The ocean holds me in her arms
Though I am hesitant to venture
Crystal waves draw me in, how fast they disarm

I push off from the boat, the salt, my body burns
Face plunged in the water, breath sharp, seeking out my center
The ocean holds me in her arms

Blue water is pure, yet it still churns
Eyes fixate on bright schools of fish, stout and slender  
Crystal waves draw me in, how fast they disarm

Stray flipper to my face, thick water in my mouth, and it spurns
So, I turn to avoid the offender
The ocean holds me in her arms

Back to the lively landscape below, sea turtles and sea worms
Words cannot recreate the beauty here, no matter how I endeavor
Crystal waves draw me in, how fast they disarm

Back to the boat, I climb the ladder of the stern
Pause to admire the scene, air tickles like a feather
The ocean holds me in her arms
Crystal waves draw me in, how fast they disarm

Fear standing atop crumbled clifftop.
A fleeting breeze whispers to me "what’s next?"
My Earth corrodes, this tearwater runoff

lifting fertile soil. Memories cropped;
despaired debris remains in frame. Perplexed
fear standing atop crumbled clifftop.

Two arms spread wide, frantic, balance I sought.
"Resist," whispers the breeze, "and breathe, reflect:
my Earth corrodes, this tearwater runoff

you precipitated; my ruin you wrought."
My toes begin to peek: the sea. Obsessed
fear. Standing atop crumbled clifftop

we teeter with unease that love means naught
when trust already sunk below the crest.
My Earth corrodes. This tearwater runoff

shall carve away our ache, and so we fought
against the chance that our love could contest
fear. Standing atop crumbled clifftop,
my Earth corrodes this tearwater runoff.

backstreets at dusk radiate a soft charm
thoughts trickle down like nightfall on the glass
beneath the urban blue we're out of harm

you tap an aimless rhythm on my arm
laugh at graffiti on the overpass
backstreets at dusk radiate a soft charm

a ****** of words breeze through the evening calm
they pirouette away from conscious clasp
beneath the urban blue we're out of harm

catch a falling leaf in your open palm
we wander slow though the road glimmers fast
backstreets at dusk radiate a soft charm

your eyes blur mellow and lose the alarm
aureate dream dust just beyond our grasp
beneath the urban blue we're out of harm

we fade our wounds within this twilight balm
forget your feet and leave them in the grass
backstreets at dusk radiate a soft charm
beneath the urban blue we're out of harm

I am stuck and forgotten in the past.
I wasn’t planning to rot in this hell.
Still here and all this time has passed.

Time goes by quite fast.
Forever behind the bars of this cell…
I am stuck and forgotten in the past.

I have deprived myself of my sins at last…
But through a trapdoor of the past I fell.
Still here and all this time has passed.

My ******* deeds molested, and harassed
Me, but I’m not trying to dwell.
I am stuck and forgotten in the past.

And now I am done this villanelle at last.
I try to call out but the walls block my yell.
I am stuck and forgotten in the past.
Still here and all this time has passed.

You are a blank rose doused in wine;
Too thrilling for my pen to hold,
You shed your petals in my mind.

I want to freeze your face in time
But flowers blister in the cold-
You are a blank rose doused in wine.

My morning sunshine makes it fine,
Repaints the waste in liquid gold-
You shed your petals in my mind.

I'm veering off the railway line
Grasp out for hanging vines to hold;
You are a blank rose doused in wine.

The thoughts dissolve in seafoam brine
As if my memory's been sold;
You shed your petals in my mind.

But I still hope to find a sign
A crumpled map into your soul;
You are a blank rose doused in wine,
You shed your petals in my mind.

A Bird in a Cage (Villanelle)

I am a bird in a gilded cage
where I cannot spread my wings,
a scared girl wanting to rule the stage.

Like a world renowned sage
unable to say anything,
I am a bird in a gilded cage.

Like a storybook missing a page,
a fictional kingdom without a king,
a scared girl wanting to rule the stage.

A longing nothing can assuage
but to win the fight and hear the cheers ring,
I am a bird in a gilded cage.

Maybe one day at a different age,
a hope to which I constantly cling,
a scared girl wanting to rule the stage.

A war in my soul ever waged,
with fear as the victor, I refuse to sing.
I am a bird in a gilded cage,
a scared girl wanting to rule the stage.

A Villanelle poetic form
Is a Nineteen line poem
5 Stanzas of three lines
Followed by a single Stanza of four lines
Two refrains and two repeating rhymes
Rhyme patterns
A1 ,b A2.a,b ,A1.a,b,A2.a,b,A1.a,b,A2 ,a,b,A1,A2
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It’s with a joyful heart
      A Villanelle

It’s with a joyful heart I greet the day.
For I am blessed with having such a love
In this way, that way and every which way

I am fired with emotion as I say.
Of course I can swear to my God above
It’s with a joyful heart I greet the day.

I don’t have to be on my knees to pray
And my cause for you will not be tough
In this way, that way and every which way.

We can have love both at home and away
And at times others may abuse our trust
It’s with a joyful heart I greet the day.

Know God is with us in work and in play
And during the life’s constant cut and ******
In this way,that way,and every which way

We answer all doubters with the word nay
We eat all that’s offered including the crust.
It’s with a joyful heart I greet the day.
In this way, that way,and every which way.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Philip
December 8th 2018.

Iron and coal fused into a steel sword
torn from the comforts of an idle home
Against both will and wish into the forge

Mere foot to pedal unshackles the horde
onto that which was ****** into the dome
Iron and coal fused into a steel sword

Crude earth melts into an effulgent form
that once cooled will become harder than stone
Against both will and wish into the forge

Burning is sequestered by drowning boards
that go unnoticed but for hissing moan
Iron and coal fused into a steel sword

New pain begins despite what came before
anvil and hammer fashion the unknown
Against both will and wish into the forge

Those who endure will still need to be honed,
to be, of their own soul, the highest lord.
Iron and coal fused into a steel sword,
against both will and wish into the forge