Older Poetry

Poetry from my sometimes angsty, sometimes prideful teenage years.

A Call to Arms

The sun has just risen, red as blood

No flower is left hidden in the shade.

Something is wrong, there are no screams;

No blood, no death, no guns to be seen.

The clear blue sky is full of birds,

There is no smog at all.

The serenity of this scene seems strange;

Where is the noise, the fear, the hatred?

Why do I see green, beauty all around?

Others have risen, made family in peace

We have nothing in common but wonder and hope.

I hear music; quiet, pastoral in sound

People are singing, dancing with joy.

We are joined by Animals, both great and small

No longer threatened by the presence of humans-

And we, mankind, are no longer shaken by them.

A crash of thunder alerts me to the sound of rain.

The water from the tarnished tap tastes of copper.

Television brings only news of death.

My peaceful vision?  The time was never; our dream is now.


Sonnet I

Blessed lovers, may you hear but a word

Of all things gone past, never to rescind.

All that must be said might never be heard

But still lies within and tears at my mind.

 

I cry to those of love unrequited

To those wishing for little more than life

Who knows misery but those slighted,

In such a manner as torn by cruel ice?

 

Passion ignites those who have yet to love.

Sorrow encumbers those in love of late-

Infatuated with the purest dove,

Whose simple quip is of the darkest hate.

 

To all those young lovers who've yet to learn,

Close your heart now or forever more yearn!


Sonnet II

   Vainly, the moon tries hiding her pale tears-

   Drawing her cloak to hide a mournful gaze.

   Her love lost to light, mislaid by her fears,

   She grows green to think where he might have strayed.

   Searching through darkness, amid waning hope,

   She lets tears of light fall to pierce the night

   That her love might crawl up the darkened slope

   Return to her arms, held eternally right.

   But waxing jealousy weakens with time

   And as time repeats; as waves upon sand;

   The moon removes her ragged, tangled skein

   And sends her pale love to search through the land.

        But with your pale, silent, gentle caress,

        I dream myself, held safe against your breast.

Angel

How can I say this?

         Keeping hope alive

Making a fool of my heart?

It's far too late to stop

         I will go on

How can I thank you?

                  for your Wonder

            for your Speech

         for your Smiles  

Each ignites a thousand sparks within

How can I ever mean what I say

                                                  or is it say what I mean?

I don't even know most of the time

Grace, beauty, kindness- each filling wholefully

         willingly occupying a space in but a tiny part of

Greatness

                  An unyielding hold on

My Heart, My Mind, My Soul

You alone are unique among travelers

      all spawned of earth, only to return

      An Angel rides above the currents

                  Smiling

A captivating song, a thrilling voice

I can't leave it behind,

      even for a single heartbeat

Sometimes so quiet, outside the hatred,

      sometimes so like me, loving all that is                  

                    Laughter

Joyful laughter, happy laughter, oh so happy

      but nervous?

In the Arms of an Angel everything fades

         again

Glorious tones pour forth crying towards freedom

      Leaving the mouth of an angel if not the arms

There is something, I don't know

      Mystery, kindness, Wonder?

Will I ever know?  Do I ever need to?

Perhaps not, but these times are here and now

And I am lost in awe, and aww, lost in love.

I don't know what else to say.

It's already so muddled and confused             

                    Making me

understand perfectly how some can only say

                      I love you

                                    In a Song

© Tofer Carlson 2011