Best Distress Poems
Captive damsel of creative-writing programs,
Personalized, eulogized job of small groups,
The frenetic activities handy to very few,
Poetry now belongs to a subculture hew.
We have accredited professional poets,
Creative writing teachers at all levels,
Composing computer- created poetry,
Creating illusion of the Golden Age artistry.
These professional poets have secured
Their own niches in the academic world,
They cry over the spilt milk like jackals
Snarling over a dried-up well with no aims.
Quantitative work is guaranteed success,
Accuracy, meaning, technique matters less.
=================================
Fourth place winner
Contest: Poetry for poetry's sake of Paula Swanson
Quo Vadis is a Latin phrase meaning "Where going"
I don’t know how much more I can take,
I just want it all to go away.
Should I even be here right now?
Should I be alive?
Do I deserve to exist?
Why am I even here?
It’ clear I’m not wanted
I can hear it in your voice
In the names I’m called
In the way I’m treated
So why do I bother?
Why do I continue to torture myself?
With being around you all?
I know why,
Because I thought we were a family
But we clearly aren’t
I am not wanted
I am worthless
I am ugly
I am a burden
I just want to die…sometimes
What is the world,
But an oyster to you?
What are other people,
If not aids to help you
What purpose do you serve?
What do you know how to do?
Nothing. Nothing at all
But sit, waiting for someone to save you.
You poor damsel
Always in distress
I wish I could respect you
But you're just too helpless
Other people use their legs,
Their feet, and their brain
You know one day,
You should do the same
But you would rather be a burden
It really is a shame
I think you like to struggle
You want life to be a pain
You poor damsel
Always in distress
I wish I could respect you
But you're just too helpless
Things could be better
If you would at least try
But that means you actually have to do something,
You prefer to just cry
Cry and complain
Complain, moan and sigh
"World look at me, please!
Or else I'll die"
You poor damsel
Always in distress
I wish I could respect you
But you're just too helpless
One day I pray you learn
To do things by yourself
Instead of choosing not to move
Without the assistance of someone else
One day no one will be there
To hear you when you call
And the world won't stop
To brace your fake fall
You poor damsel
Always in distress
I wish I could respect you
But you're just too helpless
Captive damsel of creative-writing programs,
Personalized, eulogized job of small groups,
Quo Vadis poetry, a damsel in distress?
The frenetic activities handy to very few,
Poetry now belongs to a subculture hew.
We have accredited professional poets,
Creative writing teachers at all levels,
Composing computer- created poetry,
Creating illusion of the Golden Age artistry.
These professional poets have secured
Their own niches in the academic world,
They cry over the spilt milk like jackals
Snarling over a dried-up well with no aims.
Quantitative work is guaranteed success,
Accuracy, meaning, technique matters less.
+++
December 16, 2014
Form: (Contemporary Sonnet)
These are my English translations of songs sung by Dimash Kudaibergen.
This is my translation of one of my favorite Dimash Kudaibergen songs, the French song "S.O.S." ...
S.O.S.
by Michel Berger
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Why do I live, why do I die?
Why do I laugh, why do I cry?
Voicing the S.O.S.
of an earthling in distress ...
I have never felt at home on the ground.
I'd rather be a bird;
this skin feels weird.
I'd like to see the world turned upside down.
It ever was more beautiful
seen from up above,
seen from up above.
I've always confused life with cartoons,
wishing to transform.
I feel something that draws me,
that draws me,
that draws me
UP!
In the great lotto of the universe
I didn't draw the right numbers.
I feel unwell in my own skin,
I don't want to be a machine
eating, working, sleeping.
Why do I live, why do I die?
Why do I laugh, why do I cry?
I feel I'm catching waves from another world.
I've never had both feet on the ground.
This skin feels weird.
I'd like to see the world turned upside down.
I'd rather be a bird.
Sleep, child, sleep ...
"Late Autumn" aka "Autumn Strong"
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
based on the version sung by Dimash Kudaibergen
Autumn ...
The feeling of late autumn ...
It feels like golden leaves falling
to those who are parting ...
A glass of wine
has stirred
so many emotions swirling in my mind ...
Such sad farewells ...
With the season's falling leaves,
so many sad farewells.
To see you so dispirited pains me more than I can say.
Holding your hands so tightly to my heart ...
... Remembering ...
I implore you to remember our unspoken vows ...
I dare bear this bitterness,
but not to see you broken-hearted!
All contentment vanishes like leaves in an autumn wind.
Meeting or parting, that's not up to me.
We can blame the wind for our destiny.
I do not fear my own despair
but your sorrow haunts me.
No one will know of our desolation.
Keywords: Dimash, song, lyric, translation, lullaby, SOS, S.O.S., autumn, strong, fall, earth, earthling, bird, world, distress, cartoon, cartoons, sleep
Pistachio Distress
Shell but
No nut
DAMSEL CAUSING DISTRESS
The knight errant sent for me, but I’ve gone missing
For three days now, while he’s composed a ditty:
In the tide of feminism I still haven’t given up kissing
Being what is termed fatalistically pretty -
But I can be the ‘no’ that makes for nice
When his flame burns under his boiler suit,
Then I’m decently torpid like a fish on ice
Where the guts need to go when the runts root -
A pillowing breast, my nightcap a soliloquy
To hell with his billowing sails and pregnant ships
Let him go, this guy who’s got everything but me
With his big thighs, big legs, big hips -
All the things we women should shun
Save satin, silk, squirm, sperm, and …sun.
(c) Rosemarie Rowley
From IN MEMORY OF HER (2008)
Curled in the womb, a dreamless summer night
Hark the coming of a baby snow-white
Eternal beauty and grace, a cuddly delight
Twinkle in her eye, there is never any respite
Nimbly she walks on, roguery she incites
Alice in wonderland, hiding away from the light
Mocking at men, when she came of age
It was all pretence of a teeny tiny phase
Riddle she became, which men strove to work out
Candle light dinners, yet lingered ever a doubt.
How did innocence, turn out so ravishing?
A nymph in disguise, her life is confusing.
Nasty or just hasty; she can’t herself surmise
Do I dare to find out, am I wise to analyze
Am I able to suppress my own prejudice?
Nourishing a sentiment, have concealed it so well
Is she the one for me, should I go and ring the bell?
PS The first letter in each line spells the name of the damsel - 'Chetna
Mirchandani'
The damsel in distress routine got old
at first, it was so captivating
made you feel like a knight
you had dragons to slay
you saw the tears
you wanted to be the hero of her dreams
you wanted her to faint with delight
at your sight
to sigh
you wanted to whisk her away
make love to her
night and day
your just reward
for wiping her tears away
Oh, it was sweet
it was
to see how she needed you
wanted you
she wanted you to stay
dream castle knight on display
It got old, the damsel in distress routine
some of the demons were too strong
the nightmares too harrowing
the insecurity too stifling
the neediness too needy
it got old
The tears of past memories
didn’t dry quickly enough
the castle walls closed in
turning into a dungeon
hero accolades grew thin
In the dark of night
you lowered the drawbridge
and while she slept
you snuck away
the damsel in distress routine
got old, too old to keep you
While night turned to day
as you rode away
the truth would not dawn for you
the night all you knew
you couldn't understand
couldn't see
it wasn’t a routine
the damsel in distress
regressed
more distressed was she
in dawning light to see
the night had claimed her knight
This tale of woe I weave
of fairytale that bleeds
is true, you see
for the damsel in distress, is me
I’m still....
the damsel in distress
with no one
no one
to rescue me
Eileen
I'm surrounded by them
suffocating
lip drooling
vapid
dangerous
distress from disorder
the devil in a bad man's suit
they are coming
they are here
my cardio-myopathy has now become deformed
they say its hyper-trophic and obstructive to my flow
there's danger in its nature, so say the minds of those
who run my life
and need my strife
to buy their kids some clothes
Did you ever love someone madly, never fully understanding why?
Untrained for such distress, when they touched your hand.
You shared a few days in the morning Sun, and loved on warm nights.
I would bring you the moon and stars if I could, though you never wanted something so grand. So why does it hurt even more, knowing I could never fulfill your simple desires?
I don't mean to make you uncomfortable with eyes that can't hide the longing...I tried so hard to walk away, even broke into a run..,once.
Pride goes quickly when the heart can't be bothered with such pettiness,
and seasons continue to move forward the clock.
I want to be free of this chain made to hold fast my soul,
I pull & pull but the links just grow stronger.
So I'll travel on, looking for a new dawn,
with a sutured heart that never healed..,
in search of love's end.
This question drives me up and down the walls
I know for certain that God has answered my calls
I can’t hang up on Him…He’s so brilliant
And I’m so little compared to Him…
Maybe I’m little in size and very insignificant compared to the most High
He gives me quite a natural high
He brings me back home and kisses me good night
Without His love, I’d be lost like a sheep losing his shepherd
I feel like I’m separated to God
As if God and I are on both sides of the coin…
Our oceans don’t collide with each other,
But He does make huge tidal waves…
And I make baby waves that swerve up and down
Like a wave’s movement, my life seems to have its low points and high points
But, when I build enough energy, I glide higher than the clouds
Though, unfortunately, I’ve only been dreaming this
Then, I collapse into the sand...my face rubs against it and I have scrapes all over
Sand and water do mix well, but afterwards, the sea shore’s weight will pile up on the bottom of the ocean floor
I can’t imagine how many grains of sand there are on Earth
There are countless amounts of ants on Earth as well
Trillions and trillions of them are in existence
It’s amazing how plants take in Carbon Dioxide
And we breathe in oxygen…
God is a fantastic creator and He did carve His creations pretty well
God saw my distress and He healed me
When I think about Him, I’m speechless and can’t say much
He’s made out of love and He bubbles me up with excitement
I haven’t given Him the credit of working miracles in my life…
But, I don’t want to divorce God…I must propose to Him like a wife
Does to her husband…I want to submit to Him
He made the sunset, the moon and stars
Look! He even made the planets and He healed our scars
He made the flowers, the roses and the creeping bugs
Look! He even made leaves for our eyes to see…
He made the change of seasons
God saw my distress and healed me
God made the wild cats, bears, reptiles
He made us have a brain that is as neat as black and white tiles
God healed me…and I’m simply glad He did so
God wiped out my distress…and He simply dressed me with happiness and He’s in high spirits to see me grow
~ Inspired by the band of Evanescence’s song: Never Go Back
~ God inspired me to write this poem…
The family was in a state of distress
The mom stood pleading with the dad in her pink dress
The motif on the fireplace was quite elaborate
On the table nearby stood a vase, with flowers to decorate
The pattern on the rug was of exquisite design
And the room was well furnished, very refined
Father stood sternly his pants tucked in his boots
They were in shock as they found out the truth
Attired in a white dress, their daughter sat in a chair
looking forlorn and filled with despair
As her" beau" stood by the fireplace across the room
The whole house had an air of gloom
The young lass was pregnant and she had no groom!
Her dad was outraged by this devastating news
And was ready to beat up her "beau"
Her mom pled with her dad
Saying "Please don't harm the lad"
The young man did not come to ask for her hand in marriage
Causing the family's reputation to be disparaged
To add insult to injury the lad said he was already married ! (mother was in tears)
This was too much for the father to bear
On that fateful day one shot was fired
And there by the fireplace the young man expired
No storybook ending, no happily ever after
But love did triumph....a father's love for his daughter
A Life so busy yet same like a clone,
Counting seconds in a monotonous tone,
Everybody is drilling and pressurizing like hell,
But my mind is off in its own world alone.
Studying thousand word in hope of remembering a few
Every sentences seems to be skew,
I am missing badly my concentration,
But my mind is alerting me of getting screw.
I am trying hard but all is in vain,
I have 1000 medicines to cure my pain,
But the medicines are only flaunting,
Keeping my scars fresh and plain.
I want to cry hard but my eyes are refusing ,
I want to scream aloud but my voice is diffusing,
I am out of myself, wandering like an orphan,
My every second is new and confusing.
The confidence has lost his battle with fear,
Belief’s throat is off with a tear,
Hope is searching for its synonym insane,
The sky of happiness is in a doubt of being clear.
I don’t need horror movies to get scared,
A sight shuttering of eyes is enough for this trick,
I don’t need to get pricked to collect tears,
My eyebrows just need a slight flick.
I am living in a world of harmony yet so distress,
Every second brings happiness yet so less,
The imbalance is turning on like hell
Knowingly I am drowning myself in black magic of distress.