Late Fall/Early Winter Stamper Poems

Here are three original #poems from late 2018, never before published. Feel free to comment and critique, and stay warm out there. #poetry #GordonStamperJr

Landscape of Fear

Confounded in the light
withered green tendril s
reach for traces of warmth
that may not come again
in looming clouds of grey

Atmosphere chilled
wind howling left and right
austere air whirling life
into a daze of inaction
holding on to native ground

Growth could be discerned
in faith of the unseen

Horizons could be reached
if they would only be expanded

But fear of more storms ahead
tethers tendrils to barren ground

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
November 3, 2018

Conditioned
Smoothing down
my wiry hair
cascading swirls
rinse down the drain

Tossing filamentous sheets
into dryer’s mouth
conditions the fabric
of future days

Pouring kibble
into a clamoring bowl
of silver
the family dog
shows proper deference

Walking to
the family meal
my children flinch
in appropriate submission

Serving my favorite dish
my wife smiles graciously
bows to say grace and nods
in reverence to me

Surveying my yard
greenery bends to
my will

Silencing critics—
voices of nature—
with my herbicide
and pesticide wand

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
December 1, 2018

Light Observed from a
Dark Winter Field

As wind and snow
burnish the landscape
in drifts of silvery white
moonlight’s dominion

I dream of heat
burrowed in layers of protection
against lingering promises
of icy eternal slumber

Somewhere in the stretching shadows
clouds backlit by winter sun—
mood lighting for approximation of daylight—
reside solstice promises

Longer days
festivals of lights
tonal carols centuries old
warming and comforting in the chill

I radiate that hope
in my fleece-lined sleep
curled in ceremonial notions
of seasonal salvation

Gordon Stamper, Jr.
December 8, 2018