contemporary poetry

the monarch

POSTED IN contemporary poetry September 3, 2013

the monarch

You rest upon my hand
a monarch butterfly
gently flexing your wings
such fragile beauty
perfectly designed

you wait
for that precise moment
a gentle zephyr
a sun warmed kiss
a call from the universe

I scarcely breathe
my eyes fixed upon you
longing to keep you forever

love catches in my throat

but you are not mine
and never were

In this brief time together
we taught each other
love
beauty and truth

Now
I must let you go
trust
that one day
you will return

Yet while you still remain
the merest touch upon my skin
you have my whole attention
I dare not breathe or blink an eye
lest you disappear

and I realise with great sorrow

I have not had time
to say goodbye.

Amanda Edwards

If I

POSTED IN contemporary poetry September 2, 2013

If I

give you a few coins

live my life in luxury

and leave you in penury

did I give ought of me

or salve to conscience?

or if I play a victim

and then label you as bad

dispense my forgiveness

walk away feeling glad

did I truly forgive ?

If I give tender care

where love enfolds me

is love already shared ?

Do I have love to spare

for those in dire need ?

If I let thoughts rise,

to higher self and love

is it big ego on display

when my words balloon

into the ether today?

If I let my pride feed

energy to fear and power

prop up leaders who divide

puffed up – how can I see

you and i are One humanity?

Gael Bage

despair

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 26, 2013

despair

what do you do
when your muse refuses
to cooperate
slinks into a corner and sulks
or sneers at you … “you suck”
hollows out your insides
and leaves you in despair?

what do you do
to escape the loneliness
of an empty page
staring at the same lines
over and over
until they disappear
in a mist of tears?

what do you do
when you lose self-belief
think you are not good enough
never were … never will be
and despite the affirmations
from your dearest friends
you wallow in self- pity?

perhaps you take a walk
find a peaceful place
to simply be – and reflect
thank God for creating you
brush strokes on his canvas
a composition for his song

loving you for being perfect
just the way you are …
yesterday, today and tomorrow.

Perhaps then you can smile
through your tears of shame
rekindle the fire in your soul

and understand …
your muse never leaves you
He just waits patiently

For you to believe in yourself
to Be … Have … Do!

Amanda Edwards

Pearls of Wisdom

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 24, 2013

Pearls of Wisdom

By the pearls of wisdom that passed down to us,

we wear a shared strand of sensibility

that transcends our cultures and placement in time,

uniting our womanhood bond.

Experience teaches us to be the wiser

regarding our choices and priorities.

Whether near or far, home is where the heart is,

and family always comes first.

Through thick and thin we will persevere,

and we forever find the silver lining.

There are no regrets, only sweet reveries,

and schemes of dreams to be fulfilled.

The vistas invite us like open doors,

for new adventures are out there, waiting.

Embracing each moment of friendship with you

is grounded in life-lasting love.

Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi

Compassion – Meet me There

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 22, 2013

Compassion – Meet me There

In the field, are flowers,
each shares an innate language
unspoken, it has many powers.

though invisible its mystery
is heartfelt, touches feelings
a way of being creatively.

as each one of us participate
our consciousness in expectation
all hearts in what we co-create

breathing life into our world
where all our possibilities exist
within our fear and our love

we are war and peace, the whore
and holy, the weakness and power
heart does not judge or score

in the feeling lies the prayer.

Gael Bage

best seller

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 21, 2013

best seller

Perhaps I may only sell a handful
of my books
Perhaps it is true
that my kind of story does not sell

but if I sell my soul
to be a ‘best seller’
will it matter how many books I sold?

perhaps to you it will
but to me
I wrote the story I wanted to tell
and as Frost might say,

that has made all the difference.

Amanda Edwards

Eternity in a Moment

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 19, 2013

Eternity in a Moment

eyes are a window
on the world orbs rove,
inquire of infinity.

Awareness rises
ascends in a spiral
revering all life

Cosmic waves in me
and in you traverse
the universe

sigh with the wind’s
suspire, open to feel
myriad connections

circle of One,
eternity in a moment
of ancient wisdom

unfurl our sails
on our quantum ocean
no exclusivity

stars and planets
are there for everyone
our ship’s is Unison.

Gael Bage

a lazy afternoon

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 19, 2013

a lazy afternoon

the sun warms my back
as I sit and drowse a little

composing a poem

a symphony of sound
accompanies my thoughts

the hum of my laptop
tap tap tapping of the keys
the drone of distant aircraft
a purring refrigerator

firewood waits patiently
outside
in the trailer for me

you like your fire don’t you?
well then?

the freezer automatically makes ice
it doesn’t know it is winter

a pumpkin sits moulding away
at the kitchen sink
won’t turn into soup by itself
pity

the bananas blacken, sweeten
nicely maturing for a cake

perhaps tomorrow

today
there’s just enough time
to warm my back
drowse a little and dream.

Amanda Edwards

Unconditional Love

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 16, 2013

Unconditional Love

Like walking a tightrope, I strive
for a balanced view of life’s ride
But balance is not considered normal
most people come down either side

Lemmings – we rush to take sides
do battle in wars that no one can win
the conscientious objectors are denied
held, on short rations, as if in sin

If we choose to love inclusively
look at truth, walk in another’s shoes
we will be shunned, others fail to see,
judging what shows, expect their dues

Often the abuser, was first abused
Oh yes, his victim needs love and care
but a cycle of abuser, using and used
renews if in judging – we fail to share

the pain of the child in the perpetrator
he also suffered and endured. Perhaps
he never knew normal but daily torture
played with as a sexual toy. Slapped

and intimidated, he learns to comply
until by and by, it seems quite normal
a way of life, why change? Why try ?
Condemned – no one hears his child call.

It seems it’s compulsory to take sides
after divorce some side with the husbands
others firmly on the side of the brides
sometimes children are expected to stand

with Mum or Dad. Is it not cruel to ask
a child to divide love in two and choose ?
When friends fall out, fight and shout,
try to keep all as friends and you lose

for they think you side with the enemy
in truth – I see each One’s humanity.

Gael Bage

Refugee Man

POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 15, 2013

Refugee Man

In the camps only the rats are fat yet always hungry
splashing on beady feet through the gutters

from place to place, weaselling through the holes
where the wind blows in its silent breaths, looking for water

the wind and the rat, light-fingered thieves of
those bits we have hoarded and waited for

Up among the legs of a woman, in caches of fur and bread crumbs
They crawl in their secrets, chewing holes in another language through plastic bags?
Stuffed in dark places

I teach my son somewhere new and we find
tiny marks of teeth and the smell of wind breath, sour from the salt, on bags left collapsed
of any life they might have had

And so he learns
And so he will keep on with his stones in the air and one day

he’ll become a million pieces of flesh falling through the sky
singing red in Jerusalem

Susan Wolff