Posts Tagged ‘courage’
La Nature du Feu
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, dark, nature, photo, regret, tragedy, wisdom
…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 [...]
Poet In Arms
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, action, courage, photo, wisdom
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 [...]
The Keepers
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, courage, mystery, philosophy, wisdom, wonder
The Keepers
•
from the spark of cognizance
at the dawn of awareness
through the ions of fire and conflict
forward past the dark times
beyond the ages of change
into these centuries of new growth
they have kept it
locked in their hearts
burning in their souls
the keepers of the secret
and now
on the threshold of actualization
realizations unfold
its safeguard is the catalyst
it must never be [...]
Sooth
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, courage, mystery, wisdom, wonder
Sooth
•
seek not the pompous
swelled with false confidence
dispensing the formulas of bliss
condemning you as the un-visioned
while fleecing you of your hard begotten
follow not the kings and queens of mammon
who worship the bottom line
desiring the upper hand
who would despoil the world and all it offers
as their playground of gratification
suffer not the priests and priestesses
who would say that [...]
Panther
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Haiku, Image, Poetry, beauty, courage, dark, horror, love, memories, mystery, nature, photo, regret, tragedy
• 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 [...]
Emerge In Grace
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, Tanka, art, courage, ecstatic, joy, love, mystery, philosophy, wisdom, wonder
…this tanka was inspired by prompt #26 at Writer’s Island,
and by prompt #139 at One Single Impression.
Emerge In Grace
•
go down in trial
endure the tribulation
emerge rapt in grace
steeled by the tempering fire
molten molded pure and strong
• • •
rob kistner © 2010
Champion
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, Tanka, courage, love, rhyme, wisdom
Offered in response to prompt #138 at One Single Impression.
Champion
•
search not in the bright lights
that illuminate the field of glory
nor midst the din of exaltation
if you seek a hero’s story
look instead outside the glare
in the quiet place beyond
where no accolades are strewn
and no ivy laurels donned
where daily life is hard
and the living less than grand
where [...]
No First Ink
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, courage, dark, humor noir, mystery, photo, prayer, satire, stream of consciousness, suspense, wisdom
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 [...]
The Taste
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Haiku, Poetry, courage, dark, haibun, horror, love, memories, mystery, prose, regret, sensuality, tragedy
This type of poem is known as a haibun, and combines prose with haiku. It is offered in response to the September 20th prompt at Big Tent Poetry.
The Taste
•
It was an embrace I’d wished had been endless, at our tearful farewell – your body supple and warm, pulsing with life.
lips lush as cognac
open softly to [...]
Mute
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, dark, love, mystery, photo, tragedy
This piece is offered in response to the September 13th prompt at Big Tent Poetry.
Mute
•
there is no half-eaten answer
with which to embellish
or to skirt the evidence
the stench of truth
permeates the debris of proof
in a swarm of crusted guilt
the orphaned child of supposition
abandoned on the dock of iniquity
impaled by the chant of sterile innuendo
wearing a temporary [...]
Mother-less
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, art, courage, dark, horror, memories, mystery, photo, photorendering, rant, regret, tragedy, wisdom
This piece is offered in response to prompt Mag 31 at Magpie Tales
Mother-less
(bastard’s lament)
•
undesired
discarded
thrown away
though whole
sound
and useful
no matter
labeled mistake
misbegotten
unfortunate
shown the back
outside
looking in
left behind
alone
by the side
of life’s road
to endure
the harsh weather
of abandonment
tried
convicted
sentenced for life
to suffer confusion
shame
the sorrow
of the unwanted
condemned
guilty only
of the crime
of inconvenience
• • •
rob kistner © 2010
You & Me
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, art, beauty, courage, dark, gratitude, horror, joy, love, mystery, photo, photorendering, regret, rhyme, tragedy, whimsy, wisdom, wonder
…I offer this piece in response to prompt #69 at Carry On Tuesday,
and prompt #18 at We Write Poems,
also the September 6th prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
and the September 8th prompt at Three Word Wednesday…
You &Me
(a poetic quadratych)
•
The Secret
what I said was
don’t touch
go away
leave me be
while inside
I cried out
draw near
stay with me
you are light
you are [...]
Breakthrough
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Image, Poetry, courage, gratitude, joy, love, photo, prayer, rhyme, tragedy, wisdom, wonder
…this piece is in response to the 19th prompt of 2010 on Writer’s Island,
and offered for prompt 132 at One Single Impression,
and for prompt 231 at Sunday Scribblings….
Breakthrough
•
rise up
clad in colors of a joyful life
rebuke the strife
tilt against convention
the prevailing norm
is a toxic storm
buck the winds of rebuff
ignore the false contention
stare down the face [...]
For No One
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, art, courage, joy, minimalist, nature, philosophy, wisdom, wonder
…this piece is in response to prompt #17 at We Write Poems,
and prompt #69 at Carry On Tuesday,
also the September 1st prompt at Three Word Wednesday…
For No One
•
the cadence
to which I tight step
pulses
in my heart
alone
it is my coursing vital
stirs my spirit
steels my resolve
drives me on
into the fray
emboldened
“to thine own self”
resonates
the chambers
of my soul
sweet
as the song
of [...]
True Work
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Haiku, Image, Poetry, Tanka, art, beauty, courage, dark, gratitude, love, mystery, nature, philosophy, photo, tragedy, wisdom, wonder
…I offer this piece in response to prompt #67 at Carry On Tuesday,
and prompt #16 at We Write Poems,
also the August 23rd prompt at Big Tent Poetry,
and the August 25th prompt at Three Word Wednesday,
and prompt #18 at Writer’s Island,
and finally prompt #131 at One Single Impression…
______________
AUTHOR”S NOTE: I had this incomplete 3-year-old draft of [...]
