Month: December 2021

Sonnet 516

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
About a manger, ‘neath auspicious light
That silver’d o’er a scene of prophecy,
A darkened stable, gilded Holy bright
Bore promise of that which they’d come to see.
The Magi kneeling, ushered by a star,
Or yet perhaps an occultation seen —
So bearing gifts dream fostered from afar
To spread before the newborn Savior’s feet.
On Golden hay lay Frankincense and Myrrh,
A preordained nativity vivant;
Dialectic proof of virgin birth—
That none who knelt in faith could e’er recant;
Soft in their silence spoke both ox and ass,
‘The barn is warm…and yes, this too shall pass.’

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 515

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
The lion roared from out his shadowed lair
And so the ground beneath me quaked and shook;
My chest reverberating from the blare
Resounding forth from out that thorn-lined nook.
I saw the jaundice eyes and grim visage
The ivory fangs that mirrored dreadful fear,
With every sinew taut, a predator’s barrage
As if hell’s fury soon would strike me here.
My aging double stood in sole defense,
Stark pupils wide, throat dry, all time recessed,
Adrenaline now stoking every sense—
No breath to beg, repent, or sins redress.
He burst at last from out that fearsome cave;
The rifle bucked with but one soul to save.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 514

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
No pleasure stirs but what our senses bless,
No thoughts can rise but what our minds conceive;
All tears that fall are at the heart’s behest,
All honest truth must from the soul precede.
It matters not how we shall spend our days,
For time is all we hold, and that soon lost.
The human form exalts in quiet praise,
And dearest things are those that can’t be bought.
Rapacious hearts will only crave for more
Blind to the truth that gain may yet be loss—
Despite grand riches, still do God implore
That they reach heaven’s gates the better dressed.
Naked came I and naked I return,
Content but here to live and love and learn.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 513

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
My life is now and ever lived for you;
I thrive or perish by your gentle reign—
Both beacon bright and faithful vessel true
To bear me forth through every joy and pain.
My purposed being lives but for your praise;
In this wide world you are my golden sun
Where I am glad to number out my days—
For when you sail, I know my berth is done.
I have no fear, for I have known your grace;
You touched my soul and gave my life its form,
In silent moments when I scan your  face,
There in that reading, hope and joy are born.
No greater rapture could this world yet give—
For you are life—and in your love I live.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 512

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
For only love withstands the march of time—
Fair roses in the lips and cheeks must die,
When sallow hues make gaunt the sweetest prime,
And age dulls brightness that once lit the eye.
Soft sable tresses soon will wear light snow,
Ice crystal shards encrusting jointed bones;
The straightest back to bend beneath life’s woes,
With simple movements echoed by sad groans.
Yet love endures these dread indignities
And warms the heart that winter has made cold,
There summer smiles rekindle memories
That revel in the light of stories old.
Yes, hand in hand we shall face winter’s rage;
Sweet love, the balm all hardship to assuage.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 511

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
Treading death’s edge, stalking the dread gryphon,
Beast-deep in trail his mud-span massive spoor;
My breath froze brittle when I surely spied him,
Dark umbra broiling with blood-curdled roars:
Curt moments later—Hades’ gate exploded—
Taut tawny tyrant burst from dark, aghast;
Unleashed like Cerberus, full fury vented,
Demon sworn that none alive shall pass.
A heartbeat later the double tubes reported,
Spat lead and brimstone answering his bawl,
Igneous lightning from ported barrels thundered—
Track stopped the menace—carnage to forestall.
Throat rasped, chest heaving, death splayed at my feet,
Leviathan conquered, quarry quest complete.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 510

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
Some splash in paint that which I scribe in ink—
Your essence rendered thus: Oh, face so fair!
The eye to but bestow a noble link,
The mind to judge and claim love’s sweet compare.
Each form of art reveals what can be seen,
But painted hues do fade and dim their blaze:
The soul alone decides which art more keen—
Smile captured in mink strokes or cursive phrase.
The eye is but the gateway to the soul
And words or hues, however they align
Engender in the mind a grand tableau—
Where neither pen nor brush is kept confined.
To me ‘tis clear, your beauty transcends art;
All tributes fail—and this sets you apart.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 509

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
The cattle know when a storm is coming
And  swiftly seek the shelter of their barn,
As if some sixth sense gave a gentle warning
To seek out refuge in the safe and warm.
The sky was clear, no whisper there of rain,
No thunder rumbled deep upon the hills;
Still in procession to the byre they came,
As if the green had given them their fill.
Now safe within the sun-stained amber dusk
They softly lowed their bug-eyed grateful praise
And carefully nosed plank floors for fallen husks,
For any morsel of forgotten grain.
Then came a flash—a brilliant bolt of light—
I saw just then—the cows had all been right!

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Sonnet 508

On By Loubert S SuddabyIn PoemsLeave a comment
I teased sweet words and bade they dance with me
As if upon the grandest ballroom floor,
While in my mind dear images took glee…
There in my arms, my peerless paramour;
So lifted up by verse to raptured heights
Then paused in prose—aloft, a grand jeté,
A pirouette revealing silken tights—
A daring glimpse to set the mind astray;
So lithely swung and sprung and swirled and pranced
Then sashayed bold and sweeping on that page,
The denouement unfurled in cursive stance
Emboldening the rhythm on that stage;
With plume in hand we did so flirt ‘til dawn,
‘Til every drop of lust-dipped ink was gone.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.