyard to save,
Descends when that death-seeking hound.
If need be, at the time when dead,
I can sleep yogi-like seated.
__________________________________
Sonnet |03.10.2023| grave, house
In Autumn's grasp, I find my soul's lament,
Where leaves, like tears, in golden hues descend,
Brave muse, traverse this wonderous land, unbent,
Where melancholy whispers through each bend.
The stardust dawn, a promise yet untold,
A fleeting kiss of warmth in the chill air,
But as the day unfolds, the truth unfolds,
The fading light, a burden hard to bear.
The leaves, they laugh, in brittle, fragile glee,
Their joy, a mask for what they soon must face,
In tender winds, they dance so wild and free,
Yet underneath, a sorrow they embrace.
This season's beauty hides a bitter truth,
A love that's lost in fading shades of youth,
As autumn's tears fall softly to the ground,
My heart, in silence, weeps without a sound.
In living's realm, it's Christ I find,
In His embrace, my soul aligned.
To die, the gain, a higher plane,
Beyond the mortal, I'll attain.
Transcendent journey, soul's ascent,
Through life and death, my faith unbent.
In Christ's embrace, I find my breath,
In heavenly realms, I'll conquer death.
In every moment, Christ I see,
His love and grace, my sanctuary.
Through life's embrace, my purpose clear,
In death's release, no trace of fear.
For to me, to live as Christ's part,
His guiding light within my heart.
To die, a gain, I shall proclaim,
In Christ's embrace, forever claim.
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