"steadfastly" poems
this door exists,
stately and staunchly it stands,
disheartening and terrifying it remains.
the door is unlocked, yet cannot be opened,
for in it, a path in time...
one decision that can affect everything
[such as my choice to wear the necklace you adore,
which lead to you noticing me for the very first time,
or my idea to play you the song that you fell in love with,
which i can no longer listen to]
...for in this door, one path
is intimidatingly located.
every bone in my body,
every last muscle, tendon, ligament
each artery, each vein, each capillary
every single nerve,
even each microscopic cell,
implores me not to open this tempting door...
[it is almost as if my hand refuses to grasp the handle,
to unleash the unknown upon me,
the colossal chain of events that would ensue]
the immensity of the unfamiliar,
the unexplored,
tends to perturb me.
change is unnerving
and is almost as chilling
as an abandoned graveyard at midnight.
but i bring my mind back to the door,
yes! this preposterous door that i have contrived for myself.
why is the **** so easily turned?
why does it not put up somewhat of a fight,
at least jolt me suddenly,
as to frighten my curious heart?
it is a constant battle between my body
my mind
and my heart
as to which doors to open
and which ones to leave ever so steadfastly closed.
but never once has there been such a struggle
for them to reach an understanding.
somehow my heart,
[even though a fraction of me,
a fist, dripping in blood]
is prevailing for the moment.
my heart reaches for the handle,
attempts to unclose the door...
yet, with the best of its ability,
withstanding my strong-willed
and obstinate heart,
my powerful body and commanding mind
overcome this hostile takeover,
and the door remains shut.
it is my body,
my skillful mouth,
my soft, rose lips,
my elegant tongue,
and my vocal chords...
all of these pieces must
contrive the words,
conceive the change,
which will unveil the path that will forever alter us...
slowly, opening the door.
being as in love with you as i am,
i will not let you slip away from my arms right now.
but when we are not together
[*i wish you’d have been there,
i needed you there*]
i stare at this humbling door.
if i wait too long, i’ll forever lose you;
for it is you who will make this choice for me,
opening your own door, fearless and dauntless.
Nov 11, 2012
Nov 11, 2012 at 2:40 AM UTC
I am the Lorax, who once spoke for the trees
In the hope of bringing progress to its knees
But now I have grown somewhat older and tired,
My outlook and thought process being rewired
(Sometimes to see forest, you must clear the trees.)
Examine the case of the Brown Bar-ba-loots
Whose interests for so long I worked in cahoots.
Could such timid beasts truly thrive in the wild
So innocent, trusting, submissive, and mild?
(My former assertions I strongly refute.)
Why, see how they frolic and scamper in zoos;
How can one watch them and steadfastly refuse
To see how much better their lot is today
As joy for our children as opposed to prey
(A happy condition where no one can lose.)
Ah, scoff the nihilists, *but Truffula Trees,
Those havens for birds and those homes for the bees.
Why, what do you say now that they are all gone,
Removed to make way for some suburban lawn?*
(These angry young men—O Lord, take them all please!)
I gently remind them it’s just nature’s way,
That some species go while other ones stay,
The carrier pigeon’s no longer alive
Yet somehow we manage to live—indeed, thrive!
(In the face of brute logic, they’ve little to say.)
So don’t be dismayed or frightened or leery
Of doomsday projections outlined by theory
Suggesting that our time on this earth may be done;
Consider the caged Bar-ba-loot having fun
(And we hear fish do quite well in Lake Erie.)
Jan 3, 2017
Jan 3, 2017 at 2:33 PM UTC
I sit on this island I sit on this boat
ill-equipped ill-equipped
How I got here? How I got here?
well... by ship island trip...
I simply stare out I gaze upon the
upon the sea empty sea
No ounce of hope All out of faith
left for me inside of me
I think of times I recall the time
away from land earth so grand
My tears drop Sobbing quietly
splash on sand into my hand
Huh? What's that!? Wait! Is it true!?
could it be? more than sea?
Swimming, swimming Rowing, rowing
hurriedly steadfastly
SHIP! LAND!
I'm free!
...
Dec 22, 2012
Dec 22, 2012 at 7:47 PM UTC
"See! warp is stretched
For warriors' fall,
Lo! weft in loom
'Tis wet with blood;
Now fight foreboding,
'Neath friends' swift fingers,
Our grey woof waxeth
With war's alarms,
Our warp bloodred,
Our weft corseblue.
"This woof is y-woven
With entrails of men,
This warp is hardweighted
With heads of the slain,
Spears blood-besprinkled
For spindles we use,
Our loom ironbound,
And arrows our reels;
With swords for our shuttles
This war-woof we work;
So weave we, weird sisters,
Our warwinning woof.
"Now Warwinner walketh
To weave in her turn,
Now Swordswinger steppeth,
Now Swiftstroke, now Storm;
When they speed the shuttle
How spearheads shall flash!
Shields crash, and helmgnawer
On harness bite hard!
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof
Woof erst for king youthful
Foredoomed as his own,
Forth now we will ride,
Then through the ranks rushing
Be busy where friends
Blows blithe give and take.
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof,
After that let us steadfastly
Stand by the brave king;
Then men shall mark mournful
Their shields red with gore,
How Swordstroke and Spearthrust
Stood stout by the prince.
"Wind we, wind swiftly
Our warwinning woof.
When sword-bearing rovers
To banners rush on,
Mind, maidens, we spare not
One life in the fray!
We corse-choosing sisters
Have charge of the slain.
"Now new-coming nations
That island shall rule,
Who on outlying headlands
Abode ere the fight;
I say that King mighty
To death now is done,
Now low before spearpoint
That Earl bows his head.
"Soon over all Ersemen
Sharp sorrow shall fall,
That woe to those warriors
Shall wane nevermore;
Our woof now is woven.
Now battlefield waste,
O'er land and o'er water
War tidings shall leap.
"Now surely 'tis gruesome
To gaze all around.
When bloodred through heaven
Drives cloudrack o'er head;
Air soon shall be deep hued
With dying men's blood
When this our spaedom
Comes speedy to pass.
"So cheerily chant we
Charms for the young king,
Come maidens lift loudly
His warwinning lay;
Let him who now listens
Learn well with his ears
And gladden brave swordsmen
With bursts of war's song.
"Now mount we our horses,
Now bare we our brands,
Now haste we hard, maidens,
Hence far, far, away."
Apr 26, 2010
Apr 26, 2010 at 10:58 AM UTC
You still are my blue jay of yore,
the songbird on the low branch
of the evergreen tree under which
I pitched my tent till my thirst was quenched
by your arias in blissful altisima poured in to my soul.
Your songs steadfastly refuse
to go down with time like leaves that wither and fall
those immortal moments, you gifted
did flow in to the blue ocean of time
where i float, refusing to be beaten down by waves.
Those notes by sheer power of infused spirit
of your heart, make me still buoyant, I am indebted,
your song book, in gold is engraved, in my heart.
One journey continues, unmindful of every change,
through planes of timeless nature where we are one
defying rules man made, and imposed by mind.
We are two pure notes of music that fly, up and above
merge with the sonorous primordial hum of divine.
Feb 18, 2015
Feb 18, 2015 at 8:47 PM UTC
Reconstruction
To be free of this insufferable pain I tolerate,
Such aches and pains I can't even rate.
I grind my teeth as I **** it up and tolerate,
Is this to always be my sad lonely fate?
The world has dealt me a sad hand,
My Psyche lost in the wind as grains of sand.
Wounded inside I bleed unseen by eyes,
I cry out to those foreboding dark skies.
This aesthetic world sees not my sorrow,
Must I always smile even as I fear tomorrow.
Should I not face my calamities boldly?
Stand for what I firmly believe steadfastly.
Let my convictions be my salve,
Allow pent up emotions a release valve.
Fill my being with new love so beautiful,
Rebuild a connection that is decidedly wonderful.
©Perveiz Ali
Nov 8, 2015
Nov 8, 2015 at 9:13 AM UTC
When people accuse me
of being abnormal
because I think for myself,
I steadfastly continue to think for myself
as I am aware
that thinking for myself
is the only way
that a unique me
in my unique situation
can achieve
my own unique joy and happiness.
Aug 1, 2019
Aug 1, 2019 at 7:19 PM UTC
Where the stars turn to rust,
I hit it right
and it made me wild with thought
that before we know where we are
It will be Spring
and She will enter
I did not enjoy seeing you the other day
and I wear your necklace as a reminder
of sweet things and of your seduction
my heart regards me, steadfastly
with tiny, bright eyes, and
ultimately retreats rejoicing
in the strength of ten thousand archers
golden arrows fly
so numerous they blot out the sun
Stange shadows come alive and
when shall I play for you the music of the
April rain?
Jan 18, 2022
Jan 18, 2022 at 1:04 PM UTC
Above our heads exists a vast ether of ideas
and we’re lucky enough
to feel the rain from time to time.
These drops manifest in
our music,
our words,
our dance.
So don’t curse the weather man
with the tacky yellow rain jacket.
Rejoice in the coming deluge
and cup your hands to receive
this
communal
water
Open your eyes
so these enlightened raindrops
may find their way
through to our souls
so steadfastly guarded
against
heavenly
intervention.
Dec 21, 2012
Dec 21, 2012 at 1:58 PM UTC
Bad poetry makes me ugly:
Look, each line, a cliche
Each blemish, a simile;
My smile grows more bitingly smug
With each overzealous superlative.
My raccoon eyes are ringed
By metaphorical self delusions,
Badly performing alliteration-
All improvisations of incompetence;
And then the clash of symbol, deranges all thought.
Choose only the wound that is in your heart
That you would earnestly enlarge upon,
Steadfastly ignoring all the others.
Jul 8, 2010
Jul 8, 2010 at 10:52 AM UTC
Dedicated to the Hard Hats, ..for holding it all together.
**** frost on the green grass
There's a cold moon in the sky
The estuary waters black and calm
Where golden ripples lie.
Dawn's horizon lightens up
Bright stars begin to dim
Hard Hats all arrive for work
And with frozen breath...log in.
Work boots crunching on the stone
The men disperse to trucks,
The diesel motors roar to life
Their departures forming rucks.
Swarming in the morning light
Each to his own job's task,
Bridge building work underway
As dawn's first sunbeams bask.
Amazing the complexity
That building bridges has,
Amazing how voraciously
It eats up time and gas.
The planning and design work
The funding of supply,
Those organizational matters
And the labour standing bye.
Digging, lifting, shoving, shifting
Moving this to there,
A logistical nightmare
For the novice, unaware.
Steel and timber by the ton
Concrete pours en mass,
Gravel, sand and aggregate
And reservoirs of gas.
Procurement of supply ensures
A smooth transitional flow
Of successive small procedures
To make the project mesh and grow.
Day after day the massive trucks
Carting tons of sand
Are authorized by gate men
To unload on to land
Where motorway construction
Is steadfastly taking place
And progressing at
A gradual and steady building pace.
From concept to completion
A million multitasks,
Which involves a caste of thousands
And a schedule which asks,
That the finished installation
Be completed by the time
Of the Rugby World Cup kickoff,
Our global status on the line.
Like ants the Hard Hats swarm about
Each does his little bit
And gradually, over time,
The bridge emerges from the pit.
It emergeth like a phoenix
In a drab and sombre gown
But on completion, shines like fire
To be the nation's most re known.
The Manukau Harbour Crossing
A project for the Gods,
Of massive lengths of concrete
And miles of reinforcing rods.
Of an eternity of effort
From everyone involved
And an asset for New Zealand
And a beauty to behold.
Marshalg
@theGate
MHX
Mangere Bridge
14th March 2009
Please view the following link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VzQZ-M90Zig
Nov 14, 2009
Nov 14, 2009 at 1:07 PM UTC
Holding out hope
Like a hand reaching through time
Holding space
Providing the arrows that pierce my heart
Thinking of you
Longing for you
Vacillating
Unable to ever truly close the door on our connection
I guess I did it to myself
Giving love to someone who never deserved me
Trusting what I felt instead of what I saw
Allowing you to occupy the space without ever filling it
Choosing to respect what felt stronger than anything I’ve ever known
I guess I did it to myself
Fooling
Blinding
Reaching
You left the room
Without so much as an "I’m grateful that you’re here"
Without so much as an "I love you too"
Without so much as a thread of hope
I guess I did it to myself
Provided the bow and quiver
Placed it steadfastly and aimed it straight for the heart
I guess I did it to myself, opened myself up for disappointment
You left the conversation without so much as a "Seeing you sent my heart soaring and my mind racing"
All of the timelines between us collapsed and there we were face to face
She standing in her truth and he still stuck in a lie
Fearful that if his heart ever stood for itself, the facade would crumble and shatter at his feet
And he would find himself naked with only one truth they know: love
I guess I did it to myself, allowing love to pass through me for you
Living in parallel universes with you
Because you asked me to
I guess I did it to myself, showing up in the now and wanting you to hold me the way I hold you
I’m exhausted
Saddened by you and for what could be
I kick boulders not rocks
Boulders
Boulders
Boulders
Boulders into pebbles until I find peace with you and skip trace them across the frequencies until they lay at your feet, constant reminders of the path you choose between us
Pebbles of love, sun, wine, hammocks, song, black and white, solitude together, heartbreak, silence, grey check marks, music, promises unkept, Irish goodbyes and outright lies
I will find peace with you in the love of another man’s arms until there is no peace because he is not you
Why did we ever have to meet?
What wrong thing in my existence did I ever do to deserve you?
I guess I did it to myself, believing in you, in love, in siempre
Pierced with the fiercest of arrows
I kick boulders not rocks
Boulders
Boulders
Boulders
Boulders into pebbles until I find peace with you and skip trace them across the frequencies until they lay at your feet, constant reminders of the path you choose between us
I’m sick of seeing the green guy, something needs to change. Show me love.
Oct 30, 2023
Oct 30, 2023 at 9:43 AM UTC
*Dreams, can indeed take you to the
Very shores of unbridled ecstasy.
Then entice you to plunge head first, steadfastly
Into the expansive desirable oceans of grandeur and splendor
Or better yet they can cause oneself to get acquainted
With the harsh realities of despondency
And the cold slimy realities of horror
Either way they marvels of mental creation
Am happily willingly inclined to prefer
The latter.*
Aug 13, 2013
Aug 13, 2013 at 4:05 AM UTC
If there is any that think they can go beyond my despair then let them try,
Ever since that day, I have lived a lie, the lie of living.
It wasn't me who was wrong, it was the world
the same one that is now in great peril
What do you do when there is an evil you cannot defeat? Win by any means
Do you stain your hands with evil to destroy evil? Do you survive by killing the weak and feeble?
Or do you remain steadfastly just and righteous, pretending evil is the rightist.
If strength is justice, then is powerlessness a crime?
I have signed a contract with a devil,
To defeat evil, I must become a greater evil
You can't change the world without getting your hands *****
Perhaps this is what I have always wished for since that day. The loss and destruction of all. That's right, one must destroy before creating. In that case, if my conscience becomes a hindrance to me, then I will simply erase it. I have no other choice but to move forward.
This here is the foreword.
Feb 3, 2014
Feb 3, 2014 at 4:37 PM UTC
only yesterday i met him
right?
or was it several centuries ago?
i reckon this is what forever feels like
swirling as we breathe
let's just stay amazed
and believe
this is life how it's meant to be
steadfastly lapsing with love
Mar 10, 2018
Mar 10, 2018 at 11:26 PM UTC
...Portend for the life of you--cast your
eyes as far from you, as what you could
not see coming otherwise.
A living through and through...of what
came first--word or sound, sound or word?
These spaces...spendthrift pages that are
but doorways to their impending figure,
wind coiling at its corners...coiling at its
corners.
As a thing grows into itself invisibly...
as so you fall the falling curtain--with no
audience at one side, nor actors upon the
other.
Irrevocably you are, that you are--sun
halved, golden bowls burning--of good and
evil--a miscellany saint's evocation...that
you are, irrevocably you are...amaranthine.
Gesticulating beyond time, times, and half
time...a procession of one whose sojourn
repeats upon itself.
A heaven ago...hell now...a hell ago--
heaven now, change knows all your names--
and because you withstood all it can ever
be, it holds them steadfastly.
Amaranthine...irrevocably you are...that
you are.
You, the faces of disambiguation--whose
seal you smile to open...with full marks
for bravery.
Oct 18, 2014
Oct 18, 2014 at 10:55 AM UTC
Hell broke loose
and a wolf
sunk it's teeth
deep into my calf
I staggered away
but the wolf,
steadfastly became
part of my body
-an extremity
the pain of the bite subsided
and the wolf,
as I became
wild and animalistic,
became civilized
he loosened his grip
and we parted
Sep 12, 2010
Sep 12, 2010 at 5:06 PM UTC
Manifold Blessing
There is a reason wife rhymes with life
In her eyes I find the depths I must ever mine
Hearts of gold not made in any other way
The vain derived by expending softest feelings this all aligns
Molten gold flows into the mold only when honest truth fires singular hopes
For no other exceeds or matches this sacred bond that love has forged
In pressure I gladly steadfastly March this alone breaks my nature of stone
To another coupled selfless paths give rise to adornments uncommon
Her hand her voice most gentle but by it alone many storms unerring guide held the course
The day holds only empty clouds if she is absent the sun shines in vain all is tied together by her smile
She knows secrets that keep us safe in their power we run with never ending force all troubles are dispersed
Holy writ speaks to this matter when it says a man finds a good thing when he takes a wife
From these priceless cherished gifts all the earth is replenished no other way is it made whole
He who would hold her in small esteem troubles his own life and condemns himself to poverty
Jan 10, 2012
Jan 10, 2012 at 1:16 PM UTC
There are marks on my skin
Where my pen ink has been
Crimson ink seeping through
Phrases and words
Listed and unheard
Echoing with scarlet hue.
The pen in my hand cannot understand
The words that scar my heart
It is always writing, continuously fighting
But steadfastly tearing me apart.
Black ink turned red, words of joy and dread
All sorrows and happiness of today
Place your name on my bones
You'll never be alone
And an immortality you'll stay.
Don't mind the crimson ink
Pouring down the sink
Protesting of my need.
I write for poetry
It writes me an eternity
And it is the only ink I bleed.
May 9, 2013
May 9, 2013 at 8:07 PM UTC
THOSE WHO WERE CROWNED, YET THEY NEVER KNEW
Ayad Gharbawi
When so many die
You feel
When so many perish in pain vivid yet distant
You cry
When so many noble and smiling suffocate helplessly
You think
So many, years and years, of memories within your heart
Those who were crowned, yet they never knew
Those who were praised by all virtue’s gods, yet they never heard
I listen to myself, here as I stand
The times that question me so steadfastly
Who do you turn to, then, in such hours wearying
Who will understand your comradeship
The animals know full well Man’s nature and they turn away
Tell me then, whoever you may be – how will stillness icy turn to laughter
Do not weep, bird
Feathered beauty of innocence fair and freedom just
Do not weep for your heart, though many question you
Though the many wish to **** you
Others, may, stand by you
Justice may embrace you, shelter you and free you to the skies above
When I am asked, why this method of existence
I reply, because, somehow, the future shall reap rewards brighter
Somehow, the future shall crown my trials
Somehow, the future shall embrace me with serenity
Somehow, the future shall surround me with six daughters
Thus, alone I stand now;
Tomorrow may yet offer me the essence of humans warm and sincere
The minds that are closed
The poverty-stricken who blame themselves
The poverty-stricken who are endlessly ashamed of themselves
What, then, do you speak unto such souls weary and tired
How, then, do you lift their burdens unfair
How do you tell them that it is they who are just in claiming what is theirs
And what, then, is their ‘theirs’
Yours are the riches
Yours are the fruits of all your labour
Yours are the sweats’ rewards
Yours are whatever fruition your toil has brought unto yourselves
The years of labour you have done, we say, it shall return to you
Yet, as you now look around you
All those years you have laboured
Where are your rewards accumulating
Where are your benefits that should justly comfort you beyond all frustrations
Where your children’s toys
Why is your salary and wages still the same
Earth revolves as it has
Millions before you have lived, thought, loved, hated and died
Millions shall do the same in the unknown vastness of the future
Blue planet swirling the heavens celestial
How silent are the screams of millions as you exist now
Upon the soil of this revolting planet
Ayad Gharbawi
Jan 4, 2010
Jan 4, 2010 at 8:19 AM UTC
Slack canvas bends with the first strokes:
brush and paint scar a waiting whiteness.
Others follow of less distinct pressure
but now with an affected swirl
a life emerges.
Colours are selected with random thoroughness,
outlining only what the eye believes it sees.
Shapes conform to break the rules and innovate,
where bright arrays can glide through blundered blobs:
ochre, umber, raw sienna.
Sable is saved for finer life forms
steadfastly fixed in oil.
Tentatively mixtures are blended
to blur the more familiar with
darker and darker hues.
The creator remains anonymous.
Jul 7, 2011
Jul 7, 2011 at 11:48 PM UTC
The exorcist spat out unsatisfied souls,
Steadfastly chained to breathing bodies,
Convincing the living that,
The dead haunt us.
But, when I examine autopsies,
I observe granular goosebumps,
Rising from sunken skin,
Scientifically speaking,
Corpses confirm the opposite:
Life haunts death.
Aug 26, 2013
Aug 26, 2013 at 12:13 AM UTC
Here's to those who suffer voluntarily,
who rise above the mean and merely momentary
pleasure that we feel sitting on a couch,
eating Cheetos, watching reruns of "The Brady Bunch";
those who exercise, walk fast (raising weights
with their arms in rhythm to their feet),
jog, or actually even run --
as long as there's no clear goal in mind,
no Olympic medal, no short-skirted cheerleaders
proffering kisses;
residents of Blakely, Georgia, and Moosejaw, Saskatchewan,
who steadfastly resist removal to California
and similar climes, knowing intuitively
that delight in perfect weather is born in sub-zero winters,
in summer's humid swelter;
those who do without air-conditioning,
using the money for a violin
or books or trips to the local swimming pool;
those who fast, mortify the flesh, --
or at least skip breakfast occasionally,
refusing to indulge every ****** whim,
letting them ripen, at least now and then,
into actual, robust hunger;
monks in solemn Kentucky silence,
some, I suppose, are misanthropes, here I speak of those
with a normal affection for chat and hubbub
who restrict themselves to a reverent silence,
speech being used only in extremity;
blood donors.
Jun 14, 2019
Jun 14, 2019 at 8:27 PM UTC
Loneliness, I need not speak a word
Yet you're aware of my wretched pain;
All through the night, your vigil you keep,
Hearing my heart call to Love, in vain;
Sensing my distress, you warn the dawn
To tap gently at my window pane
You know me so well -- my heart's a book
You've read many times, with empathy;
Steadfastly you watch, come rain or shine,
You stand at your post most faithfully;
I feel your presence in the darkness
When tears blind my eyes mercilessly
In a moment of false bravado,
I foolishly pushed you from my side
When I believed Love had come to stay --
A silly notion I now deride;
Somehow you knew not to stray too far,
And when you returned, how we both cried!
Come, Loneliness, let's call it a night,
I'll discard these dreams, then we'll go home;
Once again we'll amble, side by side,
I have you ..... there's no reason to roam;
Tonight I'll raise my glass in a toast:
To you, friend, I dedicate this poem!
Jun 21, 2018
Jun 21, 2018 at 1:53 PM UTC
Can anyone hear the storm brewing in the distance/can anyone feel the specks of light fading away/flashes of lightning spark the dim horizon.
Then, suddenly, changes to the sky profoundly grasp my mind/a storm here, I do not find/instead cosmic colors correlate to relay a certain alteration of reality.
A certain distortion that which brings about haziness, drowsiness/with this gentle sensation manipulating the mind, comes dreams of everlasting bliss.
Fields of floating clouds which have become opaque and concentrated, I’ve never felt so emancipated/ movement has no feeling, no restraint/ limitless, I have no weight.
Moving steadily, steadfastly, ready to finally live, free of bounds/ not a single thought or worry has hit me, as if I simply don’t care for anything worldly.
Then I see, seemingly far away as can be, my family straight ahead of me/ waiting for my arrival from the flight that has brought me liberty.
I join them on a cloud far below, though a shan’t ask what has brought them such woe/ I’d rather not know, for this is a seemingly endless sensation that I shall not waste, by being pulled by gravitation back to that place.
I soar away in a hurry, an unrelenting flurry/ what has occurred, I finally ponder to myself, has occurred, but I am here now, however absurd, and so I shall enjoy myself/ for I have no knowledge whatsoever what this new color wrought horizon brings for my future.
My wings, with the span of what seems like infinity guiding me, flying away into this brilliant spectrum of divinity.
Feb 5, 2012
Feb 5, 2012 at 12:29 AM UTC