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Best Poems Written by Nick Ruff

Below are the all-time best Nick Ruff poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Letter To a Young Rapper

Look, anyone can stick two words together and rhyme,
But you gotta have rhythm and you gotta have time,
And you gotta have the guts to put it all on the line,
And stand up to whole world though it might make you blind

You gotta bleed out your heart, you gotta pour out your soul,
You gotta speak with every single syllable that you know,
And there’s moments you’ll think that you’re apart from the rest,
Still trying and dying, giving it all of your best,

Until you’re out-hustled, out-muscled, and you’re up to your neck,
Until you’re thinking you should stop and maybe give it a rest,
But don’t give up yet, no this is only a test
To dig deep inside and until you out-rhyme the best

You gotta write ‘til you’re sick, you gotta write like He wills it,
Gotta take all of your anger to paper and spill it,
You gotta gather your emotion like and ocean and let it go,
There’s no stopping your hustle and there’s no stopping your flow

So get out there and show all of the people that dissed you,
And remind them of the time that they’re all gonna miss you,
When you’re up flying high and looking down to see
All the haters wishing that they were you but can’t be

So you gotta keep on going, holding onto this thing,
And don’t you dare let go no matter how hard it seems,
Just set it up in your mind and you can do anything,
Because it's all in your heart, boy, now just follow your dream.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Autumn Days

September wind is blowing cold,
And Summer warmth is giving way;
Soon Nature’s green will turn to gold,
Her Autumn leaves all set aflame

I pray I can escape once more
Into her woods and steal away – 
To hold her vivid beauty bound
If only for a moment’s sake;

So when December sends her first
Of downy flakes upon the earth,
My heart won’t shiver at her ways,
For I’ll remember Autumn days.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Stargazing

On this clear and cloudless night
I stand alone beneath the stars,
And gazing upward there I see
The cosmos staring back at me

I feel my heated breath escape
In raptured plumes of rising smoke,
And contemplate my earthly state –
How little do I really know

With frozen fingers here I pray,
When gazing on your vast array
Of shining spheres and roaming rocks,
That time for me will always stop.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Before

Before all colors turn and fade,
And all the joys of youth have died;
Before age turns our green to brown,
Promise me you’ll be around

Before all feelings felt are lost,
And darkness snuffs the lamp of life;
Before time turns our bones to dust,
Promise me I’ll have your trust

Before death buries all our thoughts,
And fate has ground our graves to sand;
Before God calls our souls to part,
Promise me I’ll be your friend.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

The Young Philosopher

In a dark corner of the library,
the young philosopher deeply thinks,
adding to the tapestry
of ancient minds that thought but failed to solve
the puzzles of reality.

But as his careful mind reflects,
in silence with the smell of books,
his soul is startled by the sound
of cooing doves beyond the dusty walls,
and he must stop to listen.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

The Captain

The captain’s eyes glow ruby red
Atop the steamer’s deck –
A rusted tin can set adrift
By rough Atlantic crests

A crimson emblem sanctions
This whaler’s floating tomb –
A battered vessel bearing
Insignias of doom

Red ember sparks illuminate
The old man’s hickory pipe,
As he begins to scour the sea
For subtle signs of life

The radar soon shines fiery red,
And deckhands race to find
Their harpoons pointed straight ahead
At monsters in mid-dive

'There she blows!' the captain blares,
His face now beating red;
The hunt is on for him again,
And victory’s ahead

But as the scarlet sun moves west,
Black storm clouds open wide,
And though the weary crew protests,
He keeps the men in line

One well aimed shot is all he needs
To stain the ocean red,
But angry winds and beating rain
Show no signs of an end

The crimson hull begins to quake
As waves come crashing down,
And though the crew is mad with fright,
The captain only frowns

Then finally a sound rings sharp
Amid the roaring surf –
The red harpoon has found its mark:
A whale of massive girth

'We got her now!' the captain chimes,
His new prize bleeding red,
But with his words a rogue wave climbs
Ten feet above their heads

As they stare up with fear and awe,
They realize their fate –
Atop the blood-red steamer bow,
They know that it's too late

And though the crew and captain pray
For rescue from the squall,
The phantom wave of burgundy
Descends to drown them all.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Nostalgia

Cool autumn air breathed deeply in
Now breeds a growing warmth within,
Exciting ancient bygone dreams
To flash in sudden colored scenes

Long walks once shared on distant roads
Become infused with winter’s chill,
And I can feel the wood-filled stove,
Still crackling as I lie there on the sill

The tender tones of well-played strings
Pulse through the creaking wooden floors —
Entwining happy high-pitched notes
With mournful melancholy drones 

But as I breathe again, these scenes depart;
Their many short-lived colors trail away,
And I am left reflecting in the dark
On lives which I no longer am a part.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Divide

I feel the pull of days gone past—
The strain of heart that comes with time:
The cold and empty space that’s left
By those once loved, now far behind

I feel the still of what is now—
A silent ache that longs to sound,
And cast bright colors once again
Upon this pale and foreign ground

I feel the weight of what is lost—
The rift that’s grown between our lives,
Condemning souls once warmly crossed
To slowly drift apart and die.

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Depression

I am hollow,
full of nothing,
cold and static,
aching in silence

No new addiction
can cover up
this creeping thing,
voiceless and cunning

It slithers in 
and somehow eats
feelings of home,
until I am homeless

It climbs inside
mute and deadly,
pressing down
with paralyzing poison

Until I am hollow,
full of nothing,
cold and static,
aching in silence

Details | Nick Ruff Poem

Tree

Tired tree,
You hang so hollow;
Who has stolen your joy?
Why, just a moment ago
You swayed and sang,
Your whispering wind-song
Whirling above me,
And you were happy

But now you are still,
So deadly still,
Somehow stricken
Into a sad silence
Bad weather, maybe,
Or something I said?
Won’t you speak?
Or can’t you tell me?

But from above,
No weary rustle sounds;
No branch bears a reply;
Only your leaves fall,
Slowly, softly,
Painting the pallid ground
Where I first heard
Your voice.