The embers of an old flame
Sparkle like a firefly
The fire long since gone
Random coals still clinging to life
Not yet consumed by time
Keepsakes of days
Never to be recaptured
Shared only in secret thought
Now complete strangers
With only memories in common
Memories released like fireflies
From an old mason jar
They slowly disappear into the dark night
With an occasional flicker
Less consistent
Growing dimmer
But refusing to die
RH Helm
Written 9/28/19
An illusion
or an introspection of our deeds
We are puppets in someone’s hands
Starting with aught and
ending with griefs
Restless souls, brooding over past
Lost in the mayhem of snippets of life
To be believed in nurturing
but become wayfarers of thoughts
Crossing many paths, handed aid to several
That was the mission
but juncture fiddled in like an alibi
Approaching the end-
What do we do?
Nowise…!
An illusion
or an introspection of our deeds
We are puppets in someone’s hands
Starting with aught and
ending with griefs
Restless souls, brooding over past
Lost in the mayhem of snippets of life
To be believed in nurturing
but become wayfarers of thoughts
Crossing many paths, handed aid to several
That was the mission
but juncture fiddled in like an alibi
Approaching the end-
What do we do?
Nowise…!
1) What is the theme of your poem? The theme of this poem is how to turn disappointment into something useful for myself, how to transform that deadly blow into art. 2) What motivated you to write this poem? I was not long-listed for the New Zealand book awards which I expected, although I later […]
via Interview with Poet Kirsten Warner (GRITTY, DANGEROUS DOLL) — Matthew Toffolo’s Summary
Matthew Toffolo: What is the theme of your poem? Paul O’Donnell: Despair, frustration, poor decisions and their consequences, hope 2) What motivated you to write this poem? All my poetry is prompted by what I feel or see. It’s my way of thinking about social change and doing something about it with the power of […]
via Interview with Poet Paul O’Donnell (PASSING) — Matthew Toffolo’s Summary
Matthew Toffolo: What is the theme of your poem? James Morgan-Jones: The beauty of the natural world, of difference and of the individual. 2) What motivated you to write this poem? A visitation by the demoiselle as I sat in the garden on a beautiful spring day. 3) How long have you been writing poetry? […]
via Interview with Poet James Morgan-Jones (Demoiselle) — Matthew Toffolo’s Summary
1) What is the theme of your poem? the theme of my poem is finding your strength to stay strong 2) What motivated you to write this poem? this event changed the world and affected all of us deep into our heart, whether we were there or not. 3) How long have you been writing […]
via Interview with Poet Janelle Barker (9/11 ATTACKS) — Matthew Toffolo’s Summary
1) What is the theme of your poem? That transformative power of -what the Greeks called- Storge/Philia love, especially when found in an unlikely place and between unlikely people. 2) What motivated you to write this poem? My relationship with a student who has become a son to me. A rather tricky thing as I […]
via Interview with Poet Franco D’Alessandro (LEOPARD CLUB LOVE) — Matthew Toffolo’s Summary
Wing’s bright song staid forest realm
Shrill, dripped notes from soft breeze staff
Commandeered ear’s thirsting helm
Had raised my sight to branches, aft
Sweet ribbon air, thus quivered joy
To penetrate ‘ere sonnance ran
Imbibed each drop creature employed
Where sun’s shy rays dared not fan
My eyes run by beauty’s reason
For reverie, embrace this wild
Among mute trees placid season
I stand alone, an entranced child
Through glades, new dressed in morning’s sash
Invades his song to heart defiled
No more to burn the rebel ash
Such uncaged heart bowed to his, mild
I was born into a mess and although we protest changes has not come
So I think back to where this came from and as I began to ponder my mind is left to wonder if this disease will ever be healed
We sit in a nation of riches and power,
yet hour after hour I watch as the very people that brought this to be
beg and plead for justice, change, equality
from a land that was built on their backs
full of welps, slashes, and blood filled cracks, as it poured down to fertilize the soil that is enjoyed to this day
there must be a way
to turn back the hands of time of a mentality that remains till this very day
where our family structure is broken with psychological hurts that go unspoken by lips too swollen to speak to the lies and deceit that have survived throughout the years
Silenced as my cries fall on death ears
I can’t breathe!!!!
forgive me, because sometimes I wear my feelings on my sleeves and I’m sure my actions are sometimes hard to receive
so if I act like a uncaged animal in the streets remember that is what I was trained to believe as a man thinketh and such,
Because as a people we have endured so much in hopes of change,
only to be disappointed time and time again
held down and slowly suffocated by the hand of injustice
left injured, heart broken, and disgusted at the outcome
meanwhile, my brothers and sisters are out hung to die and as hard as I try to understand why… that question remains…and evil maintains to kill, steal, and destroy another day.
So there must be a better way
To simply just love
