The General Poetry Thread

[rogue49]

This is for any member who wants to post.
But doesn't feel like creating their own thread.

Have fun, people.

[rogue49]

One with myself
Beyond others
But nothing is accomplished

Where is my drive
What is the goal
To know I accomplished

To succeed
More than survive
So they know I accomplished

Discovering
Inventing
Creating

Beyond wisdom
Beyond wealth
Experience no horizon

There is a place
That I cannot dream
But to know

No such place
But to create
It is within my grasp

Just Reach


Just something to start with...
I just found this in my archives, I haven't seen it in some time.

[skinnedmink]

Girls I've Loved

Every girl I ever loved lies in someone else’s arms tonight.
I ask to soon, to late, Never.
Greedily I haste never to be satisfied.
Too large, too small, way to tall.
Never to be satisfied these horrid eyes of mine.

Love merely an afterthought.
I find a love that fits me true.
No time to stop an think, must get more.
The signs to tell me to let go
where their long ago.
I dare not read them,
I dare not think.
For my instints must be true,
I must be with you.
No?
Oh no you say?
OK, alright.
You see that heart that lies upon the ground?
A piece of it is yours to keep.

[skinnedmink]

Metal Heart

My heart, my heart,
it is no heart attack
the blood flows fine,
it’s only broken.
I see no need I have in it.
The tape and glue do me no good.
I think I’ll get me a new one.
One with a metal wall.
To protect me in a fall.
I shall not feel the pain at all
with my metal heart.
It shall prevent me of life’s pure joy.
But who needs love when you have a metal heart?

[rogue49]

Good stuff, skinnedmink

BTW, you are more than welcome to edit your own poems
to correct any errors and format them the way you want.
Visual flow is just a important for a poem.
Paint it the way you want.

[skinnedmink]

Thanks.

[laughter]

Sleep

The fluid roar of emptiness
fills my thoughts.

Nothing.

Until
black and red
death
to another.

And again.

Awakening.

[skinnedmink]

Good stuff laughter. Keep it up.

[Minx]

My Companions

Despair is named the ghost
that haunts the heart of me.
Sorrow is her sister
and from them I can't break free.
For they tiptoe through my heart
and through my mind
and through my soul.
Then loneliness joins hands with them
and onwards do we toil.
Still I look towards brighter times
and hopes and dreams and love.
Yet they are elusive just
like the rising dove.

[fanboy]

joyous rapture!
eternal glee!

torn asunder
reckless deeds

terrible sadness
forever alone

empty heart.
broken soul.

[bobdobbs8056135]

dirty dishes-
one beer left...
bathrobe and
small pile of

bugler tobacco.

lawnmower sound-
to remind me
that i don't have one....

and the weeds are getting higher
every day.

this is the birthday
of

my mother....
but i didn't know that
until she

left a message saying so
and i love you

and would you please

pick up the phone.

[sundaYbest]

hillside at white horses
hammering sacred staves
into old pages

Once turned infinitely
and once more finally

mindlessly memorized and snared
by Peter's pounding hooves
moving swiftly to be
pigment only recognized
by crimson reigns
in the final man made sea

hillside at the answer
master of no cause
athiest in the rapture
lost apocolypse...
for apocolptic loss

poetry is fun. let's do more

[Unsung]

i am beautiful, i think

i am beautiful
i think
i drive to my sister's house
i tell her my dream
i shyly couch it as a night dream
i don't say it is my heart
i share with her my heart
i have revealed myself to others before
i know rejection
i know ridicule
i know she is my sister
i know i am safe

she clips coupons while i talk
she interrupts
she tells me jokes her husband told her
she wonders if he loves her
she asks for help with the crossword puzzle
she laughs
she tells me petty things until
i forget that i am beautiful

i leave her and the used tea bags
i leave with my dream tucked under my heart
i bring it out slowly at a stop sign
i dream my dream on the way home
i remember
i remember that i can dream
i remember that i am beautiful

[bobdobbs8056135]

i think you are right

[Unsung]

thank you. (she bows.)

[h2ogo69]

staring into the mirror of oneself
a shattered reflection peers back
empty and emotionless
How can something so beautiful
be so destructive?

shattered by what i see
i tell myself things can only get better
a blatant lie one which i refuse to believe
for all signs point a bad way

an evil way
one that is filled with pain... suffering
conformity and uselssness
filled with an ever present lonliness

where did it go wrong where did i get lost?
why did i take this damn road
leaving me nothing but my shattered mirror?
for me to reflect on my own reflection...
how sad

why am i writing of it if it brings so much pain to think about it?
now that i have written this
why are you reading this?
now that you have read this i have but one simple question...
do u care that i am trapped here?

[Unsung]

That is both beautiful and disturbing. It may be that what makes it feel uncomfortable is also what makes the beauty. You have drawn a vivid picture of pain and hopelessness that many can relate to. It seems so real that I wonder if it is? Are you in your poem?

[Briz9]

Here are some lyrics for a song I wrote. I don't think I'm very good at writing them though. I'll let you guys tell me what you think.

So Small.

There world is so big
I am so small
What can I do?
Who really cares at all?

What am I doing here?
Who do I hope to save?
Who do I think I am?
I'm just like everybody else.

You won't remember my name.
A whisp of wind at your ear.
You won't remember my face.
You'd never know I was here.

so What am I doing here?
Who do I hope will save me?
Who do I think I am?
I'm just like everybody else.

The world is so big.
I am so small.

[Unsung]

What is the music like?

[Briz9]

sort of punk. i wrote on the music on acoustic guitar. it's still in transition to a full-band song.

[h2ogo69]

Originally posted by Unsung
That is both beautiful and disturbing. It may be that what makes it feel uncomfortable is also what makes the beauty. You have drawn a vivid picture of pain and hopelessness that many can relate to. It seems so real that I wonder if it is? Are you in your poem?

yeah its about my current situatuion with a friend of mine... its me wondering why i gotten so fucked up over this and questioning why its happening

[Prince]

lots of noise for nothing
drink more, eat less
increased happiness
the instructor says
lift knee, bend
don't stop
until you reach the other side

restaurants and candle light
dinners,
sort of confusing
jump through the window and
land on the street among
the broken glass

she is busy right now, please hold

that's alright, i have time
in fact it's all i have
and even that i don't possess
chuckles and reaches between
oh my, and then, ha. yeah;

you begin to lose it, she is
unavailable but would you like to
leave a message, sir

no, fuck that; no messages
just tell her there is no fuel
she will know; and understand
these metallic wings and
rusty feathers

it's Nazareth, baby
and home
and deliriously happy tailwags
oh Sidney, drive me to the
station

on the public phone
dial through the distortion
dry mouth, mental powder
i am sorry sir but she
already left

she already left

[Prince]

all my thoughts are
only inches long. and
there is an explanation for
everything. beer
tastes like piss
to validate the fact
that goodness
is on a par with evil. we
laugh at the crippled
and the crying, the bloody. there
is no scale grand enough
to measure
our contempt of Man. Smokey

wants couples or
bi-curious shemales. butch
and unafraid of the whip.
rubbing chicken all over
his pierced genitalia. and
soy milk, whatever there is
for a kitschy artistic fucker.

i was subtle, all the way
even in indecency. and
about my hunger for
her moist flesh,
amoebic
with a twist. and
a scent
of poetic eroticism. little

nibbles, we
speak of karma. there's
a vague shape
with a series of
outlines, touching
outdoor areola,
y'know \ like a universe of its own.

adulthood. in little doses --

keep out of reach of
children

[shithooks]

I wrote this about 9 years ago......

Vision of Existence
-------------------

Going past the end
is to enter the next beginning
Assumptions of yourself being blank.

Ask a question that echoes
slowly, becoming nothing
as if all the world is deaf.

Common ground is not obtainable
but flutters under the breath of life
coming slowly from within us all
insight is warm and comforting.

At last the day has come
the star upon which your name was cast
flickers and implodes.

Do you awaken?
Or are we all just a dream?

[Astrocloud]

There’s no reins of asking,
On this saddle of weeping,
The horse is dead,
And the rider’s sleeping.

[Litespeed]

Friends

The torrent was strong
full of anger, cries of pain
then came the rain
torment erased


only friends remained.

Where they entered
I cannot say
I cry, tears fall
desprate in my concern

With a kind soft word
they erase my pain
A warm embrace
and I am free

A savior's voice
A healing touch
friends
angels in disguise

healing
helping
showing a way
through the pain.

Years have passed
a life lived well
Still my sunshine in the rain

Friends so dear
through all the years
how does a friendship never end?

See each other once every year
maybe twice, if luck remains
we've seen other worlds
we've conquered our fears
Finland, India, France

How we do cry
we would never lie
our friendship
never to die.

Years may pass
Time forcing us older
Wars may rage
countries apart
yet still we stand
united in our common goal

friendship:
the prize we treasure all.

*note: this is about a group of friends that have remained such since the early days of junior high.

[vonstalhein]

Astroclouds 4 lines blew me away.

[emmdubbs]

i've got to many to post...but my newest ones are @ http://www.blurty.com/~teknotoeknee

and no thats not a shameless plug, it's become strictly for my writing.

[tecoyah]

if only once, I feel
this chill from heated life
melting all I thought I was
no touch can compare, to the image
burned in the retina of my soul

I knew this once, I think
in dreams half forgotten
the tip of my minds tongue
tasting imagined futures of love
sweetening the bile that is life

[Paeder]

Astrocloud....that.....was........awesome! can you give us a little background on the poem, what you feel about it?

[Dajamany]

Face the Dark

It all started with a bright light,
Born like everyone else, supposed to like life.
I just wanted to be me, not "like mike".
Now since my world spun every night’s a fight.
Then i met this girl, she sent my life for a whirl,
then tossed my love to the floor in one swift hurl.
An endless drama, with no exit,
Horrible actors, no script & no direction.
Men & women seem plastic upon inspection.
All following the same trends in one large collection
& i’m feeling rejection, i’m not one of them.
Everythings confusing, i don’t know where to begin,
i try to control myself, fighting with sin.
Can’t get it all out when i write with this pen.
There’s no light at the end, i can feel it already,
It’s like carring too much load, it’s heavy
& my back’s about to collapse from the pressure.
Brains utterly confused, all that i view is a stresser.
Life itself is pain, i gotta maintain,
but all of this mental anguish is drivin me insane.
This shit’s plain, all the color is faded,
Happiness and joy are gone, everything’s jaded.
An awaited arrival of somebody new
was good in the beginning till everything turned blue,
then changed to black & now i can’t change it back.
Everyone i know complains about how strange i act,
A ranged attack, cause nobody will let you know
what they hate about you till they get what they want & go.
I see this world like nobody else
you can say that i’m stupid or blame it on my mental health.
At times i don’t believe love for me can ever exist,
i’m scared to death when my whole reality twists,
& spins til i’m dizzy as a top,
I can’t tell whats real, clairity’s at a stop.
Every door is locked, there’s no progression.
Trapped in a bland world with limited selection.
In the business section, i read of people who succed,
but none of this really interests me.
I’m stuck in my struggle, my trouble,
but noone else really cares how i hustle
to survive, I’m not exactly proud to be alive.
I would’ve rather never seen that bright light in my eyes,
none of these feelings would be tearing apart my heart,
because without the light i wouldn’t have to Face The Dark

[rogue49]

Good one, Dajamany
It's almost like rap poetry.
I like the rhythm.

[Ace_O_Spades]

If you've got one

Mine is by Robert Frost, I just moved away from all my friends in my old town, and it basically describes how ive been feeling for the past month.


The Road Less Travelled

TWO roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood,
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

-Robert Frost

[Jizzosh]

One of the Slam poems I wrote recently:

The moment I step inside your view is the moment you’re supposed to realize that I’m lying to you.
In fact, I don’t believe I’ve ever told the truth.
But you fail to recognize the lie that I’m convincing you with.
And I fail to recognize that the lie is convincing me with every passing moment and I hate that I build myself on tainted grounds.

And I feign those grounds.
And I play in those grounds.
And I reign in those grounds until I am no longer grounded.

I wish I could be grounded. Locked inside myself, forced to keep company with me, forced to live my reality, forced to really be me.

But man oh man this lie is laid out comfortably. The plush cushion of misconception, the woven web of fabrication, the elation found from a completely false station… I can’t believe this aberration but then again that’s the point… so sharp I tiptoe around the eggshells of reality, careful not to further disturb the careful placement of my lie’s alarm.

What harm would it do, I ask, to sweep the shells away and play with the reinvention of myself. I could play De Vinci in my own convincing.

But I think I’m too late. Wait. How can I conceive of how late I am when I’m lost in the conception of who I am? I am too drowned in the lie to rise above the surface so I sure face the eminent loss of this race against myself. But then again I’m also winning. I’m spinning this web of wonder, wondering if I’m the spider or the fly... or both.

As the spider I hide and cover my true self for fear that it might release a call for help. As the fly I struggle to scream but the fear leaves my voice useless and lifeless and my life is forfeit.

I forget that there is a true me and all I can see is the mask that I’ve created. The stated and dated faces… I’ve carefully planned to face the world with a preset persona.

And I know it.

I want to take the mask off but the face beneath it is formless, more Me, less the Me you know. You know nothing of the person now inside your view. Your viewpoint points you in the direction My lie told you to take, you’re taken by my faking, I see an advantage and like always… I take it.

I took you and you were looking right at me when it happened. It happens my lie worked yet again. And again I find a way to convince myself that I’m lying for a good reason.

And the reason is you.

And I convince myself that the lie is worthwhile because while I may not have myself, I have you. So I continue to lie within your view. I continue to lie to me and I continue to lie to you.

Because I’ve never told the truth.

This mask is held with so much glue that I could never separate it from my being and being this way continues to subjugate the slave I’ve made of me.

As the fly I whisper memories of who I am to myself in hopes that I may ground the spider and fly free. Free to be me, free to see, free to be seen, free to life truthfully.

So while someday I’ll remove this mask and show you who I am, for now I’ll cram myself inside this simulation. An imitation of what you and you and he and she and society think I should be. You see, that’s why I’m too late to play De Vinci in my own convincing. Television has already been my buttinski. It’s meddled so deeply in the weaving of me that the Celtic knots are strangling me.

So for now I’ll gasp for breath.

For now, I’ll continue to whisper to myself.

Now, I’ll dream of a someday creation. Facing the lie and lying down no longer. No longer hiding, but thriving, still hoping that the you who loves the lies in me…

will still lie with me…

will still love me.

[Poyzun_Ivy]

This morning
Standing outside in the cold
A snowflake, fat and flawless,
Landed on my left breast
I stared at it
Sure I'd never seen anything
Like it before
Then I wiped it away
With my hand
Because I knew
That nothing in the world
Should be so perfect

[pan6467]

The sun sets on yet another day/
I ask myself if I showed love and in what way/
Did a stranger become a friend/
For no motive did a hand I lend/

I look in the mirror and am happy what I see/
For today I was the best me I could be/
I showed my love to the world the best I could/
And now I wonder if I really should/

But the I look around and think/
How can I watch another sink/
I wonder if everyone just took the time to make a friend/
If perhaps the hatred in man would truly end/

For the hatred comes from within the heart/
And that is what keeps us all apart/
Yet if we look everyday in that mirror and like what we see/
I just wonder how geat this world would be/

[pan6467]

Home from work time to relax/
Switch on the news to see what's said/
Congress gets a raise, I get a new tax/
Another shooting 3 teens are dead/

But wait says the ever smiling anchor/
There's a chance there maybe rain/
The sky is in turmoil like never before/
But companies show record gain/

And now for the sports/
We know you hold them ever so dear/
Your star player wants traded the team director reports/
And the owner gets tax breaks, so he's decided to move from here/

And now the lighter side/
Well trust us there's something funny/
Something that keeps us from mass suicide/
Ah yes this word from our sponsor selling youth and taking your money/

[pan6467]

There's a hole in the atmosphere
And the glaciers are melting down
There's people running everywhre
And chaos in the town

There's a man living next to me
He's nowhere to be found
His wife has taken to gardening
And a strange smell comin from the ground

There's the beauty that I work with
She's very sweet it seems
But she's telling me every night she drinks a fifth
And then goes to the park naked and screams

Has the world totally gone crazy
Have we all lost our mind
Or could it be we need something cause we've become lazy
And now we are all one of a kind

There's the trusted principal
Who has never done wrong
Known his wife ever since she was a litle gal
But they found him at a gay bar wearing a sarong

The press tells us all we need
They hound and stalk for their story
And not for knowledge but for greed
But for a mistake i have yet to hear sorry

Now we all have chosen to live within our head
For the craziness is rotting society's very core
Me I shiver covered in my bed
Wondering if I ever locked my door

I meant this in some fun thought I'd give us some humour....... well there is humour in truth sometimes

[goateebird]

fortunately no one hears the blayed note or the wail
too many sirens
fall upon a tyrant's heel, suddenly it's morning
tonight the starfall spins the dark sky
porous moons, feel the ominous space inside
for all the times you turn out sidling, yelling hello hello heads angle northeast hello it shines wow
sunset's a cobalt blue
telephone drones
study the historical forecast, move
soot rallies for a rebel wind, settles into an incomplete doom
money sez
toast

[pan6467]

They said it was for a "new world"
For peace and harmony for all of us to share
But the corporations bought out the ideals
And the promises became nothing but an empty word
And we turned a blind eye so we wouldn't show care

Gone are the days of sitting around and talking
Gone are the days of innocence
Noone truly remembers thier past anymore
Governments to the people are balking
Corruption and money mean everything and there is no pentance

The lawyers put the death knell in our freedoms
We walked away thinking somehow we had won
But the only ones who got anything were the lawyers who made the billions
And we watched as corporations became the new Kingdoms
And we sit and watch the tele soour minds can become numb

It's never to late to regain your heritage
Grab hold onto the past and look toward a bright future
The ony thing that we truly have is our ideals and never sell them out
For tomorrow will dawn a new age
And if we don't sell out, perhaps maybe it can still be true and pure