"espoused" poems
In dazzled astonishment
She looked up from her reverie
As she heard the flap of wings overhead
And saw the flash of laser beams in her dim lit room
Before her, stood a winged seraph
A radiant silhouette with such gentleness and grace
As never beholden on any human face
With its hands raised in benediction,
It saluted Mary and said
“Blessed art thou amongst women…
……………………………………
The rest she heard in a trance.
Unable to comprehend what was said,
The girl looked up nonplussed.
Again it said, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee
And a son shall be born of thee
Whom you shall call Jesus”
In that nanosecond of a new revelation
Did Mary’s world shatter like glassware
Or did her ****** womb thrill with new life
Did she swim in the waters of joyful tidings?
Or gyrate in the sweeping swirl of tidal waves
For the girl already espoused to a man
In whose dreams his comely form had begun
Flitting in and out
Was it a moment of silent ravishment?
Or of stupefied bewilderment
Did a dagger cut through her heart?
Or did her soul take wing in flight???
Dec 15, 2016
Dec 15, 2016 at 5:39 AM UTC
IN FLANDERS FIELDS THE POPPIES BLOW*
In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Here my comrades and I are laden
We fought for King and Country
Here we are---the fallen.
‘Be proud’, was the national proclamation
‘ You are the chosen’
We left home and our loved ones
Here we are—the ill-begotten.
Some of us once upon glorious corridors
Of Cambridge and Oxford had trodden
The best and most fertile of young minds
Here we are—the forgotten.
How strong we then were, riding on the back of youth
Its dreams so sweet and resplendent
Rained by bullets in the battlefield
Here we are---death has spoken.
Pro patria gloria, dulcis pro patria mori
(Never mind if our hearts were cruel and rotten
We must **** all enemies over the fence)
Here we are---the terrible who were chosen.
Were we born to destroy and mutilate?
But in the battle-front ---all we loved and espoused had been stolen
Buried in dark pits of hate and revenge
There we were----inhuman and despondent.
Those whom we slaughtered and maimed
Didn’t they like us once did hold dreams just as golden?
Weren’t they who happiness sought as we did?
Here we are—to bemoan all the precious from such that had been stolen.
In Flanders fields the poppies weep
For us who are far from home and have nowhere to return
With the wind’s nightly melancholic sighs whispering in our ears
Here we are----empty, with dark sins upon us—for absolution is all we yearn.
• inspired by the opening line of John McCrae’s poem IN FLANDERS FIELDS published in December 1915 (Flanders is in Belgium where a million died or were maimed).
John McCrae (1872—1918) was a Canadian doctor who joined the army as a gunner but later transferred to the medical service.
IN 1918 he was made consultant to all the British armies in France
but died of pneumonia before taking up the appointment.
Aug 30, 2015
Aug 30, 2015 at 6:56 AM UTC
In a classroom neat as a pin
the sixth grade social studies class
discussed serfdom in western Europe.
Young voices decried
the inevitability of life for serfs. They
espoused running away from the manor,
could not conceive of a lack of options. One
young girl asked if a serf girl could marry
the lord, if the lord really loved her.
She had been sold on an idea of
equality. Marrying a serf, I told her,
would be like a farmer marrying
a cow from his herd. The concept
was beyond her. Of that I was glad.
May 3, 2013
May 3, 2013 at 5:08 PM UTC
In this world,
there are numerous denominations,
split by human hand,
divided by persecution,
as blood spills to the sand.
Genocide,
no,
xenocide,
and by these actions everyday,
we commit patricide.
We feud for who knows what,
killing in the name of our God,
be it Elohim,
Allah,
or the dollar.
Civilization?
Progress?
Humans are far worse than animals,
people are cruel,
we **** with hidden agenda,
we cannibalize our beliefs,
there is no such thing as civility.
I have a dream?
What did that man see,
but the barrel of a gun?
Humans are created equal,
this is espoused by many,
and practiced by none,
even I allow the stitches of the American fabric to show.
I am no poet,
I am the greatest of hypocrites,
and in my futility,
I scream.
Nov 27, 2013
Nov 27, 2013 at 3:58 PM UTC
Mao Zedong’s revolution deposed the ancient, 5000 year old rule of Dynastic China.
In doing so he espoused the continuous violent struggle by contradictory forces within society to produce a perpetual disequilibrium of revolt against intellectualism and Confucian principle and practice.
With the global collapse of Communistic systems, the wily genius of the diminutive, Deng Xiaoping, breathed new life into the faltering rule
With a cunning rebranding of “Socialism with Chinese Characteristics”, he maintained the stability of Chinese Communist kleptocracy until relatively recent times.
But the middle class awakening of Tiananmen Square and the recent Hong Kong massed protest, has brought into focus the demands of an increasingly educated, increasingly affluent, Chinese society’s expectation and demand for increased democratic rights and freedom and a more just system of the Rule of Law.
The day of the old, strong arm, autocratic rule is over.
China is emerging, quite naturally, into a world of increased information freedom, where the seeking of each individual’s betterment and independence promises a brighter future of personal dignity, increased self-esteem and an emerging sense of high anticipation.
President Xi Jinping’s Chinese Communist Party is now presented with the challenge to moderate in order to survive. To endeavour to embrace and meld the old concepts of Confucian harmony to the vaulting expectations of China’s new world beckoning.
M.
Denmark, Western Australia.
5 October 2014
Oct 17, 2014
Oct 17, 2014 at 3:57 PM UTC
“A demagogue, in the strict signification of the word, is a 'leader of the rabble'.” — James Fenimore Cooper, "On Demagogues"
a political leader who seeks support
by appealing to popular desires &
prejudices rather than by using rational argument;
A demagogue or rabble-rouser is a leader
in a democracy who gains popularity
by exploiting prejudice & ignorance
among the common people, whipping up the passions
of the crowd & shutting down reasoned deliberations;
rabble-rouser, agitator, political agitator,
soapbox orator, firebrand, fomenter, provocateur
"he was drawn into a circle of campus demagogues"
Only in ancient Greece and Rome
was it a leader or orator who espoused
the cause of the common people;
demagogues overturn established customs of political conduct,
or promise or threaten to do so;
demagogues have appeared in democracies
since ancient Athens. They exploit a fundamental
weakness in democracy: because ultimate power
is held by the people, it is possible for the people
to give that power to someone who appeals
to the lowest common denominator
of a large segment of the population;
demagogues usually advocate immediate,
forceful action to address a national crisis
while accusing moderate & thoughtful opponents
of weakness or disloyalty
Sep 1, 2018
Sep 1, 2018 at 7:44 PM UTC
Hailey was my
bread & honey, so
sweet as ever would yield in darkness
what spirit said;
she enraptured lares and penates
with Thanksgiving
where clockwork sublime
these snowshoe hares incorporated town
yet made shortcake by rhyme
where her tiara became a romantic kiss
with Utopian dream she once set afar in her earthly presence,
these ties of scholarly pursuit in her like bodleian unlocked charm
and this game unfurled beyond its claim forthwith reform,
this newly espoused ideology ever changing her today.
Jun 28, 2016
Jun 28, 2016 at 12:57 PM UTC
Oh keeper of my soul
Guardian of the sky
Seep within my depths
Deposit your tender heart
For I will defend it with all that I am
With the fight of a warrior,
I will protect thee
With the spirit of a mother,
I will nurture
And heal your scars beautiful
My love, all of my love,
I lay bare before you
Ingest me, consume me
Infuse me into your purest essence
The fire of dragons lays dormant within
Awakened with purpose alone
Protecting fiercely the most delicate of hearts
Mine is in your charge
As yours is in mine
Espoused and revered
To the death
Without fear
We will vanquish the shadows of doubts
Casting out with them
The lies that would beseech us stay
Timeless and eternal,
Coterminous, harmonious
One and the same are we
Born united
We are infinite, fated
Bounden and bound
One
Feb 25, 2015
Feb 25, 2015 at 9:22 AM UTC
*Kissing lips of the softest feathers
Remembering lightening and mosquito songs
Intensifying the moment between thunder claps
Sarcastic quips from a woman so beautiful to me
Trembling with mouthfuls of devotion
Entangled and ensnared in the ache of my heart
Never to be without my love
Epic stories of love, life, and commitment
Like fairy tales written long ago
In some far away land that we couldn’t possibly know
Zephyr winds blow like strangled tornadoes of
Adoration sweeping my words across the sky
Beckoning sweet diction in the bat of a lover’s eye
Enticing the love of late nights coiled in your embrace
Transcending all the doubt and fears of two
High school sweethearts with nothing better to do
Bards sing songs and speak poetry
Adorning exquisiteness upon the exquisite
Rhythm without the comfort of rhymes
Nightingale’s lingering song croons
Espoused on the coldest of cold winter nights
Safe in the affectionate passion of her kiss*
Oct 3, 2011
Oct 3, 2011 at 10:26 PM UTC
I’m in a limbo. A state of equivocality. Everything hangs in the air, but I try to chart my daily course as I normally do. Times are tough. Uncertain, too. Notwithstanding, I’ve taken more than I can chew.
I’m in too deep. I’m in a dark place.
You see, I was the golden child. A beacon of light. Envy was nothing new to me. I rarely espoused it, but was the oft object of it. Little Miss Perfect – always so put together. Always has her things together. I have Midas Touch, they say. I’m on a plane higher than my peers – on a dais atop the average twenty-two year-old. I can do no wrong. Only upwards from here.
So they say.
So I thought.
Today, my days bleed into one another. Sunday? Monday? What difference does a name make? I run on two hours of sleep and three thirty-minute naps a day. I don’t wake up to my 5 AM alarm. Nor sleep through it. It throttles to life as I hurriedly read tomorrow’s later’s assigned readings. I might get some sleep in. I rarely do. Finish your readings. Finish your work. Finish your classes. Eat in between.
Objectively, I’m in a good place. Roof over my head. Food on my plate. More importantly, safe. No 40-degree thermometers and sputum litter around. This makes me feel worse. Ungrateful ***** Little Miss Drama Queen. A million would **** to be in your shoes.
I’m in a limbo – my brain encased in a cloud of humdrum trepidation. Filled to the brim with silent thumps of dread. Thump. Thump. Thump. It’s not as if I did not try to do better to feel better. I do – I always do. My lists abound. #SelfCare’s always on top. Thump. Thump. Thump. They do little to quell my panic room of a mind.
Sometimes I wonder if this is how watercolor pigments feel. They are always so vivacious off of the manufacturing press. The reds are constantly vibrant and the blues are consistently resonant. But they fade when water comes into contact – even meshing into an ugly grey on the canvas when they touch the other diluted hues.
I’m in a limbo – no sense of past, present, and future. Everyday is a low frequency static hissing at my ears. Wonder child soddened by the somber. I’d build a rocket, they say. I’d own the world, they say.
All I am is tired nowadays.
Jul 29, 2021
Jul 29, 2021 at 5:25 AM UTC
830
To this World she returned.
But with a tinge of that—
A Compound manner,
As a Sod
Espoused a Violet,
That chiefer to the Skies
Than to himself, allied,
Dwelt hesitating, half of Dust,
And half of Day, the Bride.
1.1k
Who lives a still life? he asked.
It was the end of the day,
he was alone.
He could think of a few souls
living quietly, not doing much,
letting the days go by.
They would say they were busy
exercising their minds,
reading sporadically,
worrying a little about distant children,
noisy neighbours, absent friends,
the state of the house.
But they espoused stillness,
enjoyed the afternoon light
as it fell across the windowed sill
illuminating that Venetian vase.
They were not anxious about making tea,
just yet. It was good, this being still.
She often wondered about the still life,
the artists’ ultimate challenge, duty even
to that most particular of genres;
the attempt to catch the moment,
the fleeting moment, it could only be
a moment when light fell
sharp or diffused on objects chosen
or arranged, a never to be recovered
moment, except by the painter’s hand.
Here was a chair,
a red armchair in a room
almost certainly in Gordon Square,
Bloomsbury, a Vanessa Bell, she said,
painted in, well, 1934 or 5,
and very characteristic then,
its dark blue cushion
plumped for a soon-to-be sitter.
It stands in front of her painted screen,
obscuring the lower part of the window
open to the morning, yesterday’s flowers
in a vase nearby, on a table with books.
And above the chair,
a small painting hangs,
an intimate scene,
left of the window where
the long curtains fall
to a still pool of fabric
gathered on the wooden floor.
Jun 17, 2014
Jun 17, 2014 at 10:02 AM UTC
I buried it deep
I buried it far
no easy trip by train
or by car
It won't be exhumed
it can't really be traced
no markers seen
completely erased
I'll carry the scar
celebrate if I dare
making it through
somehow and somewhere
My baggage my own
layered deeper than hell
a depth so unknown
the darkest of wells
No, my love
I'll not venture the seals
or question the locks
proposing appeals
Some things are better
not disturbed or aroused
for memories played
in silence
espoused
Dec 26, 2018
Dec 26, 2018 at 5:15 PM UTC
a maiden’s heart broken
we bury here in the grave;
we bless her
and wish her god speed
and that she leaves all pain here on earth
and we pray that all blessings be hers
as she goes forth
to meet her one true Lord in Heaven
a maiden betrayed by her espoused true love
here on earth;
and we
the nuns who attend to this burial
we in each heart
we too bury
a maiden’s broken heart
betrayed by one’s true love
by the world’s harshness
but meet our Maker even now
even now in confined spaces on earth itself
to transcend the pain of betrayed trust,
of betrayed love, of life taken beyond flesh
Sep 30, 2010
Sep 30, 2010 at 4:07 AM UTC
#
*What cannot my praise effect in your singular mind?
When flattery soothes – or when ambition is blind!
Desire of the heart, is it an earthly vicious seed?
Yet, sprung from high, is it nothing but a ****
But to God 'tis its glory and when love aspires,
'Tis but a spark of the most heavenliest of fires.
To the ambitious youth, thou too covetous of the flame,
Too full of the vermin running throughout thy frame.
Unwarily led astray from any virtuous ways -
Made drunk with love, and somehow debauched with praise.
Half desire, and half consenting to the ness of the ill,
For in the blood the sentiment - cannot it be still?
To thee I must reply — pray thee - what pretense have I,
To take up arms for justice or for your love’s liberty, I cry?
Love governs with an unquestioning right,
Love’s the defender and love’s the delight.
Be ye good, be gracious, be just, be observant of the laws,
And in loving wonders - be ye especially espoused to love’s cause.
Whom has love ever wronged in all its peaceful reign?
Love cannot sue for justice for any judgement would be in vain.
What millions has love pardoned or has taken on as foes?
To what revenge does love get even or even mildly expose?
Mild, easy, humble, studious and good,
Always inclined toward mercy, never spilling any blood.
If this is the love that you know put it on like a suit,
For in you - you have God's most beloved attribute.*
#
Jun 28, 2018
Jun 28, 2018 at 3:49 PM UTC
trolling the doldrums for crumbs of gold
selling old caldrons to witless witches
wearing goblin teeth and dragons blood
earrings from Hot Topic
I languish in the Emo village that is the United States –
Self-serving ******** preserving their precious habitats
while habitually encumbering the global ecology
drinking biodegradable Starbucks in Buick Escalades
escapade-ing ***** raiders afraid of Mercury in retrograde
staying clear of the mayhem
and playing fear propagating madman
I stoke wildfires with gasoline
prodding the populace into premature *********** –
poorly formed ideas the norm
the scorn for the figureheads shows on the shoreline
boorish oarsmen, moored, pour their kerosene blood
onto the floor…. Sure,
pure Fuerer fodder, but newer shoes
were never shod
and the godhead faces west into the sunset –
druidic fluids escape wiccan slits
as the children of the Azure seas never get to be born
Pleaedian starships collide inside Antarctic subterranean dwellings
indiscriminate shelling of uninhabited caverns
as ravenous reptilians eat the jaw muscles
and left eye sockets
of organically fed Dairy cows…
espoused louse houses in Fall fashion blouses
trounce the infirm in clown shaped bounce houses
again, the sin goes unnoticed
as the blood of the innocents grants the elitists
another thousand years of power –
The tower on the hill still shines in the moonlight
on the 5th night of delighting the religious right…
mighty flightless birds self-assured and fed
on bramble burrs
purr at the sight.
bodies strewn all askew;
the moaning few with skin turning blue
true to the stories of old
as lack of oxygen blends with the biblical beast mark
and staving for air the impaired dare not to ask for Jesus aid…
instead they lay, waiting to be saved –
Aug 10, 2015
Aug 10, 2015 at 6:03 PM UTC
i find myself to be a contentious person
because my big mouth
never shuts
but there's a lot of good coming out
that just gets interlaced with some bad
well-meaning, albeit, not exactly thought out
thoughts
that get espoused before they're finished
i'm a rushed man
amid no rapids
Jul 7, 2021
Jul 7, 2021 at 4:41 PM UTC
Explosions
All the pretty little
Colorful pieces
I've ever espoused
Pink bows burning
All the little plastics
Melting off
Sticking to
My fingertips
I can hear you
Driving by
I can hear everything
Every word
That you are saying
You inadequate idiot
I'm now
Equipped for this
To rub you out
And swing you
All around the room
Dancing, prancing
Catching tunes
Moods of maybe marvels
Egg shells crackle
Under our feet
Bleeding tears
And shiny tires
Where all
I think about
All I dream about
Is forgetting
Who I am
Mar 27, 2013
Mar 27, 2013 at 11:37 PM UTC
i never espoused a conspiracy theory about it
"they dont want us to write"
but it is more of a dare
a triple dog dare
for when youre filled
and when youre boiling over
then, make it so that its hard to read
elusive dodgy and half true
undone and part mean
gushy
lump-throated
i dare you
triple dog
say a single true word
Mar 24, 2013
Mar 24, 2013 at 7:32 PM UTC
It has been so long
The same voice had sung a thousand songs
Each day a battle to remain strong
Standing on the right side, but all feels wrong
Precarious wants, dubious desires
Trembling feet crossing a string of quagmires
I danced, but never on a stage made of wires
My need for certainty is indubitably dire
Call for help only from a trusted friend
Shattered glass hearts are difficult to mend
A soul that espoused strolls pressured to ride the trend
Gravel and sand are known to never blend
Instruments thirsty for power play harmonious notes
Imperious waves swallowing quiescent boats
Wails and screams incarcerated in throats
Every motion a command from shrouded remotes
I wish to find the nearest escape
Be free to embody my envisioned shape
I will sketch and color my preferred landscape
But these self-proclaimed kings hunger for another grape
Mar 4, 2015
Mar 4, 2015 at 9:35 AM UTC
Long long, ere long ago
Adam was adolescent
Eve was effervescent
Both were glad in body clad
Adam and Eve exposed each
The duo explored to match
Adam was adulating to catch
Eve was electrifying to ******
Pancreatic hunger in one way
Pubertal love on way any way
Cupid apple drooped in sway
He grappled apple-gel of angel
Couple cuddled and meddled
Kindled, spindled and fondled
Fire of passion ceded seeds of love
Shy free, sky free, spy free, scot free
Capsule of calories captured
Rupture turned into rapture
Head to head dual bite at sight
Headed to fuel the duel of luring love
Adam was adamant on that eve
Eve spelled eventful gospel of life
Only lonely lovely pair espoused
Exploded mirth of birth on earth
Jan 23, 2015
Jan 23, 2015 at 10:43 AM UTC
A roommate shows me this hookup app - the consensus favorite.
“Call me crazy,” I say, “but if we’re reducing *** to something
cheap and cynical, wouldn’t **** be safer and easier?”
She frowns, as if I’ve espoused an unpopular political position
so I make a show of putting “join the app” on my to-do list
- which is like sending it into outer space.
Sleeping with someone you don’t like - or even know, seems impolite, even seedy but there’s a power to it as well - knowing I could if I wanted to - I quash that thought as it rises, like heat.
Besides, factoid: I have an imaginary boyfriend, And although my thoughts are free to roam far and wide, I’m nothing if not faithful.
Jan 30, 2022
Jan 30, 2022 at 5:00 AM UTC
Espoused to the moon was the lady in red
she who only kept secrets inside of her head
many have perished in search of the key
that would unlock the center they all hoped to see
deep in the forest at the heart of the glade
in water half frozen alone she would bathe
to battle her demons and test her will
her beauty entranced all who sauntered those hills
just echoing laughter on a sweet path they crossed
now they'll wander forever yet never be lost
Feb 4, 2016
Feb 4, 2016 at 1:08 PM UTC
Long long, ere long ago
Adam was adolescent
Eve was effervescent
Both were glad in body clad
Adam and Eve exposed each
The duo explored to match
Adam was adulating to catch
Eve was electrifying to ******
Pancreatic hunger in one way
Pubertal love on way any way
Cupid apple drooped in sway
He grappled apple-gel of angel
Couple cuddled and meddled
Kindled, spindled and fondled
Fire of passion ceded seeds of love
Shy free, sky free, spy free, scot free
Capsule of calories captured
Rupture turned into rapture
Head to head dual bite at sight
Headed to fuel the duel of luring love
Adam was adamant on that eve
Eve spelled eventful gospel of life
Only lonely lovely pair espoused
Exploded mirth of birth on earth
Nov 23, 2014
Nov 23, 2014 at 11:25 AM UTC