Best Flinch Poems
Flinching affirms my humanity with its frailty
And confirms my uniqueness midst flinch-inflicted diversity.
Topping my flinch-cause which oblivion can’t subdue is tooth prophylaxis
Surpassing every physical pain I have experienced of gruesome crisis.
Next, I admit my emotional flinch that gives me heart torture
Whenever I see my special child seized with epilepsy’s spasm-gesture.
Academically, I can’t forget my flinching mental woes
Brought by trigonometry and algebra problems along chemical equation-blows.
Maturing, I have tried to manage my socialization’s flinch-sources
Especially in fellowships that grip me with laughter-delights of no recess.
Such made me recall my childhood funny, naughty flinch-filled games
That made me collect plastic frogs, cockroaches and spiders for surprise-flames.
Yet, I must confess that what makes my soul and faith flinch the most
Is my guilt due to sins displeasing the Lord Who loves me at all cost.
Thus, in my life’s flinching moments, as consequences of miseries’ pain*
I thank God for grace, might, and mercy He grants for comfort’s gain.
*Revelation 21:4 And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away.
June 15, 2019
3rd place, "What Makes You Flinch" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Julie Leigh Rodeheaver; judged on 7/27/2019.
You can't say
months or years
w-/ out trying
to grasp the scale
of Time
involved.
Rubber bands
pinging off one
two three
kidneybean cans,
chosen simply for
occupation of space
line space,
imagery
in a cage. Thats
how I'll write
from now on
pacing the
paperbacked floor
fingernails my only fuel.
Scritch scratching down
the blackboard.
If only to make you
Flinch
Uneasy and queasy cos my TV set
Is showing another celebrity vet
My legs are crossed tight, just as tight as they get
Has that little dog lost his testicles yet
While eating my lunch, or was it my dinner
The cat on the screen getting thinner and thinner
The head vet was busy, so here’s a beginner
On his second attempt to stick that needle in ‘er
My hunger abates as the scalpel cuts in
And the cyst on his throat splatters poor kittie’s chin
My two horrid teenagers sit there and grin
But my spag bolognese now resides in the bin
The very long glove, that is slippery and wet
Is meant for the cow, though they’ve only just met
The vet seems as happy as any I’ve met
Till the cow follows through and enshrouds the poor vet
With Flopsy’s guts broadcast in X-ray exposure
While Tiddles pukes hairballs inside his enclosure
I wish it was more like a nice glossy brochure
As another castration destroys my composure
Date: 30 May 2019
Contest: What Makes You Flinch
Sponsor: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
I’d like to think
I’m bold and brave
Who am I fooling
I’m not
Never will be!
I’m a wimp
A sissy and a shrimp
I tremble
Like a leaf
At the roar
Of thunder
And run to hide
Under my covers
Till it’s over...
That’s right
It’s true
I’m a wimp
A sissy and a shrimp
~ Woof Woof
Published in my 24-page photo/anthology ~RANDOM MUSINGS VOL.1~ 2020
Read on air by invitation ~ March 6, 2022 'POETS HARBOUR'
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on May 28, 2019 for contest WHAT MAKES YOU FLINCH sponsored by JULIE LEIGH RODEHEAVER - RANKED 8TH
WHAT MAKES ME FLINCH
Flinch verb- draw back in pain, disgust.
I’ll tell you what, does that.
Lies, centuries being promoted,
disgusting as … a rat.
Snakes, spiders and yes, roaches too,
will see me scale a wall.
Yet find nothing as disturbing,
as lies … these get my gall.
Churches should have been teaching truth,
with Bible this I’ll do.
Bet taught, Soul’s something inside you,
bet never taught … it’s YOU?
“Man BECAME living SOUL,” Genesis
two: seven, truth you’ll read.
Clearly says, NOT given a soul,
WE are SOULS … truth concede.
Example: If BECAME a student,
not a student, give you.
it’s YOU, what YOU have become,
same principle … is true
Joshua eleven: eleven,
read,“Soul struck with edge of the sword,”
died, “utterly DESTROYED,”
STOPS breathing … no discord.
Flinch when hear “Soul is immortal,
Bible proved that’s a lie.
Churches, books, movies, all promote
lie … that soul doesn’t die.
Flinch, because love truth, and Satan’s,
called “Father of the lie.”
Flinch, cause those ignore Bible truth’s.
spread Satan’s lies … and why?
Contest: What Makes You Flinch
June 12, 2019
Sponsor: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
You ask me- why it is, that I flinch ?
With every sudden movement , that I don't see coming.
Like I expect to be hit .
It's a leftover reaction .
Like a residual tic.
A predetermined mechanism physically attempting to defend my physical self.
For at the hands of another, my body has been beaten , been broken , and battered .
My heart has been shattered .
My spirit through and through has had it.
Now ,I have to , sit here and explain to you
Why I sit with my back to the wall Of every room ,
and why I'm afraid of my own shadow.
. Because the ptsd that envelopes me,
Is like an unseen deformity Of my brain ,
when I'm triggered , my mind gets stuck In the moment of my trauma ,and I'm reliving them again.
So when I hide my face And tuck in my chin
Shudder as your fingertips brush against my skin ,
It comes from someplace deep within.
Someplace between the past ,
And , how long until it happens again?
I know you say, how could I think this of you?
But, he said he would never too !
And each and every time his fist Or open hand
Made contact with my bare skin,
I felt all at once the total shock and disbelief,
Immediate denial that this broken girl was me.
I guess I had to learn this lesson repeatedly.
So when you ask me why I'm a jumpy ball of nervous energy ,and why I'm always flinching?
Because ,my ptsd has crippled me .
This is what is left of me.
Existing in the fear that is my reality.
And, there is no more room for
Empty I love yous .
Only final goodbyes ,
Permanent and absolute.
As is the pain I try so hard in vain to disguise
But the truth is, I cannot hide,
Or wish to deny..
The truth, that is such a sad truth.
But a truth nonetheless that is mine.
And I don't have it in me even one single inch
of doubtful benefit,
so the reality is ,this is the answer to your question,
the reason why I flinch.
Surging like electricity to the esoteric abyss of my soul,
felt in all body parts, the flinching brought to the shoal.
Even the slightest stub of a toe, a beloved child in distress,
causes bile to roil and roll, the bowels of my heart in duress.
Likewise the agony of a pet - the suffering shrill, painful howl.
As a child I buried a silver dollar, his float to water’s top foul.
The automatic flinch - squeeze of fists, jaw, stomach, lady parts.
My brain disoriented, imaginative, culling others pain is a fine art.
The news of a small child hit by a homerun play, and the grab
Of the disintegrating player, dissolving into tears - a poignant stab.
Why do I linger so long, explaining at length my wearisome woe.
So you’ll grasp my afferent saturation and how my compassion grows.
5/30/2019
What Makes You Flinch Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Julie Rodeheaver
Flinch
I had to learn quick
Flinch
To avoid the sting of your hit
Flinch
Even to a hand reaching out with love
Since you taught me not to trust
Flinch
jump bad, jump back wince
hid I around the corner
surprised recoiled quake
shiver, tremble, shake
boo! to you ha made you jump
bla! made you cower
cringe, squirm, quiver, blench
you jump made you hesitate
withdrawn shudder shrink
made you stop and think
shy away, drawback withdraw
boo! Ha! made you flinch
through shock, fear, or disgust
shot sharp needle in the arm
you what makes me “flinch”
5/28/19
For What Makes You Flinch Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
What activates my reflex arc
And causes me to shiver?
Which stimuli come into play
To set my nerves aquiver?
At home alone at dead of night
A creak will make me skittish.
My lower lip begins to drop
In fashion quite un-British! *
And should I inadvertently
Whilst in the garden walking,
Be tickled by a spider's web
The shock will leave me balking.
Don't mention snakes and darting bats
Obnoxious smells and vermin,
Or scraping sound as chalk meets board,
For all will leave me squirming.
In other matters I am bold;
No lily-livered chicken.
But when sheer instinct rules the roost
It leaves my senses stricken.
* in contrast to the traditional British 'stiff upper lip'
08.06.19
'What makes you flinch poetry contest'
Sponsored by Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
School yard
bullies
made you flinch
made you flinch
One day they
will grow up
to gain mid-sections
stand over grease pits
Life is ironic.
WHAT MAKES ME FLINCH
Flinch verb- draw back in pain, disgust.
I’ll tell you what, does that.
Lies, centuries being promoted,
disgusting as … a rat.
Snakes, spiders and yes, roaches too,
will see me scale a wall.
Yet find nothing as disturbing,
as lies … these get my gall.
Churches should have been teaching truth,
with Bible this I’ll do.
Bet taught, Soul’s something inside you,
bet never taught … it’s YOU?
“Man BECAME living SOUL,” Genesis
two: seven, truth you’ll read.
Clearly says, NOT given a soul,
WE are SOULS … truth concede.
Example: If BECAME a student,
not a student, give you.
it’s YOU, what YOU have become,
same principle … is true
Joshua eleven: eleven,
read,“Soul struck with edge of the sword,”
died, “utterly DESTROYED,”
STOPS breathing … no discord.
Flinch when hear “Soul is immortal,
Bible proved that’s a lie.
Churches, books, movies, all promote
lie … that soul doesn’t die.
Flinch, because love truth, and Satan’s,
called “Father of the lie.”
Flinch, cause those ignore Bible truth’s.
spread Satan’s lies … and why?
Contest: What Makes You Flinch
June 12, 2019
Sponsor: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
how do April fool
a spider-bug on your head
believe it or not
4/1/2020
“How do” is a greeting.
Love does not flinch, if beguiled look away
Heart aglow, to music divine it sways
Veering not off course, even by an inch
Seeking no victories, it needs to clinch
Vibrant emptiness, lets God have His way
Each cell and pore of form, devoutly prays
Gods love and light the all, as our mainstay
For vaporised presence, this path a cinch
Love does not flinch
Recognising weary souls, go astray
Love enablement, makes life but a play
Inner alignment, does the love pulse winch
Vibrant is-ness, symbolic of a finch
Colourful rainbow, erasing all grey
Love does not flinch
12-February-2021
You're asking me what makes me flinch?
My reason, answer, you will clinch.
Cell phone- held to ear!
One hand- left to steer!
At sight of this- my flinch- a cinch!
Sandra M. Haight
~11th Place~
Contest: What Makes You Flinch
Sponsor: Julie Leigh Rodeheaver
Judged: 07/27/2019