Category: photo

Images – a ten year vigil

…lest we ever forget

 

 

 

Images


•

images

unreal
unfathomable images

the graceful glide
engulfed by the spire
in a roar of golden orange

horribly beautiful

perversely mesmerizing

obscene
devastating images

torrents of humanity
raining down

desperation their only escape

masses of humanity
racing
to outrun the unbelievable

praying
to be delivered from the inconceivable

traumatic images

shrines of free commerce
consumed
by the unbearable weight
of their fragile significance
plummeting to earth
in a cloud of self-destruction

heartbreaking images

screaming
dazed
terrified souls
consumed
by the unbearable weight of the moment

staggering onward
to outdistance the surging roll
of all-engulfing
pulverized aftermath

courageous images

battered
determined
tireless heroes

those who were called
who served unselfishly

some
who gave the ultimate service

haunting images

color
gender
ethnicity
wiped away
from the ashen-grey faces
of the traumatized throngs

now just masks of calamity

all made equal
by horror and grief

one nation
under siege
inconsolable
with tragedy and sorrow
for all

unforgettable images
burned into our hearts

• • •

rob kistner © 9/11/09

 

Spared


 
Spared

~

how I do desire
the damp dreary days
of february

when my forlorned
fallen face
is commonplace

when no one intrudes
to question
what’s the matter

because all around
are caught up in the blues

oh if only
you could find it
in your heart

to forgive
this sadly lost
and broken man

who much too late
understands
he was a fool

and in his sorrow
understands
why you refuse

but how I wish
ill-tempered weather
would ensue

to drive the joyful
all around me
to indoor spaces

so I’d be spared
the pain
of smiling faces

and the bitter
bitter memory
of losing you

~ ~ ~

rob kistner © 2011

  • Image above entitled “Red Umbrella” by: Christopher Shay
  • This was originally linked to Tess Kincaid’s “Magpie Tales”

    ______________________

    How Poetry Comes to Me

    by: Gary Snyder

    It comes blundering over the
    Boulders at night, it stays
    Frightened outside the
    Range of my campfire
    I go to meet it at the
    Edge of the light

    • Unfazed

    This poem was sparked by the incredible power of our earth, as exhibited most recently by the devastating tornadoes that swept through the American Southeast, and with deep reverence and sympathy for those who suffered as a result. I admire greatly your courage and will to live.

    …written for Day #29, NaPoMo 2011…


     

    Unfazed

    •

    we live
    by its grace
    at its mercy
    with delusions of mastery

    so close to extinction
    grappling awestruck
    day-in day-out détente
    survival in spite

    brute power
    incredible beauty
    this tolerant
    indifferent planet

    perhaps the imminence of peril
    embellishes our wonder
    ignites our superstitions
    kindles our will to live

    but our light will blink out
    this orb will evolve
    shine on
    unfazed

    • • •

    rob kistner © 4/29/11

    Burst

    …written for Day #13, NaPoMo 2011…


     

    Burst

    •

    sky pulls with spring rain
    sprouting seeds push seeking light
    sun stirs petal’s blush

    engorged buds burst to unfurl
    nature reaches tipping point

    • • •

    rob kistner © 4/13/11

    Skye Fyre

    …written for Day #12, NaPoMo 2011…

     

    Skye Fyre

    ~

    the grand sunset gun
    hunter readies his grip
    as the great golden orb
    returns weary from his trip

    quicksilver moon
    embarks on her night’s course
    hunter fixes sharp eyes
    steady on the source

    gaia reaches gently
    into vast quiet space
    diamonds of stars
    gaia sparkles in place

    hunter locks the horizon
    solid in his sight
    his important grand task
    still remains on this night

    to set the late sky ablaze
    before he goes to sleep
    in patterns most bold
    in colors quite deep

    he aims his sunset gun
    and blasts overhead
    a riot of corals
    ambers oranges and red

    with a grand brilliant flash
    the heavens are afire
    in rich vivid hues
    burning hot with desire

    this dusk color festival
    has fully begun
    so hunter retires
    his job is well done
    but he first locks away
    his grand sunset gun

    ~ ~ ~

    rob kistner © 4/12/11

    Limitless

    …limitless talent, unfathomable spirit…

    Limitless

    •

    • written for Writer’s Island

    La Nature du Feu


    …per this week’s prompt at Big Tent Poetry, this is a gentle rewrite of a poem of mine
    originally published in the 2010 RWP Anthology…




     

    La Nature du Feu
    The Nature of Fire

    A Poem Using Three Lines from Norman Dubie’s “Of Politics & Art”

    (the borrowed lines are italicized)

    •

    here
    on the farthest point of the peninsula
    an office building is burning
    ignited by a single match
    careless or criminal
    not yet known

    inconceivable
    that such a structure
    can be so wholly engulfed
    but the fire was too fierce
    and the distance too great
    for rescue

    but what of the fury
    in that single first flame
    to have leapt so viciously to consume
    to ravage
    to devastate so absolutely

    it is always there
    la nature du feu

    like the rage of a repressed
    and violated being
    too long held down
    unjustly deprived
    confined

    all potential denied
    where there is great potential

    spirit squelched
    where there is great spirit

    sometimes a whole civilization can be dying
    until finally a single incident
    the spark
    unleashes a righteous inferno
    that has no bounds

    it is always there
    la nature du feu

    all around the good people gather
    stare in disbelief
    how is this possible here
    not realizing that such power to combust
    to blaze so brilliantly
    can only be suppressed for so long

    it is always there
    la nature du feu

    ready to explode
    like the fury in the head of that match
    and when the smoulder becomes full flame
    all will burn
    out here on the peninsula
    and in here
    at the still and protected center

    • • •

    rob kistner © 2011

    …visit Big Tent Poetry…

    Poet In Arms

     

    Poet

    abandon vague image
    do not weave a fabric of myth
    or speak to us in grand verse
    telling of the song of the spheres
    or the days before this dark time

    you see many things poet
    but you talk in riddles
    you avoid the cold hard way
    for the soft path of platitudes
    of metaphors
    of meter and rhyme
    but this is not the time

    look poet
    look into the flames
    the fire of human suffering

    feel it burn your eyes
    char your soul
    tell us how that feels

    tell us how to see
    with our own eyes
    help us see the real place of light

    you must tell us poet
    in the power of plain language
    in the clear voice of truth
    tell us what is real

    we will listen

    with a pure heart of justice
    raise your shield of words
    lift your pen poet
    like a sword

    show us the grip

    we will save the beauty
    celebrate the wonder
    protect the unique splendor

    or we will join the battle
    to strike down imbalance
    to drive away sorrow

    lead us poet
    we will follow

    *
    rob kistner © 2011

    Written for: Magpie Tales

    Poetry at: dVerse

    Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers

    Poetry at: earthweal

    Young Flower

     

    Young Flower

    •

    velvet soft
    passion’d purple
    newly bloomed flower

    full and succulent
    tender plumped folds
    glisten with dewy nectar

    heady fragrance
    pleasures the senses

    luscious form
    ripened blush
    delights the eye

    a gentle touch parts silken petals
    reveals the inner bud
    swollen with the urgency of life

    intoxicating
    such vital beauty

    consumed
    one savors slowly

    exquisitely delicious
    this young flower
    full bloomed

    • • •

    rob kistner © 3/14/11

    …written for Magpie Tales

    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 thing of beauty is a joy forever, a captive wild soul — is a tragedy…

     

    Panther

    •

    from rippled sinew black as midnight
    bores a stare of molten gold

    a furious but calm inferno
    searing deep to burn your soul

    unyielding is this panther’s pace
    held captive in this foolish zoo

    cold eyes rivet snarled contempt
    unfathomed pools of quiet rage

    on this panther paces paces
    turns and paces back he paces

    graceful stride of brute resolve
    presses on to test his bounds

    proud this captive soul just paces
    frustration turns anger retraces

    this brutal prison of false environ
    does not fool this mighty beast

    observe how he continues pacing
    instinct certain this is not home

    his piercing gaze fixed well beyond
    his suffered fate of cruel confine

    see the panther pacing pacing
    his nature steeled his spirit strong

    relentless sorrow wild longing
    drive on and on his constant stride

    this will not break his fierce resolve
    he tracks freedom he stalks life

    imprisoned he will forever pace
    and he will pace

    and he will die

    • • •

    Panther

    (haiku)
    •

    caged beast close your eyes

    have no fear of letting go

    dream of wild freedom

    • • •

    rob kistner © 2010

    Evening Grace


     
    Evening Grace

    ~

    as dusk descends
    my stride holds steady
    buoyed by the gentle embrace
    of the downing golden sun

    early shadows fall soft

    vesper’s velvet blanket
    drapes ’round my shoulders
    envelops me in calm

    there is still road to travel

    eager to keep the journey
    I’m drawn by the beauty
    of the rising moon in sunset

    coaxed by a soothing breeze
    I venture on toward my love

    rolling amber fires the lane
    spreads warm ‘cross the horizon

    mist begins to rise and waft

    nestled in the valley
    I see my hearth & home
    guilded copper in this eventide

    my heart quickens
    stirred by this gorgeous vale
    the ribbon of its brook
    entwines my soul in wonder

    my smile sweetens
    my pace livens
    I hum a quiet evensong
    in the grace of this splendid day

    ~ ~ ~

    rob kistner © 2010


    …artwork entitled “Evening Glory” by: Steven Mitchell…

  • click below to enjoy more poems at dVerse:
    Open Link #277 – Live edition

    • No First Ink

    Offered in response to prompt #136 at One Single Impression,
    and in response to prompt #73 on Carry On Tuesday,
    also in response to prompt #189 at Three Word Wednesday.




    No First Ink

    •

    I lean upon my folded fist
    cool against my temple
    elbow solid on my cluttered desk

    eyes droop and flicker
    aflame with spoiled sleep

    face slacked
    head now dropped
    held in my hands
    heavy with confusion

    skull upon the finger bones
    in weighted indecision
    procrastination presses down

    where art thou muse
    I seek weightless inspiration
    to be lifted up by you

    instead
    the hum of cooling bytes
    drones relentless in my ears
    impossible to ignore
    no matter how I try

    thoughts like digits on a dollar slot
    spin unsettled in my mind
    they neither click nor lock in place
    they tumble in a jumble
    to roll and blur just out of focus
    lost in mental fog

    sunken in my writer’s chair
    I remain immobile
    paralyzed by perplexity
    imprisoned by the chaos
    awhirl in my mind

    the freedom of decision
    impossible to manage

    I fear nothing will be writ
    no first ink will be shed this day

    • • •

    rob kistner © 2010


    Kisses Crimson-Gold

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    Kisses Crimson-Gold

    ~

    the stir of autumn
    enwraps my heart
    as summer slowly wanes
    riding the early fallen leaves
    on the current of october waters
    whirling and bobbing on crystal ripples
    round and past the river rocks
    over rip rap in the stream bed
    carried vividly away
    into the setting sun

    days shorten
    shadows lengthen
    a quiet melancholy
    settles upon the valley
    as nature prepares itself
    for the slumber of renewal

    but not before the crackling
    joyous dance of harvest
    and a crisp crimson-gold
    kiss goodnight

    ~ ~ ~

    rob kistner © 2010

    __________________

    Brightly coloured fall leaves in a forest stream

    Over The Edge

    This piece is offered in response to visual prompt Mag 33 at Magpie Tales seen at bottom of post,
    also prompt 22 at Writer’s Island,
    and prompt #135 at One Single Impression.

    Over The Edge

    •

    From down there, down there,
    it’s coming from down there.
    From where — down there?
    Yes Sis, I swear!

    That horrible smell
    that’s filling the air,
    the one that’s most certainly
    impossible to bear,
    is coming from that women
    with the massive blue hair
    sitting alone on the patio chair,
    on the deck of the house,
    that’s below us — right there!

    What a putrid aroma,
    you’d think that she’d care.
    There are simply some things
    that one never should share,
    like the stink that is rising
    from that patio chair,
    on the deck of the house
    that’s below us down there.

    And the hideous color
    of that mountain of hair —
    I can’t help it, can’t help it,
    I can’t help but stare.

    It’s a tangled and horrible monument to
    a disgusting and eye-blinding
    shade of bright blue —
    and it’s causing a feeling of nausea too!

    I must look away my heads starting to whirl,
    and I feel that my toes are beginning to curl,
    I fear over the edge here I’m going to hurl —
    and I don’t want to do that in front of a girl.

    Maybe I’m wrong
    but I would assume,
    if one’s going to bathe
    in a noxious perfume,
    they’d at least have the manners
    to exhibit some pride,
    and not foul the ozone,
    instead — stay inside.

    Not to be the forecaster
    of gloom and of doom,
    but keep the eco-disaster
    contained to one room.

    And if you’re chromatically challenged my friend,
    consider the others that you might offend.
    A monumentally grotesque rat’s nest of blue,
    is not something I care to look at on you!

    • • •

    rob kistner © 2010


    Mag 33