"straitened" poems
(To Ellen Terry)
In the lone tent, waiting for victory,
She stands with eyes marred by the mists of pain,
Like some wan lily overdrenched with rain:
The clamorous clang of arms, the ensanguined sky,
War’s ruin, and the wreck of chivalry
To her proud soul no common fear can bring:
Bravely she tarrieth for her Lord the King,
Her soul a-flame with passionate ecstasy.
O Hair of Gold! O Crimson Lips! O Face
Made for the luring and the love of man!
With thee I do forget the toil and stress,
The loveless road that knows no resting place,
Time’s straitened pulse, the soul’s dread weariness,
My freedom, and my life republican!
2.8k
Christ, dost Thou live indeed? or are Thy bones
Still straitened in their rock-hewn sepulchre?
And was Thy Rising only dreamed by her
Whose love of Thee for all her sin atones?
For here the air is horrid with men’s groans,
The priests who call upon Thy name are slain,
Dost Thou not hear the bitter wail of pain
From those whose children lie upon the stones?
Come down, O Son of God! incestuous gloom
Curtains the land, and through the starless night
Over Thy Cross a Crescent moon I see!
If Thou in very truth didst burst the tomb
Come down, O Son of Man! and show Thy might
Lest Mahomet be crowned instead of Thee!
2.5k
Is it thy will that I should wax and wane,
Barter my cloth of gold for hodden grey,
And at thy pleasure weave that web of pain
Whose brightest threads are each a wasted day?
Is it thy will—Love that I love so well—
That my Soul’s House should be a tortured spot
Wherein, like evil paramours, must dwell
The quenchless flame, the worm that dieth not?
Nay, if it be thy will I shall endure,
And sell ambition at the common mart,
And let dull failure be my vestiture,
And sorrow dig its grave within my heart.
Perchance it may be better so—at least
I have not made my heart a heart of stone,
Nor starved my boyhood of its goodly feast,
Nor walked where Beauty is a thing unknown.
Many a man hath done so; sought to fence
In straitened bonds the soul that should be free,
Trodden the dusty road of common sense,
While all the forest sang of liberty,
Not marking how the spotted hawk in flight
Passed on wide pinion through the lofty air,
To where some steep untrodden mountain height
Caught the last tresses of the Sun God’s hair.
Or how the little flower he trod upon,
The daisy, that white-feathered shield of gold,
Followed with wistful eyes the wandering sun
Content if once its leaves were aureoled.
But surely it is something to have been
The best beloved for a little while,
To have walked hand in hand with Love, and seen
His purple wings flit once across thy smile.
Ay! though the gorged asp of passion feed
On my boy’s heart, yet have I burst the bars,
Stood face to face with Beauty, known indeed
The Love which moves the Sun and all the stars!
1.8k
I wanna be as free as a bird,
All I need is to say one shy word,
Flying up high in the sky.
If you're brave, you can try.
Let your wings be straitened,
Catch the wind into your net.
Be like river's stormy stream,
Run away towards your dream.
When your thoughts want aspire to clouds,
And the soul tries to get rid of chains,
Don't think about those noisy crowds,
Who are playing their boring games.
Let your wings be straitened,
Catch the wind into your net.
Be like river's stormy stream,
Run away towards your dream.
You have all time of the world.
So you should not follow the rules,
They exterminate your identity,
Make people be like a flock of fools.
But then a dream comes to the end.
Starts another interminable day.
You rush down from the sky to the land.
And a rainbow becomes dark and grey.
Let your wings be straitened,
Catch the wind into your net.
Be like river's stormy stream,
Run away towards your dream.
If you wanna be as free as a bird,
All you need is say only one word,
Flying up high in the sky.
If you're brave, you can try.
Apr 22, 2017
Apr 22, 2017 at 4:40 PM UTC
** Do you feel there is no mercy,
With none to comfort you ?
Come there is a hope for the weary,
Jesus will shepherd you.
No life was offered like Jesus,
Nobody careth like him,
Shedding His life - blood for sinners,
Nobody careth like him.
Are you now straitened and trembling,
None to assuage your fear?
He knows the tears you are shedding,
Jesus doth answer prayer.
When the night hangs upon your soul,
With guilt of carnal mind,
Look to the Lord Who can make whole ,
Jesus the Saviour kind.
When you are smitten with sickness,
Ailing with racking pain,
Healing doth show forth His goodness,
Jesus doth ever reign.
Future unknown makes all dismal,
And life an empty dream,
He is the way, life eternal,
Jesus -all Heaven's theme.**
Feb 12, 2016
Feb 12, 2016 at 1:13 PM UTC
Remember DOS 3.2?
or even 6.0?
I liked windows 3.1
I liked windows 3.11, ya know
used windows 95
also used 98
fell in love with XP
vista, wasn't great
waited for windows 7
to get straitened out
finally did, bout 2 years ago
gave up my XP, with doubt
they forced 10 upon me
buggy, intrusive, and badly done
ultimately got sic of it
Ubuntu's the one, that won
May 24, 2017
May 24, 2017 at 3:33 PM UTC
the feathers of hope
float upon the tenebrous air the unfledged girl
unfolds herself
from the straitened maze
in which she mused encumbered
by the remnants
of her former beings
to glance at the promise
of the world composed anew
if she be resolute
in courage
to take grasp of one unblemished pearlescent feather
hold
and then step/ dive /fall
into the flight of a future
unfathomable
and soar
Apr 3, 2014
Apr 3, 2014 at 10:57 PM UTC
Emotional sequestration perseverates
across thine time warped
weft wise wold,
sans interpersonal stagnation
flourishes as oft twice told
tale amidst derelict hollowed
moldering sacrificed stranglehold
did potential..., now bankrupt acquaintanceships/
friendships get out sold
agonizingly excruciatingly
jujitsu physically writhing
front row seat occupied -
whereat direct view of scaffold
penurious adolescent Anorexia Nervosa
plagued decades prior fraught
psychological, neurological and illogical
repercussions steam rolled
natural heterosexual propensity
stifling, stinting, and stymying this old
morosely jinxed kerfuffle inciting,
hermetically heat sealed,
tightly bound stinging
straitened yellow jacketed
bee devilish mold
hogtied hold, pig in the poke,
xenophobic-ally
fastened, galvanic hold
wrenching vice grippe
fiercely extolled sterile lackluster
human existence devoid cold
hence, imperative ambition
to act forthright and bold
before advanced age
finds this wordsmith additionally auld.
This solitary reader quests doth newt plead
per outreach need
without supplicating, lionizing, boot mead
dee eight ting, enticing Nietzscheism lead
me by thine pug nose,
nor doth this passive heretic - heed
ding perseverance
without selfishness nor greed
aye only seek to be freed,
where ambivalence to enjoy life exceed
sharing soulful travails yes in deed
foster repartee with persons no matter creed
faith, intelligence, nationality breed
united by state worthy charisma agreed?
Jun 18, 2018
Jun 18, 2018 at 9:58 PM UTC
She was straitened among vines
And I came
A messenger from the ruler
Known by the red coverings of my knees
She was sitting straitened under a stump
With bare buttocks
In a gloomy valley
And no prospects for deliverance
She was straitened before a frowning rock
Her means of escape
Cut her hands as a thorny branch
Oppressed by that which should not opress
She was straitened in a lonely place
A palace without a ruler
A king enters his castle
And does not see a queen
She was straitened among vines
(Which she could break anytime)
And I came
(I was always there)
A messenger from the ruler
(A man who wants to love)
Known by the red coverings of my knees
(And my sacrifice to the spirits)
Mar 15, 2016
Mar 15, 2016 at 2:45 AM UTC
Ah, dear old friend you see now the outcome!
It seems a burden our friendship had become.
Those unforeseen circumstances were to blame
and so had changed all the nature of our game.
The memorable times we both spent together
were a joy to the heart in spite of the weather;
we laughed, sang and even drank some wine
to all appearances everything was going fine.
But then, in just a few moments, now it seems
our relationship turned sour as in bad dreams;
what should've been only a momentary pause
developed into a rift of an unfathomable cause.
Some dormant impressions were re-awakened
of a past life once lived but unfairly straitened;
in those idyllic years towards the prime of life
when most people are set on a husband or wife.
We came across a fork on the road we travelled
that branched in different ways to be unravelled.
The longer we each walked on our separate path
increased the distance between us and aftermath.
A friendship that's mainly based on give and take
could not forever last; as it is found to be a fake.
It needs to be established on a solid foundation
regardless of what's to each other's expectation.
There are times when we should forgive and forget
each other's shortcomings based on mutual respect
and when a person is awakened to a higher calling
doing otherwise is to that person's destiny stalling.
____________________
May 5, 2020
May 5, 2020 at 12:07 PM UTC