Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Learn About Love From Poet Rumi

In this modern age of technology, busy lifestyles, and obsession with consumerism have taken a lot of the Romance and Love out of our lives. The Internet has become a medium to connect with people as everyone is finding it a lot harder to meet one another in the 'real' world. It has undeniably also become a place of voyeuristic fantasy in the realms of sexuality on pornographic sites. What ever happened to true Love? Are our priorities so messed up that Romance has been forgotten, only to be experienced vicariously through television and movies? The answer is no. Romance will never die; we just have to feed it with our energy.

Around 800 years ago a famous Arabic poet, philosopher and sage named Rumi wrote beautiful Love Poetry beyond all comparison. I don't know if there have been many other people in Earth's history that have thought about Love as much as this master. His poems have not been forgotten, and one place you can simply find and read them is on the Inter net. E.g. www.khamush.com/Lovepoems.html

The Beauty of the Heart
The Beauty of the Heart
is the lasting Beauty:
its lips give to drink
of the water of life.
Truly it is the water,
that which pours,
and the one who drinks.
All three become one when
your talisman is shattered.
That oneness you can't know
by reasoning. (Rumi)

Of course you can also buy books by Rumi on the Net as well, but the mai n point here is that the Internet doesn't just give us access to our present time and place; it gives us a means to connect with past realities often assumed to be lost in time. It is quite ironic and paradoxical that we can use this modern space age tool to connect with our cultural, spiritual and social heritages. We as a society have come a long way in terms of our technological development, but it is well known throughout the world that our ancestors were much more evolved in these important areas where our growth has become stunted due to a lack of awareness and narrow perspectives on life.

Love, Romance, spirituality, none of these things need be forgotten. The answers aren't locked away in tombs and pyramids; they are still here lingering in the back of our consciousness. All we need to do is to get the desire to fulfil our lives by these means and we will search and find the ways. Human beings are incredibly resourceful creatures. When we put our minds to somet hing we can make just about anything happen. I don't want to imply that the answers to our problems are easy, or that the Internet is our sole saviour. I am just amazed at how all things in life are connected, and that we just have to open our eyes to see the all too obvious!

Jesse S. Somer
http://www.m6.net
Jesse S. Somer is a writer searching for Cupid's arrows anywhere possible. He has found that the modern Internet to be a possible source of Ancient knowledge and wisdom.


Author:: Jesse Somer
Keywords:: Internet,Web,Online,Poetry,Love,Writing,Rumi,Arabic,Ancient,Romance,Heart,Beauty
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An Afternoon in Chicago a poem: in Spanish and English

The sun like a dear trailbit my brow,
Industriously, as my wife and I took the train
Back to OHare, from downtown Chicago,
Windy city, with stretched-up eyebrows
In its winter sleep.
We walked around, downtown: busy city
From Washington Street to Michigan; across
The bridge, there on East Ontario, we
Ate at Bice, Italian Restaurant (my wife
Paid the bill) her treat, Valentines Day.

Im waiting for the plane now, its 5:00 PM;
It has been one of those happier days, moments,
In my life: strange, even with Northwest being lat
It is pale, to dark now (6:00 PM)
Sitting on these warn out seats!
Ive been thinking, like when youre a little boy,
And spent the whole day rambling through the
City, on your high, two wheel bike!...
Whistling away the sunny day,
With nothing much to do or say.

My wife, sitting next me fell to sleep, hat on:
Holding my jacket in her two hands, sleeping,
Had to remo ve her coffee cup, in case it fell:
Shes in some joyful lofty solitude;
While Im sniffling away like hell.
It was nice, just being ourselves today
Before having to go back home, to St. Paul,
Go back to the kitchen, and fixing things.
As I look about, everyones on cell phones.
Hurry-upflight: NW 145!

Now that I think of it, you could smell the lake
The Great Lake Michigan; feel its pulse, its
Winds like tides in the air all about.
Softer dust, swirling along the cities streets;
Street people blowing brass horns for a meal.
Rhythmic packs, misplaced men and women
Everywhere: like undergrowth, weeds not growing.
Drunks, and derelicts, eyes staring at your every move,
And endless forest of a city, with boulders,
Towering bricks, next to an unforgiving lake:

Chicago!...

Semi prose/1/14/06 #1208

IN SPANISH Translated by: Nancy Pealoza

Una Tarde en Chicago

El sol como una huella quer ida.-muerde mi ceja, Trabajosamente, como mi esposa y yo tomamos el tren De regreso a OHara, desde el centro de Chicago,-

Ciudad expuesta al viento, con cejas dispersadas

En su invierno dormido. Caminamos alrededor del centro de la ciudad: ciudad ocupada- Desde la calle Washington hacia Michigan; a travs El puente, all sobre el este de Ontario, nosotros

Comimos en Bice. Restaurante italiano (Mi esposa

Pag el ticket) su regalo por el Da de San Valentn.

Yo estoy esperando por el avin ahora, son las 5:00 PM; Esta ha sido uno de esos das ms felices, momentos, En mi vida: curioso, aun con el Noroeste atardeciendo.

Esto esta plido, oscuro ahora (6:00 PM)

Sentado sobre estos asientos cuidados!. Yo he estado pensando, como cuando t eres un nio, Y pasas el da entero divagando a travs de La ciudad, sobre tu alta, bicicleta de dos ruedas!..

Silbando lejos en el da soleado,

Con nada ms para hacer o decir.

Mi esposa, sentada cerca de m cay dormida, sobrero puesto: Agarrando mi chaqueta con sus dos manos, durmiente, Tuve que quitar su taza de caf, en caso que esto caiga:

Ella es en algo alegre, sublime solitaria;

Mientras yo estoy resoplando afuera como demonio. Esto fue hermoso, siendo nuestro da para nosotros mismos Antes de tener que regresar a casa, a Saint Pal, Regresar a la cocina, y arreglar cosas.

Mientras miro alrededor, los celulares de todos.

Rpido- vuelo -NW 145

Ahora que yo pienso de esto, t podas oler el lago El gran lago Michigan; sentir su pulso, sus Vientos como oleadas en el aire por todos lados.

Polvo muy suave, arremolinndose a lo largo de las calles de la ciudad;

La gente de la calle soplando cuernos de metal por una comida. Pandillas acompasadas, hombres y mujeres extraviados En todo lugar; como maleza, debiluchas sin crecer Borrachos, y abandonados, ojos mirando fijamente a cada movimiento tuyo,

Un bosque interminable de una ciudad, con pedruscos, Torres de ladrillos, cerca de un lago implacable: Chicago. Semi Prosa 1/14/06/# 1208

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
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The Meeting of Ms O'Day (Part Two)

[Erie, Pennsylvania

Chris Wright, between the his release from the Army in 1971, at the end of his Vietnam tour, and his reactivation into the Armed Forces in 1974, and his Army career, he had met Ms O Day and they had chummed about, living together now and then. She was quite young and he seven years older, and during this time when she was of legal age to live with Chris, she seventeen, moved in. It would prove to be an ongoing entanglement, a moody one, yet for her it was a battle also, not knowing where the moods came from.

During this time, shed break the relationship off a number of times only to return for lack of direction, which was, perhaps an issue on both their parts; yet they would both reunite.

It was in the fall of 1973, while they both were living in Erie, Pennsylvania, by their sisters house, Veronica, that it all came apart. Veronica had invited them up to her house, and in the course of doing so, both sold all their things to start a new life up there. Chris being a traveler at heart grabbed the opportunity. But while living their, and working for Malibu Iron, and then shifting to Pennsylvania Electric, Veronica asked them both to leave their house, having one kid, and one on the way. And so they did, after finding a house a few miles away, things smoothed out a bit. This is also where Chris started to see her peculiarities; her odd moods, behavior, such things he could not account for. At times her moods were up, other times racy, and still on other occasions down right depressing. She had rages like her brother, and her thinking was distorted.

In the mists of not having much money, and Katie wanting to remain in the house at times, Chris adapted a lost police dog, joined the Russian Club, even meeting Jack Benny one night there, just trying to avoid an unpleasant romance, yet not letting go, and not knowing why he wasnt, perhaps he was as ill as her, he concluded somewhere along the way.

Things did get a little bad for them, money wise, so bad once they had to count their pennies and take them to the supermarket to buy some hot dogs, the cashier told them to go to the bank and put them in some penny wrappers, and then shed sell them the hot dogs, in which they did, and the Bank teller told them to go outside the bank and do it, it was too much of a bother to do it inside: put the pennies in the rollers, and they did, and then bring it back in, and then they gave him the pennies, and then they brought the roll of pennies back to the supermarket and bought the hot dogs: it was an odyssey at best.

After a struggling year, he returned with Katie, back to Minnesota, and moved out, finding an apartment of his own, with his friend Kevin, a younger lad than he, but a fine one. They both seemed to have drinking problems during those days, but who was watching, no one so they of course kept on drinking. And their small apartment was quite suitable for tw o bachelors. But Katie kept coming around, trying to fix things up. And Chris for some odd reason didnt put a halt to it, but Kevin tried, telling her to leave Chris alone, and so that broke up Kevin and Chriss relationship.

It was then, in 1974, Chris decided to go back into the Army, build a career, go to college, and become what he wanted to become, all he could become, possibly do some traveling, with the Army paying the way. And he did just that, ending back in Germany, where he had been prior to Vietnam, in 1971, that is to say, he was in Augsburg Germany for ten-months during that year. And so Muter by Dieburg was to be a new site for him, but an old country.

Dennis is putting these short Sketches he did a few years ago, in the order as he did them, although this one, Number 2, would s eem to be the first one. I think there are four, and two linking stories to it, called: The Trials of Ms O'Day. Rosa

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Sketch
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Narrative Poetry

I adore writing poetry. Ill arm myself, with pen and paper at the ready, and accept any challenge of conquering a new poetry form.

Last year was the first time I questioned whether or not I could meet the challenge and bury it on the battlefield. Sure, Im a perfectionist, but what could make a person whos played with poetry for almost thirty-five years hesitate before charging? It was the narrative form.

Im not talking about the ballad or epic - which are types of narrative poetry - or other rhyming narratives. Im referring to the more modern, freer, narrative poetry. It was different than anything Id ever done before. To me, it seemed more like a story than a poem. I even remember wondering how they could get away with calling it poetry.

EXAMPLES TO READ: (both easy to find on Google if you aren't familiar with them)

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
The Wood-pile by Robert Frost

I write stories and poetry, but when I write a poem Im in poetry mode, and I felt stuck in neutral. How could the Poet-in-Me mix the two?

Stephen Minot said, in Three Genres The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama, Narrative is as natural a structure for poetry as it is for prose.

Poet-in-Me then rationalizes that Story-Writer-in-Me borrows stuff from the Poets Toolbox to write more effective stories, so why not knock on her door and borrow a couple of things?

Narrative Poetry Basics in Brief

BRIEF HISTORY

Narrative Poetry is poetry that tells a tale and can be traced back to Homer's Iliad and possibly beyond.

MUST HAVES

*Tell a story.

*Pay particular attention to rhythm and sound.

COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?

*YOU choose the form or whether or not to even use a particular form (aka ballad, etc.)

*Imagery - depth of imagery up to the author but keep in mind that a primary part of poetry is imagery, and you are writing a poem that tells a story, not a short story.

*Rhyme - use it or not - internal, external or none.

Since Ive tried using narratives in my poetry, I feel as if Ive written some of the best work I ever have in my life. It has opened a door I never knew was locked and I crossed a threshold into a land I never knew existed.

Simply, It has helped me grow as a writer.

WRITING EXERCISE: If you are a writer that really considers yourself more of a poet, try out narrative poetry as a way to build a bridge to story writing. If you consider yourself mainly a storywriter, use the narrative form to ease your way into poetry.

2006 Holly Bliss. All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs.

About the Author: Using her writing as paint on the canvas of her life, Holly Bliss is an eclectic writer, newsletter editor and an author on http: //www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Poetry.


Author:: Holly Bliss
Keywords:: narrative poetry, narrative poem, writing narrative poetry, what is narrative poetry, Definition
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Lord Byron's "She Walks in Beauty"

The Poem I am going to deal with in this Commentary is the description of a woman. It is somehow not very clear what is the relationship between the poet and her and what are the Feelings involved between the two. Still, even if the poets Feelings are not very clearly exposed, by the way he describes her, especially in the first two stanzas we can deduce the admiration the poet is baring for her. We can even say that he has unwillingly fallen in love with her, and is now writing this Poem to explain both to himself and us the strange phenomenon that has taken place.

From this point of view, the theme of the Poem is similar in a way with Keatss La Belle Dame Sans Merci, as they both deal with the unexpected and unexplainable power of love. Still, if in Keatss Poem the love and the fulfillment of attraction are driven to an extreme, here this does not happen as the poet has coped with the thought of not having her.

As a structure, the Poem consists of three stanzas, which can allow us to see a certain evolution of the poets states of mind in regard to the lady. The first stanza describes the woman from a more far-away perspective. It is the very moment of the attraction, when the fire is lit inside the poets heart, who is concentrating his angle of view, focusing more and more. In the second stanza the apogee of his Feelings is touched as the poet is completely charmed by the woman, whose defects he turns into qualiti es and she is possessed by a nameless grace. The last stanza means coming back to earth, as the poet, though still persisting on her Beauty has to notice that the woman has a heart whose love is innocent and a mind at peace with all below. The meaning of these lines is that the womans love and Feelings cannot be disturbed. The Poem has a calm ending, which together with the slow beginning and the intense second stanza make it very round and symmetrical on the whole.

In the first two lines of the first stanza the poet focuses on the appearance of the woman. The woman is seen as a cloudless and starry night. At a more superficial look this can be seen as a purely physical description, as the lady was probably dressed in a black dress. The stars, the glimpses of light would be her jewelry. Still, if we accept the idea that this is more than just a physical, almost literal description we should see what lies underneath the words. This metaphor allows us to understand the way the woman is perceived by the poet. She is the one that covers everything with her Beauty, bringing light into darkness, as the stars do in a cloudless night.

Her aspect and eyes are a strange combination of dark and brightness. Though this contrast might sound a little bit strange at the beginning, it is a beautiful mean of expression. It describes the Beauty and also the mystery that this woman has covered herself into. By associating these two characteristics to the eyes we get a better picture of what the lady looks like, as her black eyes are filled with brightness. In fact, this oxymoron is continued throughout the first two stanzas. The last two lines of the first stanza show the disappointment of the poet of not being able to make use of the light that comes out of this woman. He is den ied the heaven, the privilege of enjoying wholly the Beauty and light of the lady. This is where the dark emerges from, as all the brightness is shadowed by the sorrow of not having her.

The second stanza continues the description of the woman as a symmetrical combination of light and dark, of shade and brightness. This metaphor is meant to underline the complexity and harmony within the woman, not the superficiality or imperfection.

The view is now more focused than before and gets closer, visualizing the head of the woman in closer detail. Her hair is seen as the exponent of darkness, which is present in her raven tresses, in immediate contrast with the face. This one is filled with light. This perfect division of light and darkness, of shade and ray is associated to a nameless grace that is exercising its power over this very woman.

In this way the poet drives his divinization of the woman to a peak as he considers her gifted by a greater force with the immense quality of making cohabit both light and dark. The woman becomes the perfect shelter where the two opposite forces make peace and then cooperate in order to make her one of the most beautiful beings in the world. She is the one that helps and maintains this relationship of reconciliation as both forces are put in the service of a noble ideal, the ideal of Beauty. Still, the combination of such different forces is made in perfect harmony, and the result is a pure and compact universe.

The last stanza leaves aside the coexistence of light and dark within the woman and tries to give a more general account of the woman and the characteristics that impress the poet so much.

The general word that seems to describe the facts in this stanza is serenity. Every quality that rests inside this being is in perfect harmony and peace. Things are described as if the woman is winning mens hearts unwillingly.

The poet focuses again on the face and on the expression o f the lady. The elements that seem to have a strong impact on men are her smile and her tinted brow. The falling in love of the men is done very softly, with a criminal-like perspicacity, as the men hardly realize the reasons, though they are obvious. On the other hand this seems to happen without her will, as she keeps her calm and imperturbability. Her mind is at peace with all below, and the love for her beloved has not been affected by the victims she has made during time.

This last stanza gives the impression of resignation at the thought of not having her. If the first two stanzas were full of impulsive thoughts that tended to describe her in a very exaggerated way, in this one the poet is brought more down to earth. We might even say that he is now describing her with a trace of sadness, of resignation at the thought of not having her. He is now trying to convince himself of the fact that an eventual relationship between the two of them or any other two persons would stand no chance as her heart is forever given.

If we now come back to the interpretation for the first stanza according to which the lady is dressed in a black outfit, we can find another possible trace of interpreting the last lines of the Poem. Indeed, by associating the obsessive repetition of the black color with a mind at peace we can suppose that the woman is a widow. This is how we can find a meaning to the last verses. The author is sure that her love cannot be disturbed, as her beloved is now dead and nothing will be able to re-win her heart.

Next, we will have a closer look at the composition of the Poem. We notice that the duality persists in what the words are concerned. Each first line of each stanza consists of two elements separated by comma, this double enumeration being carried on through the following lines. Either if it is two opposite or similar elements they are always put in the same phrase, in an unperturbed harmony: Beauty/night, cli mes/skies, dark/bright, aspect/eyes, shade/ray, more/less, tress/face, cheek/brow, soft/calm, smiles that win/tints that glow, mind/heart. The poet, who perhaps wants to underline the happiness and fulfillment through finding of a mate, drives this duality to obsession.

We find the same duality in the succession of the lines inside the Poem- the form of the rhyme, that is. Indeed, a line ending in a certain termination is followed by a different one and then by another one, again different but similar to the first one. This allows us to notice the hesitation and alternation of Feelings that takes place inside the poet. The Poem follows a basic iambic tetrameter with an unaccented syllable followed by an accented syllable. Each line consists of four meters with two syllables each, a total of eight syllables per line. The rhyme scheme flows as ABABAB CDCDCD EFEFEF. Alliteration is also used: Of cloudless climes and starry skies, in which there is a repetition of the s sound. The second stanza contains insight into the dwelling place of the woman's thoughts, creating an insight into her mind by using alliteration. The repetition of the s sounds is soothing in the phrase serenely sweet express, because Byron is referring to her thoughts, and her thoughts are serene and pure.

The Poem is special, also through the means of expressions that the poet uses. These are not of an extraordinary expressivity, but still are beautiful and add a little color to the Poem. The first line contains two means of expression: walks in Beauty and like the night. These metaphors are very helpful in depicting the woman, both to a physical and an overall extent. Further, the light which heaven to gaudy day denies is again a very expressive metaphor showing the power of such a Beauty, as i t can deny the happiness of a human being. With this, Byron transforms Beauty in a defect and the beautiful woman into a cursed being, as involuntarily these can harm other people.

In the second stanza, the epithet nameless grace is associated to the Beauty that lies inside the admired woman. More than that, the poet considers that Beauty is a sort of spirit that lays inside the woman and that gives her glamour. This grace is present also in another metaphor, as it waves, the poet referring at the presence and the ways of manifesting of this spirit. The raven tress is an epithet meant to make us perceive better the blackness of the womans hair. In the same stanza we meet the inversion thoughts serenely sweet express, which does not hide any meaning beneath, but contributes to the image of the Poem.

In the last stanza we can notice the apathy of the poet also through the poorness of means of expression. Indeed, there are no notable metaphors or epithtets.

Th e Poem represents more than just a description of an attractive woman. It is an insight inside Byrons mind and subconscience, a description of the effects of love. It is less important which was the real context in which he wrote this Poem or which were the real elements that made him write the Poem. The important thing is that by reading this Poem our imagination has a certain freedom and in the same time is led by Byron, as he drives us to the checkpoints he establishes in the Poem. Thus we can affirm that the Poem is an authentic piece of Romantic poetry, even if this current is by far non-conventional, but diverse. The Feelings and the means of expression implied in the Poem are definitory for Byron and also for the trend he was a part of.

This Commentary was written for the History of Arts co urse at the International University Bremen by Ioan Hepes (http://hepes.blogspot.com). For more discussions on similar topics refer to http://worldlibrarian.blogspot.com/ . You are free to post comments on the Blog.


Author:: Ioan Hepes
Keywords:: Poem, Byron, lord Byron, Romanticism, she walks in Beauty, Beauty, Referat, Commentary, Feelings
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Monday, July 30, 2012

Article on Poetry and Two Poems

Writing Poetry for Tomorrow

What does a man need to be a poet, or tomorrows literary giant? Questions many a student has asked, from Harvard all the way to the community college in ones hometown. What is the answer? Well, I can give you mine, and Im sure if you asked a hundred writers, or a hundred scholars, youd get two hundred different answers.

Im sure some would say: hard work, while others might say, the right college, or a break, or it is who you know. Money can play a part in it others would say, and timing, I mean, given the opportunity. And it may very well be all of these, but let me iron out what I think might lay underneath the cellar, for its been cleaned out pretty well above it.

What is genius to you? Well, to me it is when something comes natural, easy. And so it should be in the premise we are now talking about. How about experiences in isolation, seclusion (be it in a willing environment or not: like engulfed in drugs or alcohol or prison, war, or some melancholy hole, or illness. How about exquisiteness or beauties per se; lets try a good sense of humor when the chips are down especiallywit might fit better; and how about strong, if not strange empathy and passion. All the schools and brains in the world cannot replace these requirements. Should you have these, and the money, time and schooling all the better; should you not, your possibly going to get tired of writing anyhow, you have nothing to say; rather report, it would be better.

Hollow-eyed girl

Little hollow-eyed girl
staring-up at the big world
wearing a pink flannel nightgown
barefoot and all.

Sleeping parents unaware
she slipped out of bed (to somewhere)
whispers a voice, unexpectantly
(a thin mouth quivering):

You do look kind of like a
picture that might have been.

The mother reaches out to gather
the child into her embrace

Poor little thing, she thinks< br> (still in her dream).

The child stands back
Deserted once by her mother
Tossed back to oblivion.
Yet the echoes of

Mommy
Is heardover and over
(like the humming of a train on tracks).

But arent you cold?
Asks the dreaming woman,

Come, take my hand!

The child stern: now stares
With pale lips
Puckered with disappointment
She whimpers a tear.

With pathetic eagerness
She asks again (the child bemused)
Says:

I dont know the wayand
You dont have time
And as she wakes up, the child
Disappears!...

#585 [3/24/05

3rd Day of Spring

Birds shit while in flight
Male bees screw, and then die
And People, they just lie!

#586 [3/24/05

Mr. Siluk is a poet, and short story writer for the most part. Althogh he has done many political articles, and received a personal letter from President Bush for his contributions in support of may of his po licies. He lives in Minnesota, and Peru, and recently has finished a new book called: Cold Kindness, which will be out soon. Website: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Article/Poetry
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

Narrative Poetry

I adore writing poetry. Ill arm myself, with pen and paper at the ready, and accept any challenge of conquering a new poetry form.

Last year was the first time I questioned whether or not I could meet the challenge and bury it on the battlefield. Sure, Im a perfectionist, but what could make a person whos played with poetry for almost thirty-five years hesitate before charging? It was the narrative form.

Im not talking about the ballad or epic - which are types of narrative poetry - or other rhyming narratives. Im referring to the more modern, freer, narrative poetry. It was different than anything Id ever done before. To me, it seemed more like a story than a poem. I even remember wondering how they could get away with calling it poetry.

EXAMPLES TO READ: (both easy to find on Google if you aren't familiar with them)

Those Winter Sundays by Robert Hayden
The Wood-pile by Robert Frost

I write stories and poetry, but when I write a poem Im in poetry mode, and I felt stuck in neutral. How could the Poet-in-Me mix the two?

Stephen Minot said, in Three Genres The Writing of Poetry, Fiction, and Drama, Narrative is as natural a structure for poetry as it is for prose.

Poet-in-Me then rationalizes that Story-Writer-in-Me borrows stuff from the Poets Toolbox to write more effective stories, so why not knock on her door and borrow a couple of things?

Narrative Poetry Basics in Brief

BRIEF HISTORY

Narrative Poetry is poetry that tells a tale and can be traced back to Homer's Iliad and possibly beyond.

MUST HAVES

*Tell a story.

*Pay particular attention to rhythm and sound.

COULD HAVES or What's The Poet's Choice In All This?

*YOU choose the form or whether or not to even use a particular form (aka ballad, etc.)

*Imagery - depth of imagery up to the author but keep in mind that a primary part of poetry is imagery, and you are writing a poem that tells a story, not a short story.

*Rhyme - use it or not - internal, external or none.

Since Ive tried using narratives in my poetry, I feel as if Ive written some of the best work I ever have in my life. It has opened a door I never knew was locked and I crossed a threshold into a land I never knew existed.

Simply, It has helped me grow as a writer.

WRITING EXERCISE: If you are a writer that really considers yourself more of a poet, try out narrative poetry as a way to build a bridge to story writing. If you consider yourself mainly a storywriter, use the narrative form to ease your way into poetry.

2006 Holly Bliss. All Rights Reserved. This document may be freely redistributed in its unedited form and on the condition that all copyright references are kept intact along with the hyperlinked URLs.

About the Author: Using her writing as paint on the canvas of her life, Holly Bliss is an eclectic writer, newsletter editor and an author on http: //www.Writing.Com/ which is a site for Poetry.


Author:: Holly Bliss
Keywords:: narrative poetry, narrative poem, writing narrative poetry, what is narrative poetry, Definition
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

Four Poems: Harvest of Apoplectic Horses Katrina's Pathway

Four Poems: Katrina's Pathway

Harvest of Apoplectic Horses
((Dedicated to: Katrina)) crisis)

It has happened before:
Nearby and afar,
Where the four-horses of
Apocalypse
With their flaming nostrils
Breathed in the fury of the winds
Only to vomit out, disaster;
Then galloped away,
Against pale faces!...

#824 9/2/05

The Vanishing
[Dedicated to: Katrina

For a time, I left my body
Behind me.
Still,
I resided in my darkroom
There is good in the world, I said,
The spirit of the world begins
To moveslowly, after Katrina.
I closed my eyes, thinking
New Orleans, Mississippi
(a prayer, if only for one).
Womens hands, loaves of bread
Appeareyes of men tired with dread
Burgundy faces, huddled
Togetherappear.
I say: thank God its not winter.
The world is silent (mostly)
A few friends hear our cry
But they are just shadows
Turned away from the su n.
The only thing worse than death,
Is thisthe vanishing.

#825 9/2/05

Bones in Water
(The Gem of the South; Katrina)

There once was this gem
Down along the Mississippi
(The Big Easy, New Orleans)
A gem, all wanted to touch:
Now in silent waters, like Atlantis;
The city in the dark:
Once the blossom of the South,
It cannot stand up right now.
Broken to its knees, with ease
In the winds of the hurricane:
Katrinas pathway: bones and ravage.

#826 9/2/06

Doomed to Live [Katrina

Doomed to live Are those who survived? Katrinas massive outcry The defiance of Mother Nature Against mankind. Thus, her ultimatum, her Remorseless, implacable Unalterable despair Gave her skeleton to create A great catastrophe For humankind Her face was gaunt, with Patched gray, colored dead With tarnished braids around Her eyelidsunaimed, calm Her voice, not even rose She destroyed New Orleans Her golden rival!...

< p>#827 9/3/05

Dennis Siluk, international Poet


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

"I Carry Your Heart With Me" A Discussion of the Poem by E. E. Cummings

The poem, i carry your heart with me, by E. E. Cummings has been a favorite love poem and a favorite selection at weddings for many years. The poem has gained renewed interest since being featured in the film, In Her Shoes. It is used with devastating effect in the films climactic wedding scene and again to close the movie. Countless fans have been inspired to review the touching words of i carry your heart with me.

The Poet

E. E. Cummings was born Edward Estlin Cummings in 1894 in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He died in North Conway, N.H., in 1962. Cummings earned a B.A. degree from Harvard in 1915 and delivered the Commencement Address that year, titled The New Art. A year later he earned an M.A. degree for English and Classical Studies, also from Harvard.

Cummings joined an ambulance corps with the American Red Cross in France during World War I. The French imprisoned him on suspicion of disloyalty, a false accusation that put Cummings in prison for th ree months. He wrote the novel, The Enormous Room, about his experience. Many of Cummings' writings have an anti-war message.

Cummings was a fine artist, playwright and novelist. He studied art in Paris following World War I and he adopted a cubist style in his artwork. He considered himself as much a painter as a poet, spending much of the day painting and much of the night writing. Cummings particularly admired the artwork of Pablo Picasso. Cummings' understanding of presentation can be seen in his use of typography to paint a picture with words in some of his poems.

During his lifetime Cummings wrote over 900 poems, two novels, four plays, and had at least a half dozen showings of his artwork.

Contrary to popular opinion Cummings never legalized his name as, e.e. cummings. His name properly should be capitalized.

The Poem

E. E. Cummings poetry style is unique and highly visual. His typographical independence was an experiment in punctuation, spelling and rule-breaking. His style forces a certain rhythm into the poem when read aloud. His language is simple and his poems become fun and playful.

Cummings poem, i carry your heart with me, is about deep, profound love, the kind that can keep the stars apart and that can transcend the soul or the mind. The poem is easily read, easily spoken, and easily understood by people of all ages. The poem could almost be called a Sonnet. It has nearly the right number of lines in nearly the right combination. But, typical of a Cummings poem, it goes its own direction and does so with great effect.

The poem makes an excellent love song when set to music. The outstanding guitarist, Michael Hedges, has set i carry your heart to music on his Taproot album. Hedges himself sings the lead, but the bac king vocals are sung by David Crosby and Graham Nash.

More than 168 of Cummings' original poems have been set to music.

Enjoy the words and the sentiments of this famous poem.

i carry your heart with me

i carry your heart with me (i carry it in
my heart) i am never without it (anywhere
i go you go, my dear; and whatever is done
by only me is your doing, my darling)

i fear
no fate (for you are my fate, my sweet) i want
no world (for beautiful you are my world, my true)
and it's you are whatever a moon has always meant
and whatever a sun will always sing is you

here is the deepest secret nobody knows
(here is the root of the root and the bud of the bud
and the sky of the sky of a tree called life; which grows
higher than soul can hope or mind can hide)
and this is the wonder that's keeping the stars apart

i carry your heart (i carry it in my heart)

********************
Garry Gamber is a public school teacher and entrepreneur. He writes articles about politics, real estate, health and nutrition, and internet dating services. He is the owner of http://www.Anchorage-Homes.com and http://www.TheDatingAdvisor.com


Author:: Garry Gamber
Keywords:: I carry your heart, e e cummings, E. E. Cummings, love poem, Sonnet
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Tsunami Day

A Poem - By Lorraine Kember

It was a day like any other and mother, father, sister, brother, were carrying out the customs of their land. When suddenly without warning, Mother Nature came calling, shook the earth and stole the ocean from the sand.

Many gazed in wonder before their world was torn asunder, when the massive wall of Water reached the shore. They, uncomprehending that the life they knew was ending and that this day would change the world for ever more.

Frantic now and running; they joined the fleeing throng, many drowned along the way, but the Water bore them on. Nature showed no favorites on that fateful day, countrymen and tourists, fell victim to her spray. The young, the old, the meek the bold, caught up in its deadly swirls; along with the houses boats and cars, floated men, women, boys and girls.

The aftermath was Destruction as far as the eye could see, babies torn from mothers arms were found in the debris. Bodies floated everywh ere, and survivors called the name of a loved one who had disappeared and would never be seen again.

We watch these images on TV and its hard to comprehend the magnitude of this Disaster and where the result of it will end. The Tsunami devastation has touched the hearts of Nations and we mourn for the thousands who have died. Our thoughts are with the survivors, knowing the millions of tears they have cried.

As well as the aid and the funds we give; we also hope and pray, that something positive can be gained, from the Tragedy of this day. No matter our gender, colour or creed or the country of our birth, we are after all fellow humans living on this Earth.

World peace should be our ultimate goal, its price not too high to pay, in remembrance of all who died on Tsunami day.

Poem w ritten by: Lorraine Kember Author of Lean on Me Cancer through a Carers Eyes. Lorraines book is written from her experience of caring for her dying husband in the hope of helping others. It includes insight and discussion on: Anticipatory Grief, Understanding and identifying pain, Pain Management and Symptom Control, Chemotherapy, Palliative Care, Quality of Life and dying at home. It also features excerpts and poems from her personal diary. Highly recommended by the Cancer Council. Lean on Me is not available in bookstores - For detailed information, Doctors recommendations, Reviews, Book Excerpts and Ordering Facility - visit her website http://www.cancerthroughacarerseyes.jkwh.com


Author:: Lorraine Kember
Keywords:: Tsunami,Disaster, Death, Destruction,Earthquake, Death toll,Tragedy,world peace, Water, Nations,
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Sunday, July 29, 2012

Destiny: The Call of Destiny

The call of Destiny

I wonder what

Is in store for me

What the Creator will want

To make of me

And do with me

How He would have me to live

To impact humanity

Help people be

All they can be

Perhaps I should not

Even attempt to be

Maybe it's not my Destiny

Oh God, please tell me

I purpose in my heart

To wait upon Thee

I know you often think of me

Why then do you withhold

Nevertheless I shall be so bold

This I have told

While then I wait on Thee

To see if Your decision

Is in agreement with me

I will live wholeheartedly

Doing whatever my desires tell me

Keeping in step with your written Word

Yet knowing there is a tailor made Word

From your heart to mine

I sense now is the time

To hear from heaven

To press in

Through the flesh

Past the perversity

Of this generation

As I seek Yo ur face

And set forth

To run this race

Know my Father

That I am yours

My life I have surrendered

Whatever therefore

That you have for me

I tell you now that my choice shall be

To love not that which is worldly

The lust of the eyes

The pride of life

The lust of the flesh

In such there's no rest

I know my God

You have what's best

I therefore set my face like flint

To provide for Thee

Build Your kingdom wholeheartedly

Bestow back unto Thee graciously

Whatever my labor

Does reward me

I ask you

To therefore guide me

In fulfilling all my goals to be

A man of generosity

That is the least I can do

For you

Considering that

You died for me.

Oh how I've come to see

That God does have for me

A Destiny

I've discerned

I've heard

I've seen it be

For before God does it

He shows me

So be patient, wait, and see

That for you too God can be

A revealer of things to come

So your feet can begin to run

Destiny is not burdensome

No sir

It is very fun!

Paul Davis is a life coach (relational & professional), traveling minister and fitness trainer. Paul is the author of several books including Breakthrough for a Broken Heart; Stop Lusting; and God vs. Religion.

Paul is a popular worldwide keynote speaker, creative consultant, humor being, explorer, mediator, minister, liberator and dream-maker.

Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has also brought revival to many in war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His nonprofit organization Dream-Maker Ministries is building dreams and breaking limitations.

Paul's Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate Destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Contact Paul to minister, speak at your event or for life coaching: RevivingNations@yahoo.com 407-967-7553.

For additional info: http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com, http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV


Author:: Paul Davis
Keywords:: Destiny,the call of Destiny,Destiny discovery,Divine,God,Jesus,Holy Spirit,dream design,life purpose
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Enquiries

Can I help you? I say
Because its part of my Job
Seated in front of me
He opens his gob
What does this mean?
He looks at me and asks
What I feel like saying is;
That youre a pain in the ass!
But I dont I just smile
And say, May I look?
I glance at his letter
Id have rather read a book
Ill just get your papers
I get up to go
Things that we do
To earn us some dough!
Whilst retaining my seat
I look at his file
Where do I begin?
I start with a smile
Well, its like this
Is how I begin
Why is his face
Covered in that big grin?
Is he sucking a lemon?
Or maybe a lime
He says, I understand;
Im just wasting your time!


I have been writing poetry for many years and regularly have it published in print. My poetry is published by Forward Press and in many other publications. So I'm now putting my poetry online. I publish my poetry on my Blog jo-hale-poetry at http://jo-hale-poetry.blogspot.com/ and on 8hop.com My poetry on 8hop.com. I also have information about my poetry at http://www.squidoo.com/jo-hale-poetry. I'm married to my husband Peter.


Author:: Joanne Hale
Keywords:: Job, Work, Routine, daily life, Boredom, Monotony, Bored, Service, Working, Dreary, Grey, Drudgery
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Victim Of Art

When I take photographs, I know it is easy to get carried away, and that there is a moment when it stops being ok, to take a photo. I have talked subjects into letting me take thier photos, or actually charmed them. But that is not always the case. 6/21/2004
The Photographer set up his Tripod,
With the fancy box camera on top,
In the very early morn,
On the Riverfront.
There was a cold breeze
That bit hard
Into whatever Flesh it could touch.
And he pointed his camera
At the person who lay sleeping,
Or sleeping it off,
On the ravaged public Bench.
Dressed in old stained sweats,
A couple of layers of t-shirts and
Socks and knitted mittens,
With a large woolen over coast to top it off,
They lay sleeping, oblivious and tore back.
The Photo grapher was very pleased.
The light was just right.
The dark circles under their eyes,
Every crack and crevice of their worn out body,
Every pustule, was captured, in all their gory glory.
To be developed, printed and mounted for the world,
when this suffering person, a victim of the world,
Would now become a victim of the art world.
The subject went on sleeping,
As the Photographer silently packed up,
Moved on and started to think,
Of how much money this one going to make for him.

Deborah Coss, has been writting since 8 years old, getting published off and on since 15, and finally realized her child hood dream, of carrying press credentials, working for womanmotorist.com. A diverse writer, publishnig several business type sites, she now publishes her own site, 1kindthing.com, creates some fine arts, and loves photography, commenting she is a social portraiture Photographer and prefers the medium of black and white. In art, she has a very constructionist attitude, and enjoys making masks, and other 3 dimensional objects. On a personal side, she survived an extremly violent childhood, some serious trauma, including being crushed by a car at age 3 and half. Thus, her site 1kindthing.com, tells of overcoming hardships, in her many styles of writing. She is a baby boomer, raised in Southern California, bi-lingual in Spanish, descened from French, German, English and American Indian bloodlines. Coss finds words fun, and communication an art


Author:: Deborah Coss
Keywords:: Deborah Coss, victim of art, Photographer, Tripod, box camera, Riverfront, cold breeze, Flesh, Bench
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"Exposed" "Who You Are" and "She Spoke Freely" Three Honest Poems

Exposed

You expose me
you over expose me
and I can't hide.
It's dripping, the water
and it's all I can hear
or the footsteps
or are they?
Who knocks at the door?
A breath uncommon
yet silently clear
raging
for no apparent reason.
Children are calling
and the movers are here
you hold me
silently
'til I manage on my own
to expose me
and everything
you thought might happen
I take back within my own control

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

Who You Are

It is your soul that plunges me into Passion.
Not the things you worry about.
It is your tenderness that makes me sing.
It is your gentleness that makes me cry.
And the thing you worry about
I never noticed.

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

She Spoke Freely

She spoke freely
past my soul and through me
Privy to a scheme
I could only wish did not include me.
Through the window
from where I just saw her
it was clear
she somehow knew me.

Of all the adventures
I could have taken
of little mud houses
and leaves afloat in rivers
on rainy days in the mountains
of all the songs sung
yet
a subtle speck
grew in my eye.

I walked in long dark spaces
reached out
to find my way
and at the end
alas
she spoke freely
of an unraveled me.

I was in pieces
unable to collect myself.
Disconnected soul
said please
help me.
Help me to find my little mud houses
and the leaves afloat in rivers
on rainy days in the mountains
and songs to be sung.
She turned me to a narrow direction
and prodded me on
The spaces you thought were gone
I see
they have always been there for you
all you need to do is accept it.

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

About the Author:

Kathy Ostman-Magnusen Hawaii, United States

Aloha! I am a figurative artist and Illustrator. If you check out my website you will see that I am very prolific in oils. My paintings are collected worldwide. I also do sculpture; images available upon request. I have illustrated for Hay House Inc. , Neil Davidson, who was considered for the Pulitzer Prize in feature writing, and several other publications. I also enjoy story writing and poetry. All of the paintings,stories and Poems on my blogs and website are written by me.

Check out my website http://www.kathysart.com or one of my blogs at: http://kathysart.blogspot.com/

Aloha


Author:: Kathy Ostman-Magnusen
Keywords:: Poems,Passion
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Solitude and Lurking Ripples Two Poems

1

Solitude

All I ever wanted was a meal
And a beda roof over my head
(and perhaps a little wine or beer)
I didnt really need anymore.

A good woman would have
Been nice, I thought later on,
To go along with the: beer and bed,
Roof and a little wine you know.

Anyhow, I was always fine with a
Small room, apartment: you identify:
It was all I really needed; along
With a pen in hand, and some paper;

Paper by my side to write my Poetry,
When I was sober enough to write: or
Perhaps lonely: now with my new wife,
Wine, beerand of course that bed.

And of course: liberty, that thing
We all went to war for way back when?
Many times! Not sure how many friends
Had to die for it, way back when.

Thats all I ever real ly needed. Yes, oh yes
Indeed: without a doubt, I have found my
Souls solitude in all this, buried somewhere,
Someplace in my little corner of solitude.

#1204 2/12/06

2

Ode to the: Lurking Ripples

Here, ripples the wind

Did the song of hell pass? The abyss-door was open

Something trampled in the

Grass!

A shape, a shapeI see,

Vivid as the veins in me; Evil lurks (sublimely)!

Dedicated to and inspired by Clark A. Smith, and George Sterling, after reading their many letters to each other. #1099 1/25-06

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Love and Faith: The Inseparable Force

LOVE AND FAITH

Love and faith
These are two
Intangible things
God looks for in you.
Love is monumental
Unable to be measured
It's accompanied by a feeling
And actions instrumental.
Love is expressive
Contagious like a disease
It melts the hardest of hearts
Brings men to their knees
Love is a job
At which all choose to work
Love is easy and complicated
Requiring homework.
Love is an art, even a science
Beyond formulas and compliance.
Love's impression is true
When you are affected
You will surely know it too.
A heart stripped of love
Is left feeling blue
A heart deprived of love
Often doesn't know what to do.
Love believes all things
Love makes you sing
Love rejoices in the truth
True love is never lustful and loose.
Love endures all things
Despite difficulties and pain
Love believes the best in people
And is slow to complain.
All pails in comparison to love
The God kind of love from above.
Is always worthy of
Care and attention
Nurturing and full of affection
Unconditional and never wavering it is.
From such flows eternal security and bliss.
As for eros however
It can betray with a kiss
This did Judas to Jesus.

The God kind of love however
It never fails
To it all other kinds of love
In comparison pales
True love must be tested
To reveal to what extent
It is or is not invested
To fully discover
Where it has never existed
True love in faith endures
When relations are strained
And there is much pain
Love and faith abides
When people in unbelief
Have left and exited
Love and faith embraces
Where others have rejected

Faith from above
It works by love
Faith is a force
A fact and an act.
The Holy Spirit is known
As the spirit of faith
Enabling you to confront your problems
Rather than flee in fear
Seeking merely an escape.
For problems reappear
In other forms and people
But if you master love and faith
The victory will always be yours
As a sower and a reaper.
Be not deceived therefore
You reap what you sow.
So don't be quick
To pick up and go
To walk out and leave
That someone you once loved
It's time to reevaluate
What you've called love.
Many misappropriate the word love
Not knowing what it is of
Many love sport
Others love possessions
Several love their work
Some love food - a favorite dish
But love and faith together
Is God's wish.
A wish for humanity
That they might forever abide
That they might remain satisfied
Dwelling in the presence of God
Settled in all they dreamed of
Nestled in the arms of love
Secure in divine relationship
Confident in the word of faith
Able to escape
The snares of the soul
Capable of contentment
Being always whole.
Love and faith
These must we seek
Love and faith
These must we speak
Love and faith
Hold fast to them
Love and faith
To be God's dearest friend.
Love and faith
To keep you until the end.
Love and faith
To give new beginnings again.

by Paul Davis - Poet and prophet

Paul Davis is Author of Breakthrough for a Broken Heart a book telling us How to overcome disappointments and blossom into your dreams! He is a minister, life coach (relational & professional), dating expert, popular worldwide keynote speaker, creative consultant, humor being, adventurer, explorer, mediator, liberator and dream-maker.

Paul's compassion for people & passion to travel has taken him to over 50 countries of the world where he has had a tremendous impact. Paul has also brought revival to many in war-torn, impoverished and tsunami stricken regions of the earth. His nonprofit organization Dream-Make r Ministries is building dreams and breaking limitations.

Paul's Breakthrough Seminars inspire, revive, awaken, impregnate with purpose, impart the fire of desire, catapult people into a new level of self-awareness, facilitate destiny discovery and dream fulfillment.

Paul can be contacted at: RevivingNations@yahoo.com - 407-967-7553 or 407-282-1745.

For additional info: http://www.CreativeCommunications.TV http://www.BreakthroughSeminars.org http://www.DreamMakerMinistries.com


Author:: Paul Davis
Keywords:: Paul Davis,Author, keynote public speaker, breakthrough seminars, love coach, Poet, Romantic,Romance
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The War Poets: An Introduction

Modern Poetry grew out of the First World War. English verse altered under the impact of mass murder in the trenches 1914-1918 and ceased to be cosy. The war spread to Russia and Italy and Turkey and into the Middle East, but the Western Front in France was the focus of attention at home. The opening bombardment on the Somme was heard in London.

Poetry came closer to news. Poets became war correspondents of feeling and suffering rather than celebrants of glory, honour, patria and remembrance. They ceased to be crudely national. This is not to claim that all Poetry had hitherto been glossy magazine verse or that wars had never been reported graphically. The change and difference lay in mud and blood becoming fit subjects for Poetry.

One of the most anthologised poems in the language is Rupert Brooke's 'The Soldier': Romantic, dreamy, patriotic: even the air has nationality. It's a poem about falling asleep and waking up dead and not feeling a thing except happy. Falling, yes, that word is deliberate - falling and rising. It celebrates memorial resurrection and the suspension of time.

If I should die, think only this of me:
That there's some corner of a foreign field
That is for ever England. There shall be
In that rich earth a r icher dust concealed;
A dust whom England bore, shaped, made aware,
Gave, once, her flowers to love, her ways to roam,
A body of England's breathing English air,
Washed by the rivers, blest by suns of home.
And think, this heart, all evil shed away,
A pulse in the eternal mind, no less
Gives somewhere back the thoughts by England given;
Her sights and sounds; dreams happy as her day;
And laughter, learnt of friends; and gentleness.
In hearts at peace, under an English heaven.

Brooke was a Greek scholar at Cambridge and the central thought turns on the idea of cosmic memory (mnemosyne) in which he will be 'a pulse in the eternal mind' reverberating still to an English tempo. The poem may be classed among the literature of martyrology, though it's not a religious poem. It plays on the poetic turn of mind that dreams of being taken up in rapture for the sake of the cause or the faith - this earth, this realm, this England inve sted with divinity, half in love with easeful death.

If this is the most patriotic verse after the speech before Agincourt in Henry V, notice the fundamental difference: Shakespeare tells us 'Old men forget, yet all shall be forgot,' whereas Brooke is claiming the opposite - that all shall be remembered, effortlessly. And, it is also the tranquillisation of bad memory: the 'all evil shed away' is the things you don't want to remember and which others are to be spared.

The War Poets did not come to treat war in the grand and glorious manner of Brooke, who was ignorant of the matter beyond the Iliad, and their verses gained more attention during the course of the war - in several cases after their deaths. During the conflict, much of their writing would have been regarded as defeatist and could not pass the censorship restrictions imposed early in the war. Yet, by 1916 the public mood had changed and the following appeared:

When you see millions of the mouthless dead
Across your dreams in pale battalions go,
Say not soft things as other men have said,
That you'll remember. For you need not so.
Give them not praise. For, deaf, how should they know
It is not curses heaped on each gashed head?
Nor tears. Their blind eyes see not your tears flow.
Nor honour. It is easy to be dead.
(Charles Hamilton Sorley)

After two years of war, Brooke's notions had melted. Casualty lists appeared in the papers every day and the worst came in July 1916. The First Battle of the Somme claimed over a million dead and wounded on all sides. On Day 1 the British suffered almost 60,000 casualties of which 20,000 were reported dead or missing. Sorley's poem no longer seemed seditious: it sounded all too accurate.

Siegfried Sassoon (1886-1967) was an aristocrat who won the Military Cross in the First World War and became a pacifist. He composed a protest statement in 1917 which was publishe d in The Times newspaper and read aloud in Parliament. After this he was diagnosed as suffering from shell shock and hospitalised. A fellow patient was Wilfred Owen whose poems Sassoon collected and published in 1920.

Wilfred Owen (1893-1918): Gas attack had added a new dimension of terror: the first such attack occurred at Ypres in April 1915 and in one of the most famous anti-war poems Wilfred Owen describes the 'ecstasy of fumbling' for a gas mask and of one drowning and lost, which, if you had seen it, you would not then repeat the old lie from Horace's Odes that it's sweet and fitting to die for your country - dulce et decorum est pro patria mori.

That was it. That was modernity. The givens and certainties of the pre-war world had fallen to doubt and would go along with Tsars and Kaisers into the dustbin of history.

Now regarded as the most poignant and significant of the War Poets, Owen came from Shropshire, went to school in Birkenhead than studi ed agriculture in London and Reading. Before the war he lived in France while recovering from an illness and was unfit to enlist in 1914 - but was accepted by the army in 1915. He was wounded and received the Military Cross. Siegfried Sassoon encouraged his writing while they were together in an Edinburgh hospital and brought out the first edition of Owen's Poetry. Only five of his poems were published in his lifetime but they gained attention. Well-wishers attempted to obtain a safe posting for him but he returned to France late in the war and was killed a week before the Armistice in November 1918. His poems were chosen by Benjamin Britten for The War Requiem and his small collection of works was re-edited by the Poet Laureate Cecil Day Lewis.

Read the full version of this essay at: www.litera ture-study-online.com/essays/war-poets.html

Stephen Colbourn has published many articles about literature on Literature-study-online at www.literature-study-online.com. He is a freelance writer. He has written widely on English Language Teaching and has published articles on literature, linguistics, and computers in various journals together with many Readers for Heinemann and Macmillan Education. He has contributed articles on literature to The Essentials of Literature in English post-1914, published by Hodder Arnold in 2005.


Author:: Stephen Colbourn
Keywords:: The War Poets,Rupert Brooke,Siegfried Sassoon,Wilfred Owen,Poetry,English Literature,First World War
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

Tale of the Brick Maker of San Jeronimo Peru In English and Spanish

Tale of the Brick Maker,
Of San Jernimo, Peru
[A Cup of Sorrow

1

In the Andean mountains, within the

Mantaro Valley region of Peru,
Isolated, secluded, tranquil, is the little

village of San Jernimo.
Near the village, here lay the fertile valley

with bent-grass, and huge
Mountains stretching northbound,

And heading towards the oceans coast.

The old man had hands like a farmers

was raised on labor and ceaseless;
He made bricks from the mountains clay,

baked them, from nearby firewood, and found
Serenity from the suns rays, as it sank

each night into twilight.

And so Augusto lived, directing his

household somewhat apart from the village,
Not a wealthy man, a brick maker, with

goodly acres of land; he now was a
Man of four and eighty winters, resting.

Happy and healthy was he, an ox of a man

with leathered skin, and dark eyes;
Yet how delicately they shinned.

Thus, at peace with God and man
and himself; the old brick maker.

2

I sat back in the Plaza de Arms, of Lima, Peru

listened to the tale of this old man,
And his Bride of long agoa story never before

toldthese were days forlorn and desolate
Night after night, when the city was

asleep, he tried to make a living,
But it seemed like the sun was always dark

in those days, with naught in his pockets
But a twig from a branch of a tree.

He hadnt eaten for a few days, so the old

man said, he was quite young back then;
Wandering the streets, the quiet way,

elastic and descending were his legs,
As if they were broken wings,. No jobs

in the city, now at trails end
He needed a friendthus he sat down

on some empty feverish steps, silent.

Moistening his lips, looking up, he saw---

(eyes half dead)
A little girls face looking down at him.

All was ended now, the hope that
Might had been; now restless; a vanished vision;

an unsatisfying longing.

Sir, can I help you? Why are you so sad?

spoke the little ten year old.
A dull deep pain, reached Augustos lips,

not knowing what to say;
And did it matter anyway, Eh! he replied.

She said once more, to the bewildered
Man, Ssir, why are you so sad?

Hundreds of feet walked by, where she

stood, he sat, Miss, I cant pay the rent!
Embarrassed, deep-voiced, he looked back down.

Within an hours time, the little girl
Was back, full of life, and with a check

paying the rent a month in advance!

3

But this is not where the story ends my friend,

it was really just the beginning.
As the old man in the park, sat back, we all

Wondered, and asked:
What ever happened to the little girl?

(all several of us now enchanted with his tale);
But he just laughed. Said I,

What sir i s so funny?
He replied: I came back, six years later,

and married her.
And you could see the twinkle in his eyes, for

she had been long dead, and he missed her.
And that was all he said.

#757 7/10/05

Spanish Version

Translated by: Nancy Penaloza
Edited by: Rosa Penaloza

Un Cuento del Ladrillero

De San Jernimo de Tunn

1

En las montaas Andinas, dentro de la regin
Del Valle del Mantaro de Per,
Encerrado, aislado, tranquilo, est el pequeo
Pueblo de San Jernimo.
Cerca al pueblo, aqu descansa el valle frtil
Con franjas verdes, y enormes
Montaas estirndose desplazndose hacia el norte,
y encabezando hacia la costa del ocano.

El anciano tena manos como el de un agricultor
Fue enaltecido en el trabajo e incesante;
El hizo ladrillos con la arcilla de la montaa,
Cocindolos con lea en un cercano horno, y encontr
La serenidad de los rayos del sol, as como estos se hu ndan
Cada noche dentro del crepsculo.

Y as, Augusto vivi, dirigiendo su
Casa algo aparte de su pueblo,
No un hombre rico, un ladrillero, con
Preciosos acres de tierra; l era ahora un
Hombre de 84 inviernos, descansando.

Feliz y saludable l era, como un buey era el hombre
Con la piel curtida, y ojos oscuros;
Todava cun delicadamente ellos brillaban.
As, en paz con Dios y el hombre
Y el mismo; el viejo ladrillero.

2

Me sent de nuevo en la plaza de armas, de Lima, Per
Escuchando el cuento de este viejo hombre,
Y su novia de hace mucho... Una historia nunca antes
Contada estos fueron das desesperados y desolados
Noche tras noche, cuando la ciudad estaba
Dormida, l trataba de ganarse la vida,
Pero pareca como si el sol estuviera siempre oscuro
En aquellos das, con cero en sus bolsillos
Pero con una ramita de la rama del rbol.

El no haba comido durante unos das, eso el
anciano dijo..., l era bastante joven entonces;
Peregrinando por las calles, de forma tranquila
Elsticas y cadas eran sus piernas,
Como si fueran alas rotas. Sin trabajo
en la ciudad, ahora en caminos finales
El necesitaba un amigopor eso l se sent
sobre algunas gradas febriles, silencio.

Humedeciendo sus labios, mirando arriba, el vio
(ojos medio muertos)
Una carita de nia mirndolo
Todo haba acabado ahora, la esperanza que
podra haber sido; ahora inquieta, una visin esfumada;
un deseo poco satisfactorio

Seor, puedo ayudarle? Por qu esta usted tan triste?
dijo la pequea de 10 aos de edad.
Un dolor embotado profundo, alcanzo los labios de Augusto,
no sabiendo que decir;
Y eso importaba de cualquier manera? Eh l respondi
Ella dijo una vez mas, para el desconcierto del
Hombre Ssseor porque est tan triste?

Cientos de pies andaban por ah, donde ella
estuvo de pie, l sentado dijo, seorita, no puedo pagar la renta
Avergonzado, con voz muy profunda, l miro hacia abajo.
Dentro de un tiempo aproximado de una hora, la pequea nia
Estuvo de regreso, llena de vida, y con un cheque...
Pagando la renta un mes adelantado...!

3

Pero esto no es donde termina la historia mi amigo,
Esto fue realmente justo el comienzo.
Mientras el viejo hombre en el parque, sentado, todos
Maravillados y preguntando:
Que le haba pasado a la pequea nia?
(Todos nosotros ahora encantados con su cuento);
Pero l solo sonri... Dije yo,
Qu es tan gracioso seor?
El contest: regres, seis aos despus
y me cas con ella.
Y tu podas ver el centelleo en sus ojos, porque
Ella ya haba muerto, y l la extraaba.
Y eso fue todo lo que dijo...

Dennis Siluk, author and poet, web site http://dennissiluk.tripod.com he will be going to Peru for the presentation of his book, Spell of the Andes, in October; he lives in Peru and Minneso ta


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetic Tale
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I Remember

Childhood memories, the building blocks of the windows from which we view the rest of the world, for the rest of our lives... They sometimes are the strenght from which our hope was born. 5/4/2004
I remember when I thought pink lemonade,
Was very special -
And I believed that a meteor,
Was had magic powers,
I remember when I had to learn,
The Alphabet, one by one.
And I remember when my Worries,
Were really very Small.
Today, if I could make my Troubles,
Quite that Small,
This would be a wonderful world for me,
After all.
But there are wolves in sheeps clothing,
Who covet your very s oul,
And think nothing of trashing
What little magic is left in your life.
And there are still knights in shining armour,
If only they can be found.
And there are windmills,
Still full of magic and danger,
And hopes and dreams,
Enough for us all.
But if could, I surely would,
Make all my Troubles quite Small,
Back before my very spirit would take the fall.
Was I ever really that innocent,
Or is that what my heart chooses to recall?
If only the secrets of life were really held,
In a simple crystal ball!
I could really live free and have it all!

Deborah Coss, has been writting since 8 years old, getting published off and on since 15, and finally realized her child hood dream, of carrying press credentials, working for womanmotorist.com. A diverse writer, publishnig several business type sites, she now publishes her own site, 1kindthing.com, creates some fine arts, and loves photography, commenting she is a social portraiture photographer and prefers the medium of black and white. In art, she has a very constructionist attitude, and enjoys making masks, and other 3 dimensional objects. On a personal side, she survived an extremly violent childhood, some serious trauma, including being crushed by a car at age 3 and half. Thus, her site 1kindthing.com, tells of overcoming hardships, in her many styles of writing. She is a baby boomer, raised in Southern California, bi-lingual in Spanish, descened from French, German, English and American Indian bloodlines. Coss finds words fun, and communication an art


Author:: Deborah Coss
Keywords:: Deborah Coss, I remember, pink lemonade, a meteor, magic powers, Alphabet, Worries, Troubles, Small
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Haiku Form What It is and How It's Changed

The venerable Haiku has been around for centuries. And seemingly little has changed over timeexcept the form. Haiku form in the West traditionally uses a combination of 5-7-5 syllables to create the poem. This has now given way to what is called free form Haiku. A good thing from my perspective.

Form is a very useful concept because it can aid a poet in constructing a finished poem. But forms can become dry and stale as well. Usually this isn't the case as Haiku form has retained a remarkable resiliency over the centuries. Quiet amazing considering the strict rules one has to adhere to. But somewhere along the way, Haiku poets here in the west abandoned strict 5-7-5 protocol creating a new Haiku form.

Created by using something called fragment/phrase theory, the new Haiku form allows modern day poets to express the unique Haiku sensibility in new ways. For example, take a look at this Haiku poem from the author:

Dusk --
A pelican dives
And catches a fish!

The first thing you notice is that the 5-7-5 arrangement of syllable is gone. Instead, we have just one syllable for line 1, five for line 2 and five again for line 3. The interesting thing about this Haiku poem is that it retains the important Haiku aesthetic. That certain reverence for nature that can only be captured in a few lines. Haiku, at their best, capture moments in time. Little snapshots of something happening in nature that otherwise may have been missed by the constantly roving eye. Haiku form may have changed over time, but fortunately, the Haiku sensibility is still being practiced here in the West.

Edward Weiss is a poet, author, and publisher of Wisteria Press. He has been helping students learn how to write Haiku for many years and has just released his first book Seashore Haiku! Sign up for free daily Haiku and get beautiful Haiku Poems in your inbox each morning! Visit http://www.wisteriapress.com for Haiku books, lessons, articles, a nd more!


Author:: Edward A. Weiss
Keywords:: Haiku,Haiku form,Haiku Poetry,Poems,Poetry
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Friday, July 27, 2012

Since You've Been Gone...

My Life has changed
in so so many ways
It seems to always be
in a state of disarray...

Without you here
by my side
to hold my hand
and be my guide...

I feel like I'm lost...
wandering through each day
waiting and hoping and praying
that you come to me in some way....

I need you to tell me
that it everything will be okay...
If anyone else is saying it
I never hear them on any day...

Nobody will ever be what
You were to me...
It breaks my heart to know
that I will never see...

Your tender face again
Or touch your fragile body
and feel your unconditional
love reserved only for me...

I would give 10 years
of my Life to have you
here with me for just
a month or two...

My love for you began
more than 30 years ago
It grew into a kind of love
that few people ever know...

I know I was truly blessed
to have you as my best friend,
My Grannio and my sole supporter
until the bitter end...

I will never forget
how much you gave,
how much you loved,
or how often you saved...

Me - when I was a little girl
from my nightmares
and when I was grown up
from all the evil dares...

You always stood by me
Faithful, strong and true
Til the bitter end
I knew I could count on you...

Now that you're gone
and I'm here alone
I realize more than ever
all that you've done...

To make my Life better,
Safer and Secure
By giving me your love
So unmistakebly pure...

I miss everything about you
all that you were to me
every single day I think
of how my Life used to be...

When you were here
with Jakob and me
Things were so different
that it's hard to see...

Why God had to take you
away from me and my son
so much, much too soon
before your time had come...

I will never understand
and I will forever Fear...
how much Life hurts
without you here...

Resource Box - Danielle Hollister (2004) is the Publisher of BellaOnline Quotations Zine - A free newsletter for quo te lovers featuring more than 10,000 quotations in dozens of categories like - love, friendship, children, inspiration, success, wisdom, Family, Life, and many more. Read it online at - http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art8364.asp


Author:: Danielle Hollister
Keywords:: Poetry,Poems,Poem,Family,Parents,grandParents,Loss,Death,Missing,Fear,Life
Post by History of the Computer | Computer safety tips

The Sting of Death

Oh! The sting of death
Like a thief in the night
Your cold vice like grip
Snuffed the life out of him
He was too young
So young he could barely say a word
You prevented him of the chance to
Explore the world
He only glanced at it
But did not cherish or despise it

Oh! The sting of death
His parents cried their eyes out
You took away their pride
You took away their sunshine
You took away their joy
You plunged them into grief
And bereavement
The household will never be the same again
The cry for a lost child will continously rent the air
For he was the only seed

Oh! The sting of death
Where is thy wicked sting? Oh death!
You have deprived many of loved ones
You have apromptly ended millions of dreams
You strike and leave misery and pain
In your wake
The burgeois and the proletariat are your target
The young and budding are not spared
The no nagenarians, octogenarians also feel your pang

Oh! The sting of death
Who can escape your spreading tentacles?
They claw to and fro
Until they touch a being
A being with the desire to live
A youngstar with no reason to die

Oh! The sting of death
Who can question you?
We beg you spare the lives of the young
And if you must take life
Take that of the very old and very weak
For it is bearable
As they have not only tasted the world
But savoured it until it feels like old wine
But the youth have every right to live on
For they are the future

I am a Nigerian and an avid reader who also take great pleasure in putting pen to paper. I believe that with the right expression of words written with my pen people could change for the better and correct or curb some ills eating deep into our system of government or life in general. Poverty and corruption have always being Africa's most dreaded disea ses and Nigeria is no exception. I write fiction and non-fiction and also write Articles on any subject, especially that concerning the well-being of the poor masses. I wish to be an acclaimed writer and author and a motivational speaker


Author:: Kevin Madu
Keywords:: article submission, Articles, Writers, Writing, Publishing, Ezine, Email marketing, Email newsletter, Email
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Early Breakfast in Huancayo (In English and Spanish)

Early Breakfast in Huancayo

Friend, today I sat at
a little caf,
adobe walls
outside my casa
where one makes chatter
loose conversations (gossip)
with the many outside
guests.

Early breakfast
in Huancayo
can be heavy
a feast
with a simple bowl of
soup
(chicken or lamb
noodles, noodles
and yellow potatoes))
and yellow grease
floating
on the surface
for flavor and taste!))

The weather was pleasant
this afternoon in
Huancayo, Peru!...

This evening it rains lightly,
and the car wont start
(stuck in the middle of downtown);
as a horde of families
pass me by
seeing me sullen through
the car window

It looks to me, in
this busy Andean city:
everyone, everywhere
(walking by)
are in their own little world.

Where I ask myself,
are they all going?
the rain and car lights
are blinking and blinding; if
you miss people:
HERE THEY ARE!

I get the car started
I pop the clutch, after a group
of people give me a push
and head on home,
to watch a movie at Mini`s

I feel all right now.
A relief resides in me
The busy day, the creaks
in my body, will soon die,
fade away, and Tuesday, yes
Tuesday will soon be.

Note: 8/7/2006; 1416 Dedicated to Mini, translated by Ximena Herrera; edited by Rosa Pealoza de Siluk

Temprano Desayuno en Huancayo

Amigo, hoy me sent en un pequeo caf, paredes de adobe afuera de mi casa donde uno hace charla conversaciones sueltas (chisme) con los muchos invitados de afuera

Desayuno temprano en Huancayo puede ser pesado un banquete con un simple tazn de sopa (pollo o cordero fideos, fideos y papas amarillas)) y grasa amarilla que flota sobre la superficie por sabor y gusto!))

El clima fue agradable esta tarde en Huancayo, Per!...

Esta tarde llueve ligeramente, y e l carro no arranca (atorado en el centro de la ciudad); mientras una multitud de familias pasan vindome malhumorado por la ventana del carro

Me parece, en esta ocupada ciudad andina: todos, por todas partes (paseando por all) estn en su propio pequeo mundo

Dnde me pregunto, estn todos ellos yendo? la lluvia y las luces de los carros estn parpadeando y cegando; si extraas a la gente: AQU ELLOS ESTAN!

Consigo que el carro arranque Presiono el embrague, despus que un grupo de gente me da un empujn y me dirijo a la casa, a mirar una pelcula en casa de Mini

Me siento muy bien ahora. Un alivio reside en m el da ocupado, los crujidos en mi cuerpo, pronto morirn, se desvanecern, y el martes, s martes pronto ser.

Note: 7/Agosto/2006; # 1416 Dedicado a Mini, traducido por Ximena Herrera; corregido por Rosa Pealoza de Siluk

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
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Lamenting Poetic Moods six Poems

Advance: in Mr. Siluks Poetry one finds symbolist values, sensuous impressions; verbal magic and even childish jingles; at times the popular 8-syllable verse (ballad metre). Free verse, with lamenting poetic moods, even satire (poems inside-out). Here are a few more of his recently written poems. Rosa Pealoza.

Lamenting Poetic Moods
(Six Poems)

By Dennis Siluk

Spring Scene: Rain
[Along the Mississippi

Dusk descends. A mist
shows nothing of kindness.
And now, as the sun falls,
a dead pale gleam, hardly

seen
covers the city, along the

Mississippi;
With tarnished spring rain!
Everything is cold and gray.
No moon at all, just pale drab

rain
Bleak rain, all night and day;
Pale-bleak rain, along the

Mississippi.

Note: #670 [5/16/05; inspired by the rain;
in St. Paul, Minnesota; and Juan Ramon Jimenez.

Wariwilca
[Ancient ruins by the Andes of Peru, 700 AD

Ancient ruins, hidden away
In the Mantaro Valley
Huancayo

A scent of silenceresides
In the quiet skies
Of Wariwilca!...

A cheerful breeze clashes my knees
As I kneel down
And Drink from its spring

In the quiet corners of
The ruins, spirits still linger
Unruffled.

#671/5/16/05

American Society:
Yellow moon-light

We are Christians, but have
Not faith!

We are ecclesiastical but
Not spiritual!

We have no roots, but we
Have big feet!

It is a land of everyone
Ruled by everyone

Even mystics!

We have the mountain and sky
And we all try to fly!

We love God, with or
Without Him!

It should be made clear
We are preoccupied with:

Death, money and beer!

(And most folks hate Poetry
At best.)

Our youth and Congress
With long grass and low skies

Are on a road that leads to lies!

As for me
Books, New York City, just before
Dawn: yellow moon-light shines through
My empty room.
Farewell, farewell; next stop
My poems becomes alive
With cosmic crap!

#669

White Peril

Weakness rides the humans of life!
Humans against the anguish of Satan!

He feels wronged and thus, suffers
Madly with his blemished soul!

They are many; but they exist, they
paint white fences for weak humans.

The poorthe poor! He slaps their face;
Puts them in place; gives gilt filled destinies.

Weakness rides the humans of life!
Madly with the blemished soul of Satan:

Crazed eyes, shoulders high, h igh:
He summons usto his den nearby!...

#668

Cesar Vallejos:
Feasible of Black Roses

Bow down your head ol poet
To face Gods grace ahead
There are no more trenches

To dig today
In the forest of your head,

So:
Bow down, bow down,

Ol barbaric poet!
Death rides the horse ahead
I hear the crackling of a whip
See the crazed eyes of death.

He summons you to his den
The devil and his wind,

So:
Bow down, bow down

Your blood stained brows
He will take you to the edge.

Closer, closer, I see you now
Ah! a moving satanic cloud
I see a festival of black-roses:
Hear a clamor in the crowd;

Bow down, bow down, Ol poet
I hear applause!

Forgive me Lord, I tired
In the afternoon of my life
But souls are seized by devils

And black-roses at festivals:
On days that you are sick!...

#666 [5/15/2005

Evangeline of Lima

Evangelina of Lima,

Awoken in her breasts

Warmth at the request For her hand in marriage
By the handsome young captain

Don Fernando!

But obsession to gamble

Woud tare his heart away

As he squandered her fortune
And her diamond solitaire ring.

But fortune would have it so,

She died a solid wife

To save her husbands honor
In the middle of her life.

Note: Inspired by Ricardo Palma, and his Peruvian Traditions. Being a licensed counselor for many years, and schooled in psychology, and addictions, this case he writes about, was most interesting to me, and therefore I wrote my poem with it as an example. I do not feel I have taken anything away from his writings, and was careful to observe this.

Poet/Author, Dennis Siluk, http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
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The Macabre Poems Part Four: Poems 54 to 80

57) Out of the Dust

Part I

Out of cosmic friction and its rift,
Out of havoc and mass,
Man was born
To a primitive class,
On a planet yet unknown.

Part II

Across the galley, winged demons flew
Ape-like men appeared,
And strange monsters:
All creeping at mans nature.

58) The Black Hand

His hand a closing veil from hell
Looming to my braw,
To cover it like a canopy.
Behind him the world was upside down
And at his feet stood ancient crumbling hate.
He stood still within this evening bleak,
With weathered limbs and somber sounds
And a waxed face I could barely see;
Then, in silence, his hand went upon my face.

Note: 7/04 #340)

59) The Long Hemp

The night shadows sigh across the grass
And chant through the misty trees;
The night shadows bellow the hemp on high
With the tug of laughing goblins.
And many a song they pipe to the twilight
And the far -off woods of ebony.

July 13 2004 [#338

A Prose Poem

60) Eyes of the Pacing Serpent

Against a topaz sky, I see a pacing, Green Serpent. He paces on the skyline, moving with the clouds of flaming turquoise. Jade cat-eyes, god of the air, sunk and lost in the cloudy mist, he did not look at me, nor by sign did he speak to me. But his brooding silence tells meAges before you were born, I was. For the race of man fades, fades into forgotten glory; yet I live on.

Frozen in a dream-vision above the great roof of reality, with undulated silence, his hiss echoes, vibrates the atmosphere ignites fires blazing in the heavens. A mist lay between me and the clouds, the great dragon paces with a grin, and his mighty bat-like wings, ready to devour with his burning, jet eyes, swallow all in his path.

He looks down, but still he looks not at me, with his eyes of eon-haunting magic, looks down to the satanic frogs hes sent to a great city, with their, th eir nostrils ablazein purple and scarlet robes. He is preparing a nightmare.

July 13 2004 [#337

Prose Poem

61) Mistress of Darkness

This is a dream that came to me long ago, not in a haze, but in vivid, daydreaming mode. I stood in a sacred hall of sorts; its tapestry was brilliant, by pillars of glittering marble, and a ceiling of high, gilt leaf. I stood in mid air, somewhere in the center, all of this beneath me, images, dimly shadowedas a woman walked by with a candle.

Then appeared a goddess in all black, a woman of beauty, strange-eyed with dark, abyssal hair, clutching hands into waves of darkness, as she was cast down into volcanic air; a slender and leaping tigress, a mistress of demigods, I deemed. Deep she echoed, until she no longer could be heard or seen.

7/13/04 #339

Prose Poetry

62) The Foulness of the Imp

Twice I met the imps (in a most peculiar way) who filled the air with a burst of bulky, shifting stench, suspended without a body, their lush corpse odors lingering: bat-lipped imps, bone-spitting imps, barrenness upon their lipsnostrils huffing like dying sows, unclean light circling within its own gloom seeping out of wombs they had saved for this occasion; their breath came thus up from their bowels, to spill on me.

Both times, I was alone, isolated in my car and bathroom: I learned they do not like to be mocked or scorned; yes, the madness of truth that fell upon me, as, by their putrid stench-spell, manifested scorn, triumphant revengecall it what you willit drifted back and forth, inch by inch filling each and every once of space in my car, in my room. Not a perfect stench, just revolting enough to be paralyzing.

Who did you think it was? boomed a voice, gaunt and ill-willed.

Guilt, I felt guilt; I provoked the misfits, provoked them beyond the point of retreat. Yet the smell continued, nondescript, yet it could desiccate a corpse to dust, should it remain suspended in air long enough. Yes, out of the imps mouths come the worms of hell, the infinite smells, pantheist still.

I opened the doors so the enraged pong, its stunning weariness could seep out, and, out like a slave to the lungs, the imps, who would have to chase their urine covered mist, went.

Written 7/10/04

Prose Poem

63) Slaying the Prowess

I stood in line, hands by my sideamong a roll of men. A handsome young man walked near, slowly, hesitantly, stopping in front of me. Clad in a short tunic, shoulder bare, mantle of an Athenian figure [l984, a true aristocratic face, his long blond hair, unbound, glittering like gold-dust, his light bronze-banded arms were smoothly muscled; he seemed deadly and passionate.

I wore sandals (within this dream) and a garme nt that covered half my flesh, yet he lingered closely to my form to turn a moment of beauty into lust. I knew without thinking, as he knew, time was fading. He said, You: I choose you Go your way, said I with wide open eyes, There are many here who would desire your love. It was not as if he was destitute, but the love he desired was lust, to wedge a stone between God and me. His face was like a wolf that was tossed a bare bone, with no marrow; he sneered.

Vision took place, l984, written originally on a piece of paper, lost, and now remembered; July 2004, #342)

64) The Haunting of Demons

When I, and I alone, dream,
Alas!things fade into rain,
Rain, red rose rain.

I know then why I am running
And where hides the devils thorn.

And when these long,
Too long winter nights
Burn bitterly until daylight
Like eldritch vipers, overhead
Whose thorns lurk low
Close to my bed,

These long,
Too long winter nights Give birth to demonic delights
Outside my mind and eyes.

Deep, in deepest dreams,
Is where Ill be
As they roam
From place to place, looking,
Looking and hunting for me:

As they seep,
In my dreams, looking
Looking and hunting for me.

June 26 2004 [No# 317

65) Dream Smoke

I woke today and realized I,
I had a terrifying dream,
somewhere in-between
smoke and reality;

What day, what week was it?
I didnt know, for:
everything was fading, fading,
just fading gray dream smoke.

Everythings a dream or delirium
or so it seems (I said to myself)
even the birds on the ledges;
the world of reality is,
is in the urine and pungent smells
(I tell myself).

For the sleeping world:

In here the light is on all night;
in here the day looks like night;
in here silence chokes:
week after week after week,
fading into dream smoke.

In the waking world,
tirelessly I count the days.
In here you just dont know.
Foot steps sound like heart beats.

In here you just dont know, for
its all covered with dream smoke.

Composed 6/26/04 #316

Selected Poems

66) Homeless in the Cosmos

I watched my grandpa get old and gray
And die;
Twenty-nine years later, my mother,

Old and gray, took her place,
And died.

They are no more, nor shall benot,
Not in all the Cosmos again;
As if two fires were put outnow dead.

They lay dead on infinite ground,
And now it is my turn to die;
And yes, yes yours

5/2/04 St. Paul, Minnesota, USA

67) Wingless Drunkard

Black prayers, wingless angels sing
Hastening, they stroll to meet
Drunkards.

April 24 2004 [Quito-Ecuador

68) Just a Moment

Just a moment, just a moment,
Then the moments pass away,
Then you fade.

6:05 AM May 2 2004, St. Paul, Minnesota

69) Longi ngs

I long for the unseen;
Curious for the material world,
My delights have been uncountable.

In my dreams of slumber,
Almost strangely Im withdrawn:
Like a vampire.

12:35 AM, May 2 2004, skies over Peru

70) Devils Dice

At times the fool
Makes his promise
With fires of Hell
Beneath his feet:
Nearby stands the Devil
With heavy dice.

Ah! When he wakes
Unto his tricks
Bound he thinks
And bound he feels,
But wise
He flees, like phantoms
In the skies,
And hides like gophers
In the hills

Far, far, far away.

June 2004

71) Blindash

Why is it so hard
For man to look back
At his past?
It is as if Pompeii
Itself
Has covered his eyes
With ash
Ash and stone
(Blinding toxic gas)
From birth to death
Yes, O yesas if,
As if time itself
Was wrapped in it.

May 10 2004, St. Paul, Minnesota

72) Wisdom Lost

< p>Wisdom once gained
Can be lost the same:
By blindness of impiety,
And the obtuseness of sin.

73) A Place Remembered

A place remembered,
A dream once dreamed,
Is never the same?
When one goes back
For a visit.
If it is of childhood,
Leave it as it is,
Keep dreaming:
Youll never outlive it.

These two poems were considered by Poetry.com as the very best, and they convey good craftsmanship

74) Satans Tricks

Strange as it may seem,
Satan has a scheme:
Have you belief in him,
Obsessively, or not at all;
Or have you lived neurotically
In the past or for the future,
(But never within the present);
Or have you got involved
Compulsively in something
Dissociative
Like drugs or alcohol,
Gambling or se x: theyre all
His tricks.

May 6 2004, St. Paul, Minnesota

75) A Dream of Mother

I dreamt a dream:
I saw my mother last night,
In old surroundings; when
A strange occurrence befell me
(Beneath the expiring,
Haunting light):

The dead world came alive,
A voice
A shadow
Came, engulfed me;
In my sadness she appeared
In my gloom

Touched like a falling star!

Quietly, I remembered
She had died.

April 12 2004, Lima, Peru

76) Nikita Khrushchev

In his backyard, with fading brown grass,
He sat, with his dog by his porcelain side.
The old man was stone still, still sadly alive,
As if in a trance, for onceonce,
Not so long ago, he ruled the world.

77) Loves Hour

Love has had its hour,
As has this rime
Both are sunk in the seas of time.

April 16 2004, Lima, Peru
For the Eldritch Dark

78) The Surrogate Devil

An old mans fancy of per fect love
With no emotional clutter,
With a young, fresh girl:
With dreams of erotic desires:
Desires with wished women

In his nightmares, he creates
The strong woman
He no longer wishes to see

He calls them devil girls
Unknowingly: Why? He finds
The surrogate mother, calls her
Perfect love...

But soon that dissolves

He sees the transformation
The doomed, doomed love;
Love, yes! that love
That love that never appeared
Before, before submissiveness

No longer the nurturer,
She doesn't care

Seldom is the survivor of such
A calamity admired
Or remembered; therefore
(In this poem anyway)
He dies alone.

June 23 2004, #315

Legends

79) The Moche of Chan Chan

Sealed by those long ago
A record held within it shadows,
The Moche died: sunless,
Lost and alone
Within the fancy gloom of Chan Chan;

Whose gloom is hidden behind:
Unharve stable orchards,
Unretrievable light
And unto all comes death.

Note: Written about the archeological site in Northern Peru.

80) King Arthurs Sin

His sword was black
As midnight sin;
His heart a stone
His eyes were blue,
As in Arctic ice,
And his blood
Was made of gloom.

Throughout the isles
He conquered all,
Roman, Saxon, Gaul,
Cutting wings off
Midnight beings
And burying
The grandsire foul.

July 2004 #341

See Dennis' web site: http://dennissiluk.tripod.com


Author:: Dennis Siluk
Keywords:: Poetry
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