Best Advertised Poems
Slow hand
Drizzle coats the billboard
sitting on that desolate stretch of highway
waiting for someone to read
or at least hide behind, parked car, back seat
steamed windows, sighs just above a holler,
a collar unbuttoned,
casual abundance with the radio on
seeking a Clapton tune
as nimble fingers
show the difference between a slow hand
and a destined position,
where rain doesn’t matter
because it is just as wet inside
though hotter than an August day,
perspiring in the friction
when love hits the four way flashers
blinkers accelerate, left, right, faster,
names are called, tears are cried
and the road home now beckons
just as advertised . . .
Categories:
advertised, love, sensual,
Form:
Free verse
Marching down life’s highway, my feet became very sore
I then came upon a sign that read “Heaven’s Grocery Store”
When I got closer the doors swung open wide
Next thing I knew I was standing there inside
I saw a flock of angels positioned everywhere
They handed me a basket and said, “Child shop with care.”
Everything a human required was in that grocery store
With many commodities to carry, you could always come back for more
First I acquired some Patience; Love was in that same row
Further down was Understanding, you require that everywhere you go
I grabbed a box of Wisdom and Faith, a bag or two
And obtained Charity of course but more than just a few
And then reached for Courage to help me run this wicked race
My basket was almost full but remembered some loving Grace
I then chose Salvation for it was advertised as free
I tried to collect enough of that for both you and me
Then I started to the counter to pay my grocery bill
For I thought I had everything to do the Master’s will
As I went up the aisle, I saw Prayer and proceeded put that in
For I knew when I stepped outside I was bound to encounter sin
Peace and Joy were plentiful, the last thing on that shelf
Song and Praise were hanging near so I just helped myself
Then I asked an angel, “Now how much do I owe?”
She smiled and said, “Just take them wherever you may go.”
Again I asked, “No really, how much do I owe?”
“My child,” she said, “God paid your bill a long time ago.”
Categories:
advertised, caregiving, dedication, faith, forgiveness,
Form:
Quatrain
I was brought up on a smallholding when I was a lass
We needed something to help us cut the vast expanse of grass
I wanted a goat and my parents they agreed
We saw one advertised and rushed there at great speed
Poor ‘Susie’ lived in a paved back yard
Finding her food to eat must have been hard
We paid them some money and then the fun began
Travelling home in dads Volkswagen van*
I sat on the back seat with ‘Susie’ next to me
It looked pretty silly – I’m sure you will agree
Back home she bounded out of the car
She trimmed the nearest rose bush – she really was a star
She headed for the washing line and tried to eat dad’s pants
It was pretty hilarious – I can still hear poor dad’s rants
She was ‘with kid’ and got settled in her comfy shed
Her favourite food was bananas she’d eat them all when fed
Finally the great day of the kid’s birth did arrive
I called them ‘Billy and Nanny’ I was filled with great pride
The kids were so cute and we would take them out for walks
If people saw us out in the street their eyes would be on stalks
The kids they grew so quickly and nanny she got sold
Billy stayed a few more weeks but he was never to get old
Billy became a problem and was sold off in a hurry
I was devastated to find poor Billy was made into curry
This really did happen as written - I had Susie for my 13th birthday present
The ONLY amendment is it was a VW Beetle not a van *
Jan Allison
10th April 2014
Categories:
advertised, humorous, pets, , cute,
Form:
Rhyme
MISSING PERSON
Saw him sitting on the curb weeping,
pompous parades of the self righteous
passing “his” children – in disgust.
Eyes glistened through the tears
hands trembling as if to control himself
he rose – as if to speak….
was jostled by passersby, cursed at
by glassed in motorists, mocked
by the children on a passing school bus.
Approaching the synagogue
he was rebuffed by the rabbi,
a relived experience.
The churches, gilded doors locked,
advertised Sunday services
and a trip to Fox Woods Casino.
Saw him sitting on the curb weeping
accompanied by a stray dog
that licked the wounds in his hands.
John G. Lawless
10/26/2015
Categories:
advertised, irony,
Form:
Free verse
About thanksgiving a bunch of turkeys get together,
Have a meeting about sales for the holidays.
About fall they send out that letter.
Well those business folks got to cuss and discuss,
And figure how to gear it,
To make us customers
Feel that holiday spirit!
Here’s the minutes of the meeting,
We’ll skip the high fives greeting.
“All through the mall we’ll have ho- ho- ing Santys
From the computer games to the racks of panties.
Adult book stores will send out Yule tide flyers,
To attract all the spirit filled ***** buyers.
Don’t forget to put some plastic wreaths
Round those expensive briefs,
And the music; what about the music?!
Let’s start the secular Christmas songs,
In time for the black Friday throngs.
Make sure the songs don’t mention God or Jesus,
We don’t want to offend and have people leave us,
Remember Christmas is all about the money,
So let’s spread the ads on thick like honey!
Hide all the advertised sales on goods for this time of year..
And put the top dollar toys and items by the cashier..
So if you business people got more ideas, let’s push them through!
What’s that? Oh yeah…ah…merry Christmas to you too.
MEETING ADJOURNED !”
“(hey Bill, ..about that bikini clad Santa dancing on the new hutch,
I think maybe her pine needle bra is a bit much…..?
What you think?….)”
Inspired by Carolyn D. (too long for the contest, but had fun with it!)
Categories:
advertised, holidaychristmas, people, thanksgiving, business,
Form:
Rhyme
If I was a rich as a
Rothschild
then I would give up my job
as a college assistant
and live in a great manor
If I was as rich as a Rothschild
I would buy
a fantastic stereo
If I was as rich as a Rothschild
I would buy the expensive volumes I see
advertised in the New York Times book review section
If I was as rich as a Rothschild
Wow! Wow! Wow!
Categories:
advertised, happy,
Form:
Free verse
It's all make believe, isn't it?,
Marylin Monroe
Foundation smeared grid of Facebook likes
saccharine coated lies, pretending the truth.
Advertised love, behind every pretty picture
makes them believe, the wizard and his spell
Blurry eyes enticed, in aureole golden water
an allure of distance, shimmering a mirage.
Tears smear down...perhaps only pain is real
19th June 2020
Sponsor Regina Riddle
Contest Name It's Only Make Believe
Categories:
advertised, fantasy, pain, truth,
Form:
Verse
Crazy Mick the Irishman, with trademark bike and overcoat,
wheeling his way back into town, classed as a tarnished silly goat.
His hair was long and curly; spoken words barely understood.
His manner gave impression he's up to no flamin’ good.
Shopkeepers grew an extra eye toward their advertised outside,
watching Mick out on the street as up and down he'd ride.
This man was on outcast; different to the folks they know,
a little dirty; is a vagrant, and he acts a little slow.
Mick’s first stop the butchers shop; bargained for a ‘snag’ or two.
The butcher he felt pity, so threw in an extra few.
This pleased Mick no end as he left the butchers door.
His feast was quick and final; ate the meat been given raw.
The pub through past experience had little time for Mick,
for beer became his nemesis; urged forward his fighting trick.
Too many times Mick’s antics had forced him to the street,
with bloodied nose, blackened eye; always getting beat.
Compromising was the bottle sale - take half a dozen and then go.
Sit over by the railway line and then drink them nice and slow.
Young kids without feelings teased Mick in his toxic state,
laughing as he chased them, for he'd stagger and gyrate.
When Mick disappeared, our town wondered where he went.
Had he found a home! Had he died! Where has his time been spent!
It seems in potato season when the pickers were required,
Mick was slogging in the paddocks where potato tops had died.
The 'swampy' people honoured Mick, for he had no fear of sweat.
He'd bend his back the furthest; earnt the spud farmer’s respect.
They saw a different person than the townie’s man un-trusted.
Hard working in the hot sun; not the drunk so often busted.
Mick perished one cold winter, alone inside a pickers shack.
Long after picking season ended, so what had brought him back?
He must have known his life was ebbing; left for where he felt no shame.
Spud farmers heads bowed 'round his grave - but not one townie came.
Categories:
advertised, discrimination,
Form:
Rhyme
Long before we met
I loved you
though countenance as yet unclear;
long before I ever heard
your voice, sensed I a perfect fit
out-there, somewhere
for my very eclectic ear --
Destiny is the word she used,
the old woman, with cards and
tea-leaves – a White Witch her
advertised claim: in a tent, at
an outdoor carnival somehow
I can’t say, she even knew your name…
Long before the first kiss sealed
with embrace made promise
with vow made sacred
perhaps before the first spring came
tossed its dingy veil, made colorful
beguile...into us spoke scented petal-like
blossoming smile
long before the first step
and endless seeming mile --
season given time to entrance,
great power to smudge and erase
Perhaps long before
God had written His best romance --
imagined human hearts, couplets of
tender poetry, song and joyful dance --
perhaps far back, when God
first considered love, make sketch
and model design -- made man’s visage
and form resemble His own Divine…
gave creation license to copy,
to fondly reline or trace – for
sometimes careless figuring gave wash
of forever grace – a lonely God, releasing
His kingdom, wanting only to freely
share, breathing life into lungs of
clay beings, declaring each his
child – offspring, royal heir
Perhaps even then, that far back
in God’s perfectly caring heart,
you and I were resident tenants
there, as angels reside in heaven above
wherever we travel, goes with us
signed lease of eternal love --
though having transient souls predetermined
never long us to dwell apart – such depth of union
like God’s glittering universe ever expanding
as those endless fields of stars linked together
twinkly hand-in-hand, love -- time’s radiant, inextinguishable
source and core -- God will keep us sparkling brilliantly close
adhered to His Loving Heart
Now, long after and long before
Categories:
advertised, christian, devotion, heart, inspirational
Form:
Free verse
The birth place of world war II
after an invasion void of any declaration.
Stamps on history’s book by feminine hands
to ascertain the first death sentence of the same human disaster.
A time frame marked its stolen identity
signifying its absorption into the world map
when three neighbouring nations rolled dices on its existence.
Roman Catholicism is advertised by the sun
in this place where it’s the pioneer of oil refinery
and the continent’s most important reproductive clinic
to border-crossing summer birds.
The father of Europe in king Kazimierz Jagiellonczyk
married off his three seeds of fertility
who were carrying rich humus
to the germination of Europe’s greatest dynasties.
Another king flatters history when he re-based back to his origin
to honour a coronation conflicting the poles’ election.
The heart of the world of European Jews
where their rescue during the holocaust was second to none
where the first artificial language, created and sustained;
and having a patriot decorated five times on physical masculinity.
It is the home to the famous Nicolaus Copernicus
and the birth place of the globally applauded Marie Curie.
The last will and testament of the expiring country
marks the first European constitutional state.
The underground salt cathedral is significant in its global age ranking.
The Bialowieza Primeral, epitomizes the continent’s last ancient forest
and the piwnica Swidnilka ranks the first
in the pride of the continent’s aged restaurants.
Its historic medicinal use of vodkas
and the blossom to the stem end direction
of peeling Bananas ready for consumption
beautifies the grit of a nation which stood firm
even after a forty and three attempts of invasion.
Categories:
advertised, community, education, environment, history,
Form:
Ode
I
Just
Stand
Here
alone.
Factually,
A feat,
A pinnacle of
Engineering at almost
A thousand meters high,
A colossus, an omnipresence
Comparable to God-
a man made concept
advertised to exhaustion.
Amongst concrete caricature
cliche’d into postcards and keychains, I am
The subject, the focus and distinguished character;
an over- exaggerated needle in a haystack.
In status of Symbol of City, I am the entirety of the City-
Iron soaked cement stands for a point proven.
Isn’t that why you’re here?
Why exactly I was made in such manner perhaps
Remains more of a mystery to you than to me, I think.
I suppose its only a difference of our perspectives.
I cannot claim to understand it fully myself;
you’re only here to gaze into glare of glass panes,
To burn white spots into your vision;
a mirage dancing on a surface too hot to touch.
I don’t have much choice on the other hand- you put me here and made this mine.
The sun’s reflection on windows sink with the dusk,
harsh light dulling to transparency.
Its like only I can see the red lights shine through this golden city.
Categories:
advertised, city, evil, perspective,
Form:
Free verse
Mother was a genius when it came to recyclin' flowery flour sacks,
Durin' The Great Depression to provide duds for her family's backs!
With her trusty pedal Singer Sewin' Machine she turned out a horde,
Of decent apparel that we could ill afford from Montgomery-Ward!
In gym class I could usually find a locker behind which to cower,
So as not to reveal my drawers toutin' 'Gold Medal Self-Risin' Flour'!
The shirts she made sported gaudy prints of petunias and roses,
And various critters such as unicorns and monkeys in silly poses!
Sacks made fancy bloomers for sister that advertised 'Baker's Delight',
Plus tawdry dresses, blouses and skirts, but with her that was alright!
'Pillsbury's All-Purpose Flour' graced the back of shirts worn by Dad!
Others were more subdued when Mom found a sack of simple plaid!
I reckon city folks thought we country folk looked kinda weird and funny,
Paradin' around in altered flour sacks, but there wasn't very much money,
Left for fancy things after Pa bought shoes and put grub on the table!
But, with a wink and spare change, he treated us to ice cream when able!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) All Rights Reserved
Entry for Judy Konos' "Whatever Happened To Flour Sacks" Contest
Categories:
advertised, family, humorous,
Form:
Rhyme
Went for a job interview
And was grounded by many stupid questions, not just few.
They started with, Describe yourself in three words.
Just read the documents and find the answer yourself.
Where do you see yourself in five years?
I am a computer engineer, not an astrologer.
What are your salary expectations?
I applied after reading the salary you advertised, if want to give more
I have no regrets.
Are you married,divorced,separated or single?
I am here for a job, not for any modelling contest
so I need to be single.
What do your co-workers say about you?
They say I am the best, believe me or not its true.
Why are you leaving your current job?
I just love giving the job interviews and that's all.
Categories:
advertised, funny,
Form:
Free verse
I wonder if this is a trait
reserved only for Americans,
Or do all humans suffer
From this dementia?
I saw an item advertised
In my local paper
A one day sale
Limited quantities.
So Hurry In!!!!
This was something I'd
wanted for years,
And the price was reasonable,
But a forty mile ride to get there
So, I drove the distance
To this big Department store,
Speeding a bit
I hoped they would still have more,
A line at the check out counter,
Department Manager on the phone,
Every few moments you could hear a groan,
And another frustrated customer
left for good...
Before I knew it, I was at the front of the line
The manager and sales clerk buzy
With a potential customer on the phone,
Now I understood the groan.
This potential customer was shopping
by phone, with endless questions...
Seemed there was no way to get these people's
Attention...
I waved, I knocked on the counter,
I repeatedly begged for assistance
But the Bozo on the phone got all
of their attention.
Live customers waving cash in thr air
Made no difference to them,
As they decribed every item in the
department
I turned to the eight or so people behind me
"Isn't this Ridiculous?"
Turning away from live customers,
eager to buy, and spending all your attention
to some clown on the phone too lazy to come by!
So now, when such an incident arises,
I'll call them from my cell phone,
While on line,
And perhaps, then, I'd be taken seriously.
Categories:
advertised, angst, business, funny, people,
Form:
Bio
Your love is Near
From the lyrics on the duet of loneliness
I hade seen the spark in your eyes and your smile
It is not what the past is saying to you,
It is not what the present is displaying to you,
Not even what the future is predicting to you
I know you and I have seen the sparkling love in you,
I know how lovable you are and what you deserve
You are crowned to be lover;
Now stand for love, because your love is near
Now fall in love again, because love is loving you
Your love is in the roots of a perfumed linen of your soul
Your love is planted in the intersections of your sentiment and emotion
It is not what desperation is saying to you
Not even when financial struggles suffocate your hope
I know you as you are, breathing trough this lines,
I can feel your passion to help, care and sustain,
You had been prepared for this moment of follies
You are free to love, to be in love,
because your lover is near
I feel like declaring on the top of the mountain of chemistry,
That Your enzyme is ready to melt your lover down as butter,
Your lover will not imagine what is happing, while pulling in
The chemistry is translating the tension to attention
Increasing drops to the carnal sieve of your lovable spirit
It is not about tones and shapes as advertised around;
It mostly about the candle of your brilliances is screening
You are ready again for the game of passion and love living
Categories:
advertised, adventure, cute love, encouraging,
Form:
Prose Poetry