*Smiles with in Solitude* - Page 4

ok this one I just like, it came to me the moment I took the picture, which I sent:

Run, run, there's no escape. The thunder roars through the cloud free sky. The air grows denser, heart beats faster. Out of breath, the fear with in its eyes. There's no escape, no hope, nothing. Hidden in the shadows, it can feel my presence. Silence befalls the surroundings; the shadows disappear.

Run! Faster, faster, it sees a way out. It runs for shelter but I'm too quick. From a distance, I've been watching waiting for one wrong step, one wrong move. It hesitates, and I take off. Like thunder, I roar through the sky, spreading fear into their eyes. A force to be reckoned with I pierce through the innocence, I shred through the silence.

It slows down, the beating drum grows dim, the breeze with in weakened. Its warmth gone, its light lost and the seeds of death have come to life. Like parasites, it leeches on, bleached in red and black the light in its eyes is no more.

Tearing through the flesh with a blade as sharp as lightning, breaking through the skin with the strength of ten. A feast made for kings, a meal drenched in blood. A life lost and a soul captured. And I perched there, a warrior of death.

Water hits, the follicles stunned by the cold.
Not a cloud to be found.
The glass sheds tears, condensation.
There is no water found with in.
Rooms filled with noise, furniture is moved.
Not a soul to be seen.
A masterpiece, a tale of a lifetime.
There are no words written inside.
Architecture of the gods, the downfall of a nation.
A barren land without a memory.

I sit here absentmindedly turning the wheel of a watch,
watching the hands spin- four, now five o'clock
and now it's nine, I'm sleeping till seven, when light reenters the room.
And as I sit and spin this, I look out my window at the rose
which sits by my lamp, though it drinks only natural light
and I watch it die, shrivel and shrink
until the vibrant red is replaced by a mortal black.
Then I stop my fingers spinning the wheel
and with a twitch, begin slowly
to turn back time.
Faster, faster.
I'm sleeping again, now I'm awake.
Class, lunch, class, breakfast, I'm sleeping again.
The rose opens again, its redness flushes through once-darkened petals;
I feel myself built back up.
The light streams into the window
as I smash the watch-
shards of crystal rain upon the ground-
and resume living.

Wrote this while doing a 12-hour shift at work, boredom makes you think in wierd ways....

I know not the time, it's nowhere near done anyhow;
the sunlight shining upon Richard's grizzled face
as the old man rocks back and forth, back and forth, back and forth,
a human metronome, the second hand on a living watch
that ticks away the seven hours of my nighttime shift.
The daylight still shines in, I'll be not free until darkness
coats the bustling city in its frozen blanket
and chills the glass till it frosts, like the tumblers the beer we sell inhabit,
chilled and opaque, holding out or in what makes us staggar at first tast, and more often than not we slam the door and go back to the fireplace.
I laugh at the people who buy cigarettes,
little sticks of dried leaves, which, when paired to the flame
send our troubles swirling away in a silky ribbon of smoke.
(while slowly we kill ourselves.)
We dig in wallets or purses for that one extra quarter
that will burn our senses and stain our smiles- ha!
Convienantly, we'll help you kill yourselves,
selling depression, alcoholism, cancer, obesity, service with a smile.

A few more hours, the minute hand spins
the action of the day is akin to watching paint dry,
waiting with a pin to pop the occasional bubble, and keep things smooth in the end.
Twilight is dropping, the lights within the store seem brighter
as they continue thier task of transmuting light into day.
But they can't keep the darkness from descending upon fatigued eyelids.
Only a few more hours? Richard's gone, there is no metronome,
no frame of reference by which to judge time.
it's ticking on slowly- Hell, for all I know,
it could be ticking back or forth
or, like the heart of a dead man, not ticking at all, I don't know-
I'm still breathing, all I hear is the murmurs of customers.
Keep going, it's bound to end sooner or later.

Wow, those were so well written. Such depth!

The road lit by moving vehicles, the sun asleep.
I get dress, for what seems like a funeral and in a way, it is.
An empty space, a perfect fit--you can tell I've been doing this for awhile.
Children's laughter, the mind expanding,
Our future being developed before my eyes.
I ascend up stairs that build up character,
Go through a door that leaves childish games behind, professional.
Loosing my soul through an empty screen,
Watching my life add another chapter to what will one day be my past.
I try so hard to keep awake,
The screen engulfs me as pages of endless words swallow me.
I am awakened; the day has just begun.
My fingers, gain speed and precision,
My skills have expanded, a blur, lost with in keys that come to life the moment I touch them.
The day grows dim, the night awakened as I walk through halls that hold a reminisce of the past.
I become like the statues that surround me, lifeless.
My essence destroyed, my childhood gone, I am an adult.
I don't fear the future, but mourn my past, as I walk through halls, which reflect what I have become.
The empty halls fill with the laughter of children,
Fill with their energy to learn, as I walk towards the darkness
Until the sun awakens so, I can start the downfall towards adulthood once more.

Ice and snow, wherever my muzzle turns,
upon the face of the mountain man, wind blows o'er his brow
and ruffles the fur that coats my frame, chilling me to the bone,
and lifting me for a second until my paws leave the ice I stand on,
I roll as the breeze ebbs, regain my footing upon frozen terra firma
and scurry towards something, anything really-
a post below, a tree of metal, a sequoia of iron,
frozen as the rest of my world, perhaps there is taste to that;
Left right left right, let's dash this way for a moment, throw off the watchers, be there any;
Forget the big tree, it's to under this pane of glass
somewhere, anywhere, to escape this wind.
I'm chilled, and scurrying takes it out of you.

Saw a mouse zipping around near the chairlift pole while I was skiing today, first wrote one with me as a god looking down, then remembered that we're all mice, so I changed the view by a little bit.

A familiar image, I know that face.
A smile that seems like a lifetime ago.
Those thoughts that seem like a dream.
An image warped by time,
An array of dark thoughts is emitted by the prism that is life.
Anger darkens the image, and pride clouds the soul.
Tears drain the mind, creating a mold of pure carnage,
which races through the system like venom.
The bonds broken,
Compound structures destroyed.
Shapeless atoms transcend the darkness,
An image created through the void.
A vortex filled with ideas, with a soul as clear as glass.
An image so familiar,
A reflection clear as rain.

thought of while brushing my teeth

Some things I wish I've never seen
suddenly clear eyes break through the murk
and I see everything. Light and dark are all illuminated
and faces suddenly unravel to me, long tapes of tales
buildings fall about me, and I watch them be rebuilt
stronger than before.
The murk dispels about me, drawn into some unseen drain
tucked away out of sight where I need not dwell upon its presence.
(It's still there. Just out of sight, out of mind.)
Before my cleared eyes the sun sets, the moon rises, the sun agian;
A boy before me is born, grows to manhood, kneels over, and dies
looking at me with clear eyes.
He's looking at me.
What does he see? How does he see it? How does he see me?
What is happening? My hands are wrinkling, I'm leaning inward
the sun rises, the moon, the sun, an eclipse
everything plunges into darkness for an instant
when light again enters my cleared eyes, I see the ground rushing up to meet my waiting arms, which snap on contact
I curl up and die.

I look about with clear eyes
suddenly everything breaks through the murk.....

I've sat there before; it's cold.
The walls were crying, yet they said nothing. I didn't understand what was going on; the silence was absorbing the words.
The room felt alive, the mirror image of children running over graves, laughing through the echoing silence. Respect is interpreted from silence, or so I've been told, yet I feel no respect only silence.
The walls can't seem to hold the tears in. Springtime showers, which bring forth beauty through the silence, but I see no beauty only silence. Soothing, calming, relaxing an energy felt as one absorbs the stillness of the room, like the calm before the storm. I know something's coming.
The walls cease to cry. A roar felt through the chambers of the heart, it's coming. The air grows thick, the silence suspenseful. Questions flood the room with empty words; the only answer is silence. That's all I can give for now.
I sit there now and forever bound by silence, a shield seen by all as a weapon, like the soothing fire, which masks destruction. The nature of a word, absorbed by tears that never fell, in a room that dwells with in the heart of destruction.

Revalation; I see white light;
burning brightly behind my eyes, shining
with an aura of life unparalleled by any I've yet seen.
This is what I am.

Illumination of the framework of the mind;
burning brightly, behind my eyes; shining
as electricity takes the form of faces, memories, heartbreak, love
This is why I am.

Creation of a new cornea; a different eye
to see what is outside the in; understand it
burning brightly behind my eyes, shining;
This is How I am.

Flesh, blood, bone, soul
burning brightly behind my eyes, shining.
The framework, the mechanics of the human being,
I know exactly where I stand, How I stand, Why I stand.
But what am I?
There are more questions, many more answers
burning brightly behind my eyes, shining
with a light that until recently I could not see
but now I see another layer, another level
unparalled by anything I've yet seen.
This is who I am.

This is a thing I put together for the WAM group at my school (Writers, Artists, Musicians.) I've had issues recording it due to the wonders of technology, but the rap is written down. I though I'd put a copy of it out here. (Note: Without the beat, it's just poetry, add a few loops and it takes a new life.)
My question was, Is Slam Poetry with music background still considered slam? Hence the title of this piece, "Slam?"

Slam?
Poetry flowing to the beat of the heart
Trying to find out the best place to start
So full to bursting I'm busting at the seams
Trying to put down my hopes and my dreams.
Taking my voice, making sound out loud
Raising my noise over roar of the crowd
Setting it to a beat, this sort of is slam
It's still honest image of an ordinary man
Trying to put down what's going inside
Finally wiped off these tears that I've cried
In the past I've lied, shown world who I'm not
Who I was, I almost forgot
But now I'm back, introduction to me
It's a get to know you session to a drum roll beat.
Slowing self down, but I'm speeding up fast
Looking forward to the future, not back toward my past
(Poetry flowing to the beat of the heart
Trying to find out the best place to start
So full to bursting I'm busting at the seams
Trying to put down my hopes and my dreams.)
I'm looking around, the world looks back
Instantly it seems I'm on the attack
Picking out follies that are easy to see
Finally got the nerve to look right back at me.
I know right now, I got no right
I'm waging the war but it's not my fight
I've seen the light, but I know I'm blind
If there's truth out there, it's damn hard to find
There's the obvious fact, taken years to learn
Makes the heart beat faster and your own soul burn
Looking around at the people you see everyday
Shift your vision a bit, see a whole new way
You can see the worst, you can see the best
I've tweaked it a bit till I see the rest.
No more no less, I see the lies
I see the truths, I see inside
It's burned my eyes, but the heart beats on
Knowing now that I'm not the only one
Who deals with pain that burns from within
The only one, hell- where to begin
Every one of us has our own big drive
It's the major reason that we're all alive
Do you feel my jive? You know it's true
Close your eyes for a moment and look back at you
(Poetry flowing to the beat of the heart
Trying to find out the best place to start
So full to bursting I'm busting at the seams
Trying to put down my hopes and my dreams.)
Poetry flowing to the beat of the heart
Trying to find out the best place to start
So full to bursting I'm busting at the seams
Trying to put down my hopes and my dreams.

Now that the past's gone by, I can glance on back
Drive out misconception and get down to the fact
I've dealt with lairs, I've broken some hearts
Shattered them like mine to a million parts
But I've rebuilt the cup when it hit the floor
Dealt with the pain till it is no more
Opened up the door, and I broke the lock
Ripped the pendulum out of my internal clock
Cause to me now time is nothing more than a game
There's never enough-it's futile and lame.
But instead of trying to win in the end
I'm enjoying my time with family and friends
And true it'll run out and they'll put me in a box
And cover me up in dirt and rocks
But when I go, I'll go out with a smile
Knowing now I'm gone, least I stayed a while
And hopefully the end won't happen too soon
Cause for on last time I want to look the moon
And know that somewhere else, there's another soul
That's looking right there, dealing with their hole
That fills them up with an empty urge
And I want to give them emotion's surge
And pull them out of their personal hell
It's a dangerous job, just to know fore they fell
That somewhere out there, while watching the skies
And wondering how to deal with all the lies
There was someone else that's been there before
And is holding the handle to an unseen door
If that's all I know, then I can leave in peace
Pay up all the cash on life's great lease.
But that's all I got, and I'm winding down
I'm still in high school- chances are I won't drown
Cause life to me is currently real grand
Got myself pulled together and an angel holding my hand
Now I understand what's taken years to find
Bypass all the knots find the ties that bind
Clouds are silver lined, it's not true but it is
This coming from the man who's in the show biz
A professional liar on a stage fore a crowd
With a mike in his hand, and he's rapping out loud
He's screaming out, I'm yelling out
I'm here now telling you all about
What I've felt for years in the past
So more than anything I can forget the last
Time that my heart's been broken in two
Tell you all of my radical new view
And just settle down and write out a beat
I'm bobbing my head and I'm tapping my feet
Now I'm wondering now if this here is a poem
You want to run it through with a fine toothed comb
And beat it with a hose till it tells you the facts
I'm begging you please, lay off your attacks
Now a rap may be poetry, I'm not one who knows
Whethere this is a beat or this can be called prose
All I know is it flows like a river downhill
So much energy going through like a human will
Impossible to kill, impossible to stop
You can't knock someone off their personal top
You can look back and watch and applaud their feat
And bob your head to your own new beat
That tells you the truth, a liar onstage
Can still be right on life's great page.
Poetry flowing to the beat of the heart
Trying to find out the best place to start
So full to bursting I'm busting at the seams
Trying to put down my hopes and my dreams.
Taking my voice, making sound out loud
Raising my noise over roar of the crowd
Setting it to a beat, this sort of is slam
It's still honest image of an ordinary man
It's still honest image of an ordinary man
It's still honest image of an ordinary man

And as long as I sit here with long poems at my disposal, I recently had to do a public speaking thing in class, a poetry presentation. Due to the fact that we are currently reading Chaucer's Canterbury Tales, we were given a piece called "Chaucer's Challenge" in which we tell our own story to the class. Best presenter gets a feast in thier honor and some bonus points on the final. People told us about meeting thier favorite band or a business meeting, but i took Chaucer literally and wrote my own little addition to the book. Reading this out loud is a good method, but I think it looks decent written down. Here goes nothing. (Note: I'm sorry it's so long, it was a five minute presentation and I speak quickly. )

Today a knight in town did I see
Upon his horse in Plowman's square
Of honor and glory rang truly to me
And honored was I to see him there.
He rode upon that noble steed
With banners floating in the sun
Befouled blade stained with the ending of greed
The tool of righteousness, past battle won.
The armor shown brightly, my figure I see
Within scratched shield's broadened face
He was tired but upright, such a feat it must be
Considering hidden gash pouring blood from his waist.
The wound ere was hidden by rushes of cloth
The draped down from about his thick throat
Of scarlet color, it hid the blood doth
you had no inkling he was man besmote.
He rode up to me, dismounted with a flair
And tried greatly to cover his moan
But the wound would hid nothing, and so t'was right there
He fell before me with a groan
He rolled o'er to the side, armor shining as light
And he breathed 'I don't have too long.
Pray listen, ye beggar, for I tell of a fight
Broken heart and a fair maiden's song.
'Twas yesterday I rode upon yon fabled steed
Through forest and mountain and stream
Amazing the forest, glorious ferns built of seeds
With leaves soft as butter and cream.
And as I rode here, to the smithery shoppe
With my hand on my scabbard you see;
A fair maiden ran to me, and to her knees dropped
And her gold tresses appealed to me:
'Good sir knight, I live here alone in this wood
My husband has since passed on by
I mind his house onward, as a good woman should
And I shalt live lonely till I die.
But the man at the shoppe who sharpens the blades
Has threatened to accuse me of craft;
Tear me from my home in the meadows and glades
End my life with a fierce arrow's shaft.
Please, sir knight, I implore you, on chivalry's breast
To halt this despicable crime
And actually, second thought, upon your future success
I shall lay my heart here on the line.'
He rolled and clamped down upon his gaping side,
And I tore my shirt into strips for to bind.
He grimaced as the bandages I securely tied.
And winced 'Ye are surely so kind.
A beggar to give me the shirt off your back
And leave it bare to the wind and the rain
To a man who in hours shall be on dead man's rack
And will be off to the place which he came.'
He spasmed a moment, then gathered his wit
And motioned to me: 'I shan't be here long.
Remind me, fair beggar, how far did I get-
Ah yes- the fair maiden's song.'
' So I said to her: lady who live in the wood
As you know I am bound by the code
Of chivalry and honor, such is my knighthood
And as through these mountains I rode
I promised that a maiden who called upon me
To give aid- I swore she'd receive.
So be conforted, fair maiden, at your service I be
And till complete I shall take no reprieve.
And she swung to my back and I rode to the shoppe
For the blade needed sharpening there
By the man who in future his head I might lop
To tell him- wait, that golden hair
Has captured the wind, and flails out ahead
Framing my view with platinum strands
Her chin at my shoulder, tell me, be I dead?
I can hear the heavenly bands!
But we ride to the front and I leave her without
And I enter within the dark door.
The fires burn brightly, the ceiling blackened with grout
(not so different as the e'er filthy floor.)
And enter the swordsman, with his limber frame
He fights five hours a day.
A talkative man, clued in to gossip's great game.
See what happens to those going that way.
'Good day!' called the man 'I see ye've a blade
Whose edge is dulled from fatal tasks
My metalwork's being of the highest possible grade
But such a sword- many years shall she last.
But to put on an edge so she cuts as when craft
I shall with all speed heat up the flame.
Why burn wood? Bring me witchs!' the metalworker laughed.
'There be some in this wood- very same
As the woman who lives down south by the glade
And by night stirs a cauldron and cries.
And her beauty is of vile potion she's made
Where she comes from- I'm sure it's all lies.'
As he tossed my blade to the ravaging coals
He smiled, then turned to me.
'I always of have wondered about witches souls
To heaven or hell do they be?
For our lord performed healing and walking on ocean
The same as those old hags and croons
And I being a man of unparalleled devotion
Must quietly question about heathen's dooms.'
I ere had enough, and I said with a tone
That spoke of my commitment to her
'I come with a woman you plan to accuse
Who assures me in deeds you infer
She has no part of preposterous claims
She lives but alone in a shack.
You've confirmed your intention to harm fairest dames'
At that moment, he moved to attack.'
The knight groaned again, and fell down to his side,
And with a hack spit a gobule of red.
'This wound burns my gut!' He feraly cried
'such a pleasure t'will be to be dead
As the poor fairest maiden, who entered the shop
Upon hearing the daggers sharp clash
The swordsman threw an iron, and as potatoes she dropped
As the fire ate up her hair in a flash.
I whipped about from my scream just in time to jump back
As he swiped a sword quick to my chest.
I grabbed my own blade from the coals and attacked-
Brilliant red glowed bright in darkenss
And illuminated the face of the demon I warred
Who had slain the lady of my quest
Which was to slay him- I could not afford
To lose the head or heart in my chest.
We crossed swords in savagery, for honor was gone
I fought a slayer of innocent charm
And with a slash seeming one way, then faking a con
He cut through here, right side by the arm
I fel down then, and he came up to me
With the sword pointed between my eyes
I knocked it away and drove the point where should be
The heart of a man there inside.
The blade, still red hot, sizzled and hissed
As it seared the newly made hole.
And I pray that to hell Charon's boat did not miss
The cargo of that monstrosities soul.
I raised from the floor and stepped over my foe
And moved toward where beauty once was
Her gold tresses were blackened, the eyes had no glow
I've avenged her, but not so, because
By the honor of knighthood I've sword eer to serve
And the maidens request now be complete.
But the swearing of protection, I've failed, the nerve
That demon had to knock her off her feet.
I buried her outside, only blood and ash
Befouled that once-dainty skin
I grabbed the cloak of her killer and with a lash
Strung him up to atone for his sin.'
At this point the knight twitched and his breathing labored deep
And his eyes became glassy and blind
'Sleep nevermore, no more shalt this man sleep!'
I replied: 'I believe you shalt find
That when you cross over into heaven's gates
You shall see her waiting at the cross
And you look down from heaven through the clouds water grates
You shall see monster at his loss.'
And the knight smiled softly, as blood trickled from his lip
And he mumbled his final earth's moan
'take me softly from here- it be not a long trip.
My angel, I plead, take me home.'

And I sat on the road with a knight at my side
Who until recently once was alive.
See the heaven that awaits those whose heart is but pure
While fires await those whose fate is but sure.

I've lost her.
No death involved; no ending of time.
She was taken from me; I was five at the time.
A dark figure, from the shadows arose.
Without warning I lost her, I've never felt so alone.
A new family is born adding laughter and smile,
while I stand there alone lock in darkness, just forgotten.
I have memories of times when it was just us two.
Living life as it came no concern for the next.
Yet those days are all gone; our lives filled with concern,
for the meal of tomorrow and the roof of next month.
I'm angry, forgotten, set aside like the past
for she has a new family that mistreats her and don't care.
Allowed to be raised by the voices with in,
independent from others left in silence to think.
Dark brown eyes, shelter hatred, remorse for the past.
Behind smiles hide clouds with a murderous intent.
My back sheds red tears of betrayal and of lies.
Never knew I could be killed and destroyed from with in.
Gasping for air as my body drowns,
reaching out for her hand a faint image of the past.
I have lost her through time and can't seem to find her.
I see shadows; hear whispers, a burnt impression of the past.
I've forgotten her smile, the fun times that we shared.
I keep saying I lost her, losing nothing from the start.
Getting lost in a gaze that holds nothing inside.
I feel nothing for the present, just of thoughts buried inside.
She feels dead on the inside, her impressions have fade.

Your first poem was eloquently written. Such depth and thought, which one day I'll acquire. Your other two long poems were also good, I tip my hat to all three pieces of work.