"lofting" poems
The birds don't care about the internet.
Their anger is with the ground,
the place where the green goes,
the fields of the hunt and
the roots of the trees.
Their hearts pound in anticipation
of flight into the blue, a
lofting of the body high.
Their cries herald freedom,
the warm sun on soft feathers.
It is their exhilaration breaking forth,
like the promise of soft lips that
by rights are not your own,
tender in the night welcoming you.
i was going to write to you,
the reader, about joy and
its mysteries: something sacred,
the pins and needles felt
throughout our human-shaped
boxes, the shadow where we
hide our hearts for others to steal.
i long to tell you, dear reader,
if only you can promise to
hold that secret close ...
Can you? Can you keep this secret?
... (yes)...
So can i.
Feb 10, 2014
Feb 10, 2014 at 3:50 PM UTC
we tracked
her gyrations
on the weather
channel for days
eyeing the graceful
pirouette of her
cyclonic spin
incessant
bulletins of
the exploding
super storm
on a collision
course with
home, piqued
fear, kindled
fascination
drove fatigue
the day before
Sandy arrived
I followed the
flight of clever
birds lofting
away to the
safety of
inland hills
the foolhardy
mistook hubris
for intrepidness
lifting beach front
margaritas to
the roiling sea
unaware their
jolly libation begets
tomorrows sober
realization that folly’s
miscalculations have
calamitous consequences
The Doors
Riders on the Storm
Oakland
10/29/13
jbm
Oct 29, 2013
Oct 29, 2013 at 1:30 AM UTC
The now has left my body.
My mind is emptying
Of all thought of today.
The moment is receding;
I feel my feet lifting
My arms are floating
As if in a pool of light
Like water, buoying me
With untouching caresses
Lofting to evanescence
And I know it is fine
This feeling of pleasance
Of no worries in me
No hurrying to be done
Nowhere I have to be
No reason to run.
I am centered in this,
A feeling of completeness;
Of needing nothing else,
A spiritual sweetness,
A relaxing kind of comfort
Surrounds and enfolds
By singing unheard songs
Deep into my very soul.
I am happy here, smiling,
Somewhere in the self
Where not even I can see,
That I am someone else.
I am someone loving
And kind and caring.
I love this feeling so
I wish I were sharing
The sense of a world
Where everything is right
And everyone is floating
In the same golden light.
Sep 5, 2015
Sep 5, 2015 at 12:09 AM UTC
Lofting in the breeze
Her scent, So subtle
An Intoxicating allure
Hints of Rose and lavender
For my love, she's the cure
Her supple red lips, plump and ready
A most delicate treat
So luscious, so beautiful
Eagerly awaiting for
Both of ours to meet
Her eyes, so bright, so deep
Gazing with everlasting affection
So deeply entranced, encapsulated
In our powerful connection
So close now, I see my reflection
Her skin, so ripe, so smooth
So lustrous and silky
My longing for you
does not make me guilty
Truly a masterpiece, a work of art
I've fallen in love
Never again shall we part
Oct 21, 2020
Oct 21, 2020 at 9:33 AM UTC
bridge to heaven,
apex of the earth and sky;
west by north, corner of a nation.
where the ocean deep and blue,
rises from its depths
to join the hands of sea blown grass,
together reach for cotton wisps,
the cirrus clouds aloft to clasp,
teasing curling locks of hair
in a brilliant sapphire sky.
garden where the angels visit,
stoop to touch the darkened sod;
swoop to give a breezy nod,
a soft salvé from above;
joining sailing boats
with colors flying,
their wings of sheets
catch winds offshore;
waves collide in dance,
splash at bow en-trance,
curtsying like a curtain call,
here at play they soothe, enthrall;
transporting, lifting, cavorting, gifting,
on breezes light with gentle lofting,
Zephyrus sends them over yonder,
ever distant, ever stronger,
’cross the strait to reach her border.
port of angels, home to men,
bridge to offer sweet descent...
this, the end of jacob’s ladder,
dream of angel’s softened laughter,
listen close you’ll hear their whispers,
words of grace in flowing vespers
blowing down from snow-capped ridge
gently ’cross the angel’s bridge.
Jun 29, 2014
Jun 29, 2014 at 12:54 PM UTC
Rift rafters fall for the love of their sinister lives that continue long after the setting sun,
Breathers lay out their arms welcoming peace with a deadly knife,
Sought after visions lie but for a just cause,
Simple villains turn tides when truth proved to be theirs to gloat,
Lips of curves softly calling for the ears of new found kings,
Lofting lost but on the path that was sought when no path was given,
Crain the neck to see what is alreadyinfront of you,
Suggested laughs at the subtle sight that was born from the head of a baby,
A free fairing fan fiction frantically falling for free franks from Fredrick's farm facility featured February Fifth,
A test to the cure that causes our noses to run amuck,
Fidget in our seats when words of conversation repeated for few sentences know their bounds,
A long lost rambling mind, tastes silver in the blood of night
Jan 22, 2015
Jan 22, 2015 at 4:23 AM UTC
Sympathetic empathas saying words,
That are read from a script,
No one knew how to write,
It's early and cars,
Driving to,
Another paid bill,
Or whatever Thomas said,
Expierences fulfilled by fuel,
Maybe they aren't driving,
Or drinking,
might just be,
making babies in the,
Basement,
Or whatever Keats said,
Distantly dancing,
To kindergarteners and,
cancer patients,
Just another Thursday,
With mystic music,
Lofting around,
The empty dance halls,
Falling up,
With Christopher Robbins,
To the stars,
The bus is on time
Or whatever Dylan said.
Sep 19, 2019
Sep 19, 2019 at 10:06 AM UTC
What are dreams but kites we string,
thoughts we stress,
sometimes obsess,
with tails and tales of fantasy,
that we run a field
with overhead,
seeking to find a bit of lift,
a warm and rising currency,
that buys us time,
time for us to bide our wish,
like lofting balloons of lunacy,
but serves us well,
that we do dwell
on thoughts of things
that may yet prove
veritably impossible,
least we lay a plan,
and execute.
Dec 29, 2010
Dec 29, 2010 at 9:15 PM UTC
I think some move
lightly through each other
and some just gush through
I've always thanked God
for those-whom I love
on earth at the same time
Cognating under
the same sky
Breathing the
doublet droplets
of air
Lofting under
blanket cloud cover
up high
Residing under
matching hemispheres
Roused together and awake
during unexplained times of day
So much eminence
of loveliness
I sometimes feel fate.
Apr 12, 2014
Apr 12, 2014 at 2:34 PM UTC
Cheesesteaks and grimy streets
with a broken bell walled 'round by glass
over cobblestones trod weary feet
and love is born and hope is born
Strong fountains sweep in summer heat
sparks blaze in artful air at night
recalling every future song
when love is free and hope is free
Autumn ripeness sewed the flag
lofting parchment highly penned
before Billy ever stared us down
til love became and hope became
Cold souls all hunched in grand salons
broadly fluttered civil strifes
two hundred years were faded long
but love remained and hope remained
Reborn of blossoms freeing most
Who stretch on Spring Garden to South
And tumble past down to Navy Yard
until love grows until hope grows
Once wise as Ben struck under tree
If ever Delaware George had crossed
—If this Republic we can keep—
it’ll've been by love and a little hope.
Mar 23, 2016
Mar 23, 2016 at 12:33 AM UTC
a statistic
RIP
don't know how;
i go from mourning to night,
(a quick little flight)
but i come back down
mutually taken
give away before - what - the poison reached,
was it even wanted?
revisiting the place it started;
the smell of the stale air of that room, still holds dear
open 24 hours
like i was for you,
both time and heart.
where did you go?
you were just here
where you even here,
sad ghost i loved?
did i?
the answer will not be found
nor should it ever be.
but i still fell your calming hand on my back,
lofting.
still haunting, like the beginning;
however, a new way.
less alive,
truly ghosting.
Sep 15, 2014
Sep 15, 2014 at 8:14 PM UTC
I'll tell you my dream come true. I want to be in love again for that love to be my last. I wish to run home to her waiting arms every night make love to her till I can't breath. Forsaking for her all others I'd feel her sweat pour over me, like a waterfall. To have those rains wash away my sins baptizing me in tears of joy. Fall asleep to the beat of her heart, all the while her whispers caress my ears with "I love you". Play on the beach sharing our deepest fears and grandest joys. Wake not knowing where I end, nor where she begins. Drink of her love till I drown. Look at the moon each night I'm away, know she’s doing the same. Close my eyes, feel her heart touch my soul, and know she has shared with me something precious. Walk hand in hand through the park at 85. Stare into each others eyes not seeing the years gone by, but the priceless love within. I want to die in her loving embrace from a life well spent. All the while the lofting sounds of laughter, pour through my window, as grandchildren play hide and seek, in the fallen leaves of changing colors. To the sound of the lonesome whistle down the river the steamers would roll. I dream my last words to be “I love you". The last sounds I hear to be the new life crying down the hall echoes of the child that will take my place. A loving tear from my beloved wife and son, I'd pass from this world with a smile.
Tate
This is the only prose poem I ever wrote. The original poem for my wife
http://www.writerscafe.org/writing/aristate/447640/
Jun 25, 2014
Jun 25, 2014 at 12:24 PM UTC
An empty house, no walls or doors,
Cold wind blows and chills the floor,
A single window in the corner,
She's so lovely, how I adore her,
She's been asleep now for a few hours,
Sound asleep after her shower,
Blood-red stains on a perfect veil,
Stillness flows over skin so pale,
Sleep well, my love,
Get down, it's growing closer,
Put down the four leaf clover,
Gray skies and falling stars,
Locked doors and mental scars,
Dreams die and life will fade,
Mothers beaten, children betrayed,
You'll go just as you came,
With red-stemmed roses on your grave,
She wakes and stares into me,
Can't wait to lie and use me,
The smell of flesh, lofting, haunting,
Blood-stained blade, enticing, taunting,
The master butcher, I am sin,
I'll make you pay for what you did,
One cut, two, the floor is gone,
What once was right, turned so wrong,
Sleep well, my love,
Get down, it's growing closer,
Put down the four leaf clover,
Gray skies and falling stars,
Locked doors and mental scars,
Dreams die and life will fade,
Mothers beaten, children betrayed,
You'll go just as you came,
With red-stemmed roses on your grave,
I'm so cold, here in an empty nest,
Friendless, freezing, hardly the best,
At anything, no one's here to,
Keep me running, keep me focused,
So cold, dark, damp and empty,
I tell myself, 'I can't leave completely,'
Just enough to see over the edge,
Just enough to know it was all for the best.
Apr 9, 2014
Apr 9, 2014 at 10:58 PM UTC
if i could do anything
be anything
you'd find me way up with the clouds
i'd be a fearsome sight!
all tawny-brown, white-speckled feathers backlit by a rising sun
oh yes, the dream of my childhood
was to have wings
was to fly
unstoppable, i'd
soar in a low-pressure sea of blue
my wingtips carving clouds
into the most beautiful sculptures
adrenalin, epinephrine
sixty miles an hour
rising,
diving,
rising,
diving,
loop-de-loops and barrel rolls
death-defying stunts
blink and you'll miss me
i'd drift so gently
so effortlessly
free to move
with the stratosphere as my stage
each powerful beat of my wings
lofting me higher, faster, higher
looking down,
everything so small below my
dangling feet
giant leaps
from treetop to roof to treetop
wings casting the prettiest of shadows
long feathers feeling the wind ebb and flow
my back aches with longing, sometimes.
you can never really be rid
of the dreams you conceive at twilight
the dreams you imagine with a young mind
in my dreams, i can fly.
Apr 30, 2018
Apr 30, 2018 at 11:15 PM UTC
Another sunset tries to survive, as it drifts beneath the earth and dies
The dreary dawn awaits for it's alter ego to stumble through the night
In theory gone, she baits the line, and casts our soul into another fight
A leery pawn, a game of fates, it's time to know, what feels just right
An eerie yawn, opens the gates, the perfect dream walks into the light
The sunrise comes with haunting cries, shining down on tearful eyes
Darkened skies remind last night's broken promises are Today's lies
Thieving Gray clouds shade the grounds as my head pounds and Throbs
Weaving Stray crowds of worried rats scurried about chaotically to Jobs
Leaving an unbearably noxious musk wafting throughout the surly Mobs
Deceiving another day until the dusk comes lofting like a thief and Robs
The morning's glory, came and went, and not a moment too soon
The mayhem and the havoc hellbent, clamoring to stay high noon
Tensed sheople just making life's rent, until the stars begin to croon
Incensed at the blanket time we spent, chasing the tranquil moon
Aug 5, 2023
Aug 5, 2023 at 11:12 PM UTC
Cheetah flying through the tall grass
Hawk lofting on thermals
The wilderbeast dragged to ground
Doesn't feel victimized.
Mouse scampering under an elephant's foot
Monkeys swinging in their jungle playground
The lion sunning himself in the wilderness
Doesn't feel superior,
Doesn't feel special.
Human dropping a test tube
Bats hiding their secrets in caves
Are we all creatures with souls or not?
So when a virus crosses a few boundaries
Why wouldn't it?
Sep 6, 2021
Sep 6, 2021 at 11:50 AM UTC