Poetry Thread Options

[Burnt Sierra]

I thought it might be nice to have a place where members can post up some examples of their poetry. Usual rules apply, no flaming, no spam etc. I would also ask, if you're going to comment on a poem, not to just do a one line reply, along the lines of, "yeah, thats cool." Nothing is more soul destroying than putting up a piece of yourself, and then getting a response with no thought behind it. Anyway, this is one I wrote a couple of months ago, and with the departure of Sinder today, I'd like to post this up as it sums up my feelings quite accurately.

As you leave
the birds, who've been patiently perched on my window sill
fly up in unison
heading towards the sunset
heralding the darkness to come.
Golden shades of summer start to fade
as the night sneaks in
stripping my colour away.

And so I sit here.
Lit in a room of false hope.
The light of a smoke, burning into ash.
The glow of a screen, showing words in black and white.
Choking on my tears.
We've lost some of our sparkle
with one less star glinting in the sky.

[treydog]

The Homeward Turn

During summer vacations, I rode my bicycle around our circular gravel drive

For hours at a time, filling the long days with epic journeys that always

Found me safely back at my door

I stayed in the tracks worn by cars, avoiding the loose rocks in the center

Except to occasionally cross to the other side

I joyously splashed through the puddles, leaving a single a track

That would only last for another circuit or two

And so I rolled in constant loops, a quarter-mile at a time, noting the familiar—

The slight rise just beyond the garage,

The scent of pine needles and of red clay dust

The first turn, where going straight would mean

Launching myself down the long hill that would carry me to wider, wilder roads—

So I always made the homeward turn, until I was grown and moved away

And when my father died and we came to stay with Mother for a time,

I brought my new bicycle and circled the drive

Trying to turn back the clock to some earlier summer

Much was changed- the gravel was pavement, my old bicycle gone-

Along with the muscle tone of my legs

But the trees abide, as the Earth abides,

Spinning forever around its long circle.

11/24-11/28/08