it was not so long ago —

On 2023061120230611 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original Poems1 Comment

there was that time -- 
and it was not so long ago -- 

  when rain fell into barrels by our door, 
  when pain was bearable upon that floor, 
  for you and me were linked, and strong, and free, 
  and true was more than price, or liberty. 

and when you felt your shoulder tapped, you went --  
it was your time, you said, and so you served -- 

  but afterthoughts and undertows be damned, 
  we had a dance to dance, a spotlight time: 
  but nothing bought, and nothing we had planned, 
  could comprehend the sentence, or the crime. 

there was that day -- 
and I guess it's been years -- 

  when though we were, you weren't, and that was all, 
  when going through meant me becoming small, 
  for as the rain evaporates by sun, 
  so we the two were destined 

     to be one

In The Absence of Friends…

On 2023052720230527 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

In the absence of friends, I made a swing, 
And sat and swang, as the seasons changed; 
Without any purpose, I dreamed my dreams 
Of a life, and a love, and a world without pain 

Like a multi-hued waterfall, wondrous and strange, 
Where the lone cats wander and wild birds cry -- 
In the absence of friends, I made a swing, 
Then sat and swang, as the world went

"Bye"

hello, i haven’t left

On 2023052320230523 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

hello, i haven't left -- 
although i moved from there 
into simplicity: 

the mirrors run on time, 
and i can close my eyes 
against adversity.

for i cannot contain 
the seeds that sprout, 
unbidden, from the ground: 

for you who long, bereft, 
come fill your emptiness with 
no more 

sound

A Universe of Discovery

On 2023050720230507 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

Lying on a blanket 
In their backyard 
With an old pair of binoculars: 
She and her sister, 
Ten and eight, respectively, 
With a book of star maps 
And a flashlight 
And a universe of discovery 
Everywhere around them. 

Under a similar starry sky 
She drives towards her sister's new house 
Way out in the country; 
She and her sister, 
Fifty-eight and fifty-six, respectively, 
With electronics to guide her 
No more looking up at the sky 
For a universe of discovery 
That is made for you 
Is no universe at all

“Nor”

On 2023050720230507 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

Maybe I'm not a spectacle. 
There's nothing here that is amazing, or astounding: 
I am not the best or brightest, 
Neither the strongest, the fastest, nor best to look at.  

Maybe this is not a historically significant place -- 
Nor a place of current interest or intrigue -- 
Not just the right thing 
At just the right time. 

In a world and an age full of grabbing, 
Whether of attention, or hair, or opportunity, or money, 
I am a being of releasing: 
Of letting go, of setting free. 

None may stop to view such a lack of drama, 
Indeed, I scarcely pay it much mind, myself -- 
Maybe I'm neither all I think I am, 
Nor as little as I fear I've done. 

Maybe I'm not a spectacle, 
But I can honestly be what I genuinely am: 
Used, homely, full of purpose, faulty of execution, 
Closer to the dust than to the cradle. 

For I am neither angel nor demon: 
A digital bard from an age of paper coupons, 
A song no one listens to anymore 
Although there are forty-five hundred versions available. 

There is a genuine you of sinew and heartbeat, 
There is an actual me of skin and breath, 
But without the right dash of cavalcade, 
Do we qualify for real existence?

the morning pine trees

On 2023050520230505 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

DO YOU, in the morning pine trees know 
 Why things were made to bloom and grow? 
 How all that lives submits to fate, 
 And whence cares go when they're too late? 

Do you, as the waking birds sing on 
 Find solace in the peace of dawn, 
 Or do you stew, and stir, and fret 
 For all that hasn't happened yet?

In the Moment

On 2023050320230503 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

WHEN joy rains down 
 like paint falling from a clear sky, 
 and laughter streaks across pavement, 
 turning the rain into a riot of color, 
 then do I understand togetherness: 
 two parts dignity, 
 and three parts vulnerability, 
 this wonderful mess that is our lives -- 
 hues, pavement and water: 
 time, place, and love.

three tall stones

On 2023042920230429 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

three tall stones 
and one tall story; 
faded love 
and ransomed glory -- 

three lost sheep 
and one found jewel: 
love is kind 
but fate 

is cruel

Inquietus Cordis

On 2023042620230426 By Beleaguered ServantIn Original PoemsLeave a comment

Though heart and mind agree in this, 
We find, at last, the hedge 
That indicates the limits of 
Our yard, our reach -- the edge -- 

And though sleep flees beyond the flood 
Of all that we would do, 
It's all just puzzle pieces spread 
And us without 

A clue

No Talent For Certainty

Category: Original Poems

it was not so long ago —

Like this:

In The Absence of Friends…

Like this:

hello, i haven’t left

Like this:

A Universe of Discovery

Like this:

“Nor”

Like this:

the morning pine trees

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In the Moment

Like this:

three tall stones

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Inquietus Cordis

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To share is human:

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To share is human:

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To share is human:

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To share is human:

Like this:

To share is human:

Like this:

To share is human:

Like this:

To share is human:

Like this:

To share is human:

Like this:

To share is human:

Like this: