Best Degree Poems
I stand and watch inside this prison gate,
Wondering how I got here, was this to be my fate?
I only did what any man would do,
While trying to protect his family from people like you.
All through life I kept my record clean,
I followed the laws I never made a scene.
Then one night I heard a noise in our house,
I went to investigate, thinking it was probably a mouse.
Then I came face to face with a man all dressed in black,
Taking stuff from my house and putting it in his sack.
Almost immediately my blood got hot,
We started to wrestle right on the spot.
He was fighting with all he had and so was I,
He was trying to kill me, but I wasn’t quite ready to die.
I picked up something from the floor and I hit him hard some where on his head,
I hit him maybe a little too hard cause now he’s dead.
They took me to court and charged me with manslaughter in the first degree,
They said he was a victim of circumstances, well what about me?
They said he had lost his job and was only trying to provide for his family,
And that it was okay what he had done to me.
So here I am behind these prison walls for at least ten years,
My wife and children now with no protection, the worst of my fears.
I have no remorse for what I’ve done,
My only regret was I didn’t have a gun.
are we crazy or just contrived
lazy or simply self-involved?
are we insignificant, significant
or just like everyone else
deranged on the outside
swimming through dead oceans in our heads
am i death or am i over-simplified
is my breath as thick as the painted eye lashes
that stick to your eyes?
are you in love with your anemia
or anemic to love
breathing came so easy
now you're lucky to get one
mouthful
forever in ruins or ruined to become
pinned to pages or pinned under thumb
like the bleeding nape of a baby
thorough true to yourself
under circumstance we are death-like
only because we know we can
the heart
like a thick abscess of black mucus
pumping sweet death to all who may ask
now clogged with regret
regret for the living
regret for the loving
love of anemia
anemia of love
Living a life full of confusion
Just trying to figure it all out
Hope I can find some solution
To rid myself of all this doubt
Wanting to do it the right way
Yet it's a never ending battle
Matters not what they all say
Like my soul they try to rattle
I won't give in easily you see
In me there's much more fight
I live my life to the tenth degree
As I always shed a bright light
My devious plot worked
A beautiful woman talked to me!
All because of my shirt!
I might as well have been superman
All decked out in Canadian Red
If only I had anticipated........
If only my tongue was not tied
Around my neck like rope
I might have had more etiquette
I might have said so, so many things
Or I might have said nothing at all
If only I wasn’t being strangled.......
By my inadequate lack of words
For I saw inside in that flashing moment
A heart so kind and enticingly sweet
Just imagine if I had been so bold
To kiss such a Parisii so sweet
Even if this took the gallantry of time.......
Imagine if I had not stumbled
My tongue between my feet
If only I had said to her...........
Would you ever like to meet?
Coffee, wine or patisserie?
Envious thoughts of sunnier days
Envelopes filled with un-mailed thoughts
Chandelier dreams light somber fall skies
Coffee cups waiting for a second taste
Alas I said good bye and turned away
Shyness hidden deep inside of me
Was the victor of the day
So if you ever should read this verse
I hope I bring you bountiful smiles
Paris of flowers and random encounters.........
You surely succeeded to disarm
If one day, we should ever meet again
Roses by twelve I would thee treat
It has always been my naïve, farm-boy assumption,
That one attends college to attain a degree of gumption!
And furthermore that Daddy sends his kid to college,
Not so much to party but to obtain a modicum of knowledge!
I assume that the autocrats who abide in Washington D.C.,
Have attended college and somehow earned at least a BS Degree!
BS stands for Bachelor of Science Degree without equivocation,
But it seems in Washington, BS has assumed a different connotation!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) All Rights Reserved
Have you ever wondered?
Being in an adult blunder
A reason for going to class
Besides the well-known intellectual pass
Is it to learn the alphabet?
Addition subtraction you may get
Going to the swing set for fun
After morning school work is done
Lessons get tougher
Recesses physical education play is rougher
Dissect a frog
Read the Odyssey Greek log
Experience another language like English Shakespeare
Experimenting wiping your first ‘in love’ tear
Relationships come along
Figuring out who is really in the wrong
Respecting alternative lives
Not giving a bother to the neighbors who are two husbands or wives
Going off to a higher level
Where some are angels others are devils
Sharing dorm rooms
Walking back from the library under the moon
Having a serious set back
And a fraternity support with a paddy whack
Sorority sisters are all right
Waiting for a passionate slobbery bite
Four years later you turn your tassel
Return to Mom and Dad’s castle
Food on the table
Free cable
First job
Is an easy lob
Getting a start
Pushing the mail cart
Reality has no happy hour
Invited to the executive lounge to be introduced to power
Boss gets nailed
You end up in jail
Who pays the bail?
Parents docking from a vacation sail
Life is cruel
Is the golden rule
Stay independent
Avoid resentment
Enjoy the short time here
By passing another six pack of Corona Beer
I was drawn to the title and the rules of this contest,
Indeed, it tickled my fancy, enticed, and energized me,
As I feel the need to give substance to my earnest quest,
And a platform to be able to tell either she or he,
How by studying for a degree puts you to the test,
From there on, you will always want to be best, I foresee.
In my forties I started to study, this is my story.
I graduated, so proudly capped for my BA degree,
My son said. “Mom, you deserve all the glory”.
You will feel good that your family will be proud, you’ll see,
It matters not one’s age, start studying, I was over forty,
As for my husband, he was as proud as could be.
I got my degrees late, why, because when I was eighteen,
My dad said, “my girl, do you really want to study, I just fear
It is the boys and flirting, studying done only in between’’
How right he was, matriculated at an all-girls convent, oh dear,
Yes, university sounded sweet, twenty years on, no longer a teen,
My decision steadfast, to study my aim, this became crystal clear.
UNISA capped me, a second degree, this with honors, whoopee!
Why study? Self-worth and confidence, sure you’ll agree.
Date: 2023/03/26
Poetry Contest: Graduation Day
Sponsor: Craig Cornish
This is the year of reinventing yourself
No matter what it takes
The jack of all trades is upon us
When you can no longer
Dunk with perfect impunity
You have to play the game differently
Grab an organization degree
To top off the all star lunancy
And sit tight with middle aged comeback
Who would guess after all these years
I'm a dog lover to the nth degree
Owe it to our Golden we've named her Annie
Sure won me over OOOOEEEE!
Can't wait each morn for the wag of her tail
She's badly in need of a pee
Charging through the house, she waits at the door
Her bladder's bursting I can see
So I open the door and without missing a beat
She bolts out and squats with a sigh
In doggie language she thanks me profusely
After breakfast she's duly satisfied
She settles down for one of her many naps
Has untold numbers through the day
It's everything dogs do besides their doo-doo
But sometimes they wanna play
Don't wanna play fetch, what future's in that
Rather chase each neighbourhood cat
Must be careful though, she also chases cars
How silly and dangerous is that
Who would have guessed, got a real friend
Can't wait to greet her each morn
Sometimes I'm having so much damn fun
Between brekkie and Annie I'm torn
© Jack Ellison 2015
"...AND SHE HAS A DEGREE"
there has been much said
about my poetry, my words,
my life and eyes.
"Eddie, don't you think of
women as anything else?"
it's always best not to say ****.
if you lack the brain power
to understand the difference
between a whore and a woman,
abandon all hope for yourself.
I met her at a psych hospital.
thank the gods she wasn't a
patient, only a coworker.
I asked her for 20 bones the
first week we were friends and
she gave it to me without question.
after that, nights of laughter,
tears and anger filled our cups.
after the anger, it was always
tears and laughter.
in the bars of the city I love so
much, she watched as I drank,
as I cried, as I ordered 60 tacos
and shot Tupac.
the eyes of the gods watched as
I listened to the piano of my
life play.
she once asked me if I was the
dark angel of death and I said yes.
she told me not to agree with her,
that it just pissed her off more.
when I was hungry, she fed me.
when I missed my boys, I cried
and she listened.
when I fought for my youngest
of my boys, she jumped into the
fire with me.
when I fought for my freedom,
she gave her name.
when I popped off at the mouth,
she stood there and proclaimed
ownership of it.
if I'm ever up for murder, I hope
the gods keep her out of Germany.
she drinks to my knowledge
because she was there while it
was being built.
there has been much said
about my poetry, my words,
my life and eyes.
if you've never understood the
difference between a whore and
a woman, abandon all hope.
this woman kept mine alive.
By: Chicano Eddie
4-11-2017
Because this here is your passing
out parade doth your cap and gown
This here I don't know if you if you are
aware or know it yet
But also the end of what was once
your student life I hope you kissed
it a fond farewell and goodbye
As your days spent on scholastic
dissertation theoretical drunken debate
expressing your altruistic views putting
the world's wrongs to right in some or
other cheap backstreet pub
And pack away your monogrammed
slogan t-shirts and swap your long hair
and man-bun for a short back and side's
Because you my friend I am sorry
to inform have finally just crossed over
to the dark side
Welcome to the big wide world we have
been expecting you
And though you now have in your possession
a certificate denoting you are university
standard educated and have letters
to accompany your name as proof
Nothing you learned or where taught
be that even higher level education
would or could possibly have prepared
you for the harsh reality life has in-store
And unlike school which eventually
runs and has a predetermined course
over a precise timeline
Life means life and the remainder of
your's has just begun starting now
The time has come for you to put your
degree to some use find a job buy
a car and a house somewhere to rent
or buy
And oh did I forget to mention most
importantly of all
Start paying back whatever student loans
you took out compounding interest that
got you where you stand today
Until your 10 year graduation reunion
comes around and is the 1 and only
topic of discussion that everyone
still have left in common
Same old people as before now
just all grown up replaced with
long drawn faces
That once sparkled with aspiration
instilled with dream's of changing
the world and making it a better place
Who now wish for nothing more than
to be able to put food on the table and
go to sleep without the fear of the power
being cut off
Not the 3rd degree or lecture
I do this each year, usually November
The box is heavier than I remember
I lift off the lid, inhale the odour
First it's the Yardley my Dad used to wear
A giant birthday card, a 21st treat
Hides the treasures I buried beneath
A removal of this, I'm suddenly there
Back to a time of no worries or cares
Silly old letters, words of love lost
Old theatre scripts, a small diamond cross
Cheesy song lyrics, wrote with intention
of giving. Your marriage my only prevention
I kept every one, to preserve memories
That many moons ago, you belonged to me
There's cinema tickets, ragged and spoiled
You gave your last Rolo so I kept the foil
A white envelope that smells of your house
A severe difference between then and now
And then comes the photo's I squirreled away
Why do I torture myself in this way?
Snapshots of people I forgot I knew
Of parties and whitey's and hullabaloo
Those LSD nights, third degree gurns
Burdenless shoulders, pink with sunburn
A dog-earred schoolbook covered in doodles
Traditional student living on noodles
Chases from police with weed in the car
Walking to the beach in shorts and a bra
Tokens and proof of infinate liberty
But for now, for another year, I put the lid back on me
Once knew a gentleman from New York City
Some thought him masculine, I thought him pretty
Effeminate to a degree
Wearing short shorts, oouueee!
It's maybe why his buddies try to smother him with kissies
© Jack Ellison 2015
An innocent miracle abandoned like a mistaken memory,
no saving grace for her who has a heartbeat at only weeks old-
There is no reason to take a life, no matter the circumstance,
when she could have had loving arms around her to hold.
Murder in the first degree-
...is what abortion is to me.
Fearful for a needle or a knife
to end her deserving future-
She cries in the womb…
knowing
-soon she’ll be in a tomb.
No reason on earth mothers
can’t create loving sutures.
A baby is a baby no matter
how old in the uterus-
...abortion is ludicrous.
I do believe in the Lord, and murder in a sin.
I feel that taking a baby’s first breath
is worse than a long and slow death.
She has no say-
Won’t see the light of day.
Roe vs. Wade
needs to go away.
No forgiveness should be granted.
No reprieve-
...I do believe.
I don’t understand why.
Yes, I’ve raged and I’ve ranted
for an intentional act of taking
away a baby’s first cry.
Rape is a sensitive situation,
abortion is used as retaliation-
Adoption is an option,
no matter how conceived.
Never force a miracle to leave,
before the opportunity to breathe.
I’ll preach until I die-
Write many a speech with a confident eye.
Speak up for innocence in the world-
For she was just a baby girl.
No warm blankie to snuggle her at night,
a wrong decision doesn’t make a right.
She may have had long dark brown curls,
and she never had the chance to fight.
Murder in the first degree-
...is what abortion is to me.
November 11, 2016
To a tolerable degree.
The boards are bored.
The buzz has left the bee
The salt has left the sea
The creak has left my knee
The shrill has left my plea.
The smell has left my pee
The sugars left my tea
The ball has left the tee.
My laugh has lost its glee
It is not right.