They say you can change
Overnight
With a snap of your fingers
I’d be lying if I said I believed that
They said your emotions
Can rise and fall like you’re in a non-stop
Roller coaster
The doctors tell some of us to take pills to feel human
Yet I’d relapse faster than
Feel any change at all
There’s a constant war and struggle
In my head and mind
Trying to forget my past
And focus on the future
But I happen to zone out
Every time
Am I Prometheus
Chained to all the burdens in life
Unable to unwind and look
To the bright side
Even if there isn’t one
Will I be Icarus
Falling to my death
With only a few who’d care about me
While the rest have turned their
Backs on me
Wouldn’t it be better
To be able to hibernate like a bear
Going unwatched, unnoticed
As life slowly drifts on
Haven’t you ever been asked
Who are you
And you just don’t know
What to reply
Because
You haven’t found your purpose
In life
Like I haven’t found mine
Either
Maybe I ought to take those pills
And see if I stopped fighting
See if I could relapse
And be where I wanna be
Categories:
unwatched, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
Oh Sleepless night oh Glory be
The stealth of nature burdens thee
As winter washes o'er the stones
Your cold caress doth sear my bones
An unfurled sail on straining yard
The banshee howls, its breath bites hard
Tossed from main, to fevered waters
To the open arms of Neptune's daughters
Oh sea, oh pearl oh wondrous treasure
Oh faith of mine, unmarked, unmeasured
No one I am, no one I've been
Fates overlooked, times overseen
The cold, the cold, right from the start
Pierces flesh and failing heart
Oh what of God, can he not see
My plight, my toil, oh Glory be
White horses race as noble steeds
Drawn breath from lungs no longer breathed
Your manic howls and fevered pace
Entomb my mind and ashen face
A sailor lost, as sailors must
No bed of clay, nor pillow dust
Unwatched am I from sightless bow
No comfort here will storm allow
My Cross to bear, this broken mast
Oh save me Lord, or make death fast
My cries unheard from ship nor shore
Will peal in vain, forever more!
Categories:
unwatched, death, god, loneliness, natural
Form: Rhyme
It’s rare I find the depths to plumb;
I pen the silly and the dumb.
I don’t scream much into the void
about things with which I’m annoyed.
I cannot rage about my ex
or brag about hot hookup sex,
or angst at why the planet warms
from man-induced or cyclic norms.
I mostly leave my politics
on unwatched channels, unclicked clicks.
I do reveal how I am awed
at things pertaining to my God.
About my past, I’ll share a bit
regarding rescue from the pit.
World travel logs would be pretend;
I’d rather be right ‘round the bend.
I find I have some things to say
about my grands and how they play.
And chances are indeed remote
you haven’t read about my goat.
My Missy girl and I take walks,
imagining if she could talk.
My grandkids’ cats, their simple names,
are of renown and hero fame.
Sometimes my life seems quite mundane;
I hope to keep it all the same.
Categories:
unwatched, life, write,
Form: Couplet
Cotton clouds,
blue skies,
chasing the butterflies
wildflowers
and grassy bed
the celestial sphere overhead
leaning trees,
green foliage,
sweet wild berries
cuckoos singing
and crickets answering
murmuring cool stream
lemongrass sprouting
on both banks
unwatched dreams,
crowding in the eyes
dusty feet
and soiled pants
but ecstatic memories
and beautiful discoveries.
Categories:
unwatched, 11th grade, butterfly, dream,
Form: Free verse
My Favorite Animal
A Dog
Yorkshire Terrier
My Dog Peanut
A standard Yorkie over sixteen pounds,
Long silky ash coat with beautiful brown
Blond mane. Fast, energetic, never down
Especially if there squirrels around.
Gentle and playful; friendly yet spunky;
Always wants to play. Loves loud squeaky toys,
Newspapers, cardboard one of his mixed joys.
A purse unwatched, he can be too sneaky.
He will go and explore and like a cat,
Jumps on the sofa, coffee table, chair
Or on my bed where we share to sleep there.
Visits the neighbors for mere pats and chat.
He is my pet, but also my dear friend
From morning dawn arise 'till night descend.
12/12/2019
Categories:
unwatched, dog, friend,
Form: Sonnet
Like a baby
screaming out
exciting
mind to action
speechless heart
thinks in silence.
Happy thoughts
stretch a smile
sad thoughts
wet the eyes
jealous thoughts
invent a lie
envious thoughts
grab the knife
fearful thoughts
talents hide
tying jails
the inadequate.
In the garden
of the mind
left unwatched
cockle thrives
love unlocks and
grows the talent
watered by the truth
of adequate.
If asleep instead
of driving
mind is driven
by the pattern
learned from
the cradling past
following easy
path of habit.
If awaken mind
can choose
which thoughts
and start a new
path of action
by design
and become
what one desires.
Heart's feelings
can demand
only mind
opens hand
and the lips
to forgive
and the heart
to love again.
Branch attached
to the Vine
open to
His flowing life
is impowered with
divine
healing faith
fearless charity
guiding hope
Spirit
of eternal life
flowing from the Vine
to a branch
once inadequate.
Ninth place-Brian Strand No 1201 Contest-3/22/23
Categories:
unwatched, religious,
Form: Lyric
Rats and other vermin abound through the waste of mankind's making,
No one working to keep streets safe, such an important undertaking.
The jobs of such are perilous, dirty and disgusting,
Yet these humble jobs in the ditch are cruelly teetering.
The binmen and women to save their jobs are striving,
But to make a point the neighbourhood is suffering.
Garbage mountains are stacked and stinking,
Unwatched youths are kicking and throwing.
Hungry animals snacks are seeking,
Space is limiting,
Overwhelming, disappearing,
For the binmen's return we all are waiting, hoping, praying.
Categories:
unwatched, community, environment, work,
Form: Rhyme
Does a seed see the sprout
as it changes underground
or a creeping caterpillar
know it will fly above the cloud?
Pregnant clouds mist the sprout
cracking earth into a smile
feeding bees and butterflies
as it blooms and when it ripens
dropping seeds again to sprout
in perennial circle cycle.
Fear keeps love bud in hide
both from tears and sunny smiles
clipping wings of wonder's flight
with foreboding crafty lies.
Love’s riches grow unwatched
from unlocked heart depart
coming in and going out
bruised to tears
or touched to smiles
from the cave of love unlocked
life’s river flows uncharted
Frist Place Winner: Brian Strand-All Yours-5/11/21
Categories:
unwatched, inspirational,
Form: Verse
MY NIGERIA
Proud and ready to dare, blessed and fertile
Named from nature and born from the pursuit of freedom,
A freedom that defied chains and made colonialism futile!
These are the stories taught about Nigeria, this kingdom.
Where have the eagles flown to?
Why do the gates stand unwatched?
How has it become possible that violence has crushed the horses too?
When will the cost of independence equal the blood washed?
I look far into nothingness and catch a gleam of light
Maybe feeble, maybe, maybe weak like a tree drawing last breath
But even as these fruits take flight,
I feel it grow, a new Nigeria.
Categories:
unwatched, africa, change, conflict, faith,
Form: Rhyme
Along the old and winding path
Unwatched, unheard, unseen
A bird flew swiftly by
A robin red and soft
It sang a mournful song
That trilled and trailed
A tangled melody
The sun shone darkly
Through storm clad boughs
As spring spun gales rushed by
A heighted sensation
Soon mimicked in the small birds aria
Fell quickly cross the path,
That old and winding path
Where trees huddle closely
And whispers become lost
And life continues quietly
Unwatched, unheard, untouched
Categories:
unwatched, allegory, animals, nature, old,
Form: Free verse
Silent night sister,
is your hunting done?
you sit in perfect calm
catching each one
of the silent stars
that hang in the sky
like eyes, still and watching
the silent night go by.
Have you no nest to retire to?
Or are you happy to sit
in the sleeping forest,
unwatched, moonlit.
What wisdom would you,
if you could, share
with you silent night sister
who also sits there?
We may both be different,
I live in the light,
but here we both sit,
observing the night.
Stay silent, my sister,
it's probably best
that the wisdom you hold
is never shared with the rest.
Categories:
unwatched, animals, friendship, nature, sister,
Form: Verse