Best Drabness Poems
I have some photographs in black and white
which show my life when I was just a child.
That bygone era long ago took flight,
but pictures of it in my mind are filed.
How fitting that my photographs depict
the drabness of our time in Washington.
No dazzle in the state my father picked
for us to live in; clouds would hide the sun!
My dad was cursed with illness of the mind.
For me, bright hues mean family fun and play.
How little happiness were we to find
where black and white got blended into gray.
My later youth for color did not lack,
but melancholy years were white and black.
Categories:
drabness, childhood,
Form:
Verse
Before I tramp the course of my cause,
A family indeed we were, I and Kole
But I short of years from the other.
Only by words we keep memory of
A deceased mother like morning dew
Sought for by the gloaming. We knew
Only a father whose right hand does
The masculine labour and his left hand
Undertook the feminine chore
And grew us up from tendril to maturity.
Nothing moves the heart as do feelings,
The impression creates of a moving mountain.
But with one mind accept I all that be
And live a life devoid of melodrama.
Behind laughter abide the trail of tears
And in my tears was laughter’s bare face.
Work, leisure, sickness, health, joy, sadness
Nothing so transporting or so flummoxing
As to heave my heart off the balance of life.
As an ass, it does not sigh over its burdens
And the camel do not complain of thirst
Through the drought of the desert.
By Fate’s design we lost Kole who had
Found natural escapism from life in death
Whereof the dead cannot forgo to return.
I, left with a father I pampered and cared for
Always after his heels and by his lounge
And all lips hailed the good son of a father.
Time takes precedence to test all values
And fate takes no cognizance of kinship.
Every cord has been broken by birth.
Day by day is the wake of another day
And again it would go back to slumber.
Harmattan made the land to be bard,
It would smile while the sun is out but
Only to become moody with drops.
Playing, gaming, travelling, interacting,
Have excused the drabness of existence.
Below the earth is the hue of brown
And above the sky is the hue of grey.
I have left my father and home into
The city to make a fortune and a name
For they all have queried a son cannot
Always be a honeybunch to a father
But must seek to be a sovereign man.
Now I traverse through the fleeting land
All my goods and affiliates lay aside.
Being an heir, I am no heir to fleeting goods.
Why throw away the bad grains
And then store up the chaff?
I will walk through the sands of time until
I halt in my course to become sand.
A father I commit to the hands of nature
And goodwill of kinsmen and friends.
Categories:
drabness, adventure, earth, journey, life,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
STILL LIFE
They had drained away slowly
sound of hammers,
smell of fresh cut lumber,
voices of hope, chatter of children,
sweet aroma of fresh tilled fertile soil.
Children grown up,
parents grown old,
land grown tired and dry.
All that remains is
the drabness of parched wood
bleeding color on still life fields.
John G. Lawless
4/12/2015
Categories:
drabness, family, farm, history,
Form:
Free verse
Mona-Lisa Frowns
No darkness, drabness or sadness; could ever
depress or compress Mona Lisa's rainbow smile.
Because, Mona Lisa has the most expensive smile
on planet earth and planet smile.
But now,
when Mona Lisa is been tickled from teeth to toe,
her smile; gladly frowns, because of the bitter
catastrophe the world is frowning and groaning
through.
All though, she is protected in the most secured
museum, to hide her away from being kidnapped
by Sandy hurricane, or get consumed by the
worlds tribulations.
And she is also been auctioned for over a hundred
million dollars; just to make sure; that the rainbow
smile remains on her Florence face, but her smile;
still frowns.
Because she is constantly waiting for the day, the
earth shall sue the heaven's to court; for striking
down the unwanted fallen angel to earth, and
causing unfriendly hurricanes and numerous
deserters, to sip away her loved ones, that sweat;
just to appreciate her mistic smile.
They polish so hard; to hide Mona Lisa; behind a
fat smile, so as to put her fat frown to sleep.
But her frown still tip-toes on relay; whispering
through the colours of her original breathing
beauty.
Which sails in an emotion of muse; and dances
around inspiration, love, hurt, power, temper,
creativity, wealth, betrayal, lessons, and wisdom.
And even at midnight, when sight and light starts
to shrink; this inks up her memories and mocks the
regalia of her smile, with transcending frowning
echoes.
_________________________________________
I wrote this poem, because; right from when I was
a child, I kept looking at the painting, Mona Lisa
smile, and all people talk about is her smile, and
they forget to talk about the other side of her life.
eg like: was she a happy person? How was her
love life? Was she a friendly lady? Did she like kids,
like a true mother should? Was she a good
student? Did she like sex? Lol. Did she drink,
smoke,weed, or do drugs, etc. So all this made me
to come up with this poem; 'Mona Lisa Frowns'.
Just to paint my own poetic picture of her. Enjoy.
Categories:
drabness, imaginationrainbow, planet, drug,
Form:
Classicism
Bougainvillea
Beneath the ashen cloudless sky
the rain subsided to reveal
a plant is budding from its womb
with many colors to behold
of orange, pink and peach or white
the cerise petals paper thin
they cling and climb with such embrace
the sun has risen with a blush
the bougainvillea is enhanced
it shields the drabness of a sight
of worn out fenceposts by a road
rekindling scenes of pleasant thoughts
a road where no one enters more
no one will share its glory here
as time goes by the bracts emerge
as little children huddling close
to someday grow and join their kin
and like a talisman they give
the magic only they can show
the beauty that this plant bestows
Bougainvillea Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Craig Cornish
March 28, 2019
Categories:
drabness, flower,
Form:
Free verse
A Distant Train Whistle
Everymorning’s Chores
A baby cries, a distant train whistle blows,
sounds of morning building momentum.
Bacon sizzles, plates clatter, knives
clink “tinilly” together, nostrils twitch
awakening recalcitrant sleepers.
Sunlight peeks through window slats,
slashes of yellow paint across the drabness
of “everymornings” chores. Boots stomp,
raising dust better left in the field,
children giggle, the coffee pot calls
cadence for a morning’s minuet. Partners
moving in smoothly choreographed
darts and dashes, hot cake shuffle,
coffee cup two step, maple syrup sidestep.
Breakfast, simple and hardy, you did not
carry it – it carried you - into the day.
Rumble of truck, honk of school bus,
good-byes, lunches, kisses, lingering
waves. Warming sunshine fills the room,
a baby cries, a distant train whistle blows.
John G. Lawless
2/29/2016
Categories:
drabness, family, life, morning,
Form:
Free verse
Atomized Rainbow
Sun
creeping
through
foggy
atomized
rainbow
arch
daring
horizon’s
idle drabness
awaken
sweet brush
breathe
pigments
ecstasy
upon
joys
waking
world
6/27/2015
submitted to – Waltzing with color – Poetry contest
sponsor – Kim Merryman
Categories:
drabness, color, rainbow,
Form:
Verse
In a restaurant
Elvis hung on a wall
Slightly crooked –
-nostalgic sepia,
Trademark pompadour.
His far away gaze
Staring blankly
Out at nowhere,
Through a window
At the drabness beyond.
In the background
“Always on my mind”,
Plays quietly behind the scenes -
- while a midday sun
Trickles colour into Elvis.
I leave after coffee
And take a walk
Down lonely street,
Where I will search for
Elvis in heartbreak hotel -
- I need to tell him
How much I miss him.
Categories:
drabness, absence, mentor, music, tribute,
Form:
Free verse
You know
i'll be your bed
when you are red
and overlooked like an unintelligent nerd
I’ll be your bed
You know
i’ll be your sweetheart,
when everyone sees you as a sweating rat
I’ll be your sweetheart
I'll be your cradle
on whom you lay the candle of your burdens
I shall surely bundle away all your bundle of stress
and rekindle the light and right of your happiness
I’ll be your cradle
I'll be your strong fellow
Because you make my life smell like a polo perfume
I'll be your rainbow,
when darkness block you with its fat elbow to put you in drabness
I’ll be your rainbow
I'll be your rain,
to render all your pain useless
I'll be your sugar-cane,
to cane away your fears and tears
and make your bitter-weep feelings,
better-sweet
I'll be your train,
that will surely be out their waiting for you and only you,
after the hash rain.
I’ll be your train
Categories:
drabness, love,
Form:
Free verse
With lockdowns and fear the past year was drear.
Today it is dark and dank and dripping,
slate grey. The sun refuses to appear.
Wild winds have eased to drabness as nothing.
Winter solstice offered little of cheer
with moods of many sadly depressing.
Prospects for travelling out of our tier
are restricted; there's so much we're missing.
To get rid of the old it's time for a crap,
to get the hell out of me, flush it away.
What a relief! I feel better for that,
hoping for freedom beyond new year's day.
A world is beckoning, one without zoom,
of meeting together in the same room.
Categories:
drabness, december, depression, endurance, how
Form:
Sonnet
I feel the rustling and swaying of the rack.
Pushing past the green, yellow, and blue;
Dainty hands grab me from the back.
She had a smile upon finding my skins red hue;
When she rung me up, and we went outside.
Flying open with a whoosh up above,
Sheltering her from rain with pride.
I did this countless times, always with love,
But the day finally came, with sadness.
Broken arms could no longer keep her safe and dry.
Tossed away for my wears, tears, and drabness.
She left me in the dumps alone as she went to buy,
My replacement, another fella;
A different, better, red umbrella.
Categories:
drabness, color, first love, heartbreak,
Form:
Sonnet
Drabby Friday is quickly approaching,
steady raindrops are unwelcoming;
more cheerless than a fluttering robin
finding refuge in the cathedral's spires
that cannot reach the swollen clouds,
I trod the wet cobbled streets of London!
The heavy tread of my booths
is not heard as they hit paddles,
they squish if they had holes;
not distant from me, a birch tree
has fallen showing its dirty roots...
in its branches buzzed the Honeybee!
A harmonious sky incites joy,
ever notice the boredom of a boy?
I feel the same sadness he feels...
when he won't smile at ladies
resembling models on high heels,
and the drabness of a rainy Friday stays...
until rain tampers off and shows sunrays!
Written on 2/23/2018
Categories:
drabness, february, rain,
Form:
Rhyme
In this moment
Of sheer damned damage
I grasp it
As if I owned it
It's devasting tragedy
It's underwhelming overture
A symphony of sadness
Bringing a drabness
To a whole new light
For your eyes
Enter surprise
Everytime an Eden dies
Paradise is lost
As the look upon
Your bewildered face
A well known man
Prospered today
By throwing all his
Troubles away
Without a care
In the sand or sky
He blows his glass house
With all his might
A God once
Begat this wind
Let it blow the new tide in
A counterpart to a planet
It's moon
Gave a perfect ellipse
On which it sways and swoons
On a day which burns like June
The synopsis starts
To fall in tune
I see now how earth was born
Spitting out from fiery arms
A mass that just basks us
In a light
A light for us to read at night
Knowledge was his first insight
That built his godhead
Into a sturdy third eye
Now they called us civilized
What turn is forming
Next for mankind
Robots becoming biological
Humans becoming machines
Still the fear is there between
The lines and cracks, overlooked
Where I currently hold my peace
In a place that don't exist
In a place you won't believe in
I stretch my imagination
On the cusp of my creation
These words can burn in better now
As visual stimulations
Categories:
drabness, adventure, art, depression, fantasy,
Form:
Free verse
When you’re near me,
the sky is no longer blue.
You’re the pink lenses
I see the world through.
When you leave me,
you take away your spell.
The drabness returns,
making me want to yell.
Looking out the window,
your ghost is all I see.
Strangers are standing
where you used to be.
There’s nothing I can do,
but to endure my pain.
This poem is not an elegy,
and we’ll meet again.
Categories:
drabness, love,
Form:
Rhyme
I try to crack a joke to tame a tense situation,
As a way of blowing up the slow building steam.
With a joke, I see all resentments flitting away,
And watch, how a happy mood begins to stream.
Stiff formalities often leave me choking
In a very serious company, I feel at a loss
I'm so much at ease in a hilarious company,
Even a harsh situation turns cheery in humour’s gloss
By being funny, you can earn much camaraderie
It makes you coveted, reducing all possible rift
Humour saves you from the drabness of everyday life
The ability to laugh at oneself is indeed a rare gift.
‘Laughter, the best medicine’ is a time old saying
With so much power to heal, let us laugh to chill
See, how it lightens anger’s heavy load
Making us healthier, reducing our hospital bill.
All prefer a clownish Falstaff to a rigid crowned king
Who with humour's punch blunts the sharp blades of reality
He escorts us cheerfully to a world of laughter
And leads us to the merry realms of geniality.
Chortle and chuckle to remove all your aches
Grin and giggle until your belly breaks
Laugh out loud with mouth wide till it makes you cry,
Roll on the floor and laugh with spirits raised high.
Categories:
drabness, giggle, humor,
Form:
Rhyme