Three Poems by Sam Bartle

 

The Door

 

Never showing a glimmer of inside,

A wall in all but name.

It matters not, I still decide,

To love you all the same.

 

This closed portal that entices my mind,

Fixed shut, steadfast and sure.

Though intentions are more than kind,

I am forever poor.

 

Worshipped, adored, in all kinds of esteems,

Oh, that I could say more.

Hopeless wishes, desperate dreams,

Lay dying, at the door.

 

Behind, withholds the happiness I seek,

Bountiful in its store.

Yet, no shudder, nor shake, nor creak,

The still, unmoving door.

 

The tide is out as the Moon wanes,

Waves recede from the shore.

I’ll walk this land,

But my heart remains

Here, outside, the door.

 

Broken Sleep

 

Midnight dark let me dream of joy

Free me from my dismay,

From troubled thoughts and their employ,

That I might rise and shine today.

 

Do we shine to be seen,

Or to light the way of others?

Laud ourselves on a screen

For our sisters and our brothers.

 

Wherein the turquoise mines

Serabit migrants left their note,

Now we pen weary lines

But who will care for what we wrote?

 

The solace to be found in sleep

Brings comfort to the mind –

Forgotten dreams, we cannot keep,

Nor need to know their kind.

 

Moments, stretched, between the twilight

Reflecting on our sins.

Comes the end of the night,

And so the day begins…

 

 

Heart Of Power

 

Oh! How we built such empires!

 

The villages and towns

we razed,

Unfettered zeal

of the power-crazed.

 

Oh!  How we built such fires!

 

Ambitions burned

naked in the flames,

Upon the ashes

of forgotten names.

 

Oh!  How such empires we built!

 

Blood of sons

and daughters spilt,

Free of burden,

without guilt.

 

My! How still they rage and lust,

Decreeing to us,

that we must,

 

Forever build such empires again.

 

 

Sam Bartle is from East Yorkshire, England, and writes in verse on all aspects of life experience and observations of the world around him. His work has featured on BBC Local Radio, Luke Jerram’s urban art exhibition ‘Of Earth and Sky’ (Winner: ‘Best Arts Project’ - Hearts For The Arts Awards 2022). He has also appeared in The High Wolds Poetry Festival Collection 2021, and numerous online ezines including ‘Wildfire Words’, ‘The Writer’s Club’, and ‘Duck Duck Mongoose.   

Website: www.poetinverse.com