Poetry Archives - Page 2 of 2 - Oscar Scholin Poetry

Stardust: Launch

By scholinoscar

On June 18, 2020

In Poetry

All was silent
On Pad 39 —

Fifty-one years
And thirty billion miles
Since Armstrong and Aldrin
Dipped their timid toes
In Selene’s Tranquil Sea

The clock strikes 10…
We hold our breath

9, 8, 7, 6, 5…
We close our eyes

4, 3, 2, 1…0
We jolt with liftoff!

As sky clears
And Bob and Doug
Ride a once-dormant Dragon
From ashes to aether
On the thirtieth of May.

Theirs is but one step
Chasing Time’s Arrow
To lift heavy ignorance
And shine a candle
Into quiet Unknown —

To climb up, up
Until we have scaled
Mons Vero
And we are at last
Alone with the cosmos.

Yet as we drift out there
We are never alone —
From Hypatia to Lovelace
Coleman to Jackson
Hamilton to Jemison
And me to you

Our candle joins the chorus
Of Elysian light in a
Cantata d’amore
Across every hue
Of the human rainbow

And so when we witness
Hephaestus’s Crucible of Creation
Breathing light into darkness
Forging stars, nebulae, galaxies
From pure chaos

We will discover a truth
Long known by the sinews
Of the heart —

From dust to dust
And ashes to ashes
We go as one

One Humanity
One Life
One Universe

All stardust.

“Faith”

By scholinoscar

On January 27, 2020

In Poetry, Villanelles

We cry, we children of the blessèd light,
Against our deeds most reeking in the dark—
For Faith’s kind roots reach deep and do unite.

Our children we expose to future plight
While oft we miss the calling of the lark
We cry, we children of the blessèd light.

A holy hush of Faith within full sight
That scatters seeds all o’er our gardens marked
For Faith’s kind roots reach deep and do unite.

We are good soil, most fertile if we might
Unite behind our prophet Thunberg, hark!
We cry, we children of the blessèd light.

Affected not are we by cold twilight;
We do not fear to stand against the dark
For Faith’s kind roots reach deep and do unite.

So, will you water seed with Faith’s sunlight? —
Diluvian escape upon an ark.
We cry, we children of the blessèd light,
For Faith’s kind roots reach deep and do unite.

Earthrise

By scholinoscar

On December 25, 2019

In Poetry

The sky is eternal dark—
Black as Erebus
An abyss of nothingness
Devoid of the faintest glimmer of stars

The ground is eternal light—
Bright as Apollo
An abyss of nothingness
Devoid of any presentiment of life

Only dust, dust, dust
And millions of craters
On the bleak surface
Of the silvery moon

Only dust, dust, dust
And a tranquil sea
On the bleak surface
Of the silvery moon

Only dust, dust, dust
And hollow hills
On the bleak surface
Of the silvery moon

But on the edge of the horizon—
A pale, blue sphere
Peaks above vapid flats
And desolate sky

A stranger to the darkness
It dances delicately
Upon the lunar shore
And sparkles in a glorious jubilee

Life—breathing, beating, bleeding
Loving, lasting, loathing
Flowering, fasting, fighting
Struggling, smiling, surviving

Life—in all its infinite capacity
For good and evil
Creation and destruction—
Thriving on planet Earth

A glinting sapphire
Alone and incongruous
Writhing in the great emptiness
And stillness

A jewel that harbors all life—
Great and small
Complex and simplistic
Regardless of any artificial preconditions

Where everything is connected—
The wind, rain, and sea
All work in harmony
Inside Earth’s glass sphere

All eight billion humans—
Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist
American, Venezuelan, Chinese, Zimbabwean
Wealthy, impoverished, educated, illiterate

All eight billion humans
Live, loathe, love, and laugh
While cradled by the tiny azure moonstone
Drifting through nothingness

Our differences are hollow and trifling—
Race, religion, and politics are but
A superficial and inconsequential
Arbitrary divide

For we are all one:
United in our struggles
United in our griefs
United in our passions

For we are all one:
One expression of life
One human conscious
One beating soul of humanity

For we are all one:
Dust, dust, dust
From dust we came
And to dust we shall return.

Ode to Janie

By scholinoscar

On October 15, 2019

In Poetry

Oh Janie,
I see your mischievous green eyes
Peering out the window.

I see you lounging on my backpack
And grooming yourself on last night’s homework
All day long.

I see you biting the flowers
And curling up in the sink,
Begging for more food to eat.

I see you shredding my papers
And leaping down the stairs
Like a hurricane.

When I arrive home from school
You run to the door to greet me.

You are my companion and friend
When no one is home.

I hear you cry out in the night
And I answer:
Janie!

American Dream

By scholinoscar

On October 15, 2019

In Poetry

A low rumbling sound
Like thunder
Awakens the conscience

In the distance
The faint image of birds in echelon
Enters the dreamscape

And within moments
Soaring angels appear
While earth trembles with mounting intensity

Gracefully gliding
Over verdant hills
And crop-covered valleys

They streak across
A canvas of cerulean sky
Then plunge toward earth

…a flash of lightning
…a trail of smoke
…an explosion of sound

The turbo-charged engines
Of America’s Blue Angel fighter jets
Thrust forward through space

Their polished metal glints in sunlight
As golden wingtips streak the sky
With ribbons of vapor white afterthought

In one final pass
The angels thrust toward heaven
Then vanish beyond consciousness

Leaving in the mind
The chest-heaving, heart-pounding
Emptiness of contemplation

Wherein the Navy hymn “Eternal Father, Strong to Save”
Gives a soundtrack to dreams
And contrails of “PRIDE”

Hover like a miracle
On the firmament
Of the soul

Morning on the Monterey Peninsula

By scholinoscar

On August 15, 2019

In Poetry

a forest awakens
to a symphony of birds

a thick blanket of clouds
hovers over oak and pine
obscuring faint moonlight

warm rays of sun
pierce thick fog
and illuminate the forest below

retreating clouds leave behind
a carpet of dew droplets
glistening in new light

the great flat ocean
like a mirror
reflects golden sunshine and drifting clouds

crimson sky breaks
and a mourning dove
calls for its mate

seagulls swagger
crows caw
pelicans peck

lonely fishermen
returning from an overnight voyage
unload their catch

as the soaring sun smiles
as a new day begins

Apple Tree

By scholinoscar

On August 15, 2019

In Poetry

A mighty apple tree stands sentinel
Beneath lonely mountains
And empty sky

Its roots stretch
Deep, deep, deep
Into hearty earth

Its trunk grows
Up, up, up
Reaching for sky

Its branches blossom
Open, open, open
Attracting new life

Its blooming buds become apples
Ripe, ripe, ripe
Bobbing in gentle wind

Its red apples fall
Down, down, down
Carrying seeds for the future

Its branches shrivel
Closed, closed, closed
Shivering in cold air

Then warm light returns
The tree’s branches blossom
And its trunk adds a ring.

ex animo infinito symphonia maxima

Category: Poetry

Stardust: Launch

“Faith”

Earthrise

Ode to Janie

American Dream

Morning on the Monterey Peninsula

Apple Tree