POTD : 12.2.26
First Placing: Standard Contest
Sponsor : JCB Brul
Daisies could not bloom bound by debt of Time
we tried to unknot ropes tied across dimes
by deeds proceeding of their own accord
songs not written by either of us unfree
as white petals fell dropping one by one
Hours of tasting, smelling, touching lost
on battlefields, in barracks when away
you had to haste with epaulettes torn
I rooted a chasing escape, sweat dripping
tied to wheat fields watching babes chaste
Bald eagles soared above winelands stolen
gulls and albatross escorted galleon laden with longing ~ South to North, winds gushing
your wishes driven by wrenching penalties
seals then oceans carried lips and knees
Your breastbone turned from an unborn world
too pregnant in fluid womb of clocks chiming
fled you from aching loss of Love’s caged raging
stoic in withholding fist of sacrifice, away you got
drowning throbbing Heart in my own bleeding
_________________________________
Need there’s to smile nor cry in life,
What will, will by and by in life.
Bank to bank lifeboats ply in life,
Still, the same boats must die in life.
One must swim, cannot fly in life
Whilst sorrows do defy in life.
Think, what to sow, not sigh in life
If rainy gets the sky in life.
To unknot tangled tie in life,
Nigh silent should one try in life.
______________________
Ghazal |08.07.2025| life, philosophy
Note: Both the lines of all the couplets of this ghazal have a rhyme (qaafiya) and refrain or recurrence (radeef).
All life I wandered,
In search of vague meandered,
But when I pondered,
Said my long subdued heart’s voice:
Unknot all knots, mute all noise.
________________________________
Tanka |15.12.2022| life, journey
Poet’s note: Is it not how the journey of life we travel? One step forward, two back and never straight forward! But mind is full of knots. Always listen to heart.
Allow me the time …
To stand and stare,
To ponder on the how and where,
To lose myself in thoughtfulness,
To unknot my mind’s tangled mess,
To consider and to meditate,
To transform into a Zen like state,
To notice reflections and reflect,
To self-diagnose and introspect,
To absorb all of nature’s treasure,
And to enjoy this age old pleasure,
Allowing my heart to beat more slowly,
Not thinking all creatures are below me,
To quietly try to comprehend,
The meaning of life and to what end,
To allow my soul to come into view,
To allow my spirit to mend, renew.
People do things without thought.
Every action and word are random.
The tangled web we try to unknot.
Leaves us crying, us not being able to unwound.
Now we have filled ourselves with pure boredom.
It is like a wound
Pain filled and heart wrenching
But there is love and fun we are itching.
There are a small few who think things through.
Carefully, their sentences without random.
But those few get pushed around.
They stay strong and take it all.
For them they have it rough.
They titter away the pain
They find the fun
They find the love.
You can be one of those people.
Carry the burdens
Too long
Not knowing when
To give up
Especially there is nothing
Worth keeping
No reason to fight for it
Showering me
Nothing but pain
Embedded in me
Driving my anger so wild
But they are already gone
Probably shifted to another place
Why I am still holding onto them
That was the question
Circulating in my mind
Sleepless nights
Voices talking to me
Disturbing images
No longer feeling
Just there
But not here
The turning point
Wanting to change
As my heart and eyes
Being exposed
With God's Holy Light
Realising
The illusions
Feeding with trauma and violence
Too much
Been in that field
Way too long
Releasing heavy tears
Closing my eyes
Throwing away
Out of my way
Light in my heart
Airy steps
Soul revives
Scars
The aftermath
From trials and obstacles
Bruises
Now may still hurts
But knowing these will heal
Going to sleep
Simple smile
Opening new day for me
Closer to happiness
© Sue Sanzz 2020
Competent parents cherish their children;
This Friday feeling - free for family again.
All week, we're the authority, we're the grownups.
Adulthood ain’t easy with parent/child hiccups.
Weekend’s coming up, family time to unknot;
Time to play catch up and we get more than one shot.
This Friday feeling? works ev’ry day of the week;
and it has its perks - our kids listen when we speak.
written March 9, 2018
Regina McIntosh's From the Heart Poetry Contest
A LOST AFRICAN CHILD
You lost African child,
Who will find you in the wood?
What is your name and whose
Name are you bearing, your mother's or father's?
Do you know where your home town is?
Do you know that your sister was sold into
Marriage which is against our tradition?
Do you know the dance of your home town?
After the contaminated hand shake, you were
Lost in stupid to the foreign land.
The Bible had made you left the village to the street,
The book which you where unknown how it was written but you came and pick it up like a fool.
You were taught how to carry the gun instead
Of you tending the shrine that your father left in tears.
You lost African child! Can you dance Atilogwu?
You now look at us as if we are speaking in a stranger tongue because you can't speak your mother's tongue.
When shall you return to tend the farmland?
When shall you unknot the tie on your neck and wear of goat's skin and dance bare footed in the village?
Has civilization taken toll on you?
Have you forgotten your root, cultural heritage?
Come home lost African child, visit and see those tall tress still waiting at your arriver in tears.
The Door of Solitude
It was the door I remember most it had been
optimistic green once but now dripped of rots
only tears can produce. Like walking into a portal
you know if the door opens you pace into
dejection and be enveloped by the dismay of
people who hated one another but cut not
unknot a union bound by threads of misery.
The yard was full of car parts that never would
be assembled and batteries oozing sadness
no jump lead would bring back to life.
The door didn’t open a bit of relief, like when
a stalled car on a dark road suddenly starts.
I did see a flutter on a dirty curtain but knew
it was too late to help my brother back to sanity.
I thank u a thousand
times......
For breaking up!
Because I'm too simple for
this complicated world...
A fool unable to unknot the
web of relations...
A born-optimist always
hoping for fruitful yields...
An insane who sees value in
everything...
But U...opened my eyes...
Your untimely departure
gave me lessons of a life-
time..
Had U not taken the extreme
step,I would have still been
under that meaningness
relationship...
Caught helplessly in the net
of nothingness...
Hence,I thank U a thousand
times....!
I know not what knot will not unknot,
I know not why that knot won’t loose.
So if you know what knot won’t unknot,
Show me how to tie my shoes.
Wake me in the spring,
When winter has moved along;
A touch of your warm hand,
And I will break out in song.
My sleep will unknot my brow,
And soothe my tired heart;
I will dream of your soft beauty,
And that we never came to part.
But if the world should find me
Still asleep under summer’s sky,
Then know no kiss can wake me,
For I have lain down to die.
Unbake the cake
unring the bell
unknot the noose
unbreak the spell
we're on our way
the ship has sailed
the winds of wonder have prevailed
it feels so good to breathe the air
I cant believe I really care
uncork the bottle,raise a cheer
look around ,we're really here
unwrap the gifts you kept inside
the hope and love you thought had died
reverse the engines,fill the night
with uncontrollable delight
to be alive and feel the thrill
untimely death had tried to kill
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