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Poetry at: dVerse

april’s wine is intoxicating
as winter’s pale heart yearns
to feel spring’s grand unfolding
as nature’s palette slowly turns

this sweet inebriation
of april’s longing soul
can bring forth act’s impulsive
and draw one to the jester’s role

so be wary – for when one’s
caught in this season’s swoon
the better judgements of january
dissolve under april’s moon

the elixir of a world in bloom
is to the lusting lovelorn
a most dangerous of potions
risky randy thoughts are born

so remember and be warned
under passion’s frenzied rule
april can easily make one
act quite the splendid fool

Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers

https://youtu.be/-GdJ_HOjtew

unfortunately
I’ve again awakened

another hard night
now
another shit day

I rise
make my way carefully
moving head down
shufflin’ to the bathroom
to wash my face

it’s reflected sallow
in the yellowed wash
of feeble incandescence

strange tired eyes
hold me in the mirror
broken as my spirit

eyes of knowing
eyes of disappoint
eyes of sadness

the look burns through me
weighing upon my being

I want to scream
but no one’s here to hear me
in this cluttered two-room flat

morning maintenance done
I grab a cold bagel
gather up my stuff
trudge out the front door
down the rickety wood stairs
into the oblivious streets
that echo my strangled dreams

I duck and dodge
in and out
of early morning shadows
past the garbage and graffiti
of these dirty bricken’d canyons

they vibrate with the rush and chaos
of synapse and sinew
the hum of networked urgency
data outdistancing comprehension
can — beyond the reach of — should

monoliths of human avarice
cold and indifferent
clad in stainless
stone
and such

a halogen and neon blaze
they surge with manipulation
and greed

in varying shape and differing size
they flank in concrete corridors
that criss and cross
blink and beep and ring
they buzz and hiss
and stink

thoughts flood in a torrent
souring my head

I’m now rushing
unseeing
seething with anger
and exasperation
when suddenly
I stumble

a crack in the sidewalk
this fuckin’ city!

then I look down
startled

what the hell
a flower
really
no shit!

in that moment
flabbergasted
I unspring my tension

exhaling
I pause

I’ll be damned
caught in a flash
of wonder
I muse

maybe

maybe dreams
actually do survive
somewhere

in this concrete hell-hole

Poetry at: Sunday Muse

This is Seussian Tetrameter…

I am gone this I’m sure
and I doubt there’s a cure
is this joy is this bliss
was that simply a kiss

will I wake I can’t tell
I am under your spell
is this all what it seems
am I lost in my dreams

if it’s true then it’s fine
these sweet dreams are divine
here’s a wish I now make
hope I never awake
 

*

rob kistner © 2010

More tetrameter poetry at: dVerse

Open Link Night at: dVerse

~ A live bonus from Brandi! ~

while her heart she emotes
it’s her soul she reveals
she brings tears to my eyes
while my logic she steels

speaking truth she stirs hope
shattered dreams so to heal
and she gives of her self
her love rolls like a wheel

she is grit she is style
she is humble and real
she is Brandi Carlile
and she lives her ideals

 

Hanseroth twins: key to Brandi’s sound & success.
 

3.) A fully original poem inspired by Li bai’s “Crows Calling at Night”
 

A Crystal Tear

 
Sun-gold clouds fade in dimming cerulean
a lone raven’s black eyes stare steadily
loudly cawing, he effortlessly alights
perched in the striking autumn yellow
of the ginkgo’s lovely fanned petals

a lonely woman works in deft rhythm
rich silk gleams taut in her drawloom
she carefully raises the brocade patterns
learned as a child in her Shanxi province
sure hands pull the fine emerald threads

prayer on her lips — she stares far off
a closed window holds fast her whispers
sadly she falls quiet — pauses the shuttle
thinking longingly of her distant lover
wondering — will their lips again touch

she sits alone — unmoving — head turned
a crystal tear falls like a first rain drop

More poetry at: dVerse

his stern face
stern smile
stern voice
stern eyes
hypnotic wink
fired lips
burning kiss

cast her vulnerable

she adores the touch
of his strong stern hands
warm sure hands

so too
she loves his cane

 
rob kistner © 2010

More poetry at: dVerse

on this black velvet night
my brilliance shines
like crazy diamonds

hidden thoughts
soar untethered
ignited
to shine on brightly
illuminating the darkling
mysteries of time

I am the time master
I fold reality

rob kistner © 2010

More poetry at: dVerse

Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers

Day 16 poetry at: NaPoWriMo 2021

the prowling
is familiar to me
I understand
the continuous hunt

but patience
that too often
escapes my grasp
as do many salmon
elude the mighty bear

but still
he stays his task
relentlessly

in my imperfect way
I feel I understand
this relentlessness

we both
ride the great wheel
‘round and ’round we go
the bear and I
uncertain in our quests

yet still he flashes his paw
at the ever-leaping prey
in his relentless hope
to finally snag a salmon

so too have I reached out
time and again
with the relentless hope
to grasp the ultimate answer
verifiable evidence
to finally solve
my lifelong mystery

just who am I
how did I get here
where did I come from
who were my birth parents

none easily answered

in our ongoing endeavors
success is not guaranteed
for the bear
nor I

and yet
we both continue fishing

More poetry at: dVerse

Where The Sidewalk Ends — Shel Silverstein

That horrible smell
that’s filling the air,
the one that’s most certainly
impossible to bear,
is coming from that women
with the massive blue hair
sitting alone on the patio chair,
on the deck of the house,
that’s below us — right there!

What a putrid aroma,
you’d think that she’d care,
that there’s simply some things
that one never should share,
like the stink that is rising
from that patio chair,
on the deck of the house
that’s below us — down there.
the smell is outrageous
it’s terribly crass
look, it knocked our poor Rover
right flat on his ass.

And the hideous color
of that mountain of hair —
I can’t help it, can’t help it,
I can’t help but stare.
it’s tangled and horrible
and it’s disgusting too
an eye-blinding nightmarish
shade of bright blue —
and it’s causing a feeling
of nausea too!

I must look away
my heads starting to whirl,
and I feel that my toes
are beginning to curl,
I fear over the edge here
I’m going to hurl —
and I don’t want to do that
in front of a girl.

Maybe I’m wrong
but I would assume,
if one’s going to bathe
in a noxious perfume,
they’d at least have good manners
and exhibit some pride,
and not foul the ozone,
instead — stay inside,
and not be the cause
of such a mind-numbing fume
but keep the eco-disaster
contained in one room.

And if you’re chromatically challenged my friend,
consider the others that you might offend.
A monumentally grotesque rat’s nest of blue,
is not something I care to look at on you!

Look Sis, look look, look quickly down there,
that woman is getting up out of her chair.
oh joy, for joy, that’s all I can say,
thank our lucky stars, she is going away!

I hope away she will stay
for the rest of the day,
or as long as the damned wind
keeps on blowin’ this way.

More poetry at: dVerse

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I will feel the rush
as I’m swept up high
into the azure sky
lost in this thrill
spellbound — I fly

I will soar fast and free
above the trees and sea
undulating far below me
listening as I feel
the warm winds’ whisper

I will watch the world
roll silently to infinity
over the far horizon
floating upward rapidly
climbing further skyward

I will now be on my way
so I must close my eyes
then sail off far away
dreaming deep and still
‘midst these sweet poppies’ sway

rob kistner © 2021

Poetry at: Sunday Muse

”FLYING” high with the Beatles

Day 9 poetry at: NaPoWriMo 2021

see the powerful slender neck
the defined sinewy form
of her athlete’s body

tuned muscle
connects tuned muscle
they enwrap the reach
of her strong graceful arms
firmly span her solid shoulders
empower her straightened back
ripple her taught stomach
tapering to a tight waist
down long lithe limber legs
of cut carved precision power

she is stunning
she is breathtaking
she is a prima ballerina

in this moment
she is anxious
but she is also
filled with excitement

she knows she need not be frightened
she knows the fluid moves
sees the precise steps
clearly in her mind

she knows the stride
the position of her body
just before elevation

she understands the speed
the run up
the lead foot
the plant angle
the knee bend
the thrust

she has done this
thousands of repetitions
no need for trepidation

she knows the energy
of the moment
of the crowd
as they anticipate
as she anticipates
the lift off
the rise

the glorious weightlessness
the thrill of flying
the feel of returning to earth
to her toes

she intimately understands
how to offset the momentum
to snap to a graceful stop
come to point
straight and strong
arms raised and extended

she remembers well the applause
that exhilaration

she knows this all
to her bones

she can do this
in her sleep

she has this mastered
she is a master dancer

but?

no!

she squelches the flash of doubt
she grows quiet in her mind
she is ready
she is in the zone

her body is coiled
she hears only the orchestra
there is now only they
and she

with the first note
she leaps
to her joy
to her glory

she is invincible
enraptured
swept up
in the consuming fire
and magnificent fury
of her honed body
in the dance

 
rob kistner © 2021

More poetry at: dVerse

THE DREAM

I watched
as generations
moved forward
as civilization
painstakingly
progressed
set foothold
knowledge
unfolded
slowly

I observed
the millenniums
of human endeavor
as they awakened
to self-reliance
less dependent
on hive mentality
mastering machines
eliminating conflict
striving for truth
ever evolving

I saw
nature
the world
tempered
reshaped
resilient
proud

I stand tall
a mighty tree
heaven’s tether
thrusting skyward
much further indeed
than any rooted thing
the constant sentinel
a perpetual presence
witness to triumph
of the humans

}<:>{

THE NIGHTMARE

I watched
unable to help
so utterly horrified
as generations receded
as empires crumbled
greed ran rampant
wisdom ebbed
civilization
imploded

I observed
millenniums
of human folly
misguided logic
flawed reasoning
poor decisions
ever flailing
stumbling
in a cold
isolated
world

disconnected
from one another
from the environment
serving their machines
serving their avarice
perfecting violence
racing to ruination
becoming aliens
in a mad eden
disillusioned
depraved
diseased
finally
death
took
all

I watched through tears
as the natural world
slowly declined
diminished
withered
scarred
died

…

now
putrid
toxic air
permeates
burnt terrain
to far horizons
and now I stand
thrusting skyward
in this decaying hell
praying for a heaven
the only living thing
the pitiful survivor
the final sentinel
time’s witness
to tragedy
watching
the end

\/
 

…which comes true — we decide…

 
rob kistner © 2021

More poetry at: dVerse