Best Action Poems
Pray for potatoes, but pick up a hoe
Make a commitment and reap what you sow.
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Rhyming Couplet #3 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: L MILTON HANKINS
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© 16th October 2021
Panicked trips down the rabbit hole goes as follows,
Far beneath the depths and hollows.
Way before first breath of plaque,
Meaningless so void and vague.
Til death you see we meet again,
Born to die and live to sin.
Time is out and toll the bell,
Body in the wishing well.
The truth of lies is in between,
No justice here, no peace is seen.
Make it stop, please go away,
Forget the past, you rue the day.
We are all alone no one to blame,
Count your years and spell your name.
Ride your bikes and play a game.
Earn your keep and your father’s name.
The ship has sunk and now we float,
No need to send a rescue boat.
For I shall die here anyway,
For I shall die here any day.
I’ve dug too deep you see I’m blind,
I’ve lost my soul I’ve lost my mind.
*** COURAGE ***
To wake up.
To stand?
To step out.
Avoid thinking
“can’t” and “but.”
Surrender worries
into the hands of God…
To keep hope’s flame up.
To listen.
To discern.
To fall into the music
of the spirit’s lilt
letting slip some
possibility…
Those mere fingertips might reach
and hold the gold ring…
To grasp inspirations gliding by…
Do not pity the mayfly
its short life.
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(c)sally young eslinger 2/2/2023
Thanks be to God…
Word for this month — Courage
Inspired by my brother & sister poets;
my husband Jim; and
the Memphis, TN, horrid murder
Take a moment,
stop and think.
If you're thirsty,
have a drink.
Slow the pace,
and settle down.
Decide if which,
to smile or frown.
It's up to you,
to make a choice.
To remain quiet,
or share your voice.
To be engaged,
reveal a thought.
Or walk away,
when you'd rather not.
Either way,
it's up to you.
You determine,
to say or do.
And for this right,
you'll surely see.
There is a great,
responsibility.
He’s in a bunker in his
Head; outside the
World is all but dead
Protect the cause at
Any cost; he holds his
Nerve, resolve embossed
What will happen when
It’s done? This deed that’s
Good for everyone!
Sweat is pouring down
His chest; beneath the
Semtex that’s been
Blessed. Dazed with
Joy of things to come;
A greater world has just
Begun! “God be
Praised, he pressed
His thumb and boom
The blast took
Everyone”.
Sweat drips backstage, mouth parched, heart beating at a sprinter's pace.
All eyes on me, as lights dim with spotlight honing on mic and lips.
Words flow to a standing ovation - I soak it all in.
One of the highlights for me in 2023 was performing spoken word for the first time on stage in front of a packed auditorium. It was a memorable experience and probably the greatest in my creative pursuits.
One heart, one mind,
Making music, divine.
One battle, one beat,
All gather in one to defeat!
It’s time to be bold,
And not overbearing,
To help bring forth light,
And healing to the world.
Remember the One,
With the shiftless core,
Our reminder,
Of who we always need to be.
Where ever we go,
And whoever we see,
We share love,
For His glory!
United in beat, and thought,
We’re not going to stop,
Because we are of one heart, one mind,
Making sweet music divine!
It won’t be enough,
To just believe, we must fight,
To overcome the foe,
With power from the Holy Ghost.
Come now, let’s win,
As we are unified in,
One heart, one mind,
Worthy of the divine.
It’s about how we live,
That we love and give,
Unified in one beat, and thought,
Now let’s spread the rock!
We are of one heart, one mind,
With one beat, divine, united in,
One purpose, and mission,
With a shiftless core, let’s give all to Him!
You can change the world.!
In it by turning.. just one
Page at a time.)
Outside my window, the sun smiled.
No sirens screamed and no explosions resounded.
No tearful wails interrupted my serenity.
This, I thought, must be peace -
As long as I ignored the news.
Nobody tore me from my bed,
Bruised my skin,
Nor forced water down my throat.
My human rights, intact -
A privilege of my distance.
Ahhhh!
My cocoa tasted as sweet as my innocence
from the cradle of my recliner.
Why borrow trouble?
Am I my brother’s keeper?
My skin frosted as my heart shivered.
A cold thought formed.
The quote echoed a ghostly reminder from whom that question originated.
A chilling realization that hiding was actively choosing
to raise Cain.
Where was the chaos sown?
Where were the voices stilled?
I must not sit, I must not wait!
Comfort must be sacrificed,
before I also found that I had become the one who was not Abel.
The beautiful impossible motion,
can we see, feel, touch motion?
No,
we see, feel, touch the results of motion.
Motion stands still,
until we use it.
We humans have no motion until we move,
walking, running, or maybe dancing.
Even weather has no motion,
until it speaks.
The winds blow with motion,
we then see the leaves move.
Everything starts out with no motion,
moving gives motion to the movement.
We can not see, feel or touch motion,
yet we can see, feel, touch motion in action.
What a wonderful impossible thing motion has been.
The thoughts are risen:
But nobody to listen;
Having unclear vision:
With no proper decision;
Bound in corrupt tradition:
Sunk in unstable condition;
Seeing all the opposition..
am in a state of congestion
Not in a position..
to handle my confusion!!
~DEEPA~
Third place in BRIAN'S CHOICE 2,any form,any theme
Contest.
when I leave the house
sheep have been arranged in fields
and the allocations of cars
have been made for today’s passing
with scripts sent out nightly
to those I might encounter
those set management guys
have been busy again
even the sky looks real
I’m sure someone must yell
AND CUT
when I fall asleep at night
and set up begins again
funny though
I feel like an extra
in my own show
F-lick
U-p
N-ext
O-pens
M-aking
M-ovie
A-ction
K-ing
A-chieve
M-uch
A-ttention
Topic: Poet (Funom Makama)
Form: Vertical Monocrostic
Epiphany Poetry Contest. Sponsored by: Constance La France
By Poet: "Words are very cheap. Actions are worth their weight in gold. Look for actions, Not words."
I have a great friend,
she tells the truth and will never bend.
We love going out,
shopping and eating makes for a magical day.
I help her then she helps me,
that is the way friendship should be.
She called me sister,
what an honor that was.
Then one very sad day,
I had an epiphany.
She was filled with lies,
I had been deceived.
from "The Waking" by Theodore Roethke:
"I wake to sleep, and take my waking slow
I feel my fate in what I cannot fear.
I learn by going where I have to go."
Queasy anxiety, a fearful edginess of dread,
an old and omnipresent sense of doom
taint the times that random opportunity affords
to slip convention's chains, to openly proclaim
a saner point of view, a logical rejection
of muddy, inane thinking, of tradition-bound
adherence to stupidity's insistent songs
that perpetuate a myriad of wrongs.
Let there be no turning back; face the fears, be the change --
for diversity, humanity, acceptance, brotherhood,
and love. Explain, support, convince. Break the silence:
come out, come out, whoever and wherever you may be!