Tag: free spirit

NaPoWriMo #7 – Free / Ready to Roll / Old School

This is my seventh post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one haiku
• one onomatopoeia
• one noxious fume
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Free

•

fueled by the freedom of the open road
we race our way into the sunset
leaning tightly into curves
wind whipping our hair
our knees tucked
heads down
we rocket

thriving on the thrill of the throttle
embracing the magnificence
living in the moment
not counting time
or keeping track
just being
free

• • •

____________________________________

 

 

Ready to Roll

•

engine oil changed

grips cleaned tire pressure checked

spring’s highway beckons

• • •




 

Old School

•

(onomatopoeia)

kick down — kick down — kick down

rest

kick down — kick down

rrrroarrr

rev rev rev rev

• • •

poem, haiku, and onomatopoeia verse by: rob kistner © 2010

____________________________________

Here’s a little sumpin’ sumpin’ I wrote for Alan Summers’ day 7 RWP prompt: “humor in love”.

 

Phew

•

who knew lovemaking would end
with my lover breaking wind
oh god did that foul stench offend
we’ll not soon make sweet love again

here’s one thing that I’ll be hope’n
if we do the windows open
no refried beans next time we’re flirty
‘cause on a scale of ten that fart’s a thirty

•

(in tanka form)

our loving did end
when my sweet lover broke wind
a stench to offend

no beans next time we’re flirty
ten scale – that fart’s a thirty

• • •

poem and tanka by: rob kistner © 2010

• photorendering of man holding nose from: Getty Images — modified by: rob kistner 2010

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…for more NaPoWriMo 2010 day seven poems: readwritepoem…

NaPoWriMo #6 – The Cast / The Rise

Rhiannon had suggested in the day 6 NaPoWriMo prompt at Read Write Poem that we sort through a collection of our pictures as inspiration for this day’s poem. Although I veered a bit from her precise suggestion, the process of sorting brought me to the pictures I have of my fishing adventures, and that inspired this — so thanks Rhiannon!



This is my sixth post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one haiku
____________________________________




 

The Cast

•

cliff-climbing conifers
stir in the brisk dawn
as breezes swoop the gorge
rustle my jacket
nip my cheeks

across the casual rapids
near the stony shore
rainbows surface in slack water
hungrily gulping morning hatch

my most recent offering undulates past
in the glinting chatter of spring flow
unacknowledged

chuckling
I turn

elbow steady
I begin to rotate my lengthy bamboo
behind to two PM.
silently stripping the slender thread
from current’s surface
leaving a razor crease
disappearing quick as it comes

the lacquered rod bends forward as I lift
then slowly flexes back
the line arcs behind in flight
trailing silvery spray

backward pressure builds
as line nears full unfurling
but just before
a smooth return
slowly brings the shaft
again to ten AM

now
I feel the forward pull of the soaring mass
as overhead the line recoils
midair

the glass-green fiber
rolls out ahead
over azure ripples

the singing strand painting an “S”
in the cloudless sky

quick
smooth
and quiet
the line is re-wed to stream

the feathered morsel at the tip
offered yet again
coaxing a ready trout
to rise
and strike

• • •





________________________




 

 

The Rise

•

fly reel freshly oiled

new tippets cut and tied firm

spring trout on the rise

• • •

poem and haiku by: rob kistner © 2010

• photorendering at top of this post is entitled “The Cast” – by: rob kistner © 2010
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…for more NaPoWriMo 2010 poems: readwritepoem…

La Difference



 

La Difference

•

I take her into my arms
she brings her lips to mine

I run my hands down her back
caressing the satin flesh
that tapers to my touch
until my fingers
gently cup the firm and tender
that swells and rises
atop taut lush velvet stems

we collapse in passion
folding into one another
her breath hot on my neck
as I whisper warm into her ear
vive la difference
my love
vive la difference

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

• photorendering entitled “The Embrace” – by: Getty Images
_______________________________

…catch the other differences at Carry On Tuesday…

NaPoWriMo #1 – This Journey / Birds

This is my first post for National Poetry Month 2010
• one free verse poem
• one haiku

____________________________________

…written in the spirit of the wonderful journey that is NaPoWriMo 2010…

 

This Journey

•

this journey has been one of wonder
joy, sadness, awe, and tears

it’s carried me ‘cross boundaries
borders
mass of lands
‘cross time and space

it’s shown me magic
marvels
the mystery of love

the best
the least
the good
the evil

it’s brought me pleasures
fame
and fortune
to claim them back
with no remorse

I’ve known satisfaction
adulation
a woman’s love
a child’s passing

it’s been true and faithful
genuine
just to turn away
and break my heart

it’s been fantasy
fact
and fiction
clear as light
then contradiction

I’ve been ignored
I’ve been betrayed
honored as a man of standing
then left behind
to cry alone

I’ve traveled light
I’ve traveled fast
I’ve stumbled
burdened
weighed with grief

I’ve lead and followed
lost my way
regained direction
just to go astray

I’ve walked hand in hand
with fear and death
stared down depression
to be consumed

then arose
to again go forth
without a clue my destination
with no regard for the fated outcome
and to my plight
no consideration

long ago I abandoned worry
having learned it’s of no use

I’ve realized despite our difference
at the core we’re all the same
this realm we enter all alone
from here we’ll leave alone again

but all of this is of no matter
foolish so to dwell upon
of no concern
of no regard
most certainly not worth the measure

because in reflection
one sees too late
it is this journey
that is the treasure

• • •

________________________

 

Birds

•

no wind at feeders

suet and the black seeds swing

evidence of birds

• • •

poem and haiku by: rob kistner © 2010

____________________________________

• five shuffle titles used to create the poem “This Journey”

Digable Planets – Time And Space
Marianne Faithfull – The Mystery Of Love
Bad Company – Fame and Fortune
Metallica – No Remorse
Finger Eleven – Lost My Way

NOTE: shuffle courtesy of my son’s iPod — me, I’m a jazz man…

____________________________________

…get shuffled further into NaPoMo 2010 at readwritepoem…

Caisson

 

 

Caisson

•

see you
see you in this carrion half-light
unworthy scavengers

you cluster to ravage
to defile the entity
drawn in this caisson

but you cannot

the living presence it bore
is greater than you

your gluttonness lust
might pick the meat clean
pick the bones dry

but this being has lived well beyond the muscle
beyond the sinew tendon and bone
these were its limits

now it is set free

so help yourself brother crow
sister raven
birds of black
help yourself

this essence has gone beyond
far beyond
to become infinite
pure thought
unbound spirit

what you pick apart is the afterimage
of a mortal now eternal

so take your fill crow
have your way raven
blackbird — do your best
engorge the glorious

then be gone
scatter
and far off

this caisson has delivered its miracle

unus est privatus

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

_____________________


…this piece inspired by readwritepoem…

• photorendering entitled: “gathering” by: alice popkorn

Sing

 

 

Sing

•

a tear can cloud the brightest day
song will brush aside the clouds
is not sadness just a passing state
but what a melody can chase away

a tune played true with voice in tow
little sorrows flee from such display
thing is, so few will dare seek joy
and thus succumb to feeling low

yet when life is lived in harmony
what hurt you have will drift and fade
joy in chorus will lift the heart
it swells the soul in reverie

is it not foolish to keep bliss entombed
to see not but the dark and gloom
sing — and laughter will light the room

a song is but a little thing
and yet what joy it is to sing

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

• photorendering entitled “Sing For Joy” – by: rob kistner © 2010
_______________________________

…catch the other tunes at Carry On Tuesday…

Magenta Lace

 

 

Magenta Lace

•

furtive strumpet nonpareil
fumbles from the motor-coach
cup of bacchus fondled lush
held close to velvet bodice

supple breast, soft loin and limbs
costumed for seduction
magenta lace and turquoise silk
kindles lust’s combustion

sweet undulation in a mirror mist
of moonlight on the midnight fog
beckons through the dewy fern
enticing — come enjoy

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

_____________________


…this piece inspired by a wordle at readwritepoem, and they all fit in quite wonderfully…

photo rendering entitled: “Sweet Strumpet”

The Book(s)

Two books that changed everything for me — “On The Road” by Jack Kerouac,

and “The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test” by Tom Wolfe.

I was a disenchanted-college-student-rock-musician and had just been awakened by the ’67 Summer of Love, when I came upon both of these books in the Spring of 1968 in a bookstore in Clifton, Ohio, just down from the Ludlow Garage, where my band, Stone Fox, had just opened for the Allman Brothers and Santana.

These books fueled my frustration with “the system”, sparked my wanderlust, and eventually found me and my three best friends, astride internal combustion iron horses, young men heading west — and thus began the rest of my life.

What these books represented was not a map for the rest of my life, I’m well beyond that angst. Rather, they’re important to me because they were the catalyst that first ignited my genuine independent thought, and empowered me to act on that thinking.

Following here is a poem I wrote which reflects, quite well, where my head was during that period. You can also click on the highlighted passage young men heading west in the previous paragraph to read a poem I wrote about the motorcycle journey.

 

Bohemian Nightfall

•

when night fell on bohemia
the streets were set ablaze
in black light
in strobe light

it was tie-dyed psychedelia
when night fell on bohemia

jack and neal were on the road
ridin’ with the fire-whores
of angst and indignation
like combustin’ carnal fireballs
when night fell on bohemia

allen was howlin’
pal’n with corso
and long’n for peter

hunter, groin deep
in the brain-drug flesh festival
…hunter was fearful
and loathing it all
when night fell on bohemia

bill, stark naked
was lunchin’ with the devil
jelly-rollin’ in a hell fire
when night fell on bohemia

gary headed for cold mountain
to watch it all from sourdough
electric bob went subterranean

me – stung by disenchantment
the swollen outlaw bastard
coming fast
hard as holy hell
cresting and crashing in
just as night fell on Bohemia

I was on my way
howling mad
and mind-expanded
in a rolling demon’s fire,
lighting the night
dancing with beelzebub
raving and blazing
hormone’d-hungry
lusting and longing to gorge
every forbidden morsel and crumb –

the smorgasborgadelic mindfeast

when night fell on bohemia
ken and tim
gathered up the faithful
on the magic bus
and stole off with the future

like pranksters

ever further

• • •
rob kistner © 2008

…this post was inspired by sunday scribblings…

Duet

Duet
•

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

mesmerized

awash in the warm brushstrokes of evening
filtered through this woodland realm
as the waning sun paints the world golden

below me
a pristine ribbon of silver-blue water
flecked with sunlight
sparkles like a strand of gems

transfixed
I marvel at the beauty
at the power
of this mighty river

as it tumbles in timeless clarity
over boulder and falls
ever onward

its lyric voice
beckons me

I come
entranced
stand immersed in its energy
captivated by its duet with the wind
that plays the boughs of the towering pines
singing down the lofty climbs
to gently brush my face
toss my hair
and dance past me round a bend
in perfect harmony

serenaded in this evensong
sunset has melted into moonrise
the waters ripple sterling in soft applause

the moon sets aglow this splendid concert
so I listen
spellbound

• • •

rob kistner © 2010

_____________________

• photographs taken near my home in the Cascade Mountain foothills

top photo entitled: “Sunlight on the Clackamas”
bottom photo entitled: “Moon over the Santiam”

_____________________

…this edited rewrite of an older work of mine was inspired by sunday scribblings…

So Many Gifts

NaPoMo poem #29

This is the twenty ninth and the penultimate of the poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This poem is a tongue-in-cheek, but well intentioned look at life’s many gifts, inspired by prompt #29 at read write poem.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

So Many Gifts

•

we were granted
many gifts
when we arrived
here in this life

perhaps the most precious
is the gift of family

to endure
the gift of family
and any other calamity
we were bestowed
the gift of courage
the gift of patience
is a part of this

now when we require
more reinforcement
we have the useful
gift of friends

should all these gifts
prove just too much
there is the gift
of nature’s beauty

if we overdose
on all things tranquil
the fallback gift
is our creative spark

to prevent this gift
from being wasted
we have literature
music and art

and to preserve
dark karmic balance
we’ve been blessed
with the critique clique

finally we come
to this the greatest
of all the gifts
that we possess
and that gift being
the gift of love

though we enjoy
all of these gifts
life still can be
quite tough at times

but don’t despair
no
don’t lose hope

some secret gifts
have we been granted
to give us strength
and keep us going

the first of these
our sense of wonder
and hand in hand
our sense of awe

and should all else falter
there is the failsafe
the secret weapon
our sense of humor

but please take heed
keep careful watch
if you lose this latter
my friend
you’re screwed

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

Seven Red

NaPoMo poem-set #28

This is the twenty eighth day of poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This set of seven haiku were inspired by the read write poem NaPoWriMo prompt #28, “Seeing Red”.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

Seven Red

•

inquiries of heart
from summer red lover’s lips
float like butterflies

•

green leaves on blue pond
float in golden summer sun
red bird softly sings

•

golden sun burns bright
scorching the red rock canyon
Sedona summer

•

eyes red from crying
words cannot be taken back
she will leave today

•

a ruby droplet
the yellow rose bears sharp thorns
we will share red wine

•

path forked this spring morne
white-tails chose tall trees instead
redwoods are safety

•

spring snow-pack’s melting
fresh mountain stream tumbles clear
under red maples

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

Unexpected

NaPoMo poem #27

This is the twenty seventh of the poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This poem is an edited rewrite of a older poem of mine and was inspired by a moving personal experience, offered here in response to the NaPoWriMo Wordle prompt #27 at read write poem.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

Unexpected

•

unquestionable joy
in a place most unexpected
the crystalline eyes of an innocent
cruel society deems disabled

bent and stooped
impossibly twisted
confined to constant care
and his rolling metal chair

a hardscrabble life
that would drive a lesser soul
to lunacy

but his gentle eyes reflect a wonder
my jaded heart has long since lost
by arrogance extinguished

his timeless spirit knows only trust
it pours forth from his being

positioned close and cozy
to the modest stage
he is enraptured by the music
engulfed within the rhythm

enthralled by this magic
he is beaming
like an angel

the band plays fast
the band plays slow
the band plays loud
the band plays low

he rocks forward
he rolls backward
waves in jubilation
and launches heart and soul
into a wicked shoulder wiggle
as he vibrates unabashed
with pure delight

the veins of his neck
stand out full and proud
as he tosses back his head
uninhibited in laughter
tears of joy
leaking down his cheeks

his person full alive
his essence full aware
his nascent bliss aglow
he is wholly in the now

he is filled with every note
wrapped up in the cadence
sparked by the drumbeat
thrilled by every nuance

he experiences an ecstasy
at which I can only marvel
its clarity and power I can never know

it’s at this moment
that I realize
how much I do not understand

as I behold this able man

faint envy stirs
watching his unbridled joy

so complete
and unexpected

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

Becoming

NaPoMo poem #26

This is the twenty sixth of the poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This is my second metaphysical poem in two days, and was inspired by the NaPoWriMo prompt # 26 at read write poem.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

Becoming

•

as is the spark of birth
the burst of a seed
the first ray of dawn
the tug of love wakening
the moment of humility
the pen to blank page

so is the essence of becoming

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

Being Now

NaPoMo poem #25

This is the twenty fifth of the poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This was inspired by a prompt at read write poem to write a “how to” about something difficult to do.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

Being Now

•

step gently through the dream-gate

take hold the strand continuum

ride the light that carries you

to the is, was, the will be

transcendence moment

when the all is one

in the perfection

of pure being

here now

alive

∞

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem

 

My Words

NaPoMo poem #24

This is the twenty fourth of the poems I will write this April, in honor of National Poetry Month, as proclaimed by the Academy of American Poets.

This is about a poet struggling with inspiration, pressing to break through writer’s block.

• NOTE: these poems will all essentially be early drafts, so edits may occur after their initial posting.

 

My Words

•

I released my words into the cold
they froze and cracked and splintered
which made them sharp and edged
and piercing

too difficult to handle

I thrust my words into the fire
they scorched and warped and blistered
which made them hot and rough
and coarse

too difficult to touch

I abandoned my words in the storm
they soaked and swelled and sagged
which made them bloat and droop
with heft

too difficult to hold

then I left my words quite well alone
in no adverse conditions

and light they rose up from my heart
and soft they rolled from off my tongue

and true they drifted through the air
where suspended souls could find them there

to take them in
and keep them safe
and treat them in a manner fair

to befriend them
in an honest way
until it was their time to share

• • •

rob kistner © 2009

___________________________

• you can find other NaPoMo offerings at read write poem