A Poetry Thread for Sappy and Sensitive Posters

[Classy Viking]

Well I'm bored. So I'm making a Thread where we can post and critique each other's poems (If people want that).

Here's nothing.

Self and Self Doubt
Inspired after Billy Collin's Litany

I look into the mirror, into the reflection and see You,
The look in your eyes tells me you are the ink in the pen
and the way you hold yourself makes you just the light on the stage
Your unsmiling face resembles the sound of keys typing,
and the question which has no answer .
You tell me that are not the star of the play,
the publisher of the story,
or the next Casanova.

And that jello stomach tells me you are a school bus on a foggy morning,
and at you're best a taxi in a dreary night,
but you are not even close
to being the sports car on a sunny beach.
And a quick look in the mirror will tells me
that you are the sum of all your parts

A you look at me, it reveals who I am,
the man who looks into the mirror
I also happen to be the writer who holds the pen,
the actor who stands under the lights
and the one who plays with the rhetoric.
I am more than all the vehicles and various weather conditions.
You are only just my reflection, and doubt.

[Classy Viking]

Rock and Roll

A crowd begins to gather
The pulse coming from the speakers
Now comes the hush

Four gods appear on stage
With wicked weapons in their hands
Thunder is here

Lights dim magically
Bass line kicking like a child
Youth in control

These men are elemental
Hungry ears crave every next song
Been a long time

Pied Pipers control us
Dazed and confused encore comes and goes
Reality comes back

[Washougal_Otaku]

Well, the forums that my club has features a small area dedicated to writings, such as poetry.  Unfortunately, all that there is is a collection of haiku.  Here's mine!

Eyes That Yearn

One show to the next,
My eyes ache for anime;
I'm an otaku.


A Rant by Ranma

Damn this Chinese curse.
No more training in the rain;
my balance is off.

Okay, those are the only ones that I'd posted there.

[Classy Viking]

The Sprite

She dances like the steam coming off the concrete after a spring rain
Possessing youth of a brook created by the snow melting.

This Sprite entertains my madness.

With each of our shifting city talks,
each meal shared which grown cold into the night,
each moment of metallic melodies as we danced like merry men.
These are what drives my desire.

But as the hot flame and calm water
can not share each others embrace.

The Sprite can be as owned as the wind.
For that I am lightning in a bottle
denied my own will, denied my desire.
For this I dream of The Sprite to be caged
in either my own or ensnared in another's
as I seek the peace of her company or the rage of her absence.
Not the forced acceptance of her torturous friendship.

[RemSaverem]

"What drives my desire" would be better than "what drives of my desire".

I like the last paragraph of The Sprite the best.

I've performed several of my poems on TV, at open mics, at conventions, etc. However, the majority either are about surviving sexual assault, about spirituality, or erotica. So I wouldn't post them here.

If I find or compose anything appropriate, I will, though

[MiriaRose]

I don't write sappy love poems and I'm def. not sappy or sensitive, but I'll write a Petrarchan love sonnet now for funzies.

Petrarch Would Be Ashamed
High above the angels, there is a maid
more beautiful than Helen. What soft lips!
that no mortal man is so pure to kiss.
To marry her, any price would be paid.
To be with such a dame must be forbade;
one would die in a moment of sweet bliss!
For she is not mundane, she's a chalice
and her bright light will never, ever fade.

And yet she still came down to Earth for one
lifetime to love and to be loved and for
some strange reason she's here right now- With me?
Oh, Laura, you light my life like the sun!
Being happy with you is not a chore,
and I hope it lasts for eternity.

[Taikei]

(wish I could have figured out how to make this two-columned)

The pieces are set,
The game has begun
To the one who loses,
Their sanity undone

The King? The Queen?
Who should they be?
Which pieces to sacrifice,
Will you choose me?

The pawns, your defense
With your Queen, you oppose
With each piece that you lose
Your desperation, it grows

Crooked are Bishops
One on black, one on white
Two elegant dancers
Both forced to fight

The Knights? Royal servants
They’re there to be used
Is that your opinion?
Such abstracted views

Rooks or Castles,
To defend or destroy
Tell me, how many
Will you send to the void?

Behind enemy lines,
You can’t let them in
Which pieces to gamble,
Which lives to end?

Every piece should be treasured
No matter how weak
If you failed to notice
You’re future looks bleak

All your pieces now lost
But I still wish to know,
Who’s the King? All these sacrifices,
But nothing to show

The King’s not the ruler
He’s the one to protect
So who is your King?
Have you decided yet?

Checkmate, you lost
You’ve got nothing left
Your kingdom destroyed,
Time to pay up the debt

But, to you it’s all just a game
Just barely sane, and yet
The endless battle continues
The pieces, reset

[DancingTofu]

Ohgeez.  Brace yourselves...

Here's one of my most strictly structured pieces.  It uses an iambic 8-6 pattern so it's very rhythmic and written to be spoken, not sung.

As I lay awake at night,
sweet thoughts doth fill my mind.
Of a day not long from now
with your arms wrapped in mine.
 
And so the loneliness does pass,
as slumber takes its hold.
But when I wake on every morn',
I'm still alone and cold.

Out of bed I drag myself,
embittered by the day.
For every time I wake from sleep,
you are stolen away.
 
Throughout the day I dredge my thoughts
for any sign of you,
But, darling, you elude me so,
always just out of view.
 
So as I sit here late at night,
I doubt my sanity.
I wonder if you might exist,
within reality.
 
If ever you might read this poem,
please tell me that it's true.
If you exist outside my dreams,
please tell me that you're you.

Next one's a song.  Wrote this after getting dumped last summer.  I was riding my bike along Terwilliger during sunset and remembered how a similar sunset three months prior had really served to bring myself and this particular girl together.  It's about how love has a habit of fading away and leaving us stripped down to our bare and lonely selves.  On a more positive note, it's also about how we can't afford to sit around waiting for time to heal our broken hearts, and how happiness is something that you have to actively pursue.

The flowers bloom a lovely shade
reflected in your eyes.
Into this pool I slowly wade
as the water starts to rise.
Yet spring has left the water chill
And suddenly I fear
that same mistake which haunts me still,
for 'twas too soon, my dear.
 
They say time heals everything
I say time is killing me.
I don't want to spend my whole life waiting
for some fate or fortune to set me free
 
The sun beats down a blazing heat
as we two dance as one.
Following a silent beat,
Oblivious to the sun.
The summer heat though does exhaust
our will to carry on.
And steadily our love is lost,
Our energy is gone.
 
They say time heals everything
I say time is killing me.
I don't want to spend my whole life waiting
for some fate or fortune to set me free
 
The horizon glows a vibrant hue
which glows upon my back.
And as I ride, I think of you:
The partner I now lack.
Yet on this autumn dusk so warm
I have just one regret:
That I can't hold you in my arms,
and watch one last sunset.
 
They say time heals everything
I say time is killing me.
I don't want to spend my whole life waiting
for some fate or fortune to set me free
 
The ice does burn upon my face
as tears fall down my cheeks.
And though I know I'll lose this race
I'll carry on for weeks.
This winter finds me all alone,
amidst the joy and cheer.
The weary man I have become
feels old on this New Year.
 
They say time heals everything.
I say time is killing me.
I don't want to spend my whole life waiting
for some fate or fortune to set me free.

Last one can be read as either spoken verse or song.  As a song it's a slow ballad with dulcimer accompaniment.  Hopefully I'll find the time to record it one of these days.  This is about how the ocean can make live's biggest problems seem so small.  The recent events in Japan give this an interesting context.

A young boy sits upon the sand
and whispers to the wind,
"Why ever is my heart so torn;
when ever shall it mend?"
The ocean drones a slow retort,
"when time stops standing still."
And part of him forever sat
in tears upon that hill.
 
Two lovers fresh and full of joy
then tread upon those sands,
They shared a gentle smile as
they kissed and clasps their hands.
Through the next few months they flew
and gazed upon the world,
Until the young man stood upon
that beach without his pearl.
 
For days he sat and pondered there
again betrayed by love,
Again he'd lost his dearest friend
who'd fit him like a glove.
His mind sank into sadness
and his grief sank into fear.
Fear sank into a screaming voice
which no one else could hear.
 
The wise old waves were right, though. 
Time did heal the wound.
Time brought peace to the traveler
who had become marooned.
He laid down on the warm dry sand
as the wind caressed his chest.
He listened to those old waves crash,
and made one soft bequest:
 
"Ocean, you are wise and strong,
as old as time itself;
And yet you took the time to help
a meek man like myself.
Soft white clouds do drift above
and down now falls the rain;
And cleansed forever shall I be
of this eternal pain."

Might share some more later.  These are kind of all about loneliness and healing from lost love--I promise that's not the only thing I write about!  These are just the three that happen to be on my laptop right now.

[thesirensings]

Chippy

Forgive me,
for I have eaten
all of your
prostitutes.

I have always been
particularly fond
of the baked kind,
wrapped in a
foil-y bag.

Some of them
were not whole,
but they had
a delightful crunch
to them
all the same.

Although they were
barbeque flavored,
as opposed to
French Onion,
they were still
delicious.

[EveofAbyss]

I regularly post my poems and writing here, if any feel so inclined to look.

[MiriaRose]

Chippy

Forgive me,
for I have eaten
all of your
prostitutes.

I have always been
particularly fond
of the baked kind,
wrapped in a
foil-y bag.

Some of them
were not whole,
but they had
a delightful crunch
to them
all the same.

Although they were
barbeque flavored,
as opposed to
French Onion,
they were still
delicious.

I love this poem. <3 But that might be because it's more like the stuff I usually write.

[EveofAbyss]

Wrote something for the Japanese crisis. Hopefully it can be a voice for those in need of one, understanding to those feeling isolated and alone.

3月11日

Has barrenness ever been so scoured of its beauty,
Unclouded so as this without that cold, aesthetic pall?
In sudden, spectral silence my whole world has found its end,
Livelihoods unmade by waves which ripped away them all.
Desolation croaks amongst these dripping displaced eaves,
But this transience bears nothing wont of beauty,
With all that I called home become necropoleis in hours,
With every voice the vast Pacific muting.

In these ravaged districts, I’m compelled to contemplate,
Is such unwary rapture the worst I have to face?
But to my lone and homeless worries shorelines cruelly stretch,
Giving back each broken body waters did embrace.
Why…the pitiless waste…why…the obscene loss…
My kindred coat this coast like aimlessly discarded shells.
Upon the ocean’s shoulders I’m an orphan made today,
With all I’ve ever known annulled beneath the risen swells.