A few pieces of poetry by
Amanda Barncord Doerr
I use to have all sorts of my poetry here – good and bad – to show people that good poets weren’t afraid to write bad poetry. That’s how you become a good poet by not being afraid to write anything. But I don’t want to spend a lot of time updating, so I’m just putting a few good to mediocre pieces up for you to read. If you want to see more of the good stuff, an electronic version of my poetry book is at iUniverse.com.
Wanted
The water billows towards me
Like dark silk in the wind
Smooth and quiet
Except the frayed edge
Snapping against the caramel shore
Like a cur protecting its territory
It nips at me
I feed it some stones and turn away
The sun is laughing in the trees
The leaves are dancing
And flowers are calling me
Cyber-verse
A world of
numbers
Land of
endless points
Seeking
dimensions
No human can
touch
Faster than
the straying thought
Zipping
through the connections
Ricocheting
off firewalls
The streams
of bits zoom to browsers
Muscle will
not move them
Looks will
not sway them
Tis a battle
of the pens
Without any
ink
Thought,
numbers, words and code
Make the
denizens of this world
Coasting on
pure energy
Metamorphing
into dreams and nightmares
A flip of a
switch brings them to life
A touch of
the keyboard sends them scattering
A universe
at our complete command
If we know
how to use it
Paper
Dreams
In the
echoes of time
Radiant
beings wander through
Halls of
golden memories
Untouched by
actuality
Sing to me,
my love,
Melodies of
forgotten joys
Adoring the
remembrances
Of fantasies
that were never true
Let us enjoy
this facade
Of illusion
and desire
Until it
fades and crumbles
As paper
dreams always do
Why waste
our time building
Reality one
block at a time
When cloud
castles spring
Into form with
just a breath?
Tis a shame
that when they fade
The lost and
agony become real
Nothing
remains of paper dreams
Save the
echoes of lives not lived
The Game
The Queen moves ruthlessly
On the checkered board
Decimating the opposition
Until they unite against her
Intent, they surround her
To remove her disruptive presence
She holds them off
Casting an eye to the other pieces
There is a chance – a small one –
She may yet win this battle
But the game is more important
Than the survival of one piece
The game will be won
A pawn’s been transformed
Though the Queen may fall
Yet another will stand
The opposition in their simplicity
Cannot comprehend the move
For they do not understand
The power of sacrifice
Summer Storm
rain falls gently to earth
moistening the thirsty ground
cooling off scorching cement
washing the summer dust down
thunder bellows softly
signaling the lightning far away
while children with umbrellas
in puddles splash and play
the clouds move to the east
the sun sits high in the west
causing a wonderful display
as nature shows her best
Lament
It is gone, only a fragment remains
I cannot reconstruct it for all my pains
I remember a little, but it's memory that keeps
My heart from reconstructing my masterpiece
Two lines out of thirty-one
Some of the best I've ever done
Now they haunt my mind and heart
For of the words, I remember only part
Yet scene they describe still stays
Of a forest on a rainy day
I wish it would return to me
Then the two lines would let me be
For try as I might, still I fear
The right words will never appear
And other words would stand there abusing
While the memory of what was remains accusing
So onto other paths I must go
My Friends
My Friends, my friends, oh how you've been scattered,
To many a place that I know not of,
But let me promise you it does not matter,
For there's no way you can escape my love.
Some will go places I cannot visit,
Others will do things I'll never hear,
But it makes no difference, not a bit,
You're still the friends I hold so dear.
For love is ever reaching
And sees only the soul.
Thus it is always teaching
The way to happiness, its goal.
At night when I look at the stars,
I think of every one of you.
I wonder what has happened so far,
And if I am in your thoughts, too.
I am meeting more of you everyday
And I know there's many I have yet to meet.
Each of you are my friend in many special ways,
Though others shake their heads in disbelief.
One day when all of you are together,
And I am among your midst again,
I want you to meet each other,
To see why I call this person, my friend.
The World Inside
There is hope in every drop of rain
Courage in every beam of sun
Happiness does the brook contain
And serenity when the day is done
Wisdom is whispered in the wind
Endurance is etched in stone
In a meadow contentment swims
And in the forest peace is known
Clarity is given to the stars
Harmony to the morning dew
Clouds bring back memories unmarred
And flowers give beauty to view
Everyone has a world inside
And marvelous talents to show
Though the potential tries to hide
It will always be there you know
Quotes I Came Up with One Night
"I'm on drugs. What's your excuse?"
"They told me I'd go far, but they forgot to mention the direction."
"Left. Right. I don't care. Just get out of my way."
"I don't want to rule the world - just my piece of it."
"Honk if your horn works."
"Tomorrow is an illusion."
"I'm not really here. You just think I am."
Extended later to: “I’m just a figment of your imagination. You should be proud you can achieve such detail.”
"I stop for nothing."
"Getting lost is half the fun."
"To some, fantasy is an escape. To others, a laboratory."
"Some days have to be washed by tears before they can be shined with a smile."
"If I actually knew what I was doing, do you think I would be working here?"
"I have a wonderful mental archive. It's the retrieval system that doesn't work."
"Time doesn't always heal. Sometimes it kills."
"Do you have a point? Or are you annoying me for entertainment?"
"Sure, that's what they tell YOU."
"The moon is not made of green cheese. Any fool can see it's Swiss."
"Today I sing. Tomorrow I get new neighbors."