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Evan Shaw
07-11-2013, 08:07 AM
She said, "why don't you start your own thread of poems?" so here it is.

Independence Day

Fireworks exploding, reminiscent of Francis Scott Key
That Ode he wrote to victory,
So beyond adequately. Play ball!
Cannot capture the essence of that rapture.
When the Flag was waving still.
No wonder he took up his quill!


The Thinker's Solitude

In chair, a leisure hour
Like an alchemist awaiting transmutation
a new mood will come soon.

Whisked away, without notice
Inner unfolds like a lotus.

Following gleam like a Train with steam
Through mountains & valleys I careen.

"Remember Unlimited Supply, when you decide
Where you'll climb."

Arriving to town, I cool down
With water aqueducts brought around.


(untitled)

Variety of forms, veiled appearances of Unity.
Being solemnly lurking, until you lift and see a core
That essence spoken of in lore!
For what we see is changing, a hidden stuff, vibrating.
But behind our fleeting thoughts, there's a background uncaught.
Stainless, free, beyond our identity.
While objects float across the screen
That which observes remains unchanged.
Who were you yesterday, beyond your name?


Camping Poesy

Pt. 1

Material science, dissects & isolates
A rational method Francis Bacon traced.
By overlooking the whole & similar connections
We end up with separate parts.
But how could a heart function without a body?
Or a hotel without a lobby?

Systems & Context
Even an island is surrounded by water.
The proverbial Forest for the Trees
Smaller to cells, larger to galaxies
Even these can be reduced down
Or expanded farther

Pt. 2 (written at lunch break, during hike)

A web, a great chain, interlacing.
To isolate a piece of Nature
overlooks, inter-relations. Such satisfaction
a broad context brings - gives placement
to things. Here on rock I sit,
peering across ravine. Already crossed,
the murmur of a stream.
A root, a seam in Earth's jeans.
When I look up, with everything!


A Bird Spoke to Me

Before me I saw a road
With intoxicating drinks hanging from trees
Allured, flesh tingling

I sipped the sweet nectar

Before me I saw a road
Walking stick hits ground
Twisting around the bend, when
A bird spoke to me
"Ye embark, towards a mark
with the Beloved
dotted in the sky
a moment of union
that makes a Thunderous Clap."

Before me I saw a road
Vivid colors exploded to my senses
A new hue, translucent, opened up
With unrivaled certainty
It all sang: "One love! One love! His love!"
And the people thought me crazed,

because He shared this secret

with me.


Energy of Kosmos

Holding planets to their course
"That apple, a force!"

Lightning splits a tree
Emotions run thru body

Essence of our will
Manifested by passions

Variations of One Energy
Vibrating frequencies explain
Patterns at root the same

Radio waves, gamma rays, all these subtle distinctions
melt into
One Vibrating Ocean

Explore
Living Energy
Unified at the Core


Templar Secrecy

Crusader wears Red Cross
Blade sticks with morning frost

In the beginning
Formed under a banner
I do so solemnly swear, oaths were declared
Seeds of fate, accept em!
Route to Jeruselum, protect em!

Yet
Beneath Solomon's Temple
they searched
Were relics unearthed?

Return to France, power entranced
King Phillip IV threatened
All the gold, coffers full
Pope persuade, heretics say!
"Round them up one by one"

Morlay bound, dungeon free
but stake he sees
Outside the Notre Dame
To square they came, to witness
the death of a martyr
On Friday the 13th


Without Name

Awake! To what, dear Adventurer?
Woven strings of possibility
Sculpted by thou will, or prior still?

We need only obey
Concord's Sage would say
Tap the still

For in a recess of the mind
Is a gleam so fine

A lowly command
To become

Strangely chirping
What we know

Brick by brick
What's the mortar?
Some Order


A Knock

Blacksmith billows embers rising higher
A labor pursued, part of his being
Sticks sparth axe in fire

Why do you hammer
on with midnight oil?
When the sun blesses
Those who greet its arrival

Placing axe on wall, a knock
Will you open the door
For lone wayward traveler?

Have a seat, listen to these tales
Guarded by those in antiquity
Beliefs implanted while young, the wise begun
To change their views as they grew

For we must clean our slate
To taste freedom
From all phenomena

Impress upon your mind
That you have two horses
Both wild and not broken in
But you are the charioteer
With the reins

cafolini
07-11-2013, 10:24 AM
You are indeed the charioteer with the reins.

AuntShecky
07-11-2013, 11:57 PM
See? That wasn't so bad, was it?

I still like the fireworks one, since I first spotted it in that other thread. Good way to start this off, like the National Anthem before a game. "Play ball!"

For the subsequent ones, I detect a tendency toward abstraction, though it's very clear you definitely have "Something to Say" of a philosophical, historical, and scientific nature. This is refreshing, as so many of the verse we usually see is so "personal" that the works seem like journal entries whose meanings make sense only to the writer himself or herself.

The only thing is to try to forget the fact that you are Writing a Poem. This makes you too "conscious when you should be unconscious" (Eliot); as a result the lines are often stilted and/or are too far above the plane of human experience. Focus on the object or the tangible subject you can see, hear, taste, and touch (in a palpable way.) Remember what W.C. Williams said: "No ideas but in things."

Haunted
07-15-2013, 09:26 PM
Really glad you put Fireworks in it's own thread and opened it off with it, I'm in full agreement with Auntie. Even though I'm not quite sure what was it that "Cannot capture the essence of that rapture", in my mind I applied it to the subject of the title and those words describe so well how I feel every time time I watch the spectacular displays.

In general I find your poetry not all that accessible, it's probably more me than you. Maybe the human conditions speak more to me, dunno. Keep writing and posting, it's a breath of fresh air nevertheless.

Evan Shaw
10-12-2013, 01:55 AM
A few more:

Night Defense

Vines covered castle walls, distant forest line
Roul keeps watch

Paced atop walkway, longbow in hand
Out of trees sneaks enemy

Startled, eager to wake fellows
Down ladder he goes

Opens tent flap, shakes commander and warns
"Battle is upon us."

Rising with vigor, dons his armor
As horns sound

All about is clamor and shouts,
There up the wall he mounts

Archers fire a volley, door is braced
"We must protect this place."

Hot tar sits in cauldron, awaiting ladders
Veteran emboldens son

Brandished sword at oncoming invaders
The lad runs to save her

Crossed archway, dodging and deflecting, he reached
The living quarters

Opens by key, "Come with me, diligently."

Down in dungeon he swiftly hides her,
"Hope you're not afraid of spiders."

Banner flaps from staff, the hoard sent back,
as dawn reveals aftermath

Key in hand, alas, blood still ran


Muir and the Serene Sequoia

Muir:

Ran to meet party
Word traveled fast, Emerson, here at last!
Awed to my feet I didn't dare greet
The herald of American reform.
Reverence reserved normally for El Capitan
Yosemite's wonders, I had to show him.

Emerson:

Entered saw mill humbly presented
His plants and drawings, those majestic domes
Captured by his hand, sparked
Curiosity

Muir:

Yonder trail meanders valley floor
Wanting to explore, I tried to implore
"Let's join the Sequoias and build a glorious campfire."
But his party would have no more

Emerson:

Gazed up translucent rays pierce
Carrying roots o' life
Symbolizing growth o' thought
Beauty revealed order

Muir:

Rode horses in Mariposa Grove
High priests flanked us, branches overhead
Samoset thence unnamed.
"There were giants in those days." Emerson said
Nodding to our antiquity.
"I would willingly walk all the way
to your Concord if so I could
have you for a companion - the
Indians and hot plains would be nothing."


Transference of the Stone

Obelisk basks noon-time Sun, while sand rests beneath
Hierophant carves a hieroglyph

Seafaring lines fastened, roar of caged lion
Ship leaves dock of Alexandria

Sailing across Mediterranean, stone and scroll aboard
Oarsman rows to beat of drum

Rome destination far, as waves threaten
Navigator charts way by Orion

Past Sicilian harbor, plans in accord
Northward winds carry

Dirt roads taken, columns of Forum stand
Scroll handed to Senator

"Long, long they traveled, to beckon
by transference of the stone.
Let's complete the circuit, and
give them what we owe."


Horse Hair on Stick

Dipping the brush into a mound of paint
A creation begins to spread across the canvas
As urge to bring alive an image starting faint
The expansive prairie of Kansas

Hanging the finished product on the wall
A smell of acrylic still sifts about room
As visions come of gallery hall
The subtle about to bloom

Crossing floor to window, where:


The Composer's Visitor

Seated under hanging lantern
Capturing a whimsical stream, drifting, drifting
Tying together notes in successive fashion
Rat-a-tat-tat, left foot he taps it.

Arrival of guest, opens chest, and removes toccata piece
Beside collected bird nest. Ivory keys
Rapidly plunked, quicker than a candle dunked.
Back and forth across that motion zebra,
Went this nimble libra.

"Down to the billiard hall, let's appear.
Fill it with cheer, while they re-rack."

"Amongst the shouts, and glass clanks,
We'll leave 'em with something to thank."

Extending on into evening, they practiced.



Appreciate the feedback, thnx!