Posts Tagged ‘Free Verse’
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 [...]
For Naught
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, mystery, photo, regret
For Naught
•
the virgin page taunts me
untouched
the bright white
throbs like a migraine
no burden of remorse
no weight of mystery
does it bear
no sting of anger
no wink of mirth
does it proffer
nothing sensual or sensitive to share
no tale to spin
no plot to thicken
no coin of phrase to turn
just vast blank space
tormenting nothingness
cruel emptiness
to drain my brain
dissonance spills through my open [...]
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 [...]
Ballo diVita
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, art, beauty, erotic, joy, love, music, mystery, sensuality, whimsy, wonder
Ballo diVita
•
he
a master of time and space
she
so young and trusting
he
a wizard of colors and words
dazzled her with danger and dreams
she
a nubile daughter of nature
anointed him with exotic pleasures
he
replaced the sun in her sky
with a fire he conjured and kept
she
warmed herself in its heat
came to his bed at its setting
they
the left foot and the right foot [...]
Root Quest
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Poetry
Root Quest
•
he walks with staggered step
an uneven broken cadence
for he stumbles with the sins
of his unknown father
resigned to the weight that presses
and bears him bent in melancholy
he does not waver from his path
nor hesitate in his journey
for his stride is for more than one
whose fate he does hold aloft
and through whose pulse and heart
his lifeblood [...]
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 [...]
The Tear
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Poetry
The Tear
•
the dream broke
like a prodigal sun
on a startled winter evening
causing him to squint
blinking away happiness
like sand in the eyes of love
you were there
the disapproving guest
at the final edit party
you took his cues
took his keys
took his shoes
took his leave
you took him for a fool
it wasn’t you didn’t want him
you said
you simply saw yourself
in a different [...]
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 [...]
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 [...]
Slithered
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Poetry, art, dark, mystery, nature, suspense
The Snake Charmer, Henri Rousseau, 1907
Slithered
•
ever hissing ever hissing
the smooth slithered snake
stealthily winds its slender self
to slowly settle in the shadows
to set its searching sights
on its unsuspecting prey
an ever patient sentry
coiled to seize its precious prize
with surety of purpose
this silent sleek assassin
will strike swift and certain
never missing never missing
• • •
rob kistner © 2011
• linked [...]
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 [...]
Disappearing
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, dark, philosophy, regret, wisdom
Disappearing
•
I now move in the world unseen
I am transparent
a fading glimpse
caught in the darkened corner
of an ever dimming eye
where once I blocked the sun
I am but a shadow
moving between shadows
at the edge of light
without form
once a voice
that thundered ‘cross the distance
called all near to listen
in doing so was heard
now hardly just a whisper
my footsteps
shook the [...]
Bogged
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Image, Poetry, courage, dreams, ecstatic, mystery, regret, wisdom, wonder
Bogged
•
that’s the thing about ruts
the longer we remain bogged
the harder it is to escape
•
stopping is no option
to lose the way
is to keep going
keep moving forward
lest one be rutted in uncertainty
rigid with the rigor of fear
bogged down in despair
paralyzed
stalled in hopelessness
the giving in
the giving up
caught in anguish
the rot that sets
with the loss of wonder
when grip lets [...]
Spared
Posted by Rob Kistner | Filed under Free Verse, Poetry, dark, joy, mystery, photo
Spared
•
how I do long
for the damp dreary days
of deep december
when my fallen face
of melancholy
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 [...]
