Guild Poetry

[Saazerac Atherstone]

I apologize, but I didn't see a Discussion thread already started to hold poetry. Lan Lian held it's first poetry contest and reading, open to all. With Lindens provided by Flynt Firebrand and the theme of "dangerous conversation", we heard a number of poets read their own works, and more have their poems read by Aqua and Saaz.

These readings will become a regular event and get even better. Below, please find the works presented with winning poems (audience vote) denoted. 

1st Place
Glass by FionaFei

hushed
voice
in the dark shadows of my thoughts
shattering glass beneath my feet
quiet
drumming rhythm of our hearts
beating faster with fading words
moving lips
silenced only by flowing tears
look what we have done
shattering glass beneath my feet

=============

2nd place
Dangerous Sherberts by Zai Yi

Sherbert often finds the houri's favour
fizzing lightness upon a soft pink tongue
each sparkling with their own secret flavour
each wanting, even needing, to belong

her looks alluring, yet full of savour,
her words so discrete will leave you undone,
can you meet her alone, are you braver
than those who failed thinking they were the one

but now make haste, for your time is running low
can your talk excite her sense of danger?
will you know her, from head to dainty toe?
or will you retreat, and leave a stranger

She knows, she waits, she watches, weighs
and in the darkest night, she walks her ways

=============

2nd Place
Conversations by wisequill

sitting at this beautiful place, i wonder

i contemplate deep;observes; ponder

thinks of all old times

words exchanged, conversations

few couldn't stay for long

few are still in heart

like a deep feeling

making me smile in each breath

the poet inside me asks

"why to some talk become dangerous"

"what makes them unbearable"

perhaps to expect

when we know we can't

or to express

when we know we shouldn't

or when we feel taken granted

or is it about the sweet lies

that make us dream

and we wait long for nothing

but to understand and become silent

do the silent hurts most ?

or is it the harsh words ?

it is the ego ?

or the feeling of losing someone ?

or is it just when we lose ourselves ?

sitting at this beautiful place, i wonder

i contemplate deep;observes; ponder

=============

3rd place
Conversation with a crow by Tevor Zenovka

I'm a dark shadow on a black night,
Watching her glow in the 20 watt light
Like damp dress on a clothes line
A silent body in the wind

She sits alone at the kitchen table in a lonely northern shack.
My dry words blow across her path like a brandy and shortwave.

The black crows laugh, mean voices on on this mean November night
They sit up on the high tension wires in a dark, uneasy wind

My words unheard are meant for you and only you. You and you alone.

Do you remember the death row toll road?
The iron bed frame and the plastic sheets?
The unread books and the dry wide eyes?
The appeals denied?

And with the flip of a switch to the battery
I heard you cry
Dark cold whisperings

The crows sing in the high tension wires,
they sing in the high black trees
Static - stories rustle in the leaves
I rattle on your window pain

The clothes still shift in the shadows
Still hang damp on the line
I'm a silent body in the wind
I fling for your attention.

=============

Broken Mirrors
by DharmaBum

Let us discuss opinions and beliefs
Mine are righteous; how 'bout yours?
Of course your viewpoint is much too narrow.
You haven't seen the the whole damn picture.

I resent your thought that i am less than.
You are posing such irritating Questions!
Surely you are lost in you tangled thinking.
Just look and see how I have seen it.

Where am I now, oh crap again, no!
I have lost sight of how this happens.
Myself I see in your confusion.
Forgive me friend, this broken illusion

We share again a lost moment of light
Relax and breathe to set all right.

Let go...

Still can't smile?
Turn up the corners of your mouth!

This too will pass.

=============
Conversations are dangerous
by June Clavenham

Conversations are dangerous
Because they assume so much
The world you live in
And the world i live in
Are different ones
We only can be missunderstood each other
When one describes a landscape
That the other has never seen
But believes its the one
They see every morning from they window.
There are no dangerous conversations
Only uncaring ones

=============
[Untitled] by Carlyle Chaparral

ll these eyes looking at me.
And I am looking at me too.
I know I don’t see real eyes.
But the eyes I see, see me.
I know you don’t see the real me.
But sometimes this me you see
is more real me than me.

=============

I Told Her To Give Him Up
Tevor Zenovka

She said it was bad love and fast cars
I said “Trust breaks your back, rips your heart from the socket and serves it on a silver tray.”

Accidents
And apologies
Crutches and a fruit basket
A hospital bed and a big bouquet.

Love is the blind spot in the rear view mirror
The rush hour traffic where your heart's been sent to play.

He was a nutcracker bad love with a head like a walnut, and you , a hairline fracture in your eggshell porcelain heart

It was a bad love that taught you to look after you leap
Rancid candy that rots your teeth
a bad love that leaves your heart singing to the dentist.

It was a bad love

=============

Vertrauen...by Aby Ti Qi

Jeden Abend,
wenn ich des Sommers
ins Bett gehe...
... da hängt da eine FETTE Spinne
in ihrem Netz, da! im Fenstereck!.
Ich fühle, wie sie sich diebisch freut
da so dick in ihrem Netz hockend
in mir Angst verbreitet
sie könne mir
über des schlafens Zeit
in die Nase beissen!

Doch jeden morgen,
immer und immer wieder,
da hockt sie da...
....still in ihrem Netz!
nur ein paar tote Mücken
und etwas Fliegendreck
zeugen von ihrer stillen Kraft...

Nur langsam gewöhne ich mich
ihrer unangenehmen Anwesenheit.
Doch sie scheint treu
ganz nach ihrem Motto
"In der Ruhe liegt meine Kraft!"
mir wohl zu gewandt.
Und mit jedem neuen Sommertag
-etwas mehr-
erfreue ich mir ihrer,
Denn auf ihrer Fanges Treu -
da ist Verlass!

Mac, 29.122017

Trust...

Nightly,
while the summer time
I go to bed ...
... there is a FAT spider hanging there
in their network, there! in the window corner !.
I feel like its thievishly happy
there crouching so thick in her net
spread fear in me
she could
along sleeping time
bite me in my nose!

But every morning,
over and over again,
there she sits ...
.... still in her net!
only a few dead mosquitoes
and a little flycatcher
father to its silent power ...

Only slowly do I get used to it
her unpleasant presence.
But she seems faithful
according to their motto
"In the peace lies my strength!"
well turned to me..
And with every new summer day
-a bit more-
I enjoy her,
Because on its fangs good faith -
there you can trust!

Mac, 29.12.2017

=====================
Clickbait: Your Relationship is in Trouble if You Hear These Fifteen Phrases by Saazerac

You know what's wrong
with you? Can I be honest
about something? Where

do you see this
relationship going? Here's
this thing I want, do you

want the same? Here's
my heart, do you
want it? Do you

love me? I don't love
you. I don't *love*
love you. I don't

love you like
that. I don't like
you. I'm not like

you. Well, I'm not
you. Mad? I'm not mad. Why
would I be mad? No.

Fine.

***

It Wouldn't Be a Picnic by Saazerac

If we're perfect and still
then nothing will break, not the cups
in our hands, not the sweat
on our hands, not our hearts
in our hands. Our talk
plods like ants, steady,
hard-working machines. At first
we pretend not to see
one in the strawberries, a speck
of unwash, a countable group
seeking the open bag of chips,
a steady line finding
their way to the lemonade. How long
'til we're overrun and surrender, leaving
so many crumbs behind, to dissolve
under the march of words?

----------------------------------------------------------

Breaking It Down 05-21-2020 by Aqua Aura Firecaster

Dangerous conversation
Is not to be confused with dangerous speech such as inciting a riot
Or yelling fire in a crowded theater
But this is gonna be just me and what it means to me
Your mileage most definitely will differ
Which is what keeps it interesting
And exactly what I am looking to have happen here

Speaking truth to power is dangerous in conversation or otherwise
Fomenting an uprising is dangerous speech
But conversation implies willing exchange between us
An openness to hear each other
To really listen and then to be honest and real and even raw sometimes
In response
None of this is easy
And none of this is welcome everywhere you go, even here
But as this is the world we create
And this space in particular is the one my heart and spirit intends to co-create with you
I have wanted from day one to have the atmosphere be welcoming
And even encouraging for such exchanges

Historically there have been places where folks felt free to talk with others
Of like mind
Perhaps they were off the beaten track
Or you had to come by invitation only
Or they were hidden in secret locations where people risked their lives to show up
Here we are open but still we attract those drawn by
Love
Relief and pleasure in dancing for a bit
Or having a quick beer
Or exchanging thoughts and ideas and dreams with others

These last couple of days have been difficult
Reflecting that which is around
I have been breaking down
Exposing the structural cracks internally
Just as one would do with the foundation of a building one wants to preserve
Or decide if it needs tearing down and rebuilding from the bottom up
So in this case all the dangerous conversation has been in my own head

I am happy to not be alone today

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Imagine Myself Sitting on the Ground Outside 05-04-2020 by Aqua Aura Firecaster

I sit as one sits a circle
I sit protesting what my species has done
And I sit to lay this burden down
Because right now I just want to cry
Because before the altars talking to the Gods as I made offerings
I owned up to being absolutely clueless
Feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of people hurting
It was one more post saying please help these folks

I do not know how
I have a roof over my head
That much is paid by my stipend
And a little bit more but not enough
To meet all the bills

But I have more than many
And if I could, if my coffers were big enough I would empty them
And fill the need of any who approached

Oh!

The God sits next to me now
And I cannot tell if he is smiling or serious
Maybe both because He just took me to the place
I needed to go
It is not about whether one has enough to do all the things
No one person does
But it is about looking at one’s heart and seeing
Yes I am willing to give everything I can to help

He laughs and says please do not empty your bank account
Because that will not serve except to give us somebody else
To worry about
Because you would then need to be totally supported with the basics somehow
And we have already set you up with just enough

Instead of feeling guilty about having just enough
Trust Us to lead you to places where you can be kind
Where you can share healing
Where you can open your heart in willingness

Have I not always been the one to tell you how to stay alive
By acts of generosity

And yes you can allow yourself to be clueless as to when and how
And just accept, from past evidence if you are doubtful,
That when the proper time to give comes
We will let you know how and what and where

When the proper time to receive comes
We will also let you know
Even though you may not understand that receiving from another
Is a gift to them as well

Now don’t you feel better?
Off to bed and not to cry yourself to sleep
There are better ways to end your day

Thank you An Dagda Mor

[Beeflin Grut]

Congratulations on an event filled with content!

[Saazerac Atherstone]

Another month of poetry being celebrated at Lan Lian! 

Theme: Rebirth and Renewal (except for Saaz, who did anticipation because she forgot)

Lineup:
Aqua, The Choice to Change 08-19-2020
Justine, Renewal poem
Tevor, There are words
Zai, Rebirth & Renewal, Mandarin
Kaneha, Reborn
Flynt, Swimming for the Sky
Rhia, a waka, about the travel on Alice's ship for the ceremony
Gos, Rebirth & Renewal Maiku Short Poem 20.08.20
Saaz, Schroedinger's Birthday

*
The Choice to Change 08-19-2020, Aqua Aura Firecaster

When confronted with stress
In its extreme
Whether internal or external
Or both
There are conditioned habitual responses
Or there are those responses tempered
By choice
By surrender
By flow

We assume that the body in its reaction
To stress
Often resulting in hunching or closing in upon itself
To protect
Has the greater wisdom
But, poor dear, its prime directive is to survive
That is why soldiers can be made
And become twisted where that is all they think life is
Survive or kill

The body in its sweet awareness
Does communicate well when things are wrong
When the air is not fit to breathe
It calls us to take shelter
When it is too hot the same
Or if it is so cold as to freeze one into a permanent sleep
When it needs to exercise to maintain health
When proper foods are needed
The needs of a healthy animal are important
But fear of change is not healthy

All things change in life
Even the most ancient of oaks will fall
Rivers carve away mountains forming canyons
Snakes shed their skins
Winter coats thin out when summer comes
Trees drop their foliage and rest within the winter
Before bringing new life when spring approaches

Recently I was brought to an abrupt realization
That I had been locked into patterns
That were habitual and rigid
Regimens that perhaps were a comfort to my ADHD brain
But destructive to my energy levels
And my peace of mind
So much noise set up around me
That there was no way a morning meditation
Or hour of sending Reiki
And the offerings and other practices
Could lift my mind and spirit as they were intended to do

After a step much desired to serve Aphrodite better
Everything came crashing down
Just as rock bottom can save an addict from self destruction
By giving them the opportunity to wake up to new choices
My crash made me take time and space to contemplate
How to make the best use of my life
In a way that brought me the ability to love and serve
At my best

I made changes
I made space
I made decisions, sometimes painful
To let go of work patterns
And social patterns
That were a source of exhaustion
And a lack of consciousness in how my speech and actions
Had affected others

This change was much like
Throwing a child into the lake to teach them to swim
And the kindest most loving gift
The Holy Powers could give me

The chance to start again
With beginner’s mind

I am lighter now and stronger
And more aware of the chance to flow
Each and every day
No matter what the challenges may be

*

Renewal Poem, Justine Johndory

As Persephone returns to Demeter’s breast
So too does the fertile earth bring forth new abundance
Each cycle a renewal, different, wondrous
And so it is with our own lives
We sow, we reap, we sow, we reap
Some years corn
Some years wheat
Each season of our lives brings
Redemption
Regeneration
A different form, the same heart

*

There are Words, Tevor Zenovka

There is the world
There is our world
There is your world.
There is my world.
There is her world.

There are world's where each collides and separates,
Worlds where we and she and you and I and they overlap, merge and part
Merge, and part.
Merge.
And part.

I think how foolish it is to turn to words
When there are no words.
To write down what cannot be spoken
As if the writing will make it real

They say words fail
But it's not true.
We fail, fail to find the words,
Fail to find that there are no words.
There are no words
No words.

These words should be arms
These words should be breath
These words should be sound, and fury, and patience.
And love.
These words should be.
But there are no words
No words.

*

Rebirth and Renewal, Priestess Zai

lets start again, they said to me
things will be better, you will see
it'll be different, better this time
a refrain they repeated with glee

and i feel like i've become a mime
only able to express myself in rhyme
and hopeless gestures behind a non-existant wall
knowing it's the same hill we fail to climb

I need to flee before I fall
rise like a phoenix to the fire's call
burning all my past away
as like a babe into a new world I crawl

*

Mandarin, Priestess Zai

Elegant ducks down the river glide
As foolish poets choose their rhymes
Then the phoenix duck will hide
Till darkness heralds safer times.
Mandarin like a phoenix floats
Serene and peaceful, with all his wives
As poets yammer in their boats
Buzzing like disturbed bee hives
But who creeps up through darkling trees
Dressed in white yet not a bride
Crawling now on grass stained knees
As knife in hand he tries to hide
Will beautiful ducks a pate make?
No, for chef can't swim the lake.

*

Reborn, Kaneha

The sting of harsh words
A crushing weight
Confusion and panic
I can't think straight

Confidence shattered
My heart dies inside
Fragments imploding
I crawl off to hide

Wounds deftly tended
Shards gathered in
Stitched back together
Once more to begin

Confidence shattered
But held by a thread
Towards comprehension
So gently led

Slowly I rise
The thread seems to hold
Confidence reborn
Once more I'll be bold

*

Swimming for the Sky, Flynt Firebrand

They do say that humble carp
who leap the falls of the Yellow River at Dragon Gate,
are transformed into dragons,
taking the air as if born to it.
And I am but a carp,
I know - not even the biggest or strongest
swimming here.
Bound in my picine nature,
I am yet unsuited to the sky;
these fins are water tools
not made for soaring,
and I would gasp to breathe
where dragons dance.
And yet
I feel in my scales
that some sweet day I shall leap
and unfold great wings,
defying the fall.
Today, I am a fish.
but I will keep jumping.

*

A Waka, Rhia

one step, just one step
and a thousand mile journey
passed in a dream.
Clouds in the sky, floating on
vanish over the world's edge

*

A Short Maiku Poem, Tóng Tï

The Metamorphosis of Life ~

Butterfly flutters
Resting on leaves in sunshine
Laying eggs of life

A few days later..
Caterpillars do Emerge
Eating gorging consuming

Stuffed and so very filled
Curl up still making cocoon
Rest before again

*

Schroedinger's Birthday, Saazerac, 8.20.20

It's the breath before you speak, eternal
silence before a cup clatters
to the floor. Does it break? Does it
matter? Schroedinger ruined the moment

for everyone He's the reason
we don't invite physicists
to parties. Who can relax
with his cats and indecision--in or out,

life or death? We came for cake,
and until we hold that comforting plate
in our hands, we'll feel responsible
for the death of the party. Our eyes

slide past him in the hedgerows
of twilight and claim plausible deniability
until the host steps out, candle
flicker dancing, a celebration

of light and life, and we lift
our champagne, step close confirming--
Cake, oh yes cake. The cup hits
the floor and we can breathe again as one.