"affray" poems
ruminating
cogitating
pondering
thinking
the subject matter doth
put the mind into a thought seat
is there sufficient verbs for me
to place on the paper's sheet
verbs by definition are words
which have an action
they on the reader
do have an impaction
so let's explore a topic
worth a thousand of them
how I'll express this piece
shall test my mind's stem
here is the matter I shall discuss
without any duress or manner of fuss
all over the globe there is much trouble
our planet is not as a carefree bubble
the inhabitants often observe strife somewhere
our corners of four not of an according air
were there to be peace and calmed relations
no concerns would beset our world's many nations
yet a propensity for war doth ever prevail
what sane men shall see the wrongs of this pail
verbs shall never explain man's idiocy
as he's ever involving himself in armory
yet a man who did advocate cordiality
lived with his brothers in true harmony
he was a meek man of the Indian land
a message of non-violence he did band
the lessons of history are never heard
man seemingly ever in the warring herd
the middle east is a tinder box of hell this day
exploding bombs and munitions all spray in affray
verbs of dialogue aren't put to good use
an ongoing lighting of the fuse doth suffuse
few statesmen of Gandhi's ilk now exist
so the torture and torment of war shall e'er persist
diplomacy has lost its edge around the globe
our planet shall remain bound in worrisome lobe
the count of verbs in this piece didn't quite reach a thousand
yet deaths in conflicts outdo that number by the thousands
Nov 16, 2014
Nov 16, 2014 at 5:18 AM UTC
Out on the marsh on a lonely night
The wind soughs through his rags,
The hat that’s pinned to his painted face,
Flutters and soars, then sags,
His eyes are wide and his mouth is grim
As an owl is put to flight,
And nothing but shadows will venture there
For the Scarecrow rules the night.
And back in the manse in a window seat
The Parson’s daughter sits,
She stares at the fluttering coat-tails, but
In truth, is scared to bits,
She watches the sails of the windmill turn
And creak and groan in the gloom,
As clouds come stuttering over the marsh
In the rays of a Harvest Moon.
The father is out in the donkey cart
To tend to his aging flock,
He’s left Elizabeth waiting there
By the tick of the hallway clock,
But out on the moors and beyond the marsh
There rides one Highway Jack,
A frock coat topped with a bunch of lace
And a gold trimmed tricorne hat.
He’s whipped the horse to a lather
In a retreat from a new affray,
For the magistrates have gathered
Vowing to ride him down that day,
The redcoats wait in the village Inn
For the sound that they know too well,
When the curate sees the approaching horse
He’s to toll the old church bell.
But the curate lies in a drunken fit
On the floor of the old church nave,
And soon, by matins his soul will flit
From life to an early grave,
Elizabeth sits in the window seat
And thinks of the coin and plate,
As the highwayman dismounts, and ties
His horse to the manse’s gate.
He beats on the door, ‘Please let me in,
I’m weary and faint, that’s all.
I wouldn’t abuse your person, but
I fear my back’s to the wall.’
She leaves the seat and she slides the bar
For bracing the oaken door,
‘I dare not, sir, I fear for my life,
You’re safer out on the moor!’
Their voices echo across the marsh
Like fear, distilled in the night,
And something shudders out in the gloom
And lurches to left and right,
It seems forever, but now a sound
Tolls out, like a final knell,
For something, out in the church tonight,
Is tolling the steeple bell.
He barely makes it back to his horse
When the redcoats stand in line,
Their muskets fire a volley of shot
And his coat turns red, like wine.
They go to the church when the deed is done
To say, ‘You have done well!’
But the curate lies on the cold stone floor,
The Scarecrow tolled the bell!
David Lewis Paget
Jul 30, 2013
Jul 30, 2013 at 10:30 PM UTC
It was the day of the wedding of Mr and Mrs Epithalamium they looked quite the Heroic Couplet and full of Romanticism until the Englyn Prose-d the Questionku ‘ Do you take this woman’ … then in a wavering Iambic Pentameter voice the groom whispered ‘I do not know’ ….Mrs Epithalamium felt quite Dizain and tried to scratch out his Ruba’I, the Clerihew stepped forward to comfort her but tripped over some Concrete and felt like a right Cowboy. The brides father, the Russian Chastushka, grabbed the groom and with a Carpe Diem attitude threatened to Choka him.
The guests all gathered in an Enclosed Rhyme with the best man making quite a Dramatic Monologue, the brides mother had her Hybronnet knocked off her head and the chief bridesmaid had her Kimo torn in the affray. The young flower girls Haibun and Hamd both burst into tears as their Crown of Sonnets were totally destroyed.
The Rev. Pantoum pleaded for calm, then repeating his plea for the melee to stop started making a List of the damage, quick as a Ghazal and with great Imagism he protected the Crystalline glass from smashing into Ninette pieces. Meanwhile the poor bride was in a state of Nonet anxiously trying to get past the twins Munaajaat and Musaddas, her Idyll life had been turned upside down, today was the day she had hoped to change her Name to Triolet.
Alliteration watched while women wept, then stepped forward and with a Lyric in his voice asked people to calm down, he told everyone he had Naat come here to watch a display such as this and suggested they went for a hot Canzone to discuss the next move, Tanka and Tyburn readily agreed as they were very hungry and particularly as it was Free Verse it meant they could eat as much as they wanted. The nearly bride couldn’t give a Sijo if she never saw her ex again she was sick of being Kyrielle to and did not want anyone else’s Epyllion and with a final Than-Bauk stormed out of the club…
© 6/4/2013
Apr 6, 2013
Apr 6, 2013 at 5:31 PM UTC
T-The gift of life is oft stolen away
H-Horrid weaponry does the affray
E-Endlessly casualties will parlay
G-Gleaming soldiers eyes gone for rest
I-In unforgiving battles so harsh of test
F-Fighting at a land's utmost behest
T-Terrible the deadly toll is to attest
O-Over and over munitions have terminated
F-Flagrantly thieving any quietude generated
L-Loved sons of kinfolk seen to weep
I-Infinite this sadness ever so deep
F-From a beautiful benefit the cost steep
E-Extinguished by war's insane keep
Oct 19, 2016
Oct 19, 2016 at 10:16 PM UTC
These times strike monied worldlings with dismay:
Even rich men, brave by nature, taint the air
With words of apprehension and despair:
While tens of thousands, thinking on the affray,
Men unto whom sufficient for the day
And minds not stinted or untilled are given,
Sound, healthy, children of the God of heaven,
Are cheerful as the rising sun in May.
What do we gather hence but firmer faith
That every gift of noble origin
Is breathed upon by Hope’s perpetual breath;
That virtue and the faculties within
Are vital,—and that riches are akin
To fear, to change, to cowardice, and death?
1.8k
Behold merrily dancing eyes! moonrise-hued that delight in surprise,
Waterfall-cascading hair, sleepily stirring from a golden lair,
Heaven-glimpsed in leafy disguise, powerless to resist I surmise,
Elven locks frame an Eden-parterre, a majestic Springtime fayre!
Banished Winter’s-strife, unveiled a collective bursting into life,
Love, laugher and blossom hold sway, a dress-parade in full panoply,
Nimble Elven hands serve as nature’s midwife, their deliveries run rife!
This is no chaotic affray, but the Almighty order we never gainsay.
Their unbridled gaiety I watch in wonder, but I feel such an intruder,
Stiff limbed I shake off love’s-hibernation, a lifelong affliction,
Shall I be welcome I ponder, or will they flee in panic and anger?
Their joyous souls offer salvation, unleashed a grim determination!
A rapturous-smiled greeting! handshakes and hugs - our first meeting!
Blinkers-away restores my sight, from this embrace I must not take flight,
Alas! this is mere wish-dreaming, awake my face is aglow and gleaming!
This kinship-reverie serves to ignite, a joy and happiness so eager to excite.
Gone are doubt-swirling mists, hopeful lips plead to be kissed,
This alluring Elven-dream, lures me into passion’s fragrant-stream,
No more envy-bound wrists, as I fiercely battle loves-duellists,
Folly pursuit of Crusading esteem? no courage with a steely gleam!
My brow burns with the fierce rays of Summer,
My soul plunges into despair, with the decline and fall of Autumn,
My feet are mired in the cloying-clay of a sodden Winter,
But heart-contentment sings aloud with the uplifting beat of Spring!
© Robert Porteus
Jun 20, 2021
Jun 20, 2021 at 7:00 AM UTC
What kind of fool am I?
To let it creep in again
This imaginary high
From this drug that’s all pretend
I had a kiss and now I’m addicted
Is it my brain or my heart?
That has been afflicted
How does this start?
This spiritual or emotional affray
That leads me astray
Longing for you
Needing you
I told myself the last time
Would be the last time
But here I go again
A slave to pretend
Something I can’t see or touch
But long for so much
What kind of fool am I?
For something fake I’ll give it my all
But here I go again
Ready to put everything on the line and fall
If it means love will prevail in the end
Dec 4, 2011
Dec 4, 2011 at 6:55 PM UTC
Rest in Country
We'd just lobbed into Vungers from the Dat on R & C,
Innocently strolling was **** Knight and me,
Across the Flags to the Some-Such Bar wherein the girls drank 'tea'.
And I can still see Max beside me striding to the Some-Such Bar,
With the baby-sans about him going just that bit too far,
With their practiced tugs and pleadings going just that bit too far.
And of course among the baby-sans the cowboys moved in too,
Which didn't worry me too much my cash was in my shoe,
But Max was Max and in those days, not like me and you.
‘Watch your wallet, mate,’ says I, ‘in case it comes to harm.’
‘No fear of that’ says mighty Max with patriotic charm,
Then he tucked a cowboy baby-san beneath one brawny arm.
Well! 'You silly ****** put him down’ but Max went like a rocket;
'I'm off to find the White Mice 'cos this bastard's picked me pocket.’
And I groaned aloud because I knew that me and him would cop it.
Sure enough, there gathered round an angry, shouting throng,
In Asia you don't maltreat kids, no matter right or wrong;
Believe you me our lives that day depended on that throng.
And I got hit with an iron bar (the hat protected my head),
Whilst Max had a pistol ****** into his belly and really should be dead,
And across the Flags M.P's I saw, turned white in craven dread.
Australians too, those coppers but no good to Max and me;
The gutless ******** turned about just so they might not see
The riot raging fiercely now about my mate and me.
I'd say forty upright citizens we met that Vung Tau day.
Policemen, soldiers, rascals, all with us two in affray;
Those Aussie ****** save our lives? They'd turned themselves away.
Thank Christ the mob stayed leaderless, our riot's end surprise;
And the cowardly action of those two? 'twas blessing in disguise,
For a Yankee Jeep barged through the mob and drawled 'in here, you guys'.
It barged back out then drove full speed to the end of R&C
Where the Major spoke severely to **** Knight and me.
While quietly back at the Some-Such Bar the girls sat drinking tea.
Saved
Mar 12, 2019
Mar 12, 2019 at 10:08 PM UTC
The SatNav said, ‘Turn left ahead,
There’s going to be a crash,
A dozen cars are headed in
For one almighty smash!’
I slammed my foot down on the brake
And pulled off to the verge,
As other drivers honked and cursed
And flew past, in a surge.
I think my mouth fell open as
I stared down at the screen,
An LED was pulsing red
Ahead, at Winson Green,
‘Would you repeat the last command,’
I muttered, still in shock,
‘Sit here and wait, avoid your fate,
Five minutes on the clock!’
The papers said the lights had failed
When they came out next day,
A dozen cars had met head on,
Three died in that affray,
I didn’t dare say anything
In case they thought me mad,
An Oracle SatNav indeed,
I shook my head - How sad!
I lay awake in bed at dawn
I hadn’t been to sleep,
The automatic toaster by
The bed began to speak,
‘Get up, get up,’ and popped the toast,
Its usual discourse,
But then, ‘you’d better get downstairs
And check the neighbour’s horse.’
The horse was in the living room
Had come in from outside,
Had gifted us a steaming pile
Right there, on Maggie’s pride.
‘That rug will never be the same,’
I shouted at the horse:
‘I saw the door was open, so
I just came in, of course!’
A talking horse? It couldn’t be,
I went to see the quack,
‘I keep on hearing funny things,’
I said, he turned his back.
‘I think my ears are playing up,’
I motioned with my thumb,
He shook his head, I’d quite forgot
The Doc was deaf and dumb.
My life is quite impossible
I must admit defeat,
As phones and televisions all
Abuse me in the street,
But I never seem to hear the wife
Who tends to scream and shout,
So it seems there’s still an upside
When you’re going mad - No doubt!
David Lewis Paget
Oct 8, 2013
Oct 8, 2013 at 1:37 AM UTC
Eye of covid
Lipid drops
Sterile cauldron
Now promulgate
Inoculate the many
Blood scouts raising the alarm
Bugles blaring, heat ascending
Cavalry storm an affray
Time to reinforce
Stock up munitions
Train rapacious phages
Prepare the garbage trucks
Its an invasion
Man the barriers
Do not let them pass
Subjugate and destroy
Covid fall on thy eye
Jan 3, 2021
Jan 3, 2021 at 7:43 AM UTC
Madison mounted her coal black mare
In the yard of the Smugglers Inn,
Her coat was black and her hair was fair
And her jodhpurs tucked well in,
The sky was in a threatening mood
With its thunderheads from hell,
As lightning forked on the ancient rood
And the rain teemed down as well.
‘You need to get to the Laird,’ I cried,
‘Tell him to haste to me,
Another day and she may have died,
I’m trying to set her free.
But the Pikemen stand outside her door
And they say they guard her skin,
There were locks and chains on her door before
Up there, in the Smugglers Inn.’
‘Tell him to bring his gallant troop
To dismay the Duke of Bray,
He means to imprison his daughter
In his tower, the Lady Grey,’
The Pikemen said that I’d lose my head
If I tried to breach her door,
And wouldn’t answer whenever I asked,
‘What is she locked in for?’
So Madison wheeled the mare around
And she put it to the spur,
If any could ride a horse to ground
I knew that it was her,
She headed off to the Castle Croft
Head bent to the driving rain,
With lightning flashing around her mount
I watched her across the plain.
What seemed to take forever, I thought,
Was merely an hour or two,
But then my fears were set at naught
As the troop came jangling through.
Each man had raised his sabre and
He’d kept his powder dry,
My heart was surging within me as
The troop came riding by.
And then, at last, was Madison
Still riding with the Laird,
Determined then to save her friend,
To show her that she cared.
The Pikemen soon were beaten down
Were lost in the affray,
I never did catch a glimpse of him,
Their lord, the Duke of Bray.
It took a moment to smash the locks
On the door of Lady Grey,
And all the troop had cheered out loud
As the chains, they fell away.
Madison was the first in line
To embrace the one within,
But we were not to know what lay
Up there, in the Smugglers Inn.
The Lady, held in a firm embrace
Had staggered out through the door,
But blood and pustules were on her face
Like we’d never seen before.
A dying Pikemen called, ‘You fools,
You’ve unleashed a bitter ague,
And then he sighed just before he died,
‘Behold, you have the plague!’
David Lewis Paget
Oct 12, 2015
Oct 12, 2015 at 6:16 AM UTC
Roaming the fields of love
With his Heart in a dark glove
He saw from a far distance
A creature with perfect appearance
This creature was rather perfect
It hit like a storybook affect
She gazed the hallway
With some sort of allay
Her presence to him felt affray
Like some sort of aggressive lay
It felt like an ever winding journey through the blear
So far away from here,
Yet trying to draw them near
He came close asked her name with a delay of response; she smiled and said: Tabitha is mine name.
With a look of satisfaction on his face
He smiled and murmured to himself "Little Girl"
And there they both knew
It was meant to be
Or was it?
He gave her flowers everyday
But;
She picked all the pedals off of all the flowers
But in her heart;
She knew he loved her
Or did he?
_Debbie Doll
Jan 11, 2019
Jan 11, 2019 at 4:47 PM UTC
Living through the night.
Sometimes
the sweetest dreams
keep me awake.
Faded.
Whispers in moonlight.
Subconscious streaming,
wishing
to be made whole.
Tales of heartbreak
shatter-
happiness screaming.
Light, fantasy stroll
hijacked,
taken by duress.
Dragged through the swamp land,
washed up
on the dreamscape knoll.
Eyes bloodshot in stress
blinking,
staring at today,
all the lovely words
together
like a rose bush dress.
Petals floating affray,
stumble
and slice at the heel.
Trailing uncertain
passage.
A tragic ballet.
Dancing feet reveal
her strength,
and the future glares.
But I know she's strong,
mighty,
like well crafted steel.
Though it isn't fair:
Living.
She reaches her hand,
touches my fingers
softly.
I wake with a scare.
My soul, she commands.
Relief
floods over terror.
Crying out, I choke,
"Don't go.
Stay in our dreamland."
Aug 14, 2018
Aug 14, 2018 at 11:23 PM UTC
it’s hard to carry dead weight, but
i’ve been doing it for years
this ebbing relic, growing heavy
too cumbersome, your souvenir
still, always the optimist, i
feign blindness, not to see
you glancing back, over your shoulder
instead of looking here, at me
gentle tugging gone, these
heartstrings tattered, all affray
you keep Her, white-knuckled
in your grip, oblivious to such decay
yeah, i know, i know…
i know that i
“don’t know”
oh, but you, you don’t know
either, how I close my eyes
and see Her
sure, She’s gone —
but She’s not going
anywhere.
Mar 25, 2012
Mar 25, 2012 at 12:23 AM UTC
He breathes an anguish vow
and the darkness blinding close
He bids farewell to the affray
as the grief never fades away
His sorrow tears keep linger on
until the last drop of heaven
In the mourning he stays awake
to keep himself close
to the stoic souls
and admonish them from macabre
His heart erodes with fear
but he will madly adorn it
with faith and strength
when the torn sky heals
I see no grave, feeling grateful
but he buries himself
in the arms of his ancestors
s.n
Sep 29, 2015
Sep 29, 2015 at 6:20 AM UTC
Corpses And Fools
I watch her move
Like an eel,
Slithering, smooth,
Wet to the feel,
Thrashing shallow pools
Midst the deathly cries
Of corpses and fools
That splash my eyes.
She watches me on her shore
Like a crane,
Peering, strutting, sure
Of her pain,
Long, slender neck as sublime
As a sharpened spike,
Rising and falling in time
Waiting to strike.
Our eyes meet in the night
Like fireflies,
Flitting, bright,
Two lover's in disguise,
A struggle, a frenzied ******
She oozes in the affray
In a flourish of lust
Then slithers silently away.
© RJVHorton2014
Jun 29, 2015
Jun 29, 2015 at 10:47 PM UTC
Come run a while see where her steps will lead
On her journey into the great unknown
Running breathless onward at breakneck speed
Into life's affray no time to postpone
No doubt in her mind, soon she will succeed
Away we go, just grab the telephone
Aug 27, 2017
Aug 27, 2017 at 3:59 AM UTC
they say
they say
that he'll be blown away
blown away
in a ballot paper display
they say
they say
that he'll have an unfortunate day
an unfortunate day
of terrible gray
they say
they say
that he'll be made to pay
made to pay
for his unpredictable play
they say
they say
that he'll receive an unforgiving spray
an unforgiving spray
from the fifty states array
they say
they say
that he'll not survive the onslaught's affray
the onslaught's affray
which is coming his way
Aug 9, 2020
Aug 9, 2020 at 1:41 AM UTC
The Little Boy
Out of a grave dark street
On a stiff and sterile morn
Walked a stringless marionette
With a ghastly ashen form.
I clasped my greatcoat close
For a ripping wind thrashed by
And pencil-thin limbs shuffled
Past a man who couldn’t cry.
Against the wrath of winter
Crying havoc round the lake
He wore defiant rags like banners
Wildly flapping in his wake.
‘l hope he soon finds shelter’-
Thought I wrapped up so warm
‘gainst the whirling swirling leaves
And a frenzied snowflake swarm.
His face then turned towards me
With lifeless stone grey eyes,
That seemed to have full knowledge
Of my self-supporting lies.
So I pursued him boldly
As he scurried on his way
And threw my coat around him-
A shield to storm’s affray.
Alas! I stumbled forward
And fell into the snow
For the stunted waif I followed
Had gone where I could never go.
Apr 18, 2016
Apr 18, 2016 at 4:22 PM UTC
ABCDERIAN poets Army.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Awake my giant cause and fast defend
Be proud of your selection to this human race
Cheeks to be turned , struck and turned again
Discover sooner but not too late my friend
Evil forces satirise the devils work
Fight for God , however low the demons swoop
Gold are his tools and you are living proof.
His Holy praises sing in your loudest voice.
Incorporated within your kindest thoughts
Job satisfaction leads you through the maze
Kindred spirits guiding hands along the way
Look often then within your beating heart
Mindful slay those dragons there to slay.
Not too late to kneel and contemplate.
Perverse and foolish ? No you will never stray.
Quickly learn from all mistakes you make
Reserve your strength to lead in the affray
Stand up this day and so be counted “IN”
To the noblest Army. The Poets unity.
Useless gibberish from Satan’s next of kin.
Vessels empty makes the loudest din.
What matters is that you’re the major source
Xanadu your goal , now you are poised to win
You are the vanguard of triumphant troops
Zoila’s failure to brow-beat any poetic force.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Written by Philip
December 4th 2018.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dec 4, 2018
Dec 4, 2018 at 7:06 AM UTC
Talk to me, oh summer's day,
please, lift me from my silence,
this painted room
is an eventual tomb,
if you don't lead the way.
Take me up in purpled light,
please, fortify my garden,
this barren land
and all this shifting sand,
it barricades my sight.
So, with all the time that I have left,
there beats totality in my chest,
as I cling to all that is sublime,
I've paid my dues and served my time.
And time, time always comes to my mind,
how shadows lengthen and clocks will wind,
but I'll tarry for you, oh summer's day,
as you take me from my heart's affray.
Talk to me, oh childhood's end,
please, gift me with your wisdom,
this tarot card
predicts a future hard,
in the absence of a friend.
Love me now, as I fall and bow
at the mercy of discovery,
I'll take with me
only memories,
in this paradise recovery.
Mar 8, 2014
Mar 8, 2014 at 1:03 PM UTC
Icy fog sets in
People stay in
Walking through a cold wall
Walking to stay warm
Temperature stays low
It's no, no go
Ice rules as King today
No change to the affray
Dec 7, 2020
Dec 7, 2020 at 11:09 AM UTC