Submissions by atarliss
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poet Introduction
The only thing I know is that I write because I need to.
To Be A King
To wear a crown
And be a king
Must be
A terrible thing,
I think,
To feel
The hopes and dreams,
The limbs and lives
Of an entire
People
Entwined in
The simple circlet
Of gold
Wrapped about
One's brow...
To be the first in feast,
And first in famine,
To laugh the loudest
Over the smallest
Of meals,
To hold
The judgment scale,
To choose between
The justice sword
And mercy's harp…
All this
Must be a
Dreadful burden to...
And be a king
Must be
A terrible thing,
I think,
To feel
The hopes and dreams,
The limbs and lives
Of an entire
People
Entwined in
The simple circlet
Of gold
Wrapped about
One's brow...
To be the first in feast,
And first in famine,
To laugh the loudest
Over the smallest
Of meals,
To hold
The judgment scale,
To choose between
The justice sword
And mercy's harp…
All this
Must be a
Dreadful burden to...
79 reads
1 Comment
Forest Royalty
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Whispering grasses
Gather together
To spread their
Emerald best,
An avenue
For
The royal feet.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Green trees
Stretch their
Lengthy branches
To pluck the harp
Of morning wind,
Whistling
Sweet music
Before
The royal ears.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Rippling streams
Send their droplets
Cascading on
Their sparkling way,
Shimmering
Sapphire
Before
The royal eyes.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Flowers bend
Their weighty...
Whispering grasses
Gather together
To spread their
Emerald best,
An avenue
For
The royal feet.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Green trees
Stretch their
Lengthy branches
To pluck the harp
Of morning wind,
Whistling
Sweet music
Before
The royal ears.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Rippling streams
Send their droplets
Cascading on
Their sparkling way,
Shimmering
Sapphire
Before
The royal eyes.
All hail the Fairy Queen!
Flowers bend
Their weighty...
52 reads
2 Comments
Invisible Me
I am a vapor,
An invisible mist
That comes
And goes,
Fills
And fades,
Waxes
And wanes,
An untouchable
Gasp of ether
That neither
Man nor beast
Can touch--
None can see me,
None can harm me,
Yet like a wind
They feel me near,
And shudder
From my
Foggy fingers
As I draw
Back into
My transparency,
Basking in
The tranquility
Born
Of invisibility.
An invisible mist
That comes
And goes,
Fills
And fades,
Waxes
And wanes,
An untouchable
Gasp of ether
That neither
Man nor beast
Can touch--
None can see me,
None can harm me,
Yet like a wind
They feel me near,
And shudder
From my
Foggy fingers
As I draw
Back into
My transparency,
Basking in
The tranquility
Born
Of invisibility.
67 reads
2 Comments
A Haiku of Storms
Billowing clouds surge
Across the darkened sky like
Sooty tsunamis.
Across the darkened sky like
Sooty tsunamis.
34 reads
1 Comment
Butterflies
Butterflies
Are made
Of summer wind
And crumpled paper,
A miniscule
Masterpiece
Of colored tissue
And feather filaments,
Prim and perfect polygons
Gently floating,
Dipping, soaring,
Skimming away with
Every breeze—
Each a
Lovely little
Culmination
Of summer wind
And crumpled paper.
Are made
Of summer wind
And crumpled paper,
A miniscule
Masterpiece
Of colored tissue
And feather filaments,
Prim and perfect polygons
Gently floating,
Dipping, soaring,
Skimming away with
Every breeze—
Each a
Lovely little
Culmination
Of summer wind
And crumpled paper.
47 reads
1 Comment
Not
The sky is not blue,
The grass is not green.
The stars are not far,
The light is not seen.
The moon is not dim,
The sun is not bright.
The clouds are not pale,
The dark is not night.
The sea is not wet,
The land is not dry.
The birds do not sing,
This poem is not a lie.
The grass is not green.
The stars are not far,
The light is not seen.
The moon is not dim,
The sun is not bright.
The clouds are not pale,
The dark is not night.
The sea is not wet,
The land is not dry.
The birds do not sing,
This poem is not a lie.
48 reads
5 Comments
Une Pomme et Une Orange
Je mange une pomme et
Mange une orange...leur jus est
Doux de le soleil.
Mange une orange...leur jus est
Doux de le soleil.
46 reads
1 Comment
The Library's Back Shelf
The dim dust
Of ancient paper
Gently fills
My nostrils
As my eager fingers
Rifle through
Yellowed pages
And smeary text,
Skimming over
Cracked book covers,
Flipping through
Their crumpled pages
Folded back
With long-eared
Corners,
Gazing at the
Scribbled pencil notes
That stud the
Margins
Like the gold
That once gilded
The covers
But now
Has turned
To brass...
Now as I skid
Through dusty papers,
Smudged and stained
With dirt of ages,
I feel the
Spirit
Of those ...
Of ancient paper
Gently fills
My nostrils
As my eager fingers
Rifle through
Yellowed pages
And smeary text,
Skimming over
Cracked book covers,
Flipping through
Their crumpled pages
Folded back
With long-eared
Corners,
Gazing at the
Scribbled pencil notes
That stud the
Margins
Like the gold
That once gilded
The covers
But now
Has turned
To brass...
Now as I skid
Through dusty papers,
Smudged and stained
With dirt of ages,
I feel the
Spirit
Of those ...
51 reads
4 Comments
Fairies
Sometimes I half believe in fairies
When I walk among the dewdrops
Strung like diamonds on the berries.
I make believe they spin the raindrops,
Weave the grass of chanted spells,
And mold the moon of milky teardrops.
I dream at night they paint the bluebells,
Stain the glass of azure sky,
Sing the songs of shoreline seashells...
Perhaps I'll see a fairy, by and by.
When I walk among the dewdrops
Strung like diamonds on the berries.
I make believe they spin the raindrops,
Weave the grass of chanted spells,
And mold the moon of milky teardrops.
I dream at night they paint the bluebells,
Stain the glass of azure sky,
Sing the songs of shoreline seashells...
Perhaps I'll see a fairy, by and by.
42 reads
3 Comments
An Eagle in Flight
Wide black wings
Stretch
To absorb
The frosty breath
Of the airy
Mountain slope
As her sharp
Golden eyes
Peer down
At creaking
Fir and ash
While
Her outstretched feathers
Lift her
Up
Into the clouds,
Up
Over the rocks,
Up
Through the crags,
Up
To her mountain aerie,
Where tiny black wings
Flutter anxiously,
Waiting
For their turn
To soar.
Stretch
To absorb
The frosty breath
Of the airy
Mountain slope
As her sharp
Golden eyes
Peer down
At creaking
Fir and ash
While
Her outstretched feathers
Lift her
Up
Into the clouds,
Up
Over the rocks,
Up
Through the crags,
Up
To her mountain aerie,
Where tiny black wings
Flutter anxiously,
Waiting
For their turn
To soar.
38 reads
1 Comment
Layers
Can a cruel, obnoxious, selfish, angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can an obnoxious, selfish, angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a selfish, angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can an angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a person ever truly mend?
Yes.
Can an obnoxious, selfish, angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a selfish, angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can an angry, fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a fearful, scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a scarred, damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a damaged person ever truly mend?
Can a person ever truly mend?
Yes.
36 reads
3 Comments
A Springtime Tree
Springtime sun
Slowly thaws
My frozen bones
As I lift
My stiffened arms
To praise
The Chinook breeze
That wipes away
The last
Of winter's sludge
And kisses
My branches
With new
Green leaves
And snowy
Blossoms,
A welcome
Replacement
For freezing
Blizzards...
Around
My roots
I feel
A stirring
As worms
Slowly stretch
Their segmented
Bodies,
Writhing
In muddy
Joy
As their
Sticky
Heads
Push for
The surface...
...
Slowly thaws
My frozen bones
As I lift
My stiffened arms
To praise
The Chinook breeze
That wipes away
The last
Of winter's sludge
And kisses
My branches
With new
Green leaves
And snowy
Blossoms,
A welcome
Replacement
For freezing
Blizzards...
Around
My roots
I feel
A stirring
As worms
Slowly stretch
Their segmented
Bodies,
Writhing
In muddy
Joy
As their
Sticky
Heads
Push for
The surface...
...
36 reads
2 Comments
DU Poetry : Submissions by atarliss