Tag: poetry

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String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me

According to scientists
The world’s made of string
That buzzes and fuzzes
Or some such strange thing

It’s also a donut
That curls round a hole
With middles and riddles
Just like a fish bowl

And there’s no mistaking
It’s more than 3-D
With twenty or plenty
Dimensions unseen

Still others insist
It’s really a bubble
That’s popping and bopping
Through the lenses of Hubble

Or is it just a big boom bang
That speeds to its goal
Of whirling and swirling
Into a black hole

My view is different:
The whole galaxy
Is milky and silky
And spins around me!

Wayne Visser © 2008

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Memory Stones

The cold is biting, the darkness disorientating
in the hollow caves of loss, the waves
of anger, the shades of sadness, the madness
of life when it rips from the roots, when it
shoots poison arrows and leaves us bleeding
and battered, pleading and shattered, yet
alive, breathing and seething, while breath
was stolen from others, without warning,
without reason, they are dead.

The sun still rises, the earth turns, as if
nothing changed; it’s strange, as if
no one noticed the flames, the screaming,
the crashing down of a life, the smashing
to pieces of plans and dreams and what might
have been; the cold, grey ashes of a love
that burned bright and brief, too brief,
now grief is all that’s left, the theft is
complete, the mortal coil is shed.

The stones remain, memories from the burning
hearth, the bright blaze of living, the giving
of shape and form to who they were and what
they did, to what we did together, forever
cherished, pebbles in my mind, treasures
yet to find, a weight of shared times and
special places, remembered faces, traces of
adventures and folly, a patterned mosaic,
celebration of a life, enough said.

Wayne Visser © 2018

Book

Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems

This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together travel and tribute poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology pays tribute to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Barack Obama, Antoni Gaudí & Leonardo da Vinci, and reflects on travels ranging from China and South Africa to Ecuador and Russia. Life is lived in the in-between / In transit / Between coming and going / Between staying and moving on / Between here and there / And what we call home / What we call settled or contented / Is merely a resting place / A station for refuelling / A nexus for reconnecting / A junction for changing direction. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Next

You never know what’s coming next,
around the corner, around the bend
in life’s twisted maze; there are no signs,
no rules, no lines unbroken, no guarantees,
for more is spoken than is known,
more unwoken than the mind’s eager eye –
the sigh of invisible breezes, blown fragments
of meaning, like leaf-piles scattered
as we chase our dreams, the things that
matter, the pitter-patter of love,
the flitter-fluttering dove of inner peace,
of calm in the maelstrom of motion,
our incessant becoming, our running
from the past and striving to be
different, better, elsewhere, anywhere
other than where we are, away
from the storm, the swarm of buzzing thoughts
and bustling tasks, yet no one asks:
what for and why now, why so urgent,
this need to strive, to plot and plan,
to map the stars and our orbit through
the spaces of living, the traces of dying,
the faces of who we are and who we will be –
until, at last, we are free, unvexed
by what, or who, is coming next

Wayne Visser © 2018

Book

String, Donuts, Bubbles and Me: Favourite Philosophical Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together philosophical poems by Wayne Visser. In this anthology, he muses on subjects ranging from space, angels and destiny to time, science and meaning in life. According to scientists / The world’s made of string / That buzzes and fuzzes / Or some such strange thing / It’s also a donut / That curls round a hole / With middles and riddles / Just like a fish bowl / And there’s no mistaking / It’s more than 3-D / With twenty or plenty / Dimensions unseen / Still others insist / It’s really a bubble / That’s popping and bopping / Through the lenses of Hubble. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Forty Seven

A year of sailing restless seas
In search of waters calm
Until we found a friendly port
To shelter us from harm
We dropped an anchor of content
A respite from the swell
To nurture gritty dream into
A pearl inside the shell

Now as we wake, cathedral bells
Ring out a welcome song
Down cobbled streets, in lecture halls
We glow while nights grow long
Our next adventure’s just begun
Beneath a spangled heaven
Upon the cusp of earth and tide
In harbour forty seven

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems

This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together travel and tribute poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology pays tribute to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Barack Obama, Antoni Gaudí & Leonardo da Vinci, and reflects on travels ranging from China and South Africa to Ecuador and Russia. Life is lived in the in-between / In transit / Between coming and going / Between staying and moving on / Between here and there / And what we call home / What we call settled or contented / Is merely a resting place / A station for refuelling / A nexus for reconnecting / A junction for changing direction. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Alive

I live
And therefore, I am victorious
Every breath is a triumph
Every step, an accomplishment
For living and breathing and walking
Are acts of defiance
Against dying and resigning and stopping

I am alive
And therefore, I am miraculous
Every emotion is an improbability
Every idea, an implausible feat
For living and feeling and thinking
Are audacious abilities
Against the odds of chance and chaos

I survive
And therefore, I am heroic
Every day is a battle won
Every year, a universe conquered
For surviving and striving and thriving
Are human superpowers
Against oblivion and entropy and meaninglessness

We live
And while we live, others die
Every life is an arc of light
Every death, a shooting star
For living and shining and fading
Are the black fate
Of each glorious being whose life we celebrate

We are alive
And therefore, we are guardians of life
Every heartbeat is a sacred gift
Every experience, a rare treasure
For living and laughing and loving
Are anti-spells
Against dying and darkness and desolation

We survive
And therefore, we are incredible
Every sunrise is another chance
Every moonrise, another bridge
For surviving and rising and connecting
Are acts of courage
That honour creation
And welcome living
And reaffirm life

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Mountain View

A barren place of grass and clay
A vision planted true
From tender care and patient work
Emerged our Mountain View

A paradise of birds and trees
Beneath the skies of blue
With brown thatched roofs and welcome guests
Now stands our Mountain View

A place to rest, a place to heal
To see the world anew
We journey on, yet in our hearts
Springs green our Mountain View

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Life in Transit: Favourite Travel & Tribute Poems

This creative collection, now in its 2nd edition, brings together travel and tribute poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology pays tribute to the likes of Nelson Mandela, Maya Angelou, Barack Obama, Antoni Gaudí & Leonardo da Vinci, and reflects on travels ranging from China and South Africa to Ecuador and Russia. Life is lived in the in-between / In transit / Between coming and going / Between staying and moving on / Between here and there / And what we call home / What we call settled or contented / Is merely a resting place / A station for refuelling / A nexus for reconnecting / A junction for changing direction. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Nature Knows

When all the world seems upside down
The fool’s on the hill
The king is a clown
When headline news loud-speaks the views
Of puppeteers of fears
And naysayers of the truth
When leaders’ voices are hollow choices
Of dumb-down beats of tweets
And two-fingers to the youth
Take a step back from the black
And white, the stereotype
The media hype, the Trumptown blues
And choose a world of hues
From greens to greys, and reds to browns
The rounds of seasons, synchro-reasons
Of sun and moon, the tune
Of vitality that sprouts and grows
The harmony, the symphony, the flows
That nature knows

When all the roads seem nowhere bound
The signs contradict
The noise has no sound
When every maze just adds to the craze
Of shallow aims in games
And hamster wheels for jobs
When Wall Street belies, in suits and ties
Their ugly creed of greed
And clever ways to rob
Take a deep breath, defy the death
Of hope, the hangman’s rope
The doomsday dope, the victim’s shoes
And choose a forest of clues
Of roots and shoots
From seeds to stems, and buds to leaves
The trees of jungles, the rumbles
Of beast and storm, the dawn
Of light and flight and lucent bows
The illumination, the revelation, the glows
That nature shows

When all that’s lost can scarce be found
The love swept away
The faith nearly drowned
When silent strings, like broken wings
Leave empty spaces in places
Where music once soared
When prophets’ words sound more absurd
Than the Mad Hatter’s patter
And the Jabberwocky’s chord
Take a great leap, take time to reap
What you have sown, from flesh and bone
From mind clone and idea muse
And choose an earthscape of dos
Not don’ts and won’ts
But cans and wills, and better stills
The thrills of striving, life thriving
Through trial and error, through terror
To yellow dreams and scarlet rose
The magnificence, the intelligence, the prose
That nature knows

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Wishing Leaves: Favourite Nature Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together nature poems by Wayne Visser, celebrating the diversity, beauty and ever-changing moods of our planet. The anthology includes many old favourites like “I Think I Was a Tree Once” and “A Bug’s Life”, as well as brand new poems like “Monet’s Dream” and “The Environmentalist”. Then as we turned our faces to the moon / Our hands entwined, our hearts in sync, in tune / We felt the fingers of the silken breeze / And made our wishes on the falling leaves / A gust of wind set off a whispered sigh / Among the trees that leaned against the sky.  Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Escape

When the clocks
Have all stopped
When you’re stuck
Out of luck
Waiting and weary
For something to happen …

You’ll know that the show
Can go on
With crazy dreams
And incredible schemes
Freshly invented
To shatter the frozen rhyme
Of time

When you’re bored
In a box
When you’re trapped
Tightly wrapped
Wishing and wanting
To make your escape …

You’ll find that the mind
Can burst free
Into dazzling vistas
And remarkable twisters
Newly discovered
To explode the prison case
Of space

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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Making Ripples

I am streaming words into the void
A pointless, poignant pulsing of mind
Seeking nothing and finding it
Among mute stars winking

I am broadcasting signals into the noise
A futile, fulfilling flashing of ideas
Lighting caverns and fizzling out
Among deaf bats clicking

I am whispering secrets into the matrix
A confounding, complex coding of heart
Turning keyholes and tumbling locks
Among blind alleys echoing

I am dripping odes into the ocean
A silly, sublime splashing of meaning
Making ripples and merging back
Among thought currents flowing

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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You and Me, Here and Now

What if it’s now?
That fateful moment
When everything turns
Silent, invisible gears shifting
And suddenly, your life, or mine
Changes forever
Sets off on a different trajectory
Enters a steep climb
Or stalls into a precipitous dive

What if this very instant
This magic moment
Is now?

What if it’s here?
That special place
Where destiny seeds
Dark, patient forces incubating
And suddenly, your future, or mine
Changes forever
Marks a new point of departure
Lays a fresh foundation
Or connects to roots long buried

What if this very location
This pivotal place
Is here?

What if it’s me?
That reluctant hero
Who hears the call
Tepid, timid heart beating
And suddenly, your quest, or mine
Changes forever
Looms larger in the lens of days
Stretches to the curved horizon
Or plumbs the depth of ocean

What if this ordinary soul
This unexpected hero
Is me?

What if it’s you?
That elusive lover
Who fits my edges
Yin and yang forces swirling
And suddenly, your dream, or mine
Changes forever
Refracts through a new prism
Bends to someone else’s bow
Or reaches for another’s star

What if this missing half
This integral lover
Is you?

Wayne Visser © 2017

Book

Seize the Day: Favourite Inspirational Poems

This creative collection, now in its 3rd edition, brings together favourite inspirational poems by Wayne Visser. The anthology takes us on a journey through the peaks and troughs of life, celebrating the indomitable human spirit.. It includes many old favourites like “Poets Must Be” and “Chasing the Blue”, as well as brand new poems like “The Writer” and “Making Ripples”. Sages through the ages wisely say: / Carpe Diem – seize the dawning day / Oh, would that I could assuage that thirst / But the day conspires to seize me first! / With the hurry and scurry / Of home’s frantic flurry / And the hustle and bustle / Of work’s tangled tussle. Buy the paper book / Buy the e-book.

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