"dells" poems
I love you
because the Earth turns round the sun
because the North wind blows north
sometimes
because the Pope is Catholic
and most Rabbis Jewish
because winters flow into spring
and the air clears after a storm
because only my love for you
despite the charms of gravity
keeps me from falling off the Earth
into another dimension
I love you
because it is the natural order of things
I love you
like the habit I picked up in college
of sleeping through lectures
or saying I’m sorry
when I get stopped for speeding
because I drink a glass of water
in the morning
and chain-smoke cigarettes
all through the day
because I take my coffee Black
and my milk with chocolate
because you keep my feet warm
through my life a mess
I love you
because I don’t want it
any other way
I am helpless
in m love for you
It makes me so happy
to hear you call my name
I am amazed you can resist
locking me in an echo chamber
where your voice reverberates
through the four walls
sending me into spasmatic ecstasy
I love you
because it’s been so good
for so long
that if I didn’t love you
I’d have to be born again
and that is not a theological statement
I am pitiful in my love for you
The Dells tell me Love
is so simple
the thought though of you
sends indescribably delicious multitudinous
thrills throughout and through-in my body
I love you
because no two snowflakes are alike
and it is possible if you stand tippy-toe
to walk between the raindrops
I love you
because I am afraid of the dark
and can’t sleep in the light
because I rub my eyes
when I wake up in the morning
and find you there
because you with all your magic powers were
determined that
I should love you
because there was nothing for you but that
I would love you
I love you
because you made me
want to love you
more than I love my privacy
my freedom my commitments
and responsibilities
I love you 'cause I changed my life
to love you
because you saw me one friday
afternoon and decided that I would
love you
I love you I love you I love you
May 21, 2013
May 21, 2013 at 10:21 AM UTC
XXVI. TO DIONYSUS (13 lines)
(ll. 1-9) I begin to sing of ivy-crowned Dionysus, the loud-
crying god, splendid son of Zeus and glorious Semele. The rich-
haired Nymphs received him in their bosoms from the lord his
father and fostered and nurtured him carefully in the dells of
Nysa, where by the will of his father he grew up in a sweet-
smelling cave, being reckoned among the immortals. But when the
goddesses had brought him up, a god oft hymned, then began he to
wander continually through the woody coombes, thickly wreathed
with ivy and laurel. And the Nymphs followed in his train with
him for their leader; and the boundless forest was filled with
their outcry.
(ll. 10-13) And so hail to you, Dionysus, god of abundant
clusters! Grant that we may come again rejoicing to this season,
and from that season onwards for many a year.
7.8k
The world was young, the mountains green,
No stain yet on the Moon was seen,
No words were laid on stream or stone
When Durin woke and walked alone.
He named the nameless hills and dells;
He drank from yet untasted wells;
He stooped and looked in Mirrormere,
And saw a crown of stars appear,
As gems upon a silver thread,
Above the shadow of his head
The world was fair, the mountains tall,
In Elder Days before the fall.
Of mighty kings of Nargothrond
And Gondolin, who now beyond
The Western Seas have passed away;
The world was fair in Durin's Day.
A king he was on carven throne
In many-pillared halls of stone
With golden roof and silver floor,
And runes of power upon the door.
The light of sun and star and moon
In shining lamps of crystal hewn
Undimmed by cloud or shade of night
There shone for ever fair and bright.
There hammer on the anvil smote,
There chisel clove, and graver wrote,
There forged was blade, and bound was hilt;
The delver mined, the mason built,
There beryl, pearl, and opal pale,
And metal wrought like fishes' mail,
Buckler and corslet, axe and sword,
And shining spears were laid in hoard.
Unwearied then were Durin's folk;
Beneath the mountains music woke:
The harpers harped, the minstrels sang
And at the gates the trumpets rang.
The world is grey, the mountains old,
The forge's fire is ashen cold;
No harp is wrung, no hammer falls,
The darkness dwells in Durin's halls;
The shadow lies upon his tomb
In Moria, in Khazad-dûm.
But still the sunken stars appear
In dark and windless Mirrormere;
There lies his crown in water deep,
Till Durin wakes again from sleep.
4.6k
I
Who would be
A mermaid fair,
Singing alone,
Combing her hair
Under the sea,
In a golden curl
With a comb of pearl,
On a throne?
II
I would be a mermaid fair;
I would sing to myself the whole of the day;
With a comb of pearl I would comb my hair;
And still as I comb'd I would sing and say,
'Who is it loves me? who loves not me?'
I would comb my hair till my ringlets would fall
Low adown, low adown,
From under my starry sea-bud crown
Low adown and around,
And I should look like a fountain of gold
Springing alone
With a shrill inner sound
Over the throne
In the midst of the hall;
Till that great sea-snake under the sea
From his coiled sleeps in the central deeps
Would slowly trail himself sevenfold
Round the hall where I sate, and look in at the gate
With his large calm eyes for the love of me.
And all the mermen under the sea
Would feel their immortality
Die in their hearts for the love of me.
III
But at night I would wander away, away,
I would fling on each side my low-flowing locks,
And lightly vault from the throne and play
With the mermen in and out of the rocks;
We would run to and fro, and hide and seek,
On the broad sea-wolds in the crimson shells,
Whose silvery spikes are nighest the sea.
But if any came near I would call and shriek,
And adown the steep like a wave I would leap
From the diamond-ledges that jut from the dells;
For I would not be kiss'd by all who would list
Of the bold merry mermen under the sea.
They would sue me, and woo me, and flatter me,
In the purple twilights under the sea;
But the king of them all would carry me,
Woo me, and win me, and marry me,
In the branching jaspers under the sea.
Then all the dry-pied things that be
In the hueless mosses under the sea
Would curl round my silver feet silently,
All looking up for the love of me.
And if I should carol aloud, from aloft
All things that are forked, and horned, and soft
Would lean out from the hollow sphere of the sea,
All looking down for the love of me.
3.9k
Those evening bells! those evening bells!
How many a tale their music tells,
Of youth and home and that sweet time
When last I heard their soothing chime.
Those joyous hours are passed away;
And many a heart that then was gay,
Within the tomb now darkly dwells,
And hears no more those evening bells.
And so 'twill be when I am gone;
That tuneful peal will still ring on,
While other bards shall walk these dells,
And sing your praise, sweet evening bells!
~Thomas Moore: 1779--1852~
Oct 30, 2012
Oct 30, 2012 at 10:46 PM UTC
someone out in cyber-land
might just be
copying a poem which they'll
attribute to their own tee
unscrupulous replicators
have no qualms
on flagrantly stealing the lines
from genuine arms
when they take a fancy
to your brilliance of verse
they'll naff off with all or part of it
and stow it within their purse
piracy is rife around
online writing dales and dells
it's the pilfering of an authentic
author's heart and soul bells
they say that imitation
is the sincerest form of flattery
but an alternate opinion
would say plagiarists are bereft
of an original wordage battery
Aug 2, 2018
Aug 2, 2018 at 8:15 PM UTC
247
What would I give to see his face?
I’d give—I’d give my life—of course—
But that is not enough!
Stop just a minute—let me think!
I’d give my biggest Bobolink!
That makes two—Him—and Life!
You know who “June” is—
I’d give her—
Roses a day from Zanzibar—
And Lily tubes—like Wells—
Bees—by the furlong—
Straits of Blue
Navies of Butterflies—sailed thro’—
And dappled Cowslip Dells—
Then I have “shares” in Primrose “Banks”—
Daffodil Dowries—spicy “Stocks”—
Dominions—broad as Dew—
Bags of Doublons—adventurous Bees
Brought me—from firmamental seas—
And Purple—from Peru—
Now—have I bought it—
“Shylock”? Say!
Sign me the Bond!
“I vow to pay
To Her—who pledges this—
One hour—of her Sovereign’s face”!
Ecstatic Contract!
Niggard Grace!
My Kingdom’s worth of Bliss!
3.2k
Tell me not here, it needs not saying,
What tune the enchantress plays
In aftermaths of soft September
Or under blanching mays,
For she and I were long acquainted
And I knew all her ways.
On russet floors, by waters idle,
The pine lets fall its cone;
The cuckoo shouts all day at nothing
In leafy dells alone;
And traveller's joy beguiles in autumn
Hearts that have lost their own.
On acres of the seeded grasses
The changing burnish heaves;
Or marshalled under moons of harvest
Stand still all night the sheaves;
Or beeches strip in storms for winter
And stain the wind with leaves.
Posses, as I possessed a season,
The countries I resign,
Where over elmy plains the highway
Would mount the hills and shine,
And full of shade the pillared forest
Would murmur and be mine.
For nature, heartless, witless nature,
Will neither care nor know
What stranger's feet may find the meadow
And trespass there and go,
Nor ask amid the dews of morning
If they are mine or no.
2.9k
I
Who would be
A merman bold,
Sitting alone
Singing alone
Under the sea,
With a crown of gold,
On a throne?
II
I would be a merman bold,
I would sit and sing the whole of the day;
I would fill the sea-halls with a voice of power;
But at night I would roam abroad and play
With the mermaids in and out of the rocks,
Dressing their hair with the white sea-flower;
And holding them back by their flowing locks
I would kiss them often under the sea,
And kiss them again till they kiss'd me
Laughingly, laughingly;
And then we would wander away, away,
To the pale-green sea-groves straight and high,
Chasing each other merrily.
III
There would be neither moon nor star;
But the wave would make music above us afar--
Low thunder and light in the magic night--
Neither moon nor star.
We would call aloud in the dreamy dells,
Call to each other and whoop and cry
All night, merrily, merrily.
They would pelt me with starry spangles and shells,
Laughing and clapping their hands between,
All night, merrily, merrily,
But I would throw to them back in mine
Turkis and agate and almondine;
Then leaping out upon them unseen
I would kiss them often under the sea,
And kiss them again till they kiss'd me
Laughingly, laughingly.
O, what a happy life where mine
Under the hollow-hung ocean green!
Soft are the moss-beds under the sea;
We would live merrily, merrily.
2.7k
I hid my love when young till I
Couldn’t bear the buzzing of a fly;
I hid my love to my despite
Till I could not bear to look at light:
I dare not gaze upon her face
But left her memory in each place;
Where’er I saw a wild flower lie
I kissed and bade my love good-bye.
I met her in the greenest dells,
Where dewdrops pearl the wood bluebells;
The lost breeze kissed her bright blue eye,
The bee kissed and went singing by,
A sunbeam found a passage there,
A gold chain round her neck so fair;
As secret as the wild bee’s song
She lay there all the summer long.
I hid my love in field and town
Till e’en the breeze would knock me down;
The bees seemed singing ballads o’er,
The fly’s bass turned a lion’s roar;
And even silence found a tongue,
To haunt me all the summer long;
The riddle nature could not prove
Was nothing else but secret love.
2.7k
You asked the color of my dreams.
In sleep, my eyes have sought
The inky black of raven lashes.
Starry nights and sooty ashes.
Prussian blue of fading violets
Indigo of clouds and silence
Beryl skies and turquoise seas
Blue-green waters of the deep
Peacock feathers of emerald green
Mossy dells of faery queens
Fields of wheat and brilliant suns
Amber gold in mid-autumns
Coral reefs and salmon streams
Marmalade and tangerines
Auburn sunsets, titian lips
Hennaed hands and fingertips
Blushing brides and rosy cheeks
Pink hued walls and white topped peaks
Silver moons and crystal nights
Downy geese in graceful flight
Ask not the color of my dreams
The question is not whole;
Deep within my rainbow’d sleep
Lies the color of my soul.
Dec 30, 2014
Dec 30, 2014 at 11:46 PM UTC
he craves online hook-ups.
But this isn't me
nor am I that intrepid
a torrent trampoline
on wireless ether engines
cyber silver surfin'
zone on / in .nets & .coms
searching fiber-optics for sight
browsing rooms of M4M / in-fantasized delights
an itch to fix
to sit transfixed
as if
subliminally attached
umbilically
digitally digitized digi-man
to a electronic felatio soundtrack
yet all the while detached
lurking duplicitly
reading pretend profiles explicitly
for *** sexified mind
dreaming up new fetishes
with misspelled texts
tandem testimonials as if written
by a Compaq-machine-head
Microsoftened lust
currents electric now as we turn into dust
with iBooks & faraway Dells on our laps
scrolling lists for Adams
status' with "anything goes"
remonstrating our vicious cycle
alive & blank with un/trust
gone viral...
this isn't me.
where is the warmth
of feelings, emotions,
malleable and infallible / love??
I am not as talented
as he
to be in two places at once,
but he
has the many faces
and genius of multiple personalities
Cybil
facets
of sabotage with Mommy Dearest grace.
Beautiful strangers his acquired
taste...
he says it was not him
(doing ****
my rage has only one trait.
two eyes (once wide asleep in the lies)
and velvet-rope-burned
wrists
my feet learn to fly
my heart un-breaks
my wings reanimate...
he has too many faces
doppleganger hatred
none to care for or embrace
When did I go blind,
and leave my many strengths?
Where do I now
again
begin??
(The rubble or the sin?)
Every night adieu
Every day anew
once again...
Jan 3, 2016
Jan 3, 2016 at 6:43 PM UTC
Sunken sunlight fades, leaking gold,
Dappled shadows cast, dips and dells,
Greenery wrought grey, primeval,
Crisp and still whispers, secrets kept.
Within arching sky, cold tears fall,
Ponderous clouds glow, high above,
Glistening crescent, heralds night,
Chaos of umbra, caught ablaze.
Shimmer scaled sea, cobalt cold,
Encroaching absence, losing bright,
Black ascendancy, the end shade,
Distant lights ignite, dark flowers bloom.
Jan 27, 2013
Jan 27, 2013 at 5:07 AM UTC
I am a paling star to be washed out
In the dazzling brightness of the arriving dawn
A calendar that ran out of time
A broken guitar with strings loose
I will soon exit out of life
Like a man hardly anyone knew existed
And only very few would miss
As I look back to the prime days
I feel years have flown away in a flurry
Like scraps of paper whirling in the gale
A dense fog crawls up into my eyes
The verdant vistas and smiling faces
Have discoloured like weather worn paintings
The violet shadows of red rocks
Form a dark cave within me
Nothing subsists in the dells n’ hollows
Of my memory
I wilt under Age’s burning breath
And wither under its deadly blight
Now I drift... a rudderless vessel
Through unknown waters
Waiting at the Departure Lounge
I now have only one prayer;
Don’t let me scorn and disdain the young
Whose sky is wider and dreams endless
Who walk with nimble feet and sure steps
To conquer the world that has left me a scrap!
Aug 16, 2017
Aug 16, 2017 at 8:56 AM UTC
~
windy inversion
her gusty diversion
from whence is she blowing
and where is she going?
no need to whistle
as she breezes
though town;
a bit self absorbed
she brings one of her own,
drawing her chilly breath
from higher deserts,
hills and dells.
no fury like a
woman scorned,
she laughs at resistance
as she rallys the storm.
she is her own force,
and with wrending power
she renders us powerless,
toppling the powerful,
making boughs beg and
bringing trees to their knees.
we as her subjects
can only follow her bidding,
for she goes where
she wishes.
a woman unfettered,
a goddess unleashed;
she does whatever
she pleases!
~
*post script.
an offshore Pacific low, drains high pressure air over the Pacific NW's eastern deserts, east through its major Cascadian arterial for air and water, the Columbia River Gorge. either way, whichever way she blows, America's windsurfing capital, Hood River, Oregon, wins! out here where she empties into the Willamette valley... not so much! many homes dark tonight, though mine is not one of them.*
Mar 15, 2015
Mar 15, 2015 at 9:49 PM UTC
Her hair- black as a raven’s breast
Eyes glowing through orbs of green
She dances covertly in the dark of night
Where not another soul is seen
warbling a haunting, enchanted tune
Chanting, dancing around the fire
under light of a full evening moon
Questions lie on lips to desire
Is she malevolent or benevolent?
Never a soul has been so bold
to tell their story, too hesitant!
She possesses many powers, many tales
Lifting her hands as she chants
Red mist swirling, twirling behind her veil
Eyes brightening in orbs of green
Chilly mist crawling over her skin
Under an oak tree dancing unseen
Cloaked under her crimson, blood red shawl
Strange sounds and names uttered
as she boldly dances, chanting out her call
Wild, fierce, bold and free
Like a chameleon she changes
in red blazing firelight so unseen
Suddenly, the ground shakes with deafening roar
Bursts of electric blue, beam above her head
Voltaic forces join, shaking earth’s woodland floor
Down the path, robes flowing, blowing in the breeze
Many forces about, electrifying ground and air
Gathering together, chanting, dancing under the trees
Many denizens of this land astound
Warlocks and witches cast their magic here
as their caldron bubbles over ground
They come together from lake and fen
Here they meet from darkened lair
Ferny dells and rocky dens
“Make room”, they call in pitch black night
Bringing many potions to mix them well
Taking wool, wand, bone and eyes, what a fright!
Casting out and about their magic spells
Mixing tooth and tongue and nail
Under fire, water, earth and dung
They mix the caldron, hold the flail
Hemlock, henbane, adder’s blood
Chanting out “By thee we bound upon this road"!
Suddenly the spell’s been cannily brewed
Using blood, eyes, tongue of a toad
As quickly as they came, they hastily leave
Departing forest dark, entering private glades
Leaving once again, only to return
On another chilly, full October moon eve
they’ll chant, they'll brew their magic urns
"Merry Meet", they all say, as they make haste to leave
Apr 11, 2013
Apr 11, 2013 at 6:19 PM UTC
What am I to be when others define who I am?!
Foolish mortals! How dare they! Am I realize this "friendship" is a scam?!
Friendship is nothing more than a torch to be blown by winds of change!
It is utterly meaningless when fools enjoy me for my many rages!
What am I?! Am I to be cast to oblivion?! To depths deeper than hell?!
Let those who abuse me, let no mercy be done! Let God tell!
Allow the strikes of death and plague to be unleashed unto to them!
And ensure their coffins sealed, for they shall be devoured by Nephilim!
Make peace unto me, their misrepresentations decide who live or dies!
Make them pay, their bodies scorched by fire where their bodies lie!
Peace and justice will be made to me, because I shall possess the keys!
Make of them suffering and eternal torment, and destroy their families!
I shall be forever victorious and crush my enemies underneath my feet!
And their puny and insignificant presence, ha! They shall face defeat!
No longer will my "friends" use me once and dispose of me immediately!
I will be ruler of a world where my castle everyone be amazed will see!
The majesty of my wonderful rule! When I die, I shall leave a legacy!
"He is he who destroyed his foes and casted them to the guillotine."
"His past was days when people of his mocked with such keen."
"But he rose from his sorrow and by his sword his enemies fell."
"His blood of vengeance runs through the rivers to the dells."
This will be written that of my tombstone when the time is right.
And when my enemies rise again from the shadows, I shall put my light!
The light of my truth, my justice, and my ways to live right!
Their oppositions crushed thousandfold and my armies unstoppable!
Let my revenge from the past fuel the finale that is incomprehensible!
Meteorites from heaven of flame become redder by my enemies' blood!
Even if they rise the flag of surrender, I refuse! Make them shunned!
And so my kingdom is at peace, when war halts and revenge is done!
Let their be tranquility in my land at last, now let freedom run!
Allow the spirit of freedom to spread across my great land!
And where enemies fall, make my virtues and glory stand!
Where people of the millionfold descend to see and adore me!
And at last, make my revenge and cleanse it. It is now free.
Oct 14, 2014
Oct 14, 2014 at 9:48 PM UTC
There will be a journey, a gathering of mixed herbs
Great swathes, buttressing mountains grazed with
Grassy wigs. Metal structures lining up calculating
The swing to left, to right, catching the intermittent gasps
The rhythm snakes me away, its rattling chorus marching
Ahead, spying on the quality of this paragraph sitting side by side
A vacancy on the page still wearing its white robe, alone for now
I searched out a chance at freedom on a fast track, borrowing scenes
From oiled pallets, hills & dells daubed grandiosely. They deliberately
Bait. Once bitten twice shy. I heard it bandied around.....but...
I am not shy of the wild dogs, howling is a lullaby. I have the ticket
To be smitten with bitten chances; once, twice...maybe thrice
.....does it for me.
Mar 11, 2013
Mar 11, 2013 at 1:34 PM UTC
fecund and fertile the fields are now
the spring time sun cascades and endows
sprouting colored blooms on the flower stems and trees
who's floral show is made to please
dales and dells graced with spring glories
birds twittering their pretty stories
speechless eyes cannot believe
the paintbox of hues they perceive
spring is such a stunning time of the year
attired in a florid palette so vividly clear
Aug 21, 2014
Aug 21, 2014 at 7:24 PM UTC
defined as "existing or being everywhere at the same time; constantly encountered."
__________________________________________________
he craves online hook-ups.
...but this isn't me
or that intrepid,
torrent trampoline
on wireless ether engines
zone on in .nets & .coms
searching fiber-optics for sight
browsing rooms of M4M to fantasize delights
to itch to fix
to sit transfixed as if
subliminally attached
umbilically
digitally to a electronic felatio
soundtrack
yet all the while detached
lurking
reading pretend profiles explicit
with *** sexified,
dreaming up new fetishes
with misspelled texts
tandem testimonials as if written
by a Compaq-machine-head
or Microsoftened lust
as now we are turning to dust
with iBooks & faraway Dells on our laps
scrolling lists and Adams with "anything goes"
remonstrating our vicious
cycle - blank with un/trust
this isn't me...
where is the warmth
of feelings, emotions,
love??
I am not that talented
to be in two places at once,
but he has the faces
and genius of multiple personalities
facets
of sabotage with grace.
he says it isn't him.
my anger has only one trait. two eyes.
velvet
rope-burned
limbs...
and he has too many faces
doppleganger hatreds
where does one
begin??
(The rubble or the sin?)
____________________________________________
DOPpLEGANGER (2016)--[Rewrite]
he craves online hook-ups.
But this isn't me
nor am I that intrepid
a torrent trampoline
on wireless ether engines
cyber silver surfin'
zone on / in .nets & .coms
searching fiber-optics for sight
browsing rooms of M4M / in-fantasized delights
an itch to fix
to sit transfixed
as if
subliminally attached
umbilically
digitally digitized digi-man
to a electronic felatio soundtrack
yet all the while detached
lurking duplicitly
reading pretend profiles explicitly
for *** sexified mind
dreaming up new fetishes
with misspelled texts
tandem testimonials as if written
by a Compaq-machine-head
Microsoftened lust
currents electric now as we turn into dust
with iBooks & faraway Dells on our laps
scrolling lists for Adams
status' with "anything goes"
remonstrating our vicious cycle
alive & blank with un/trust
gone viral...
this isn't me.
where is the warmth
of feelings, emotions,
malleable and infallible / love??
I am not as talented
as he
to be in two places at once,
but he
has the many faces
and genius of multiple personalities
Cybil
facets
of sabotage with Mommy Dearest grace.
Beautiful strangers his acquired
taste...
he says it was not him
(doing ****
my rage has only one trait.
two eyes (once wide asleep in the lies)
and velvet-rope-burned
wrists
my feet learn to fly
my heart un-breaks
my wings reanimate...
he has too many faces
doppleganger hatred
none to care for or embrace
When did I go blind,
and leave my many strengths?
Where do I now
again
begin??
(The rubble or the sin?)
Every night adieu
Every day anew
once again...
Feb 17, 2017
Feb 17, 2017 at 12:01 PM UTC
Over the sky and beyond the stars
Out past Jupiter, Out past Mars
Beyond the grasp of human mind
There is a realm, though ill defined
No borders between countries lay
No paths are there to show the way.
In this world there is no time
To life here there is no rhyme
However wonders do abound
In this world suffused with sound
The sounds of silence shake the air
And music is not half so fair
Here there are the glades and dells
Where the mighty dragon dwells
Here the forest never ends,
but deserts lie beyond the bends
This world beyond the second star
Must seem to you so very far
It isn't so, its rather near
And all may go there without fear
For full of terrors as it seems
They can not harm you in your dreams.
Sep 3, 2013
Sep 3, 2013 at 8:03 PM UTC