did Columbus sleep
the night before he set sail,
lamp lit till dawn’s break?
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
did Columbus sleep?
Posted by Eric on May 18, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/did-columbus-sleep/
Silence of the Bells
The early morning mist was still rising in the placid bay where the old man sat in his wooden rowboat. His fish line in the water was forgotten in the midst of sensations and scents that brought him in swift succession to moments back in time. The fog kept him from seeing the jagged shore. The occasional dong of a lone buoy brought him warmth from the mist.
His eyes closed. The smell of fish, regrets. The smell of salt, dreams. The dong of bell, comfort. A perfect balance. The boat rocked slowly with the lap of small waves. The lap of waves, lovers lost found again. His boat drifted listlessly until he was at peace. The bell was heard no more.
seas bring memories
bay protects from passion’s storms
silence of the bells
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
http://call2read.com/2013/05/18/ligo-haibun-challenge/
Thanks, Ligo Haibun Challenge!
Posted by Eric on May 18, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/silenceofthebells/
Upon a Hill That Ants Would Pleasure
Lifted, learned light, awake me!
Too long, too long, too long we’ve slept
upon the divan where we’ve wept
for all things lost never possessed.
We must not anger entombed, lest
we lose that held too close to chest.
Lucid, lofty lies, o’ertake me!
I but an ant within the sprawl
of civilization’s cramped crawl
upon a hill ants would pleasure
to hold own, care for and treasure,
instead of sharp insanity.
Knives of knowledge, satiate me!
Thinning razors slice through my walls
of all that take to height, enthrall,
then plunge to depths of dimmest rage.
I flail, bull led to be set free.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 18, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/18/upon-a-hill-that-ants-would-pleasure/
Grayest Day
Grayest day on eve of brightest,
I don’t know, not in the slightest
how I ever made it to here.
Too tired to shed a single tear,
I curl up on the darkest futon
to rest for day I wait upon.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 17, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/17/grayest-day/
Soldier’s Duty
A person whom I do not know,
and I’m most sure does not know me,
caught me in moon tide’s undertow
to drag my writings out to sea.
He questioned motives and intent
to try to tear my flesh from bones,
his fickle friendliness was bent
on tearing down, his overtones
trying to crowd out each lone word.
He asked the crowd just why I wrote
this cry, drawing his sharpest sword
to cut out my lamp’s line and note.
My sword I staid within its sheath.
His did not sway me, nor the crowd’s.
It’s soldier’s duty to lay wreath,
but not to ask if it’s allowed.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 16, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/soldiers-duty/
Reborn
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
The crispness to the air this morn
lifts up my spirit, it reborn,
forgetting night’s mixed angst and storm,
forgetting heart that fasts, forlorn,
I rise to meet best,
worst of world.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 16, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/reborn/
sleep evades
Rebecca M. Vogt
Copyright 2003
sleep evades owner
feeling ‘long black corridor
seldom desires fast
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 16, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/16/sleep-evades/
Silent Moan
Even as I pen this page,
A part of my heart is gone,
Like the pity of a sage
Who has seen a silent moan.
I was not found of such worth
To hold me within your own,
So love was buried in earth
Beside all that we have known.
Hearts give not one thought to time;
Thus a hundred years from now
I shall quote the ev’ry line
Of your lips, your eye, your brow.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 15, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/silent-moan/
All The Paths We Tread And Yearn
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
I shed my coat with each stone’s step,
with each hill crossed grow more adept
at searching through all deep within,
each love, each loss, each sigh, each sin.
There is no place to better be
than here in solitude I seek,
my introspection traveled true,
the trail turning always to you.
Freedom pens down in its blank book
each touch, caress, each kiss, each look
so subtly, fully scribed in ink
by nudge, by smile, by brush, by wink.
There are two truths I can’t deny,
those dire desserts we can’t defy:
my duty sworn as boy, then man,
and evidence of divine plan
on all the paths we tread and yearn.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 15, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/all-the-paths-we-tread-and-yearn/
The First Cup Award
The First Cup Award is the simplest award to roll over, as it is not governed by the Internal Revenue Service’s Tax Code, The Ultimate Handbook of Censorship, The Rich and Powerful’s Rules for Dummies or any other source feigning authority over others except its own supreme yet admittedly unenforceable edicts to follow:
1. Copy these rules and this image to your award post,
2. Choose three (3) bloggers’ artistic works that could make you stop and ponder even if you’ve only finished your first cup of coffee, tea, juicer, alcohol or other beverage you normally partake of first thing in the morn,
3. Include links to these works in the award post and
4. Inform the artist of his or her wonderful award and supreme compliment to his/her artistic abilities…
THE FIRST CUP AWARD IS PRESENTED TO:
Arianna’s TRAVEL TIME TALK is a trip! Well, in more ways than one. One second you’re in New Zealand, the next in Costa Rica. What sets this blog above other travel blogs is the youthful vibrance, fresh photos and the feel that you’re part of the company of travelers venturing into a new unknown. Check her Costa Rica trip out at:
http://traveltimetalk.com/2013/04/23/costa-rica-2007/
Naresh’s DREAM LENZ is a fairytale-like trip through the beauty of India by photograph. If a beauty can launch a thousand ships and a picture paint a thousand words, Naresh has hit the mark on both counts. His photos are so crisp and real that you may think you’re there! From historical monuments to his colorful little niece, you are sure to enjoy his artistry with a camera. Check out his home page at:
Shawn’s SKPFOTO is a journey through the many different worlds of California. He has an eye for the grand and the unique that qualify him as a poet of the photograph. His night photography is stunning. From nature to people to historical edifices and skylines, he shows us a glimpse of the world we would see if we stopped for just one moment to ponder it. Go. Ponder. His blog is at:
http://skpfoto.com/category/photography/
Congratulations to the artists chosen for The First Cup Award!
Posted by Eric on May 15, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/15/the-first-cup-award-9/
Book of Life
Rebecca M. Vogt
Copyright 2005
A man I once knew came to me
with wish to see eternity.
I took him to a trail I know
revealing grandest picture show
that nature could promptly perform.
An owl dove upon witless prey,
a fish leapt high to mark his day,
a tree fell, deadwood weighed in scales
deficient; deer ran, show of tails.
Man gasped, though this scene was world’s norm.
“Soldiers live for the morn of war,
Scientists for their fame of lore,
Statesmen fall from their rotting core,
the Herds run scared as none before,
while poets ponder world reborn.
“This is eternity,” I said,
in moment book of life full-read.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 14, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/book-of-life/
Shrink Wrapped
The glint of sun on windowpane
this morn disturbs me more than rain.
The chorus of ev’ry winged creature
calls me like worst grade school teacher.
The perfect blue set true in sky
offends my bland and burning eye,
the vivid green of lawn and tree
pronouncement of death upon me.
It’s only beauty’s best of life
that strains out worst of vain, vile strife
into shrink wrapped commodity
that breathes and aches to be set free.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 14, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/14/shrink-wrapped/
Diary of a German Private
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
(Wilson’s Creek, Missouri – August 10, 1861)
We march across long plains, high hills
and leave main force to do our part,
to our duty discharge with hearts
grateful for new nation, with wills
strong to face fire of dawn’s new foe.
Sigel has led us well this far,
silent in dark country ‘long creek,
around the enemy we seek,
no sign but blackness, not one star
to comfort swollen foot and toe.
The mist rises, the sound of guns,
our hearts rise as our German blood,
our boots still caked from rain and mud;
believing battle has been won,
we let out ripple of a cheer.
But who is friend and who is not,
we do not know as gray lines fix,
for Union force’s colors mix
with the rebel’s; they fire–mein gott!
Two men fall, both killed, their tears
streaming down with death’s disbelief.
We note–too late–the Rebel’s flag
and fire; before one can load bag
of powder, we know there’s no relief.
The enemy’s too close–quick! Run!
There are no rules, you see, in war,
no way to discern foe from friend.
Men panic all ’round, such dark end
in blood and sweat of August’s poor
peasantry, fools that wake with sun.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 13, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/13/diary-of-a-german-private/
when dreams journeyed
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
my heart yearns for raft
lost of youth, when dreams journeyed
downstream ‘side Huck Finn.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 12, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/when-dreams-journeyed/
This Morn’s Song
The sky, a blue I’ve never known.
The birds, a happy overtone.
There are things higher than unknown.
We must remember this morn’s song.
The air, a crispness strength imparts.
The bloom, a newness that life starts.
The sun, a healer of all hearts.
We must remember this morn’s song.
Our life, a precious gift to use.
Our love, a treasure that accrues.
This poem, pined pleasures of a muse.
We must remember this morn’s song.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 12, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/12/this-morns-song/
spent
dusk drifts as if spent
pausing as it waits for sign
mild moon melds with earth.
Eric M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 11, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/spent/
God Sends
Rebecca M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
God sends the truest savior,
one bold on bended knee.
It may not be our flavor,
nor bring eternity.
The savior that is so sent
is closer than we think,
so pitiful when it’s bent;
yet strong when all hopes sink.
Though life low seems, it mere dust
to ponder in mirror,
saving starts in us, as must
courage, all the clearer.
It’s not fall that brings defeat,
nor blow from stronger hand,
but to remain felled when feet,
though pained, must take their stand.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 11, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/god-sends/
Dedicated to all of you
Post by Cristina G.
Please bring my ship to sheltered bay
where sails are 'ever furled,
a gentle place, a placid way
upon the deck to curl.
My love is there, we have no care,
the sun shines 'pon the hill
where lives can be all that we dare
as long as there's the will.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 11, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/dedicated-to-all-of-you/
All Empires
Rebecca M. Vogt
Copyright 2013
The sun shall never set on me,
alive on ev’ry point and sea,
my colonies I’ll never free,
for world is my domain.
The Boers wrapped in deep dissent,
That Gandhi with his garments rent,
Americans with their mouths bent,
China shut off again,
A War for which we’ll always pay,
the struggle won, but not the day,
Britannia shall fade away.
All empires flux and wane.
Yet we run steady in our course,
without a thought, with no remorse,
mortality is our main course
till sunset ends all pain.
Eric M. Vogt, Copyright 2013
Posted by Eric on May 11, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/all-empires/
Wonderful Review: Letters to Lara
I just had a wonderful review on Amazon from a reader in Australia! At:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/cr/1484126262/n=1/ref=aw_cr_i_1?qid=1368249610&sr=8-1
Posted by Eric on May 11, 2013
http://ericmvogt.wordpress.com/2013/05/11/wonderful-review-letters-to-lara/
