Best Clean Up Poems
I shall write of fading distant things
Of silenced bells, birds without wings
Of time, that metronomic dunce
Who lives its moments all at once
I’ll view this masterpiece I’ve painted
Slightly perfect, slightly tainted
Leave it to you to gauge the hues
Of struggling artists paying dues
Upon them I have placed my mark
Both heaven light and hellish dark
For each pursues the shredded truth
Of tarnished age and stumbling youth
Of dreams released and dreams contained
A perfect life still slightly stained
I was rushing a project, due at 6,
With a messy top, I couldn’t resist
Arranging trays with photos of my man;
Such thick debris, a whole clean-up began.
A jar of expired tea spilled on my chest
Now, this made me shake off a lunch hour’s rest.
My hands pulled out scarves, lotion, and fake gems
From a drawer filled with old beauty items!
Then, I checked a pile of discs that was needed
Yet my eyes found notes, memos never read.
By 4 pm, job mates helped me wipe out
Heaps of litter, junk mail pouring like spouts.
Oh deadline came while I froze on page 1,
Knowing the boss would demand a rerun!
Sara Kendrick's Today I Accomplished
5/18/2015
I came onto my street today
I stood in shock and awe
vast piles of garbage,in front of every house
is the sad sight that i saw
Its called a clean up so they say
but for this waste we all will pay.
majestic forests felled with greed
to satisfy our useless needs
tvs ,fridges,piled up high
this wasteful sight makes me just sigh.
buildings sore up to the clouds
heartles structures of glass and steel
their only claim is eye appeal.
and who lives in these ivory towers
multi nationals full of powers
plundering earths bounty
from above the city
for mountains of cash its such a pity
useless mountains of paper cash
to produce what?
these mounds of trash.
next time you buy that useless crap
two dollar shop or xmas wrap
make your next clean up pile be small
because it will really help us all
Clear the table
Line the books along the shelves
Everyone join in
Arrange the chairs so none can fall
Naughty children don’t pitch in
Under chairs and under tables check we haven’t missed a toy
Paints and brushes put away
Toys are all picked up for today
I read a story as we wait
Mom’s or Dad’s are on their way
Everyone its time to go…..I hope you had a real fun day
It is fall clean up in my garden, Lord.
I'm feeling guilty, sad, lonesome and blue.
The grasses and the weeds have over run
The lovely flowers, planted there for you.
Is this a mirror to my life dear Lord?
Have all my kinder deeds been overcome
By ugly thoughts and hurting acts and words?
Wild dandelion crowds out chrysanthemum?
Forgive me, Lord, if I have failed to tend
My garden in the manner that I should.
I'd claim the days I spent so foolishly
And use them more gainfully if I could.
Now that I'm in the autumn of my days,
I hope to take each day I have in store
And spend each precious second of that time
More usefully than I have done before.
Now as I pull each baneful weed and grass,
Removing each intruder one by one,
I hope to stand before you judgment day
Well kept, weed free, with all my gardening done.
By Joyce Johnson
For Constance a Rambling Poet's "I am sending you a gift of poetry, dear heart" contest
Inspired by her "Working in The Garden" poem on page 7 of her file
I won’t clean up my room
No matter how you try
To bribe me with all sorts of things
I know it’s just a lie
Don’t think that I will pick up
That sock that’s on the floor
If you don’t want to see it
I’ll simply close the door
You’re bossy and demanding
You act like such a mum
You act like you’re the adult
Well I say you’re not much fun
Don’t think I’ll do my washing
How can you think I could?
I don’t know where to start with that
I don’t see why I should
My clothes don’t need to be folded
Just put them on the floor
I’ll find them in the room somewhere
Don’t put them in the drawer
You tell me that I am spoiled
Well you made me that way
I’ve had a lot of practice
Being who I am today
And when you say I’m childish
What do you expect of me
How can you expect me to be grown up
When I am only 33!
-Nadine Hof, 1 March 2007-
Afternoon autumn
Our neighborhood goes crazy
Like living in a dentist’s office
Drilling sucking blowing
Whining wincing scraping
Gurgle
My head tilted back
With a book on my chest
Mouth wide open
Staring into the glare of the final high sun.
Through my little fingers I'd peek
When I was a kid I would freak
Watching wicked witch melt
Frightful fear I then felt
That I wouldn't bathe for a week!
It's fall clean up in my garden, Lord.
I'm feeling, sad, lonesome and blue.
The grasses and the weeds have over run
The lovely flowers, planted there for You.
Is this a mirror of my life, dear Lord?
Have all my kinder deeds been overcome
By ugly thoughts and hurting acts and words?
Wild dandelion crowds out chrysanthemum?
Now as I pull the banefull weeds and grass,
Removing each intruder one by one,
I hope to stand before you judgement day
Well kept, weed free, with all my gardening done.
lWon a no. 1 in Brian's contest
In the depths of verses penned in ink and thought,
There lies a fear that lingers, unbesought.
To press delete, to erase what once was wrought,
But courage falters, leaving dreams uncaught.
Years have passed, yet still the words remain,
Etched on the pages, a poetic chain.
Some born of passion, some from youthful pain,
Yet in each line, a story to sustain.
I look back on my younger days,
Seeing flaws in the verses, tangled in a haze.
Yet within the chaos, a spark ablaze,
A journey of growth, through life's maze.
To clean up the soup, a daunting task,
To let go of the words, to unmask.
But in the poetry's essence, a bask,
In the beauty of creation's flask.
I hesitate, unable to concede,
Afraid to lose what I once agreed.
But in the hesitation, a seed,
Of bravery blossoms, a poet's creed.
For within the lines, a tale complete,
Of struggle, growth, and words so sweet.
To press delete, a daunting feat,
Yet in letting go, a new heartbeat.
The gulf oil spill… drilled from the depth of ills
A battle between money and men, power and perils
A quest to depopulate the world by the New World Order
A sect storming every sphere of our seas with oil disorder
The continuous extraction of oil and fossil fuel
Has turned our plain paradise to a haughty hell
What greed has done, heaven needs to measure
For with tears and torment they trade our treasure
Oil spill puts creatures of colors on slippery slope
Where thorns and thistles thrives… we can’t cope
With the woes and wants that tilts our treasured terrains
In the wake of Katrina, Rita and Wilma: hot hurricanes
Fishing and farming, shipping and shrimping…slipping,
While the cruel cabals are camping, cutting and clapping
Destroying the heirs and health of our environment
To get wares and wealth, without care and contentment
Are we at the mercy of these elites… illuminati
Who foil the trials and toils of our laden literati?
But for blocking decisive data and discoveries
We might now be using free energy devices
We crave a complete clean up of the Gulf oil spill
The galactic gear may take us to that healthy hill,
Our faith and future lies in a patriotic energy policy
Let rid this wailing world of this curse and conspiracy
so there's no tickets
so fits it
as you take out the pet
don't you forget
just like your desk
CLEAN UP THE MESS
That morning he headed off to the store as they were having a big sale
In life he was looking for more as lately things had become a little stale
It was Faith this department store was selling with every size and style
In walking through that door it was this need he thought of all the while
Each and every lonely night and all those heart aches and growing pains
How this life would so often slight even your own mind sometimes feigns
All of that continuing questioning of why, never once getting a real answer
In now giving this a try in beginning to see that there was only One cure
They had some popular door busters as the large crowds clamored around
From afar you could see their shiny lusters but close up none could be found
He quickly just skirted right past for he was looking for what was in that flyer
Something that would keep him through eternity this being his greatest desire
Off in the distance towards the back there was the Faith he saw in the ad
He now knew he was on the right track and not just hooked up in some fad
The warmth that was coming from the display warmed him inside and out
And in the continuing of making his way he was shedding all that old doubt
In the Cross he knew that it was real as soon his heart had began to break
He couldn't believe how it made him feel that Jesus had died for his sake
And as all those tears began to come a store clerk asked if he was alright
As this would seem strange to some, but not to those who've seen the Light
If you don't clean up after your dog, well then you propably shouldn't have kids,
because changing a baby's diaper is more challenging than cleaning up after a dog is.
She’s gone but I remember how
She would say “I’m done you can clean up now.”
Not with words of course, but with swish of tail
And I’d obey her without fail.
Since I have reached that stage of life,
I’m no longer caretaker or a wife,
I’d like to be indulged as was my cat,
As irresponsible as that.
I would dine upon the finest fare,
Use lots of dishes, I wouldn’t care.
Like kitty, I’d be a real high brow;
Say, “I’ve finished, you can clean up now”.
Joyce Johnson
For Constance's Woman Cat contest