Written By: D. Collins 7/30/25
A heart from New Orleans.
A soul in South Central L.A.
Regardless of what anyone thinks.
That is who I am today.
I feel good in my skin for what I've done.
Beat the odds of most brothers where I'm from.
I've been fortunate enough to live a full life.
Get to where I've gotten through all the strife.
He took risks you might not have
Thinking that he deserved to beat the odds
Flames like heated fiery thorns
Eat through his flesh numbing as they go
In pain, he swirls, his muscles roil
He wishes, Oh he wishes it would end, be over
His burning enthusiasm is consumed and charred
Blackened by the flames of false expectations
Reducing now into a smoldering heap
After all, he did set himself on fire
Believing the illusions, the lies he told
For power, more power, grasping for it
As the dark smoke fills his lungs
Choking his life's last breath
Scoffing at man's inhumanity to man
Inhaling humankind's immolation
As if were not his fault at all
This man on fire could be you
And so, the soul crinkles up into a ball inside
What's left of you has no place to hide
145 words free verse
Colored Pencil illustration G.Gaul 2024
It’s pretty easy to write hysterical headlines;
News flash; everyone is going to die!
And yet, it’s just as easy to spin it elseways;
News flash; everyone is alive!
But the known is not news
While the possible is, possibly
And the hysterical sells, definitely
Somewhere in our human nature
We are wired to project the worst
As we plan for the best
Flipping the two sided coin
Of hope and fear
Trying to beat the odds
As if we had a chance
As if we lived in a world defined by chance
As if the two sides of the coin
Weren’t always and only
Just the same old coin
(9/26/24)
How I miss what I never had
Long hot kisses kinetic cranberry flavored
As I struggle with my need to breathe
Every breath in and out for you
The deepest fuzzy feelings ferment
In every fiber of my body my soul
We are so close yet so far
Long distance love challenges so unique
Yet we climb each mountain peak
Standing victorious in each others heart
Violet veins pumping the same goals
Hopes purple passion and old fashioned needs
I’m unable to flee from you
Because you are inside of me
It’s pleasant and peaceful
How you make love to my mind
With only your words so kind
And I am grateful for whatever
Way we connect be it chats
Or email or internet
We have only a moment to blink
And find reasons why we think
Time is on our side
And we surf it like ocean tide
I think we are very special
And as you say
The heart wants what it wants
So it’s not really a problem
Being apart when we are an island
Intellectually connected and destined
We have beat the odds
And now we can be sweethearts
For as long as blessed by God
One would seem to wonder
Why I have the same enemies
That thought that in life
You could never be a friend
I have been on my work since age 14
Now I'm standing on the mountain top
About to realize my dream
I beat the odds
Did what few could really do
But life is not over
It's just begun
They said I had no patience
Stepped on my rights
Violated and abused me
Because my skin was not light
But I will never give in
Life is like a door without a key
It’s the truth starring you right
In the eyes that you’ve refused to see
Simply open the door and walk boldly
Into the unknown where you’ll go from
There who knows take a leap of faith
Beat the odds and win the race this
Life is truly great and it may sound
cliched but don’t hesitate because
You are the master of your own fate !
Odds and sods with change of strange
You my think you feared what’s weird
But what you’ll find within your mind
Has likely in others also appeared
Change of strange with odds and sods
Embrace your differences unique
Keep so cheery with self owned eerie
Envy lies in others critique
Strange sods will change the odds
The ones who keep it interesting
And go far are those most bizarre
In rhyme worth time investing
So never rearrange your strange
To fit followers or serious sods
The ones who grow and change
Are curious ones who beat the odds
Feb 22, 2023
Nursery Rhyme Contest
Sponsor: Eve Roper
A chance to play the cards life dealt
you hope for once to beat the odds.
Your heart says yes; because it felt
a chance to play the cards life dealt.
You knew a dream, like ice, could melt,
and so it was up to the Gods.
A chance to play the cards life dealt,
you hope, for once, to beat the odds.
(Triolet)
12/31/2022
Judged 1/28/2023
N/A in Chance Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Julia Ward
Optimist but options still exist and
Gambling men know houses always win so
Build a base with me to beat the odds
Let em shoot and use the bricks to build a
Fortress for us fortify the bonds
Build a base and then provide the tones so
Neighbours think our waters laced with
Sweeter things
Lifer
(For CSM Richard Webb)
David J Walker
He was a soldier
Who knew he beat the odds
Yet answering to the
gods of the Elysian Field
One day he would yield
His dog-tags and
Turn in his guns
And lay down to rest with
The rest of his brothers in arms
**************...........**************
Mother Says
Mother says biko hapumaka
Je suis fatigué
These things keep revolving
Maybe not like a revolver
If i could only take a sling shot
Hit this situation in the groin
Mother says biko cherum
Be patient oh!
À perte de vue
Tout macherait comme sur des roulettes dit maman
She who would do the impossible
She who would beat the odds
She who is my god in second.
She who starves for her child to eat
She whose tears soften hard rocks
She who is my god, the second
Mother says, jowo oko mi kan se daradara ti o le se
And you'll make it out somehow
O so ti o ba ti mura
Hold my hands, close your eyes
Et laissez-moi vous guilde à travers ce monde sans âme
'Orisha bi iya osi laye yi'
Mother says, jowo mase binu si ibinu
Sabali, soyez patient en tout temps
Be careful enough not to stay out too long
And don't do things you shouldn't,
Do miss me when I'm gone.
Godwin Henry Osaigbovo Pa Shakespeare
X
Obiozo Osariemen Emmanuel Dr.Jay
me, i beat the odds
nine out of ten poems failing
simply falling a
sleep
I recognize the subtleties of love
its reality
is easy to see.
An emotional gift sent from above
to both the frightened
and the enlightened.
I understand the desire for passion's flame
and sense how disappointment can turn to blame.
But I feel there is more.
My heart starts pounding like a thoroughbred
when I am with you
for your love is true.
And when I feel loved, my smile starts to spread
sharing sweaty palms
without any qualms.
Love is such an indescribable feeling
I bounce head over heels, from floor to ceiling.
But I feel there is more.
Love titillates my heart and smooths my soul,
and I understand
why it feels so grand.
You're the missing piece that made my heart whole
We're but flesh and bone
scared to be alone.
Love lets lonely hearts visualize heaven
gambling that fate will roll either a seven
or beat the odds with a winning eleven.
But I feel there is more
to love than keeping score!
(Qarinage)
Nov. 13, 2018
Just one day
Baby guilt free
No restriction on emotions
Or our fantasies
We could live out all our dreams
And feel what true passion brings
Then talk about forever
Over coffee and chia tea
And in the morning
Maybe we could change forever
There's a lot to think about
Just what we seek
We've beat the odds, and paid the cost
Let's make love before we leave
How often do two soul mates
Ever get to meet
I've dreamt about you
For so long
This yearning and this longing
Just can't go on
It drives us both apart
Even though we feel the same
Though the closeness makes us happy
The distance beings us pain
So in the morning
Maybe we could change forever
There's a lot to think about
In what we seek
We've beat the odds, and paid the cost
Let's make love before we leave
How often do two soul mates
Ever get to meet
Sometimes chances are the only way
To find a way to brighter days
How often do two soul mates
Ever get to meet
We've been denying us for long enough
Baby we should take the leap
How often do two soul mates
Ever get to meet
What we have done to us,
Loving on ransom,
Difficult to do when
We love to prove
We believe in us.
It is the way that things have had me,
When each day I know
No one can take your place.
The pain is too much to bear,
Half way in is half way out,
It will be savage to pull out now,
If we stand together,
We will beat the odds,
We will be the wave in this turbulent sea;
Babe we sealed our fate
And I know we will pull through.
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