a thousand colours above my head
pale and flaky
am i a guest?
i asked for a full moon
my pledges unheeded
o my god what am i to be
guster of leaves
a little light filtering
they sound bland to me
cold oars shake a moment,
the spirit of blackness is in us
life is a valedictory meanness
a thousand voices peer their rectitude
Categories:
valedictory, appreciation,
Form: Free verse
Nostalgic about moving-on moments
my mind lingers at throwback scenes
milestones surpassing oblivion challenge.
1974... Kindergarten toga and cap propelled my steps
toward big brother’s elementary campus
midst anticipation of sumptuous recess-snacks.
1981... Triumphantly leading alma mater pledge
I then saluted fellow graduates
eager to roam along high school corridors.
1985... Absorbed by prepared valedictory address
my heart could never stop tears, yet I managed still
since commencement song would soon reverberate.
1989... Grateful to parents, my perpetual mentors
I handed their partnership university diploma and cum laude pin
delighting them for scholarship returns, indeed grants from the Lord.
1999... Charged with “Enter to learn, go forth to serve” pursuits
my faith accepted Bible College graduation's quest
Thus, I press* on, furthering kingdom of God --- all by His grace.
*Philippians 3:14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.
Narrative in Tristich form
March 24, 2023
Categories:
valedictory, appreciation, blessing, encouraging, god,
Form: Tristich
I reflect on what you look like now!
You were beauteous when I saw you last.
What precious gifts did time endow?
All those years of tranquil absence
As you slumbered away the time somehow.
I wonder if your eyes remain bright,
They always looked at me kindly.
I think that, if you're at home tonight,
I could give you a call ~ perhaps...
Or should I just simply write?
I expect that you smile as you always could;
Intriguing, enchanting, and toasty warm.
But you smiled for me today ~ I knew you would
(In any case I've misplaced your number).
I must be more careful ~ I know I should.
Do you think of me, perchance?
When days are long and nights are cold.
Bestow on me a passing glance?
Think of times, now far away ~ Distant?
A sombre time, a valedictory happenchance.
I should visit but what's to gain?
~ To see, now, how you are?
It could easily even cause you pain.
I would come soon, now! today!
But outside it looks like rain.
Categories:
valedictory, absence, death of a
Form: Rhyme
Victory neared but I had all but given up
Memory had slowly begun to abandon me,
Ivory towers no longer satisfied my needs
Trajectory found me kneeling on bended knee.
History had not been particularly kind to me
Contradictory rumors cast blots on my life,
Sophistry invaded my one sphere of influence
Inquiry uncovered even more lethal strife.
Valedictory seemed my only acceptable release
Predatory enemies jealously sought my fame,
Mystery surrounded my plethora of concerns
Maledictory insults eventually destroyed my name.
written January 31, 2022
Categories:
valedictory, fantasy, irony, jealousy,
Form: Lento
Liberated and confident she stood there,
Embracing the moonlight and fresh air.
Tears softly running down her cheeks.
Usually anxiously, waiting for his text,
Standing here, let her feel relax.
Spontaneously she started to laugh out loud,
People must wondering who is so silly in the crowd.
Relief from all the stress and pain,
Every single moment she decided, will not be in vain.
Adventurous days, are waiting for her,
Determined she will adhere.
Leaving him was the best thing she could do,
Oblivious, was he to think she will not too.
Valedictory and bon voyage is hers,
Ever ready for new Love to occur.
Categories:
valedictory, break up, celebration, confidence,
Form: Acrostic
VIDEO/AUDIO on YouTube above. NOTE: On the video; double-click to enlarge, and/or, right-click for the drop-down menu and click on 'Loop' for auto-repeat.
Best Boy Beyond
Precocious boy, yon ere the age of twelve,
Parades vast knowledge, complexity swelled,
Our simplistic share was well understood,
Kept back of minds, preserves naive childhood.
Green imparts years cherished adolescence,
Bottled, we heed, coupled coalescence,
Errant appendages spark normal steps,
Blessed gifted faculties, as classmates frets.
Removed and placed amongst the elder kids,
Baffled apostles sought entertained bids,
A young mind satisfy matured scholars,
Acquaint the novice school well-spent dollars.
Stands amidst the rare few emboss his name,
An honorary plaque glistens the fame,
Hung in the schools enclosed glass curio,
Caught all cherished moments on video.
Commencement day, he did stand with the rest,
His valedictory speech of years blessed,
Preteen vested had rivaled teenagers,
Acclaimed college exemplary majors.
Evolved above academia's zone,
Ate hamburgers, fries, and an ice cream cone.
2021 March 29
*3rd Place*
A Graduation Blessing
~~BJ Legros Kelley
Categories:
valedictory, boy, education, growing up,
Form: Rhyme
She is insatiable;predatory
In business always valedictory
Sees no conflict of interest in her position
Spurns financial disclosure requisition
She strides like a colossus, speedily
Eating smaller fry greedily
Using as an opportunity every disrupter
Allowing nothing or nobody to be an interrupter
Categories:
valedictory, 12th grade, africa,
Form: Rhyme
Execution
In the absence of complication,
intricacies of wayward living,
matters emphatically mitigated,
compelling conclusions, well-received,
extenuating circumstance accomplishes,
impressive consequences, be enduring,
proffers a conciliatory concession,
for toward said conclusion, we pray that all our
trials and tribulations become distant memories.
Above sapphire skies delight sanguine eyes -
amidst the enshrined immersed in the contributable phosphorous azure sea,
encouraged glissades a capricious peacock anointed from an Irish spring,
envisage a virtuous seduced meadow saturated with consistent meandering streams,
lands righteous depths fluidity of the membranes cortex wherever valedictory flourish,
inspiring forthcoming musings of the mind.
2019 November 25
*4th Place*
Complete the poem - In the absence of complication
~~Silent One
Categories:
valedictory, allegory, moving on, muse,
Form: Free verse
Precocious boy, yon ere the age of twelve,
Parades vast knowledge, complexity swelled,
Our simplistic share was well understood,
Kept back of minds, preserves naive childhood.
Green imparts years cherished adolescence,
Bottled, we heed, coupled coalescence,
Errant appendages spark normal steps,
Blessed gifted faculties, fellow class frets.
Removed and placed amongst the elder kids,
Baffled apostles sought entertained bids,
A young mind satisfy matured scholars,
Acquaint the novice school well-spent dollars.
Stands amidst the rare few emboss his name,
An honorary plaque glistens the fame,
Hung in the schools enclosed glass curio,
Captured on our family video.
Commencement day, he did stand with the rest,
His valedictory speech of years blessed,
Preteen vested had rivaled teenagers,
Noble college exemplary majors.
Evolved bove academia planes realm,
Ate hamburgers, fries, and an ice cream cone.
2019 November 12
howmanysyllables;
22 lines x 10 syllables per = 220 syllables total
Categories:
valedictory, appreciation, boy, destiny, education,
Form: Rhyme
Held fast by poetry and Beaudelaire
in a pencil skirt worn on Sunday rare
she enrolls and returns to school again
hoping for a chance of way back when
with solemn vow she pivots towards light
it shines like umpteen candles in the night
so strong is her desire to learn she glows
with every grade she aces now she knows
that life is a hindsight with second chances
when we believe, then we begin to dance
her Valedictory speech a brim of tears
thus a joyous moment in her twilight years
etched in the stars, a gratitude's soft bless
etched in her soul, a joy she can't suppress.
7/8/2019
Sponsor: William Kekaula
The most beautiful sonnet
Categories:
valedictory, celebration, desire,
Form: Sonnet
V vaunts verbiage vociferously.
Visage viewed very vacuous
Vacillates varyingly,
Venting valentine versus violence
Vast, versatile, variant,
Vehement vituperations volunteered:
Voices voice virtuously
Voices voice vulgarly
V very veracious,
Versal vortices visualized,
Versal volages visualized,
V’s valedictory.
Categories:
valedictory, freedom,
Form: Quintilla
Morning drizzle
Drops of rainbow;
Colours dazzle
~~~~~~~~~
Weather contrast
Hot and dehydrating;
Sticky humidity
~~~~~~~~~
Lonely songbird
Dawn epiphany;
Lost lover's lament
~~~~~~~~~
New journal entry
Ring-bound folio;
Ink stain memory
~~~~~~~~~
Sleepy distractions
Lazy Saturday weather;
Bakery fragrance
~~~~~~~~~
Towering monolith
War memorial site;
Our glorious dead
~~~~~~~~~
Relics of war here
Public cenotaph;
Never ever forget
~~~~~~~~~
City lights twinkle
Festive air prevails;
May Day holiday
~~~~~~~~~
Valedictory speech
Gratitude meets promise;
Ambitious plans
~~~~~~~~~
Squirrel zigzags
Sideways on huge trunk;
Midday amusements
~~~~~~~~~
Old friend visits
Home spun stories;
Catch-up laughter
~~~~~~~~~
Pretty lovely child
Charming glowing smile;
Curious ways attest
~~~~~~~~~
Leon Enriquez
10 May 2016
Singapore
Categories:
valedictory, change, , memorial,
Form: Haiku
As I watched some bread fruits fall,
I thought of friends answering heaven's call:
Like flowering plants were the youth and rigidity-
Of these gems full with virility.
But in the sudden wake of a season
Appeared the ghoul to lead one into death's prison.
I bemoan the day of such sad news
That sealed the mouth and tied the tongue of my muse,
Blinding all senses without no reason
With percolated thoughts of the past and near seasons
Stirring the head with the winds of memorable years
Most, I will forever remember with falling tears.
Forlorn dreams, faded with the dark clouds
Before the thundering grew so loud
A cold easterly already spreads her wings
Whistling sober tunes as she flies and sings
A valedictory song to all
Within gaze, as bread fruits fall.
Categories:
valedictory, absence, best friend, death,
Form: Elegy
Turning into an angelic beast,
Here is the ugly Narcissist....
For others! She cared least,
Here's the ugly Narcissist.
When the plot of life got revealed,
She had a role to lead.
Sanguine She, was now so turbid,
Like Sophocles! Hard to get rid.
But it doesn't end here! still some to indite,
the lost rhyme and a will to fight.....
With a lesson, not to hold it with Arms,
Took birth a new Epigram.
Arrival of an elate metre of vicissitude,
came a wave of valedictory for turpitude.
She breathed out of that tearful cyst....
Citherns and Citoles singing "You! No more a Narcissist".
Coffining the corpse of heart,
She ambled on a new start.
Towards Quibla!! Hearkening to a Dole above,
reached a Kingdom, with the blind wind's shove.
On the Schrezo of Hyades,
Condoning the satyr envoy of bliss.
In the elfin's grot ! To meet Her,
Came someone, with a Scepter.
Categories:
valedictory, faith,
Form: Rhyme