Tag: ode

• An Ode to Algernon

  From rooms of ignorance, I once did dwell,
  Where shallow thoughts were mine and mine alone.
  Each evening seemed a lonely, silent knell,
  And mornings were as cold as gnawing bone.
  But knowledge came, a gentle, patient guide,
  Transforming stupors into sprouts of mirth.
  Each lesson learned, my days did more provide,
  And dumbness fled before this newfound worth.
  So, I drank from wisdom's well, deep and clear,
  Found intellect, where once was vacant space.
  Each night is now a slumber to revere;
  To reflect on what I’ve learned to embrace.
       So days are but yester-nights in disguise,
       And with each new truth, I’m less dusk to wise.
  

  ode, sonnet

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• An Ode to Belgrade

  By the Belgrade streets, where two rivers meet,
  The Danube and Sava bite ancient stones.
  Where nights cast longer days, escaping heat,
  The city beats of sultans, kings, and thrones.
  Where Unity's firesteel forged Balkan lands,
  Its fortress stands; a sentinel of time.
  Sovereigns guarded many tales so grand,
  Hard fought among many an empire's climb.
  But, cobbled streets fill paths that we can roam
  While mysteries still pass beneath my view.
  I wish I could have known the Roman tome
  That marked “White City” before Red and Blue.
       I learned in Belgrade: history is made.
       And I, a student, in its shadow’s shade.

  Also available on Allpoetry.com

  friends, ode, sonnet, travel

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• In Fidelity to Wine

  Were there reason to be festive; throw,
  A party be inclined, 
  As one to wind, their caution; though
  Festive reason is to find
  Reason enough to indulge en masse,
  To party, and to dine,
  To drink care free of worlds to pass
  In fidelity to wine.
  
  Such are we, both women and men, 
  Both loyal to the grape. 
  Our purpose clear in flirt we lend: 
  From sobriety – escape.
  Lips grow loose in tender taste
  Of nectar of the vine,
  For endless drink bears time to waste
  In fidelity to wine.
  
  We company of indulgees
  Intend to never vex, 
  For pleasure’s plenty in whom take seize
  Of life, of love, of sex. 
  Seeking shared that whimsied bliss, 
  Upon all joy aligned.
  Seek not pain of vie en triste;
  Infidel is he to wine. 
  
  But since such bliss is ever fleeting, 
  And joy a fickle friend,
  We indulge in vice in hopes of meeting
  A bliss unto no end,
  As escape finds reason, free from time,
  A freedom we assign
  The pursuit of we to fest sublime
  In fidelity to wine.
  
  And so, may we drink to find warmth in this season.
  And so, may we drink to drink more for one reason:
  For though we may drink to bliss that we please in
  Our joy from the drink that flows with our ease in
               Fidelity to wine.

  celebration, long form, ode, poem, wine

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• The Regal Seafare

  At Regal Seafare’s crossing, we find drink,
  For ailing needs, loathsome deeds, want reprieve
  From sailing life’s duress, nearest brink,
  After seeing what the eyes scarce believe.
  For mired with battered care, salty stare,
  And tired from voyage, kempt tattered and chapped,
  The spirit shrill, tested will, ne’er we dare
  New world without seeing what we have mapped.
  So dock, we ought, ourselves for naught but fun
  As Portland Variety crowns us Kings,
  Anchor weighed, pleasure stayed, sated and done;
  We learn what yearned respite from life may bring.
     Life’s asail, to full avail, amid the chore
     With drinks well poured, King inshore, from bar adored.

  ode, sonnet, Toronto

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