Traverse

Traverse

a temple spire

like a god

rising up from the water

poiseidon it is not

steel girders

arches

elegance and beauty

we remembered, we forgot

the elements of our being

but here we find it freeing

to behold the beauty of the sight

bursting forth like candle light

in the midst of a misty forest of steel

I reach forth and take the wheel

Traversing forth into my destiny

A new day begins

K, Duane Carter 5-29-11

Image by Scott Wyden

Written for onestoppoetry.com Photo Challenge

the Abstract

image by Roger Allen Baut

the Abstract

truth is found in layers

yet light is always at it’s center

moving and weaving through all

a sine wave interrupted but never stopped

crystal clear, it shows us here

the truth will not be robbed

of its clarity, its purpose

even that which is just seen on the surface

reveals what is deeper within

K, Duane Carter 3-27-11

Created for One Stop Poetry's Photo Challenge

Surprises

image by James Rainsford

Surprises

Sometimes God shows up in surprising ways

He comes upon us and messes up our left-brain strays

Waking us up from our slumbers

Our endless, stony days without numbers

Just waiting outside the realms of the religious

Calling us to spread out our wings and fly with Him.

He rests sometimes right above our heads

As we longingly look elsewhere for our bread

Standing outside in the rain and storm

Forgetting, ignoring our original form

Where the light caught our wings and lifted us higher

We have taken stones and form in place of fiery desire

It is less painful, but is not living

God patiently waits, He patiently waits

The light and the music continue to wake

The waves move within our souls, and our minds

To our hearts the melodies one day will find

Then breath will come, warmth will come

The stony caricatures will be undone

We will all find our wings and soak in the sun

Our songs will never be quite the same

K, Duane Carter  3-20-11

Written for One Stop Poetry Challenge

Pristine

image by Fee Easton

Pristine

I dwell in the shadows of precision

Pristine chapels wonderful in their symmetry

Yet just blurred in the background

Bricks and glass arched like the sun

Yet they are blurry shadows

My unkempt hair blown in the wind

Sharp, defined, and seen

But from life I have been weaned

Now I just draw what I can from the elements

No use for shadows, no use for sacraments

I will draw everything out of life that I can breathe

While all of that draws the very life out of me

Can you see my soul?  Can you sense my spirit?

They lie hidden behind my eyes

Which lie hidden behind my darkness

Yet all is clear, all is seen

You see life and know what it means

When you look at the contrasts of me

You can feel my sadness, you can sense my fear

When you take the time to see that I’m here

Seeing beyond the three’s and the flow

I am here in the depths for you to know

Not to be blurred into the background

With bricks and glass arched like the sun

K, Duane Carter 3-13-11

This poem was written for the One Stop Poetry Photo Challenge.  This is a great link to check out each week because there are always incredible photos and excellent poems to peruse.  It is a fabulous way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Wonder

The curtain has been raised

And this is what is seen

What to others looks like a giant mess

Yet to my Maker it is serene

He sees the beauty in the silks

He sees color, symmetry, lines

He sees life is drifting right in the midst

He sees wonder in the chaos that is mine

The curtain has been raised both for me and for you

So what has been stolen and plundered?

All of this is just a beginning for Him

A beginning of art, glow, and wonder

K, Duane Carter  3-6-11

Written for onestoppoetry challenge.  In honor of my son, Eli, whose birthday is today, adopted from a Chinese orphanage four years ago because someone saw the wonder in the chaos.

The Mask

Dark sounds

From the dark side

Yet there are some things

We just can’t hide

To enter into beauty

To wield wonder instead of death

We reveal our true humanity

Instead of the mask that gives us breath

We enter sound, we enter truth

We enter wholeness, we enter youth

We utter mysteries that raise the dead

We go beyond what is in our head

To enter into beauty

To wield wonder instead of death

We must reveal our true humanity

Instead of the mask that gives us breath

K. Duane Carter 2-20-11

Another Oldie

I wrote this in response to One-Stop Poetry's query about older poems that were written as youths.  Here's one from all the way back in 1986 (I was seventeen).  WOW!  They didn't even have mp3 players back then!  Hope you enjoy "The Most Beautiful Night."

The Most Beautiful Night

The silvery dark sky of night

Shifts slowly with the passing clouds

Which slowly obscures the twinkling light

Of the temple of stars with a puffy shroud.

The full moon glistens with joyful pride

As the passing clouds catch the beams

Now nothing on the earth can hide

From the light that falls while people dream.

A darkened daylight, a quiet hush

Moves over the night as a flowing stream

The silence broken by a speckled thrush

To wake us from enchanted dreams.

The whispering moon bids farewell

And beckons the sun to appear

Then the speckled thrush sings the tale

Of the most beautiful night of the year.

                                                                       


kdc  3-2-86