You walked into the hall and time did stop;
Sharp voices stalled abruptly in the room,
There every mind absolved of every thought
Save one that your sweet visage now did own.
Oh beauty rare that with this silent power
Holds rapt harsh eyes that every face did glaze,
Disparaging oft with look disdained and dour
Now rigored quite in silent dumbstruck praise.
What pleasure so to see the haughty slain,
Fair beauty’s boot upon those pompous throats
That from thick scrags that thin blue blood might stain
Prinked ruffles that the darkest hearts do cloak;
But then you flashed a smile to souls astound —
And in an instant razed them to the ground.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

We met by star lust, shared a drink or two
Our worlds colliding, differing night as day,
Drawn together by dark matter’s murky glue,
Sheer Jovian impact, now what to say?
Had I but there a cigarette to light
To burn the awkward silence of the Moon:
Saturnine bleakness murking into night,
Black holian shadows oppressive as a tomb.
Dimples of Venus, love is deep as skin—
No comet bright to burst through passions door,
Just the lingering scent of telluric sin
Meteoric clothing strewn upon the floor.
I fall to Earth, eclipse my Martian frame,
Mercurial madness marred by stellar shame.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

I sit, pen poised before a blank white canvas
My mindful muse now mixing words of hue
That I may paint some timeless mystic mantras
To conjure forth sweet images of you;
So here a dab of light to crown your grace
And there a glint of bright to catch your smile,
A splash of rose across that peerless face
And shadows soft to every eye beguile.
A touch of crimson moistens lovely lips
The richest chestnut strengthens arching brow,
A grand collage to launch a thousand ships,
The bowsprit set for all proud beauty’s prow.
There so upon the palette of my mind
I blend the love that painted words enshrine.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Where beauty comes to light through praising eyes,
Assails the soul and leaves on poet’s breath,
Condensing yet into his quiet lines
To there shine on beyond a mortal death;
So may your murmured worth bide on in rhyme
To linger in the minds of those who read
And dream that once there was a place and time
That such a matchless sylph did live and breathe.
Of beauty you engrace, who dares to write
Where justice for sweet worth rides on a pen,
And to that challenge who bestows the right
That scription such proud legacy attend?
Would that the grace of God now guide this hand
That in blessed verse your memory ever stand.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

You, quintessence of femininity —
Unabashed and unafraid, pure woman;
A beauty true which every eye may see,
Proud to be that gifted rib from heaven.
Soft to the eye and softer to the touch
Yet with an inner strength that holds in stead,
God manded mate no man could love too much,
Right complement of heart when two are wed.
You are the cradle of the human form
And by design do calm that mortal beast,
Give moral compass to the newly born
And comfort so the suffering soul ‘til death.
Demure and meek, yet with a mighty power;
The worth of Eden captured in a flower.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

So was I driven by your winsome form,
The devil’s hound bent on a scented run,
Raging in raw purpose, a bestial storm
There not to be denied ‘til prize was won.
Fearless, ferine, clear not by reason bound,
Courage purloined from some primeval past,
Logic undone tight spindle there unwound
Web tangled twine but to the soul entrap.
Folly divine, dared not to be denied,
Malevolent madness mocking piety,
Desire unchained, no conscience to abide—
To have, to hold…to conquer utterly.
Then spent of passion, done, sweet glory gained;
Brief spate of pride, but now by guilt arraigned.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

So close to life he lay, so close, still warm
His lids left wide, eyes bright in morning sun
Straw hair disheveled, wanting there a comb;
Red mouth agape as if paused in a song.
Still he was dead, I knew, forever gone;
Dried crimson on his chest betrayed his fate
As if a nosegay pinned to breast was done,
Stained wilted joy that harkened better days.
What must I tell his mother….he was brave,
Not that I heard him whimper in the night,
What to remember of the life he gave?
Not that he cried for home with failing sight.
What shameful sin, that patriotic lie —
That innocence for some false honor, die.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Those precious tears that rise up from your eyes
Now let me know that I have been forgiven,
An hour ago my soul you did deride
Fair with the very right and weight of heaven;
I am not worthy, yes I have deceived,
Ranged far from heart and home and all I loved,
Not sure of even yet what I believed,
Prisoner of dark lusts there so enslaved.
But I have broken free those bonds, yes free;
Bashed through the sordid gates of living hell
So that once more your visage I might see
Before the sounding of that surly bell.
My tears join yours, I touch that lovely face
That through some madness I did long disgrace.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

So was her proof of virtue there not given
There on that marriage bed ‘neath eyes God,
Her eyes upturned toward absolving heaven
Full knowing she did lay a scarlet fraud.
No honor there could stain white linen sheets
Save tears that fell in breach of piety,
That crumpled white did fists of guilt there pleat,
While love was consecrated solemnly;
In act ordained, now she a licit wife
Dubbed pure in heart in deference was to sworn faith,
Yet husband true did note the tears of strife
His visage shadowed in a smoky wraith.
But God stayed silent, she relaxed her grasp…
Praying that in time, he’d never ask.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.

Gold and vermillion here the colors run
Heralding retreat to whites and greys
Marking sad surrender of summer sun
Whose lowly flight does now the land dispraise;
Scorched earth, the world ablaze, sweet summer lost
And now great fortune burning up in flame,
That verdant wonder that did hills fair gloss
Now pyrrhic plunder doomed to fallen shame!
Here still that final charge though brief was grand,
Though gold and crimson spill upon the ground
As blood and treasure strewn on conquered land
Stain sore the heart of vanquished king discrowned.
So kingdoms rise, so shall they meet their end;
The glory of new life shall life defend.

© Loubert S Suddaby. All Rights Reserved.