Mistress of Futures

There are so many mysteries in life, so many constant minor miracles that hold all of life aloft, so very much that none of us comprehend and never can, as we go about acquiring that which is our meager portfolio of personal knowledge. Our finite essence deems that we are ignorant to the majority of life’s substructure and nuance — yet it all is woven into the fabric of existence, and without which there is no “is”.

We live this mad chaotic journey of life, most of the time at the peril of imminent personal annihilation, save for many upon many manifestations of good fortune, of pure luck — perhaps by a grander cosmic intuition. Yet we live with confidence, as we must, that all these myriad possibilities that surround us, will fall in our favor — and they do, until they don’t. And only fate determines when that card flips.

We all go to our ultimate conclusion, grasping what pitiful little bit of knowledge and understanding we have eked together during our flash of an existence. Yet all that is, was, and will be in all of time and space — happens, has happened, and will happen, so far removed from our awareness and comprehension, as to amount to nothing of consequence to our reality. Yet the reality of our existence, breath to breath, is totally dependent on these consequences playing out in our favor.

We are a dust molecule in this raging cosmic storm. We are nothing but insignificant — while we go along filled with the belief of our worth, and we feel its magnitude in the reality of the awareness that we touch and manifest, which in truth is immeasurably little in the grand scope. But within us, to our perception, it is everything — and rightly so, for it is all we have at our disposal.

This incredible, almost infinite dichotomy, has always held immense fascination for me. I have always wished, even if but for a moment, I could sync with an infinite mind — though I fear the impact of the overload on my psyche, would render me wholly insane. However, the fascination has persisted my entire life, and will I’m certain, until it can’t. This poem is my feeble endeavor to express some insight to this poetically.

 

 
Porrima
goddess of time
mistress of futures
lift me into the realm
of unfinished dreams

strip me of fear
of longing
of inhibition

render me transparent
weightless
unburdened of care

an untethered being
of pure moment

a vessel of time and space
ever-expanding consciousness
aware of all

not as separate
but as the is
the was
the to become

let me embrace
the strand continuum
time’s infanance
unfurled to the future

drawing it forward
reeling it back
in simultaneous linearity
uninterrupted
to touch what is not known

let me glimpse
what cannot be
but is forever

an epiphanal glance
at the beginning
of the endless
the infinite now

at the mystery of fate

the why
within the why

goddess
grant me but a waft
of this miracle

grant me time

time enough

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 

~ and now for your listening and dancing pleasure ~




Golden Ko

~ this is a Ko I envisioned for the Cascade Mountains of Pac NW ~


McClellan Peak, Cascade Mountains, reflected in Leprechaun Lake, Washington — by: Joshua Stern

 
Major Season (SEKKI): Cold Dew: October 08 – October 22
Early October welcomes the mini season of Cold Dew. This season runs from October 8 until October 22. During this time the nights are getting progressively colder and the days are getting shorter. Morning frost may occur, but it disappears with the sun.

Minor Season (Ko): Cascade Mountain Larches go golden: October 08 – October 12
Larches are a pot of gold in the fall hiking season; normally green, their golden yellow autumn needles turn a Cascade Mountain landscape into something otherworldly.

More precious than gold
cascade mountain larches turn

trout are plentiful

Atumn alchemy
the larche at mcclellun peak

turn to purest gold

*
rob kistner © 2022

SEASONAL BOUNTY: this is the season of vineyards and orchards, when wine flows from a wide variety of harvested grapes, and the crunch of freshly picked apples of many types seems to resonate in the air.

POET BIOGRAPHY: I am a poet of 51 years, obsessed with nature, intoxicated by the beauty of America’s Great Pacific Northwest — where I make my home. I am also an artist, selling my art. I am a singer and lyricist as well.

Poetry at: dVerse

 


Hush

~ the music is essential to complete this experience ~

 

Here, in this moonlit forest, midnight’s snowfall shimmers softly through the boughs of old growth, deep and still, as if an infinity of star clusters has drifted to rest from the heavens. It blankets our high-mountain meadow in pearled crystal down.

This night falls quiet and crisp, as a great white owl echoes hauntingly through frosted cedar. Moonbeams sparkle off the snow-draped conifers, like diamonds — necklaced enticingly ‘round the supple shoulders of fair lithe ladies.

We linger and listen, entwined ‘neath winter’s window, mesmerized by this chill magic that enchants the sleeping earth. Soon we will dream, safe and warm, quiet in the hush of this realm, nestled ‘tween solstice past, and the equinox that approachs.

gently we slumber
adrift in winter magic
freed of time and space

I’m the fragile fall of snow
softly blanketing the earth

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 


Think Boy


 

Hey son, come here a minute please
where are the keys
they’re sure not here…
they disapper?

you recently drove to the store
I heard the door
when you came back
but the key rack

is bare as a baby’s bottom
where you got ‘em
I’ve asked you nice
won’t ask you twice

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 

~ sometimes they go so very much too soon ~


Grief of Secrets

“Yes, in the predawn black the slim slip of the waning moon”
…from: Remote Friends, by: Jim Harrison.

 

Wolf moon hung heavy
once more
in its passing

its bulbous orb
rolled
through cold chromium fog

wet clouds
smeared themselves
across its face

like translucent billows
of glistening moonbeams
shivering midnight

that sorrowing hour
again laid bare my soul
in grief of secrets

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 

Drenched



“Puddle” – by: M. C. Escher © 1952

 

Angry
at the wind
at moonlight
at sunlight
at life

in the storms
of my tears
your footprints
rut my dreams

I shiver
drenched in memories
of love’s vain promise
to be constant
as a breeze
as stars
as the sunrise

now
constant rain

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 


Flickers

9F60E09A-A5D1-4D84-9E96-E6D961F068A7

 
Old man gazes out his window
uncertain just how long it’s rained
alone in the twilight he has questions
were his losses worth all that he gained

memories like a dying candle’s flicker
thoughts of his loved ones sadly gone
entwined bittersweetly in his heartstrings
a thankfulness for those that still shine on

 
9F60E09A-A5D1-4D84-9E96-E6D961F068A7

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: The Sunday Muse

 

Relax

 

When I sense threat
I’ve been known to bellow
resolution comes more quickly
than approaching it mellow

if still no resolution
things may get rip-roaring
again — more effective
than simply imploring

I will never come calmly
when hedging my bet
never surrendering my fate
to tones that are dulcet

don’t tell me “relax”
or suggest that I breathe
if it’s gotten that far
I have started to seethe

pulse beatin’ — I’m screamin’
and gone out of my head
begun to coarsely embellish
with a face that’s beet red

if matters still aren’t settled
I don’t beseech — I fall quiet
then start starin’ daggers
before bringin’ the red riot

*
rob kistner © 2022

FOCUS WORDS: bellow, rip-roaring, dulcet, seethe, embellish, beseech

Poetry at: dVerse

 


Love’s Footfalls

 

Walk with me my love, ‘round the lake, into our favorite stand of old growth. Let us listen to our footfalls, as they drum the root chambers, each step cushioned by centuries of needledrop in this ancient forest. We will enjoy the rise and fall, twist and turn of the trail, serenaded by the breeze in the treetops. The steady rhythm of our footsteps will sooth our weary hearts.

We’ll trek deep into the woods, to that crest of the knoll overlooking our special log. There we’ll rest, under the towering woodland canopy, and bask in the filtered sunlight, that drifts down dreamlike, golden into our sacred clearing — while we breath the intoxicating natural bouquet of this timeless forest… of conifers, ferns, mosses, musks, and ionized mountain air. So come, and bring no book, for this one day we’ll give to idleness, and nature’s magic.

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse

 

Soul Serpents

A pirate’s tale! And a gerrymanderer’s saga!

 

These sea-spent soul serpents
captain their coffin galleons
afloat with their *newly dead
ferried rough’n’raw to the docks

then off to sweet-flesh wenches
in the sin-sullied gypsy taverns
to boast their blood-soaked tales
and spend death’s ill-gotten gold

burnt whiskey confessions
cradled scarred and strong
in the muscle-head crooks
of their murder-bent elbows

hoisting a flagon
of bahamian beach rum
temptation rich
and firestorm spiced

spreadin’ the forecast
of tonight’s fisted fury
knuckled wild and savage
n’hell-frenzied foul

not for the lazyants
or weak-gutted braggarts
these fierce-spirit lads
crush lameful foe brutally

ready to fight
at the instant is dropped
a three-pointed hat
these ain’t no scared pigeons

their creed’s raidin’ & ragin’
all stoned immaculate
wheellocks fully loaded
and trained on their prey

like fiery tomcats
on a cool moonlit night
roamin’ the side streets
to rumble & pillage

whistlin’ down the devil
prowlin’ angry and proud
hearts cold as winter
tempers hot as hell

*
rob kistner © 2022

*bodies / votes

 

Why

 

Falling into a tangle
of vague thoughts
almost-remembering’s
and near answers

slipping my grasp
tumbling jumbled
it careens away

down blind alleys
bouncing off suppositions
dodging conjecture
tripping over tongue tips

until hitting the wall

damnit!

just why
did I
come in here?

well
while I’m here
I’ll close this window

wait
what the…

well I swear
look out there
in the trees

how the…
the cat!

now I remember
why I came

now just gotta
find my keys

…now for a deeper satirical perspective…

 
Oh those
OMG!
no
I no longer need those

I don’t see things
for myself
don’t read the small print
or between the lines
anymore

I mean
why?

I simply let others
look for me
then they tell me
what they think
they see

that way
I save time
and bother

I just let others
tell me
what they think

I just glance
at the bold print
then I know
what I should think

like I said
it saves time

time I don’t have to waste
looking
seeing
considering
researching
evaluating
then thinking
for myself

so
no
OMG!

I no longer need those

haven’t known
where they were
for years now

LOL!

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: The Sunday Muse

 

Caustic Secrets

“Reflection on the current troubling and volatile state of the world,
as brought on by the erosion of truth, and the secrets concealed in dangerous hearts.”

03623EE8-4FA2-418E-8397-6EED8A5A005D

 

Dark souls entered through an open door
stirred panic with twisted metaphor
left clarity bleeding on the floor

the mystery yet is ours to find
but deepening night’s not far behind
with their secrets and our fears entwined

madness calls us to its shore
wraps around us threatening more
tearing at our gilded core

our book of darkness is duly signed
our troubled souls by chaos confined
false dangerous hearts fiercely aligned

caustic secrets we must abhors
much saving grace still to restore
uncertainty sways our final score

frail honesty is stumbling blind
truth now by smoke and mirrors defined
l fear our prophets may have lost their mind

*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: Poets & Storytellers

Poetry at: earthweal

 

Soaklinated

~ jabberwockian forecast ~


painting entitled “Rain Man” by: Vane Kosturanov

 

One misty moistaly dampinmorn
the mist was most prevailington
and then it started to storminoff
on that misty moistaly dampinmorn

it came up without a warninton
with hailstones angrily hailinous
I missed the mornington weathertold
on that misty moistymous morn

I slept through that mornington’s alarmanoff
so didn’t know ‘bout no warningful storminoff
had I known I mighta stayed homelicated
my lazinations got me quite soaklinated
next time I’ll be more atentuated
so I can venture forth fully umbrellanated
*
rob kistner © 2022

Poetry at: dVerse