Submissions by Sartoris
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
Often I find myself focusing upon time, memory, art, creativity, personal identity, and nature. Wanting to balance evocative, stimulating language with reflection. Blame my incoherence on being raised with 90s music.
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
25th Jul 2019 1:10am
25th Jul 2019 1:10am
Pietra Serena
Daylight will protect the familiar,
or recognisable, element, but also
conceals more than intended:
the separation from darkness was
a temporary solution, not the
finial meant to decorate a ceiling,
any height, which rises above us:
these rooms surrounded with
blind windows, occupy and trap
a restless spirit, forever vying in
dominion over itself: the extension
of an ever-constricting space,
whose boundaries lie around us,
to venture upward with movement
our bodies find...
or recognisable, element, but also
conceals more than intended:
the separation from darkness was
a temporary solution, not the
finial meant to decorate a ceiling,
any height, which rises above us:
these rooms surrounded with
blind windows, occupy and trap
a restless spirit, forever vying in
dominion over itself: the extension
of an ever-constricting space,
whose boundaries lie around us,
to venture upward with movement
our bodies find...
#LifeStruggles
#art
483 reads
8 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
14th Jul 2019 1:41am
14th Jul 2019 1:41am
'Awakening Slave'
Groping blind, I desperately hunt
down every phrase, but letters
turn oppressive in their own right,
clouding an obsessive judgement,
which loathes a rigidity of capitals:
and thus, subjects continually fail
to emerge from marble conception,
become slower in materialising
whatever figures exist, underneath
surface appearances of meaning:
to question whether flesh, in truth,
lives within the smooth exterior.
down every phrase, but letters
turn oppressive in their own right,
clouding an obsessive judgement,
which loathes a rigidity of capitals:
and thus, subjects continually fail
to emerge from marble conception,
become slower in materialising
whatever figures exist, underneath
surface appearances of meaning:
to question whether flesh, in truth,
lives within the smooth exterior.
#WritersBlock
#WritingPoetry
571 reads
8 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
9th Jul 2019 11:05pm
9th Jul 2019 11:05pm
The Lacemaker.
An overabundance of beauty, in time,
Diverts us, from colder aspirations
Of invisible social ritual. Just consider
The intricacies of a drawing room,
Arrayed in oriental rugs, and porcelain;
With dazzling, geometric patterns
Always changing in passages of light.
But what desires linger, in depths,
Where light itself cannot penetrate?
As pine-needles dissolve illumination
By stippled elegance, the arachnid
Remains sightless to our limited eyes;
Sheltered, to perform a danse sacrée
We glimpse...
Diverts us, from colder aspirations
Of invisible social ritual. Just consider
The intricacies of a drawing room,
Arrayed in oriental rugs, and porcelain;
With dazzling, geometric patterns
Always changing in passages of light.
But what desires linger, in depths,
Where light itself cannot penetrate?
As pine-needles dissolve illumination
By stippled elegance, the arachnid
Remains sightless to our limited eyes;
Sheltered, to perform a danse sacrée
We glimpse...
#beauty
#nature
493 reads
13 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
7th Jul 2019 11:23pm
7th Jul 2019 11:23pm
A Drawing upon Silence
In from the garden, another
bouquet of carrot flowers
carries with them a familiar,
indescribably sweet perfume,
placed in the confines
of a slender drinking glass
that is quickly overwhelmed
by the arabesque, and sprawls
into calligraphy: bringing,
as well, that forgotten sense
of reckless childhood,
exploring the cluttered rooms
where grandmother packed
away the memories in boxes,
she chose to recollect:
to gather both a fragrant dust ...
bouquet of carrot flowers
carries with them a familiar,
indescribably sweet perfume,
placed in the confines
of a slender drinking glass
that is quickly overwhelmed
by the arabesque, and sprawls
into calligraphy: bringing,
as well, that forgotten sense
of reckless childhood,
exploring the cluttered rooms
where grandmother packed
away the memories in boxes,
she chose to recollect:
to gather both a fragrant dust ...
#nature
#memories
555 reads
3 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
7th Jul 2019 7:20pm
7th Jul 2019 7:20pm
Paysage
Alongside the highway,
extended rows of tiger lilies
greet every passing car,
even those which turn into
the rural cemetery, with
an openly defiant tongue.
extended rows of tiger lilies
greet every passing car,
even those which turn into
the rural cemetery, with
an openly defiant tongue.
#nature
#LifeCycle
446 reads
3 Comments
SELF POEM
Published
26th Jun 2019 11:33pm
26th Jun 2019 11:33pm
Sunday Painting
For 'Scout'
Contrarily, the wind often turns against
an initial forecast, in that fiery way
brilliance gives over (in summertime) to
reticent, diaphanous clouds: when only
an intense coloration remains the same.
Already many leaves are turning some
ten thousand palms upward, to signal
changing atmospheric pressure:
the wind plays with heat and chimes,
in vast motions of oceanic breeze, but
the sunsmell continues: even birdsong
grows more sporadic,...
Contrarily, the wind often turns against
an initial forecast, in that fiery way
brilliance gives over (in summertime) to
reticent, diaphanous clouds: when only
an intense coloration remains the same.
Already many leaves are turning some
ten thousand palms upward, to signal
changing atmospheric pressure:
the wind plays with heat and chimes,
in vast motions of oceanic breeze, but
the sunsmell continues: even birdsong
grows more sporadic,...
#nature
#memories
542 reads
5 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
14th Jun 2019 8:46pm
14th Jun 2019 8:46pm
Fantômas contre Charlot.
The poet, like any other artist
(or confidence-man), lures with
beautiful dreams: either trading
monotony for unique labyrinths,
or simplify complexities, into a
deceptive restatement of nature.
It amuses them, to arrange things
one way, and then back again:
creating silent comedies, whereby
two people undergo an instant
transformation, simply through
a changing of costumes: where an
innocent becomes imprisoned,
and the prisoner now...
(or confidence-man), lures with
beautiful dreams: either trading
monotony for unique labyrinths,
or simplify complexities, into a
deceptive restatement of nature.
It amuses them, to arrange things
one way, and then back again:
creating silent comedies, whereby
two people undergo an instant
transformation, simply through
a changing of costumes: where an
innocent becomes imprisoned,
and the prisoner now...
#WritingPoetry
#art
458 reads
4 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
13th Jun 2019 10:46pm
13th Jun 2019 10:46pm
[Carnival and Lent]
The drizzle turns everything
a little greyer, wrings out color,
until they lose vividness;
but flowing water always had
this quality, some
doing with light rays, I guess,
filtering a range of possibilities:
or perhaps, I desperately tried
keeping up with the river-motions,
which time finds pleasure in:
as a child, who focuses on speed
more than anything, while
constructing arbitrary games,
and pays less attention, to what
surrounds them;
until one day,...
a little greyer, wrings out color,
until they lose vividness;
but flowing water always had
this quality, some
doing with light rays, I guess,
filtering a range of possibilities:
or perhaps, I desperately tried
keeping up with the river-motions,
which time finds pleasure in:
as a child, who focuses on speed
more than anything, while
constructing arbitrary games,
and pays less attention, to what
surrounds them;
until one day,...
#environment
#nature
384 reads
4 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
5th Jun 2019 10:08pm
5th Jun 2019 10:08pm
Old Growth
Stripped lichen-bark
reveals the inner layer,
normally hidden
from view: a ragged, scarlet
core, surrounded by
almond flesh (smooth and
glistening with rainfall);
after which, we begin a new
separation of limbs,
entwine branches to merge
a former wholeness
with evocations of another
season: a dampness
of maple-leaves drowning
the air, suggests
apple trees, at harvest;
but the advisory passes
sooner than memory,
while a blue-hooded
grackle moves,...
reveals the inner layer,
normally hidden
from view: a ragged, scarlet
core, surrounded by
almond flesh (smooth and
glistening with rainfall);
after which, we begin a new
separation of limbs,
entwine branches to merge
a former wholeness
with evocations of another
season: a dampness
of maple-leaves drowning
the air, suggests
apple trees, at harvest;
but the advisory passes
sooner than memory,
while a blue-hooded
grackle moves,...
#trees
#fall
#spring #nature
#spring #nature
417 reads
7 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
18th Apr 2019 3:24am
18th Apr 2019 3:24am
An Ode to a Hartford Seer
Listen. Already, in spring's silence,
We hear sparklers, running across lawns
And through half-deserted streets,
Embodying a spirit of verdigris
Which embellishes, however faintly,
Both equinox and solstice—
A vestige light, meant to reassert
The predominance of spruce-needles,
Against oncoming dusk.
But, if such muses seldom attend,
Like quiet supplicants upon our stage,
And less frequently invoke
A grey-bearded oracle, straddling
The distant, rolling waves off Paumanok— ...
We hear sparklers, running across lawns
And through half-deserted streets,
Embodying a spirit of verdigris
Which embellishes, however faintly,
Both equinox and solstice—
A vestige light, meant to reassert
The predominance of spruce-needles,
Against oncoming dusk.
But, if such muses seldom attend,
Like quiet supplicants upon our stage,
And less frequently invoke
A grey-bearded oracle, straddling
The distant, rolling waves off Paumanok— ...
#night
#art
#philosophical #StreamOfConsciousness
#philosophical #StreamOfConsciousness
479 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
16th Apr 2019 2:14pm
16th Apr 2019 2:14pm
Rhapsody in Harlem
Beyond a dim proscenium,
The faces resemble moonlight
Over Chinese landscapes—
And the vacant prose
Of western dime novels.
Shall they divine messages,
Written by sea-breeze, among
Languors of wild grass?
With squinted eyes,
Inherited from grandparents'
Old photo-albums,
They cannot understand
An apple's sanguine complexion,
Succumbed to autumn—
Or the beautiful iridescence
Within crow feathers.
But, hush—as the pianist
Finishes his solo,...
The faces resemble moonlight
Over Chinese landscapes—
And the vacant prose
Of western dime novels.
Shall they divine messages,
Written by sea-breeze, among
Languors of wild grass?
With squinted eyes,
Inherited from grandparents'
Old photo-albums,
They cannot understand
An apple's sanguine complexion,
Succumbed to autumn—
Or the beautiful iridescence
Within crow feathers.
But, hush—as the pianist
Finishes his solo,...
#dreams
#art
#philosophical #surreal
#philosophical #surreal
525 reads
4 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
13th Apr 2019 1:04am
13th Apr 2019 1:04am
Central Park
For a moment, what we see about us
Appears certain and composed,
Where people move with an ease
Of drifting waterlilies, as if suggesting
An oasis among mausoleums.
"Perhaps this isn't natural," you say,
Suspecting a new language has taken over
The horticulturist's dream—
And you still believe this, while drowsily
Sitting around vast, obsidian pools,
Ignoring the day's essentials, as riderless
Boats scud across the murky water.
Appears certain and composed,
Where people move with an ease
Of drifting waterlilies, as if suggesting
An oasis among mausoleums.
"Perhaps this isn't natural," you say,
Suspecting a new language has taken over
The horticulturist's dream—
And you still believe this, while drowsily
Sitting around vast, obsidian pools,
Ignoring the day's essentials, as riderless
Boats scud across the murky water.
#city
#nature
525 reads
6 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by Sartoris
