uppoetry.net
^^Poems to Look Up^^
Tom Despard
Butterfly, Gayle Despard, Lancaster, Pennsylvania
Butterfly House at Ladew Topiary Gardens
Oil on canvas 2026
By Tom Despard
Black swallowtail alights a cone
Deeply drinking nectar all alone
In a butterfly house’s airy dome
As if sitting on a flowered throne
Long pink petals on a vine meme
Spread beauty of nature’s scheme
Marked wings dancing a dream
We feel there to enjoy the scene
Artist captures all with perception
Strokes 5 x 7 panel with precision
Finest work of her glad expression
Of God’s wild wonderous creation
Reflections Before Surgery,
Dr. Joe Wilder 1994
Madeline Stern Wilder National Library of Medicine
By Tom Despard
Hands clasped in prayer about to heal,
Hands prepared for surgery then to seal.
Eyes closed to the world, open to above,
Eyes soon to renew a patient with love.
A surgeon trained to know how to repair,
To bring a body back from wear and tear.
Attending to another with celestial sources,
An instrument enabled by unseen forces.
Masked with cross in a gown of bold blue,
This artist doctor reflects on what is true.
The Spirit moves thru the body and mind
Enabling all three to be in sync and to bind.
Our body is our house but not our home,
Our mind is consciousness that’s not alone.
Buildings, Lancaster,
Charles Demuth 1930
Oil and graphite pencil on composition board
Whitney Museum of Art
By Tom Despard
A bright bold exaggerated sign
Flashed in varied color and line.
A plant grinding corn and wheat
With its office set upon the street.
A white cloud curls from a stack,
Sly shadows taper front to back.
Buildings cubed straight and tall,
Angled squares form a wide wall,
Creating this isometric impression
That invites a curious imagination.
Above it all soaring steeples tower
And heighten the painting’s power.
Art and oil render light and shape
For a mind to interpret a cityscape.
The author visited his grandfather
H. Roy Eshelman as a boy at his
above office on North Queen Street.
Pennsylvania Covered Bridge
Watercolor by Vaughn "Duffy" Miller
Dixon and Gail Miller Collection
By Tom Despard
A most detailed and delicate of peaceful scenes,
The painter colors the crossing and its means
To ride over the river ‘n white rapids undertow,
To get to work, the gathering, or the horseshow.
The approaches on either side of the bridge
Swell up out of the banks each a warped ridge
Supporting the long box between stonewalls,
Well-worn paving slopes away like a gentle falls.
A romantic design and an engineering marvel,
Carefully maintained for a century of travel,
Wooden trusses ‘n decking on a beamed spine,
Rugged red siding topped by a gabled roofline.
A thoughtfully crafted piece of outdoor art
Snuggly joined together by hand and heart.
An iconic landmark connecting community,
A covered bridge of quite country beauty.
Breezing Up, Winslow Homer 1876
National Gallery of Art, Washington, DC
By Tom Despard
Catching a willing wind on a summer spree,
Catboat Gloucester skims over a tossing sea.
Sail billowing ‘n mast tilting in a gusting gale,
Yet it still appears good fortune will prevail.
Three boys and a man lean lightly leeward,
A hand on the tiller rudders the keel forward.
The anchor of hope skippers on the bow,
The contented crew rocks ‘n rests as if in tow.
It all looks up for now with no storms near,
America, ponder your horizon without fear.
Homer brightly brushes a positive picture,
His other works provide more of a mixture.
He seeks balance in the heavy cargo we carry,
And blessings in the troubled waters we ferry.
Slim, Photo by Rachael Hale, www.rachaelhale.com
By Tom Despard
Offered with a soft-eyed cocked pose
From a black lab’s mouth, a red rose.
A moment of solace by kind’s employ,
A snug desire to share some gentle joy.
Love sitting alone without condition,
It’s most daring and durable rendition.
"We Can Do It!" is an American World War II
wartime poster produced by J. Howard Miller in
1943 by Westinghouse Electric as an inspirational
image to boost female worker morale. Wikipedia
By Tom Despard
A poster to get women onto the factory floor
With morale to help them walk thru that door
For the Allies to compose a war victory score.
While good at any manufacturing endeavor,
Rosie became famous as a real raving riveter,
Gun in hand, elbow to the metal, as never.
A determined look ‘n strong arms of such grit,
With a deep blue shirt ‘n bright bandana to fit,
Inspiring women for years that they can do it!
Ho-Hum by Judy W. Smith
By Tom Despard
Santa, you’re the joyful clause
In every child’s hopeful cause.
A ruffled cap tops your ruddy face,
Bushy brows add a sage’s trace.
Eyelids wrapped in pastel wrinkles
Hide your soft sleeping twinkles.
Motley whiskers dappled in white
Shine like a frosty winter’s night.
Such a harmonious and tranquil soul,
Your peace is diamonds in the coal.
Ruby red lips puff to draw some air
Through your beard’s overlapping hair.
All set on a broad red-checkered suit
Of jolliness down to buckle and boot.
Too Ho-Hum that you might keep still?
No, the reindeer rustle to test your will.
You shall awake to eat a sweet snack,
Dig deeply into your heavy woolen sack,
And Ho-Ho, pull many good gifts out,
For love is what you are all about.
Guernica, Pablo Picasso, 1937
...this bull is a bull and this horse is a horse...
If you give a meaning to certain things in my
paintings it may be very true, but it is not my
idea to give this meaning. What ideas and
conclusions you have got I obtained too,
but instinctively, unconsciously. I make the
painting for the painting. I paint the objects
for what they are.
– Pablo Picasso
By Tom Despard
A piercing work of art of the fierce art of death,
Of Hitler’s bombs snuffing out innocent breath.
A holistic chilling collage of an unholy act of war,
Of an atrocity of explosive destruction and gore.
"This bull is a bull and this horse is a horse,"
Yet here Picasso speaks out with frightening force.
He stuns the soul with the deepest well of pain,
And leaves us feeling it can only be hell’s gain.
Stare, study and soak in this depraved drama.
Can there be a worse memory or a sadder saga?
Presented in black, white and gray, no colored fare,
To provide a stark surreal reality and plainly declare,
A showering of fire
Showing pride’s desire.
Mending Wall, Ken Fiery, Nashua, New Hampshire
Why do they make good neighbors? Isn't it
Where there are cows? But here there are no cows.
Before I built a wall I'd ask to know
What I was walling in or walling out,
And to whom I was like to give offense.
Something there is that doesn't love a wall,
That wants it down...
– From "Mending Wall" by Robert Frost.
By Tom Despard
Mending a rough rocky wall made him think,
A wall needs a reason, so Frost put that to ink.
His neighbor quotes an old proverb on fences,
Good ones make good neighbors, no offenses.
This poet uses nature to expound on humanity
And asks what's being walled in or out in reality.
There are no wandering cows to keep in place,
So then why do we want to separate this space?
There are unlovable walls we need to take down,
Be it in our hearts or minds or country or town.
Cloak of Conscience, Anna Chromy 1999
Prague, Czech Republic, Author Photo 2024
By Tom Despard
A cloaked figure chiseled by gifted hands to create
A marble ghost silently contemplating their fate.
A massive block carved as if a Michelangelo rhyme,
Quarry cut pure white, colored by elements over time.
A tragic opera of unrepentant sin and hellish fracture,
Mozart's Don Giovanni inspired her surreal sculpture.
This musical masterpiece aptly draws us to wonder
How a strange tale of depravity dares us to ponder
A shrouded struggling soul who is black as night,
As if we need to fathom darkness to see the light.
We're stunned and saddened by such a haunted face,
But overjoyed by Christ's covering of love and grace.
Egyptian Temple on the Nile River, Author Photo 2010
By Tom Despard
Of king and queen and pharaoh and god glories,
Of courtiers, soldiers, servants and slaves in stories.
Detailed chiseled narratives of momentous times
With an alphabet of renderings, riddles and rhymes
Captured in stone the history of pleasures and strife,
This world's order prepared for a glorious afterlife.
Ceremonies, offerings, war, philosophies to mind,
A civilization grew and extended as one of a kind.
Exposition Universelle De Paris, 1889
Poster, en.m.wikipedia.org
By Tom Despard
Built for the
1889 World Fair,
Then 'n now a landmark
tout extraordinaire.
Paris's point of
sweeping beauty
Inspired by three
architects' originality,
A sweeping tower of
iron engineering
By iconic Eiffel
team's pioneering.
Rivetingly intricate
yet serenely simple,
A mighty 'n majestic
skyward symbol.
All eyes fall in
love with her.
Here a poster screen
of this imposing scene.
Guardian of the Herd (Nature's Cattle; Buffalo Herd; Before the White Man Came), Charles M. Russell 1899 Sid Richardson Museum, Fort Worth, Texas
If you could kill the buffalo, what they brought was yours. They were like walking gold pieces.
– Frank H. Mayer
By Tom Despard
A friend and savior of native tribes for 10,000 years
Before the over-killing of the invaders brought tears.
A marvelous beast providing meat, bones and hide
Became well-known as a rich treasure far and wide.
The white man cometh with long rifles and ammo,
Train loads of hunters on a fool's rush for dough.
Wonderful animals slaughtered just for their skin
Made each buffalo a walking piece of gold to spin.
But alas, cooler preservation heads prevailed well
To regenerate herds of bison on the plains to dwell.
Photo, en.m.wikipedia.org
By Jackson Despard, Guest Poet
It all started on the morning
Hearing quiet peaceful chirping
In the winter season
With the falling white snow
We were soon awoken
As the light reached our window
Shining through with great color
As it hit the living room floor
We knew we had a day
A quite busy day
So we got ready for what would soon be before us
As we packed up and headed towards the forest
The drive was long
But the bright blue sky led the way
As we continued on
Traveling up away
We soon arrived, getting unpacked
As could feel the cold snow beneath our tracks
We headed inside to get ready
As the time to come was soon steady
We were ready for the adventure
The mountains soaring high
As we prepared to go
To touch the sky
As we made our way over
We were soon carried up
Being lifted off the ground
Hearing slightly distinct sounds
As we reached the top
We could see the world
And the steep slopes
Of the mountains swirls
I started my decent down
My friends close behind
Starting to pick up speed
I soon took the lead
The snowy icy air
Blowing through my face
Thinking to myself
If I will win the race
Maintaining my balance on my skis
As I glide through the snow
Trying not to miss a turn
Or else I would twist my knees
The great pines souring high
As I continued down
Beating my friends
Until we reached the end
Feeling so happy
That I beat the tall mountain
And its harsh conditions
I was happy to see my friends frown
After we had our lunch
We packed back up
Finally headed home
We took off
As we were looking back
We saw the mountains fade
And the remembrance of
That awesome day
Naples, Florida, Author Photo 2020
By Tom Despard
A rare delight of the Creator's brush,
Streaking an orange and yellow flush,
Shining boldly to reflect the bright dye,
Across the deepening indigo-blue sky.
An evening with the sun's fading flight,
The pond welcomes 'n warms the light.
Palms, pines and ground flora flourish,
For sight and soul to soak and nourish.
The short story of a day coming to rest
Begins with this flash of a colorful crest
That yields to white-pointed darkness
With strange sounds of the wilderness.
Then morning will arise for time's sake
In anticipation of dusk's wondrous wake.
Lake Louise, Banff National Park, Alberta, Canada
Author Photo 2008
By Tom Despard
The autumn sky of wispy azure blue
Tops the mountain rim's creamy hue.
Cavernous slopes shadow the sun's rays,
Snow and rocks fade from dark grays.
As Lake Louise shines dawn's glimmer,
A condensing chill causes us to shimmer.
The quiet sweep of soft pine-scented air
Freezes our focus on this outdoor affair.
Lungs breathe full and eyes stare fixed,
Mind, body and soul are calmly mixed.
A new day of shifting colors and scenes,
A time to slowly picture what it means.
Nature's morning marvel not to miss,
To experience a moment of divine bliss.
The Flight into Egypt, Commissioned by Abbot Suger 1145
From the Abby Church of Saint-Denis, Saint-Denis, France
Philadelphia Museum of Art
Matthew 2:13: Now when they had departed, behold,
an angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream,
saying, "Arise, take the young Child and His mother,
flee to Egypt, and stay there until I bring you word;
for Herod will seek the young Child to destroy Him."
(NKJV)
By Tom Despard
A story in colored and painted cut glass
Of a fulfilling flight that came to pass.
An early Gothic rendition of this fine art,
Each piece set with a craftsman's heart.
Blue, red, yellow, white and green stains,
A dogged donkey plods onward in reins.
Herod to kill all infants by his evil hand,
So this journey had to unfold across sand.
From Bethlehem to Egypt the escape,
Jesus, Mary and Joseph's new landscape.
A return at Herod's death in three years,
The family responds and duly perseveres.
Angel agents secure the Sovereign's plan,
For a long silent sojourn of His holy clan.
Monarch Caterpillar, US Department of Agriculture
Monarch Butterfly, National Science Foundation
By Tom Despard
By the Creation's flipping pages
Thru four curiously strange stages,
From egg to brilliant butterfly,
Seems like each hardly has to try.
Caterpillar from antennae to feet
Sticks to a milkweed mat to eat.
The butterfly flaps over flowers
Sucking nectar in gentle cowers.
Yellow, white, orange and black,
Bursts of color on every track.
A metamorphosis miracle,
A monarch's matchless cycle.
Langlois Bridge at Arles, Vincent van Gogh 1888
Wallraf-Richartz Museum, Cologne, Germany
By Tom Despard
During his sojourn to paint in Southern France,
Countryside visions kept Van Gogh in a trance.
Netherlands-like windmills, cottages and fields,
A drawbridge scene before his insightful eye yields
Thick varied oiled strokes of precise angled lines
And contrasting complementary colored designs.
Surreal technical, reflective and defined exactness
Staged with vivid and intense yet shaded subtleness.
Sky, land 'n water meld into a pristine pastel freeze
As he portrays two tall green bushy cypress trees,
A umbrellaed lady among ropes, beams and braces,
And a horse 'n buggy headed for Provencal places.
A canvas impressed by Japanese wood block prints
That draws deep perspectives with timeless tints.
Constantine Kermes, Lancaster, Pennsylvania 1987
Santorini, Greece, Tom and Gayle Despard Collection
By Tom Despard
A majestic isle is home to this domed shrine,
Chiseled into the side of a caldera's fall line.
A church mount swept by an abiding breeze
With endless views of wide and deep blue seas.
The emerald sky flows down the rolling slope,
A white dove symbolizes faith and love's hope.
Whitewashed rock walls with colored accents
Reflect the light in a timeless established sense.
Two priests ride on a well-worn flagstone road,
Their yoke seems light, but is it a heavy load?
Tempered by manner 'n mission firmly orthodox
With a brown donkey, white beards, black frocks,
These prophets and comforters offer assurance
Of the witness and warmth of love's endurance.
Tom Despard (USA)
Email: [email protected]
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