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Poetry
Fall 2005
by Harry E. Gilleland Jr.
Source: Gilleland Poetry, p. 101
The zoo lion, a majestic beast,
born and raised in a zoo,
living out his life in a zoo,
in safety and comfort,
well fed and tended,
without a care in the world
and yet, he paces. He paces
relentlessly without purpose,
back and forth, back and forth
searching for something...
For deep within his magnificent heart
he instinctively feels a gnawing,
as though he knows
there should be more.
For aeons past his ancestors
lorded over the African plain,
fighting and killing,
surviving by cunning and strength,
living a shorter, more brutal existence,
but reigning as king!
He carries the genes from centuries past
to make him a true champion,
the lord and master of his domain,
but this potential goes untested,
unfulfilled, wasted, locked in confinement,
due to mere accident of birth.
And so, he paces, paces,
seeking a portal in time
that might transport him back,
back to past glory,
back to the life he was bred to live,
back to find his lost heritage,
back to the chance to prove he is a lion.
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Note: This poem is nominated "Best Poem of Year 2005" by Muses Review.
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Editor's rating: 5 laurels out of 5 laurels.
5 = excellent.
Reader's rating:
5 = Excellent
4 = Very Good
3 = Satisfactory
2 = Lacking Depth
1 = Never Mind
by Harry E. Gilleland Jr.
Source: Gilleland Poetry, p. 19
Sugar, our love affair must finally end.
It is painful, I know. Nightly I still hear
you calling out to me...but I don't intend
to weaken this time and let you near.
Yes, yes, I'll truly miss your sweetness
in my life, but continuing on wouldn't be
fair to me...or to my wife. The foolishness
must end; I now see the harm you cause me.
This time I am committed to giving you up
I've said this before, but I'm ready to try it.
I've consumed your goodness by the cup,
but now it's not candy, cakes, pies in my diet.
I must live sugar-fee, even tho' I'll regret it.
But, if I don't, my doctor says I'll be diabetic.
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Note: This poem is nominated "Best Poem of Year 2005" by Muses Review.
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Editor's rating: not yet rated.
Reader's rating: (not yet rated)
by Harry E. Gilleland Jr.
Source: Gilleland Poetry, p. 7
Tsunami.....dreadful tsunami...
waves of destruction from the sea...
Untold energy has been set in motion
by an earthquake down on the ocean floor.
Sunbathers on faraway beaches apply lotion,
oblivious to danger arriving in a few hours more.
In deep waters the tsunami waves are long
and shallow, traveling both far and fast.
On the surface nothing appears wrong,
but deep, deep below, the die has been cast.
As the deep waves near the shallows of the shore,
they slow down and rise higher and higher.
Now a monstrous wave taller than ever before,
the tsunami crashes ashore...crashes ashore.
The power of the water wantonly washes away
structures and lives as it surges, then recedes,
only to return, its waves now even deadlier,
Debris-laden, it pounds away...pounds away.
As it withdraws, the tsunami fully succeeds
in humbling Man, for it's truly amazing to see
the death and devastation wrought by the tsunami
delivering the awesome power of the deep blue sea.
Tsunami... dreadful tsunami...
waves of destruction from the sea...
Note: This poem is nominated "Best Poem of Year 2005" by Muses Review.