Any poets on this site...care to share your poetry??

[tnr1]

Ok...I admit...I'm really critical of my own work. It's never polished and I always feel at the end that I am not very good....so putting this out there is a HUGE thing for me. For anyone else who writes their feelings into poems....please feel free to add yours. Obviously, please keep them to the level that anyone (including children) can read.

Untitled

What good are words
so round, so empty.
They can't contain my heart.
Perhaps a vowel
wrapped around an occational letter
might scratch the surface,
like a vein winding into a nerve.
But my thoughts are so much grander
then what my pen can accomplish.
They don't box you in,
they don't put limits on what we can be.
Moment to moment,
heartbeat to heartbeat
all possibilities are here,
in the spaces between the words.
copyright 2000 Katie Raskin

 

[carolpetunia]

Katie, that's very fine! I know it's a scary thing to put yourself out there like that, but you did yourself proud!

I'm a little nervous, though, about posting anything I want to retain copyright to, because I'd rather not have to put my real name in the copyright line. I wonder if anyone can tell us what the legal ramifications might be if we just use the old "First North American Serial Rights" line instead, without a name...?

 

[stacyd1987]

I write poetry on Fiction Press. Here's one!

A blank page sits before my eyes
As I look at my box of colors
I take out a yellow
The lightest of the seven
And color my page
Til the white sees heaven
Then for the orange
A bit darker than before
I scribble one way
And draw some more
Then the green came next
Oh I had fun with this
It took over the orange
In a grassy abyss
My next color of choice
A fav of mine, red
Deep color of a rose
Over the leaves it lead
The next came blue
Another fav of mine
Such a color of emotion
A color, divine!
Then my purple
My magical color
My page is almost done
But wait there's one other!
Black is it's name
The ruler of them all
Not even yellow could falter
It's color can't fall
As I drown the page
In it's deep black water
No color survived
The Dark Daughter...
Black

 

[gayef]

This is very nice, Katie. I would love to see more of your work ... please post it?

 

[gayef]

Very good, StacyD!!!

Really, both of you should post in the Paws and Reflect Forum here! Your poems are very good!

 

[tnr1]

Originally Posted by CarolPetunia

Katie, that's very fine! I know it's a scary thing to put yourself out there like that, but you did yourself proud!

I'm a little nervous, though, about posting anything I want to retain copyright to, because I'd rather not have to put my real name in the copyright line. I wonder if anyone can tell us what the legal ramifications might be if we just use the old "First North American Serial Rights" line instead, without a name...?

Thank you so much Carol and Gaye!!!

Carol, I don't know how the copyright works....I always use the name under which I have it in my poetry book. I doubt highly that anyone would steal anything here but you are right to check the laws pertaining to copyrighted material.

Katie

 

[felton]

Night at Denali

Sitting quietly by the fire a gentle rain
encompasses the surrounding countryside
with a mist of raindrops trying to obscure
a twisting and moving river
while Denali lurks behind the clouds
being covered by a fresh newborn coverlet of snow
perhaps a howling madness that tries to kill all who are
attempting the summit early in the climbing season
or a gentle cat that purrs and snuggles in
to give a different love of life

Majestic scenery that awe will strike and drive
some men to climb to look down upon the world
to do because it is there to be conquered
others will look down and see the distant eagle
or want to experience the silence of nothingness
that blankets all who have struggled up those killer
heights and glacial beauty made so long ago by forces
unimagined or unfathomed by the men to live to struggle
up that icy façade and living rock

Others sit quietly by the fire listening to it hiss to drop the living stress wanting it to die unwanted by the hearth a renewal of the soul washed away by contentment

and the raining fog creeps in to give a silent cast about the scenery left behind by the midnight sun.

Felton

 

[carolpetunia]

These are all just lovely... I never cease to be amazed at what a remarkable group of people we have on this site.

Gaye, of course you're right, I'm not afraid of being plagiarized by any of our members -- but who knows what sort of visitors we might occasionally have? Since I write professionally (and have been plagiarized in the past), I feel a need to be extra-careful. ~ sigh ~

We have several nurses here, and at least one doctor -- but is there a lawyer in the house?

 

[catgirl2548m]

u guys are so much better than me! but i do like haiku.

a pretty kitten
sitting on a dew-soaked lawn
my heart purrs with her


-catgirl

 

[felton]

Why do you say we're better if you can create something like that lovely haiku? I say you're pretty good.

 

[brandi]

As I hear the cry of my mother
I feel instantly out of place,
As they break the bad news to me gently
Salty tears stream down my face.
I couldn't believe what they had told me
It couldn't really be true,
As I quietly held my head in my hands
I didn't know what to do
Was I suppose to break down?
Get up and walk out the door?
The person I'd known since I was born
Was not here any more
Always there when I needed him
A caring shoulder to cry on,
Trustworthy, Honest, graceful and kind
Someone that you could rely on
Now all that is left are memories
The good and fun times that we had
The man I would have done anything for,
My dad!


Copyright Â[emoji]169[/emoji] 2007 Brandi Neaves, All Rights Reserved

This was wrote before I got married right after my dad died so its copyrighted in my maiden name
i have work on www.poetictimes.com under the name livin4itall and I have work on www.poetry.com under Brandi Neaves

 

[karl]

Haikus are great!

Moggy sleeping now
She is secure next to me
Soft as a Petal

 

[mcat]

I write cat sonnets. I have a book full of them: Cat-House Sonnets, 100 poems celebrating cats. You can check out the awards and the reviews on my publisher's website: http://www.jorlanpublishing.com/Cat-HouseSonnets.htm

Here is one not in the book.

It makes me smile each time I see it there:
Our Peachesâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji] brown crocheted and battered mouse.
I found it on the third step of the stair,
but it does travel widely through the house.

I hear her as she carries it around;
it has a bell that dings each time it falls.
And Peaches always makes a little sound:
she meeps and peeps to it in baby calls.

I feel so good to see beige Peaches play
and happy that no other likes this toy.
Iâ€[emoji]8482[/emoji]d hate to have a squabble cause dismay
when only that mouse brings our Peaches joy.

Our Peaches is an odd and distant cat;
she does all right if we just respect that.
Â[emoji]169[/emoji]2007MargyOhring All rights reserved.

 

[arlyn]

I only ever write when I'm at my lowest, which has always been after an ugly break-up, so mine is all sort of depressing.

I do have one that I can share that is more empowering than depressing.


Once upon a time I dreamed
The world was everything it seemed
From this source I drew my power
Now this is my haunting hour

Some have wronged me, now they see
I haunt them with my memory
Others watched me shed a tear
Now they too, have me to fear

 

[mark kumpf]

Four in one

Can you hear the sounds ?
Can you see the stars ?
Can you feel the breeze ?
Do you wish and wonder ?

Gentle words whispered in the dark
The night sky clear, the stars falling like tears
Cool winds caressing your skin, like fingertips tracing a pattern of letters
Your mind races ahead thinking of all the possibilities

Music reaches into your soul, the lyrics and rhythms match time with your heartbeat
The moon rises reflecting the fire in your eyes
The wind swirls around bringing chaos in small patterns
Choices and paths leading this way and that

Talking quietly in the night, listening to the silence between breaths
The dawn sneaks upon you, the moon and stars fade
A strong gust clears your mind carrying away the spirit of the evening
Thoughts of what might be yield to the reality of daytime


And all the while you long for dusk to return so the cycle may start again

 

[mark kumpf]

Shades of grey and silver

Passing in the strangest of ways
Only seeing, only smiling
Knowing that knowing is enough
Continuing on for the rest of the days

Time wanders on and casts its shadows
Gentle light, gentle sounds
Colors fading and glowing
Showing us our souls through half open windows

Try as some might
Gaining ground, gaining speed
Testing the limits and searching
More or less pitting ourselves against our own insight

No one notices us shiver
Growing colder, growing older
We realize that day has turned to dusk leaving
Shades of grey and silver

 

[mark kumpf]

Misty Morning

Its grey and misty in the world
The sun shines
The mist deepens
Where are we each day?

Its warm and sunny in the world
The sun goes down
The mist clears
How are we each night?

Its clear and calm in the world
The moon glows crimson
The mist gathers
When will we notice the dawn?

Its a new cycle in the world
The moon wanes and the sun begins to rise
The mist deepens
Who will welcome the morning?

 

[mark kumpf]

Zen and the computer

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Your file was so big.
It might be very useful.
But now it is gone.
-------------------------------
The Web site you seek
Cannot be located, but
Countless more exist.
------------------------------
Chaos reigns within.
Reflect, repent, and reboot.
Order shall return.
-----------------------------
Program aborting:
Close all that you have worked on.
You ask far too much.
------------------------------
Windows NT crashed.
I am the Blue Screen of Death.
No one hears your screams.
------------------------------
Yesterday it worked.
Today it is not working.
Windows is like that.
-----------------------------
First snow, then silence.
This thousand dollar screen dies
So beautifully.
-----------------------------
With searching comes loss
And the presence of absence:
"My Novell" not found.
-----------------------------
The Tao that is seen
Is not the true Tao until
You bring fresh toner.
-----------------------------
Stay the patient course.
Of little worth is your ire.
The network is down.
-----------------------------
A crash reduces
Your expensive computer
To a simple stone.
----------------------------
Three things are certain:
Death, taxes and lost data.
Guess which has occurred.
----------------------------
You step in the stream,
But the water has moved on.
This page is not here.
----------------------------
Out of memory.
We wish to hold the whole sky,
But we never will.
----------------------------
Having been erased,
The document you're seeking
Must now be retyped.
----------------------------
Serious error.
All shortcuts have disappeared.
Screen. Mind. Both are blank.

Not mine but good stuff just the same...

 

[catgirl2548m]

rudie and okra
plop plop in the vegie drawer
my brand new kitties!

 

[carolpetunia]

Every time I check on this thread, I'm just delighted! You're all doing such wonderful things!

Okay, let me take the plunge. I'm the opposite of Arlyn, whose two beautiful dark verses gave me serious chills -- I can't bear to live inside such feelings long enough to write about them, so most of my stuff is silly doggerel. Here's one:


Radial Symmetry

From front to back, I do not lack.
I'm also wide from side to side.
And so I twist and turn and squeeze
And squirm and try to gently ease
Between the hard place and the rock
Alas, to realize with a shock:
I'm equilateral, in fact
From side to side and front to back.

(Copyright 2007 Carol Kerns)