Alack Poems | Examples

Magical Mix

    A merger of holidays was proposed
      Young hearts for it
         The elderly opposed

    Fiercely debated
       Bitter grew the divide
    Neither young nor old
       Could speak peaceably
         to the other side…

    The holy spirit waded
       into the fray  
    its magical mix infused
       love and brotherhood...  

    Alas and alack
      ~ Humankind refused

What if God was all wrong

    Abraham dared to challenge the Lord
       not to destroy Sodom if fifty righteous men be found
    Alas and alack, that just wasn’t to be
       yet Abraham continued his fruitless go-round

    What if 45, 40, 30, 20, what if only ten
       But in Sodom there weren’t any fine men

    The Lord knew Abe’s quest was hopeless, but He played right along
       which got me to thinking, maybe the Lord was all wrong

    Yet Abraham saw nothing in it; he went back to his place
       And so too should I – though I earn not a tad of God’s grace

What Does It Mean To Think

What does it mean to think
to have thoughts
to have ideas and opinions
to have likes and dislikes
to trust and to distrust
to dream, to contemplate, to analyse 
to plan, to postpone  
to love, to hate
some thoughts remain inside
some thoughts are spoken out loud
what is it
this intangible that we call thought
this thing called thinking
who or what is doing it 
who or what decides the topic
the stance, the angle
we are the thinkers
but we are seated back there in the carriage
mere passengers 
we are also up front in the caboose
shovelling the coal
hand on the throttle, hand on the brake
doing the driving
we are both passenger and driver
my immediate thought is
how can that be
I have come to realise that it can be 
simply because it can and is 
that at least is my thought on the subject
that is what I think
I do however harbour this thought
what does it all mean
I think that I have thought enough
all this thinking has made me weary 
I will now go and lie down
and let both the passenger in the carriage  
and driver in the caboose
guide my thoughts where they must
and I will dutifully follow
alack and alas 
what does it mean to think.

Positive Transformation

O how had I always fallen back;
With days full of retrogressions, alack!
I was degenerate;	
Surely a youth of no notable rate.
My  existence was like an ungodly song
With defiled rhythms was it sung
Wherewith I dreamed no dream
And saw no, not a gleam
  
For there was no light in me to reflect;
So my star could take no effect.
I was consumed by the darkness
Of mundane blissfulness,
Which was deceptive to inward madness.
I thought I was living happily;
Alas! I was dying virtually,
Forgetful that Life could wane out for itself alone
And hand over me to my Maker whom I never knew.

But there came an hour
At the Annual National Campus Community Congress
Of the Deeper Life campus fellowship
Entitled `Excelsior`
For bringing Life and Hope to intellectuals
And equipping them to reach the utmost height:
Where I wholly got transformed.
I was taught to be purposeful, and not lust to be conformed
I could then soar to the farthest height
And ignited became my light
Revived to live for Christ the Saviour
After which I farewelled failure.

Positifically Negative

Today I've decided
Not to be misguided
By negative feelings
I'm sick to the teeth
Of feelings of grief
Overpowering and revealing

My negative approach
Requires a coach
So my thoughts
Are more decisive
Negativity you see
It is of no use to me
I think it is derisive

So I will try today
To throw negativity away
And be a more positive person
If negativity creeps in
I'll throw it in the bin
Telling it I have an aversion

I may have left it too late.
To illuminate
My mind into positive thinking
I do not feel that strong
It hasn't been long
Before my positive thoughts
Start shrinking

Alas and Alack
Please hurry back
My thinking is getting hazy
I've had enough
Of this philosophical stuff
My negativity has driven me crazy

Shadows Surround Me

Shadows surround me in
    my den of iniquity
  Satanic sprites flit across walls
    faint traces of smoke inhabit the halls

  I draw forth my sword
    Lunge at the air
  Alas and alack ~
    I've laid my Muse bare

Down Under

Kangaroos bounce lower
for tis the season
some roo laze on their backs
smoke electric cigarettes
Green moments
are discovered in Antarctica
Give your thanks America
give us your huddled elves
your heaving tinsel mountains
sprinkle all our glary nights
Wild-eyed are the rug-rats
they expect a baby-born
one bearing gifts from Toyland
alas alack the three wise guys
took a wrong left in the sand
and found themselves Outback
they waltz now around the billabongs
seeking the vapor trails of large marsupials
and they, the Aussie big boppers
the hoppers, are just chilling
unwilling to face more festive day's
nor shovel up or scoop
yet more reindeer poop

This Poetry, This Demon's Game

The contests number 22
Oh, dear, oh my, what should I do
I must choose one
I must, I think
My printer’s running out of ink

I’ll pick a theme
A gentle dream
That ends up in
A freakin’ scream.

I’ll write a brilliant
Subtle Sonnet
Before it’s done
Already torn it.

Perhaps a bit of freeing verse
Meter and a line break curse
That taunts the temper of the muse
To hissy fits of “No!!  You Choose.”

Mayhap I’ll wrestle with just one
Pick a form and hope it’s fun
Alas, alack, call it by name
This poetry - this demon’s game.

John G. Lawless
©9/16/2022

Steamy and Romantic

O, to write verse steamy and romantic
      I perceived as a treat semantic
 
   Alas and alack, 'twas an anvil's press
      A sea-wreck, I, of a murderess

Dining On the Seas of Time

He chose to dine on the seas of time
    to drink from Cinderella's slipper

  Alas and alack, the glass did crack ~
    sparkling champagne awash in kipper

Fortune Hunter

A wealthy old man in his fifties,
Loved a girl he thought was just nifty.
Said, Will you marry me,
I'm just fifty-three?
But she married a man in his sixties.

The old man did not take this lightly,
And his friends warned him she was flighty.
He wanted her back,
But alas and alack,
She'll return on the day you turn ninety.

The young girl's first husband did die.
She returned to her first love to cry.
Said, Will you marry me,
I'm as lost as can be?
He said, Not this time but nice try.

O Chanukah, Dear

O Chanukah, dear
  my problem is clear
You arrived way, way
  too early this year

What's a fellow to do
  your candles all through
Potato latkes all eaten
  dreidels spun, weather-beaten

Still no snow on the ground
  yet to come Christmas sounds
While holiday gifts they are wrapping
  Chanukah's tucked away, napping

Alas and alack, please make up your mind
  never again to fall so far behind
12/25, Chanukah! next year, do you hear
  if you expect me to be of holiday cheer

Martha's Vineyard Vacation

Up with the children at seven
For blueberry pancakes and ham.
Flapjacks enough for eleven -
How many will fit in the pan?

Lay out some slices of bread.
Spread with egg salad maybe,
Some tuna and celery for Fred,
And a  “p,b and j” for the baby!

Fetch from the line all the towels
And swimsuits hanging to dry.
Ignore the grumbles and scowls
About sunscreen you have to apply.

Stack the pop in the ice chest.
With sandwiches, yogurt and fruit.
Pack napkins, chips and the rest
In the picnic basket to suit.

Pile out, and head for the seashore
With picnic, umbrella and chairs!
No room for anything more -
But then, nobody really cares!

Oh, joy! What a day at the beach!
We swim, jump the waves, and tan,
Drink our soda, eat a peach,
Its edges trimmed with sand!

Alack! Alas! It’s time to go!
Our homeward way we wend,
Not sad because we know
Tomorrow we’ll do it again!

A Grand Experiment

To a world of darkness, of brawling, of territorial fights
  came a moment of clarity, dawned a new light

A grand experiment, daring beyond all comprehension
  which could have exacerbated underlying tensions

But it found firm footing, and despite imperfections
  there arose a new nation after seven years of insurrection

A place where a man could upgrade his station in life
  and a revolution's pen was as sharp as a hunter's knife

A land to roam, to explore, to cultivate
  A land of mountains, forests, and plains so great

With a wilderness untamed, and where rivers breathed free
  Where you could assert you, and I could become me

Yet alack and alas, the land's bright promise has faded
  midst darkness and brawling and descendants become jaded

And now America's a nation, very much like the others
  where no man is your brother and sons turn on their mothers

In My Puppy's Loviing Eyeys

This story is based on a current event in the USA.Enjoy it. PANGIE.
                ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^


And older man, I am, in my seventies, aye,
Decided to have me some fun about as good as a glass of rye,

So casting fate to the wind, out of the shower, naked did I run.
To grab my puppy's tail in the gleaming, December morning sun.

I scampered and I, like Adam, fresh out of the Garden Of Eden 
chased him.
After all, nobody saw Catholic me...'twas no mortal sin!

Alas and alack, puppy slipped on a rug! 
Maybe not a rational or good idea on any dog's tail to tug?

That's a game for irrational four year olds,
Not for an elderly man with skin tags and fleshy folds!

Puppy slipped on a rug, it flew at me!
Then, I slipped, too...oh, such irony after victory,

One part of my story, I left outl
I feel badly and the news will not,,,,thus I want to shout!

'twas no puppy that I was chasing,
But a full grown Rotweiller hound!
Next time I better use another story that's sound!

I can...but only a TelePrompter helps me!
Now where can my Dominion tin crown be?


           
               12/7/2020

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