Archive for the ‘wisdom’ Category
This Heart
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, abstract, art, courage, introspection, joy, love, memories, optimism, rhyme, wisdom
This Heart
•
this heart’s now yours
this damaged heart
this brittle fractured aching heart
broken by you, every part
I’ve no use for this ruined heart
plucked here from my chest
I seek a new and vital heart
one that’s far less stressed
a fresh heart that’s unbreakable
a heart able to forgive
unmarred unscarred yet tender
beating with the joy to live
• • •
rob kistner © [...]
Rāgarāja’s Daughter
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, beauty, ecstatic, erotic, homage, mystery, sensuality, spirituality, wisdom, wonder
Rāgarāja’s Daughter
•
radiant vision silken skinned
translucent alabaster blaze
torrid as a teen’s temptation
leaned low here before me yearning
on plush cloud so sensuous
sweet comely goddess forward bent
graceful face aglow with craving
you conjure ardor’s obsession
a’bloom in beckoned fiery swoon
forearms rest on pillow soft
thoughts aflame in primal need
lips burning smile a fetched seduction
Rāgarāja’s daughter lush with Spring
smoldering in golden light
that [...]
The Journey
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, courage, mystery, wisdom, wonder
The Journey
•
beckoned to the final tide
called forth by the ferryman
spirit stirs to the distant voice
that draws you to the journey
caught still in this mortal realm
soul resigned to embarkation
time folding in upon
as slow you approach the vessel
• • •
rob kistner © 2011
• linked at Magpie Tales
____________
image by Mostafa Habibi
Rebel Rebel
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, Rants & Rambles, art, wisdom
…I republish this piece today in fond memory of John…
“we all shine on, like the moon, and the stars, and the sun”
Rebel Rebel
•
I’ll not listen
not be shackled
not be handled
not be ruled
I’ll not be managed
nor be played
manipulated
or be fooled
you sure as hell
will not tell
me
who
what
where
when
how
or why
what you offer
I’m not taking
your extended hand
I am not shaking
the world [...]
Soul Food
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, art, courage, love, philosophy, wisdom
Something life’s experiences have taught me: seeing the world for what it is makes you smart, envisioning the world for what it can be - makes you wise…
Soul Food
•
there are countless contradictions
in the elements of the work we do
and conflictions as we strive
but bring these not to table
for I am you
and you are me
and we [...]
Two Moments
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, courage, family, gratitude, joy, love, memories, wisdom
These are two poems about two powerful and indelible life-moments I shared with my son Justin.
The first “Night Sky” is about the courageous moment he chose, at age fourteen, to leave his mother’s home to move across our country, to live with me in Oregon — through the years of his high school [...]
Book of Days
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, family, joy, love, memories, nature, wisdom
Book of Days
•
in the book of days
clearly it is written
your time for moving on
beyond the reach of yesterday
in this book of days
so too is it written
clearly mine grow short
my grasp loosens on tomorrow
our miles apart grow greater
our time together lessens
as you pursue the future
I slip further in the past
and per the book of days
this is [...]
Wonder
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, beauty, courage, dreams, fantasy, gratitude, humor, joy, love, mystery, philosophy, whimsy, wisdom, wonder
Wonder
•
to grow up
is to chase off
our innocence
our naïve belief
in the world as a beautiful place
to harden against the magic
of our childhood dreams
but if by chance
we can cling to just one
perhaps we can hold on
to our precious sense of wonder
• • •
rob kistner © 2011
• photo: “Alice in Wonderland” by Yuki Valentine
Hope
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, courage, dark, family, horror, photo, regret, suspense, tragedy, wisdom
Hope
•
I lift myself quietly
very quietly
from beneath the sheets
soiled with neglect
soaked with my nightmares
I am again awake
from another dark night
that began with fear
fear I might not survive
and ends in sorrow
realizing I did
I rise
make my way carefully
past the shallow-breathed crumple
that lay milky-eyed
in a heap on the floor
un-moving
save a twitch of the head
a head which now harbors demons
where [...]
Silence - two reflections
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, dark, horror, regret, tragedy, wisdom
These two poetic reflections are unrelated, beyond their focus on silence. The first reflection here considers what it is to fall into the deepening silence of old age. The second reflection looks at the silence that causes, and also results from repression…
1ST REFLECTION
Endings
•
shrouded by evening in waning october
as autumn tumbles towards winter
is [...]
King of Sunrise
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, dark, fantasy, introspection, mystery, philosophy, regret, tragedy, wisdom, wonder
King of Sunrise
•
on the boulevard below
last night’s rain puddles
midst the chaos of metro-clutter
held hostage by tire and curb
as if abandoned by the waters of earth
it shoulders its way through the gutters
in search of mother sea
this day begins golden and crisp
bird songs echo empty sunrise streets
me and the first edition
we sit by this morning window
with coffee [...]
Aeropachydermicide
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, art, dark, humor noir, introspection, myth, nature, regret, rhyme, tragedy, wisdom
Aeropachydermicide – recklessly causing the death of someone or something by actions that result from the foolish belief that one is so smart and powerful that one can make an elephant fly.
Aeropachydermicide
•
somewhere between our petrochemical insanity
and our reckless dance with fractured atoms
we believed we were the miracle
and it all went seriously awry
we fantasized we had [...]
Why Raven?
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, dark, mystery, tragedy, wisdom
Why Raven?
•
there stands a raven in the rain
liquid-black as molten coal
beside a woman
besot and broken
thoughts so black and molten
outstretched in her anguish
ravin’ in the rain
raven in the rain
why is it that you stand here
so very soaked and sullen
beside this woman so besot
so broken and bereft
heart so black and shattered
ravin’ in the rain
has her ravin’ called [...]
October
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, beauty, food, gratitude, homage, love, mystery, nature, photo, prose, wisdom, wonder
NOTE: To celebrate this day, I have re-published this piece I originally wrote in 2008.
It is entitled “October”.
___________________________
October is upon us, as we enter our autumn season here in the Pacific Northwest. The cycle of renewal will begin in western Oregon, where I live. The summer’s dry period has ended, and agricultural irrigation has [...]
Images - a ten year vigil
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, courage, dark, dark drama, homage, horror, introspection, love, memories, photo, prayer, regret, tragedy, wisdom
…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 [...]
