Category: Free Verse

Identity

Identity

•

I came upon a stranger

she asked me
“who are you?”

I pondered
then replied

I am son

born
to a mother unknown
a father
unseen

I am father

three times blessed
with life’s miracle

I am joy

having beheld
each child’s coming

I am betrothed

touched by
a lover’s heart

I am sorrow

having lost
my eldest son

I am wonder

marveling
at the gift of life
the beauty
of this natural realm

I am song

fortuned with
a lyric voice

I am art

bestowed with
a balanced eye

I am athlete

fleet of foot
strong of frame

I am word

burdened with
a poet’s plight

I am gratitude

to have known
this life at all

I am a simple man

who stands this day
before you

in the end

I am you
and
you are me

we are one another

most uncertain
quite who we are

• • •

rob kistner © 2007

Outrageous

Outrageous

•

watch them

see them
in their cavernous dwellings

shrines to excess
to waste

testaments to foolish disregard
for our precious planet

observe them hoist themselves
to command positions
in gluttonous drive-time dinosaurs

dreaded treaded behemoths

that bully across the face
of our crippled planet

devouring resources
like a herd
of metallic mastodons

a relentless forage
of fragile fossil fuel

to suck dry
the paleozoic nectar

300 million years
in the making

a fraction of that
in the plunder
and depletion

by frivolous toys
of self-extinction

that spew forth
poisonous discharge

fouling the atmosphere

pummeling our frail ecosystem

shoving earth closer
ever closer
to the brink of no return

to satisfy a toxic desire
for bigger
gaudier
faster

hungrier

to feed
a caustic ego

to assert
perceived dominion

they are the elite
the special

the outrageously dangerous

they
are you and I

• • •

rob kistner © 2008

To Remain

To Remain

•

moonlight
keeps dark at bay
pressing in
as night wind stirs

like mocking breath
of life now lost
to light-less realm
beyond the chill
encircling me

empty
to remain

no emotion
save grief

apples spilled
on broken stair
where rail eluded
grasping hand

no voice came
to futile cry

those lips
will not know again
sweet fruit

nor love

• • •

rob kistner © 2008

Nocturne

 

A brooding full moon, in image, verse, and spoken word

Author’s note: this piece does not expose a secret, but instead, it deals with the weight and burden of keeping dark disturbing secrets buried away.

 

 

Nocturne

•

hawk moon hangs heavy
in the damp night sky

bulbous moist pearl
rolling
in a cold chromium fog

wet slivers of cloud
smear themselves
across its face

irregular

like translucent sacks
of moonbeams

breathing

glassine billowing pillows
oozing

soaked with midnight

stars float and spark
glinting
dripping
shivering

frozen splintered crystal tips
diamond chips
pinprick rips
in blackened space

they wink and wane
and flutter
shattered bits of silvered light

snapping here then not

behind the ghostly white
vapor that slithers
through the firmament

the world devoid of color
aglow in sterling grey
a negative of day

thick and chilled

filled with the sound
of stalking after-dark things

nocturne

the sorrowing hour
to lay bare your soul
in pale introspection

in grief of secrets

• • •

rob kistner © 2007

 

To hear poem read by author, click here:

 

Sacred

A hike into the Cascade Mountains, in image and verse.

Author’s note: It was a beautiful day for hiking here in Oregon, so I made a trek into the Mt. Hood wilderness — camera in hand, notebook and pen in my shirt pocket. This is my day, shared with you here, in image and verse. The photo is a shot of Lost Lake, through the trees, with Mt. Hood in reflection.

lostlake2.jpg

Sacred

•

my footfalls
drum the root chambers of the old growth

each step cushioned
by centuries of needle-drop
in this ancient forest

enjoying the rise and fall
twist and turn of the trail
I amble

feeling the smoothness of my walking stick
clutched comfortably in my right hand

an audible stir in the treetops

wind
wafting down the western Cascade slopes

invigorating

the steady rhythm of my footsteps

hypnotic

rounding a bend
brushing through waist-high fern
I crest a knoll
and stop

mesmerized

light drifts down dreamlike
filtered by the woodland canopy
settling golden around me

a power
a presence
is tangible

a breeze enfolds me

intoxicating

the scent of living earth
an addictive bouquet
cedar
Douglas fir
Ponderosa pine
moss
bark
loam
and ionized mountain air

my spirit rises
my being – weightless

I float away
lifted into oneness
wholeness

epiphonal

suddenly
I’m startled

a young doe bounds onto the trail
standing proud
golden in the light

she considers me briefly
then disappears
quick as a stolen glance
quiet as passing time

my eyes dart to find her
here then there
in vain

I catch a glimpse
silver-blue
shimmering
where massive trees part

wind-blown mountain water
crisp
clear
it sparkles

Lost Lake
the namesake of this trail
my reason for this trek into wilderness

climbing a boulder at trail’s edge
I sit
pull my legs under me
lean forward
elbows on knees

I face lake-ward
basking in the energy
of this natural cathedral

I become very still
listening
gazing

just being

in rapt wonderment
at the magnificence that surrounds me

this place is my church
this moment is my prayer

I am in touch with my soul

with the eternal

• • •

rob kistner © 2007