"downcast" poems
Weary and weak,--accept my weariness;
Weary and weak and downcast in my soul,
With hope growing less and less,
And with the goal
Distant and dim,--accept my sore distress.
I thought to reach the goal so long ago,
At outset of the race I dreamed of rest,
Not knowing what now I know
Of breathless haste,
Of long-drawn straining effort across the waste.
One only thing I knew, Thy love of me;
One only thing I know, Thy sacred same
Love of me full and free,
A craving flame
Of selfless love of me which burns in Thee.
How can I think of thee, and yet grow chill;
Of Thee, and yet grow cold and nigh to death?
Re-energize my will,
Rebuild my faith;
I will arise and run, Thou giving me breath.
I will arise, repenting and in pain;
I will arise, and smite upon my breast
And turn to Thee again;
Thou choosest best,
Lead me along the road Thou makest plain.
Lead me a little way, and carry me
A little way, and listen to my sighs,
And store my tears with Thee,
And deign replies
To feeble prayers;--O Lord, I will arise.
15.4k
the sky looked very low today
the slate clouds hardly parted
to blue sky at all
and while onlookers
became downcast
i thought to myself
of how maybe
the one true desire
of a cloud
is to reach down
to strain to kiss
this cold hard earth.
May 5, 2014
May 5, 2014 at 11:13 PM UTC
Do you remember what you said that day
How terrible you felt inside
When all those clouds of disappointment
Blew into your lovely skies
Your life could not get any worse
To yourself you sadly said
Because your glorious sun no longer shone
While lightning crashed ahead
Your teardrops fell like rain that day
Unnoticed in the downpour
Torrential streams from the blackest skies
One had ever seen before
One day your sun returned to shine again
Winds of disappointment changed
Your flowing tears glowed into a radiant smile
As your life’s direction rearranged
Now here you stand, downcast once again
Black cloudy skies moving in
Never give up looking for that sun of yours
To shine through those clouds again
Sep 2, 2010
Sep 2, 2010 at 7:13 PM UTC
The heady perfume of the
Arabian Attars
is
in the air!
A lunar litter
brings Eid
Antimony sulphide
of the downcast eyes
and the pinkish nails
have been painted with henna
Eid is a glorious gift
Bliss is blossoming
The blessings are blooming
The fragrant roses
and the white jasmines
are being elated by
a joyous colour
of the festivity
The nameless
nightingales
are singing the paeans
We're being showered
with Salams
Eid Mubaraks
are echoing
The cheerful children
are being
over the moon
Eid is marvellously nice
and we sacrifice.
Jul 20, 2021
Jul 20, 2021 at 9:21 AM UTC
What Hope Remained?
What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
When putrid plumes dulled morning into night
Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent,
As mortals wept and earthborn angels went
With downcast eyes to clamber heavens height.
What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
When panicked sirens wailed a lost lament
And backs were bowed beneath ungodly weight,
Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent
As boots bore souls up treadmills burnt and bent
To scale a void devoid of dawning light.
What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
For those in sight of angels heaven sent
Atop the world to aid their mortal plight,
Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent.
When wingless brethren conquered feared ascent
To gift last hope to all who saw their might:
What hope remained when hope for hope was spent?
Hope lived in heart-struck deeds of bold intent.
In The Fall
I chanced upon a stranger in the fall,
Cosmetic garb of office black and white
Portraying calm demeanor of his plight
As shadows panicked on a stricken wall,
And oft' I find my mind in numb recall
To look upon that helpless human kite
Who tumbled from the terrors of a height,
Yet graceful as an eagle in a stall
Before it plummets earthward -- 'Neath the pall
Of twisted steel rended by follied flight,
That stranger lives forever in the light
Suspended in iconic timeless sprawl.
I wonder, in the briefness of his fall,
Did he derive the meaning of it all?
Sep 4, 2015
Sep 4, 2015 at 7:20 PM UTC
Don't be downcast, soon the night will come,
When we can see the cool moon laughing in secret
Over the faint countryside,
And we rest, hand in hand.
Don't be downcast, the time will soon come
When we can have rest. Our small crosses will stand
On the bright edge of the road together,
And rain fall, and snow fall,
And the winds come and go.
6.2k
20:00 - Dinner
Alone but entertained
I like it that way
21:00 - Skype calls
Not having talked for four days
I've missed her yet the occasional silence is nice
22:00 - Fillers
Scrolling through pictures and sharing thoughts
A pleasant and calm feeling
23:00 - Rethinking
The first hypothetical theories about the day
Laughing at the slip-ups to push them away
00:00 - Reflecting
Doubting choices throughout the week
Faking a small smile
01:00 - Endurance
A familiar feeling spreads
Downcast eyes and a facade of peace
02:00 - Creative
New ideas and thoughts fill up the space
Pick and choosing which ones would hurt the most now
03:00 - Idealistic
Reading stories about happiness, pain and change
Wondering what will become of me
04:00 - Closure
Horrible thoughts tearing down the last walls
Curling up and crying again
05:00 - End
Following a familiar routine before sleep comes
Cradling the broken mind
Jan 13, 2018
Jan 13, 2018 at 7:00 AM UTC
Black waters, cruel heart,
The Kelpie sits upon his throne
For eternity, doomed to play his part
And wait in vain for his one true own.
His servants are the poisonous eel,
Sea serpent, corpse, and dead man's ghost
Of his victims - though no pain they feel,
In death must earn his wrath the most.
In daylight was this lord's last goodness
Spurned and cast to mocking sea;
From damsel's touch this heart of darkness
Sprang, shall remain eternally
So: Once a time of cool recklessness
Brought the Kelpie ashore as the sun descended,
In pursuit of the voice as sweet as goodness
That sang ere the song of day had ended.
The Kelpie left the waters
For love of land-born daughter
And laid upon her lips a kiss,
And wove her his enchantment: --
"Tell me, maiden, do you weep
For Love's encounter sorely missed?
Do you not know the deep seas seek
Such tears as yours - they shall be kissed
"Beyond remembrance of those sad eyes,
Without recall of downcast smile
(The sea must love you in disguise
Only to scare sweet sorrows awhile.)
"Then let my voice your heart caress.
Come, take these hands to lead you hence
Into the surf, leave all duress
That land can offer; Love's light is sent
"To guide you, though the soulless waters
Close above your grief-bowed head.
Know, I will always follow after --
I, dark prince in daylight's stead."
He drew her to the sea's dark shore -
His eyes focused of one foul will:
To take her breath on ocean's floor
And so to bid her song be still.
*But the girl wouldn't go.
Behold! the mourning dawns
screams the shadows
away from the living orb!*
*Dark man -- melts the mask
Away: Black horse, drown
Your sorrows forever at the
Bottomless depths of loathing.*
She would not listen to his charms
When sunlight's worth came hers at last;
Now night, now day, his empty arms
Clutch mildewed dregs of the past.
Cruel waters guard the frozen heart
Of the Kelpie who sits upon his throne,
A slave to Love -- his one true part,
Bestowed by a gentle earthly voice
she left him alone.
Sep 17, 2012
Sep 17, 2012 at 5:39 AM UTC
Saint Augustine! well hast thou said,
That of our vices we can frame
A ladder, if we will but tread
Beneath our feet each deed of shame!
All common things, each day’s events,
That with the hour begin and end,
Our pleasures and our discontents,
Are rounds by which we may ascend.
The low desire, the base design,
That makes another’s virtues less;
The revel of the ruddy wine,
And all occasions of excess;
The longing for ignoble things;
The strife for triumph more than truth;
The hardening of the heart, that brings
Irreverence for the dreams of youth;
All thoughts of ill; all evil deeds,
That have their root in thoughts of ill;
Whatever hinders or impedes
The action of the nobler will;—
All these must first be trampled down
Beneath our feet, if we would gain
In the bright fields of fair renown
The right of eminent domain.
We have not wings, we cannot soar;
But we have feet to scale and climb
By slow degrees, by more and more,
The cloudy summits of our time.
The mighty pyramids of stone
That wedge-like cleave the desert airs,
When nearer seen, and better known,
Are but gigantic flights of stairs.
The distant mountains, that uprear
Their solid bastions to the skies,
Are crossed by pathways, that appear
As we to higher levels rise.
The heights by great men reached and kept
Were not attained by sudden flight,
But they, while their companions slept,
Were toiling upward in the night.
Standing on what too long we bore
With shoulders bent and downcast eyes,
We may discern—unseen before—
A path to higher destinies,
Nor doom the irrevocable Past
As wholly wasted, wholly vain,
If, rising on its wrecks, at last
To something nobler we attain.
3.8k
Where are the Eleanors
And Godivas riding
In power and insight,
With spirit and mystique.
They aren't in jewelry
Or splashed on jeans.
Vishti refused to attend
Her drunken Lord;
She is no mirror for Isabella,
So inexperienced in love.
Anne H. fought for liberty,
Bella likes to shake blonde ringlets
On her shoulders;
The nervous Anastasia,
The clumsy Swan,
So modest
And ill-spoken
With downcast eyes.
Katniss is no Palla Athena
Or Garibaldi, though there's promise.
They are bound, timid heroines.
Malala never shot an arrow,
But spoke like Rosa, like Golda.
Yet, your childish sword-bearers
Are still desired by the men
They encounter;
Not as Susan B was courted.
Do they understand
How the chase ends,
These self-depricating heroines.
Feb 18, 2015
Feb 18, 2015 at 9:08 AM UTC
Hello Poetry is a blue place this calendar year
for we have seen many a good poet disappear
their inspiring words not around to delight in
of this expression the site is somewhat thin
Hello Poetry has experienced a considerable loss
gone all of that imagery so beautiful in gloss
the colors they deftly painted faded as they left
which makes the heart feel palpably bereft
Hello Poetry members those of excellent ink
missing from our writing fellowship's rink
we'll not forget the contribution they made
as each one of them showed the finest parade
Hello Poetry our brothers and sisters of the quill
departed us with yet more stanzas to spill
their individual styles we'll not sight again
truly a thought which is so downcast of refrain
Dec 24, 2016
Dec 24, 2016 at 5:12 AM UTC
And when you fast
Sate your hunger
With more of the Father
And when you fast
Weld it as a weapon
And prepare for battle
For his coming kingdom
And when you fast
Fast with intent
Ignore your stomachs dissent
And listen to reflect
And listen to expect
More than you had dreamt
And when you fast
Take your fill
Of all that he has in store
For yours and you
And whenever you fast
However you fast
Don't be downcast
Fast with a laugh
Mar 21, 2017
Mar 21, 2017 at 2:10 PM UTC
The sad day was soon to come
When voices forever fall dumb
The bell will chime but one last time
And I recall that last sad mime
To write a speech I was requested
Or at least it was suggested
but on looking back all that I saw
was shadow memories, ever raw
Happy times it seemed had faded
Smiles not again paraded
Since I was a child of six
And what happened then betwixt
Twenty-three years had passed
And the thought made me aghast
Because through the time I could not recall
Happy memories at all
Threads of memory imbued with sadness
Even better times I still felt downcast
For you are a family of five, and I am one alone
With no place to call a true home
I have lost something that I never had
Could I really be so bad?
The collages show the five of you smiling out from luxury
The five of you, but never me
Holidays to far-flung places
Happy looks upon your faces
Where are my shared memories?
Dig through the ephemories
Now they will never be
Jul 4, 2014
Jul 4, 2014 at 1:57 AM UTC
Like a puppet on a string I dance before you my
Arms hanging beside my limp body i wait for your movement
Eyes downcast and my ever beating heart beating to a slow rythm.
Waiting waiting for my puppet master to tug at my strings sercurely attached..
Is this the moment he shall nudge me to life.
The waiting is forbidden lust and creepy physcio lies.
Do I wait forever.
I forever wait to feel his pull
To light up my life
My heart beats faster as my strings move ever so slightly.
Like a puppet on a strings i dance before you
Arms hanging beside my limp body i wait for your movements
Eyes down cast and my ever beating heart wraped up in the strings of your words thought and movements...for I am a puppet nothing more
Oct 15, 2013
Oct 15, 2013 at 2:30 PM UTC
my first step cracked the ground like phyllo pastry / alarms pierced through dense air that struggled to reach my lungs / massive acrid pills fell from the darkening sky / inching closer to me with every second / as if the world was demanding for me to swallow them / my body absorbed lightning faster than it could ever charge through the sky / my heart seized with every glance / so I kept my eyes downcast / settling on a strong smooth obsidian / that rested below the ground / tremors overtook my hands / and I leaped onto the stone.
Apr 2, 2022
Apr 2, 2022 at 11:14 AM UTC
she wanted to paint over
the marks on her face
to create a blank canvas
so their eyes would not
drill holes into her pores.
but before she could paint,
two arms wrapped around her,
slowly turning her around.
her eyes were downcast
as he kissed her every mark.
"I love your constellations.
Please don't hide them,"
he gently whispered.
she pulled him closer,
leaning back onto the counter.
the brush fell to the ground
as they savored their sweet love.
Apr 26, 2021
Apr 26, 2021 at 12:17 AM UTC
The knife of life carves indiscriminately without warning
said the runts of the pumpkin patch now lined in mourning.
A farmer plucked biggest one, cutting vine, as the runts cried
a black harvest, Mama being carted off, as she died.
Sad black crows circle the day and night sky abreast and stressed
as the winds of fate wielded its teeth at the oppressed.
A blur of orange is all the crows saw amongst the quivering patch
as the farmer tiptoed the pasture wide-eyed on getting his ******
Now at the hour of her death angels play harps of fruition
in wake of the wide-eyed farmer's wayward act of abscission.
Billows of black smoke followed, taking to the ominous skies
as the incinerator took matters in its own hands as she lies.
Then all that was left were the ashes and whispers of the past,
a eulogy, as her quivering kin sat in the storybook downcast.
Pages cried out, tears filled the chapters of a great pumpkin patch
her roots holding each on the vines with love that's hard to match.
No day came off, of a jack-o-lantern smiling in a window frame
for in this family house cancer snatched mothers life just the same.
Logan Robertson
8/4/2018
Aug 4, 2018
Aug 4, 2018 at 9:39 PM UTC
Twenty-nine pearls in your kiss
A singing smile
Coffee smell and lilac skin
Your flame in me
Twenty-nine pearls in your kiss
A singing smile
Coffee smell and lilac skin
Your flame in me
I'm only here for this moment
I know everybody here wants you
I know everybody here thinks he needs you
I'll be waiting right here just to show you
How our love will blow it all away
Hmm, such a thing of wonder in this crowd
I'm a stranger in this town
You're free with me
And our eyes locked in downcast love
I sit here proud
Even now you're undressed in your dreams with me
Oh, I'm only here for this moment
I know everybody here wants you
I know everybody here thinks he needs you
I'll be waiting right here just to show you
How our love will blow it all away
I know the tears we cried
Have dried on yesterday
The sea of fools has parted for us
There's nothing in our way
My love
Don't you see, don't you see?
You're just the torch to put the flame to all our guilt and shame
And I'll rise like an ember in your name
I know I, I know I
I know everybody here wants you
I know everybody here thinks he needs you
I'll be waiting right here just to show you
Oh let me show you
That love can rise, rise just like embers
Love can taste like the wine of the ages, oh babe,
And I know they all looks so good from a distance
But I tell you I'm the one
I know everybody here, well, thinks he needs you
Think he needs you
And I'll be waiting right here just to show you.
Aug 31, 2014
Aug 31, 2014 at 4:01 AM UTC
Kneeling on the very end, first position just by the isle
closer than I had ever been Looked up at the man of sorrows a crown of thorns pierced his brow.
His eyes are half shut in pain and downcast.
A crimson trickle starts going south
His lips are taut against a cry.
And I wonder Why. A ragged spike or nail stand in bold relief
Mid palm both hands. another crimson testament
Begins to speak.
Sunken with ribs protruding
Nails driven through doubled feet.Not where the ankles meet.. My Lord ?
Why hath thou forsaken me.
The statue of sorrows nailed to a wooden T.
Is pipers fee.. Paid in full for me.
What sin then must I atone for.
To avoid the wooden cross or the eternal fire ?
Six years living. I need forgiving ?
For what ? Even then.
I could not be a true believer.
so fire and brimstone for me.
Cast down in the pit.
Perhaps.
Oct 20, 2013
Oct 20, 2013 at 12:35 AM UTC
Sleeping at last, the trouble and tumult over,
Sleeping at last, the struggle and horror past,
Cold and white, out of sight of friend and of lover,
Sleeping at last.
No more a tired heart downcast or overcast,
No more pangs that wring or shifting fears that hover,
Sleeping at last in a dreamless sleep locked fast.
Fast asleep. Singing birds in their leafy cover
Cannot wake her, nor shake her the gusty blast.
Under the purple thyme and the purple clover
Sleeping at last.
2.3k
They look at each other,
blush,
look away,
It seems to be choreographed like a dance between them
He looks at her,
She glances, giggles
He looks away
This is the infamous tango of hearts
They watch, They wait, They wonder
Until one day,
Someone makes a step that doesn't fit into the dance.
A new boy,
One who hasn't been observing their dance,
He walks up to her as she giggles
He smirks, saunters, and flirts
The dance shudders,
Stops.
Her heart has been won
He looks at her,
She glances up, meets his eyes,
Looks away.
The dance is still being performed,
This time though, it is a dance of friendship.
Of Worry
Of Desperation, both his and hers
For months he's seen her like this
The downcast look in her eye
A sudden pain when she is touched
An obvious flinch is she is so much as reached for
She comes to talk to him
They laugh
Almost like old times
Yet he can't mistake the pain in her eyes
He moves to touch her
A hand grabs her arm and jerks her away
He looks
She shakes her head
He frowns, pleads silently
She shakes her head again
He nods,
And he walks away
He looks
She is distrusting
She got out, alone,
The new boy, now old in her views comes to her
The boy is is apologetic, The boy pleads with her
She looks across the room to her boy,
Not one she's dated,
But one she shares an even more intimate relationship with
One she trusts.
This is the boy that has been with her all along,
He who danced the dance with her through it all.
The only boy that she could trust to know the steps
She needs help now, so she looks to him
He shakes his head,
Now she is the one who frowns,
He shakes his head again
And she walks away.
Away from her past
And towards her future.
Oct 23, 2013
Oct 23, 2013 at 1:19 AM UTC
*Isabel sits on the rusted garden bench,
my heart misses a beat, yet again as I watch,
her eyes are downcast, it's late afternoon,
she looks **** tired, dishevelled, distraught.
The world is on a slide, going bad to worse,
believe me i could see premature grey in her coiffure,
she is fired from her job, I can guess,
it hits me hard to think she is inconsolable.
Then, we all are, who is secure these days!
Under a tree, with withered leaves, she sits,
climatic change, obviously is playing havoc with it,
the evening sun, just slanted westwards,
seems unusually cruel to this girl,
no cover of thick foliage, moreover.
I see children playing around Isabel,
even they are soon losing interest,
if mirthful they are, make some noise and
run around, she would have smiled,
I would have felt far better than this!
Well, I don't know Isabel, may be her name is different,
on evenings I used to watch her from afar,
with curious eyes, I admired her incomparable elan,
hoping to make friends with her,
such a gentle soul she looked.
We'd become friends, by and by, I had hope,
I saw her smile and loved her sunny side,
but before I could meet and ask her out,
it happened, even without a notice,
I am fired from my job, today.
They said the downturn affected us bad, it showed,
What can you possibly say,
other than, just accepting the pink slip*
Jun 12, 2013
Jun 12, 2013 at 12:57 PM UTC