Sonnets: Some think the Greatest Poetry Form

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

If Only

If only, if only I had written a book of woes
pages filled with bloody dark and nasty pains.
Life and its miseries certainly kept me on my toes
regrets are my sad losses and life's bad stains.

If only sooner, my heart had found the right gal
sweet as apple pie and chocolate ice cream.
An in love, loving lover , not a mad angry pal
that stardust one, coming to me in my dream.

Past deeds, old sunken ships never to rise
down under, in murky waters so very deep.
Yet I still miss, the first sparks in her eyes
and her beautiful ghostly image in my sleep.

Time ran away, my young life could not hold on
I feel its great loss in each and every bone!

Robert J. Lindley, 5-02-2016

Written for contest, may even enter it..lol--Tyr

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Earth Laced With Spent Cartridges , Blood And Lead
(Tribute to the courage of those that died that day defending freedom for all)

Under dank moldy soil, red moon overhead
lay millions of corpses, wars wasted dead
No bands playing, no sweet angels singing
only ghostly echoes, slowly ringing.

Cools winds blow across such sad resting grounds
on dark nights, ghost-whispers its only sounds
Low moans and raging regrets of battle cries
rebukes of those that sold such deadly lies.

Sixth of June, sands give up soft waling pleas
from beach desert devoid of any trees
Earth laced with spent cartridges , blood and lead
painful memories, of that wars lost dead.

Under dank moldy soil, red moon overhead
how we may wish that peace had ruled instead.

R.J. Lindley
June 7th, 1976

Note- War is a necessary evil because mankind needs blood letting to soothe its savage soul.
And thus, is far too often a necessary reaction that insures the survival for the party that is first attacked.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Had to pound one out today, going from memory of hard times I had in my youth.-Tyr

Desert Of Overcast Blues

I walked in a desert of overcast blues
sandy undertow wicked and laced with red rust.
Old , worn-out and sad are my feeble trekking shoes
yet onward with flowing tide travel I must.

Treading bastions of false hope and scary tales
heaped with desperate tales I did so want to hear.
Oceans of sweet soothing lies bigger than blue whales
and me unable to stop running from my fear.

Where scolding shadows cry out my deepest regrets
red dust pulling me down into a darkened pit.
There hellish madhouse laughs and wins all futile bets
cutting into my lost soul with every hard hit.

Longing for days, when mere boulders stood in my path.
Begging relief from night's cuts of demonic wrath.

Robert J. Lindley, 5-03-2016

Poem Syllable Counter Results
Syllables Per Line: 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 0 12 12
Total # Syllables: 168
Total # Lines: 18 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 124

Sonnet, 12 on 12....
For contest ,may even enter it . hehe..

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

You Steal My Beauty To Heart With Glee

Clear night sky once told me to yield
Hold your horses and be quite still
You are but a dot in a dirty brown field
Certainly nothing to give others a thrill.

Now go lay in a moonlit cave
head bowed and heart seeking relief
Give thanks for what I gave
and seek mercy for you are a thief.

You steal my beauty to heart with glee
yet return not praise and glory my way
Yes, you love deep what you see
but fail to ever give me proper pay.

What could I say facing such true accusations?
I simply bowed my head and gave sincere salutations.

R.J. Lindley
Spring, 1971

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Now Your Love, Dwells There In Hellish And Lost Dreams

Deep the cold at foot of our abandoned bed
where roses wilt, praying early frost to die
Green-eyed monster laughing loud to be fed
your new "friends" gladly providing the lie
No pleasure in revealing this most foul deed
no solace in showing past pain in new light
Was too late once you took on the bad seed
turning once bright day into darkest night

What of fantastic past joys we had both shared
morns wrapped in warm bodies refusing to rise
In darkness, my soul and heart was ensnared
took years to recover from that surprise.

Now your love, dwells there in hellish and lost dreams
My spirit glows in relief, in love's true streams.

R.J. Lindley,
Sept 12th 1976

Sonnet, 11 on 10....

Poem Syllable Counter Results
Syllables Per Line: 11 11 10 10 11 11 10 10 0 11 11 10 10 0 11 11
Total # Syllables: 148
Total # Lines: 16 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 116

New Note( the old note and its cursing deleted)- These decades later the powerful dream still comes attempting to haunt.
I wake with a smile knowing I survived and eventually prospered...

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Night Brings Its Latest And Darkest Chills

As Cassia dips to stir the errant muse
night brings its latest and darkest chills
Nothing to gain , far less this soul to lose
now long forsaken the booze and the pills.

Midnight hour races into dim lit room
chairs rearranged to trick the coming guests
Its all laughs and pains cutting this sad gloom
each foray, hellish plethora of tests.

No words will suffice to clearly convey
deep anguish night demonic attacks bring
Mere words can never adequately say
give me release from these scorpion stings

Night brings its latest and darkest chills
This sad soul bellows out, run for the hills.

R.J. Lindley
August 24th 1975

Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 104

Note- Long ago, nightmares stalked man, as a cat chases a mouse.
Such continues until the "mouse" finds enough courage and light to fight back with..
Light being the key...

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Life And Love Do Not Dance To Just One Band

Why search in life for that perfect red rose,
other colors splash bold and just as well
Smell joy in life with more than just your nose
remember that first kiss and never tell.

Time is too short for such a daring search,
when rare beauty rests at your fingertips
Do not rose-red perfection's cast, besmirch
just consider other fine sailing ships.

On oceans of water, colorful land,
love just may be a ship on lonely seas
Life and love do not dance to just one band,
instead are falling fruits from many trees.

Why search in life for that perfect red rose?
No shoes, no shirt but sand in between toes!

R.J. Lindley,
Feb 14th, 1976

Poem Syllable Counter Results
Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 112

Note- I was 22 years old when I wrote this. Lots of bad things had yet to happen to me.
Not sure I could be that optimistic these 40 years later.
Knowledge is often ignored in favor of greed, lust, great beauty and/or haste.
A poison flower may be ravishingly beautiful but the poison lethal to the victim..
Such is life, some of us even survived multiple encounters and our own very foolish mistakes.

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Under Tall Midnight Oaks, Darkness Awaits


Under tall midnight oaks, darkness awaits
in shadows hiding from gleaming moonbeams.
No reprieve save that of graces of Fates,
man can not conquer such darkness with schemes.

Nature's force so often bent to its will
living forests can not be held to blame.
Those screeching echoes, send a blasting chill
make no mistake, evil is not a game.

When morn's sun forces blackness in retreat
man forgets chilling nightmares dark rain pelts
For its nighttime the monster comes to eat
chew your skin and spirit until it melts.

Dawn's gleam wipes away midnight's racing fears.
Should man pray and cry with remorse and tears?

Robert J. Lindley, 5-08-2016

Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 105

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

CHALLENGED TO WRITE AT MY POETRY SITE, I DECIDED MY SHORT BREAK IS OVER..
THUS WROTE AND PRESENTED HERE FIRST THIS POEM --MY ANSWER TO MY FRIEND..

A friend, a poet sent me a private message challenging me to write using these ten words, below is his note on the poem he wrote using those ten words
- a poem titled- "Unforgettable"

Set myself a challenge to write a poem using the ten words below. Please feel free to give it a go.

Chatoyant: Having a changeable luster. A chatoyant stone or gemstone, such as the cat's-eye.
Cynosure: Something or someone who is the centre of attention.
Demure: shy and modest
Glamour: defined as the elegant, exciting or attractive quality that makes someone or something seem special or desirable.
Ineffable: too overwhelming to be expressed or described in words; inexpressible
Ingénue: A naive, innocent girl or young woman
Lissome: Moving or able to move with grace and ease; lithe and graceful
Mellifluous: something musical, melodious or pleasant to hear
Panacea: A remedy for all diseases, evils, or difficulties; a cure-all
Sempiternal: Enduring forever; eternal

So I banged out this one this morn.....would have been far easier to free verse it but I love sonnets and sonnets are much harder to write...-Tyr

My Ravishing Predawn Vision, Return To Me

My panacea, vision shining forth, wee hours of morn
Her chatoyant hair, flowed in my all consuming dreams
Her demure gaze, always smiling, never a look of scorn
In paradise, ingénue bathing in moonlit magical streams.

Ineffable appearance, stardust in hair healed heart so torn
Something intangible, mellifluous echoed with her words
Tasting of honey, her kiss removed my heart so forlorn
Her lissome dance was as easy as mere flight to birds.

Cynosure born, her beauty sent me into a trance
Such glamor, Hollywood starlets would die to possess
In love, I boldly begged for her sempiternal dance
For that affront, my princess gave me her last caress.

Never again, did mornings glow with her grace and soft kiss.
Beauty's perfection, my grieving soul will forever miss.

Robert J. Lindley, 5-12-2016

Sonnet- Syllable count mixed, 13/14/15

Syllables Per Line: 14 13 14 15 0 15 15 14 13 0 13 13 14 13 0 14 14
Total # Syllables: 194
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically:
Total # Words: 128

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Shall We Survive Long Enough To Learn

Darkness raced before the storm
Engulfing all that stood in its way.
So fierce and meaning great harm
Where light had lost its sway.

Despite new powers of brave men
Nature's powers used to destroy.
Man perishes just a matter of when
Walking in darkness man is just a toy.

When storm has passed, sun returns
Nature then leaps forth to renew.
Thus our admiration it rightly earns
if treated well, receives its due.

Shall we survive long enough to learn?
Light's great healing will always return.

R. J. Lindley, Spring, 1979

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Frozen On Mountaintops Snowy White Slopes

Fast fading shades of beautiful new morn
angelic rays melt silver frost away;
promising life in each new day when born,
flow even if mortal man fails to pray.

Angels weep from heavenly perches high,
gifting tears refreshing mankind's lost hopes;
Life and love applauded with angel sighs,
frozen on mountaintops snowy white slopes.

At sunset , when we fail to wave goodbye
angels say a prayer for our lost souls;
standing guard within each new night skies,
despite even dark thunder's mighty rolls.

Although angels watch and often they weep,
we may sometimes feel such tears in our sleep

R.J. Lindley,
June 27th, 1975

Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically:
Total # Words: 100

Note-
Our mother, 88 years old, is in the hospital with life threatening
illness, heart and hip surgery(she fell-broke her hip Friday) scheduled for Monday.
Requesting anybody so inclined to offer a prayer for her recovery.
We've been told chances for success are not that good.....
Praying that she even makes it to have the surgery..
I combed my old poems to find something fitting today as I simply can not
write now. Thanks...

[Russ]

Frozen On Mountaintops Snowy White Slopes

Fast fading shades of beautiful new morn
angelic rays melt silver frost away;
promising life in each new day when born,
flow even if mortal man fails to pray.

Angels weep from heavenly perches high,
gifting tears refreshing mankind's lost hopes;
Life and love applauded with angel sighs,
frozen on mountaintops snowy white slopes.

At sunset , when we fail to wave goodbye
angels say a prayer for our lost souls;
standing guard within each new night skies,
despite even dark thunder's mighty rolls.

Although angels watch and often they weep,
we may sometimes feel such tears in our sleep

R.J. Lindley,
June 27th, 1975

Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically:
Total # Words: 100

Note-
Our mother, 88 years old, is in the hospital with life threatening
illness, heart and hip surgery(she fell-broke her hip Friday) scheduled for Monday.
Requesting anybody so inclined to offer a prayer for her recovery.
We've been told chances for success are not that good.....
Praying that she even makes it to have the surgery..
I combed my old poems to find something fitting today as I simply can not
write now. Thanks...

Robert,
You and your mom and your family will be in our prayers.

Russ

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Where Tongues Cursed We Did Bind

We fought the devils in steady spells,
and rest between the hammering blows,
and with heart's sigh our spirits tells;
that black shadows fear now knows.

Where tongues cursed we did bind,
with sharp thorns driven in deep,
they countering back in kind;
in short moments we dared to sleep.

No dawn came that entire week,
just night darkness giving its aid,
our doubts we refused to speak;
else needed courage would fade.

Thus we ourselves did then deceive
our souls that doubted what to believe.

R.J. Lindley,
Oct. 15th 1979

Syllables Per Line: 9 9 8 7 0 7 7 7 8 0 7 8 7 7 0 8 9
Total # Syllables: 108
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 86

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

You Stood There In Shimmering Light, No Shoes

In my past dreams, our hearts were both falling
in wanting hope, your hot love was calling
You stood there in shimmering light, no shoes
My soul wanted you, had nothing to lose

Now in present happiness I look back
at the paradise lost and my heart's lack
Then your touch thrilled my aching desires
with satisfaction that never expires

If in my future should you fade away
my hope is we should meet again someday
Yet Fate may do just as it damn well please
remember me once begging on my knees

In my past dreams, seeking hearts were both smashed
dear treasures, none shall ever to be cashed.

R.J. Lindley,
Nov. 22nd, 1976

Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 110

[Tyr-Ziu Saxnot]

Daughters Of Men, Fly Through Clouded Skies

Daughters of men, fly through clouded skies
inducing rapture in the few that see.
So many find and stubbornly deny,
awesome beauty of the flowering trees.

Looking into a fog, they see with shades
mere glimpses of angels that sail in air.
Cutting the roaming wind, they flash steel blades
in abject blindness without a damn care.

Daughters of men, fly through clouded skies
ever looking back at hot racing fools.
Mortal wealth sits and rots, never love buys
such gleaming luster fades from false jewels.

From fast flowing darkness life spins on out,
echoes of pitiful and useless shouts.

R.J. Lindley,
May 2nd, 1982


Syllables Per Line: 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10
Total # Syllables: 140
Total # Lines: 17 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 100