Best Commiserate Poems
I wonder about her
as I shave suet and place thistle seed down -
once again
she reveals herself to the corner of my eye
a slight movement caught in the slant of a sunray
just enough to separate her shy form
from leaf litter camouflage
I turn to look at her
demure and just out of reach - yet
she seems to know I feel for her..
I regard her presence for a handful of heartbeats
before she hastens away in a certain way
head moving forward first then feet catching up
..rustling the earthy rust of gold;
fallen maple stars strewn beneath an arborvitae row..
a wing hanging down by her side
like a gate with a broken hinge
her gateway to freedom gone
she’s become a body bound to soft soil -
flesh and bones destined to feed the trees of life
soon her feathers - like thistle down - will animate aloft
weightless in soulful breaths of a swirled November wind..
pearls of muted beauty lost in innocence
given back to the skies
I wonder about the tender fragility of a tomorrow
in an air where mourning coos
are watered down by whimsical tears of gods
and stirred by a mortal’s yearn for return to natural flight
I commiserate with her silently —
for I am broken too
Susan Ashley
November 17, 2020
~ First Place ~
Premiere Contest: Brian Strand No 1175
Sponsor: Brian Strand
~ Second Place ~
Premiere Contest: 2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 17
Sponsor: Mark Toney
Categories:
commiserate, bird, emotions, fate, introspection,
Form:
Free verse
A friend reveals their true heart when you are feeling blue.
Their compassion cheers your spirit as they know the 'real' you.
They listen to you vent your anger when it consumes your day
To commiserate and reach out in a non-judgmental way.
A friend also is a treasure because your joy they love to share.
They help you keep your sanity when chaos you must bear.
Never forgetting your birthday or when holidays roll 'round.
You trust them to keep your secrets for they are honor bound.
A special poet friend helped teach me how to write in form
Her talent shines unwavering in words high above the norm.
Indeed she is a teacher, and English grammar her expertise.
She knows the earth, the seas, and skies beyond the Pleiades.
1-9-18
Categories:
commiserate, friendship love, inspiration,
Form:
Couplet
Ample vicissitudes we both had faced
after the blood-curdling shipwreck while on voyage
trapped in a warren, dreams sailed in a haze
my young master bravely tamed me for his advantage
I became his bosom friend, worth not to put back in a cage.
Young master, what a strong faith you had!
despite the danger you didn’t give up
you had the power, a gift unparalleled to any other lad
to commiserate a beast was not your mishap
nature’s realm was exalted by your heart to the top.
While the wave-tracks lead to uncertainties,
life-boat drifted along the sea in misery
you felt at ease with me despite your difficulties
as fishes miraculously abounded, I fed myself happily
believing that you were the best angler who did all things for me.
I hummed a song in a long journey of anguish
on our way awaited all the scorching hassles
the gale of storm flogged once more its piece
mysterious island beckoned with its ostentatious obstacles
but, your courage and prayers walked over all troubles
finally, I found my lair through your ardent struggles.
August 12, 2013 6.30pm
©2013by Leonora Galinta
Second Place
Contest: any poem goes
Judged: 12/30/2013
Sponsor: Poet Linda PD
Categories:
commiserate, adventure, animal, uplifting,
Form:
Rhyme
" When one least expects...hope illuminates"
Light Shines In Total Darkness
A moment in time where love should leave
when incompatibility muddy crystal waters
dissolves a tie that binds divine connection
widens the abyss as dream loudly shatters
Down on my knees I begged for a reprieve
gazes polarizing for to her nothing matters
in locked cages lay vestiges of desperation
intimacy now in tatters mutated to cinders
Aged moon will not commiserate then give
nebulous promises to stop onrushing tears
nor rays to light the path toward contrition
and turtle doves waving wings that glitters
Weary eyes reaching for salvation perceive
apparitions raising me up to alleviate fears
cleansing this heart throbbing in exultation
as grass springs anew...while grief withers.
Penned: 01/16/2023
2:12 a.m.
West Palm Beach
Florida
Categories:
commiserate, conflict, lost love,
Form:
Rhyme
When the leaves fall,
I feel their green call to me
unto death.
Whispering that what was fresh
is no more.
I hear their silence, see their veins
weave through their becoming -
from brittle leaves to tomorrow’s dust.
And as the tree, limb to limb
with the others,
stands tall like a soldier ready for battle,
the leaves fragment as they fall.
They never try to hold on
for they know their fate.
They land as one
with winter’s snowy lace calling
to the bitterness all around
to remind of what once was new
born to beauty on high.
Ignored by passerby,
they lay desolate beneath the underlay
of moments gone by,
every kindness and cruelty and breath.
December’s frozen face tries to smile
in remembrance
but can only shudder under the sullen sky,
mourning reflected in an icy mirror,
as it stings the earth (and I)
with sleeted tears
and the woeful winds commiserate.
Oh, how they call to the small within
me like innocent days
and love taken for granted,
but I, like the leaves, am silent.
Life is wondrous and beautiful
until the end.
As the season of white melts into gray,
the leaves, (and I),
softly fade away.
Written 5/7/22
Categories:
commiserate, death, introspection, life, nature,
Form:
Free verse
Life teaches many a valuable truth,
That makes our existence one of worth.
Graying and growing old is no curse,
As experience directs life’s course.
See life as a mysterious puzzle,
And death as an inexorable struggle.
Know, hatred burns life like fire,
And wickedness turns it into mire.
On Earth, forgiveness bonds hearts
But revenge, sure, every bond thwarts
Even the guilty falls prostrate,
Before those willing to commiserate.
Know, a true friend has no deceit,
And a truly learned has no conceit.
If jealousy is an acid which erodes,
Generosity is a fuel that reloads.
If inactivity is akin to death,
Creativity is vital as breath.
If perseverance conquers mountains
Laziness dries up fountains.
While pride leads a man to his fall
Humility takes him closer to his goal.
While Honesty leads him to salvation
Deceit drives him to damnation.
Patience is an inexhaustible well,
And perversion, a sure road to hell.
Know, those who long for the crown,
Should also be torn by the thorn.
While love of God takes us to eternity,
Love of man leads us to fraternity.
With such priceless tips learned in bits,
Let us light up our life in glowing glitz.
May we bury our past with all its blues,
As each morn of hope brightly blooms!
May. 6. 2023
~ Placed First~
Couplet Poetry Contest
Sponsor- Sotto Poet
Categories:
commiserate, inspirational, integrity, wisdom,
Form:
Couplet
The friends I value most are “built” like me.
By this, I mean they much enjoy friendship’s connectivity!
They also are transparent; their authentic selves shine through.
My best friends are thoughtful. To each other we stay true.
We commiserate with one another; we are always there
for each other in the good times and the bad (and my friends have flair!)
We understand each other well; disagreements are quite minor.
Cherished are my constant friends, for they could not be finer!
Of all my friends, there are but a few that qualify as best!
One such friend, a lovely poetic soul, at least fifteen years now I have known.
My senior and early mentor, she has stood time’s friendship test.
Lovely on the outside too, as an airline hostess, the friendly skies she’s flown!
June 17, 2018 for Carolyn Devonshire's Qualities You Admire in Friends Contest
The friend mentioned in last verse is Connie Marcum Wong!
Categories:
commiserate, friend, friendship,
Form:
Rhyme
A baby is born ~ O Joy! O Joy!
A baby is born ~ O Joy! O Joy!
At the moment of birth it's completely dependent
on its parents
No one would contest it...
After a few months it begins to coo
And shortly thereafter, to say goo-goo
And not much later doo-doo and moo-moo
Then onward to ga-ga, ma-ma and da-da
--Yet it's still so dependent on its parents
No one would contest it...
And when the child can go pee-ee
And even dress itself at age three
It's the first big step toward independence
--No one would contest it...
Talking, walking, running, jumping,
Climbing, hiking, swimming and diving,
Daring and driving, dating and mating,
So much to be anticipating.
Once helpless, the babe has spread its wings
Able to do so many wondrous thiings
On its own and independent
--No one would contest it...
Yet as the child becomes a man
Growing into someone who truly CAN
He leaves behind him something far more precious
Though some would say that 'tis tendentious.
For what's left behind is his dependence
on his parents, once his Godlike guides
But now flung aside as he acceleratess
They fade into the distance to commiserate.
The man-child feels that now he's free
When truth be told, please believe,
He's declared himself not beholden
To parents or God, concepts quaint and olden
To be alone in a world so cold and cruel
That Trouble will greet him
When he runs out of fuel
For what is life but a delicate flower
Nurtured on high every hour
Stretching its petals
To the One Above
To its Creator in Heaven,
The Respository of Love.
Are we any different? Are we any freer?
Do we think we can hide from the Heavenly Seer?
As we cast off the yoke of our parents as burdens
And regard our Creator as a 'Glorified Warden?"
**********
When afflictions or age suddenly ravage us
And in His fury doth God choose to savage us
Only then are remembered our parents,
Our best and only true friends,
~Who tried to save us from an ignominious end.
Categories:
commiserate, baby, child, freedom, god,
Form:
Rhyme
If you have never seen it,
How could you hear the song here;
If you have recited the poem "To Commiserate Farmers,
There will be more understandings shining in the night sky;
The movement composed with sweats rippled along the rice ear waves
The hot July or August suns were grilling the ground
As flames flipping their notes all around.
Farming folk songs were sung loudly from the straw hats,
Combined with the rumbles of the threshers,
Meanwhile golden grains piled mountainous heights.
Look! The moon and stars came along with
The sun hanging on.
From dawn to dusk, they were embracing the tanned back.
When didn’t they play the live keys
For the sound hopes in the waters and soils?
Listen! Can it be regarded as resonant songs?
With thy eyes taking a photograph of
The golden farm of rice,
And patting at our stomach,
A movement for the rice fields, shouldn’t we compose?
Note: The poem "To Commiserate Farmers" is a well-known poem written by Li Shen, a famous Chinese poet in Tang Dynasty, which shows the poet’s sympathy on the poor farmers’ working and living.
Categories:
commiserate, appreciation, encouraging, farm, sympathy,
Form:
Lyric
Dance, Monkey, Dance!
Commiserate with the dearly departed
The dead stay dead
Consummate your marriage with anarchy
Dance, monkey, dance!
The media plays you like a fiddle
This life's damned little diddle
Surely there is solace in fear
Birth a scapegoat
While gods parade golden parachutes
Life is ugly
Death is beautiful
A foundation of futility
Every soldier dead
On foreign soil
Build a fence
To keep out the goats
To keep the sheep free
From impurities
Dance, monkey, dance!
Life's tune plays in your ear
Tuned out by words replaying in your mind
Just regurgitated thoughts
That aren't your own
Line the streets with gold
To watch the chaos unfold
Your child's soul was sold
By gratuitous gluttony
Commiserate with the nearly departed
The living could continue living
Consummate your marriage with your own thoughts
Don't be a dancing monkey!
Categories:
commiserate, community, corruption, political, racism,
Form:
Free verse
Curiosity concerning Careen’s covert chocolate and candy cache
causes children’s cartoon crusader Charlie a calamity!
Careen’s childminding cousin Charlie and carelessly closes her candy cupboard ...
curious Charlie’s no cherub, and can’t curb his constant candy craving
Charlie champs continually on copious chunks of candy and chocolate
Chomping contentedly on chewy coffee caramels and candy canes.
Charleston chews and Careen’s costly chocolate caramel crunch clusters
Charlie carelessly chucks the crinkled coverings on the carpet
Careen clocks Charlie chomping candy from her confectionary collection
Careen’s candy and chocolate is cherished
Consequently, Careen cannot condone cousin Charlie’s crafty crime ...
Careen’s crotchety and cross at Charlie’s out of character conduct
and contemplates contacting the cops
Charlie cringes and claims clemency,
claiming he can’t control his cravings... he’s a covert chocoholic connoisseur
Careen can’t commiserate, calling Charlie a complete cad!
Charlie’s complains his canine crown is cracked
and the chewy candy’s caused cavernous cavities
Calmly Careen closes and chains her candy cupboard
then chuckles coldheartedly at Charlie’s candy catastrophe!
Cowering on a Careen’s comfy couch, Charlie cries continually
Charlie is a complete coward and can’t cope with caries caused by candy...
He deplores and detests the drone of the dentist’s drill!
Charlie's Cartoon Characters Curiously Careen And Crusade Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
11/18/18
Categories:
commiserate, candy, child, chocolate, humorous,
Form:
Alliteration
Paris is a neon city of lights, color, and myth,
where people go out on a Friday night with
enthusiastic faces.
Eagles of Death, metal band were rocking it
at Bataclan Hall with oldies and their latest hit,
covering all their bases.
Happy voices and music mingle mid-air
for the city of light doesn't have a care
life moves merrily on.
And yet, all of that is soon about to change
their world will become bazaar and strange
their dreams all gone.
A human bomb tears into flesh and bone
but that suicide bomber did not come alone
the carnage has begun.
At multiple locations near and in the city
people are brutally murdered without pity,
by madmen with a gun.
Men of fanatical faith, filled with hate,
using religion to kill, choose their fate,
martyrs for a cause.
Innocence slaughtered in Allah's name
bought ISIS scorn and infamous shame,
and fickle applause.
We commiserate with the people of France
that was more than a depraved act of chance,
that was an act of war!
To prevent more atrocities, countries must unite,
and eradicate ISIS bases with a military might
the world's never seen before!
(Rhyme)
11/23/2015
Categories:
commiserate, anger, angst, emotions, feelings,
Form:
Rhyme
Raindrops pelting your window,
commiserate with your pain.
And simulating teardrops;
trickle slowly down the pane.
You left home on an impulse,
chasing love at seventeen.
And although you trusted him,
he abruptly fled the scene.
Reality devastates;
as you comprehend your fate.
For your heart has been betrayed;
and love has morphed into hate.
Left all alone and pregnant;
you cannot conceal your shame.
And as your eyes fill with tears,
you know life won't be the same.
Your hands cannot stop trembling;
watching your life fall apart.
And anguish begins to gnaw
at the insides of your heart.
From a fetal position;
you witness the heavens cry.
And stare up at the raindrops;
falling from a sobbing sky.
Categories:
commiserate, angst, betrayal, depression, emotions,
Form:
Rhyme
On distant shores we met that day
Our lives changed in every way
The stars align you always say
The time of us is here to stay
We didn't know what it could mean
On distant shores we met that day
To confide in someone sight unseen
Sharing has made our lives serene
Our time together we appreciate
All the ways we can communicate
On distant shores we met that day
We laugh, share and commiserate
Often morning, noon, nighttime too
I treasure all my time with you
A friendship like ours comes to few
On distant shores we met that day
June 20, 2018
Robert Haigh's "Distant Shores" Poetry Contest
Ninth Place
PS describes Quatern as a a sixteen line French form composed of four quatrains, similar to the Kyrielle and the Retourne. It has a refrain in a different place in each quatrain. The first line of stanza one is the second line of stanza two, third line of stanza three, and fouth line of stanza four. A quatern has eight syllables per line. It does not have to be iambic or follow a set rhyme scheme. line 1 line 2 line 3 line 4 line 5 line 6 (line 1) line 7 line 8 line 9 line 10 line 11 (line 1) line 12 line 13 line 14 line 15 line 16 (line 1)
Categories:
commiserate, friendship, ocean,
Form:
Quatern
To be a Cubs fan is to be
the audience of a Greek Tragedy
Sweet is the pain as we pay admission
To bow down in October submission
Leaving bitter taste through the winter
Clinging to the lofty dreams of a winner
Commiserate and complain in the offseason
Some even threaten Southside treason
But like clockwork we rally as April draws near
Swearing as always "This is our year"!!!
Brandishing hoodies, jerseys, and lids
rushing to Wrigley, dragging the kids
Opening Day...the first pitch "Z" throws
goes for a strike as the OldStyle flows
"This year we will go all the way"!!!
Is the drunken refrain the bleacher bums say
In late May the Ivy fills in quite nicely
Yes, I know six bucks for OldStyle is pricey
But when in Rome, drink cheap beer with foam
Or sip a Bass while tuning in Ron Santo at home
You don't need to drink beer to watch them play
But on some occasions it buffers the pain
No matter the result... Ill hold my head high
It makes my day to see the "W" flag fly
As this season will mark year one hundred and one
Since our last World title was won
Lets forget about goat curses and Bartman blame
get out on the field and play the damn game
I will never give up, I will never give in
I won't lose hope on a World Series win
GO CUBBIES!!!!!!
Categories:
commiserate, devotion, faith, funnyworld, drink,
Form:
Rhyme