Eternal Spring (A Poem)

While I love to use a bit of symbolism in my poetry and almost always want to allow the reader to interpret my writing how they see it, this one is a bit different. It is heavily metaphorical, while also holding some literal meaning and is really meant to mean one thing and one thing only. I also reference two English Renascence era poets in specific lines and phrases. If you’d like a bit of an explanation, please read the notes after the photo below.

Please enjoy.

Eternal Spring

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With the winter

All foliage does fade

And decay under the weight

Of frigid air and show

——————————————————–

Everything hides in waiting

Under the soil of the earth

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Then comes the spring

And all rises anew

———————————————————

In the grand scheme of the cosmos

The longest winter has seen its end

And the eternal spring has risen

Resurrecting all things to new life

———————————————————–

This eternal spring shall never fade

Even against winter’s bitter sting

As the warmth of the sun’s love

Has truly set all free

Courtesy of Free13k.com

Explanation (or at least partial clues) as mentioned above:

Stanza 1 – “Winter”, the fading and “decay” of foliage and the “weight of frigid air and snow” all have direct metaphorical meanings.

Stanza 2 – The phrase “in waiting” and “under the soil” are representative of a specific state of being.

Stanza 3 – “Spring” and the phrase “all rises anew” also have direct relation to a desired state of being.

Stanza 4 – The “grand plan” and “the cosmos” refer to a specific entity. The “longest winter” further emphasizes the theme in stanza 1. “Resurrecting” has a fairly obvious connotation in my opinion and the phrase “new life” goes along with it.

Stanza 5 - The phrases “eternal spring” and “sun’s love” again refer to a specific entity. The “winter’s bitter sting” is a metaphor for the cause of the metaphor for winter.

The referencing of the eternal spring “shall never fade” is also a nod to Shakespeare’s Sonnet 18 and the aforementioned “sun’s love” also is a tribute to something in one of  John Donne’s works from his Corona.  Feel free to check them out.

A classic but important poem – A soldier’s night before Christmas

‘Twas The Night Before Christmas,

He Lived All Alone,
In A One Bedroom House
Made Of Plaster And Stone.

I Had Come Down The Chimney
With Presents To Give,
And To See Just Who
In This Home Did Live.

I Looked All About,
A Strange Sight I Did See,
No Tinsel, No Presents,
Not Even A Tree.

No Stocking By Mantle,
Just Boots Filled With Sand,
On The Wall Hung Pictures
Of Far Distant Lands.

With Medals And Badges,
Awards Of All Kinds,
A Sober Thought
Came Through My Mind.

For This House Was Different,
It Was Dark And Dreary,
I Found The Home Of A Soldier,
Once I Could See Clearly.

The Soldier Lay Sleeping,
Silent, Alone,
Curled Up On The Floor
In This One Bedroom Home.

The Face Was So Gentle,
The Room In Such Disorder,
Not How I Pictured
A United States Soldier.

Was This The Hero
Of Whom I’d Just Read?
Curled Up On A Poncho,
The Floor For A Bed?

I Realized The Families
That I Saw This Night,
Owed Their Lives To These Soldiers
Who Were Willing To Fight.

Soon Round The World,
The Children Would Play,
And Grownups Would Celebrate
A Bright Christmas Day.

They All Enjoyed Freedom
Each Month Of The Year,
Because Of The Soldiers,
Like The One Lying Here.

I Couldn’t Help Wonder
How Many Lay Alone,
On A Cold Christmas Eve
In A Land Far From Home.

The Very Thought
Brought A Tear To My Eye,
I Dropped To My Knees
And Started To Cry.

The Soldier Awakened
And I Heard A Rough Voice,
“Santa Don’t Cry,
This Life Is My Choice;

I Fight For Freedom,
I Don’t Ask For More,
My Life Is My God,
My Country, My Corps.”

The Soldier Rolled Over
And Drifted To Sleep,
I Couldn’t Control It,
I Continued To Weep.

I Kept Watch For Hours,
So Silent And Still
And We Both Shivered
From The Cold Night’s Chill.

I Didn’t Want To Leave
On That Cold, Dark, Night,
This Guardian Of Honor
So Willing To Fight.

Then The Soldier Rolled Over,
With A Voice Soft And Pure,
Whispered, “Carry On Santa,
It’s Christmas Day, All Is Secure.”

One Look At My Watch,
And I Knew He Was Right.
“Merry Christmas My Friend,
And To All A Good Night.”

Written by Lance Corporal James M. Schmidt in 1986. Printed in Leatherneck (The Magazines for the Marines) in December 1991.

Hope (a poem) – For the victims of Hurricane Sandy

As a poet, I often feel compelled to write after some major event occurs, whether that event is something good or bad or simply indifferent. That being said, a few days back I wrote this piece as a part of the emotional journey we are all going through as a result of Hurricane Sandy.

Hope

And so the wind and rain swirled mightily

Over the labors of both man and machine

Relentless in enacting its wrath on each

—————————————————–

When all was said and done

The fierce storm sought only to take

Leaving lifeless bodies

And lost memories in its wake

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But amid all this sadness

And the suffering within our hearts

Comes the triumph of the human spirit

Across the land and beyond

—————————————————–

We will rise from this devastation

Coming back from where we’ve been

We will see the sun tomorrow

Because with hope, we’ll always win

Untitled (A limerick)

Quilabells delight in a dandelion diet
Then lay to rest ever so quiet
They dream of birds singing a chorus
Out in the fields by Snoozaloo Forest
And wake laughing at such a silly riot

 

A custom limerick written by Jason Greiner speficially for a cleint at Fiverr.com

 

July Sulfur (A Poem)

Ah, the smell of sulfur

Fills the hazy air

This breezy July night

And sets my thoughts in motion

To ages long gone by

 

This burning fuel of beauty

And blasts of brilliant rays

Is far beyond the predecessors

That dealt in gunpowder

And bullet induced flames

 

So once there was a struggle

That from time to time renews

But such July evenings

Hold everything

Our passion

Our life

Our truth

 

A selection from the book “Shadows and Shade” by Pittsburgh writer Jason Greiner.

Heartbeat (a poem)

So, where is your heartbeat?
Sew it to mine
You cannot leave
Or both will decline

Now, listen to you
Your soul is so cruel
You’re tearing me down
As I am your fool

So, when the night calls
For our final rest
Hold me closer
Tight to your chest.

By Jason Greiner

Ulysses’ Fall

Guest post by Veronica Pamoukaghlian

Ulysses’ Fall (Las Toscas, Uruguay, Jan 14th, 2012)

Ulysses,
go back home

a patient seamstress
awaits your voyage’s end

this land of me
that you can call your own
needs nought of you
till you be ripe
for giving

My mermaid’s chant
was beyond help
like planets’ sway

yet only you
could hear it

I meant no harm
when I lured you to my island

Many a sailor
I had drowned
before you drifted
into my waters

my tuneless song
was yours
beyond the silence

Yet I could not
let you drown
to follow me
into the world of fish

and it’s too late
for me
to give my voice
and live over the surface

So we must live
this while
in middle-land
in middle-sea
this in-between
of bliss and tragedy

So, welcome Home
wherever you may be
this island has become
a land of Thee

Resume your life
in that other place
where you must hide
your godliness
behind the mask
of ordinary days

Stay away
until your head turns gray

and though you may forget
the stringness of my song

I will always remember
you were a god

Veronica Pamoukaghlian is a poet and filmmaker based in Uruguay. Follow her on Facebook:

Poetry by Veronica Pamoukaghlian, and Twitter @verozoneuy. She has a website at

The Wander Life. You may also check out her film  Raúl, the movie.

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We Live (a poem)

We live within routine

Straying only when by force

Then reluctantly we walk

On paths fresh and new

 

But let one split second tear

And rip at our souls

To open our closed eyes

To an illuminating new truth

 

Death is death

And blood is blood

Which both in time will come

Taking hold of all

 

So before life fades

We mustn’t hesitate

To truly come to live

To see, to laugh, to love

Before our frailty does show through

 

Another piece from “Shadows and Shade,” one of the two poetry books by author and photographer Jason Greiner

Re-blogging, how do you feel about it?

As a writer and photographer, I like to get my work out there. However, I also want to make sure that it doesn’t make its way all over cyberspace without getting the proper recognition. This is one of the challenges we face as creative types in the digital age.

When we have a blog, most blogging platforms today have a feature allowing users to re-blog content found on other blogs and by other posters. And in general, you probably either love this or hate it.

You may love it because:

It can allow your work to reach a larger audience and gain more noteriaty.

You may hate it because:

You feel like someone else is taking advantage of your hard work.

In my opinion, it comes down to one thing. When your article, photo, poem, video… is re-blogged, does the person responsible give the originator credit for the content? In many cases this is an automatic aspect of re-blogging but that does not mean that a blog owner cannot physically remove the crediting information for some reason or another.

Only if the original poster gets his or her credit, in my personal opinion, the whole situation can be a win-win for everyone.

What are your thoughts on the mater?