I have known courage
And it has not wept
And it has not slept
It dwindles in the night
When it is all dark
And pretends to shield when day breaks
I have known courage
And it has scars
Its crimson drops
Ageing soul and peace seeking
I have know courage
It has sought death
And resurrected on hope
I have known courage
It has left me beaten
Bandaged me in healing
I have known courage
It almost took my soul
And when I thought I didn't have anything left
It let the light trickle in
I have known courage
It is what is coded on my DNA
It is the rhythm of my heartbeat
It is what is engraved on my soul
It is what is written in my anthology
It is my medicine
"MEDICINE "
Yeah, I think that is the perfect word to describe what art means to me
For all the times I felt the urge to down my anti-depressants with alcohol
But chose to bleed on pages instead
For all the times I wanted to curse God for all my pain
But decided to turn my prayers into a poem instead
For the time art kept me company in the midst of my dark hours
For that one time when music bandaged my wounds
And when Phora's album made me feel like I had a companion
Like I an not the only one experiencing this hell
Art saved me
Every two months in dear old Australia
A shark attacks a man without failure
Now this very disturbing statistic
Might seem overly simplistic.
But it’s time the nation acted
And had all sharks’ teeth extracted
I know that this might sound rough
But the poor bloke’s just had enough.
Every time he goes for a dip
A bloody shark decides to let rip
He’s got bites on his bum some on the hand
He’s been bitten at sea bitten on land.
Lucky not to be in a shark’s tummy
Bandaged that much he looks like a mummy
Australian men are pretty tough
But this poor bugger’s just had enough.
my hands are cracked and bleeding
I gag as bone protrudes
but the show must go on.
my hands are tightly bandaged
once i disappear behind the screen
and light illuminates my hands
I look perfect.
I steady my tremors
and put my focus
into my performance.
I wish that someone
would peer behind the screen
kiss my hands
and hydrate my skin
with tears
but instead
I watch others puppet shows
at the slightest mistake
I waste no time
I rip the paper
but there they stand
soft, unscarred hands
I’m forbidden form their theater
for ruining the show
I learned to stop letting
my insecurities show
but I always worry
that others
struggle the same
almost to a fault
but instead
I hide behind the curtain
bandaging my broken hands
I postponed being amazed by time, a traveler without aim,
Until, before my soul could die, I learned,
That all that aches has dissipated like smoke under the silver moon,
A flock and a shepherd, shadows of a long-forgotten tale.
Whoever places my bare and fragile bones in an envelope,
Will write a letter of my cowardly and humble feelings,
The black angel, ruling over all that love touches,
Forbids your bleeding heart the wellspring that cries.
Bandaged with a death buried in the stretching future,
The eternity of the moment hides in the despair that surprises us,
The tears of my life, wilted fortune floods you,
The universe in my inspired soul seeks to hide away.
To our earthly life, I give an imponderable and gentle meaning,
Your perfection, my love, only you make it seem without pain,
You are the one who will birth my steps into eternity, forever,
Because your love, like a god, spreads within my soul.
Your love carries a dull dissatisfaction, ever-present,
Our contemporaries feel it and echo it along the way,
Announcing to the present-past, until the last breath,
That your Christ, my beauty, long ago ceased to exist, but turns into our dream.
On the night before Christmas got here,
Santa relapsed, got into the beer.
You might think he’s a saint;
after twelve, though, he ain’t.
On a rampage, he shot up the deer.
Only Rudolph did make an escape;
the elves bandaged him up with some tape.
To get out of the mess,
they called up UPS,
“Can Brown please get us out of this scrape?”
Now the judge found him guilty for cause;
gave him jail time, not one of those spas.
Locked him up till October
or until he got sober.
Because he was a dependent Claus…
Perpetual pain palliated by loving hands
ever lingering under bandaged wounds;
fetted rot tucked under perfumed blanket.
Covered is the massing doubt, ever growing,
Smothered; thoughts transient as dreams.
To hide quaking mask of broken memory.
Running. Inevitable is the spreading.
Infectious and living pain.
Soothing notes of warmer days erupt,
cursed by twisted mouth, death belied.
Of the body, it’s bones and sinews,
it’s blackened organs and sunken eyes.
But of the soul, of the hidden things.
Of promised dreams and unspoken hopes,
corrupted and lost forever.
When I met you,
I gave you all my trust.
That’s never happened before.
I’ve never trusted anyone so quickly,
and gotten attached to someone so fast,
like I did to you.
I trusted you with my bandaged heart,
trusting you wouldn’t break it again.
But that’s exactly what you did.
You got my heart, then you broke it.
You used my easy trust to your advantage.
I should’ve never done that.
I regret it,
because now I get attached easily,
and trust people too quickly.
You made me this way.
I don’t want to be like this.
Puddles of rainbows drag across the floor
becoming a perfect shade of pitch black;
Much stronger than anything seen before
a firestorm is now more than a comeback;
Knock out punch ideology can pack
has left the past severely brain damaged;
Nothing is left here that can be bandaged,
repurpose antiquated for brand new;
Reinvented pools can now be restaged;
Bright choppy waters to jump right in to.
New encounters
goodbye tears
life is less
like turns
and twists
more like
roads that join
and split
till all roads
finally meet
to forever
in two split
if God's light
is kept alit
right side
will surely pick
and love harbor
will reach
where all hearts
in unison sing
joy of life
in peaceful bliss.
Without tempting
devils' forks
minds on roads
fall asleep
missing fight
to choose and win
glory crown
and banquet feast.
In His wisdom
God ordained
wheat and cockle
together thrive
giving time
to wayward sons
steer the helm
to Jesus' balm
opening eyes
at every split
to seek forgiveness
for mischief
and enter gate
to eternal bliss
not descent
with bandaged eyes
to the damned
fiery abyss.
Fifth Place Winner: Robert Liguori-Life-10/23/23
self portrait with bandaged ear : Van Gogh
a mirror image after that schism took place ~ less an ear on his face
they don't want dramatic parents anymore
sentimental
they got bored of them
they are sick of exaltation
they don't want the vehemence of which
the parents hung on
convinced that it would be freedom
we
those with a muzzle swollen by history
we look at them with trembling eyes
in hidden tears
we
do we wake up? or die?
we died
we woke up
but they discreetly wrap
around around contre jour
on an old heart
another world
vehemence
our only final reward
they scratch their fine ears
and they offer us
an image about which
we do not know
they do not know
they don't tell us anything
easy
to be as easy as possible
existential flake on an anonymous wall
easy
easy
and no windowsill to look at
no return airport
no word on current status
nothing past or bandaged
just to be easy
you pay this time trust me
at least once
drinking beer together
I just follow the trajectory of a flake
I keep my eyes closed
like a child and I imagine
that you overcome life's difficulties
in that lifetime of a snowflake
and then i let you go
One day I fell ill and apparently died.
My sisters were grieved, one found Jesus and cried,
"If only lord you'd been here this day
Our brother, your friend would have not passed away!"
In empathy and love Jesus tears weren't spared
And all could discern just how deeply he cared.
After a prayer to his father all heard Jesus shout
With a voice of authority, "Lazarus, come out!"
I awakened quite startled for I came to find
I was bandaged up like a corpse, I hadn't gone blind!
A funny, yet obscure memory to have...
But it gives Mary, Martha and myself a good laugh!
Intimate Truth
In the summer of May 1963,
in a small country home
surrounded by trees and fields
stretching to the horizon.
It was a kiss of warmth that day.
We all felt the summer rays
spray and sway as we played joyfully.
I was only twelve,
running around barefoot
with my ten- and nine-year-old brothers.
Max, our hound dog, barked loudly chasing us,
nipping at our ankles, playing tug of war.
Mother stood by the door
and yelled to come in for lunch
from not too far.
As we ran home,
I stepped on a shard of glass.
In pain, my foot would not stop bleeding.
Mother came out as I hobbled home.
She washed and stopped the bleeding.
She then bandaged my foot.
I learned a big lesson that day.
Always wear shoes when I go outside.
I still have the scar that reminds me of that day,
a lesson learned.
5/9/2023
Stay with me
Every time I see you I see love
like a pure white dove
When nobody was here I saw you
and I knew that it was true
You bandaged my wounds
so gently with care
And you gave me a stare
Instead of a glare
I need you with me
To step through
Stay with me
And I will be with you
Your eyes gleam
Just like your self esteem
Stay with me
And I will be with you.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.