Friday, December 12, 2008

La Belle Dame sans Amour
















He saw her pass by
Crossing with familiar rush
A figure caught in strobe

A tree stripped bare in the Fall
Like watercolor blotting badly,
Rouge melting on pudgy skin

Is that she? He asked
Surely not she, he thought
There unmasked in stark light

He loved her truly
They all did, too
Who asked you? She said

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Greed




















I tell you greed is grasping
It roots on acid ground
Sucks the juice of the muck
Even at the last gasp
Clings with avid vines
On broken slabs and angels
With cracked cement wings

I tell you greed is quenchless
It begrudges the sun its brilliance
Envious of the moon’s glow
Sweeps all the stardust and
Gathers them with a dustpan
And stores them in dark rooms
Gloating in demented joy

I tell you greed is without compassion
Thriving on hedonistic nurture
Denying closeness and amity
Cuts off the umbilical nexus
Shun familial obligations
Shrugs off the flakes of conscience
From the black dress of indifference

I tell you greed is shameless
Ecstatic in pelf and exaggerated self worth
Gloats over riches felt deserved
Forgetful and incognizant of God’s grace
Jingling patina encrusted coins
Amused and savoring the endless count
In glee…in endless count…in glee

Tuesday, December 09, 2008

Amihan - A Season of Hope



















Amihan played in the grove
Touching leaves and sprigs
Breathing on mango blooms
Leaving freshness on the gnarls
Stirring the furry caterpillars
Asleep on curled green sheets

Now the risen sun cast its glare
Striking out with its searing blaze
Soon Amihan shooed and scuttled
Moved on to friendlier milieus
Of green glades and cooler climes
Enjoying the comfort of amiable arbors

Oh kind and merciful Amihan
Let not the tyrant sun sow malevolence
On a withered and desolate grove
Come back and give succor to
The creatures of the green mantle
Threatened by the scorching glare

Come now and save your flock
Never again must you stray
Blot out the hand of the despot sun
Bring back freshness into our clime
Return the peace and the comfort
To a beleaguered and desperate people

Saturday, December 06, 2008

The Muse


Traipsing the mountain slopes
Even before the sun had crossed
The distant nebulous endless line

In flight with swifts, flitting motes
Scratching the inner eye
Blurred in the cottony haze

I know she’s somewhere there
In the velvet glow of dawn, but
Never in the glare of noon

Come let me feel your touch again
Restore my quills’ vibrant strokes
Put fecundity in my sterile pad

She comes only at her will
Flirty lady, insensitive bitch
I am but a waif at your whimsy

Dysphoria





















Strange fates and unwanted destinies
Stuck and ensconced on us like barnacles
Adding to our discomfort and dismay
Evanescent ease, inconstant joys
Our inheritance from alien origins
Undeserved legacy foisted on us

Our sojourn is not from ease to ease
But rather moving from worse to worst
Snatching bread from mouth to mouth
Living lives from barrenness to little worth
Can you find a hiatus from this affliction?
Yes, but, it's an infinitesimal wait.

Sunday, November 16, 2008

David's Poems















Poems written by my ten year old grandson, David Belmonte as part of school work.

My Magic Box

I will put in the box

The red roses in a raspberry field,
The silver in a gold mine and
The last Dodo on Earth.


I will put in the Box

The feathers of five flaming Phoenixes,
A soul from heaven and hell and
the last star in the Universe.


I will put in the Box

A golden summer whale on the sapphire sea,
A bird with four legs and a wolf that glides.


I will put in the Box

A scorpion with no stingers but seven claws,
The red scale of a blue dragon and
a mother’s last wish before death.


Elegy


When I’m alone, I think of you,
When I walk around, I hear your voice,
Whenever I look at the moon, I always see your face,
Thinking you might be around,
But knowing that you’re gone…

When I was young, you took care of me…
When I was young, you left me here…
I believe you still exist today,
I believe that you haven’t left,
But still, I know that you’re gone.

When you passed away, I thought you weren’t gone,
I thought you were moving, I thought you were still here,
But then I realized, a part of me was missing.
But still, I knew that part was you.

Sorrow is the knife that stabs me in the heart,
Death is the sickly arrow that separated us,
Now I don’t know what to do,
Without your guidance I wouldn’t understand,
But still, I know that you’re gone.

It’s hard to be brave about it,
I wish you were still here,
But I know that we will meet again,
So I look forward to that one day,
Where I will be re-united once again…


Ode

You are the miracle that guided me to happiness,
The one that helped get through the darkness,
Who saved me from my own sadness,
The savior of my life and the giver of my heart.

The hero that guided my soul to victory,
You are the reality that does not end,
Continuing every day and night,
The dreams are sent by you.

Unusual in it’s own way, creating forms,
Forms of different kind, unique and untraceable,
These dreams can be anything or anywhere,
Every corner of a dream hides something,
Like a secret or a new feeling.

A land where nothing sleeps, eats or drinks,
A mysterious place where nothing rules,
Nothing hates, nothing likes,
A private area to relax in a bed of emotions,
Unknown to the world and a mystery to all,
Nobody knows, so it’s all mine!


Personification

I smite your happiness with my raging fist
It is I that fills you with negative thoughts
For I bring calamity and hatred to your soul
It is I, Anger.

Minding your own business
Then a corrupted surge goes through
Leaving you in a daze of black and red
Slowly entering your mind…

I am normal to those who hate
Those who disrespect others
It is I that makes them feel hateful
It is I that makes them careless


My box is styled with rocks, diamonds and bones.
It has steel on the lid and emotions in the corners.
It’s hinges are the toes of Ostriches.

I will fly in my box and land in the waters
of the calm sea and ride the creatures in it.
Then I will move the stars with it.


I will put in the Box

A poem’s end and a Final word:

END

Sunday, November 02, 2008

Undas















November one brings out the past
With trees pushing tombstones
Daring to put gaiety with somber blooms
Roots plowing the miry ground
Dig up marrowless bones
Upturning loam for lost loves
Nothing but twigs craving for affection

Last week’s inundation
Brought the merciful flood
Sweeping the steles and slabs
Washing off the mud from angels’ faces
Stirring worms from their stupor
Giving life and luster to the gloom
Stirring remembrances just for the nonce

Candles flickering, flowers wilting
Children balling up candle wax
Endless chatter and radios blaring
Pots simmering, candy wraps crinkling
Adobo and dried fish spread on banana leaves
Atop foot high whitened sepulchers
Sharing repasts with the dear departed

The grateful dead cast an approving smile
Reward enough that’s worth your while
You have to believe that this is true
To do next year what you’ve just been through

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

5 tanka trials (5)



















A Christmas Moment
Christmas lights flickered
In the darkening twilight
I beheld a smile
A beaming more radiant than
Moonglow through leafy silhouettes


Black Beauties
Fearsome black twins
Growling at strange intrusions
Flashing hostile fangs
Feigning ferocity to all
But truly amiable dogs

Bouquet
Garden flowers wait
For the beautiful lady
With gentle hands pluck
Roses, Azaleas in bloom
To grace a potter’s fine urn

Fading
Where is yesterday’s
Colored mantle on the lawn?
Gone without bidding
Adieu to the vibrant scene
Leaving only boring green

Ants
Hush now and be still
Listen to the hustling ants
Leaves, kernels, grains
Busy lugging and hauling
Precious gifts to the Queen

Thursday, October 16, 2008

Taal Volcano









...........................Taal Volcanoooooo
it’s
just
a little
islet afloat
in an expanse
so serene and quiet
only a pulsating ember
creeps out of the milky mist
blazing violence now rarely seen
children on horseback on your slopes
unaware of the havoc you once caused

Light And Dark



















Oh, the dark is a bottomless hole
Where evil and malice hold cabal
Conspiring against joy and delight
From fear and angst they brew
A maelstrom of nightmares
And watering roots of torment

Ah, Light, a boundless sky
Radiant with rainbows and
Swallows endlessly streaming
On a backdrop of green forests
And magnificent mountain crests
A display of God’s munificence

Darkness hides in inky pits
Conceals malice and malignant guilt
Light shines bright in splendor
Proclaiming truth and beauty
Yet Light thrives only in darkness
Without it no shine or glory

Leaving By Taxi















Tell him not to go
Tug at his coat sleeves
Cry out in plea
Won’t you?

He’s going now
All suited up in black
Sullen cabbie waits
In a gaudy hack

Cab fare is ready
Two minted coppers
On his very eyes
The flag went down

The taxi crept
In an unhurried pace
The radio droned a hymn
I heard him hum the tune

The hack sputtered
Bade goodbye to each block
Past known haunts and faces
Turning last into a gated arch

Being Human
















Lord I do not wish
To hide from you
I’m too lazy, I say

You molded me
From lowly clay
Am I to blame?

Can I help it
If I err?
Only human, I say

Free will is
A handy phrase
Is it really there?

Glory I can’t own
The Fall, as well
Not mine to will, I say

It is God’s grace
If undeserved
Failure is the Devil’s

Conscience perplexed
Helpless yet blamed
Innocent but guilty

Simple minded me
In a quandary, accept
A mystery, I say

Crossings














Don’t change the linen yet
It’s still warm
With charm and laughter

Pat the sofa later
The hollow could still be seen
On the silky cushions

Let the blinds stay folded
The sunbeam remains bright
Casting soothing shadows

The bud is not in full bloom
Hold the florist’s shears
For another day

Let us not be eager
To shut the gate
Not just yet

Friday, October 03, 2008

5 Tanka Trials (4)



















The Lovers
Lovers cowering
In the long shadows of dawn
Fearful to be seen
Anxious of the consequence
Of last night’s wanton delights

Indiscretion
Do you think in dread
That your indiscretion leads
To disaffection?
Fear not, a plucked rose remains
As sweet as those in the bower

The Quest
I sought in earnest
In secret paths untrodden
Neither man nor beast
Dare go the perilous quest
But only you can give me rest

At First Glimmer
I might chance to see
Your loveliness and your grace
In the first glimmer
Are you prettiest in sunlight
Or in the glow of full moon?

Divine Moment
I watched from the ridge
Careful not to disturb birds
Singing praise to you
The blooms blushed at your bare feet
In fealty to a deity

Thursday, October 02, 2008

Elegy In A Flower Garden








every petal that falls even
from the homeliest blossom
is grieved by the congregation
of blooms in the garden

a solitary demise
is not an isolation

though not heard nor seen
the emptiness it creates
hangs heavy and tumid
untunes the euphony of echoes
and casts thick darkness
in the serenity of white clouds
puts the glade, the lake in gloom

pink and yellow bells toll
an earnest elegy for each fallen

5 Tanka Trials (3)




















The Sculptor
These calloused hands
Once sought classic ideal
Hewing marble, chiseling stone
Faithless Galatea shaped
Thankless heart as cold as gems

Summer Time
Summer came knocking
Stirring lads’ and lasses’ hearts
With amorous ardor
Youth danced at the throbbing beat
Maddened by the torrid heat

Your Name
I mentioned your name
And songbirds sang it like a tune
They gathered around
The rosebush and the green ferns
Humming the wondrous refrain

Surfing
Surfing the vast net
Prodding the meek little mouse
Searching aimlessly
Going nowhere, everywhere
Lost in an ocean of clicks

Halloween
The scaly night
Looms over the city sky
Casting dread and gloom
Bats empty the dark belfries
Singing Halloween’s evensong

Wednesday, October 01, 2008

Jaded











Centuries of delight reprised
Weaving thru the statuary
Peeing Eros, spouting lion
Cold naked maidens and
Olympians with lecher eyes

Doorway upon doorway
Leading to a gallery then another
Daylight to twilight
Midnight to dawn
Oh what irksome ennui!

You awe at wonders only once
Not felt, if all over again
First gladiator kill gives the most thrill
The first kiss divine, then just lust
A debut is grand, what’s next, a parody

A continuum of sameness
A season of repeats
A looped tape of events
An echo playing pong
God stammering

What Kind of Poet Are You?















Why can't a modernist be
more like an imagist? said one

A modernist's craft it seems
Plays hide and seek
Not wanting to be found out
In one easy read
Muttering gibberish-like
Imagery seemingly indiscrete
But couching a hidden gem

An imagist tells you what is what
No games nor riddles in his verse
What you see is what you get
Lyrical lines, image well defined
Gushing populist sentiment
Yet profundity lies within

Oh, why can't an imagist be
More like a modernist? said the other

It may be a matter of choice
No right, no wrong no doubt
No one no better than the other
Apples and pears cannot compare

Friday, September 26, 2008

5 Tanka Trials (2)





















Parallel Lives
Whither will we go
I have traveled the low road
And you took the high
Ne'er shall we meet again
Lives in parallel chosen

Rebuked
You chided me then
When I asked for your sweetness
Slapping my hands
And I, tremulous in fear
Withdrew in the raging rain

Night Sounds
I whiled through the sounds
Frog's grunts, cicada's buzz saw
But not finding yours
Only the memory heard
A soothing wind borne whisper

Through Wild Flowers
Come let us gambol
Tramping through wild flowers
Skipping on fences
Scraping your knees on sharp thorns
And I'll kiss away the sore

Moping
The morning found me
Moping beneath the duvet
Denied a good night
Left clinging on unsteady vines
Sent home without a sweet kiss

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

5 Tanka Trials






















Eloquence of Love
I hesitated
To say my true feelings
Soon after our tryst
The memory of your eyes
Told me to be eloquent

Stay
Can you stay longer?
At least until the rain stops
My bed is still warm
With your smoldering kiss
And your scorching embrace

Memories of You
My memory talks
In loud words and images
Of your poise and endless grace
A picture of elegance
A heavenly hymn of praise

The Eucalyptus
The eucalyptus
Rained its shimmering jade leaves
Below its bowers
Where you and I slept the night
Soft ground, a blanket of green

The Dawn
The dawn we failed to see
Neath blankets huddling in the cold
But no big regrets
We’ll wait for it tomorrow
And maybe miss it again