Do you remember running like the air
Through rushing branches, scrambling toward the sea
Pursuing hidden cities, and aware
That magic creatures watched invisibly?
Do you remember searching in the sand
For hermit crabs, and shattered crumbs of stone
Beyond the realm of chores and reprimand
By secret dunes you journeyed to alone
Or singing, when the starlight washed your hair,
Invented words to a familiar tune
And hearing echoes from a dragon's lair
And hurling thoughtless pebbles at the moon?
Do you remember flying, wondering why
Adults who saw you, didn't want to try?
Suppose there is a distant planet inhabited only by three people. Each of these three people is perfectly rational. Each lives in a separate room, totally unconnected to the other two. They cannot communicate with each other. However, each knows that the other two live on the same planet, and each knows that the other two are also perfectly rational.One day all three people learn that a huge meteor is coming toward their planet. If it hits, it will destroy all life on the planet, including them. All three people want very much to preserve both their own lives and the lives of the other two.The planet has a missile defense system designed t...
Two-thirds
Of a knight
Sits unmoving under burnished steel;
His sword, or someone’s, extends vertically
From a nearby shadow, pitted brick-red,
Similarly lifeless.
There are others -
Just as, on first sighting two leaves in the forest
So too are there “others.”
But the leaves, early fallen
From a blood-red autumn,
Are scarcely discernible through the surge of crows
Ebbing and roiling, black on black on black
In the lengthening twilight.The vision dims halfway to reality.
The prophet is yet new;
Her eyes, still white with shock,
Have not yet faded into numbness
From a hundred such visions.
Presently she looks forward,
Sees again the eager b...
The stars are falling - his first thought, upon
The sight of snow, before today unseen;
Descending vectors, fractal-point are drawn
Across the vision-scope of the machine.
The robot’s palm extends; his pixeled eyes
Record, by frames, what metal cannot feel
And neural nets unbidden analyze
The sight of frozen water over steel.
Behind him stands the conference hall, whose door
Projects inviting warmth on salted stairs -
And here, in laughing groups of two and four
(And wrapped in coats of other mammals’ hairs)
The first distinguished scientists arrive
To argue over whether he’s alive.
Too young to fear, though not yet brave
We chanced the arbitrary wave
And scorned alike both home and shore
Disdaining legend’s wiser lore -
That beast of idle sailors’ talk:
Austromenock!The flashing night cascaded grim
On heaven’s flowering diadem;
We watched the sea uncoiling whip
Resurgent bellows past our ship.
Whose visage caused our craft to rock?
Austromenock!Omniscient eye! Serrated claw
And barnacle-encrusted maw!
Unnumbered arms - a panoply
Of suckered limbs beneath the sea
And thickened plates that interlock -
Austromenock!Behold our doom: the waters spoke;
Our hull they splintered at a stroke
And timbers swept like blades of g...
A Field Guide to Fantasy Creatures Banshee - A woman, dressed in white, who makes appearances to sing or recite poetry the night before a loved one is to die. Until very recently (when new legislation was introduced to protect consumers) life insurance companies frequently cancelled policies upon reports of banshee sightings. Great care must be taken to distinguish between banshee singing and banshee yodeling, as the latter merely indicates that you will, at some point tonight, accidentally ram your shin into the coffee table. Basilisk - The origin of the phrase "If looks could kill." The basilisk is a small lizard-like creature hatched ...
The Bard to His Love At Length by bbd127, literature
Literature
The Bard to His Love At Length
The Bard to His Love, at LengthIt is a tale as old as history itself: two young lovers, one mortal, one immortal, drawn together by the strands of Fate. But ah, amorous youth! - the journey is not an easy one. Let us gaze upon one such scene, even now in progress, and witness the tragic tragedy of a romance that was never meant to be... BARD: O splendid Queen, to mine own heart so dear
Whose eyes, twin suns, twin lanterns, gleam sublime
Thy subjects dot the vast celestial sphere
Thy praises, ranks of cherubs constant chime
Thy face, like Helen, launched a thousand hearts
Though Helen never spoke as fair as thee,
Whose dulcet voice in grace...
The first: Yule season starts near Halloween
And bloated, swells to pester New Year's Eve
(Thanksgiving sandwiched somewhere in between).
Behold our jolly prophet: we believe
'Tis profit both to give and to receive!The second: O how fallen, wise men's star
That lighting Rome, set all the world ablaze;
Have we of God's anointed sunk so far
That we must sing our plastic Savior's praise
Beneath His halo's blinking neon rays?The third: exchanging Sunday's itchy dress
For blue jeans and a T-shirt by the flames
We gaze through glass on frosted wilderness
And whistling bits of Rudolph's reindeer games
Swap scraps inscribed with Secret Santa names...
I live. The sea is calm; the sky is gray.
The stars and moon by night, the sun by day.
I understand some parts of what I see -
What madness drives the world to be this way?It piqued my wonder - I, the musing cat
Saw lights within the mist from where I sat
What question haunts the placid symmetry?
Accursed fog! I know not even that!Will ignorance and wonder never cease?
I pace the halls by night for want of peace.
By day, the mind distracted, never free;
Almost - almost! - I hunger for release.I beat against the curtains like a fool
Whose master is both generous and cruel
Meanwhile, and unconcerned by such as me
The rain falls swift and sof...
A Critical Essay Concerning... by bbd127, literature
Literature
A Critical Essay Concerning...
A Critical Essay Concerning Itself
(In Seven Parts) Part I: Overview
The primary subject of A Critical Essay Concerning Itself (hereafter called simply Essay ) is its own self-analysis; hence it is a deeply introspective work, and it is in this light that we must consider it. Indeed, some might argue that Essay is concerned with nothing else, though deeper inspection reveals this is not quite true. (Consider, for example, the section on Critical Reaction, which deals with a response to the essay rather than the essay itself. That these two constitute the same text should not be held against the author.)How, then, shall we approach a ...
We’re told in ancient bits of tattered books
On dusty shelves, in long-forgotten nooks
In faded lines across the yellowed page
We find his legend scattered by the wind
On fifty scrolls, by fifty authors penned
Through half-forgotten stories worn with age
Like weary seekers lost within a bog
Who slow perceive a beacon through the fog
We’re drawn, however gray, however dim;
How bright the beacon, pharos fair and tall
If we today can see its light at all!
Like children do we read, and picture him.Some say he was a demon, or a god
Whose footfalls rent the surface where he trod
Whose gaze, twin angry suns, could not be borne
Some say he was a s...
The ebbing tide has barely died
And lo! The vision comes again
Unbroken spires! And ghostly fires
That do not warm my prickled skin
Unlucky strand of silver sand
A hundred leagues your compass spanned!
Bewilder me, that I may see
What is obscured for other men.The sun, its bed a dusty red
Leaves wand’ring footsteps on the street
Reflective glass at ev’ry pass
Spills crimson at the tower’s feet
The marble gate, whose doors await
The specter of unspoken fate
Lies white and tall before the fall
That fortune rushes out to meet.Eternal sea, whose melody
Today no less than then enthralls
Immortals wrote your single note
Behind these alabaster wa...
A long time ago, there lived a small village of people deep in a valley. This village was very peaceful and quiet, and they had no enemies and few troubles. The village was bordered on the west by a sea called the Dark Sea, and on the east by a large mountain chain. The mountain chain was extremely treacherous, full of icy cliffs and sheer precipices - to say nothing of the fearsome dragons and ogres that were rumored to live there. According to village legend, the ancestors of the people who lived there had crossed this dangerous mountain chain long ago in order to settle here, but nobody alive had been present in the crossing so it was u...
Oh lady, my lady, the night I was born
I smelled something sweet – the perfume you had worn
I think even then I knew something was strange
An eddy, perhaps, in the currents of change
I may have been dreaming, but nevertheless
You cradled me soft in the silk of your dress
You told me, in whispers, of castles of gold
Then handed me back to my mother to hold
You sank your fangs early, you pushed them in deep
But how could I know it, an infant, asleep?Oh lady, my lady, when I was but ten
You came on a visit to see me again
With flicks of your hand you brought light from the air
And made it to tangle and somersault there
Then set it to burning ...
Epic!In the year 2349 of the Aesyllian Calendar, which is 1498 in the Ancient King's Calendar, and 1126 in the Mydori Calendar, and 937564 in the Calendar of Very Short Years, there lived first the Felaendori. These were the Great Spirits, and they walked the void in beauty and splendor. But they strove ever to outdo one another in feats of strength and greatness, and it came to pass that two of the greatest Felaendori, Suile and Maniav, entered into a contest to see who could create the most pointless thing imaginable. Suile went first, and he created in the midst of the void that which he called Uoaea, which means Huge Rock, and he decla...
Blue twilight rolls beneath the hill
The hour is late; the air is still
Atop the grassy crest there sits
A boy, whose young and eager wits
Strain curiously through the trees
At hints of lights he thinks he sees
And there he sleeps until the dawn
Beside the lake in Mirion.The grasses sway and sighing bend
Before the cool and growing wind;
He sleeps. His dreams may wander wide
Across the newborn planetside
But deathless doubt forever flows –
The night is deeper than he knows –
A starbird wavers, then moves on
Beside the lake in Mirion.A vast and bleak nocturnal chill
Yet pours down from the mindless will
That sets all life beneath its own:
T...
She danced atop a candle
A lady of the flame
Her eyes were bright and burning
And Fire was her name.She saw the gentle Darkness
And in delight, she cried
"My love! My dear! My darling!
Why do you turn and hide?"She stretched her arms to catch him
To feel his cool embrace
But he pulled back in silence,
Refused to show his face.She sang, she begged, she pleaded
She wrapped herself in light
But he refused to touch her -
His cloak was of the night.The greater was her passion,
The more he shrank away
Unmoved, in mute detachment
By all she had to say.And when the candle flickered,
And when her flame went out,
And when the wick extinguished,
When...
(EARTH) The dew, dirt-fresh, on ev’ry surface gleaming clear
Through jungle’s womb the early sun is steaming here
The green of it is visible on ev’ry pore
And settles to the bosom of the planet’s core
A circle in a circle is the garden-ring
And light is like a halo over ev’rything! (VOID) Thy candle lights a speck upon the endless plane
The sum of what thy life hath been is spent in vain
Thou lookest at me, thinking of serenity
So thinks the mote when gazing at infinity –
What dream hast thou to spread thy mind on heaven’s shore?
Suspended in the ether-void for evermore! (EARTH) The land abounds in water-spring, in wine and food
Its path c...
Current Residence: Ohio Favourite genre of music: Classic rock Favourite photographer: My dad Favourite style of art: None Operating System: Windows Vista MP3 player of choice: Windows Media Player Shell of choice: None Wallpaper of choice: None Skin of choice: None Favourite cartoon character: T-Rex of Qwantz Dinosaur Comics Personal Quote: "And this, too, shall pass away..." (Unknown)
Welcome!My name is Brian Buckley, and I'm a 20-year-old third-year student at the Ohio State University. I write both poetry and prose, although my stuff here is mostly poems. Read, enjoy, and above all, comment! Nothing makes a writer's day like getting input from a reader.About those comments, by the way - be harsh. You'll notice all my writings are marked with "Advanced Critique Encouraged" - this is an understatement. If I could I would turn on an option that says something like "Rip This Poem Apart Into Ragged Shreds For My Benefit." I am pretty serious about this whole writing business, and if you notice a problem, tell me - there is...
I wish I could do your poems justice with decent comments. Sadly I'am far far too tired.I do quite enjoy your poetry though,It's so rare I find someone that uses old english let alone writes very well with it.Keep up the very good work.I love your poetry on the cosmos.
P.S. I noticed you also use correct grammar in poetry and how you write.Forgive me of my very incorrect grammar,I'am a sadly uneducated fool.