Tag: Free Verse

Ergo

…written for Day #11, NaPoMo 2011…


 

Ergo

•

we are infinite beings
awaking slowly
from some infinite place

our coming to be
unknown to us
as any mystery

learned in stories
in waiting relationships
gradually
we open to our identity

our essence
an enigma

awareness dawns
like the rising
of a newborn sun

we feel its warmth
and flow effortlessly
into timelessness

we are as though
immortal

we see not over the horizon
because we see no horizon

we comprehend no end
immersed only
in our beginning

it is therein exists
the miracle of life

our infinity

we are infinite beings
in this moment
dreaming
to sustain the moment

• • •

rob kistner © 4.11.11

Had Not

…written for Day #9, NaPoMo 2011…


Had Not

•

had not she crossed my threshold
on that september day

had not her voice
drifted like silk on a summer breeze
to wrap sheer and sweet
around my heart

had not I been drawn
like a bloom to the morning sun

had not I been captivated
as a hummingbird
by a drop of nectar
crystal on a velvet petal

had not my love come down
soft as a rolling mountain meadow

had not this dream been born

had not my life begun again

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

Deep Indigo

…written for Day #7, NaPoMo 2011…


Deep Indigo

•

he wakes
unbidden by alarm
lingers in the darkness
warm neath the blankets

fumbling for the lamp
follows moments of procrastination
before he lifts himself upright
slides feet into slippers
to rise ever so stiffly
from the comfort of bed

pulling on his robe
he ambles to the kitchen
takes a cup from the shelf
pours chamomile tea
brewed ready each morning
by the wonders of technology

he retreats to his office
to his chair
where it waits
welcoming
in a pool of soft light
buffered against the chill
of pre-dawn dark

he sits
sips steeped motivation
quietly peeling away fog
that layers his mind
residue of another fitful night

he is somber
but pleased to be awake
to be alive
grateful for the peace
and the quiet of early morning
fleeting though it is

his thoughts
begin to un-blend
to gather
in a cohesive palette
stirring his notice

slowly they sort
in colors of mood

melancholy greys
fear’s dark ebony
purples of pain and anger
the violet of regret
sorrowful blues
gentle peaceful greens
golden joy
laughter’s bright amber
love’s ruby red
the scarlet of passion

this morning
reflections on his mortality
newly threatened
shoulder in coldly
crowding his reverie

pondering his plight
cursing fate
he struggles
neath the weight of uncertainty

a riot of emotions
overcome him
he seeks clarity

he reaches for his laptop
his tool of resolution
his canvass of language

in the spreading saffrons
and corals of dawn
he begins painting deep indigo

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

Shuffle

…written for Day #6, NaPoMo 2011…


 

Shuffle

•

life deals the cards
face down
from a deck
stacked full with jokers

rare
the precious wild card

the game plays out
slowly
turning each card
hand at risk

wild card
strikes a jackpot
play continues

but the jester
hand is bust
player folds

not until
the hand is forfeit
or the final card
face up
is it known
what fate has dealt

• • •

rob kistner © 4/6/11

Limitless

…limitless talent, unfathomable spirit…

Limitless

•

• written for Writer’s Island

La Nature du Feu


…per this week’s prompt at Big Tent Poetry, this is a gentle rewrite of a poem of mine
originally published in the 2010 RWP Anthology…




 

La Nature du Feu
The Nature of Fire

A Poem Using Three Lines from Norman Dubie’s “Of Politics & Art”

(the borrowed lines are italicized)

•

here
on the farthest point of the peninsula
an office building is burning
ignited by a single match
careless or criminal
not yet known

inconceivable
that such a structure
can be so wholly engulfed
but the fire was too fierce
and the distance too great
for rescue

but what of the fury
in that single first flame
to have leapt so viciously to consume
to ravage
to devastate so absolutely

it is always there
la nature du feu

like the rage of a repressed
and violated being
too long held down
unjustly deprived
confined

all potential denied
where there is great potential

spirit squelched
where there is great spirit

sometimes a whole civilization can be dying
until finally a single incident
the spark
unleashes a righteous inferno
that has no bounds

it is always there
la nature du feu

all around the good people gather
stare in disbelief
how is this possible here
not realizing that such power to combust
to blaze so brilliantly
can only be suppressed for so long

it is always there
la nature du feu

ready to explode
like the fury in the head of that match
and when the smoulder becomes full flame
all will burn
out here on the peninsula
and in here
at the still and protected center

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

…visit Big Tent Poetry…

Poet In Arms

 

Poet

abandon vague image
do not weave a fabric of myth
or speak to us in grand verse
telling of the song of the spheres
or the days before this dark time

you see many things poet
but you talk in riddles
you avoid the cold hard way
for the soft path of platitudes
of metaphors
of meter and rhyme
but this is not the time

look poet
look into the flames
the fire of human suffering

feel it burn your eyes
char your soul
tell us how that feels

tell us how to see
with our own eyes
help us see the real place of light

you must tell us poet
in the power of plain language
in the clear voice of truth
tell us what is real

we will listen

with a pure heart of justice
raise your shield of words
lift your pen poet
like a sword

show us the grip

we will save the beauty
celebrate the wonder
protect the unique splendor

or we will join the battle
to strike down imbalance
to drive away sorrow

lead us poet
we will follow

*
rob kistner © 2011

Written for: Magpie Tales

Poetry at: dVerse

Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers

Poetry at: earthweal

Equinox

 

Equinox

•

winter’s journey ends
lengthening light bears witness
spring crests and breaks
here at the equinox

life bursts forth
poking through pliant soil
unfurling on barren branch
here at the equinox

nature stirs in song and call
celebrating new birth
sustaining the cycle
here at the equinox

my heart leaps
my spirit dances
to this rhythm of renewal
here at the equinox

• • •

rob kistner © 3/20/11

Young Flower

 

Young Flower

•

velvet soft
passion’d purple
newly bloomed flower

full and succulent
tender plumped folds
glisten with dewy nectar

heady fragrance
pleasures the senses

luscious form
ripened blush
delights the eye

a gentle touch parts silken petals
reveals the inner bud
swollen with the urgency of life

intoxicating
such vital beauty

consumed
one savors slowly

exquisitely delicious
this young flower
full bloomed

• • •

rob kistner © 3/14/11

…written for Magpie Tales

The Mourning

The Mourning

•

the hollow wallow
aglow in the spotlight’s heat
to boast odes of praise for him
in death
who had few words of warmth for him
in life

while those who love him
pay true tribute
with searing tears
of silent grief

• • •

rob kistner © 2011


The Keepers

The Keepers

•

from the spark of cognizance
at the dawn of awareness
through the ions of fire and conflict
forward past the dark times
beyond the ages of change
into these centuries of new growth
they have kept it

locked in their hearts
burning in their souls

the keepers of the secret

and now
on the threshold of actualization
realizations unfold

its safeguard is the catalyst
it must never be told

• • •

rob kistner © 2011


Wedges

 

Wedges

•

he was slicing wedges
prepping for the night crew
when the stranger entered
walked quietly to the bar

it happened fast
no one saw him draw
the shot traumatized the patrons
no one saw his face

he vanished into the evening
before anyone comprehended
the frail thread of life
severed in a heartbeat

• • •

rob kistner © 3/1/11

…written for Magpie Tales

Sooth

Sooth

•

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

instead — 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

it is they who will traverse this evolving world
fashioned as a fair and better place

• • •

rob kistner © 2011


Panther

• this is the final in a series of edits of a poem I first drafted in 1997
it was born of my contempt for the barbarous act of caging wild animals in a zoo •

this final edit inspired by prompt #24 at Writer’s Island,
prompt #23 at We Write Poems,
and prompt #74 at Carry on Tuesday.



…a thing of beauty is a joy forever, a captive wild soul — is a tragedy…

 

Panther

•

from rippled sinew black as midnight
bores a stare of molten gold

a furious but calm inferno
searing deep to burn your soul

unyielding is this panther’s pace
held captive in this foolish zoo

cold eyes rivet snarled contempt
unfathomed pools of quiet rage

on this panther paces paces
turns and paces back he paces

graceful stride of brute resolve
presses on to test his bounds

proud this captive soul just paces
frustration turns anger retraces

this brutal prison of false environ
does not fool this mighty beast

observe how he continues pacing
instinct certain this is not home

his piercing gaze fixed well beyond
his suffered fate of cruel confine

see the panther pacing pacing
his nature steeled his spirit strong

relentless sorrow wild longing
drive on and on his constant stride

this will not break his fierce resolve
he tracks freedom he stalks life

imprisoned he will forever pace
and he will pace

and he will die

• • •

Panther

(haiku)
•

caged beast close your eyes

have no fear of letting go

dream of wild freedom

• • •

rob kistner © 2010