Submissions by stryder
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
18th Oct 2011 7:52pm
18th Oct 2011 7:52pm
Ghost Walk
I wander aimlessly through those blood-red poppy fields,
Those blankets attempting to conceal and detoxify humanity’s devilry.
Flashbacks haunt me: cries of anguish;
perpetual machine gun fire; the lingering smell of death.
Untold and curtailed stories remain behind those flowers.
Greed, fear and showmanship conjuring a harrowing living hell.
Juvenile self fought with false implanted belief of righteousness,
Fighting to create eternal peace; eradicate conflict forever.
No more young men to lie broken on wild foreign fields.
That hollow hope...
Those blankets attempting to conceal and detoxify humanity’s devilry.
Flashbacks haunt me: cries of anguish;
perpetual machine gun fire; the lingering smell of death.
Untold and curtailed stories remain behind those flowers.
Greed, fear and showmanship conjuring a harrowing living hell.
Juvenile self fought with false implanted belief of righteousness,
Fighting to create eternal peace; eradicate conflict forever.
No more young men to lie broken on wild foreign fields.
That hollow hope...
808 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
21st Apr 2011 9:29pm
21st Apr 2011 9:29pm
Fame
Brushing my dark silky hair in front of the mirror I scan my reflection,
Anxiously searching for any blemishes on my skin,
My technicolour oil-based mask still intact and fixed to my face.
Beauty may only be skin deep but that is my only concern.
Imagining my illustrious future when I will be a
great distance from this walled zone of mediocrity,
My photo will adorn and emblazon many
glossy literature and flickering screens.
Nothing is more important than being famous;
anything else is disgraceful failure.
Smiling whilst thinking about all...
Anxiously searching for any blemishes on my skin,
My technicolour oil-based mask still intact and fixed to my face.
Beauty may only be skin deep but that is my only concern.
Imagining my illustrious future when I will be a
great distance from this walled zone of mediocrity,
My photo will adorn and emblazon many
glossy literature and flickering screens.
Nothing is more important than being famous;
anything else is disgraceful failure.
Smiling whilst thinking about all...
857 reads
0 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
16th Dec 2010 6:52am
16th Dec 2010 6:52am
Broken Wings
Broken wings maintain me down on rocky ground,
Far below the clear blue skies I wish to soar,
Frightened that my feathered appendages would
transform to wax if I rose too high,
No way to reach that pie in the sky.
Wings beaten down by toil, regret and despair,
What once lifted me now a depressing reminder of former self,
Wallowing in the ditches, pits and wells of this crooked landscape,
Averting from sunlight, searching for the gloom.
As a boy I looked up at the clouds with awe and wonder,
Conjuring images from their creamy fluffiness,...
Far below the clear blue skies I wish to soar,
Frightened that my feathered appendages would
transform to wax if I rose too high,
No way to reach that pie in the sky.
Wings beaten down by toil, regret and despair,
What once lifted me now a depressing reminder of former self,
Wallowing in the ditches, pits and wells of this crooked landscape,
Averting from sunlight, searching for the gloom.
As a boy I looked up at the clouds with awe and wonder,
Conjuring images from their creamy fluffiness,...
3217 reads
4 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
21st Oct 2010 10:38pm
21st Oct 2010 10:38pm
Strangers In The Crowd
Here I am with my comrades at this music show,
I’ve been looking forward to this for months,
The opportunity to see my heroes, my idols,
Smile fixed on face as they perform in front of me,
But out of the corner of my eye I notice a girl,
An indifferent complexion on her face,
Alone on the periphery of her group.
I wonder what is wrong with her.
She possesses good looks and increasingly she captivates me.
I’m bored at this gig and I sigh with despondency.
Dragged along to this sub-cultural refuge by my friends.
Disinterested in this noise,...
I’ve been looking forward to this for months,
The opportunity to see my heroes, my idols,
Smile fixed on face as they perform in front of me,
But out of the corner of my eye I notice a girl,
An indifferent complexion on her face,
Alone on the periphery of her group.
I wonder what is wrong with her.
She possesses good looks and increasingly she captivates me.
I’m bored at this gig and I sigh with despondency.
Dragged along to this sub-cultural refuge by my friends.
Disinterested in this noise,...
905 reads
3 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
10th Sep 2010 9:43pm
10th Sep 2010 9:43pm
Lost At Sea
Dense salt water suspends my wooden home
between the realms of sea and sky,
A world of water surrounding my rudimentary lifeboat,
My timber life-support swirling, drifting,
migrating towards an endless horizon,
Alone, so alone.
A cloudless sky offering no protection against the unrelenting sun,
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
Trapped in this paradisiacal nightmare I wish to awake from,
For what seems like a dozen never-ending days,
The emptiness induces me to travel and excavate within me.
Uncovering locked rooms and...
between the realms of sea and sky,
A world of water surrounding my rudimentary lifeboat,
My timber life-support swirling, drifting,
migrating towards an endless horizon,
Alone, so alone.
A cloudless sky offering no protection against the unrelenting sun,
Water, water everywhere, and not a drop to drink.
Trapped in this paradisiacal nightmare I wish to awake from,
For what seems like a dozen never-ending days,
The emptiness induces me to travel and excavate within me.
Uncovering locked rooms and...
874 reads
1 Comment
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
21st Aug 2010 10:18pm
21st Aug 2010 10:18pm
The Beach
The sea is ever changing,
Schizophrenic with rage and tranquillity,
Caressing the beach one moment and pounding it the next,
The groping hands grasp the formless sands.
I look out across the oscillating waves towards the blurred horizon,
As I have done many a time.
That clinging stretch of sand a welcoming sight,
An interface between the earth and ocean.
Salty air surrounds and embraces me,
Familiar sounds tipped with nostalgia fill my ears,
Traversing down the grassy mound towards the water.
The sea always different; sometimes strong,...
Schizophrenic with rage and tranquillity,
Caressing the beach one moment and pounding it the next,
The groping hands grasp the formless sands.
I look out across the oscillating waves towards the blurred horizon,
As I have done many a time.
That clinging stretch of sand a welcoming sight,
An interface between the earth and ocean.
Salty air surrounds and embraces me,
Familiar sounds tipped with nostalgia fill my ears,
Traversing down the grassy mound towards the water.
The sea always different; sometimes strong,...
950 reads
1 Comment
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
10th Jul 2010 9:22pm
10th Jul 2010 9:22pm
A Satisfied Mind
The mind is like an ice sculpture:
beautiful and yet so fragile.
A medium capable of intense illuminance and joy,
But far too greatly used for destruction.
Memories flicker, voices chatter,
A lifetime’s experience guides me.
People grappling, groping, pleading for internal happiness,
When the answer already resides within you.
An eternal sunshine masked by self-imposed rain clouds.
A best friend that can also be a greatest enemy,
At end of the day, you and it are inseparable.
Always craving more to achieve inner peace,
Oblivious that it is...
beautiful and yet so fragile.
A medium capable of intense illuminance and joy,
But far too greatly used for destruction.
Memories flicker, voices chatter,
A lifetime’s experience guides me.
People grappling, groping, pleading for internal happiness,
When the answer already resides within you.
An eternal sunshine masked by self-imposed rain clouds.
A best friend that can also be a greatest enemy,
At end of the day, you and it are inseparable.
Always craving more to achieve inner peace,
Oblivious that it is...
1006 reads
3 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
21st Jun 2010 9:40pm
21st Jun 2010 9:40pm
Pauper Woman
She resides on the hard ceramic tiles of the recessed doorway nightly.
Huddled against the physical coldness and
ambient hardness of the outside world.
Scrunching her eyes, if she imagines furtively
enough, her abode could almost be a real bedroom.
Her flimsy duvet provides weak comfort from the
chilly night air and aching floor.
Drunken revellers intermittently pass her,
interrupting her uneasy slumber.
An occasional target of mockery by uncompassionate
individuals as she tries to dream of better times.
The intruding sunrays of dawn signal the...
Huddled against the physical coldness and
ambient hardness of the outside world.
Scrunching her eyes, if she imagines furtively
enough, her abode could almost be a real bedroom.
Her flimsy duvet provides weak comfort from the
chilly night air and aching floor.
Drunken revellers intermittently pass her,
interrupting her uneasy slumber.
An occasional target of mockery by uncompassionate
individuals as she tries to dream of better times.
The intruding sunrays of dawn signal the...
757 reads
0 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
31st May 2010 11:37am
31st May 2010 11:37am
Suffer, Little Children
Malnourished obedient children frogmarch down dawn-lit pathways,
Impelled by the necessity of money to maintain
bread on plates and residence of damp drafty abodes,
The children’s footsteps and chesty coughs
interrupt the early morning birdsong,
Limbs heavy with resignation and despondency
as they contemplate their day of toil ahead,
Aches and pains inflict their frail bodies through repetitive exertion,
Cuts and bruises adorn young hands and feet;
some infants lack a full array of digits,
Marching solemnly to the walled site of degradation...
Impelled by the necessity of money to maintain
bread on plates and residence of damp drafty abodes,
The children’s footsteps and chesty coughs
interrupt the early morning birdsong,
Limbs heavy with resignation and despondency
as they contemplate their day of toil ahead,
Aches and pains inflict their frail bodies through repetitive exertion,
Cuts and bruises adorn young hands and feet;
some infants lack a full array of digits,
Marching solemnly to the walled site of degradation...
749 reads
0 Comments
DARK POEM
Published
4th May 2010 9:11pm
4th May 2010 9:11pm
Driving In My Car
Driving in my car I observe the road ahead,
Licking my lips as I look enticingly at the
opposing vehicles heading towards me,
Each one a mobile nectar store for my own sickly sweet fetish.
My left leg twitches slightly in anticipation at gaining my rush.
I’ve tried to resist this but my craving is just too great.
Broken bones and deep scars mostly healed now,
A price worth paying.
My heart beats heavily and adrenaline courses in my veins.
Soon I will turn the wheel and head straight on into a car.
Enjoying the mental high of those seconds before ...
Licking my lips as I look enticingly at the
opposing vehicles heading towards me,
Each one a mobile nectar store for my own sickly sweet fetish.
My left leg twitches slightly in anticipation at gaining my rush.
I’ve tried to resist this but my craving is just too great.
Broken bones and deep scars mostly healed now,
A price worth paying.
My heart beats heavily and adrenaline courses in my veins.
Soon I will turn the wheel and head straight on into a car.
Enjoying the mental high of those seconds before ...
993 reads
2 Comments
OBSERVATIONAL POEM
Published
23rd Apr 2010 10:41pm
23rd Apr 2010 10:41pm
White Paint
Literary and verbal poison infects a tranquil amiable mind,
Only a few drops are required to feed on
bad memories and balloon exponentially,
The more they expand, the more powerful it becomes:
burrowing and devouring and excavating as it grows.
Common sense, reason and empathy become
ridden with holes like Swiss cheese,
This venom then partly controls the mind and gains
even more power by seeking affirmations and
other familiarly diseased viewpoints,
It is easy to protect the body but much harder
to shield the mind from infections.
You...
Only a few drops are required to feed on
bad memories and balloon exponentially,
The more they expand, the more powerful it becomes:
burrowing and devouring and excavating as it grows.
Common sense, reason and empathy become
ridden with holes like Swiss cheese,
This venom then partly controls the mind and gains
even more power by seeking affirmations and
other familiarly diseased viewpoints,
It is easy to protect the body but much harder
to shield the mind from infections.
You...
888 reads
3 Comments
MISCELLANEOUS POEM
Published
5th Apr 2010 10:26pm
5th Apr 2010 10:26pm
Detachment
He was addicted to making money,
He sucked up to his boss at work,
He got home late every night,
He barely knew his own children,
He rarely showed his emotions,
He neglected his wife,
He was one of the boys at the bar,
He put money before ethics,
He was annoyed by the moral
voice in his head which spoke at
him before he went to sleep,
He flirted with his secretary,
He hated people different to him,
He was found dead one day hanging with his head in a noose.
He sucked up to his boss at work,
He got home late every night,
He barely knew his own children,
He rarely showed his emotions,
He neglected his wife,
He was one of the boys at the bar,
He put money before ethics,
He was annoyed by the moral
voice in his head which spoke at
him before he went to sleep,
He flirted with his secretary,
He hated people different to him,
He was found dead one day hanging with his head in a noose.
1407 reads
0 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by stryder
