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David Williams Apr 2013
He enters looking bedraggled, tired and worn out, his skin like vellum, blank and pale.
Lifting his eyes to catch their gaze he gives a slight nod to acknowledge their presence.
He scans the room as he would a poem seeking an indent that leads to a quiet corner.
A half-lit light casts a shadow on the flock wallpaper, ink stained.
He sits hidden from view, away from plagiaristic eyes. Head In hand
Scribbling while listening for a new word, a muse sings, emanating an un-heard
Beat that guides his rhythm while searching for that elusive vowel. On the floor
Is a scattering of pencil shavings and broken lead, frustration at the loss of an adjective.
The half rhyme squeezes like a tourniquet on the brain…
Frustration runs high as enjambment slips off the page and gathers in reflective pools.

The Lay Pastoral reads an Elegy to the passing of Sir Rondeau Redouble, he lead a very lonely life ascending and then diminishing becoming less Didactic, the Footle holds a Lanterne for the loss, while the Limerick found it quite humorous.

At the bar a Stanza of poets gather, disciples of Villanelle, and regale of their latest triumphs in Women’s Quarterly. Then silence falls as Suzette Prime performs her latest Burlesque she is in good Shape. The Epulaeryu’s compare their Diamante while eating their babba ghanoosh. At the pool table the movers and shakers decant opinions on the latest ‘form’ something to do with A,E,I,O,U…Acrostic looks it up and down looking puzzled, Blank verse remains silent,

They dissect, analyse the entrails, the faint hearted feel a little Grook. The atmosphere is tense. Verbs drift like dust in the light, causing confusion, they mop their brows with a tired senryu. The haiku’s have little to say on the matter…

A Quintain of intellectuals quietly sit, the Sicilian sipping slim line Monoku’s (no ice) hoping for a Couplet before the end of the night. On a stool sit’s the barfly spilling his Bio over the counter top exposing an Ode-ious life, metaphorically speaking. On stage the hottest group in town… Chant Royal and the Syllables… singing their latest Sestina it reached 39 in the hit parade, the notes drift across the room resting on the floor congealing into a poet-tree fountain…they feel at home as the last act MC McWhirtle enthrals with his latest Ballad…the barman Ric Tameter calls time, the evening is a Rap. The club is Epic…


© 27/3/2013
A sweet disorder in the dress
Kindles in clothes a wantonness:
A lawn about the shoulders thrown
Into a fine distraction:
An erring lace which here and there
Enthrals the crimson stomacher:
A cuff neglectful, and thereby
Ribbons to flow confusedly:
A winning wave (deserving note)
In the tempestuous petticoat:
A careless shoe-string, in whose tie
I see a wild civility:
Do more bewitch me than when art
Is too precise in every part.
Alec Boardman Mar 2017
Fingers type aggressively into the night as I stare at the screen of my phone.
A group debate about whether or not applying deodorant to your ****** will stop the chronic itching is being played out
We all smile and laugh.
For the record, it totally will.
The discussion of memes enthrals my mind as I relax into the cotton comforter.
The feeling of satisfaction travels through my veins as I embrace the friendship I have and the light, playful conversation taking place.

Anxiety and paranoia settle in and take their well worn places in my mind.
Like icy blue dragons, they curl around my thoughts, just waiting for these people who will soon be irrelevant to leave me.
The words they type about Harambe have no meaning
But the words they think about what I say in return imprison me.


Fear of abandonment creeps in as I swirl the aspects of my personality into a hue that will convince them not to drop me in a ditch.
I know, not because I’m afraid, but because I’ve seen it happen, that my trust in them will be burned to ashes eventually and I’ll be yet
Another traitor to the fragile glass of friendships that we all hold together.
Just waiting for them to use my insecurities against me like a time bomb ticking

Ticking

Ticking in my ear.

And I can’t see the timer.

But I laugh along.
And send a relevant emoji.
They laugh at my jokes and I can’t stop thinking about how soon enough they’ll be laughing at
Me.
September 2016
Bazookio Jun 2014
I have a friend
close to the end
he talks fantastically about all of the places he has been

His body tired
save for those eyes
which burn brighter than sun tracing an arch across the skies

He says 'Of all the things I know
of all the things I’ve learned...
anywhere you go
the good things must be earned.'

Safe and sound
both feet on the ground
he seems impervious to all the ******* going on around

and when he speaks
though often brief
you hear a man who knows the meaning of true happiness and grief

"How is it I work each day
when aching bones demand respite?
What makes me sit composing verse,
when others sleep into the night?"
(From 'The Worms that drive you')


His one life goal
just to share
the words that cause the sleepless nights, the ones that rattle round upstairs

And oh my soul
was bought to bare
by the words which where exactly what I didn’t want to hear...

"Have you wondered how tomorrow looks,
when you've lied about today?
Have you squandered opportunities
when you've refused to play?
Have you sought the possibilities?
or broken through the ruse?
Have you shed your limitations?
tried to fill some bigger shoes?
Does it all really matter…
that your world is locked within,
That the things which hold you back
are simply things you revel in?
That your greatest limitations
are the ones you self impose?
and the key which locks the door
is locked outside the door you close?"
(From 'Limitations')

"To loose the joy of purpose is
to loose the will to try
and when the spirit of endeavour's gone
the soul begins to die"
(Title unknown)

"Then the sun comes up with a glorious show
And the nuclear dust in the air is aglow
The rich and the famous are dead in their beds
and the ***** and the cockroaches nibble their heads"
(Title unknown)


I have a friend
when shuffling with the crowds
as everyone looks down he holds his head up in the clouds

And though dismayed
the time had gone so soon
as he walks amidst the chaos he hums a gentle tune…

"Who am I and what am I
and what have I to show?
And should I be concerned
that very few may care to know?"
(From 'Soliloquy')

"To look upon my megre works
as worthwhile in the scheme of things,
[Is] to nurture somewhere in the soul
the song which satisfaction sings"

"The hourglass
[will] reach the time
when all life’s frantic urgencies evaporate like wine"
(from '8')


though memories fade
words grow like seeds
taking root within the hearts and minds of anyone who heeds

"[I’ve] seen troubled waters pass me by
from torrent flow to pebble dry
From softly spoken words of love
where teardrops fall to pools of blood

So verily I say to you,
take heed my friend or feel the pain,
From one who knows the way of things
from one who sorts the chaff from grain
(From 'Rule of Chance')

Go outside and look around
the simple things in life abound
The wonder of the detail small
enthrals the mind and makes it all

It’s all before you spread about!
you make the choice YOU WORK IT OUT!
It’s all a state of mind you see
and it’s the simple things that set you free"
(From 'The Simple Things in Life')


(C) bazookio 2014
This here is a wee ‘Ode to Marshall Gebbie’, Prolific Ninja Wordsmith; Family member; and friend.
Italicised words are particularly favourite sections of larger poems written by Marshall, which I have surgically removed and grafted amidst a few of my own meanderings.

Listen to the tune here if you like:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UdWZdy4wdxk

or read more of  what rattles round in Marshall's head here:
http://hellopoetry.com/marshal-gebbie/
tamia Apr 2016
please do not look at me
so the butterflies in my stomach stop fluttering so achingly
please do not laugh with me
so your boyish grin does not find its way to my twilight dreams
please do not speak to me
so your winsome words are not all i hear in the summer daze
please do not care for me
so i do not believe you'll be there when i need someone in the dark of night
but instead,
please walk away from me
so i will get used to how it feels when you leave
please ignore me
so i forget the beautiful mind of yours that enthrals me
please be truthful to me, show me you don't care
so i know i am of no significance among the people in your life
please, break my heart already
so i have a reason to believe you will never be mine
Sanna Tirkey Mar 2016
A pebble to a mountain;
from waterfall to the sea;
What a beauty of nature,
we have obtained just for free.
Fragrance of flowers,
buzzing of the bees;
Glistening of snow,
mystical sight of horizon.
Our Earth,itself is a heaven;
Angels are the birds,
Brownies are the animals of sizes,
We on the earth is the real magic.
But far from our world,lies this;
No fracas, no false decoration,
Gift of God is just so different than what we have made it.
So enthusiastic, eye treat,
no *******, full of greenary.
Enthrals you, captivates you in its purity.
Wow, the nature is so natural.
You can't run away from nature. You inhale and exhale it, just try to feel it sometimes.
Dave Robertson Jun 2020
To be ginger in a heatwave
is to know that a surfeit of energy
that enthrals the populace
has consequence

Like any addict with an allergy
landed on a thing they love
you learn to skirt and sample
knowing sickness follows

The uninitiated will gorge and fall
swearing off the juice for good
and withdrawing a raised voice
which is bad

Pace yourselves for the longness
of an unexpected summer
so that when winter hits
we continue to burn
Kayla Bellinger Aug 2014
He is cherry trees in the spring evening,
precious to behold as night slowly falls.
He speaks with a softness never-failing
to capture all the weary he enthrals.

With a grace like Heaven, he passes by
and snatches me up from the soiled floor.
He is the daystar in the morning sky,
glowing brightly from behind the closed door.

If only I could catch him when he sings,
place a mirror before his smiling face,
I could show him all of the beautiful things
that he hides in this poor, forgotten place.

We could talk like friends in free, easy speech
but, alas, he is just beyond my reach.
Marshal Gebbie Jun 2016
Though I age with bodys' warp
Malfeasance in its' ancient walk,
Yeah, though I sag to feel those pains
A spark within this conciousness remains...
Within a fizzing psych, enthrals...
Where birth and death's transition calls...
As I exult with joyous shout
Now having gleaned what it's about...
This BEING...with its' lemon tang
This laughter...as the blackbird sang

Beneath a magic sky of blue
My incandescence glows for you.
M.
16 June 2016

(For darling Janet)
A magnificent moment of renaissance
as this old man read the gentle words of Polar's
poem...."FALL"
M.
Poetic T May 2015
The curvature of her enthrals me, ever
Calling me to her body, so still can she
be, motionless but underneath she is as
Irrational as any one could really be.

Her mood like everything can change,
She is impercive in her vocal structure
That I ride with every word, till I fall
Off the tip of her tongue.

I crash beneath her, but she lets go, letting
Me breath resting upon her.  I love to be
With her, she surrounds me, I feel her upon
My skin and relish her touch, we are one.
Susan O'Reilly May 2013
Ocean eyes
so deep and blue
I drown in their hue
beautiful and intoxicating
I promise I’m not overrating
Long lashes
silken sashes
but what enthrals
most of all
is the love that I see
When they gaze at me
Bumblesnuf Dec 2016
Ethereal, glacial, mysterious: she
invites us to her masquerade ball
where the music enthrals your senses

Shameful, ignominious, lamented: she
romanticise her own name
with threats of the sweetest of pain

Untimely, instanteneaous, temporal: she
will have you awaiting her arrival
when her embrace clings to the soulful

Cruel, violent, agonizing: she
condems without warning
steals your treasures without afterthought
Because it's your favorite
Molly Sep 2014
Their passion for science
pours out like patriotism.
Hungry and rabid, irrational Eros.
Eyes on fire, spills from the gut—
insecure geniuses
that know so much, accepting
they know nothing— and always will,
yet their idiocy enthrals them.
It catches them by the genitals
like an old and nasty lover.
I can feel it too,
the insatiable emptiness,
the inescapable desire
to open up atoms
and **** the world dry from them.
Who am I, but a vessel of past despair,
    With a tangled knot in my mind, aware,
    "Break free from the chains of depression's snare,
     Confess your truth, find solace in the air."
     But does this advice still hold its worth,
     When wielded as a weapon, causing hurt?

"The words from a pen, a mind's indulgence,
     A gateway to thoughts, seeking resurgence,
     Escaping the prison, a soul's penitentiary,"
     Said the one who loved fiercely, with intensity.
     Yet the voice of the voiceless, it seems,
     Falls on deaf ears, lost in a realm of dreams.

Misunderstood, they heard me wrong,
     "I wished to shed my identity, be strong,
      Not brave enough to change my hair's hue,
      Like my smiles, I alter, but never anew.
      Wearing a frown, they won't take me seriously,
      Even when I express my pain so clearly.

In moments of boredom, my words flow,
     But relationships have taught me to go,
     Through a board of scrutiny, every decision,
     As if love owed me, demanding precision.
     But this time, I'll confront it head-on,
     No wooden board, just justice to be won.

Success, a pinnacle that feels unwise,
     A light-bulb to illuminate my eyes,
     To see my reflection in a brighter light,
     But as pockets fill, judgment takes flight.
     Counting the screams at empty walls,
     Filling the void that my soul enthrals.
     No cries of woe echo louder than before,
     Two Forty-Four, the hour I silently implore.
Donall Dempsey Oct 2018
"WEEPE SHEAPHERD WEEPEM, TO MAKE MY UNDER SONG"

I peeled myself
off the ceiling.

And somehow returned
to who I was.

This dying isn't as
easy as it looks.

It's too like
hard work.

And once again I began
floating upwards.

The ceiling and I
now old friends..

Looking down at myself
looking up.

The surgeons busy
at work.

A bead of sweat
caught in an eyebrow.

Me busy flat lining
just like in the movies.

I able to recall
it all.

The there and
not-there enthrals.

And as I floated ceiling-ward
for the third time.

Gravity let me down
and I fell back into place

fitted neatly
into my self.

Death and I
locked in a staring match.

Eyeballing one another
he more afraid than I.

Until lo and ****** behold
Death...

...blinked first.
An Elegy

SHE fell away in her first ages spring,
Whil’st yet her leaf was green, and fresh her rinde,
And whil’st her branch fair blossoms forth did bring,
She fell away against all course of kind.
For age to die is right, but youth is wrong;         5
She fell away like fruit blown down with wind.
Weep, Shepherd! weep, to make my undersong.

Yet fell she not as one enforc’d to die,
Ne died with dread and grudging discontent,
But as one toil’d with travail down doth lie,
So lay she down, as if to sleep she went,
And closed her eyes with careless quietness;
The whiles soft death away her spirit sent,
And soul assoyld from sinful fleshliness.

Edmud Spenser( 1552?-1599 )

She said that all the time she was up and down to Ceiling Land this fragment of Spenser kept going through her head like a refrain.

"...an undersong of sense which none beside the poetic mind can comprehend.”

Landor.

She was the only person I actually knew who had this experience...I was fascinated by it...she just thought of it as "well there ya go" and was more intrigued by the fact that the Spencer lines kept going around in her head like a refrain and it bugged her that she couldn't remember where it was from....for her to know was more important than the actual dying.
NIGEL Jun 2018
Paphos Embrace

I look out to sea and perceive you;
Soft focused eyes, moist mouth.
Your words are magic music,
Like musk they move my mind.

You glide gently towards me;
Gown falling to glistening waves.
Your eyes glow of meadow green,
Your hair gleams of ethereal gold.

With scents that scintillate senses
You ****** and secure submission.
Feather soft skin in warm succulence
Enthrals as hungry fingers roam.

My strident want waxes proudly;
Kissed deftly by silken lips.
You rise and set above me,
Wine-wet and wide open.

With piercing joy unbridled
We fly on love's sweet euphoria.
Then lie together laughing
As I awaken to find you gone.
Tara Apr 2020
Her delicate hands, her soft blue eyes,
lose yourself to her beauty
Give her all you can; she is
the only one you will love.

So you promise her the world,
she does not accept
She thinks little of this world
and does not hide her distaste.

Her long, blonde curls, her lithe figure dancing,
she enthrals you so you pursue
The chase continues,
but this mouse does not fear the cat.

You find her mocking you, poor mite,
chasing and chasing
She lifts her beautiful head high, tosses her mane,
she will never be caught.
JL Nov 2020
A ship sailing in the pale blue
Waters of the placid sea;
We hold our lives and
Float in the world similarly.

Sometimes the moon enthrals
And the stars shine, its  heavenly.
Other times the sea snarls,
And the waves thrash turbulently!

The challenge for us is to accept
Both occurrence with equanimity,
For the power that rocks the ship,
Is the same one that holds it steady.

And our faith will help us in
Overcoming every adversity.
izzn Jan 2021
love, what does it good for?
I'm searching for the enthrals
I've been dying...
I've been falling...
deep in the abyss of faded loves

hurt, ain't that what we all feel?
a small price to pay for a living in return
I think that bad comes in tides
cascading through the walls
and tarnish what's already broken inside

longing, longing, I've been waiting for you
sipping, drinking, sleeping
from the dawn till afternoon
u can take all the time you want to come here
'cause I'm numb, yeah all this pain now,
is what I'm used to
and by the time you knock,
I'd be so far away from home,
who knows after all this time,
it's not that hard
to find the joy in dancing alone

thrilling feeling reeling through the ceiling
I've been feeling lesser of a human being
I know I should be myself,
but I'm still tryna figure out
who the hell is she
hope she doesn't sing
the same anthem as me
or act as if she's some kind of
mystical canary

it's 4 am
I'm deluding again
I try to try to be sane
everything
is haunting me again
everything
is daunting me again
everything
is spinning me
out of the orbit
too far to catch up with,
lying on this concrete still

maybe this is all just a dream.
Mark Oct 2019
Shall I from heart reveal your grace in rhyme?
Your tenderness enthrals a love thought lost:
Your eyes revive the bluish hue of mine
Your morning's sun that clears all winters' frost,
Your winter's snow imbued throughout your skin
Your rain that patters sweet when driest most
Your mirth does meet the spring as tho' are kin
Your when the gilt of day is mine foremost,
Your sunset when your face intakes the sun
Your smile is summer months in all the twelve
Your love in wondering: where love begun
Your thoughts of thoughts that dearly love to delve:

That I do love as oh! rhyme does your ode!
Then read you more, when more my love's bestowed.
Sheila Haskins Nov 2020
It’s a song that bursts through the walls
Of discontent, a song that enthrals
A song to move mountains of years
A song that is sweet in your ears
Never underestimate, never decry
The power of your song as time passes by
Over the years the melody lingers
Let the music run through your fingers
Kings have been moved by its power
Your song she is growing hour by hour
It’s a personal treasure, special to you
There in your heart whatever you do
Never underestimate, never decry
The power of your song, don’t let it die
A SPLENDID ETHEREAL SCENE

Into ecstacy went I, as I drew the curtains translucent, off a huge, transparent window like wall

It seemed, for a while, suddenly entered paradise I had, upon some mystical divine call

A shimmering white sea with chunks of ice was right there,  wherever my eyesight, did fall

This seemed ethereal, out of this world; where this red-orange, shining Sun, looked like a huge fire ball

Even now, as I lightly, gently shut my eyes, appears this majestic scene, and it, me absolutely enthrals !

Feel I, as if Ahura had rejuvenated me anew, n He, fresh, brand-new batteries within me, did install.

Armin Dutia Motashaw
From every reverie to every dream
Your sweet figure looked like beam
Your beauty flows like a sweet stream
Through your dress your body gleam
Your beauty enthrals love to be team
Your sweet beauty blooms to be teem
In all my love sonnets you are theme
Chained in beauty my love is scheme

My sweetheart you remain robust
You sweet figure crops up to bust
Let me  with my heart just to ******
You are  mine I solomnelydo trust
My sweetheart let me y heart entrust
Be my sweetheart don't be unjust

Colonel Muhammad Khalid Khan

— The End —