Archive for the ‘memories’ Category

Breathless

 
Breathless
…inspired by Dean Koontz’s “Twilight Eyes”…

across the chasm of time
and great distance
memories unfold
like elaborate origami sculptures
I see soaring ramparts
of sky-piercing mountains
forested tier upon tier
with enormous sitka spruce
scattered brewers
known as the weeping spruce
the most beautiful of the conifer
whose branches in summer
display sunlight
as a jeweler’s velvet
showcases gems
the whispers
of wind-stirred
lawson cypress
towering ponderosa pine
and douglas fir
waft down emerald climbs
tangerine-scented [...]

Sneakin’ Up On Breakfast

…written for Day #19, NaPoMo 2011…

 
Sneakin’ Up On Breakfast

our final set was 3:00 am
the gear’s broke down and stowed
now here we sit
with smuggled single malt
and the crusty sunrise special
me and my blessed band
bliss’d out from giggin’
bleary-eyed and blasted
mixin’ with fellow players
who’ve now laid down
their last licks for this night
among willing groupies
the loud hangers on
and my [...]

Pierced

…a rant about my diabetes
written for Day #17, NaPoMo 2011…

Pierced

needles
hypodermic needles
needles needles needles
BD 30g
sterilized syringes
needles in my arms
needles in my legs
needles in my gut
needles six seven times a day
needles 3 am because
I forget the 11 pm needle
even tiny lances in my fingertips
to verify the needles needles work
needles so that I can see
needles so that I [...]

Time Traveling

…written for Day #16, NaPoMo 2011…

Time Traveling

tonight
careful hands
peel back cracked
and yellowed protectant
from dark and aging pages
soured
in long-ignored
dusty albums
my wife is liberating memories
life moments
immortalized
faces and places
call from another time
a beautiful young bride
a proud new husband
our sweet children
living
and not
family and friends
here and gone
other visuals
strangely vague
yet hauntingly familiar
draw me
spark warm recall
remembered laughter
tears gratefully less bitter
captured images
collect on [...]

Had Not

…written for Day #9, NaPoMo 2011…

Had Not

had not she crossed my threshold
on that september day
had not her voice
drifted like silk on a summer breeze
to wrap sheer and sweet
around my heart
had not I been drawn
like a bloom to the morning sun
had not I been captivated
as a hummingbird
by a drop of nectar
crystal on a velvet petal
had not [...]

Deep Indigo

…written for Day #7, NaPoMo 2011…

Deep Indigo

he wakes
unbidden by alarm
lingers in the darkness
warm neath the blankets
fumbling for the lamp
follows moments of procrastination
before he lifts himself upright
slides feet into slippers
to rise ever so stiffly
from the comfort of bed
pulling on his robe
he ambles to the kitchen
takes a cup from the shelf
pours chamomile tea
brewed ready each morning
by the [...]

Pepper Head

…written for Day #5, NaPoMo 2011…

 
Pepper Head

I was the walrus
the fool on the hill
I was the nowhere man
perhaps been nowhere still
but when they took the stage
and raised their voice in song
they roused my golden slumber
my spirit sang along
I strolled to strawberry fields
along sweet penny lane
and when miss Rigby died
I felt McKenzie’s pain
stowed in the submarine
and [...]

Lucid 5:00 AM

…written for Day #1, NaPoMo 2011…

Lucid 5:00 AM

at pre-dawn five am — I see…
all my faults and failures
the importance of forgiveness
precisely why I love my wife
the perfect way to let her know
the miracle of my children
how to be a better father
the power of friendship
the value in being true
how blessed I truly am
the insignificance of [...]

Ship of Dreams

…I have always loved the fantasy art of Dean Morrissey and James C. Christensen, and this week’s prompt at Writer’s Island put me in mind of their highly imaginative and captivating work, which in turn inspired the poem below, with its “tongue-in-cheek” ending…

 
Ship of Dreams

fantastic is this spell I’m under
magic of a splendorous kind
a world [...]

Limitless

…limitless talent, unfathomable spirit…

Limitless

• written for Writer’s Island

The Mourning

The Mourning

the hollow wallow
aglow in the spotlight’s heat
to boast odes of praise for him
in death
who had few words of warmth for him
in life
while those who love him
pay true tribute
with searing tears
of silent grief
• • •
rob kistner © 2011

Touch of Love

Touch of Love

a quarter century ago
in the shadow of the tall ships
nestled inter-coastal
on the outer banks of Beaufort
our passion burst to flame
we bound that flashpoint moment
in a promise of forever
and a band of abalone
I found there in that sunset
on the Carolina sands
as ever-precious
as the diamond ring
that now encircles in its stead
that pearled bit of [...]

Celebratory Blues

…on the occasion of my 64th…

Celebratory Blues

the hands of time swing round faster and faster
life has carved his journey in his face
the pendulum beats steady its insistence
he wonders how long can he keep this pace
he sits here four years looking back at 60
he’s known tragedy and triumph both the same
borrowed bought and sold his way [...]

Panther

• this is the final in a series of edits of a poem I first drafted in 1997
it was born of my contempt for the barbarous act of caging wild animals in a zoo •
this final edit inspired by prompt #24 at Writer’s Island,
prompt #23 at We Write Poems,
and prompt #74 at Carry on Tuesday.

…a [...]

To Soar

This poem is offered in response to prompt #23 for 2010 at Writer’s Island,
the Ginsberg ‘american sentence’ is offered in response to prompt #136 at One Single Impression.

To Soar

to feel the warmth of early spring sun
to wander through old growth
to see the sunset into the pacific
to breath in the fragrance of summer
to see joy in [...]