Alexandru Verdeș participates in the “Poetry” section of the International Literary Creation Competition, 4th edition, from Bucharest, Romania. Alexandru Verdeș is 35 years old. We thank him for his participation and wish him success.

Coroner

Lo! Man has reared himself a throne
In the corner of his mind, alone.
Apart from light, mired in the dark,
Where once was life, now lies a dormant heart,
Where once were teary eyes - a mirror of the soul,
Now lie two monuments of cold, dark coal.

No whispers summon winds to impart
A semblance of motion, a flicker in the dark.
Yet, from the abyss no signs of life arise,
All indications suggest a grim surprise.
In the end, I think it must be said:
By all accounts this man is dead!
 

The Hellas Beggar

A penny, a penny, my soul for a penny!
Forgetfulness affected many,
For we forgot our blessed ways
And so transformed ourselves in strays.

I had so much, yes, I had many,
And now...
My whole life for a penny!

I've got a mortgage on my soul -
I had no penny for the toll -
Looking back I might have erred,
Soullessness was too ensured.

In my creation did heaven decree
That my death be a bitter harmony?
For the bell ringing death's symphony
Sounds, oh, so heavenly.

There goes another, and one more.
A third bell, what is he waiting for?
All is silent, farewell to thee,
The ferryman has set me free!
 

Etheria

Where thy little heart doth rest
If not by your mother's breast?
Holy infant, tender child,
Thou madden me with thoughts so mild.
Where's your mother? Pray, do tell,
For your weep will break my shell.

As the keeper of all dreams,
Thou must spare me of thy screams.
For every dream I spend awake,
My world, it seems, begins to shake,
And through each falling star I see
The silver light that killeth me.

When, and if, thy heart doth wake,
The sleepwalkers' chains shall break,
And from His dreams shall Man awake.