The summer was always so much fun
-- When we were young --
We'd jump fences and run through backyards
-- when we were young --
Boys were icky and really gross too
-- when we were young --
Best friends were forever and ever
-- when we were young --
A pinky promise was sacred
-- when we were young --
and now in my 60s I want to go back to
-- when we were young --
Epistrophe form ©SamHarty
When the poets fall silent Man will not only lose his voice but also the notion of Life. ~Quote by poet.
Steeped in the pain of his slain countryman,
surrounded by the turmoil of real fears
which lay exposed on the stone-cold tarmac,
a poet dipped his ink in the spilled tears.
He had a name … He had a name …
A mother’s son had stood up to be counted
during a time when voices were made mute,
indoctrinated to a point of stupor.
A poet observes and remains resolute.
He had a name? He had a name.
No statue would be erected in his name
as he was not the first man to be slain.
At the next roll call of the civil unrest,
the poet’s words ease some of the naked pain.
He has a name! He has a name!
13/7/2001
___________________________________________________
Challenge accepted at Jenna Logan’s blog, An Exercise in Poetic Camaraderie, dated 13 July 2021: cathartic, courage, calming.
I used a combination of the poetic devices epistrophe and epizeuxis in this elegy.
Each day was a gift
without you.
Every sunrise breathtaking
without you.
Music moved me
without you.
But ever since our first night,
nothing is as beautiful
without you.
* Poem Form, (to my best) is Epistrophe or Epiphora, but neither are listed as a form option. Feel free to suggest a fitting Poetry Soup Poetry Form. Until then, It's in the, “I don’t know” category.
Kindest regards...
Not by what we say but by what we do
Not by being silent can we prove what's true.
Not by passive stance can we make things right
Not by shades of gray is there black and white.
Not by being fearful can we keep our land,
Not by false illusions can our freedom stand.
Not by being cowards are the battles won,
Not by being still can many things be done.
It takes real men to stand and face the foe,
It takes truth in us to walk where we must go.
It takes every fiber here to negate the lies
It takes boldness to stop our own country's demise,
It takes unity of heart and one goal to find
It takes all the governed to speak out their mind
It takes just one man to bring utter destruction
It takes blindness to bring death to a nation.
All rights reserved ~~~Cynthia Buhain-Baello~~07.25.15
Epistrophe - the repetition of a word or words at the end of two or more successive verses, clauses, or sentences.