“…creature on the sand…”…”Amaze,” my poem

“…creature on the sand…”…”Amaze,” my poem

may yet have futures…

 

 

Amaze

 

Countless possible beginnings,

uncounted possible turns of each one,

the one end seems finally certain…

 

This creature on the sand,

forlorn, lifeless,

this end the one, it seems…

 

Still.

 

It will change.

Decay?

A careless word,

a haughty view,

a narrow disdain,

ignoble, incurious.

 

If life is the course of change

   in consequence of itself,

with no limit,

then this creature,

mutely changing now,

may yet have futures…

 

We do no harm to give it leave to linger,

and respect its changing prospect

   for moments more,

and leave it

   to walk around the new curve of the dune…

 

Chatham, Cape Cod, MA

June 15, 2000

My poem “Amaze” was published in my sixth collection of 73 poems, Above all: Poems of dawn and more.

You can buy it on Amazon (paperback and Kindle),

or get it free in Kindle Unlimited (search for “Richard Carl Subber”).

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

 

How does a poem end?

Finis,” my thoughts (my poem)

click here

As with another eye: Poems of exactitude with 55 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

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“…so much of rose…”…”tableau en cramoisi,” my poem

“…so much of rose…”…”tableau en cramoisi,” my poem

a rose, more than a rose…

 

 

tableau en cramoisi

 

So ripe, these blooms!

So full, so much of rose,

a bounty of petals,

a glory of crimson,

thickets of beauty

   on burdened stems.

 

September 25, 2019

 

“Red roses” wasn’t good enough to say the right words about this gift of flowers…

qu’on peut dire un peu de cramoisi aussi

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: War and Peace, Second Epilogue

…something different: Tolstoy’s epilogue on history…

click here

Seeing far: Selected poems with 47 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

“Confusion is a symptom of learning.” (quote)

“Confusion is a symptom of learning.” (quote)

When you’re not too sure…

 

 

“Confusion is a symptom of learning.”

 

I read that somewhere recently…

Them’s words to live by.

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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

*   *   *   *   *   *

“…blush of night…”…”Show time,” my poem

“…blush of night…”…”Show time,” my poem

take another look…

 

 

Show time

 

The final scene again:

 

the brash star of day

   livens the broad sky,

all blaze and streak

   in slow tumble of light,

and vaunting gush

   and thrash of cloud…

 

the cascade and fleeting splash of shadows

   betrays the deepening blush of night…

 

the star of day takes center stage

   and blooms across the sky,

and now: the curtain call…

 

and see!

the house lights look like stars.

 

April 10, 2018

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Shakespeare’s Wife

Germaine Greer went overboard a bit…

click here

My first name was rain: A dreamery of poems with 53 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

“The corner booth,” my poem

“The corner booth,” my poem

the waitress knows my name…

 

 

The corner booth

 

Maybe you wonder how I can spend

   so much time in this corner booth…

It’s easy, really, I have nowhere else I need to be,

this place is nicer than my place,

and I see people here,

years ago I met my friend here

   almost every day,

I miss his cheerful contemplation

   of so many things.

I’m alone now,

but not lonely,

I think about the times of my life

   and the people I shared it with,

we shared good times in this booth,

and we shared the sadness we couldn’t avoid,

it’s a comfort being here,

the waitress knows my name, of course,

and she knows what I like to eat…

I didn’t think I would become

   the old man in the corner booth.

You don’t think you’re going to be like me.

 

March 26, 2023

 

Inspired by “Old Man Eating Alone in a Chinese Restaurant”

by Billy Collins, as published in “Poem of the Day,” August 21, 2022,

by Poetry Foundation

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My poetry. Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

 

We Were Soldiers Once…and Young

…too much death (book review)

Lt. Gen. Harold G. Moore (ret.)

         and Joseph L. Galloway

click here

Seeing far: Selected poems with 47 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

 

Your comments are welcome—tell me what you’re thinking.

*   *   *   *   *   *

“…hirpling with pain…” Beowulf got it right

“…hirpling with pain…” Beowulf got it right

the right words

 

“He is hasped

     and hooped

          and hirpling with pain…”

 

Beowulf describing the wounded dragon, Grendel

Beowulf, p. 65

Seamus Heaney, trans.

New York, W. W. Norton and Company, 2000

 

Beowulf, the Old English epic poem, was written more than a thousand years ago. No one knows who wrote  it.

He or she had a way with words.

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Copyright © Richard Carl Subber 2023 All rights reserved.

 

Book review: Cleopatra: A Life

…don’t even think

about Gordon Gekko…

by Stacy Schiff

click here

Writing Rainbows: Poems for Grown-Ups with 59 free verse and haiku poems,
and the rest of my poetry books are for sale on Amazon (paperback and Kindle)
and free in Kindle Unlimited, search Amazon for “Richard Carl Subber”

*   *   *   *   *   *

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