Category: Poetry

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Paris Beauty” by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

Quietly she sits
aglow in Paris moonlight
spilling through
the tattered sky
time to time

to flood sterling
in those moments
this quaint sidewalk cafe

lovely lady
you look so at peace
yet so alive

vibrant

and so very beautiful

the rising moon
paints your face
a fetching pale rose
as the full Luna
works its seductive magic

a singular teary beauty
you’re radiant
under the cherry moon
cocktail in hand

I want so to approach you
tell you how enticing you look
how you stir my desire

but I hesitate

I fear you’d consider
my fervent advance
an indecent proposal

I don’t want the color of night
to turn a lecherous purple
when what I feel
is passion’s purest red

yes — I am excited by you
more and more
on fire

you’ve such a classic look
sensual
yet — vintage sophisticated
one of Ziegfeld’s elegant showgirls

but I’m a poor soul
the postman

a lowly schlep
out here fighting daily
to make a living
on this battlefield earth

most certainly
not in your class
my goddess

but I’m swept away
mesmerized by your beauty

the graceful lines of your face
your lithe feline form

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “To Her Lips”
by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

your slender fingers
caressing the stem
of your martini glass

like a captivating
catwoman

you are utterly intoxicating

if you ever turn my way
look into my eyes
and smile

well then…
I know who killed me

you

Aphrodite of the corner cafe
Venus of the street-side apéritif

it would be you

…because I’ll likely die

my heart will stop

my hair
turning fifty shades of grey
as my dust blows away

but really
I would not mind
a magical little death

the transcendence of
“la petite mort”
with you m’lady
would be wonderful
quite precious
a precious Paris dream

but alas
too long I’ve lingered
too long I’ve dreamed
this moment has captured me

I am hopelessly lost
to loving you

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Ecstasy”
by: rob kistner © 9/12/24

*

rob kistner © 2022
edited revision © 2024

2022 Poetry at: dVerse

2024 Poetry at: dVerse

 
Sing to me my sweet sweet lover
songs as soft as silk and satin
sensual as a bare embrace
warm summer sun upon our face

promise me the world is ours
that this perfect moment’s endless
lift me up on rapture’s cloud
my racing heart is pounding loud

set sail our souls on pleasure’s sea
fill our hearts with passion’s fire
smother me in scorched sweet kisses
oh what a fiery bliss this is

come to me and take me timeless
sweep me off ‘cross ecstasy’s ocean
enfold me in your deepest dreams
to simmer under summer moonbeams

we seek night’s soothing shade
aflame in love’s sensual serenade
under a moonlit sky of stars above
we’ll sail forever on the sea of love

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Sweet Silver Steel” by: rob kistner © 9/9/24

 
He makes his way carefully
past the shallow-breathed crumple
that lay milky-eyed in a heap
un-moving on the floor
save a twitch of the sodden head

this wreckage is his mother

she remains slack
death-like

nocturne angels of sweet release
had laid down lush upon her
in fevered embrace

lustfully conjured
by last night’s spoon and lance
skewered silver
deep in the soured vein

mama — why do you want to die

only silence

mama
don’t you care
don’t you know I need you

to himself
as tears begin to well
I am haunted…
by how much
our mothers do not know

he angles to the bathroom
to the scum-brown bowl
to wash his face

a face lit sallow by the yellowed bulb
that hangs bare

eyes of knowing
eyes of sadness
stare into the mirror
broken as his heart…
…then they cry

mama why?

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “MaMa Why?”
by: rob kistner © 9/9/24

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

~ Can you ever go home again? This here’s a lil’truth, lil’fiction. ~
 

Last night I dreamed
I was wandering next to whitewater
in a stand of mountain birch

the white tree with paper-like bark

my father’s favorite tree

reminds him of Canada
his beloved country of birth

I vividly remember my dad
and his love of the birch
and his longing for Canada

a fondness he instilled in me
sharing his beautiful north country
via semiannual fishing adventures
to the small island log cabin
he still co-owned with a Canuk buddy

many memories still live and breath
in my heart

visions of younger days

one now calling me forward
down into the birch valley
and across the planes
of a childhood long ago

this morning’s sun
came crisp and bright
enfolding my waking
in warmth
and vivid presence
as the world awoke
fresh and fascinating

I embarked early
after eggs
juice
toast and jelly

the sweet and salty taste
lingering
of a homecoming
too long overdue

my soul is full
my mind is clear
my heart — overflowing
but my sprit is tentative

when dusk settles this evening
and early shadows fall soft
I will round Miller’s Corner
as it comes into view

worn
withered
but warm with recall

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Echoes of Laughter”
by: rob kistner © 9/4/24

my wooden framed
childhood home

abandoned now to ghosts

specters of a youth
spent surrounded by love
by laughter
by learning
and by loss

one of the ghosts
in that old house
is my mother

she passed within its walls
on a summer day
not unlike today
as I sat sobbing
in my room
down the hall

my father kept me from her room

he feared the sickness that took her
might take me

so I never really
got to say goodbye to her

nor goodbye to the laughter
that died that day

nor goodbye to the smile
on my father’s face
for it was never seen again

it disappeared
as did my father
into deep debilitating depression

shortly after mother passed
I was moved away
to live with my aunt
in Oregon

today I will return
to say a long delayed goodbye
to my mother

and to lay my father to rest
next to her
in the cemetery
behind the old church
where once they wed

quietly
I climbed the 2 steps
and entered the old church
empty at the moment

I sat down in a back pew
bowed my head
as if in prayer
and in a gentle hush
whispered

“I’ve come back — I’m here”

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Sacred Serenity”
by: rob kistner © 9/4/24

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

~ never laugh at a clown ~
 

“Gaze upon me
if you will
my countenance crafted
to fool
and thrill

I’ve spent years in greasepaint
in fear and sorrow
I rued my past
and dreaded my tomorrow”

they call me Laughin’ Lyle
I love to see you smile
be joyful
full of glee…

but never ever laugh at me

it wasn’t intentional
you see
I only wanted her to
hear me
when I told her…

please don’t laugh

but her laughter
her hollow taunting laughter
her mindless laughter
wouldn’t stop

it wouldn’t stop
and I needed her to hear me
to understand how I felt

but the laughing
and laughing
her incessant laughing
I simply couldn’t have the laughing…

so I made it stop

now I hide behind this painted smile
and there are still those laughing
and laughing
and laughing…

until that moment
when they‘re not

I still hate the laughter
but I know well now
how to make it stop

I’ll spend my years in greasepaint
but no more fear
no regret
I’ll shed not another tear

so gaze upon me
if you will
my countenance crafted
to fool
and thrill

but when you’re all alone
and your laughing’s at its end
I will make quite certain…

you’ll not laugh again

*
rob kistner © 2024

Poetry at: dVerse

 
Consumed in love’s embrace
overcome in passion’s tide
overboard into desire’s flood
away we’re swept
a’spin in fevered bliss
breathing breath for breath

until finally
great release
sweeps over us

then gently we drift
intimately entwined
afloat in sweet afterglow
of love’s lingering kiss

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Poets’ Reverie” by: rob kistner © 8/22/24

 
Quite mad in their special ways
they like the path unclear
the route unmarked

fond of stumbling in
fumbling through
finding their own way

engaged by the obtuse
they see grace and form
in brilliant imbalance

seduced by the fog
they seek the wonder
it certainly conceals

where they long to go
is always round the bend
farther over the hill

their ears prick
to sounds that call
just beyond clarity

to all these things
their souls are pulled
their minds are open

though the path winding
and the journey hard
ever on they seek

they know mystery hides
in the settling mist
around the curve

over the crest
just out of sight
truth’s clarion calls

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

S ucculent nectar of full plumped peach
laid bare engorged deliciousness
peeled open in promised sweet delight
ecstatic vision of tender flesh

tart sweet tingle at tip of tongue
such sweetness surely is taboo
my mouth thrills to the juicy pulp
my lips glisten sweetest nectar’s dew

this eruption of unbridled pleasure
enwraps me in a most heady swoon
consumed by uncontrolled desire
I crave more and it must be soon

breathing in the rich bouquet
senses teased and tantalized
I devour the dripping treat
bite by bite until satisfied

*
rob kistner © 2021

Poetry at: dVerse

 
A gentle breeze
whispers in the cedar boughs
these patient sentinels
ever watching over
this whitewater
high-mountain river

a zephyr wafts downstream
brushes my face
tosses my hair
and dances past me
‘round the bend

a hushed gasp
escapes my lips

like a prayer

*
rob kistner © 2024

More poetry at: dVerse

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Ship Of Dreams” by: rob kistner © 8/7/24

 
Let your dreams take you higher
close your eyes and sail away
to worlds of pleasures you desire
lands where wishes do hold sway

to magical mystical ports of call
here you are not merely mortal
this world beyond the wonderwall
sailing on through mystery’s portal

in a ship of psychedelic colors
fiery colors to ignite the night sky
sky full of crystal glittering stars
stars to light our path golden

trav’ling in fantasy’s odyssey
beyond anything you can imagine
a sublimely rich spellbound journey
to places you have never been

you’ll see visions so enchanted
a world your mind can but beget
wonder will be by awe supplanted
what you see you’ll never forget

your joy unbounded will ascend
beyond your wildest imagination
all disbelief you will suspend
as you soar in sweet hallucination

it’s most important you fully comprehend
you’ll have changed once you transcend
you needn’t worry on the past again
as you were quite a different person then

*
rob kistner © 2024
Poetry at: dVerse

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Red Shutters Rue St Denis” by: rob kistner © 8/1/24

 
P assion
let it flare fire red
red as the shuttered windows
of Paris Rue St Denis
that conceal the carnally
intertwined
on a starburst night

in the throes
of steaming conquest
ripe with release
coursing with hunger
for the tender flesh
of reckless passion

white hot
as a deflowered bride
burning with the lust
of an august first-night
impaled on the horn
of promise and desire

there will be no truth
in these minglings
only raw bleeding need
and the quenchless thirst
for bittersweet
forbidden nectar

when you hear
the hushed whispers
know that it was so
and so it will remain
in the lithe loins
of the skin slaves
fully aflame
behind Paris red shutters

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “Paris Streetwalker”
by: rob kistner © 8/1/24

*
rob kistner © 2024
Poetry at: dVerse

Original DDE™ surrealistic art entitled “So So Ago” by: rob kistner © 7/25/24

 
After the rattle of death
after leaving with no goodbye
after bittersweet emancipation faded away

after the hope just imploded
after the joy became a memory
after a new sadness collected day upon day

after the promises echoed empty
after the dreams grew distant
after our days of glory had become the past

after the taste of regret grew
after the loneliness mounted
after sands in the glass spilled away much too fast

what first was a rich blaze
burned through the fodder
sadly hereafter all that remains is ashes and char

the vision was most beautiful
the intention honest and real
its brightness so intense it burned out like a star

I did not know peace would seem so far
I did not know love could be so very quiet
I did not know how this silence would scar

*
rob kistner © 2024

Poetry at: WGO