Saturday, 14 October 2023

Four Poems by Joseph Bernard Shaw









Where Living Was



On those hallowed grounds, my heart did once soar,

A place where sweet nostalgia reigns, forevermore

Return, I must, to the breezy lanes and sunlit skies,

Beneath the charming blossoms that bloomed in dreamer's eyes



The evening shadows grew bold, yet tender was the land,

As gentle whispers serenaded the pastels, lovingly hand in hand.

Oh, celestial harbinger of yore, carry me away,

To the tranquil haven of that treasured yesteryear's play


Midnight trains approach on tracks bygone,

As nightingales echo their melancholic song,

Through misty dewdrops and moonbeams' gleaming grace,

I seek repose in memory's faithful embrace


Time sweeps past like a river's flow,

Threads of fate weave together stories yet untold

My chest carries an ember of a fire never to recede,

That ignites a fervent longing for those sacred days indeed.


Oh, dear universe, hear my fervent plea,

Grant me passage through the ages

Let my soul be free

In slumbering dreams doth innocence relive

My heart shall flourish again and give


In that place where nostalgia wakes and whispers sing,

Amidst blossoming flowers and seasons' shifting ring

For there lies my solace and at times is where I flee

Where destiny entwines heritage

Destined decree




Dream House



In the realm of twilight, where shadows merge,

A man embarked on a journey, his sins he wished to purge

To build a house for his family, shelter that defies belief,

A dwelling so mystic and wondrous, yet it was tinged with grief


Upon the ocean of signs, he gathered planks of dreams so bold,

Forked by lightning in swirling mists, their stories untold

Wrapped around the beams, the whispers of forgotten sorrow,

And every nail driven deep,

Pierced echoes of tomorrow


The walls stood tall and twisted, carved with runes of distant lands,

With doors as portals unguarded leading to expanses grand

Once dreamed realities long gone or yet to come they bore,

Each window mirrored visions that none could ignore


The roof, an unfolded origami crafted from the dusk’s despair,

Woven through with tendrils of auroras yearning to snare

Tears shed by unseen gods lamenting mortal strife

Sheltering beneath this tapestry

There is death in this life


Bricks fashioned from slumbering stars’ glow

Ablaze with dancing serpents as in tempest they grow

Haunting allure fireside whispers to hapless souls who wander near

Beckoning to burn their mundane lives and heed the call they fear


The floor a fractured mirror reflecting glimpses from fathoms below,

Shattered shards of lives unlived across

Whitened snow

Each barefoot step upon the cold mosaic stirred bitter sweet pangs true

For fleeting memories rekindled of the tales that never flew


Though ethereal beauty dwells within this abode so strange awhile

A forlorn aura lingers tainted with crescent moonlight bile

The man gazes back in solitude torn between dream and dread,

His house is complete

Hands cried and bled


Now, in the waning of the sun, the family beholds their dwelling vast,

Their gaze absorbed into the eerie tapestry as if held by Gods grasp

Betwixt the realms of wonder and repulsion they tread

Lulled by fate to inhabit

And share the daily bread




To The Moon



Upon the moonlit sea I sail alone,

With shimmering waves that softly moan,

I cast my gaze on orb of light,

And find sweet solace in the night


The lustrous full moon in azure sky,

A loving watchful eye doth spy,

A tender whisper from above,

A graceful dance of cosmic love


My humble skiff with gentle glide,

Embraces wistful ocean's tide,

As briny deep I row away,

To realms unknown, where angels lay


I sip the silver glow of moon,

A balm to soothe my heart's sad tune,

In mystic trance, I sail afar,

To seek a world free from scar


I speak to demons in their haven,

In breathless verses, tales engraven,

Of haunting beauty, melody nigh

A soothing lullaby for the sky


Resounds a hymn across the seas,

A symphony of blissful ease

In golden rhyme we chant along,

Life's wistful dance, its woeful song




Starboy



Upon the canvas of the cosmos eternal,

A child wove dreams with cardboard and zeal,

He marvelled at worlds hidden from mortals,

The untravelled vastness his heart sought to reveal


As moonlit whispers embraced the night,

His craft, from earthly bounds, took flight

Entranced and wide-eyed, in shining spacesuit and helm,

A pint-sized explorer in a galactic realm


Whence stars twirled round,

Majestic and white

His innocence,

In all its beauty and light

Far past the reach of mortal men's eyes,

Journeying 'cross celestial oceans and skies


Into the aurora borealis, his journey now woven above,

A spectral tale, ethereal and loved

For in that luminescent embrace he abides,

Sailing boundlessly through glowing strides


The seams of sorrow in his mother's tender heart

Now sewn with sunbeams that mend and impart

A presence divine reassuring her soul,

Her beloved son alights where cosmic rivers roll.



Joseph Bernard Shaw lives in the Midwest U.S. and works in management. He is an emerging writer with a love and passion for the horror genre as well as poetry and has honed his craft for several years. He has appeared in a number of small literary journals and magazines. He is married to his best friend and fiercest critic. Together they raise their child and read books together to pass the time.

No comments:

Post a Comment

Three Poems by Siobhan Potter

    Liturgy of the Hours       Ears incline toward forgetful   The body inclines to memorialise   Alarm peal mummerin g     abscess in retr...