Best Bear Down Poems
Way up there in the Colorado mountains at around 9000 feet,
There once was a thrivin' village that served as the county seat.
It was a boom and bust town that now lies in desolate shambles,
Its one-time stately buildin's now overgrown with creepin' brambles.
'Tis said that a vein of gold was discovered when a feller dug deep,
To bury a friend who was gored to death by an irate mountain sheep!
His discovery was known as Dead Man's claim and the rush was on,
And to the place hordes of miners, gamblers and rabble was drawn.
There were three or four rowdy saloons on each and every block,
Servin' booze and featurin' high-kickin' women around the clock.
A Methodist church and a school brought a tad of culture to the place.
Folks of finer tastes thought 'soiled doves' paradin' about a disgrace!
An untended graveyard gives witness to the wickedness of the town,
As headstone etchin's reveal the doom of many who were gunned down!
Yet is heard the phantom sounds from saloons from rabble goin' bananers,
Fightin', gamblin' and dancin' to the tinklin' of out-of-tune peeaners!
Northerly winds prod tumble weeds up and down dusty thoroughfares,
Streets once teemin' with humanity goin' about their nefarious affairs.
Now is only heard the ghostly creakin' of rusty hinges on saggin' doors,
When frigid winter winds bear down upon those dreary windswept moors!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
If this night you suddenly find
you have lost all faith in mankind,
need I say anymore, I care.
A resourceful comrade, I’ll be -a
friend in your dreadful green se-a.
I'm willing to help guide your boat;
sailing wild, can we keep her afloat?
Right now, waves seem brutal, unfair,
behind us spite-filled ships bear down
like dead weights leaving us to drown.
A quick look to heaven reveals
bridge of mercy for such ordeals.
Overwhelmed, I found when despair
troubled me, then I learned to tread
water - a sure hand ‘neath my head.
I know the pardon He can endow;
will faith in mankind help you now?
Ease into this slowly and share
your forgiveness with stormy souls.
Mind, you must give God the controls.
written 2/13/14
Roy Jerden's word acrostic contest, judged 3/10/14
Becalmed, the doldrums bear down frowning.
Hull fouled by weeds, persistent barnacles.
The ship is steadfast in her silence,
The light alone enough to shatter us.
Beyond us, off the bow the dolphins plunge
And leap toward home
While we, a company of refugees,
Lie static on this open ocean.
Our eyes are burned by distance.
No breeze to flutter them,
Our tattered flags of truce no longer fly,
But hang like limp, compliant prisoners.
We pray for wind,
The puff-cheeked gods of weather
Drawn upon our useless maps.
A force 10 gale,
The flecks of wave tops on our faces
Rage, determined demons,
In our dreams.
James Andrews
The rain pours down my face while lights flash in the distance
Among the ones once living, I choose the path of most resistance
Blood, sweat, tears, and rain mix as I grasp the wooden sentencer
Condemning to eternity the demons while my hands endure the splinters.
The moon has left me, I’m alone on my mission
The clouds bear down with rain relentless
But I must press on to be set free
And bury the dead that dwells in me
Digging and digging but no hole deep enough
To be rid of these skeletons with time that got tough
And hardened with hate, vile, and discourse
To infect my being with no remorse
Pain shoots through my chest as my breath becomes ragged
The time is near but there is no casket
No viewing, no service, just a body and a grave
In this place called the land of the free and the home of the brave
No more shall my dreams and my life be altered
My visions are now clear and my step un-faltered
You have lived on way past your prime
And now I must say that you are out of time
I dig further until I reach satisfaction
And as I throw me in, my face no reaction
I stand on the side as my face looks back up at me
I say a silent prayer and mouth R.I.P.
My body looks up back at me expressionless and cold
I throw on more dirt like it was foretold
That I would be burying the dead and living anew
And starting a new path without you
My body remains still as I continue to bury it
Knowing that a part of me will no longer be cherished
More tears come as I realize what’s done
But continue to move for I must move on
As I pat down the last of the dirt
The skies clear up to wash away the hurt
The moon looks down and says, “Job well done”
I look back at the moon and ask, “Now may I come”
The moon just smiles and begins to fade
And the sun comes in to usher in a new day
I pick up my shovel and walk back down the road
Fatigue on my mind but new light in my soul.
A labor of love
Frequent contractions
Bloody show appears
Belly and back pain
Her water breaks now
The baby drops
Loosened-up joints
Cervix dilates
Cramps are intense
Nauseous mom
Start the drugs
Feeling great
Bear down
Push out
Birth
May 18, 2022
**Side note: John Gondolf read my first Diminished Hexaverse poem about the end of life (Finis Vitae) and suggested that I write one about the beginning of life. Thank you for the wonderful tip John. I'm always up for an intriguing challenge.
No it's not easy, living can be sleazy fraught badly taught
Taut with apprehension, how should we live? some say give
Nothing, take everything' watch and judge wait till their feet
Slip then bear down ' not with them.. Sound bias test your lie
Although it could feel out the forms distant, sound waves Out sent as the bat does, mammal or willow different Methods same world shame we won't open our hearts
And so preoccupied we desist to really live
To merely drift exist '
Little box warms me
Heat on my neck
But I don’t close the vent
I’d rather be hot, than feel nothing.
And inside it’s so dark
Turn my head right
All the lights
“Bear Down Bears”
Suddenly we’re so spirited
Wish we could be spirited about the right things.
So many people out there
How can we feel alone?
How can I be so lonely?
3 places to call home
But my heart is somewhere else
Maybe in the place I will be in the future
if I have a future.
Funny how God--
The concept is just funny
But God, he can take us away from this life
At any time
Like I’m the fly and He’s the newspaper
Swat my life away
At any time
I try to find what’s important to me
But I’m too afraid it will hurt me
So I build my wall
I can’t clean my room
But
I can build a wall.
All my insecurities are hidden behind it
Pieces are missing
But some pieces fit
Bill fits
I don’t want him to
He breaks my heart in two
He takes away my life sometimes
Sort of like how God can
But the difference is that I’m still stuck here
In this life
In a pool of days that I don’t want to wake up to
I hope those days don’t come to me again
I hope our love reaches us again
Here I am, babbling on
I could do this ‘til dawn
Buckingham Fountain, Navy Pier
Lakeshore Drive all out my window
But, everything is nothing if there is no smile
No “how was your day?”
No “are you doing okay?”
That’s the way of life
We don’t pay attention
So who’d care if I left?
I’m lacking so much self-concept
I need soul-searching
I need hard-core purchasing
The stress is so high I’m choking
Sirens going wild
I’m not even part of it
Sometimes I truly wish I could be
I will instigate a shove
So an eye is on me
So somebody will worry
That’s all I want in the end
Doesn’t everyone want a friend?
TV’s on the in the background
Typical girls’ room, nowhere to walk
I’m too broken to talk
Not capable to feel
But the heat blows on my neck
Letting me know that I’m here.
A curious word is BEAR, just like the animal whose name it BEARS:
We BEAR UP under pressure, yet we also BEAR DOWN
Should a dog BARE its teeth, it's much worse than a frown
The right to BARE arms---not the right to BEAR arms?
And if you just BEAR WITH me, my dear, you'll come to no harm
Meanwhile, this little ditty BEARS OUT my contention
that I CAN'T BEAR TO GO ON now, not even a sec--
--end
I feel the winds of change
Blowing through my hair
All the beauty of the sun
It shines upon my skin
Today it is a new day
A time for inner peace
Time to heal all the afflictions
That bear down hard on me
Some were self inflicted
Learning the hard way was my life
But some were caused by others actions
Who loved to cause such strife
This is the day I choose to break free
To untie all that has binded me
I choose to seek only love and life
To bring to others an eternal light
So take my burdens and my worries
Lay them at my Lord's feet
For he knows my life's journey
He's drawn a map out for me
I shall no longer fear
The wicked and the unknown
I choose to walk along side the light
With confidence and pose
Though sometimes I may stumble
I know I'll never fall
With the love of Jesus above
I'll always have strength to get back up
He'll never let me faulter
He'll give me wings to fly
When I feel I've lost my way
He is my guiding light
In wasted hours spent alone
I grieve over forgotten times departed
The candle slowly burns down
While the thin line of remembrance
Trails off and away from me-forever?
'Tis not enough just to experience life
But to also lap precious memories
When times of trouble bear down
And the very flame of the candle is threatened
For life without fond memories
Is like the flame without heat
Though many ventures into times past
Leave empty memories for a saddened mind
My flame grows hotter and brighter
For you are the warmth in this flame
And a memory never to be forgotten
Our own hagrid (in the corporeal essence of marital relatives) heaves livid rage
like real life harry potter dementors dead set on wreaking havoc
mainly from the zison matriarch in a mental and physical decrepit stage
attributable in part to her four score plus years on a depression riddled life
but mainly on account that her least favorite son in law lacks any income or
wage.
Venomous rage spews forth like a smoldering volcano about to explode
threats to vacate the premises likened to toxic emotions
that bear down like the sword of Damocles or how atlas bore earth as a heavy
load
which chronic onslaught of fiery livid (red hot poker) rage
sets the entire collective family psyche in an awful tortured soulful mode.
Animosity brewed and festered for well nigh going into the eighth year
scant mutually agreeable resolutions prolong this debacle
at the corners of our ability to cope do rent asunder and tear
and last shred of sanity that remains whereby nightmarish demons leer
like haywire bots with maniacal grins their trademark flair.
Wrath batters and assaults without merciless cessation lathered with blame
that we supposedly bleed dry this elderly octogenarian dame
criticism and insults indiscriminately hurled burns like hellish flame
no matter both myself and spouse experience inherent weaknesses
any explanations describing efforts to reaching goals accepted as lame.
Angst permeates while hopelessness drips from every cell
dealing with malice (from blood kin no less) with no salvation this place we dwell
synonymous with living among the dead in I did believe in hell
whereby these retaliatory barbs tossed like hand grenades pell mell
because the old lady this ramshackle house she wishes to sell.
If anybody who read this help us please
An affordable rent such a deal this guy would cease
as a permanent place to live our plight t’would appease.
Waiting for baby. 16/07/2018.
The hospital bag is ready in the hall. Oh the excitement and the stress of it all. Will we need an ambulance ? or will we get to the hospital in time after the waters have broke?
Midwives, checking weight, blood pressure, pee samples. It is like a science lesson. Going to ante-natal classes together, bonding, breathing, panting, when to push ? T o take pain relief, gas and air, something stronger, mines a gin and tonic !
About the contractions, count down, bear down, to baby's arrival, Baby kicking inside like a giant frog, punching my insides at night. Feeling like a watched pot ready to pop.
Its a worry too how will we feel, to be parents, will we cope, have a scan see the little person on the t .v screen, we don't want to know the sex, keep it a big secret.
The family's becoming a pain in the neck asking questions, dates, names, what schools its going to? The nursery stands ready painted yellow, cot in place, waiting for its bundle of love to arrive.
first child born 12/06/1987.
Each day I'm spreading
whither am I heading
in rains there are off shoots
I bear down, all enjoy my fruits
come under my shade ,relax beneath me
here set hive you bee
Ill soon blossom forth with flowers
ye birds make nests, ill shelter in showers
why is there so much smoke?
in these circumstances Ill choke.
A warm Sunday morning in December
on the fringe of the tenants of freedom.
The sky was ablaze with the colors
that God had painted there.
Small birds of prey fly in flocks,
the coral disc ornates their wings.
They enmass to block out the light.
The birds have their quarry within sight.
They bear down on their objective,
destroying everything in their path.
Many die instantly, violently,
more suffer to their deaths
trapped far below.
Slowly, they recede to the locker floor
only to rise later,
awash in the surf.
and the garbage piles up.
Nose-blind by now,
the public doesn’t even
smell the increasing stench.
Inured to the political slush,
minds grind to a halt,
gravitating to one or
another single topic,
ignoring other issues.
Women’s rights, tariffs,
Ukraine, deteriorating
and threatening climate
change, nuclear war,
presidential ability, character,
in one ear and out an eye.
It’s the price of gas, they say,
the cost of groceries,
often controlled by world supply,
and other economies.
Real and threatening issues
bear down on us,
but we blindly accept
the panaceas of
political sound-bites as truth.
Is this really an election,
with a divided populace
so many of whom see nothing,
hear nothing, and know nothing
but the lies they are fed?