Author: Rob Kistner

Rāgarāja’s Daughter

 

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 folds upon you satin supple
to bathe in warmth your arched desire

divinely-pleasing luscious morsel
served up by a master’s hand
passion bound to tantalize
to hypnotize my hungry eyes

lost in carnal fantasy
fired by this goddess buff
arises now my animal
in a beastly urgent lust

to wrap ‘round
this maiden magic
flesh to flesh
to full consume
to thrust
and thrust
my randy lust
’til passion’s seed
has turned to dust
and wanton
carnal flames
are snuffed

Spring’s sweet madness
at last
enough

• • •

rob kistner © 2012

• linked at Magpie Tales

Specter

 

Specter

•

child of tragedy
touched by death
entangled in melancholy

clouded by sorrows
that shadow
your garden of dreams

• • •

rob kistner © 2012

Golden Lady

 

Golden Lady

•

golden lady in sensuous silk
a beauty sure to mesmerize
sculpted by a master’s hand
so seductive as to scandalize

a stare of comely crystal blue
floats above a ruby pout
spellbound by her magic eyes
she holds your soul with no way out

her tongue tip teases her top lip’s edge
like a supple paintbrush flowing
her smile will fire and hypnotize
then wrap around you knowing

you are now her helpless captive
quite hopelessly addicted
in the velvet grip of this smoldering waif
is she an angel — or is she wicked

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• linked at Magpie Tales

____________

image by Bert Stern

The Journey

 

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

…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 I walk
is of my making

and

I will not have it
any other way

your iron fist
I destroyed it

your sage advice
I avoid it

you can
rant
rave
condemn
and preach

your approval
I do not beseech

I seek only
my good counsel

I’ll not succumb
to might
or muscle

not be swayed
by your slick hustle

I am a man
of my own mind

and I will live
as my own man

this is all
I want to be

well-traveled
loved

and free

• • •

rob kistner © 2008

_____________________

image at top entitled: “Lennon”

10/9/40 – 12/8/80

• • •

 

…inspired by writing prompt #54, found at “readwritepoem”.

Our True Work

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…

 

Our True Work

•

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 are all together
in this constant labor
for our daily bread

and this toil to sustain the body
this does not feed the spirit
this is not our true work

to lift someone in need
to measure well in tolerance
to seek the components of peace
to create enduring possibility

this is the true work
in the final sweep
‘round the face of time

this is what the soul eats

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• linked at Magpie Tales and OSI

Tell Me

Tell Me

•

love

the sweet paradox
the great mystery
the heart’s quandary

tell me what you know
about the giving
the receiving

tell me please
what you know
about love

about connection

about the magic >+< of the sync

for together
feels always
feels only

……………………alone

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

Gone

…to loved ones missed, now sadly departed…

Gone

•

after the clutter of leaving
after the hurry of goodbye
after sweet anticipation faded away

after no more embraces
after the laughter was memory
after the sadness collected day upon day

after the spaces fell empty
after the familiar grew distant
after our time together had become the past

after the taste of regret
after the loneliness mounted
after sands in the glass spilled away much too fast

I did not think it would be this quiet
I did not think it would seem so far
no I did not know it could be so quiet
nor did I know how this silence would scar

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

Bliss

 

Bliss

•

let us dare
sweet lust’s advance
to intertwine
in love’s enhance

I burn to offer
love’s special kiss
to fire your soul
in passion’s bliss

to enfold you deep
in nocturne’s hour
to taste the nectar
of your tender flower

you are the dream
that I adore
my one desire
to love you more

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• linked at Magpie Tales

The Dimming

 

The Dimming

•

here is the change

the forgetting

the slipping away
into the haze of memory

the frustration
of no longer being able
and still
the burning longing to…
remember

and you
dimming in this fog
midst the times we have cherished
the places we have loved
fading beyond reach

an ever-mounting loneliness
like so many vacant seats

empty

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• linked at Magpie Tales

Together True

 

Together True

•

you came to me
deep in my summer
on the wings of spring

filled with hope and wonder
fresh and sweet
as nature’s nectar

you brought my heart to quicken
breathed new life
to fill my soul

awakening forgotten passion
the stir of dreams
the fire of joy

we’ve lived life in celebration
touched mystery
embraced the awe

never ran away from trouble
the good and bad
we faced head on

we’ve traveled now into our winter
a place of challenge
a time of change

though the chill is at the door
still we’re blessed
with nurtured warmth

no matter what life’s weather threatens
we’re ever wrapped
in love’s embrace

side by side as was our promise
together true
to journey’s end

• • •

rob kistner © 2011


Silent

 

Silent

~

do you hear the autumn wind
stirring in the branches

do you hear the leaves rustle

do you hear my breath
whispering your name

do you hear my heart beat

do you hear my tears fall

or is it silent

silent as the light-less realm
that hauntingly engulfs my soul

silent as that night
when apples spilled
on the broken stair
where rail eluded
your grasping hand

silent as your futile cry
when no voice came
to grace your lips

tender lips
that parted gently
to hold my kiss

lips

that will not know again
sweet fruit

nor love

~ ~ ~

rob kistner © 2011

 

poem & image above inspired by visual prompt below

* linked 2011 at Magpie Tales

* linked 2020 at Poets & Storytellers

Two Moments

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 and college graduations, and his early career. This was an incredible gift he gave me.

The second, “Book of Days”, is about the moment, two days ago, when he and his wife Christine, moved from Oregon to pursue a career advancement — a deeply bittersweet moment for me.

 

Night Sky

•

you arrived in spring
asking why I’d left

I had no good response
but the other shoe had fallen
with a deafening thud
so what was I to do

you looked startled by life
and asked me about sorrow

I had no good response
so I took you in
and watched as you untangled truth
marveling at your balance

for 19 years
together we watched the night sky
and wondered about love

• • •

rob kistner © 2011


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 the way of nature
the son becomes the father
the father bows away

yet stands this father’s dream
would that this space between
but vanish with this pain
of bittersweet farewell

that the book somehow rewritten
would bend both time and space
and my days once more
stretch full to your horizon

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

Book of Days

 

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 the way of nature
the son becomes the father
the father bows away

yet stands this father’s dream
would that this space between
but vanish with this pain
of bittersweet farewell

that the book somehow rewritten
would bend both time and space
and my days once more
stretch full to your horizon

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• written for my son Justin upon his moving away

For Naught

 

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 window
the scatter of autumn showers
stir of october wind
rustle of moist leaves

in the distance
muffled keens
bursts of barking
far off yelps

the edgy piercing din
of dripping prowling night
intrudes in damp insistence
to fill my head
fevered with frustration
to leave not one small space for wit

the search for insight all for naught

no spark to light this dark
no muse in sight

nothing clever or profound
in the air this night

chilled
slack

uninspired

• • •

rob kistner © 2011

• linked at Magpie Tales