Beautiful buck
ahead
in golden sunlight
glances back
briefly
bolts like d’breeze
*
rob kistner © 2022
More pieces at: Weekend Writing Prompts
Beauty in Brevity
Author: Rob Kistner
Friends
“Bear Friend” — Olga Barantseva
Yeah
I agree big buddy
the world has become confusing
with the planet’s ecology teetering
the constantly evolving global pandemic
the brutal war in Ukraine
the near insurrection in the US
women’s rights under attack again
insane gasoline prices rearing up
economic struggles everywhere
major corporations imploding
and
Marvel’s standard of excellence
slipping — badly
it’s all such bad news
almost un-bear-able
ah c’mon
quit yer growling big guy
I was just being pun-ny
ok
yes
terrible
I know
I’ll knock it off
hey
smile ya big fur ball
we got each other
always
and look
that forest
so beautiful
and still there
for now anyway
*
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse
Free Your Mind
~ Standing free in one’s own space, opening outward to all possibilities, entrapped by none of them, feeling the universal flow of the essence of each. We are all beams of light, shot through the universe, seeking not conclusion, but rather, the energy of flow. As often is said — it isn’t the destination, it is the journey. ~
Seek not the pompous
swelled with false confidence
dispensing the formulas of bliss
condemning you as the un-visioned
while fleecing you of your hard begotten
follow not the kings and queens of mammon
who worship the bottom line
desiring the upper hand
who would despoil the world and all it offers
as their playground of gratification
suffer not the priests and priestesses
who would say that only they have heard
and in so saying would dictate your thoughts
and direct your deeds
to conform to this truth of the god in their pocket
do not be cowered by the iron hand
of the bullet-brained who march in step
to crush under boot the will of any who will not queue
into the line that they have deemed
leads to the only way that life must be
do not be swayed by those who — “know”…
possessed of absolutely no uncertainty
knowing sure that what they know is what is
and in their infallible knowledge
know that what they know
is
was
and will ever be
resist demands
shun peer pressures
follow neither this singular voice
for I am not the source
not the be all
I too am but a searcher
instead — free your mind
gather with those who do not “know”
find the curious and the uncertain
those still filled with wonder
drawn to unfolding discovery
who embrace the constancy of learning
change
and growth
always stepping onward
but stepping lightly
alert to lift
and re-step
enlightened
it is they who will traverse this evolving world
this ever expanding universe of possibility
fashioning it as a fair
brighter
and better place
*
rob kistner © 2022
EDUCATION = COOPERATION <<~>> DOMINATION = ANNIHILATION
More poetry at: dVerse
More poetry at: Poets & Storytellers
sadly, the prevailing thinking of today’s world is imploding into negativity & darkness
New Day
This is the summer of the soul. A time of serious contemplation, and a time of great joy! This is a solemn Summer Solstice, scarred with wounds, yet so rich with possibility. A time to shout, voices raised in happiness, voices raised in insistence — every voice full, every shout to be heard, every song sung full throat! A bright and golden time for change, a time for moving forward. A time to warm our hearts in the sun of a brand new day. Not to forget the struggles, but to use them as a clearing to a shining tomorrow. A time to believe.
Yes, there may be wafts of smoke in the trees, but also carried on the breeze, are the songs of birds, the aroma of flowers, of the rich soil of the earth, of the grasses, leaves, and conifer needles — the fragrance’s of new birth, the heady intoxication of new dreams. This is the true bouquet of summer. Let this Summer Solstice mark an honest effort to make all the dreams a reality! For the summer sun shines on everyone. May each experience be one of warmth and rejuvenation.
carry dreams of tomorrow
fragrant with new hope
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
More poetry at: dVerse
Acquiescence
Roaring in
the chest of the wave
slams the massive boulder
the great stone rocks back
undetectably
with a deep thud
more felt than heard
it bumps solid
against smaller boulders
to which it crowds
as the spent wave recedes
the hulking mass settles again
immovable as bedrock
defying the next swell
and the next
and the next
each time it rocks back
with a subtle thud
and the sea is patient
in the ebb and flow of time
this steadfast giant
and its lesser neighbors
will reluctantly
imperceptibly
acquiesce
to become the grains
of ocean floor
upon which they now rest
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
https://youtu.be/K5oAf7bs7_U
A Blues Poet Dies
Time’s short for me
feelin’ like a void’s comin’
like the blue-black I see
when I stare into the night sky
void’s comin’
like a soakin’ wet fever
in my brain
it shows me nothin’
nothin’ but a shade
fadin’ t’black
images of memories racin’ past
like drivin’ at night
speedin’ blurred
doing 190
‘round the corners
streetlights streakin’
jus’a little man
insignificant
all’s I am
ev’a wuz
bangin’ word ‘gainst word
hammerin’ verse
searchin’ for truth
ma’ spirit’s depleted
been poorly treated
sure as hell been cheated
try’n a’get paid
get laid
livin’
in a blue angry world
now seein’ it slippin’ away
some blues
are just blues
n’some are death blues
and listen here
I got’em bad
hear me when I say
the whiskey’d
death blues is comin’
through that open door
I see’m
hear’m
feel’m rattle
poundin’
like an iron sledge
crushin’ my bones
spikin’ m’soul t’darkness
FUCK YOU LIFE!
look what you put me through
ridin’ the jellyroll line
that silver’d fever
‘n a scum-brown bowl
chasin’ that pocket-thick
golden madness
look wacha ‘ad me doin’
look wacha ‘ad me thinkin’
but I’m near gone
out ‘da damned door
your grip is slipped
I’m near loosed
ya’ hear — life
now ya’ just fragments
pieces of dreams
pieces of bad dreams
nightmare sorrows
riffs off key
in a blue dark night
I was born to a hard mornin’
but now
noddin’ g’bye in d’twilight
ready to shatter
into a million pieces of light
shot through the universe
stardust
returning to pure energy
eternal
all that time here
all those bewildering moments
all that frantic crazy-ass chaos
all that wonderful madness
over
done
gone
I’m light’ning flyin’
no more tryin’
no more lyin’
no more cryin’
all those moments
will be lost in time
like tears in rain
washed away
and I’m free
I shed this temporal husk
now life…
I will think on you
no more
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
Billie delivers this following song with near perfection of tone and emotion.
It hits me especially hard — I was right there once in my youth.
Enigma
Poet
you are enigma
darkness and shadow
fire and light
you incandesce
burning deep
into my soul
you stir my spirit
ignite my wonder
leaving me
aflame with curiosity
adrift in uncertainty
enraged by inequity
transfixed by mystery
impaled upon your visions
I’m spellbound
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
~ follows here — a most beautiful enigma ~
I Knew
When you would
no longer
rouse
to my embrace
I knew
when you would
no longer
look
into my eyes
I knew
when I laid
the precious pearls
of my private heart
at your feet
and you just
stepped through them
never reaching to touch
I knew
when you could
no longer
speak softly
my name
when you could
no longer
smile tenderly
at my touch
or rest your head
upon my shoulder
I knew
there would be
no more
whispered love
our forever
was forever gone
I knew
then for certain
you
were lost to me
never again
will we
walk our rose garden
dreaming
so high above the clouds
nor sharing
the magic of the moon
your love
has turned a blank face
never again
will we
drink deeply
passion’s wine
nor taste sweet love
upon our lips
I know
you
are lost to me
clearly I see
my heart
must let it be
you’re lost to me
*
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse
Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers
Longing
Sing to me sweet absent lover
songs sung soft as silk and satin
sing to me ‘cross this summer sea
a beautiful melody
about how the world is ours
and that perfect moment when
fair winds of love
sail you back to me
bringing soft kisses
like honeyed cream
to quench my thirst
one golden kiss
to last eternity
take me timeless
in love’s neverending dream
please come back to me
my sweet absent lover
carry me off to ecstasy
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
Gears of Time
~ two thoughts ~
The future — the past
tomorrow — yesterday
gears of time turn so fast
moments slip away
we fret what we missed
or obsess our destiny
yet today is all there is
forget the was — the will be
days yet to unfold
ones that slipped away
are not days in our control
we only have today
why stare at the clock
panicked by what may come
slow down — learn to walk
stop running to and from
forget what’s come and gone
wondering why or when or how
we get lost looking beyond
better to truly be here – NOW
*
time
ever accelerating
in spiral linearity
time
escaping into the future
tethered to the past
ever present in the now
time
* *
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse
Shooo!
The broken shutter
swung ungainly askew
in a sad sag
thumping ugly
with an awkward thunkity-thunk
walloping
with a wind-driven wack-bang
and troubling
thud-thud bothersome bumping
splitting to splinter
the withered and splayed
dry-rotted
paint-flaked weather sill
buckling the loose-hinged
unevenly-hung
smashed and fragmented
sash
ripping the frayed
burnt-orange-framed
window screen
clean out
from its tenuously silicon-sealed
stainless steel seating
busted
battered
and torn
opening unobstructed access
and egress
for the threateningly massed
and ominously subtle
ear-piercing
high-pitched
whiningly whirry-like
buzzing
mosquito swarm
what a malignant menace
what a magnificent mess
sounds like today’s world!
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
~ below here is some beautiful dissonance ~
Fading
Pondering fate’s shuffle
she begins to look
further on ahead
there between truth
and falsehood
a little empty space
a grey nothingness
a place void of color
somber and strange
there consequence
collides with circumstance
as all falls silent
she gazes and wonders
is this the place
of all conclusion
is this the place
time ceases dominion
and forever reigns
is this the place
of insignificance
of death before dying
the place she is not valid
she is not invalid
she simply — is not
peering into this moment
she sees quite clearly
her true trepidation
not the fear of losing life
it’s the fear of losing cognizance
becoming irrelevant
becoming invisible
of fading slowly away
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
“Fading away, in pieces and parts, like old china and glass, in fragments and shards”
Copper Rose
Eyes dark and deep
as nile nocturne
woman molten forged
of earthen bronze
my scorching copper rose
sultry nubian goddess
could I but browse
your sensual dreams
that I might rouse
your midnight pleasures
ablaze in smoke and flame
let us be mysterious travelers
*
rob kistner © 2022
More poetry at: dVerse
https://youtu.be/58H-0XN1GJw
Down To Darkness
Down to darkness I descend
as the hand of grief extends
horror called me to this door
words of sorrow stain my lips
slip through my fingertips
scatter ‘cross the cellar floor
the black depth hides my tears
I am haunted — filled with fears
my spirit broken evermore
dark waves of misery
are rising like the sea
I am stranded on the shore
I am lost — I am alone
confusion grips me to the bone
terror chills me to my core
something wails my name
I have finally gone insane
it is the end for me I’m sure
is this really what it seems
or has this all been just a dream
but again I hear the roar
I pray I’ve been asleep
in a dream-state dark and deep
please — let my eyes soon open
let this nightmare spell be broken
and a new sun rise once more
if not — god’s mercy I implore
*
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse
Bad Weather
You roared in like a typhoon
a mad hurricane of love
your kisses hot as lightning
striking from above
your passion was a tempest
I was swept up in its force
blew my love-brella inside out
your storm knocked me off my course
now my thoughts are grey and cloudy
my eyes bring steady rain
my heart’s caught in a cold front
you’re bad weather — bringing pain
*
rob kistner © 2022
Poetry at: The Sunday Muse