Beachside Bride

BEACHSIDE BRIDE

I stole her arm and hand in hand
We walked along the sunbaked sand.
We walked on trails through the trees -
Her hair whipped like the emerald reeds.
She led me to the lakeside shore -
And I kissed her there and then once more.
Her lips were as soft as the evening tide,
And her eyes gleamed like those of a beachside bride.

Mannequin

MANNEQUIN

I see her but she has no face.
She seems so very out of place;
A pretty, nameless, faceless woman -
Standing like a mannequin.

The thought - the vision - haunts me still;
It nearly caused my blood to chill.
And though the memories are within,
My eyes still see the mannequin.

Her hairless head and unringed hand -
I know I'll never understand
What makes me wonder deep inside
If she's another model's bride.

Sunday Shorts #1 - Wishing Well

This is the first in a weekly series featuring some of my shortest poems. I wrote this one last fall.

WISHING WELL

I wish that I was Amish.

I wish I was a fish.

I wish I was a genii –

Then I could grant my wish.

Message in a Bottle

When I was younger, I remember wanting to write my own bottled messages and to toss them into the lake from the dock or ferry. The sea and all it possesses has forever fascinated me.

MESSAGE IN A BOTTLE

A bottled message once unspoken

Found its way onto the shore.

Its dungeon cell was broken

And the bolt fell from the door.

And the waves of deep emotion

Poured out freely from the cap

As a never ending ocean

Streaming from a constant tap.

And the passion written long ago,

Seeping from the unleashed store,

Gushed about amid the forceful flow –

As a bottle once before.

Daybreak Daydreams

Today's post is a short poem that I hope to turn into a villanelle.


If perchance I sleep tonight
Keep the lanterns burning bright.
I am off to other worlds –
I have other fights to fight.

If morning breaks and I am gone
Do not fret – I won't be long.
I'll send my love on evening's tide
To greet you at the crack of dawn.

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Well, I couldn't sleep tonight without writing a poem for the greenest day of the year. The last line doesn't flow perfectly but I can't think of a solution.

Some people claim to see them

Time and time again:

The tiny guards of treasure –

Surly, drunk, green men.

They guard the pots of treasure,

A legend long foretold,

Taken by some shoemakers –

How I could use that gold!

The impish little leprechauns

Hid it in an emerald field.

They won’t just tell – so make them
Surrender secrets long concealed.

The Thinker

On Monday I wrote my first villanelle. It was highly challenging but immensely gratifying. A villanelle has only two rhyme sounds. The first and third lines of the first stanza are rhyming refrains that alternate as the third line in each successive stanza and form a couplet at the close. A villanelle is nineteen lines long, consisting of five tercets and one concluding quatrain.


THE THINKER

Weary and alone I stand

Evoking tender moments passed,

Deep in thought and head in hand.

Forever loving thoughts withstand

The waves of torment and hold fast.

Weary and alone I stand

Recalling beaches, softly tanned,

On which the lovers kissed the last.

Deep in thought and head in hand

I clear my thoughts as blown like sand.

The final tide has gone. Alas!

Weary and alone I stand,

Looking o’er the lonely strand

And on toward seas of colored glass,

Deep in thought and head in hand.

For lovers cannot understand

That nothing’s here that’s here to last.

Weary and alone I stand –

Deep in thought and head in hand.

Ides of March

This is a short poem I wrote today about the assassination of Julius Caesar on March 15, 44 B.C.

On marble steps stained deep and dark

The senate slew Rome’s patriarch,

Stabbed as if within a play

Beneath the theater’s arch.

Oh, rue the day!

“Et tu, Brute?”

Beware the Ides of March!

Rhyme scheme: AABCBBC

Top 10 Poems

While I realize that many will no doubt disagree with this list, these are the poems that have become my favorites for one reason or another. They are all traditional poems written by great poets and no doubt the reader will be familiar with many of them. They are the true classics of Western poetry.

Click on each title to view the poem on PoemHunter.com

I Wandered Lonely As A Cloud - William Wordsworth
Beautiful imagery and metaphors. Wonderful meter and rhyme.

The Raven - Edgar Allan Poe
Probably the best known (and best crafted) poem in existence

Stopping By Woods On A Snowy Evening - Robert Frost
A peaceful poem with an overgrowth of imagery

Nothing Gold Can Stay - Robert Frost
A simple but deep poem

Fire And Ice - Robert Frost
A chilling poem speculating on the nature of desire and hate

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost
An extremely well known poem

Do Not Go Gentle Into That Good Night - Dylan Thomas
The best known villanelle

Sonnet 60 - William Shakespeare
A classical look at the passing of time

Annabel Lee - Edgar Allan Poe
A sad poem by the master of poetry

Dream Differed - Langston Hughes
An interesting poem by an interesting person

Pink Lemonade

While I am well aware that it is only nearing the end of winter in the northern hemisphere, I recently finished a summer themed poem I had started a few months ago. I think it is an unusual poem, both in rhyme scheme and subject matter, but it's a soothing one too.

PINK LEMONADE

Cool, sweet, pink lemonade
And picnics in the leafy shade
Make any summer quite surreal.
So lace my drink with jubilee
And share with me a twilight meal.
Come and sit in cool shade
And sip on sweet, pink lemonade.

Many of my poems are currently in submission to several literary magazines and websites but when they are accepted, (or, far more likely, rejected), I will post them. And I shall be sure to spare the reader from my mediocre material, none of which I am aware of having submitted.

As my more refined work clears the editor's desks I will post some of it. Until then, I will continue to writing reviews, sharing my thoughts and the like.