Tag: poems

Sometimes it seems that you’re not listening,
But I know that you can hear the birdsong in the forest
And the harrowing, anguished cry of a mother’s loss.
I know that the breathless sounds of passion reach you
And that lonely sighs of despair fill your ears.
I know that you are listening,
Because I am listening too
And we cannot but be moved
By the soundtrack of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not seeing,
But I know that you can see beauty through the artist’s eye
And ugliness in the cancer of rampant, selfish greed.
I know that the sight of carefree children reach you
And that poverty’s wasteland blots your vision.
I know that you are seeing,
Because I am seeing too
And we cannot but be enrapt
By the canvass of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not speaking,
But I know that you recount the tales of everyday heroes
And gossip about the vampires that suck society dry.
I know that words of poetry swirl in your mouth
And that shouts of abuse spill from your lips.
I know that you are speaking,
Because I am speaking too
And we cannot but be enchanted
By the story of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not breathing,
But I know that you can smell the sweet perfume of flowers
And the stench of rotten lies, like decomposing carcasses.
I know that the aroma of love intoxicates you
And the stink of hatred reaches your nostrils.
I know that you are breathing,
Because I am breathing too
And we cannot but be infused
With the scent of life.

Sometimes it seems that you’re not feeling,
But I know that your sky lights up with firework jubilation
And you languish sometimes in depression’s dark valley.
I know that the sloshing tide of contentment has lapped your shores
And the sludge of self-deprecation has mired your path.
I know that you are feeling,
Because I am feeling too
And we cannot but be bubbling
With the emotion of 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.

Nothing looks so innocent
And yet is so complicit
Nothing seems so ordinary
And yet is so extraordinary
Nothing appears so similar
And yet is so diverse
As a good book

Words cannot express
The power of a good book
The dizzy swirling galaxies
That can hide between two plain covers
The heart-twisting dramas
That can unwind along a trail of letters
The fizz-bubbling mirth
That can break ranks from the march of pages

Nothing is so publicly sold
And yet so privately consumed
Nothing seems so plentiful
And yet is so rare
Nothing appears so contained
And yet is so infinite
As a good book

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.

A moon beam to brush your cheek
A star burst to lift your eyes
A sun ray to touch your lips
A bird song to greet your rise

A wind gust to clear your head
A cloud wisp to thread your sighs
A rain drop to quench your heart
A snow flake to soothe your cries

A rose bud to kiss your nose
A tree top to bless your highs
A duck pond to cast your wish
A sky dream to loose your ties

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.

A picture paints a thousand words
And sometimes words are not enough
For pictures go where words cannot follow
And words remain long after pictures fade

Pictures are doors to time travel
And words are windows on deep space
Together they map our world of dreaming
And bend perceptions of reality

Pictures capture what can be seen
And words release what was hidden
For pictures are creations of the light
And words are born in the womb of darkness

Pictures are freeze frames of history
And words are visions of the future
For pictures trap moments in glaciers
And words flow like rivers to the ocean

Pictures are mirrors of beauty
And words are tides of feeling
For pictures shine with colours of the sun
And words reflect the mood swings of the moon

A word spells a thousand pictures
And sometimes pictures are too few
For words weave the stories of our lifetime
And pictures are cairns along the journey

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.

Every tunnel has its ending
Every aperture its light
Every rainbow arch that’s bending
Shows that you can win the fight

And though the tunnel may be black
And hardship cannot be denied
Keep moving forward, never back
And you will reach the other side

And as you sojourn in the dark
You have a secret light, it’s true:
On every journey you embark
Your loved ones always ride with 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.

So what if it’s true
I sleep with my books
There’s no need for you
To give me strange looks
It’s just when I’m weary
From every day strain
I want my books near me
To massage my brain
It’s a way to unwind
And let my thoughts go
It’s relaxing I find
To let the words flow
Is that so insane?

So what if I keep
The dictionary next
To me when I sleep
So I don’t get vexed
It’s just when I’m dreaming
And wake up with words
Like bright ribbons streaming
And songs of the birds
It’s best that I check them
To see if they fit
Rather than wreck them
Before they are writ
Is that so absurd?

So what if the sheets
I have on my bed
Are blank paper sheaves
To lay down my head
It’s just when I wake up
With some swirling rhyme
Like leaves left to rake up
From star scattered time
It’s better to scribble
The words on a page
And capture its riddle
Before the spark fades
Is that such a crime?

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.

Threads of words across the miles
Dyed with tears and strung with smiles
Ropes of friendship woven tight
Bridge the gulf of day and night

Splashes of smiles upon the page
Brushed with youth and coloured with age
Canvass of memories and imagination
Reveal the art of co-creation

Glitter of laughter sparkling bright
Eases the dark and catches the light
Circus of clowns who entertain
Shine joy to lift the clouds of rain

Feathers of touch against the skin
Caress without and tickle within
Flutter of wings across the sky
Reminds us that we’re born to fly

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.

You make impressions with canvass and paint
Weaving great stories of sunlight and shade
While I am a pilgrim with wonder and faith
Picking up pebbles of beauty and bliss

You cast silhouettes with chisel and stone
Freeing trapped figures of memoir and myth
While I am a pirate with word-sword and page
Hunting for treasures of wisdom and wit

You craft harmonies with lyric and beat
Riding vast oceans of motion and mood
While I am a healer with metre and rhyme
Tending to ailments of passion and pain

You spawn adventures with heroes and fate
Mapping new fusions of player and plot
While I am a shaman with sound-spells and dreams
Grasping at whispers of longing and love

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.

It was the faces
That first made me stop
And look
And linger

Their wise wrinkles
And smiling eyes
So alive
So beautifully African

How long had I searched
For carvings such as these
That reach into my heart
And whisper to my soul?

But the gift
That I thought I had found
Was not the gift
That I left with that day

It would have been easy
To dismiss him
As just another street trader
One of life’s desperados

He had the look –
This scruffy Rastafarian
With lopsided grin –
Of the joker in the pack

But something about him
(Was it his manner?)
Drew me in closer
And made me take note

He told me his name
And oh so gently
He told me the story
Of his artist’s life

It was clear to me
That he lived only to give life
To pregnant meanings
Forever gestating in his being

He showed me his drawings
Which swirled on music
And danced with contrast
And sang in symbols

And as he decoded each sign
And unlocked each emotion
Art became transformed
Into philosophy

Even the negotiation on price
(As if aesthetics can ever be valued)
Revealed layers of sensitivity
To deeper principles

For he spoke sincerely
Of the importance of finding balance
Between giving and taking
And having and being

Under the African sun
On the city pavement that day
I felt a connection that transcended
The suit and the T-shirt

And as I said farewell
Like old friends parting
For once in my life I had the courage
To speak my truth

“The money I gave
Is merely a token of my appreciation
For these priceless expressions
Of your artistic talents”

“But more than this
You have my admiration and respect
For you have given me a much greater gift
Which is inspiration and insight”

Now whenever I look
At the wise old face
Carved in rough wood
I think of him

And I smile
And wish him every good fortune
Knowing that I am forever enriched
By the artist’s gift

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.