"shiloh" poems
A bell tolled
through the fog at dusk
to summon passage
across the roiling waters.
Through the mist
a ferry appeared
but not the same as called -
afoul with death and sorrow.
With dread our forefathers
boarded ship and listened through
that storm filled crossing
to howling wind sung requiems
echoing from distant fields at
Manassus - Shiloh - Gettysburg.
When the gales had spent their fury
they disembarked in a new land
with both far less and more
than they left on the opposite shore.
March, 2008
Apr 29, 2015
Apr 29, 2015 at 11:40 PM UTC
Touch offers the deepest clue to the mystery of encounter, awakening and belonging.
John O'Donohue
Child grips the ******
indelicate with haste and
stern impatience a
cradle of warm fleshy love
rucked in the dark of her arms.
Shiloh Harmitt
Nov 10, 2011
Nov 10, 2011 at 3:58 PM UTC
gets up from chair, and breathes in deeply
people are made up of so many things, it's amazing
1. Oxygen
2. Carbon
3. Hydrogen
4. Nitrogen
5. Calcium
6. Phosphorus
7. Potassium
8. Sulfur
9. Sodium
10. Magnesium
i guess paying attention in biology did pay off
i remember when i was 11 years old my brother showed me a movie clip where Charlie Chaplin spoke in-front of tons of people
he said "we think too much and feel too little".... i finally understand
and if you feel sad, i hope you can find a therapist, or i hope you can afford a 12 pack of beer at the liquor store to ease what you feel right then
walks out the house
looks around and smiles
i found hope on the corner of arapaho and shiloh, it was 7:32 pm, i remember because i texted myself saying "dude you're finally happy"
no more desires of being dead ever came to mind
i found out what a man i can be if i pushed myself and loved without regretting, without being scared of falling for things for the wrong reasons
i found out to learn everything and grasp whatever came my way even if it brought me to my knees
i'm going to die fulfilled
i feel like rhyming, sorry, i'm not a good rhymer, but here i go....
garden of green leaves
glistening tress
scented hives, buzzing bees
we lie under shaded trees
we pray to who we're afraid to deceive
if we do, we rot even if we pleaded on our knees
summer breeze, ******* and THC
don't leave
addictions are hard to let go when i love you like grinded holy mary ****
i'm not a good rhymer, i think the song that goes like "versace versace versace versace versace"
was better than what i just w. r. o. t. e.
haha.
it's getting dark, i need to go to sleep
turns off light
Apr 23, 2014
Apr 23, 2014 at 11:25 PM UTC
Standing in the tunnel
at Eighth and Pine station,
I survey westbound commuters
waiting across the tracks -
standing arms akimbo
or leaning on marble walls.
A well-suited young man paces the platform -
cell phone pressed to his cheek.
[Passengers stand clear of the
edge of the platform at all times]
Rushing in from the east,
a gleaming white chariot
arrives - pauses - resumes
leaving the far platform vacated
as if by alien abduction
From the left a blazing light
pierces the tunnel
and the Shiloh – Scott eastbound
halts and snaps open its doors.
crossing the threshold.,
I claim a seat by the aisle.
[Please stand clear! Doors are closing]
With eyes half shut I scan the crowd:
uniformed workers wearing ID's,
a toddler’s arms and legs
dangling off his mother's lap,
An elderly couple talking softly.
The soft clatter of wheels
and the gentle side-to-side sway
rocks us like a cradle -
memories of the long day
melting into thoughts of home.
[Fairview Heights Station.
Doors open to my right]
The lady with the toddler steps off.
A trio of teenage girls
fresh from the mall
seek and find empty seats -
filling the rear of the car
with the music of their chatter.
Streetlamps scatter shadows
over parking lots.
The unseen country side
slips by under cover of darkness.
Headlights gleam like jewels
waiting for crossing gates to lift
[Next stop Belleville Station
Doors open to my left]
I clutch my lap top,
work my way to the door
and wait for the train’s full stop
Stepping out into the frost filled air
I pause to watch the sleak white chariot
vanish on the eastern horizon.
September, 2006
Nov 13, 2015
Nov 13, 2015 at 6:29 AM UTC
I'm dreaming of my darling Darling,
so fragile and insecure.
The meadows sway so softly for her,
as angels look on down.
The wisdom of a thousand ages
makes her forget her pain.
The shadows that surround her there
are whispering her name...
Shiloh.
You've found your peace at last.
Shiloh.
It happened all so fast.
Your love-rose has bloomed on this tower of thorns,
and your waiting time has passed.
The problem of trying to figure it out
has given way to love.
(bridge):
Sweet dreamer,
keep on dreaming,
close your little eyes.
Hey child,
save your blindness,
for the hardness of this world.
The sparkling stars cry tears of joy,
just catch them in your hand.
The butterflies will lift you up to the rainbow in the sky.
Shiloh- is where I build my home.
Shiloh- beside the quiet streams.
Shiloh- a symphony of beauty.
Shiloh- who can compare?
Shiloh- whenever you are there-
it's Shiloh.
(repeat bridge)
My world
My whole wide world
is burning just for you.
My world
My whole wide world
is turning just for you.
Shiloh- a symphony of beauty.
Shiloh- who can compare?
Shiloh- whenever you are there-
it's Shiloh.
Jan 5, 2010
Jan 5, 2010 at 10:20 PM UTC
Pigments of light
draw me to the surface as air
rippled against my skin beckons a
new day.
Between us our contorted bodies gather heat as distant drums
plusate
a primal language long forgotten.
As polarised opposites, we are held
by barometric pressures
with only gravity to our name.
Soon we loosen
& like tectonic plates we slowly drift
heedless of the aftermath above ground.
Shiloh Harmitt
Nov 8, 2011
Nov 8, 2011 at 12:39 PM UTC
Speak to me, Ariadne.
Lay with me, Amilova.
Be my Piper, be my Rane,
Be my Theo, say my name.
If I were to love you, would it be because I made you?
If I told you you're mine, does that mean that you'd stay?
I brought you here so you could see my face,
And see the world, this wonderful place.
Oh my Nero, oh my Milo,
I brought you here, Shale and Shiloh
Nov 9, 2010
Nov 9, 2010 at 4:08 PM UTC
Friendly, the German Shepherd,
was big and he had rashes,
now he's ashes.
Daisy growled, never howled,
had puppies with Shiloh
who died on the patio.
Angus, the Siamese cat
got lost in the rain,
was hit by a train.
Peter the dove lost his love,
when during a fight,
she went to her sister's house
and flew in bad weather,
straight into a propeller
now she's feathers.
Jun 2, 2015
Jun 2, 2015 at 12:26 AM UTC
This skin..
Has hardened over the years. It went from innocence to mystery to misery.
This skin, has lived through times. This skin, has lightened, darkened, shaded and scarred overtime.
This skin, cannot be replaced; changed or reversed. I am what I've lived. I am what I've seen.
I am what I've touched, I am what I've done..
This skin, tells stories. This skin, gives vibes and history to those looking upon me.
This skin, is a road map of me. This skin, cannot be denied, transformed or unhinged.
No matter how hard I may have tried to hide. My skin will always expose me.
This skin, has and will always be writing history until the day I die. I cannot change what my skin has endured.
My name is Shiloh and I am this skin..
Sincerely,
a servant
Jun 11, 2018
Jun 11, 2018 at 12:37 AM UTC
*Painting is poetry that is seen rather than felt, and poetry is a painting that is felt rather than seen
- Leonardo da Vinci*
Life stilled, tiny pixels of a stolen moment
Your art flowing with light and colour -
You are the poetry
That gives meaning to every pigment of our being.
Shiloh Harmitt
Oct 25, 2012
Oct 25, 2012 at 8:06 PM UTC
Love,
I just want know,
like a child.
Is your world cracked with crucifixes?
Are your life eyes sparkling?
We die lost,
We are ill with a sickness called time.
Feel the beautiful sun.
Pursue light.
Make pain flow from your face-
find the salt river called Shiloh
and let her pour down your lonely path.
Drift away in your dream.
And quietly scream.
Jan 20, 2010
Jan 20, 2010 at 5:20 AM UTC
Blue dream
I’m darkness
With wine
There was a point
Where the room stood still
A so did the trees
But now the traffic picks up In the background
The rabbits heard something
And the wind...it says shiloh, go West
Now I wish that I wasn’t so burdened
With the choice to go down two different streets
And burdened with time,
It’s being, in my veins like blue ink and making its way up to my brain to be wrapped in neural tubes till it drains cool aid from its corners.
I wish that a maker like Viggo would cast his pen that says Oscar and float down his invisible warrior chain for drama, ransom
The walks I’ve taken show that the branches supporting the local homes are well watered and well kept, construction
Sights and signs of prosperity
alright, and with that I step into the next intersection,
and check my blindspots
Jun 14, 2018
Jun 14, 2018 at 5:45 PM UTC
Tra la la...Tra la la...
La la la...la la
[Verse 1]
Hey!
Vexation of spirit is a waste of time
Negative thinking, don't you waste your thoughts
Verbal conflict is a waste of word
Physical conflict is a waste of flesh
People will always be who they want
And that's what really makes the world go round
Unconditional love is scarce
("Till shiloh I shall not forsake thee")
Now and forever more
Forever more, forever more...
YEAH!
[Chorus]
You see, you gave precious life to me
So I live my life for you...You...
You see, you've always been there for me
And so i'll be there for you...You...
("Till shiloh I shall not forsake thee")
[Verse 2]
Bless your eyes and may your days be long
May you rise on the morning when His kingdom come
Good deeds aren't remembered in the hearts of men
(.....Oooooooh)
Bless your eyes and may your dreams come true
May you rise on the morning when Jah kingdom come
Good deeds aren't remembered in the hearts of men
("Till shiloh I shall not forsake thee")
Now and forever more
Forever more...
[Chorus]
You see, you've always had faith in me
And so i'll have faith in you...You...
You've always been there for me
And so i'll be there for you...You...
Hey!
You've always been good to me
Even when i'm not good to myself
You've always been fair to me
Even when i'm not fair to myself
You've always done right by me
So I will do right by you...You...
("Till shiloh I shall not forsake thee")
You've always been there for me, mama
So i'll be there for you, papa
You've always been fair to me, brother
And so i'll be fair to you, sister
You've always had faith in me
And so i'll have faith in you...You..
You've always been good to me
You've always been to kind to me
You've always stood up for me
You've always been there for me
You've always been...oooooh
You've always been...oooooh
You always did care for me...yeh
You always did share with me...yeh
You always been true to me
And so i'll be true to you...
More lyrics: http://www.lyricsmania.com/there_for_you_lyrics_damian_marley.html
All about Damian Marley: http://www.musictory.com/music/Damian+Marley
Nov 20, 2013
Nov 20, 2013 at 2:21 PM UTC
Shiloh
In Hebrew " place of peace"
Didn't work out so
For brother Johnny or Uncle Reece
Nor many of Grant's Boy's in blue
Though now many a man
Does rest there in peace
On the field at Shiloh
r
Jun 9
Jul 29, 2013
Jul 29, 2013 at 3:11 PM UTC
I'm standing in a massacre
the sky is streaked with red,
we took the hill, we won the day,
but most of us are dead.
We fought to save each other's lives;
We fought for mom and dad;
now all of that's been blown away,
I'm weary now and sad.
The bankers took the houses
and Wall Street still stands tall;
we only took this ****** hill
that matters not at all.
I've been a soldier all my lives:
Shiloh to Vietnam,
from Valley Forge to Gettysburg
to bleak Afganistan.
But I am through with fighting now
these wars for gold and oil;
I'm falling back, I'm headed home,
to win my native soil.
You politicians better fly,
you bankers run away;
For I am home and angry
and that's how I'm going to stay.
You've never seen a battle,
You've never smelled the dead;
you shipped us off like cattle
to do the work instead.
Take back my broken medals,
Take back your shining lie,
for Armageddon's coming
and it's time for you to die.
I'm standing in a massacre,
the sky is streaked with red
we took the hill, we won the day,
but most of us are dead.
The bugles all are silent
as the night begins to fall,
but the living have a purpose
to go home and **** you all.
Apr 18, 2015
Apr 18, 2015 at 3:16 PM UTC
When I was three I thought there were monsters in my closet and under my bed
When I was three I had a dog and a dad, mom and brother who I loved and who loved me back
When I was six the monsters were no longer in my closet or under my bed
For now they were at the side of my bed in the crack between mattress and wall
When I was six my dog died and I cried for many many nights
My dad would yell and hit not only me but mostly my brother
My mom still loved him, my brother and me and I loved her and my brother
When I was eight we moved to a new town and now the monsters in the cracks had started talking to me and whispering sweet truth
When I was eight my dad no longer worked and now stayed at home
My mom worked two jobs and wasn’t there for me when I cried
If she was there when he hit us or yelled she would sit and watch in painful silence as warm tears cascaded our cheeks
My brother tried to do his best to be strong and nice but sometimes he would start fights
I wasn’t sure who my dad loved anymore if he loved anyone at all
My mom loved my dad, my brother and me
And I loved my brother and the cat we now had who adopted our family
When I was nine I started telling myself the demons were whispering lies
When I was nine my dad finally told me he loved me one night
But not in the way I thought he meant
So I thought everything would be alright
My mom now worked more hours and was barely home
My brother still tried his best but played with me less
My dad loved me, or so I thought
My mom loved my dad, my brother, me and our cat
I loved them all for that short little while
When I was ten the monsters were no longer just at the side of my bed, for now they were also in my head
When I was ten I realized what my dad did was wrong
School was now my favourite place even though I had no friends and the teachers weren’t fond of me
When I was ten I started to hurt myself in places no one would notice, for it was my only sweet relief in a life of horror and chaos
My dad now yelled and hit more but that was nothing compared to the showers and poisonous nights
My mom was barely home but if she got home soon enough, would bring us treats
I didn’t know how my brother was or how hard he was trying to be strong for I no longer cared very much
My cat or so I liked to call her was the only one who I thought loved me
My dad was heartless and a walking lie so I didn’t know if he was capable of love
My mom loved my dad, my brother, me and our cat
I loved the cat and all animals for I no longer knew how to love a person
When I was eleven I thought love was touch so I did things I shouldn’t
When I was twelve the demons were now only in my head
My dad still touched me and poisoned my mind
So much happened when I was twelve I can’t even begin to describe
My mom was now tired more often than not
I never showed anyone the real me for I was scared to let them see the broken girl I had come to be
I no longer accepted hugs and pushed everyone away eventually
My mom loved my dad, my brother, the cat, the dog we now owned and me
I loved nothing and no one for now I was too broke
Let’s skip a few years and lots of tears until we end up here at fourteen where I am now
I no longer live at home but with a friend
I still cut but less often for I am trying to stop
I don’t eat very much because I don’t like my body
My dad is dead to me
My mom is still with him and so is my brother
My mom loves my dad, my brother, the dog and me
No longer the cat cause she left not too long after me
I love shiloh and jordyn but I don’t yet love me
For I have been too scared throughout my ages.
Apr 2, 2018
Apr 2, 2018 at 3:00 PM UTC
In my darkest hour
you were my sliver of sun
the promise resting
on lips of the horizon
In my chaos
you were my peace
the cave to shelter me
from the storm
In my sorrow
you were the whisper of joy
floating the breeze
that is my life
In my uncertainty
you are my absolute truth
the foundation of
my reality
Feb 23, 2012
Feb 23, 2012 at 2:27 AM UTC
Naked by the fire
Cold
-__-__-
Painted
We blend into the stars!
_-
( there is SOMETHING TO
REMEMBER
IF YOU WOULD)
--
Naked
Empty
Pure we are
----
TO **** GOD
Is the only game in town
If you don't know that
You might as well
Not be here
----
We are pure
We are not afraid
To
Know
What must
Be
Known
Aug 24, 2013
Aug 24, 2013 at 2:13 AM UTC
momma said she found me
ten steps from heaven’s porch,
nestled in bloodied saw grass, flickering
fireflies circlin’ like anxious cherubs.
i forgot what i was doing out there—
waist-deep between heaven and hell,
sleeping in Shiloh where bones
rattle and beetle shells fixed with chitin
hum steadily in the dead heat.
“you too young to die,” she says to me,
face all red and sunburned and marred
with tears. sadness becomes a part of her,
alongside mother, and farmhand, and guilt,
and miracle.
my memories slip past me on copper scales,
swimming underneath the current. i am ten
again, wading in the river, pockets full of
rocks and sea glass. i am twenty and the river
has become a fragile stream. i am thirty and
there is nothing but dirt.
i feel my childhood bleeding out of me,
a mix of red crayons, red paper plates
cradling birthday cakes, red kick-balls
at recess, red tulips pressed into my
sister’s cold hands.
momma said she found me
ten steps from heaven’s porch,
just out of reach of the lamplight,
where i left my childhood.
Dec 18, 2017
Dec 18, 2017 at 9:43 PM UTC
reading this article on matres lectionis (mothers of reading)
i spotted a little crumb on the table
and decided to turn it into a loaf of bread
to satisfy my nourishment, very much feeding the 5,000 -
it came as follows, with keen interested in why
the hebrew stresses the existence of aleph with the symbol
as prominent as any m, n or p, even though it’s silent (א)...
to show it differently: aeiouNuoiea + an enclosing consonant,
like in the case of lamed or omega (silent ה) - om egg ah...
but this one example got my forehead wrinkled,
in the section concerning origins and development -
how in the pre-exilic hebrew the (otherwise silent ה of latin)
was developed and overused... apart from the grammatical theory
behind this... the way it was later dropped but remained
in certain archaic examples of “proper” names... and this is
what bothered me, example no. 1: שלמה (solomon),
example no. 2: שלה (shiloh)...
looking at the alphabet i noticed that there are two n consonants...
so i thought... why would you even write solomon like that
in the first place and not as follows (*)שלמ, whereby the * position
is filled with ן (final nūn)? it’s almost like purposively ensuring
names have a graffiti artist, known as the tetragrammaton
working without purpose behind them... that whole: ‘you shall
not use the lord’s name in vain!’
to me it’s just a perplexing matter... as is the reason why
something that’s supposed to be silent... but is nonetheless visible
should start screaming - i guess that’s the origin of the islamic god
allah... from the א of the hebrew alphabet... aleph lamed lamed he...
and now just a bit of plastic surgery using latin and the e attaches
itself to the other side of the buttocks and hey presto... we have a “god.”
Oct 26, 2015
Oct 26, 2015 at 1:56 PM UTC
May the American poets, at Hello Poetry enjoy reading the following lyrical poem.
The Ragged Old Flag
Written by Johnny Cash
I walked through a county courthouse square
On a park bench, an old man was sittin' there.
I said, "Your old court house is kinda run down,
He said, "Naw, it'll do for our little town".
I said, "Your old flag pole is leaned a little bit,
And that's a ragged old flag you got hangin' on it".
He said, "Have a seat", and I sat down,
"Is this the first time you've been to our little town"
I said, "I think it is"
He said "I don't like to brag, but we're kinda proud of that ragged old flag"
You see, we got a little hole in that flag there
When Washington took it across the Delaware.
And It got powder burned the night Francis Scott Key sat watching it
Writing "Say Can You See"
It got a bad rip in New Orleans, with Packingham & Jackson
Tugging at it's seams.
And it almost fell at the Alamo
Beside the Texas flag,
But she waved on though.
She got cut with a sword at Chancellorsville,
And she got cut again at Shiloh Hill.
There was Robert E. Lee and Beauregard and Bragg,
And the south wind blew hard on that ragged old flag
On Flanders Field in World War I
She got a big hole from a Bertha Gun
She turned blood red in World War II
She hung limp, and low, a time or two
She was in Korea, Vietnam, she went where she was sent
By her Uncle Sam
She waved from our ships upon the briny foam
And now they've about quit wavin' back here at home
In her own good land here She's been abused
She's been burned, dishonored, denied an' refused
And the government for which she stands
Has scandalized throughout out the land
And she's getting thread bare, and she's wearin' thin
But she's in good shape, for the shape she's in
Cause she's been through the fire before
And I believe she can take a whole lot more
So we raise her up every morning
And we take her down every night,
We don't let her touch the ground,
And we fold her up right.
On a second thought
I do like to brag
'Cause I'm mighty proud of that ragged old flag
Jul 4, 2021
Jul 4, 2021 at 6:27 AM UTC
Oak trees mount mossy slopes… graphing the thin-shrub, need not much light.
Fallen comrades stretch out up the valley, their armor soaked with dew-mist and stuck leaves.
Dry foliage rings around their plinth, daubing their place in the social order.
Dark shades cut short, amalgamating a bond between what is and what can be…
Willow wood leans forward, observing last year’s crop… its focus grounded by fleecing strands.
Bunches shivering in the cold wind, undulate neighbors to tripping the light fantastic.
A swaddling creek serves both life and death, kissing the feet of giants above.
The water flows white off the human path, babbling past a lean-to, set on the lea’s bottom.
Flaxen wood guards the gate of Stygian timber, dark as its cousins ‘round.
The house sitting with the wood, dormant in its lot, thinks nothing of the past.
The forest soon to sleep, they Shiloh* amongst themselves… Next to the graves of the first to go.
Apr 18, 2016
Apr 18, 2016 at 10:37 PM UTC
Balance never restored gotta take the time to reach for
A goal but I'm steady taking detours
Depression at its finest couldn't be cured with no diamonds
Cause the void could never be filled
Still be poppin these pills
Every single day is just a cycle
Taking steps to not feel ******
Grasping tight onto a bible
Getting high for all those times low
Aint no place like home inside my mind tho
Theres no winning so this journey almost feel like Shiloh
So maybe I'll take life slow in hopes that I dont plateau
Always been an old soul so my skin I've outgrown
Always been a leader but nobody ever followed
Truth be told is all I want's a better day tomorrow
I've been living with this sorrow
But im glad I got the will to never feel like i have gotta grab the bottle
And im glad I got people I can trust on
Ain't stable by myself feel like I need someone to love on
Another part of me just wants somebody I can **** on
Another part of me feels like he wants to be alone
I've been indecisive for too long im on my toes
I been tryna avoid this feeling of paranoia
Dinner at mamas plate of rice seasoned with goya
This life is not a toy a little toddler destroys a
certain kind of psyche vision dies when he will grow a
Man is never happy hes just grown to be a lackey
A man is never free he slaves to money as a caddy
Lackin fundamentals to survive this hell on the earth
They **** you in your spirit way before you're in a hearse
Leave a mark
Aug 12, 2017
Aug 12, 2017 at 10:15 AM UTC
I confess I was afraid too
That you wouldn't see the beauty in me
I wasn't in the right state of mind when we first became good friends
I believe we all weren't...
But we still lived everyday
as if it was our last..
Those days were something.
Looking back now
I wish we can relive them
change something I would like to do but seems like the universe
has better plans ahead for us.
I wasn't who you wanted me to be more like I wasn't showing my complete self
Sugar coated with the goods that society
Molds us into being.
I remember looking at you while you were petting Shiloh and how the animals loved you... I saw what they saw in you.
Even with your false persona I saw right thru it with no hesitations to calling ******** Lol
You hated it and I enjoyed seeing your tyrant act crumble.
Shows whose the real Queen at sea.
In the end tho we must thank our frozen times to help us remember why we are free.
As also to why we came here and to restrengthen our Love that's a never ending pattern.
Apr 25, 2016
Apr 25, 2016 at 3:53 PM UTC