I’ve only desired to light old lamps with young wicks
(the tongues of flame must be blinking hard with vigilance)
Across dark, mildewed alcoves that smell of ink —her writing ink —
But one thing led to the other, and the ink I
Found froze in my eyes, the bottle instantly petrified among desert ruins.
I searched, from my village to Nantucket, borrowing
The courage of voyaging storms, seeking earnestly her quill feather,
Just to caress her pretty face with it.
But the power of distance arrested me midway and warned me
Of the dangers of costly adventures.
I hankered after a trained parrot —an amanuenses of note—
With less brilliant plumage,
Electrifying elocution,
To detect to me the protocols of her language.
But that, too, failed.
The parrot was either born mute or chose to be.
I did all I could? to seek, to find, to locate, to identify items
Belonging to her —bric-a-brac of a telling age.
And then there were none.
You and I are such individuals
Gregarious by nature and to interact
For friendship and for uniquely love
To knit and share life's happiness together
To sooth the sea's bitter
And to smooth their storms
For our hearts, voyaging safer
And souls being quiescent under cloud
To hold warm in the wind and cold
And to bypass the loneliness submerged
Gratefully to have you in the boat
The realm is beckoning us continually
Although the reefs submerge hither and thither
We still gain courage countlessly
Stella
not a gal
yelled for
in
passion
but
a guy
passionately painting
my eyes
go back and forth
in lines
and curlicues
in lighting
and floral
propensity
irises flicker
voyaging North
and South
East and West
without rest
strange fountainlike
fantasy
links with my mind
birds intertwine
vanilla egrets
alongside
imitate the Madonna shape
or three robins rest
inside a pondlike
flamingo blossom
then
into the future
battle of lights
Stella
the guy
sees
the light
I
seize the light
V I C T O R
Victor, a visionary, who won't vanquish,
Voyaging through virtual veils of a wish,
Very valiant in his virtual venture or quest,
Venerable in his reality & veritable deals.4
His virtual vesture, a verdant shroud,
Vouch safes the virtues of his vestal proud,6
Victorious, he voyages through the void,
Veiling his virtual & very presence, unemployed.
His vivacious voice, a symphony of sense,
Vibrates with visionary intelligence,¹°
Victor's virtual vocabulary, a treasure trove,
Vast & varied, a venting virtues to prove.¹²
In victors realm, despite vices, he reigns supreme,
Vivacious, vibrant, a validated visible gem,
Though Victor's virtuality, a verdant dream,
But in actuality, a veritable victorious realism.¹6
Vick Manuel Poetry {VMP}
FORM: Alliteration/Rhymes
Copyright ©?6th January, 2024.
I am Seraphim voyaging to descend
Spanning the lake of invisible water
A spindrift of twirls of huffing wind
Falling-in Fall leaves gathered on a rusted altar
Blissing in delicate spirals I bend
Just where the river ends
Exalted and brilliant within intangible halos
I light the world then setting slow
In golden hues I fade then falter
Sublimely reimagined I do delight
To evaporate into the glow of night
Painting the moon with vestiges of the coming day
Lost in reverie
Out of time
Voyaging through stars
Embracing infinity
I feel like a tumbling kite
I don't know where to hid
I have neon colours
to paint five o clock shadow
The Pontiff has paid my full fare
Im voyaging down South
I need to afford my back
for the weary strings of yesteryear
With this substance a lot to link,
If only one would clearly think
But nothing between Zinc and school’s ink
Nor voyaging vessels that sink:
Perhaps the gray of oysters, not pink…
We all should crave the mineral Zinc.
You ask me to explain i’ll blink
But a doctor gives you a wink
Of guys about to glasses clink:
‘Please, Zinc show in your food and drink
Or you’ll betray soon, the Doink:
A pity you’ll start an oink,
For off I shall not fail to slink…
Zinc important to taste and smell,
Meals releasing no smell you tell,
Cooked stew without aroma hell:
Fried chicken without same won’t sell…
And then one’s wounds that should heal
Zinc knows how to with them deal
About these doctors do not twice think,
Because it is Medicine, not its brink.
?*** Given Eyes to See and Truth to Feel ***
“Yes. Yes, sweet, dear soul,”
my promise speaks
Once again
Of agreements created, sent
Into the rippling, “Amen,” resonating
Prayer’s progression
After a mid-night’s congress:
the self poised ~ bowing down —
the stillness
in heartfelt
Journeying
Mirrors
revealing the left-to-learn ~
Visions
Needing capture.
My definitely determined resolutions
To think, to focus on motions
leading, braiding compassion
end to end;
Alongside each and every one living other;
instants to moments
Seeing the felt…
Aligned
Voyaging Truth beyond the mists
shrouding our lives. all
— side by side.
————————————————————————————————————————
(c) sally young eslinger 3/3/2023
Thanks be to God…
Adventure - A Didactic Cinquain
Adventure
Freebooting, foolhardy
Fantasying, voyaging, tethering
Ever so imagined
Gamble
2/3/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2023©
It was a younger time,
a clunky age
a dial-up decade.
Not knowing why
or why he should not,
he sent out needy signals
into the vast unseen
seeking worlds
populated with only females.
Many were drawn into his orbit
many failed to respond.
Eventually a divorced lady from
the fabled city of Doncaster
seemed willing
to be drawn into his net.
Sensual seeds were planted
in a garden they both watered.
It was love; it was true.
By an enveloped voyaging
they exchanged
photographs taken years earlier.
For hours, a muted
disappointment fizzed and spun
around a digital cosmos;
both grew distant,
together they dialed-out,
sending new rockets of desire
unto more invisible
yet detectable applicants.
Leader(ship)
Each ship is in captain’s hand;
Voyaging to distant land
Midst waves of the vast ocean.
Voyaging
The high seas and the battle for a meaning
of life, not on a ship that runs on routine.
The Panama Canal, have I been there once
not sure, I vaguely remember a tank ship
pulled by trains; I might be erroneous.
A miniature community of lost people
changing the clock one hour forward
or one hour back, the time disappears.
No escape gaping emotional exposed
and the roar of sea-lions
Sanctuary is a tamper-proof cabin door
reading books to combat the tediousness
of being
Will the ship ever reach a safe haven?
From the first filling nascent puff
love’s breath buoyed a ring, filial…
Onward floating where the hearts go
and hands cling during a stormy sea ~
To lift the sinking 'n offer benevolent
anodyne alms easing terrors of aqua
threatening to drown in bereavement ...
Inflated again, waits for a tsunami
on which to ride to placid scenario…
New waves toss and turn till benign ~
Deflated many times when pierced,
ended ties that stabbed once/twice…
Voyaging closely, my true two of luv…
In their re-inflating exhales, have I
come afloat again to remain kinetic
evermore, as their floatation device ~
(8/21/2022 - For 'The Meaning of Love' Contest)
After the floods of turmoil and despair
my heart worships God for His loving care
expressing joyous appreciation zest
since He has rescued me; now, I'm so blest.
I'll keep on, midst life's ocean --- voyaging
The Lord is Captain by faith, engaging
with fellowship along His leadership
enjoying partnership in stewardship.
After the floods, I'll pursue reaching-out
as fisher of men midst soulwinning bout
I’m safe in Christ's presence of grace-bounty
while sharing the Gospel of certainty.
Radiant in surmounting problems' woe
I'll continue with vibrant hopeful glow
knowing that the grace of Almighty reigns
as He pours rain bringing heavenly gains.
After the floods, I'll persevere to do right
in my journey* toward triumphant flight
while offering kindness with peaceful bliss
exuding gratitude I should not miss.
*Genesis 24:21 …The LORD had made his journey prosperous…
July 28, 2022
edited on April 12, 2024
1st place, "After the floods" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Anoucheka Gangabissoon; judged on 5/19/2024
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