Poetry competition CLOSED 6th November 2016 8:30am
WINNER
Hepcat61 (geoff cat)
Hepcat61 (geoff cat)
RUNNERS-UP:
RevolutionAL
and poetryaccident
Through A Window
6: Alone
Albatross
Poet tell me, how did you know
the heaviness that lurks below?
The reservoir of deep feeling
below the place that most can see
common ground has been found
shown in words spilled on page
with echoes of humanity
confirming a shared albatross.
Perhaps you speak for the muse
with conditions not your own
I don’t know if this is the case
as the words have the same weight
I feel as if the curtain’s pulled
from the window to my soul
this I guarded with too much strength
behind thick boards bound with steel.
A kindred soul is recognized
across the span of written words
around another neck I see
the fated bird of life’s curse
now I compare like for like
though you could not know
my inner heart and head combined
the secret shames of all my years.
Sadness is found in the script
I wish that you could not say
mirrored thoughts on the page
revealing you have these aches
this does not ease my regret
at what I’ve done and what I’ve felt
even so the pain relents
a burden shared is one that’s less.
Albatross
Poet tell me, how did you know
the heaviness that lurks below?
The reservoir of deep feeling
below the place that most can see
common ground has been found
shown in words spilled on page
with echoes of humanity
confirming a shared albatross.
Perhaps you speak for the muse
with conditions not your own
I don’t know if this is the case
as the words have the same weight
I feel as if the curtain’s pulled
from the window to my soul
this I guarded with too much strength
behind thick boards bound with steel.
A kindred soul is recognized
across the span of written words
around another neck I see
the fated bird of life’s curse
now I compare like for like
though you could not know
my inner heart and head combined
the secret shames of all my years.
Sadness is found in the script
I wish that you could not say
mirrored thoughts on the page
revealing you have these aches
this does not ease my regret
at what I’ve done and what I’ve felt
even so the pain relents
a burden shared is one that’s less.
I'm pleased to contribute to this interesting competition, lady Jade.
I chose image number 6; Alone.
NOSTRUM PANACEA
Drawn lines across bricks and bones
A just departure from ‘neath the loam
Nostrum panacea, truth from lies
Of the silence that pervades outside
And all these marks I’d carry through the dream
One tally at a time, just to spite routine
Vineatic strands bridge between my hands
Quickening to peel away what time mends
Please ease the pain
Noose of sleep tightened by gravity
Slipping on ice of consciousness
As I fade beneath the waterline
Scars that glow, ghost of guilt
I look down, salt and silt
The inert, still life phase
By yourself, lost in place
Silver, this glitter, etched into sun rays
Staring past the bars and the windowpanes
Cacophony of the bittern, a starlit song
Heard from these walls in which I belong
These faces are of memories tangible
I could touch them, they’d look away at once
Morning’s breath is staining the sills
Dead rivers, I trace pasque in my heart still
Revolving equilibrium
Like tired leaves kissed by gentle gust
Falling
The nape of my neck is bare
It reminds me that I’m alive, when I’d sooner die
Pariah of the fireflies
A token for that moment in a child’s life
Seen naught but wonder carved in their eyes
Their innocence equivalent to stars that dive
Like the blinking of that alien light
I chose image number 6; Alone.
NOSTRUM PANACEA
Drawn lines across bricks and bones
A just departure from ‘neath the loam
Nostrum panacea, truth from lies
Of the silence that pervades outside
And all these marks I’d carry through the dream
One tally at a time, just to spite routine
Vineatic strands bridge between my hands
Quickening to peel away what time mends
Please ease the pain
Noose of sleep tightened by gravity
Slipping on ice of consciousness
As I fade beneath the waterline
Scars that glow, ghost of guilt
I look down, salt and silt
The inert, still life phase
By yourself, lost in place
Silver, this glitter, etched into sun rays
Staring past the bars and the windowpanes
Cacophony of the bittern, a starlit song
Heard from these walls in which I belong
These faces are of memories tangible
I could touch them, they’d look away at once
Morning’s breath is staining the sills
Dead rivers, I trace pasque in my heart still
Revolving equilibrium
Like tired leaves kissed by gentle gust
Falling
The nape of my neck is bare
It reminds me that I’m alive, when I’d sooner die
Pariah of the fireflies
A token for that moment in a child’s life
Seen naught but wonder carved in their eyes
Their innocence equivalent to stars that dive
Like the blinking of that alien light
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/thru%20a%20window%2013%2000.png http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/thru%20a%20window%2012%2000.png
dancing love in framed windows
she wrote our tapestry
in stars that stare
down in the streets
of Săo Paulo
she sang ballads to the
Rufous Bellied Thrush
composed Samba steps
in the paving blocks
her soul passionately
kissed my consciousness
he carved our Ceibo flowers
in flaked rainbow, wall paintings
etched finger hearts in the mist
of panel glass sheets
counted Tango steps
on marbled window sills
drinking calabash tea from
a steel straw breathing
"ame" in early morning
autumn mist
his body warmed my heart
souls entwined, plaited in French
"je t'aime" like tails of hair
breathing a duet, singing "amore"
as if physically there
though it's been 8 beats, 6 steps
in which from windows frames
we sit and stare
breakfast laid bare
to the emotions we share
each morning; from first rooster
to hearts & diamonds
in bright morning beams
of prismatic light
we peel perched bodies from
the home we've made there
-x-
dancing love in framed windows
she wrote our tapestry
in stars that stare
down in the streets
of Săo Paulo
she sang ballads to the
Rufous Bellied Thrush
composed Samba steps
in the paving blocks
her soul passionately
kissed my consciousness
he carved our Ceibo flowers
in flaked rainbow, wall paintings
etched finger hearts in the mist
of panel glass sheets
counted Tango steps
on marbled window sills
drinking calabash tea from
a steel straw breathing
"ame" in early morning
autumn mist
his body warmed my heart
souls entwined, plaited in French
"je t'aime" like tails of hair
breathing a duet, singing "amore"
as if physically there
though it's been 8 beats, 6 steps
in which from windows frames
we sit and stare
breakfast laid bare
to the emotions we share
each morning; from first rooster
to hearts & diamonds
in bright morning beams
of prismatic light
we peel perched bodies from
the home we've made there
-x-
Anonymous
http://i1104.photobucket.com/albums/h333/minervagrace42/thru%20a%20window%204%2000_zpsqyydxeqk.jpg
smudge
Sometimes the stars feel closer.
Maybe blue, smudged
glass makes reality seem
less rigid.
And then
eyes flutter.
Winging my way across galaxies.
Desperate hands clutch
dandelion fluff:
adventure dreams fulfilled.
At least until the sun rises.
smudge
Sometimes the stars feel closer.
Maybe blue, smudged
glass makes reality seem
less rigid.
And then
eyes flutter.
Winging my way across galaxies.
Desperate hands clutch
dandelion fluff:
adventure dreams fulfilled.
At least until the sun rises.
Daydreaming
My passing fancy is almost gone
Fading with the setting sun
Yet headstrong I March on without fear
Towards a goal I cannot near
The fire of hope is getting lower
The power of faith is tumbling over
Reality is slowly catching up with me
Yet I am blinded by my dream
To earn what is not to be given
To me it seems a gift from heaven
But to look forward to a happy ending
Will amount to nothing but mere pretending
For though I seek the heart of a lover
Sadly it has been dedicated to another
Thus I languish in the misery of a hopeless wait
Crumbling beneath its unforgiving weight
Faintly my heart beats as time
Slowly snatches this dream of mine
As reality catches up with me
Revealing an effort in futility
Yet my eyes will not look away
Neither will my focus stray
From that which my soul is obsessed
That for which I press on without rest
I know the strife will not be long
To me her love will never belong
Aware of how the trek will end
My ways alas I can't amend
Again I smile to me alone
Wishes,a sin for which I cannot atone
From which my endless miseries are tapped
Daydreaming with her photo on my lap
My passing fancy is almost gone
Fading with the setting sun
Yet headstrong I March on without fear
Towards a goal I cannot near
The fire of hope is getting lower
The power of faith is tumbling over
Reality is slowly catching up with me
Yet I am blinded by my dream
To earn what is not to be given
To me it seems a gift from heaven
But to look forward to a happy ending
Will amount to nothing but mere pretending
For though I seek the heart of a lover
Sadly it has been dedicated to another
Thus I languish in the misery of a hopeless wait
Crumbling beneath its unforgiving weight
Faintly my heart beats as time
Slowly snatches this dream of mine
As reality catches up with me
Revealing an effort in futility
Yet my eyes will not look away
Neither will my focus stray
From that which my soul is obsessed
That for which I press on without rest
I know the strife will not be long
To me her love will never belong
Aware of how the trek will end
My ways alas I can't amend
Again I smile to me alone
Wishes,a sin for which I cannot atone
From which my endless miseries are tapped
Daydreaming with her photo on my lap
# 2. Watching
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/thru%20a%20window%202%2000_1.jpg
Along Vineyard Avenue
When I was sixteen years old
Every morning on my way to school
I used to see a pretty girl
Looking out her window of this old apartment
Like clockwork as I walked by
She would part the curtains
And we’d glance at each other
One day I told my friend
And I guess she had never noticed her
But I remember my friend’s words to this day
When she turned to me with a smile and said
“You should write a poem about her”
Some twenty six years later, here it is…
I’m not sure why we stared at each other
Or why you were at home at that time of the day
When you yourself should have been getting ready
Maybe you went to another school
Or maybe you were younger
Or maybe you had an ailment
Or maybe you were a dream
Every morning as my friends and I talked
I always wanted to walk on your side of the street
Just to get a peek at you
There was an innocence and curiousness about you
There was a reticence and mystery about you
But I felt a sense of wonder in that glimpse
And in those mornings when you didn’t come to the window
I felt a little sad
After all
I was dreamer
I never worked up the courage to say hi
I was a little shy
And yet for the entire year that went by
You never once smiled
I only smiled a little and then looked away
I liked looking into your eyes for that brief instant
And today a photograph reminded me of you
It completely resembled that scenery
Like a time machine, a memory triggered
And it took me along Vineyard Avenue
Although we went on about our ways
Sometimes through the years
I thought about her
That young girl
Is surely a woman now, a wife, a mother
And maybe she remembers that skinny kid
Who used to pass by her window
As he smiled shyly and looked away
http://i48.photobucket.com/albums/f248/jadepandora/thru%20a%20window%202%2000_1.jpg
Along Vineyard Avenue
When I was sixteen years old
Every morning on my way to school
I used to see a pretty girl
Looking out her window of this old apartment
Like clockwork as I walked by
She would part the curtains
And we’d glance at each other
One day I told my friend
And I guess she had never noticed her
But I remember my friend’s words to this day
When she turned to me with a smile and said
“You should write a poem about her”
Some twenty six years later, here it is…
I’m not sure why we stared at each other
Or why you were at home at that time of the day
When you yourself should have been getting ready
Maybe you went to another school
Or maybe you were younger
Or maybe you had an ailment
Or maybe you were a dream
Every morning as my friends and I talked
I always wanted to walk on your side of the street
Just to get a peek at you
There was an innocence and curiousness about you
There was a reticence and mystery about you
But I felt a sense of wonder in that glimpse
And in those mornings when you didn’t come to the window
I felt a little sad
After all
I was dreamer
I never worked up the courage to say hi
I was a little shy
And yet for the entire year that went by
You never once smiled
I only smiled a little and then looked away
I liked looking into your eyes for that brief instant
And today a photograph reminded me of you
It completely resembled that scenery
Like a time machine, a memory triggered
And it took me along Vineyard Avenue
Although we went on about our ways
Sometimes through the years
I thought about her
That young girl
Is surely a woman now, a wife, a mother
And maybe she remembers that skinny kid
Who used to pass by her window
As he smiled shyly and looked away
#2 Watching
Watching and Waiting
Gazing over the landscape before my eyes.
Breathtakingly beautiful as the sunset splatters
Across the sky. I never want to say these goodbyes
To everything that I deeply love and matters
To me profoundly. I can never explain to
People or to you how my life ended up in tatters
And pieces. I want to watch the morning dew
As I get up before the sun rises up in the sky
I always wanted to observe and watch you
From afar without judgment. Whether I am high
Above you in the window looking for your face
In the crowd or gazing at each other at eye
Level in the empty streets I will want to trace
The familiarity of who you are. I want to press myself
Into the glass and pretend like there is no space
Between us. Every feeling and heartfelt
Moment between us was real. I am still waiting
By the window for your final and last farewell.
Watching and Waiting
Gazing over the landscape before my eyes.
Breathtakingly beautiful as the sunset splatters
Across the sky. I never want to say these goodbyes
To everything that I deeply love and matters
To me profoundly. I can never explain to
People or to you how my life ended up in tatters
And pieces. I want to watch the morning dew
As I get up before the sun rises up in the sky
I always wanted to observe and watch you
From afar without judgment. Whether I am high
Above you in the window looking for your face
In the crowd or gazing at each other at eye
Level in the empty streets I will want to trace
The familiarity of who you are. I want to press myself
Into the glass and pretend like there is no space
Between us. Every feeling and heartfelt
Moment between us was real. I am still waiting
By the window for your final and last farewell.
Prompt - #7 On a Train
HAPPY WHERE I AM
Happy where I am
Sitting still and looking out
While the world moved fast backwards
With a smile, I am glad
To leave them all behind
Happy where I am
Sitting still but not stagnant
While the world moved fast backwards
Steadily, I move forward
To a future far beyond
Happy where I am
Sitting still while riding
While the world moved fast backwards
The wind blows away my hair, sorrows and pain
Wherever my journey takes me...
I will be,
Happy where I am
HAPPY WHERE I AM
Happy where I am
Sitting still and looking out
While the world moved fast backwards
With a smile, I am glad
To leave them all behind
Happy where I am
Sitting still but not stagnant
While the world moved fast backwards
Steadily, I move forward
To a future far beyond
Happy where I am
Sitting still while riding
While the world moved fast backwards
The wind blows away my hair, sorrows and pain
Wherever my journey takes me...
I will be,
Happy where I am
