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Best Poems Written by Ed Roberts

Below are the all-time best Ed Roberts poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

The Bird and the Coconut

The Bird and the Coconut

There was a bird
Flying in the jungle
It came across a coconut
Hanging from a tree

The bird landed on the nut
Surveyed its surface carefully
And started to peck against its shell

The bird pecked and pecked
For nearly an hour
Before it stopped

With all of its effort
It was barely able to leave a small scratch
On its tough surface

After resting for a few moments 
The bird flew away

The next day the bird once again
Came flying into the jungle
It found the same tree
Landed on the same coconut
And once again started to peck
Against its surface

Again
After nearly an hour
The bird stopped 
And flew away
The scratch had turned into
A very small hole

Each and every day
The bird would repeat this process
Each and every day
The hole in the coconut shell 
Grew larger 
And deeper

Finally 
After many days
The bird was rewarded for its efforts
And white milk
Started to flow from the shell

The bird drank some of the milk
Then continued to work around the edges 
Of the hole in the coconut
Until it was satisfied
With its size and shape

Then
With a quick hop
The bird disappeared
Inside the shell

Finally it had made
A new home

For several months
The bird lived inside this safe haven
Until a strong storm came
And knocked the coconut shell
From the tree 
To the ground

Once again
The tiny bird
Started each day
Flying into the jungle
Once again
Looking for that perfect
Shell

Ed Roberts 01/28/16
(Inspired by Dr. Who season 9 episode 11 “Heaven Sent”)

For the past several years I have tried to change the world with poetry
I keep knocking on the door
Trying to reach anyone who will listen
Sometimes they do
Other times
They close the door
In my face

Still
On this door
I will continue to keep knocking

Hopefully one day
The door will simply break
Or fall from its hinges
And I can finally go inside
To stay
And the words will come out
Forever

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

There Was a Man

There was a man
Who left a bar
He didn't have too much to drink
Or so he thought
It was just a short way home
And he knew the way
Even with his eyes closed
And they were not far down the road

There was another man
With his wife and kids
Coming home from a vacation
Or trying to
But there was a man
Who left a bar
Driving with his eyes closed
In the wrong lane
Without his lights

Maybe the roads were a little too slick
Maybe it was just too late
Maybe it was just "supposed" to happen
There was an accident

There came another car
Filled with a man
And several young men
Too old to be children
Way too young
To deal with what they saw
Or what they had to do
But they got there first

There was a boy
Who knelt in the rain
Only 12
Holding another 16 in his arms
As he breathed his last breath
Then he left to stop the cars
That were coming up way too fast

Soon he was joined by the others
That had the same thing happen to them as well
Help came too late
Even for the baby that lived the longest
No matter how hard anyone tried
No one was left alive

You see
I am writing this
Because there really was a man 
Who thought he hadn't had too much to drink
And he really left the bar that night
And I was there too
Part of me died as well
And part of me grew up
To write this
Maybe to find a way to understand
And maybe just to find a way
To reach another man
Who might leave a bar
Who thinks he hasn't had too much to drink.

Ed Roberts 10/24/00
 
 
Currently my godson Rayce is working with several students from the University of Oklahoma to film an educational video/documentary based on this poem. For more information please visit https://www.facebook.com/inourtimeproductions

At the age of twelve there was little I could have done to change the outcome of that night. This is not the case now.

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

5 Single Words

There is a poem I wrote several years ago that several people have written me saying how it helped them decide not to take their own life. Several people have asked me "How can you write a poem that can actually save the life of another?" My answer is simple, spend a day in bed with a loaded gun and then be willing to tell the entire world what it took to keep you from pulling the trigger. With me it came down to ---

5 Single Words

There was a man
Only 30 years of age
Yet
He found himself at the end of the road
He had lost his job
His career
His money
His savings
What there had been of it anyway
All because of a simple accident
Well, not so simple of an accident
For he was also facing the possibility
The possibility that he would never walk
Again

He had fought
Tried to look at every possible angle
Until he came to but one conclusion
One that a person
That has never been in this situation
Could possibly ever understand

He waited
Waited there in bed
The bed that he was becoming way too accustomed to
Until his wife had left for work
Until the kids had been sent off to school
Waited there until he was finally
All alone
Yes 
He had argued and fought
This was against all that he believed in
But there it was 
Hidden in the words of an obscure insurance policy
To some
He was worth more dead
Than alive

Surely they would understand
He tried to explain it in a note
He knew that God might not be able to 
But he pleaded for their forgiveness
And he was afraid that somehow
Somehow he might just become to them
A burden
This was just more than he could take

So he laid there in that bed
All alone
With a loaded pistol in his hand
Fighting a losing battle
With the simple reasoning and logic
That had driven him to this decision

In the very instant
The moment when it had finally come down
Down to raising the barrel to his head
He heard a whisper
A voice
Barely audible
But familiar somehow
5 words 
That was it 
19 letters
That made him stop

Who will find your body

Would it be one of the kids
Possibly his father
That said that he might come over
Or would it be his wife

There were so many possibilities
So many different people
And that was when it hit him
Hit him how really blinded 
He had let himself become

He put the gun away
And was very careful
Careful that no one else saw how often
For the next few days
That he cried

Some people would argue
That this was simply his conscious
That there really isn’t such a person 
As God in heaven
But
I know one man that will argue this point
And do so with great reason
For in the darkest hour and moments
Of a 30-year-old man’s life
God himself came down from heaven
And spoke just 5 single words
And if you haven’t figured it out by now
I thank Him every single day of my life
That He was there
To give me the strength 
And the courage
To listen

Ed Roberts 8/04/02

At the age of 30 I had 3 1/2 gallons of 350 degree grease spill down both of my legs from my knees down. Two different doctors told me I would probably never get out of a wheelchair. By the grace of God I have climbed three mountains since then.

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

Refugee

Refugee

Tonight I awoke
To the voices
The voices that drifted through the darkness
Straight into my soul

	Yesterday I stood there, my son beside me
	As the “soldiers; dragged my neighbor
	From his home
	Into the street

	For what seemed like hours
	They beat him
	Cursed at him
	Then while he lay there
	Broken on the ground
	They chopped off his hand and foot
	With a machete
	They left him there
	In the street
	To die

	That night my son woke me up
	Screaming
	Please don’t let them get me
	He begged
	In the darkness
My wife and I gathered all we could carry
And with our son
We left the only home 
I had ever known
Not knowing where we were going
Only knowing we must leave this place
Behind

Another voice came 

	Three men came into our village
	Last month
	They took my daughter
	Along with a dozen other young girls
	They left many behind
	Slaughtered like animals

	For weeks
	My cousin and I searched
	Through the jungle
	And nearby villages
	By the grace of God
	We found my daughter
	We killed the two men who were guarding her
	Had we known what they had done to her
	Their’s would have been a much slower death 
	They had passed her between six of them
	They had made her their ‘bride”
	They deserved far worse

	I know we can not return to our village
	I know we must go far from here
	The only thing I do not know
	Is where we can go
	To be safe

One voice after another keep coming

	We have walked in the desert for 5 days now
	Some will give us water
	Others give us a place to stay
	But only for one night
	My children are hungry
	They need water
	We need a place to call home

	We made it to the border
	To where we told it would be safe
	Men in uniforms shot us with water cannons
	And tossed tear gas at us
	One of the canisters hit my son in the chest
	I am afraid he will be blind now

	They have stopped the trains
	People yell and curse at us
As we walk by
We have been walking for a week now
I am afraid my wife will not be able to walk
Much farther
I am afraid neither will I as well
What will happen to my family
When I am gone

I woke up
Drowning
In my own tears
All of these voices
Slamming my soul 
From so many directions
All of them ending with the same few words

	Where can we go
	To be safe

Ed Roberts 9/16/15

Most people do not have to look too far back in their family history to realize that the very lives of our family members often depended on the care and compassion of others. In so many ways, we are all refugees.

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

Life's Passing Moments

She stood there
For just a moment
Flashes of the past filled each tear
The morning sickness 
That seemed to last most of the day
For the first three months
The twelve hours of labor
Her screaming at each growing pain
Praying everything would be ok
The hours she spent afterward
Just holding him in her arms
Thanking God 
That he was healthy
The four o’clock feedings
His first step
His first day at school
His first date
The day he graduated high school
Everything went by so fast
A blur to most
So many memories 
So many teardrops now falling at her feet

Yes
She stood there
Actually for several moments
Then quietly bent down
And placed a gentle kiss upon his cheek
And slowly stepped away 
As they closed the lid of the casket
That held the body of her only son

They carefully folded the flag
In silence
Stepped forward
And handed it to her with a tear-filled salute

Many would say we each should feel the death of a soldier
They should be so much more than just a name on a report
But today
She lost her son
And there were no more words to offer
To replace the hole that was left
In her heart
Every day, every hour, every moment
A mother always remembers

Ed Roberts 10/04/09

Dedicated to those who truly understand the meaning of sacrifice and those who put their very lives on the line each day to protect our freedom.

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

Your Book, Your Life, Your Song

There are those
Who will tell you
How to write your book
They will tell you
What has to be at the beginning
How you should develop your plot
Your characters
And many
Will even tell you
How it should end
What they will not tell you
Is that this is your book
And it is yours to write
Not theirs

There are those
Who will tell you
How to sing your song
They will tell you
What key you should sing it
When to sing it fast
When to sing it slow
When and where
You should show emotion
And once again
How your song will end
And like before
They will not tell you
This is your song to sing
Not theirs

There are those 
Who will tell you
How to live your life
They will tell you
What schools you should attend
When and who you should marry
How you should make your living
And many times
Who you should worship
And even how to pray to them
And as before
Often they will tell you
How your life should end
Again what they won’t tell you
Is that this is your life to live
Not theirs

My message to you today 
Is simple

Write your own book
You can start at the back
And finish at the front
You can even have the words backwards
If you wish
In the end 
This is your book to write

Sing your song
As only you can sing it
Let the words flow from your heart
Whisper if you wish
Or shout until you rattle the windows
Only you know the words
And this is your song to sing
It belongs to no one else
But you

Live your life
As only you can live it
Let no person tell you
What you can
Or can not do
Remember 
It is the face in the mirror
That you must live with each day
Do you best to make the world around you
A better place
For yourself
And for others
And let God decide
How and when
Your life will end

Write your own book
Live your own life
And sing your own song

And bring a joyful noise
Unto this world

Ed Roberts 4/18/15
www.edrobertspoetry.com

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

A Poet's Last Stand

Be not so quick
To announce our death
Set aside your shovel and your spade
There will be no burial here
Not as long as these lips have words to form
Or there are tales to be spun
From these withered hands
Yes, we have been quiet
Overwhelmed by today’s clutter
You live too fast
We speak
But you have no time to hear
You can not get culture
At your drive-through windows
Nor can we simply dish it out
For you to scan at will
Ours are words with meaning
They are to be savored for their value
They refuse to be simply devoured
Without leaving some taste behind
Please stop for just a moment
I promise to attempt to entertain you
Maybe it won’t hurt as much as you fear
You will not leave here untouched
For if I fail I will simply lie back
And let you cover my memory
To go about your life
As you began 
In darkness

Poetry is not dead
As long as a single soul survives

Ed Roberts 5/14/91
(The title piece of my first book)

Details | Ed Roberts Poem

Who Will Remember Holly

This is a poem that I am asking all who read it share today. This would have been Holly's birthday. There is no life that is without meaning, there are none of us that should ever be forgotten



Who will remember Holly

Who will remember Holly
Some people might ask

Was she famous
An actress
A singer 
Was she on television
Or the radio

Who was she

She was a mother
A daughter
A sister
And friend

She was a woman
One many of you 
Will easily be able
To relate with

A single mother
Who had 2 wonderful children
One nine
The other only one
A woman who worked very hard
At UPS
To try and keep a roof over their head
And food upon the table

She was a person
Most people would say
Was someone
That you would want to meet

She was happy
And tried to bring that happiness
Into the lives
Of all around her
She was the one
Who would insist that you had cake
On your birthday
And would do everything she could
To ensure that this would happen

You might find yourself asking
Repeating a question
One that I have asked you before

Who will remember Holly
But the question you should be asking
Is
Why

Holly was a wonderful woman
A single mother
A mother of two children
Whose life was cut tragically short
For at the age of 31
Someone came into her house
And took away
Her life

Today
That someone is still out there
And her mother and father
Alice and Bobby
Are left to care for her children

She was the person 
The one special friend in my life
Who first asked this question

Who will remember Holly

My answer to her tonight
Is that I always will

And hopefully 
Now you will too

Ed Roberts
12/05/15

We never lose the ones we love
Not if we carry the smallest piece of them
Forever
In our hearts

Written for
Holly Bernice Van Auken
2/6/83 – 4/7/14
She now waits for her family in Heaven