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Best Poems Written by Alister Renaux

Below are the all-time best Alister Renaux poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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The Rhythm of One

Love is not love if only in books and songs
In romantic movies and poems it belongs
It is life itself; an experience we share
A personal history of concern, commitment and care

Love is a voice that will soothe and caress
A heart that is uneasy, a mind in distress
It is a look that says, "I'm here, I know life isn't fair.
 Pour out your troubles, I'll listen, I'll always be there."

Love is a smile, on both the lips and the eye
A suggestive twinkle and a warm good-bye
It is a message that needs no gesture or voice
Yet, in that twinkle it says, "In your company, I rejoice."

Love is the soft touch of one hand in the other
The gentle massage of one heart by another
That occurs when those fingers do gently squeeze
And say, "As long as we are together, life will be a breeze."

Love is not love if only in an expensive jewel or gift
Can it offer us comforts, our flagging spirits lift
Love is life itself, the acts that are done
When two hearts celebrate with the rhythm of one.

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The Canvas

This poem is a farewell piece of advice to a group of students I have taught over the last four years. I do 
hope they find the metaphor meaningful and believe that they are the "architects of their own future."

Spread before you is a canvas of hope and opportunity
Waiting to be painted with strokes of what you are and can be
Waiting to be filled with colours that define you and the life you live
Waiting to be stamped with the personality that only you can give
To the portrait of your life, by itself a work of art
A work which, on this day, with vigour you will start

Spread before you is a canvas of vision and desire
Waiting to be sketched with shades of passion and fire
Waiting to be decorated with a story and theme
Waiting to be etched with ambition that is now just a dream
Of a picture whose tone, texture and style
Would have made this work worth all the while

Spread before you is a canvas, empty, yet full of space
Waiting to be stroked with your wit, charm and grace
Waiting to be brushed with strokes daring, vivid and bold
Waiting to be painted with a story that can be told
Of a life whose essence is one of sublime beauty
Of a person who lived his life and did his duty

Of a person who lived life the way it should be
Of a complete canvas that will reflect many a memory.

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The Invasion of Privacy

The invasion of privacy…

Is an assault on personal life
A public display
Of a private retreat

The invasion of privacy…

Is an intrusion on a closed conscience
A public magnification 
Of a secluded soul 

The invasion of privacy…

Is a foray into isolated territory
A public attack 
On a silent psyche

The invasion of privacy…

Is the terrorism of individual emotion!

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What a Difference a Day Makes

What a difference a day makes
A minute, a second is all it takes
To create history, to change the world
To embark on ventures, brave, new and bold

It takes a day for war to start
A day that will, for years, tear nations apart
It takes a day for life to begin
One that will, on another day, a new nation win

It takes a day to launch a new career
One that will, our lives, into a new era steer
It takes a day to realize the work of a lifetime
Work that will, one day, be praised in song and rhyme

It takes a day for a typhoon, tsunami or earthquake
A day, that will, millions of lives rudely shake
It takes a day for disaster to strike
Disaster that will take away the people and things we like

It takes a day for you and me
To be the people that we can be
It takes a day for you to grow
And the friend of a lifetime, get to know

What a difference a day makes
So, let us give it all it takes
To make this day, special and good
To be the people we can and should.

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

Chemical Warfare

On an afternoon, rather dull and dreary
When things seemed quite tryingly weary
All of a sudden erupted a flurry
(Possibly the result of a flavoured curry?)
As a rather pungent aroma did diffuse
Speedily into the air, that it did abuse
With a violence so strong, so full of punch
That I pondered on the after-effects of lunch

From this terrible fury, did people take cover
That their lungs did slowly recover
From a biological weapon’s gaseous assault
That I wondered who could have been at fault
For this sudden burst of chemical warfare
That only the most brave could stoically bear
A weapon made of such volatile matter
That it could, such hardened forces, scatter. 

The culprit, as yet, has not been found
Moving with stealth, making no sound
Still, on the ready, to simply explode
With the most pungent weapon its armoury can hold.

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

Wonderful Tonight

It’s late in the evening; Calvin’s got new clothes to wear
He’s very excited as we comb his soft black hair
He looks at me, his eyes big and bright
And seems to say, “Daddy, I feel wonderful tonight.”

He goes to his mother, with a wriggle and a smile
She puts him on her shoulder that they can dance for a while
He lies there happy, contented alright
And his soft little coos say, “Hmmm, I feel wonderful tonight.”

He’s placed in his rocker, as he nods off to sleep
And murmurs with contentment, in tranquility deep
I look at him and say, “I hope you are all right
‘Cause your Mommy and I, we changed your nappy by Candlelight.”



(An interesting set of circumstances prompted this poem. Load shedding had left us in the dark and my laptop 
was playing Eric Clapton's "Wonderful Tonight." Written about five months ago, it gives my now-eight-month-old 
something to look back on when he can read.)

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

An Elegy Written In a Shopping Mall

The following poem was written at the request of my wife and it is intended to be ‘gently mocking’ in its style. 
The reader MUST stroll though it for that purpose alone. 


A long time ago, when with my mother, I went
On a shopping trip in which many hours were spent
Unto myself a secret promise I made
Never would I, with a woman, through malls and boutiques wade.

This promise, fifteen years since, has now been broken
For the spirit of Eros was within me awoken
So, now, with marital bliss, I treasure the joys of family life
And I also shudder at the time I spend shopping with my wife. 

She bothers NOT about the hands of the clock
Which, with their boisterous ticking, do me mock
As I bite my fingers and chew my nails
While wifey darling shops with a patience that never fails. 


My practice of ‘walk in, pick up and then walk out’
Is now one of ‘walk in, darling, and let us walk about’
And so, she does – with a slow and steady gait
While I gaze at mannequins and ponder my fate

Safe and secure, in cosy comfort, hardly disturbed
My wallet is NOT in the least bit perturbed
For he knows that his services will not be needed
Until through PRICE, CHOICE, TRIALS, his mistress has weeded

The objects that she might finally desire
And yet not necessarily – right then – acquire
For further weeding must surely be done
If shopping, for Elizabeth dear, is any fun.

Always, there lies a BUT on these shopping trips
A rationale with which I have yet to come to grips
For after careful analysis of textures, patterns and colour schemes
Wifey darling holds – lovingly – the object of her dreams

BUT – this contrariness to rhyme and reason
Is the perpetual refrain to our shopping season
For, though the texture may be perfect the colour just right
In a tiny spot, the design is not to her delight

So, even if an item is picked up – and to the counter taken
One must forgive me – if I’m sadly mistaken
In thinking that I can now move on – something has been bought
For, with a BUT, it might just be placed – back in its original spot.

Thus, Elizabethan shopping in all its royal splendour – and courtly grace
Can hardly be confined – limited – to a few hours space. 
It takes more than mere days, weeks and months instead
For wifey girl to savour her shopping spread.

And, though dear reader, this verse may now come to an end
For me, the rest of my life I must hereafter spend
With plodding upon my weary way
As the curfew tolls the knell of another shopping day.

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

Christmas Cheer

(This is in remembrance of the days running up to Christmas in an Anglo-Indian home in a small town in 
India. Some of the words are distinctly Anglo-Indian. I wonder if there is anyone on Poetry Soup who can 
relate?)

It’s a December evening, we’re back from school
The house feels nippy for a breeze, nice and cool
Wafts through the trellis, while Papa gives a rendition
Of carols that herald an annual family tradition

Mummy’s come back with bread, eggs and flour
We little children, get ready for many an interesting hour
Of digging our fingers into a tub full of batter
As the house vibrates with loud, cheerful chatter

It’s that time again, that time of the year
For, cul-culs and cake and Christmas’ cheer
To roll out on forks, an Anglo-Indian delight
And to grease the cake tins with all our might

As Mum-mum calls out for us to ‘take care
Or we might fall into the oil that’s boiling there’
Which is ready, of course, to splutter and crackle
As we dip in forked creations of eggs, flour and butter

The whole family sits at the dining room table
Each one doing what he or she is able
And stories are told of Christmases past
While ros-a-cookies are into the boiling oil, cast

When the whipping and blending has been done
And the cake’s in the oven, it is time for more fun
So we lick our fingers with many a hearty smack
As we enjoy this tasty pre-cooked snack

That comes for us, only once every year
A time that is filled with memories dear
As carols croon in the chill evening air
And family stories, Papa, does joyfully share

It’s been years now, since I have had such fun
And I hope, I can, one day relive it with my son
Those hours spent in a house on a railway colony
Hours that I now recall, with a smile and much glee.

Hours that have since made nostalgia smile
Hours that have made childhood worth the while.

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

Achievement

Achievement

Achievement…
Is not basking in the glory
It is
The glory of the endeavour

Achievement…
Is not public acclaim
Rather, it is
Personal vindication

Achievement…
Is not looking back with pride
It is
The satisfaction of moving on

Achievement is…

Realizing a goal set,
Fulfilling one’s potential,
Hurdling over an obstacle
The success of one’s dream

Perseverance over failure
Accomplishment against the odds
A step in the right direction
The triumph of one’s spirit

Achievement is…
The reality of a dream
That was, once, shaken out of its trance.

Details | Alister Renaux Poem

The Road

THE ROAD

The road ahead is long; it’s also wide
‘T has all the promises of a fulfilling ride
That need not mean that you speed along
Like those who the meandering highways throng

Create your own pace; it’s your ride after all
When to start or stop; it’s your own call
Yet, don’t lose control, but focus ahead
Tread over the bumps and stop when it’s red

Learn the rules as you drive and maintain the pace
Respect the signals, but steer your own race
Watch out for dangers in people and places
And revel in the beauty of wide open spaces

At times, it’d be good to stop and take stock
Unnecessary baggage, unload and unlock
Turn back and look; take in what is past
And ensure that you have the power to last

At times the path may be dangerously rough
But remember that you are sturdy enough; and tough 
And that you have, in your hands, the power to steer
Through tempests and hazards that the multitudes fear

In those times and places, when the weather is fine
And, on what lies ahead, the sun does brilliantly shine
Accelerate the tempo and drum your fingers
As you enjoy the beauty for as long as it lingers

Whatever it is; and wherever you go
Remember what you are and what you know
Of all you’ve seen and what you have yet to see
Of what you are and what you can ultimately be

So that, when, for one last time, the brakes you apply
You can, at last, exclaim with a final sigh
“The journey’s been great; ‘tis been a wonderful drive
That has made me blessed for being so alive!”