Category: poetry

List Maker’s Lament

Chris Hall96 Comments
The image shows a chalk board with a caption, “Before I die” on the top. Below are slots where people can write their opinions.

She’d always been a great Maker of Lists:
(her memory was awful)
to do lists,
shopping lists,
books to read,
movies to see,
places to go,
even lists of lists!

She’d always said:
‘if I put it on the list, it will happen’.
And usually it did.

But now, on this, her birthday,
another milestone passed (largely unmarked),
it dawned on her.

Perhaps now, not everything on her great List of Lists
could be achieved (especially the books).

Future plans might have to be
a little less ambitious.

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Image credit: Google images
The image shows a chalk board with a caption, “Before I die” on the top. Below are slots where people can write their opinions.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #120 photo prompt

Like catching falling leaves

Chris Hall87 Comments
The image shows three young men standing by the roadside and laughing at a shared joke.

Oh, did we savour
time’s sweetest moments?
Fleeting memories
of shared jokes
of youthful conquests
of time gleefully misspent.

We should’ve savoured
life’s honeyed passage.
Fading recollections
of vows exchanged
of time well-spent
of dreams almost fulfilled.

Oh, we should relish
our happy golden years!
Savouring remembrances
like catching falling leaves
precious memorials
to time now past.

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Image credit: Jed Villigo @ Unsplash
The image shows three young men standing by the roadside and laughing at a shared joke.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #119 photo prompt

Dying Embers

Chris Hall82 Comments
The image shows a pair of spectacles to which a pair of rose-coloured clip-on attachment is affixed. You can see a view of skyline near a shore through these colored clip-ons.

She sits alone, staring into the crimson flames, a glass of ruby wine in her hand, the half-empty bottle on the wooden floor beside her. Muddy rivers run down her cheeks from red-rimmed eyes. She takes another sip and puts the glass down. Carefully. She rips off the pretty new blouse which he’d failed to notice – his eyes were elsewhere all night – flings it into the fire where the fabric curls like dead leaves; buttons pop in the heat. More wine sloshes in the glass.

betrayal revealed
in long lingering glances
scales drop from her eyes
sorrow seeps into her heart
dying embers fill the grate
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Image credit: Tathanhtaun @ Pexabay
The image shows a pair of spectacles to which a pair of rose-colored clip-on attachment is affixed. You can see a view of skyline near a shore through these colored clip-ons.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #118 photo prompt

He will conquer

Chris Hall73 Comments
The image shows a person standing on top of a rock, his feet straddling two projections. In the background, you can see the skyline and down below some houses.

solo traveller
striding through life’s long journey
youthful confidence
casts trepidation aside
to reach the ultimate goal

he seizes the day
glorying in his triumph
all demons vanquished

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Image credit: Suliman Sallehi @ Pexels
The image shows a person standing on top of a rock, his feet straddling two projections. In the background, you can see the skyline and down below some houses.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #117 photo prompt

Afterwards

Chris Hall72 Comments
You can see a young person’s silhouette against a pink sky. You can see a subdued sun in the sky and birds flying in circle.

emerging at last
from an underground cocoon
pale sun still shrouded
yet emerald shoots glisten
birds are calling to the dawn

post-apocalypse
nature is undefeated
what will man do now?

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Image credit: LuizClas@ Pexels
The image shows a young person’s silhouette against a pink sky. There is a subdued sun in the sky and birds flying in circle.

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #116 photo prompt

Return to innocence

Chris Hall80 Comments
We see a black and white kitten playing with a green flower-bearing shoot
growing in between the paving stones.

Remember what it was like
to be full of wonder?
When every day brought
a fresh new adventure?

To view the world
curious and unafraid
without prejudices
or preconceptions
open to possibilities
alive with expectations,
just starting out
on life’s path?

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Image credit: Dimhou@Pixabay

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #115 photo prompt

Light a Candle

Chris Hall82 Comments
We see flowers and a candle floating on water; candlelight is reflected in the water.

Reflecting
on the year that has passed
on the year before that
on how our lives have changed.

Remembering
the loved ones taken
without goodbyes, without a hug
or a gentle brush of a cheek.

Thinking
of those we couldn’t comfort
grieving behind closed doors
spending a first Christmas alone.

Lighting
a solitary candle
watching it flicker
pushing away the darkness.

Reminiscing
about the happy times
the laughter and the smiles
knowing they will return.

Wiping away
the tears that stain the page
the flame sputters, then strengthens
and burns again anew.

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Image credit: Being.the.traveler@ Pexels

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #114 photo prompt

Home thoughts

Chris Hall50 Comments
The images shows a parcel wrapped in gift paper and tied with a string. There are a few Christmas decorations scattered near it.
We see a parcel wrapped in gift paper and tied with a string.
There are a few Christmas decorations scattered near it.

As the festivities commence
my thoughts turn north
to the country of my birth
where snow crunches underfoot
and darkness is driven away
by constant pools of light.

Where ice sparkles
and children exhale
frosty breath
making snow angels
on silvery lawns.

Now I’ve put down roots
where summer’s sun
bakes the thirsty earth
and children dance
on dusty paths.

Here, where velvet darkness
draws in quickly
and Africa’s golden moon
smiles down, I know
I’m already home.

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Image credit: Jonathan Borba @ Pixels

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #113 photo prompt

Tender is the night

Chris Hall66 Comments
The image shows a huge stone angel guarding a city within its two wings.
We see a huge stone angel guarding a city within its two wings.

Sun’s last liquid rays slip silently beneath a purple-clouded horizon, while birdsong fills the twilight air. Wings, skimming softly over a wide velvet lake, whisper gentle goodnights, and from night’s star-bright firmament, a pearlescent figure appears, bathed in lunar light.

angel’s wings descend
cocooning the sleeping town
in tender embrace.
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Image credit:  Kellepics @ Pixabay

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #112 photo prompt

Note: It seems that some of my spam woes have returned. So if I seem strangely silent, my comments may well have slid into your spam folder. Please, if I’ve just popped in a ‘like’ on one of your posts and run away, would you mind having a hunt for me and fishing me out!

Noble Residence?

Chris Hall60 Comments
The images shows arches of an old brick building and steps leading down. From the arches you can see some part of the building too.
We see the arches of an old brick building and steps leading down.
From the arches you can see some part of the building too.

Saffron rays stream
over ochre battlements
castellations contrast
with soft sapphire hills.

Walls whisper secrets
in this citadel of splendour
cruelty and kindness
hidden deep within the keep.

Fortress façade fit
for the finest queen
monument to a mistress
a woman never seen.


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Image credit: Vrolans @ Pixabay

Written in response to Sadje‘s What Do You See #111 photo prompt