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"Gaze no more in the bitter glass."
His jealousy still stalks my mind.
I let his marriage offer pass.
He's worried. Are there things I'll find?
But I will gaze where I feel best,
On any shallow pool or face.
Whatever truth I find I'll test.
Whatever's false I will replace.
Today was the intended deadline but being there is only one entry so far, I will extend the deadline to April 20th
Withdrawn
Sorry for the delay but I had been out sick, well it seems I only have one entry so you are up next YesNo, but I did really enjoy your poem and I think that it is worthy of the win.
Thanks, Dark Muse!
The next quote is by James Russell Lowell:
Endurance is the crowning quality, and patience all the passion, of great hearts.
Deadline May 15th.
Here is something about the quote and the author: http://izquotes.com/quote/248257
I don't know what poem this comes from, if any, but it reads like two lines of blank verse.
Endurance of the Heart
Gradually I watched myself
become transformed
into the lady of the tower,
but for you I wear it like a
badge of honor, though
there are moments I wish
we could grasp at more control
over our lives, instead of being
made to languish upon the end
of fate's string.
Endurance is the crowning
quality and patience
all the passion of great hearts,
so it is for our loves sake,
that I suffer to be bowed under
the shackles of life, for nothing
will break nor weaken
the strength which we grant each other.
Ever while the world
may try and keep us forced apart,
the moon is our constant
from which never we can be depraved,
and even while oceans may lie between us,
we watch the same night sky,
and in our dreams our souls
take flight where we dance
among the stars.
Thanks, Dark Muse, for the entry!
The contest will close on May 31st.
Endurance is the crowning quality
and patience all the passion
of great hearts
love is to drive
the force that strive
and humility is the kindness
that derives the task
of multiplying the fact
that life
without any acts
such as these to asks
is barely
a last
harmony casts.
Love Song
Days grow dark, the shadows lengthen
On my cheek the tears drops glisten
Must we pass now like sand through the glass?
Is there no hope for our tomorrow
Must we earn our bread in sorrow
Or shall this wretched inconvenience also pass?
Endurance is the crowning quality,
and patience all the passion, of great hearts.
We shall rise again robed like royalty
When the fire begins to smoulder it restarts!
Once again, the sun is blazing
A million stars are there for gazing
Take my hand and we'll make I swear!
Turn from dusk and face the dawning
No goodbye, our hearts are calling
I am certain now that our pathway is so clear!
Endurance is the crowning quality,
Not just what we are but what we wannabe
Moment lived by moment through our years!
Patience all the passion, of great hearts
Love and warmth covers the hurt
Take my hand, we'll make it somehow, my dear...
Pendragon
(C) 5/31/2014
Thank you for the entries!
Dark Muse: A love poem of separation. It reminded me of Sita's separation from Rama, but that may not have been your intent.
cacian: I liked the phrase "humility is the kindness".
Pendragon: I enjoyed the couplet: "Once again, the sun is blazing/A million stars are there for gazing"
And the winner is Dark Muse!
Congratulations!
Thank you, I think it is always interesting to see what others draw from my poems. It was inspired by personal experience, and I had something of a cross between the Lady of Shallot and the Legend of Brunhilde in mind.
I will have a new quote up soon.
Ok next line
She was a phantom of delight
from the poem of the same name by Wordsworth
Deadline June 10th
She was a phantom of delight,
But heavy storms brought restless rain.
The clouds stayed dense and dark till night.
My mind felt trapped inside my brain.
I wanted only to embrace
The goddess who was smiling there
Where tears are strangers to her face
And here's as good as anywhere.
Kate Morgan: Hotel Coronado
Her restless spirit roamed the hallway
Her touch was felt upon the stairs
The scent of her perfume was in the parlor
Her footsteps echoed in the hall
You could almost taste the nectar of her lips
Her form was transparent yet round and firm
That is why I endured the haunting
She was a phantom of delight...
Pendragon
(C) 6/6/2014
The deadline has passed but with only two entires I will extend the deadline to June 15th
Wow this is a tough one, both these poems where great, and had a wonderful haunting atmosphere, and the quoted line fit seamlessly into each of them. I cannot truly say that I think one is better than the other, I might just have to flip a coin to decide this.
As I can only pick one winner I am going to give this one to Pendragon.
Thank you, Dark Muse.
Here's a line from a very short famous poem:
"As I was coming down the stair I met a man who wasn't there."
Good luck.
I will judge this contest July 4th.
The Man Who Wasn't There
I knew at once I was not alone,
I felt it like an invisible touch,
was that not a creaking upon the step
I hear?
Yet do my mine eyes deceive me?
For no matter which way I look
I can see no one there,
a chill slid across my flesh.
A shadow I am certain I could detect,
a sound like laughter, and the tingle
of a breath stirring against my neck,
I am frozen in place wishing
this where some nightmare
from which I could awaken.
Let others say what they might,
for do this day I will still declare,
as I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
As I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there.
Like other friends I like a lot
Sometimes they're real. Sometimes they're not.
As I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
I really saw him, this I swear
I saw him and I felt his glare
But, unafraid, did not despair.
Who was this man who wasn't there?
What was his name? Jack, Tom or Pierre?
Maybe the ghost of Fred Astaire?
The ghost was sure a millionaire
and I? Was I perhaps his heir?
L1 & L2 from William Hughes Mearns' song from the play "The Psyco-ed"; and poem "Antigonish"
Within the Silvered Pane
"As I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there."
A silvered pane hung near the staircase
where he - I met ourselves face to face
Realization soon became chagrin
when I grasped my bogey was my twin
But since I'd determined he wasn't there
I sought to awaken from my nightmare
T'was destined not to be much to my disdain
I remain nonexistent within the silvered pane
6/19/2014 r.6/20/2014
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
As I was coming down the stair
I met a man who wasn't there
and as it were
before that then
many went to come again.
OK Showdown!
Dark Muse: Spooky and excellent. Love the lines
"I am frozen in place wishing
this where some nightmare
from which I could awaken."
Yesno. Clever! Like this line best:
"Like other friends I like a lot
Sometimes they're real. Sometimes they're not. "
Windblown I loved your rhyme scheme. Not many poets would think of this form.
Tailor STATELY You actually made the man who wasn't there real!
"Realization soon became chagrin
when I grasped my bogey was my twin"
Cacin Minimal, and I'm sorry, but I really don't get it.
*****WINNER******
Tailor STATELY! Congrats!
Pendragon
Thank you Pendragon !
My obsession with the silvered pane/has finally paid a dividend.
Next famous quoted line was quoted by Patti Smith:
I have been preoccupied by death these past few years with the passings of family and friends; and am now care-giving for another with imminent passing. My feeble attempts on poetry about death are as ghosts in the whirlwind. Emily Dickinson thought deeply about death and wrote about it with power and grace and I thought to use her quote "Because I could not stop for death" but it has already been chosen... so off to Brainy Quotes I went and hope the one I've chosen hasn't been spent.Quote:
I'm concerned more about the death of a bee
While not from an actual poem of Patti's I hope it's acceptable to the group.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
The Sting
It came upon me as a shock,
completely unseen,
until the searing pain
burst upon me,
seeming to throb endlessly,
but my gaze fixed
upon so fragile a creature,
in its staggering
downward flight,
such delicacy
to achieve such impact,
how it was made
for self-sacrifice,
it scarcely seemed fair
that it floundered so,
how its very preservation
must become it's end,
so it was how I became
concerned more about the
death of a bee
than the pain it caused
to me.
Musings
This July Fourth marked the twentieth year
That I have lived among the shadows
Full blown explosion of my undiagnosed and untreated bi-polar disorder
Met with Independence Day fireworks, starting down a road
With no going back, no chance of being cure, and often no hope
The Spectre of Suicide often haunts my every waking moment
But I drive the boney bugger away
My life will be defined by a regimen of drugs and counseling
But when it comes down to it all
I accept the things I cannot change for the pathway of the past is closed forever
All in all, I'm more concerned by the death of a bee
Life needs the honey
Pendragon
(C) July 5. 2014
I'm concerned more about the death of a bee.
I'm concerned more about the fate of that tree
Than I am about what is much closer to me.
Let me die. Let it come. I just don't want to see
Some other one suffer on so needlessly
Like the death and the dying of that honest bee.
A good start !
Deadline: Midnight (California PDT) 7/25/2014
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
Time almost up: Deadline: Midnight (California PDT) 7/25/2014
Dark Muse “The Sting”
Such praise for a dear creature. The language you employed as delicate as the bee itself.
Memorable: “my gaze fixed/upon so fragile a creature,/in its staggering/downward flight,/such delicacy/to achieve such impact”
Pendragon “Musings”
Your words about the protagonist bring pause to ponder and hope for a surcease of suffering for the brave soul. The last line comes off as flippant for some reason; an abrupt end to an otherwise thoughtful introspection.
Memorable: “I have lived among the shadows”... “But when it comes down to it all/I accept the things I cannot change”
YesNo “One View of Others”
More pathos from the protagonist as was offered in Pendragon's poem. L2 bothers me a bit (though I'm generally predisposed towards trees); perhaps because it seems redundant to me within the scope of your poem. The end rhyme scheme: e! might benefit from the form being a tighter 1-stanza of 5-lines.
Memorable: “Let me die. Let it come. I just don't want to see/Some other one suffer on so needlessly”
Another tough one to judge... the winner is Dark Muse. Congratulations to all !
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
Thank you, I will have a new line soon.
Ok here is the next line:
The moon and its broken reflection
From The Bridge by Longfellow
Deadline: Aug. 20th
Moons and Hearts
The mirror reflects my broken life
The moon and its broken reflection
Little jewels scattered in the night
A step in the right direction
Shattering hearts make a terrible sound
Broken moons turn to asteroids and dust
I try to remember that what goes around
Comes around in due season, I trust
The moon and its broken reflection in glass
My heart and my soul torn apart
It is just about as easy to fix the moon I guess
As to restore a badly broken heart
So I'll pray for the moon, that its broken reflection
Is simply that, an illusion at best
And realize that I will never reach perfection
Allow my trouble mind and heart to rest
Pendragon
(c) 7/29/2014
The moon with its broken reflection
Will soon get two lovers’ inspection
On a porch where the trees
Seem enchanted as breeze
Plays a tune that will sweeten connection.
the moon and its broken reflection
the moon and its
broken reflection
this countenance born
through introspection -
an effigy cast
of collected dews
reveals a poet
without his muse
8/9/2014
Dedicated to my Mother who passed through the mortal veil today shortly after I posted this poem. My poetry page was already dedicated to her, so it's appropriate she have this poem for herself. She encouraged my writing no matter how silly or far out or, well - you know if you've ever visited my page. So, in many ways she was my muse.
Ta ! (short for tarradiddle),
tailor STATELY
My sincere condolences on the passing of your mother, Tailor. May God comfort you in your hour of sorrow.
Pendragon
My condolences as well.
Your poem and comment speak to your mother's legacy. A lovely tribute. You will always have her in your heart, in your memories...and thus, will ever be your muse. May God surround you at this time with the love of friends and family and fill you with peace.
My condolences as well.
Thank you all for your kind words.