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"quelling" poems
There was a tiny tea light somewhat hid and tucked away Was lost; To be forgotten in dark corners of my brain The other day you called me breathing into it new life A weak and dying flame now once again stood strong and bright Tried quelling it with reason; Doused with plenty rationale No matter what I threw at it would not leave or dispel Use thoughts as tools or weapons; They are thrown out by the mind Attempting to slice through the bonds to flame the heart did bind But no where in my cognition is something quite that tough In any way could **** that flame or from these bonds be cut This statement even would be true the weakest of its days But as I'm talking to you with each word you fan the flame Was living out a lie and yet was unbeknownst to me I thought my love for you could die if left and just let be However, now I know too well this lasting present truth My eyes saw you and ever since, I've been in love with you
0
Nov 2, 2018
Nov 2, 2018 at 4:56 AM UTC
Tea Light
Serendipity. You ******* what! What you saying, pal? Serendipity, oh aye, all right, Aye, seren-fuckin-dipity; whatever! Tell it to the raggedy soaked-wino, Look into his rheumy eyes, really look, Want to kiss his toothless grin, eh? Do you? Feel his sore-ridden tongue searching you out, Nay, I thought not, anyway, he hears nothing, Nothing except the rattle of change. Tell it to the punctured ****** go on, Cold body on a cold linoleum floor, He can’t hear you either, maybe though, Maybe, slipping away on the last tide of life, Do-gooder, maybe he will hear you call, ‘Serendipity’ and wonder: what the **** Until blackness closes in, blanking the stars. Tell it to the Fourth Bridge jumpers, go on, Always falling; to them, falling forever, In hearts and minds, the event horizon of death, Trapped in limbo, leaving unbearable hurt behind, Along with serendipity and bad choices. And the young, oh they need serendipity, Cruelty of life glittering in furtive wary eyes, Old already, far beyond halcyon blue-skies, Used and abused by those closest, the shame, Erosion of trust and sincerity completed over night, Christmas ghosts: slovenly laggards by comparison. Resilient youth! Yep, they ******* need to be, Grinding machine of town-life hunting them, Scouring dark corners, gnashing jaws growling, Crunching down darkened alleys, feeding, Lapping up the young blood of runaways, Slavering maw eating them alive; laughing. With serendipity, they can lie low, maybe hide, Dream of escape, for they all want out, Putting misery behind them, quelling cruelty, After all, they live in a lucky ******* town, So escape is not impossible, no, Unlikely, yes, poor wee ******** Serendipity should shout a loud warning, Run, scrawny urchins, run if you can, Run for your lives, the rest of your lives, Town-life’s grinding machine awaits, Watches for you, so keep running, Never stop, never look back, Not ever, not ever, Serendipity. ©Paul Chafer 2014
0
May 10, 2014
May 10, 2014 at 7:32 PM UTC
Serendipity
Serendipity. You ******* what! What you saying, pal? Serendipity, oh aye, all right, Aye, seren-fuckin-dipity; whatever! Tell it to the raggedy soaked-wino, Look into his rheumy eyes, really look, Want to kiss his toothless grin, eh? Do you? Feel his sore-ridden tongue searching you out, Nay, I thought not, anyway, he hears nothing, Nothing except the rattle of change. Tell it to the punctured ****** go on, Cold body on a cold linoleum floor, He can’t hear you either, maybe though, Maybe, slipping away on the last tide of life, Do-gooder, maybe he will hear you call, ‘Serendipity’ and wonder: what the **** Until blackness closes in, blanking the stars. Tell it to the Fourth Bridge jumpers, go on, Always falling; to them, falling forever, In hearts and minds, the event horizon of death, Trapped in limbo, leaving unbearable hurt behind, Along with serendipity and bad choices. And the young, oh they need serendipity, Cruelty of life glittering in furtive wary eyes, Old already, far beyond halcyon blue-skies, Used and abused by those closest, the shame, Erosion of trust and sincerity completed over night, Christmas ghosts: slovenly laggards by comparison. Resilient youth! Yep, they ******* need to be, Grinding machine of town-life hunting them, Scouring dark corners, gnashing jaws growling, Crunching down darkened alleys, feeding, Lapping up the young blood of runaways, Slavering maw eating them alive; laughing. With serendipity, they can lie low, maybe hide, Dream of escape, for they all want out, Putting misery behind them, quelling cruelty, After all, they live in a lucky ******* town, So escape is not impossible, no, Unlikely, yes, poor wee ******** Serendipity should shout a loud warning, Run, scrawny urchins, run if you can, Run for your lives, the rest of your lives, Town-life’s grinding machine awaits, Watches for you, so keep running, Never stop, never look back, Not ever, not ever, Serendipity. ©Paul Chafer 2014
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50
Arriving, a frenzy of possibility where river find seas, the torrent in blossom quelling winter wind with swells of bloom; lost too soon. Seconds last, comfort past and broken compass glass.
0
Jun 4, 2013
Jun 4, 2013 at 4:52 AM UTC
Compass
The whirr of the rush hour in the morning and the lack of human sounds outside my door reinforces that I'm alone. It was a noise similar to my usual routine, of quelling needy pangs of connection, with what is always plugged in. You had slept with me on this bed twice before and you were unaware that on it, I numbed myself quite frequently. I reprimand myself to let go of expectations, they have long become pipe dreams and idealism, and would be foolish to follow still.
0
Apr 1, 2016
Apr 1, 2016 at 7:52 AM UTC
Lent for Love
The Ravens On a rainy night so boring I heard Munin soundly snoring, I grew tired of my poring Perched above Valhalla’s door. “Munin!”, screeched I to the ceiling, Sending the poor fellow reeling, “Let’s deal out a joke to Odin, One that he’ll be falling for - Just one joke, and nothing more.” After barrow ghosts-invoking Odin entered, wet and soaking, And I started with my croaking From the dark above the door: “I’m the first and oldest Volva! All my secrets I could tell ya, For the right price I might sell, yeah”, And I cawed, “Would you know more?” (He is crazy about lore.) “What!”, cried Odin, “Quick, be talking! At the price I won’t be balking. Searching wisdom, I’ve been walking Wandering from door to door. Let my need for knowledge reach you, All my own skills I would teach you; Tell me all now, I beseech you!” Quoth I grinning, “Nevermore!” (Just a jest, and nothing more.) Odin with frustration sputtering, Munin laughing, wildly fluttering, I was dead-pan and kept uttering Nonsense about hidden lore. For his need he found no quelling, All Valhall woke from his yelling – Oh, the fun to keep on telling Him that one word, “Nevermore!” (We thought it was a joke, no more.) In the morning ceased his raving, But that did not end his craving, And we saw our master waving To our roost above the door. “Friends”, he said, “Now I will ride out; Over Midgard you shall glide out: Seek the Volva in her hideout!” - Then it felt a joke no more. (And Munin, to this day, is sore.) Every day we must keep flying, Always for that “Volva” spying, Acting as though we were trying; Well, the joke’s on us, for sho… To escape a rightful chiding, To this day the truth we’re hiding; By this tale we are abiding, And we’ll tell you nothing more!
0
Apr 7, 2014
Apr 7, 2014 at 3:22 PM UTC
The Ravens
The Ravens On a rainy night so boring I heard Munin soundly snoring, I grew tired of my poring Perched above Valhalla’s door. “Munin!”, screeched I to the ceiling, Sending the poor fellow reeling, “Let’s deal out a joke to Odin, One that he’ll be falling for - Just one joke, and nothing more.” After barrow ghosts-invoking Odin entered, wet and soaking, And I started with my croaking From the dark above the door: “I’m the first and oldest Volva! All my secrets I could tell ya, For the right price I might sell, yeah”, And I cawed, “Would you know more?” (He is crazy about lore.) “What!”, cried Odin, “Quick, be talking! At the price I won’t be balking. Searching wisdom, I’ve been walking Wandering from door to door. Let my need for knowledge reach you, All my own skills I would teach you; Tell me all now, I beseech you!” Quoth I grinning, “Nevermore!” (Just a jest, and nothing more.) Odin with frustration sputtering, Munin laughing, wildly fluttering, I was dead-pan and kept uttering Nonsense about hidden lore. For his need he found no quelling, All Valhall woke from his yelling – Oh, the fun to keep on telling Him that one word, “Nevermore!” (We thought it was a joke, no more.) In the morning ceased his raving, But that did not end his craving, And we saw our master waving To our roost above the door. “Friends”, he said, “Now I will ride out; Over Midgard you shall glide out: Seek the Volva in her hideout!” - Then it felt a joke no more. (And Munin, to this day, is sore.) Every day we must keep flying, Always for that “Volva” spying, Acting as though we were trying; Well, the joke’s on us, for sho… To escape a rightful chiding, To this day the truth we’re hiding; By this tale we are abiding, And we’ll tell you nothing more!
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54
i search, i look for sublime touch, of meaning in the dirt and dust. a shred, a crack, a false perception, scrying clues of misdirection: more to life, greater meaning, imagination quelling reason. yet, as always, in conclusion, symmetry it slays delusion.
0
Sep 11, 2014
Sep 11, 2014 at 7:09 PM UTC
symmetry
#* Holi It is an emotion Sung upon the winds Youthful songs of spring Vivacious emeralds Colours of the shade, Jade Fields of verdant green Mother earth bestows Upon us her finest hues Let’s embrace in gratitude Reverently we circumambulate The Holika, seeking felicity Quelling the evil and granting peace Imbued with the crimson Under the blue skies of eternity May the festival bring mirth And lasting harmony*#
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Mar 6, 2023
Mar 6, 2023 at 11:19 AM UTC
Happy Holi
Beautiful lady Look into my eyes Look deep in my soul And see how it cries For the love that you offer To make us two be one Quelling these yearnings We both have begun. To end this desire That fills up my heart To become something larger Of which we are both part A mach made in heaven Is what some might say But it is much more If I have my way T’is to sail on the oceans Of clouds high above To fulfill every dream You ever thought of Let me hold you tightly Please won’t you be mine And I’ll give to you my love For the rest of all time.
0
May 26, 2010
May 26, 2010 at 2:32 PM UTC
Look Into My Eyes
Living a life from moment to moment Devoid of feeling and shame. A person is fervent Full of passion and craze, That life holds no meaning and phase. In stochastic rhythm, embedded in wit, One finds a serious hymn, that life has bit In illogical fit, from the **** of reason and fate. Fate where man loses his name, To a more sinister and manipulative beast, That seeks to tame his composure; And quell him with an abundance of exposure So the soul of the next can feast. It is not radiation or something of ill will, But a being more accepting, that eats the source of thrill. For what is the beast, but the evolution of progression The child of reason and though. That brings evolution To the forethought of man with intent to pursue in full The need to place ban on the will of human So that the transition can be quelling and soothe.
0
Sep 7, 2012
Sep 7, 2012 at 8:53 PM UTC
The Next Step
Dogma and doctrine only hide the Truth that is our birthright since the time of youth. We have all been led to believe the lies which the authorities show to our eyes. The passage of time often does the rest and makes sure curiosity fails the test to uncover the truth that's been hidden by all this dogma and doctrine ridden. Ignorance is a strong, powerful force that stalls investigations in due coarse when people begin to suspect the wrong they have been subjected to all along. Authorities try to keep their power with the dogma and doctrine they shower onto the people who look up to them quelling the light of truth that they condemn. Nowhere else does this happen as often but in religious faith which can soften the hearts and minds of people to believe that something else is just there to deceive. A sad case of the blind leading the blind which is one of the follies of mankind who are led to believe what they're given is the truth being like victims driven. This doesn't mean that something else is true unless it has been proven so by you; through personal experience that stays in your heart or mind and the doubt allays. Take for example those few converts who formed the body of the early church new; what kind of experience each one had making them join up and feel very glad. _________________
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Jan 31, 2022
Jan 31, 2022 at 4:29 AM UTC
Victims of Dogma and Doctrine
whelming- evening silence -soothing quelling dwelling a much quieter song - moon pulls the tide along singing of the sea sun slides down- the stars align exactly as they should- and shine rest, earth- breathe deep- -we sleep. r ~ 9/27/14
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Sep 27, 2014
Sep 27, 2014 at 9:45 PM UTC
whelming
self importance he did relish therein lay a swollen ego was inflated of embellish all this being held as a cargo therein lay a swollen ego so monumental the extent all this being held as a cargo of the largest conceited tent so monumental the extent it could not be denied at all of the largest conceited tent he finding joy in his own thrall it could not be denied at all ever putting one's self up first he finding joy in his own thrall was no shown quelling of the thirst ever putting one's self up first all this being held as a cargo was no shown quelling of the thirst therein lay a swollen ego
0
Jun 4, 2018
Jun 4, 2018 at 6:48 AM UTC
Swollen Ego (Pantoum)
Atop a clam, divinest pearl! invites me to peer, enchanting girl eyes fluttering and beckoning casts sweetest spell, magic, enchanting a magnificent array of colour ripples through her enveloping aura towards her my rapt mind swims in her sight my spirit chimes throughout the days and hours Mermaid makes the heart gestate Makes my spirit feel elate I want my heart to waltz with hers Out of its spiritual bars Upon the shores we'd frolic, play Soothing, quelling fear, dismay With her I am engorged on bliss Touched by the light of luck's kiss All throughout the day O Mermaid Queen, they doubt thy truth A kind of beauty rare, forsooth But rainbows shine in spite of faith Suns blaze in spite of eyes embrace The world is good (and good is true) And more good for the life of you You are a beacon of hope and joy Could inspire the rise and fall of troy With heaven's light imbued
0
Feb 18, 2017
Feb 18, 2017 at 9:57 PM UTC
The Mermaid Queen
There is a certain art in relinquishing your spirit to emotions quelling from the breast Stumbling haphazardly through the hallways of an academy surreptitiously pristine Encountering locked doors, painted walls, lowered eyes and agony The menial labor of a janitor picking up after the crowd has released every last yelp And the pain Of a boy stooped in an empty corner Old enough to be a man Helpless as an infant Too poor to enter, too meek to escape Trapped in the corridor between sunny landscapes and dimmed memories Struggling to hoist his frame up from its stupor Afraid it may just as well falter once restored And hoping someone may notice There is a certain art in relinquishing your spirit to emotions quelling from the breast Sincerity and compassion need not be amongst them But, just as breath escapes, so do tears Splashing from the drowning pool in which the soul thrashes Bending, grabbing and tossing Discard, Discard Stoop Obtain Discard Each day a variation of the past Unique in subtle differences imperceivable to visitors You’ve seen the man, the child, the infant Tear down the fourth wall Walk in his corridor I implore you to bend, grab and discard Your thoughts of superiority Take your mud stains and apathetic steps Carry your able body to a place more receptive More deserving Less reflective And gleaming Remember the path I made for you in my corridor It mirrors your face, ambivalent
0
Jun 8, 2010
Jun 8, 2010 at 8:50 AM UTC
Marble Halls
I always carried the pain with me ever since From broken furniture thrown by a screaming man From promises wept by a shattered woman I always carried the pain with me ever since Because I never really knew what love looked like I can only hear curses and threats See only half-hearted embraces and silver edged kisses It didn’t feel good to look at them Those broken trusts and heavy hearts It didn’t feel good to not know what love looked like I felt afraid I thought I had it once Though his hand in mine didn’t fit His grips got tighter when he found my waist And I was put down too often I thought I had it once But his eyes roamed like a cat On another woman’s body And tasted lips like beer bottles It didn’t have to look like love Because it didn’t feel like love I felt afraid I felt lost against all the lights I felt lost against his words Of “Never Will I” And I found you You looked like trouble You were going to pose me like a trophy Just like the other boys with lion eyes And I was going to let you Because I never really crowned myself But then I sang to you my sad song And you didn’t pose me like a trophy You posed me like a muse And I felt afraid Your lion eyes went away And blossomed into suns With the warmest colors But I cried a lot and had a lot of nightmares You always ran to my side Whenever I called your name I hurt your heart more than twice You went away And I felt afraid I wanted to heal you Even if I wasn’t all healed myself From thorns in my heart And choked screams in my sore throat I wanted to heal you And you let me Your arms around me always felt like towers Protecting me I was your muse You became my strength Your words lit me to flames And the aching I carried seemed to go away I felt afraid Because the agony was all I’ve ever known I felt afraid Could this be the love they say? I felt afraid One night the fear came back With hotter flames and it burned me deeply I tried washing it away, but not with water I cried a lot and felt like a nightmare Your lion eyes came back And I felt afraid You saw me as a wreck and not your muse I sang you my sad song And you built your arms around me once again Quelling the flames Although from self-hate, they still ember And they hurt as smoke flows through my eyes It fanned a demon And it broke down your arms I broke you again To a point that you don’t believe Much of my sad songs anymore And I felt afraid I want to sing a song once more But the melody gets clogged on cries So I’ll just tell you a little story Of a little girl that never knew the face of Love She was posed as a trophy for her pretty face But never for her thorn heart She felt afraid to anyone who exposed their heart to her Fearing to only send curses and broken furniture Because that’s all she’s ever known But this time, she’ll strip for you The insecurities, doubts and pain that was wrapped around her Just so she could unmask you purely Let the lion eyes roll back See the face of Love And never have to feel afraid ever again
0
Jan 10, 2016
Jan 10, 2016 at 10:19 AM UTC
Love Under Lion Eyes
I always carried the pain with me ever since From broken furniture thrown by a screaming man From promises wept by a shattered woman I always carried the pain with me ever since Because I never really knew what love looked like I can only hear curses and threats See only half-hearted embraces and silver edged kisses It didn’t feel good to look at them Those broken trusts and heavy hearts It didn’t feel good to not know what love looked like I felt afraid I thought I had it once Though his hand in mine didn’t fit His grips got tighter when he found my waist And I was put down too often I thought I had it once But his eyes roamed like a cat On another woman’s body And tasted lips like beer bottles It didn’t have to look like love Because it didn’t feel like love I felt afraid I felt lost against all the lights I felt lost against his words Of “Never Will I” And I found you You looked like trouble You were going to pose me like a trophy Just like the other boys with lion eyes And I was going to let you Because I never really crowned myself But then I sang to you my sad song And you didn’t pose me like a trophy You posed me like a muse And I felt afraid Your lion eyes went away And blossomed into suns With the warmest colors But I cried a lot and had a lot of nightmares You always ran to my side Whenever I called your name I hurt your heart more than twice You went away And I felt afraid I wanted to heal you Even if I wasn’t all healed myself From thorns in my heart And choked screams in my sore throat I wanted to heal you And you let me Your arms around me always felt like towers Protecting me I was your muse You became my strength Your words lit me to flames And the aching I carried seemed to go away I felt afraid Because the agony was all I’ve ever known I felt afraid Could this be the love they say? I felt afraid One night the fear came back With hotter flames and it burned me deeply I tried washing it away, but not with water I cried a lot and felt like a nightmare Your lion eyes came back And I felt afraid You saw me as a wreck and not your muse I sang you my sad song And you built your arms around me once again Quelling the flames Although from self-hate, they still ember And they hurt as smoke flows through my eyes It fanned a demon And it broke down your arms I broke you again To a point that you don’t believe Much of my sad songs anymore And I felt afraid I want to sing a song once more But the melody gets clogged on cries So I’ll just tell you a little story Of a little girl that never knew the face of Love She was posed as a trophy for her pretty face But never for her thorn heart She felt afraid to anyone who exposed their heart to her Fearing to only send curses and broken furniture Because that’s all she’s ever known But this time, she’ll strip for you The insecurities, doubts and pain that was wrapped around her Just so she could unmask you purely Let the lion eyes roll back See the face of Love And never have to feel afraid ever again
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94
- Joseph Childress Absence makes the heart grow Fonder for most Somber for some Odd of others The presence of love Is the foremost force In the divorce Of reason Attachments Magnets Victims of attraction Repel Then make tractions That keep the world Moving Rebels revel In revolution Worshipping The great changing Like crescent moons Before the new Each phase Relays the latest trend As love, hate and sin Blends in a cocktail Of delusion Drunkards play martyr In the extremist Conditions Relentless systems of belief That leaves relief For the reliving of death The children witness it all Imitating And coming up shorter Than expectations With each generation Alternating ideas For alternatives Altering native ways of thinking Beings battle for correction In facilities As others rights Squander In the quelling of dissent Fighting fear Is dear To the hearts of trendsetters Setting the standard For the new age New way of thinking Off to Walden’s Lake For the Great Disappearance Dissing appearance For the sake of absence As absentmindedness Watches from afar Don’t worry I’ll return with enough Civil disobedience The laws will have to change In our honor
0
Apr 24, 2014
Apr 24, 2014 at 6:05 PM UTC
AWOL
Application of misinformation Falsify a failed nation, Eradication of all creation Misinterpretation Of representation Deny the station Granted by occupation And the inhalation Of justification No prerequisite information Just accumulation No moderation, Their determination Through stimulation Cultural ************ Communal degradation Societal desecration, Dehumanizing revocation, Worldly humiliation, Mortal sterilization Never achieving mobilization Lack of communication Excelling in vile persuasion, Proponents of procreation Birthing digitization, Destroy civilization, Indications of adoration Isolation in delineation, Irrational indexation, Fluctuating indignation, No innovation, Divination Retaliation, Immolation, False ovation, Lacking limitations, Contextual intonation, Divine fabrication, Private publication, Evolving fornication, Give me extermination, Notwithstanding annexation Of dismaying oxidation, Of valued perpetuation, Global mass-castration, Redundant rhetoric, dictation, A donation, a dilation, a fixation, An annotation of fibrillation, We are personification Of Contamination Through globalization Praising idolization And finalization Through ********** No pragmatic exoneration, In all frustration We see not utilization Nor stabilization, Fearful implications Of wayward stations, Surplus mutilations, Seeking militarization Of worthless nations, No conservation, Just excavation Of the population ******** on education, Spitting on graduation, No validation of aspiration, Indoctrination of baptization Mitigating litigation, murdering habitation, Quelling all vegetation We will end in radiation Through faulty navigation, Abdication and abnegation, All worldly agitation Leads us to expiration, Self-made annihilation. There was never an end in sight, We’re lost, and hope is a lie.
0
Aug 31, 2016
Aug 31, 2016 at 8:14 PM UTC
We're Lost.
Application of misinformation Falsify a failed nation, Eradication of all creation Misinterpretation Of representation Deny the station Granted by occupation And the inhalation Of justification No prerequisite information Just accumulation No moderation, Their determination Through stimulation Cultural ************ Communal degradation Societal desecration, Dehumanizing revocation, Worldly humiliation, Mortal sterilization Never achieving mobilization Lack of communication Excelling in vile persuasion, Proponents of procreation Birthing digitization, Destroy civilization, Indications of adoration Isolation in delineation, Irrational indexation, Fluctuating indignation, No innovation, Divination Retaliation, Immolation, False ovation, Lacking limitations, Contextual intonation, Divine fabrication, Private publication, Evolving fornication, Give me extermination, Notwithstanding annexation Of dismaying oxidation, Of valued perpetuation, Global mass-castration, Redundant rhetoric, dictation, A donation, a dilation, a fixation, An annotation of fibrillation, We are personification Of Contamination Through globalization Praising idolization And finalization Through ********** No pragmatic exoneration, In all frustration We see not utilization Nor stabilization, Fearful implications Of wayward stations, Surplus mutilations, Seeking militarization Of worthless nations, No conservation, Just excavation Of the population ******** on education, Spitting on graduation, No validation of aspiration, Indoctrination of baptization Mitigating litigation, murdering habitation, Quelling all vegetation We will end in radiation Through faulty navigation, Abdication and abnegation, All worldly agitation Leads us to expiration, Self-made annihilation. There was never an end in sight, We’re lost, and hope is a lie.
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81
Days of angst Pursue me through Awkward moments galore, The hangover to my prior life. Middle school bells ring In the corridors of my mind, Harkening back to a time When sharpened pencils were More important than rent. High school bells bring me A cold comfort I can't explain, I guess not enough time Has passed for me to smile. If only these tears Could be wiped from my face Without the slow hand of time Quelling my soul's embrace. Perhaps I'd smile with heart.
0
Jan 30, 2019
Jan 30, 2019 at 1:01 AM UTC
Angst in Requiem
When my grandfather passed away, my brothers and I held my dad with slanted eyebrows and stiff, silent upper lips. Because we are young and foolish and still learning. Because we’d never really had to do the holding before and, as far as we knew, this is how men mourn. We dusted antique left-behinds with delicate, moth-wing hands that fluttered here and there and never stopped trembling -- dead giveaways that within the corridors of our arms our heartbeats went stampeding, arrhythmic. We couldn’t quite bend them into the proper shape for prayer, so instead we ran them, with touch somewhere between float and feel, along every ashtray and age-stained picture album. In that moment I think we each wished that memory read like braille, but no one ever said as much. Because this is how men mourn. We honored our patriarch with whiskey, hidden away for what must have been twice my age, between the carved out pages of old stacked books. We drank like secrets. His portrait played witness. We promised between our teeth with tinged lips tight, keeping words in that might otherwise crumble us like great ancient empires. We singed and smoldered in a burn that coated our throats, quelling a choke that kept climbing its way up from a chest that never quite stayed sunk. Boys grow up loving the clinking twist of unlocking deadbolts but men peek through keyholes. Because this is how men mourn. Silent and straight with head only slightly slanted. But when my father betrayed his rigidity with words that clicked clean like unfastening locks, we traded this stale air in for wind laced with the electric taste of thunderstorms. We forgot how men mourn. When my grandfather passed away, my brothers and I held my dad with lightning behind bleared eyes. Because we are young and foolish and still learning. Because we have umpteen days left to dress in bittersweet vestiges and, as far as we know, this is how men live on.
0
Jan 5, 2014
Jan 5, 2014 at 2:32 AM UTC
The Mourning of Men.
When my grandfather passed away, my brothers and I held my dad with slanted eyebrows and stiff, silent upper lips. Because we are young and foolish and still learning. Because we’d never really had to do the holding before and, as far as we knew, this is how men mourn. We dusted antique left-behinds with delicate, moth-wing hands that fluttered here and there and never stopped trembling -- dead giveaways that within the corridors of our arms our heartbeats went stampeding, arrhythmic. We couldn’t quite bend them into the proper shape for prayer, so instead we ran them, with touch somewhere between float and feel, along every ashtray and age-stained picture album. In that moment I think we each wished that memory read like braille, but no one ever said as much. Because this is how men mourn. We honored our patriarch with whiskey, hidden away for what must have been twice my age, between the carved out pages of old stacked books. We drank like secrets. His portrait played witness. We promised between our teeth with tinged lips tight, keeping words in that might otherwise crumble us like great ancient empires. We singed and smoldered in a burn that coated our throats, quelling a choke that kept climbing its way up from a chest that never quite stayed sunk. Boys grow up loving the clinking twist of unlocking deadbolts but men peek through keyholes. Because this is how men mourn. Silent and straight with head only slightly slanted. But when my father betrayed his rigidity with words that clicked clean like unfastening locks, we traded this stale air in for wind laced with the electric taste of thunderstorms. We forgot how men mourn. When my grandfather passed away, my brothers and I held my dad with lightning behind bleared eyes. Because we are young and foolish and still learning. Because we have umpteen days left to dress in bittersweet vestiges and, as far as we know, this is how men live on.
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8
Pretentious youth-- Fervent sapling, impatient In your early hours; Whimpering, persuading Premature unfolding; Quelling such desperate hunger. Perhaps you dress so quickly In fear that canopy elders Will flout your need and Consume all of your pledged sun. Pliable and shallow rooted, You elope toward unobstructed light; But are remiss of your future. Bent, curved, blossomed-- You will feed well As the banquet is first set. Yet, Summer shall find you Strained within the shade; And only narrow filaments Flowing between green cloaks On which to feed. The advent of Autumn’s wind Shall press firmly against Your crooked breast; and Displace your sipping feet. You will flame quickly, blushing-- Then disrobe amongst the clothed. Naked and unable to suckle the sweet reserve Ahead of Winter’s frozen grasp.
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Apr 18, 2012
Apr 18, 2012 at 9:11 AM UTC
Willful Sprig
A prophesied alarm ticks away, As sobering faces make their way. Welcome oh stranger, to the land of the learned, A trip from a ticket handsomely earned. Watch your crooked tongue, Forked and twisted in a manner wrong. For here there be beasts and creatures, In the midst of dreams and futures. Through the air drifts the scent of a fanciful tonic, Quelling instinct, and suppressing the panic. Walk past the snappy ladies and lads, Peering at screens for the latest fads. Watch their suits emanate regality, Killing the scene with sheer brutality. See through the pores of that fine fabric, And you'll find the remnants of a familiar trick. Not unlike the wisdom of the wizened, The words of the victorious, the echoes of the poisoned. Underneath it all, see the truth, Strip away the puffed, monstrous brute. It's a dainty little feeling, fear they call it, On their faces, clear and large is it writ. They turn from the brave to the meek, Everyone caught in this noxious reek. What they ought to have predicted, Is that this reverie is self inflicted. Sullen cheeks, and drippy noses abound, Waiting to be addressed and found. This place is a walking minefield, Of broken bones and souls to be healed. But its not their fault, I can't complain, Because all they feel they don't feign. As in the midst of this perennial parade, I find solace in the friends I've made.
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Jan 26, 2016
Jan 26, 2016 at 10:28 AM UTC
Deimos
Fraying portraits of empty souls Give menacing insight through cold staring eyes Smoothing skin tones are left When painters discover The life in you Compare the fraught days of flightless birds making their paradise equal With men who stalk their ways In earnest and determined manner Silently they ensure the vision portrayed Has no more mileage. But fresh eyes Must be used to stop contamination From one to another Paint and ignore why plenty seem stiff Even parched from lack of considered input Each brushstroke emptying their blood Of many elements, even quelling their breaths Simply see and lay on.. Don't make it up or smooth that cheek Give colour and step The right to be there and develop it Under the warmth of your love For this creature Demonstrate how features can be strong but hold The famous creations that grab the essence of joy The grains of lust and manic musings Lament those days of bored faces Rejoice as carnage can be raised from modern living The edges and the softness of found and lost Will always win through when artist is determined To give life in paint.
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May 2, 2016
May 2, 2016 at 6:42 PM UTC
From life to life - a portrait painters lament
the countryside is covered in a blanket of smoke bush fires are burning around the Guy Fawk's spoke some thirty thousand hectares of land has been fried farms and parts of the national park burnt from side to side fire authorities are working day and night to encircle the flames and embers which so searingly bite slowly they are winning the protracted war against the flares their fire fighting equipment quelling the inferno's chilling nightmare within the next few days the fire shall be extinguished and put out then the countryside wont be covered in the smokes choking tout the air will be as clear as a bell and less smokiness will stand all the ashes in the bushland shall bear testament to the fire's brand
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Apr 12, 2013
Apr 12, 2013 at 6:23 AM UTC
Blanket Of Smoke
Sauntering casually, jostled by shoppers, teatime bargain hunters; curses of common folk ringing in my ears, out of tune with the cries of the traders. Two for one here! I say, two for one here! Embattled in the throng of a slow moving crowd, shoulders heaving, swaying to an inaudible beat.  Tired faces marking time, quelling inner frustration. Get a move on! Please, just get a move on. Now it’s raining, incessant needles prickle my face. Suspended water droplets dangle from striped awnings, reflecting trapped, busy, images. Caught in a moment. Spattered, in a moment. Then I see her, the fruit-stall girl, her words and gestures touch me like music rippling over my skin. Secret caressing fingers, bringing me to life. She doesn’t see me. No: she doesn’t ever see me. I’m almost mesmerised, by the light catching the white curve of her neck.  Her hair, like spun gold, dancing on her ruffled collar as she serves with a smile. Your change sir. Don’t forget your change sir! I turned for home, head bowed, shoulders stooped; no crowded bus for me with standing room only.  A slow solitary walk, past dark, dripping gardens. Her face for company, how strange: her face, for company. © Paul Chafer 2014
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Dec 12, 2013
Dec 12, 2013 at 6:09 AM UTC
Market Walking
Blazing bold bravery, ********* catechism; A girl stands strongly alone; Her life, society’s atavism. Quick quiet quelling, Demonic agapism; A girl and her sword stay unknown; Her dreams are those of meliorism. All acts agathusia, Concomitant heroism; A girl who will **** to atone; Her objectives and body in schism. Hard headed heartfelt, Quick with an aphorism; A woman searching for home; Her true enemy nihilism.
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Jun 3, 2014
Jun 3, 2014 at 10:49 PM UTC
She Bet That I couldn't Use 'Meliorism' and 'Agathusia' in a poem ~ Challenge accepted, little buddy ~