Best Gainfully Poems
A field of wheat cloaked in dewy silence
the orchestra tunes up with avian arias
bullfrog basses and a choir of cawing crows,
xanthic sunflowers turning their heads to better see,
the daylight trajectory commencing with lazuline layering,
a breeze glissandoes on harps of oak leaves
tomorrow is now today,
and I am grateful.
An officer of the law taps on my door
my breath and heartbeat screech to a sudden stop
preparing for the next-of-kin speech, or
where-were-you-on-the-night-of-the-23rd interrogation,
instead she informs me my car is ten inches in the red
and with a smile suggests I move it before I get a citation
pulse resumes as oxygen reunites with lungs,
and I am grateful.
A mask sitting by the front door; my ticket to commerce
the media replaying riot scenes, lockdown measures,
sporting event cancellations, worship restrictions,
death tolls, closed restaurants, and drive-by graduations.
Yet I am virus-free, housed, gainfully employed,
surrounded by family and electronically socialized,
I have my necessities: I am well-fed, well-loved,
and I am grateful.
written 30 Aug 2020
Categories:
gainfully, thanksgiving,
Form:
Free verse
You sell yourself for money
Hour lunch two coffee breaks
To punch a card at 5pm
For a cheap watch and a cake
You live on autopilot
A zombie for the pay
Make copies, staple papers
Day, after day, after day
You think you're irreplaceable
Never make it without you
But if you dropped dead on the floor
They'd step right over you
And when your time is over
They blow up some balloons
Toast you with some Diet Sprite
Goodbye they're done with you
Tell me was it worth it?
Did it bring you any joy?
Did you trade your soul,your dreams
To be gainfully employed?
Were you ever happy
Or was it lies , just fake
Do you wish your life was more
Than a cheap watch and a cake?
Categories:
gainfully, anger, angst, business, farewell,
Form:
Rhyme
**********************"G"**************************
Gratefully I gaze gainfully into gemini.
A graphic gateway into our generous
gigantic galaxy. Global ghosts gather
generically.
********************* "T"**************************
This tall tacky teenagers terrible
theory taught telepathy to a
terrorist tennis team
...................:JP)
Categories:
gainfully, imagination
Form:
Free verse
My face is not good but it is not bad
I love the man who looks back at me
Regardless of how I dress I am happy
Rich or poor I am what I am
Opinions are like a mirror
Reflecting my hopes and dreams
I am my reflection
Man in that mirror
Against the lighted background
God lifts my soul
Energizes me and helps me accept
I wait each moment
Making them count
Appalled by addiction
Gainfully I set each course
In touch with myself
Never without hope
End is nearly
Dead end
Trying a new form out. Hope you like
Categories:
gainfully, me,
Form:
Acrostic
Beautiful downtown Atlanta
Sunny, blue, cloudless sky
Tall, wide, massive buildings
Window glass glistening in the sun
Beautiful, well-dressed people
Gainfully employed people
Taking care of business people
Running essential errands
Contributing to the community
Pursuing positive, purposeful lives.
I take in the sights, sounds, smells
Sounds of people walking, talking
Engines revving and car horns honking
Smells of restaurants and fast food vendors
Engine exhaust and overheated brakes
Feel of the sidewalk
Under my expensive dress shoes
Heat of the sun on my face and neck
Exciting hustle and bustle
Of a thriving metropolis.
A faint, “Please, sir …” reaches my ears
And a homeless man appears
Dirty, disheveled, hirsute
“Please, sir, could you …”
I divert my eyes, quicken my pace
Ignoring his petty pleas
His weak speech trails off
As he disappears in my wake
Bothersome soul, good riddance!
Why doesn’t the city do something?
Days later the encounter troubled me
I was so proud of the way I handled myself
How easy it is to dismiss a soul in need
Months later the encounter tormented me
Instead of the clever human I thought I was
I had become unfeeling, unkind, uncaring
Years later the encounter still haunts me
Never will it ever happen again
Never … ever …
Categories:
gainfully, humanity, rude, sorry,
Form:
Free verse
-Angst-
Faces fragmented on a mirror that I broke.
Bad luck wearing a cloak.
Poverty was gambling with my currency.
Rabid dog was running down the road: -
Turtle dove cooing.
"E-vil , is necessary, e-vil, is necessary".
Granted-my polemic must have borders.
But it was angst that had me racing down the street: -
Let me not digress again today.
While time is committing suicide.
Give me that of which they do not - save money.
Embrace the very thing i flee from.
Muted cry of desperation.
Gainfully busted in execution.
Shoots me dead in the- middle- of -the -road.
Categories:
gainfully, angst, anxiety,
Form:
Free verse
Have You Ever Dreamed?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where all is well;
Where the streets are cleaned,
and everywhere is safe to dwell?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where promises are kept;
Where the leaders want to serve the led,
achieving results both brave and apt?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where peace and unity is secure;
Where tribal sentiment discords are curbed,
and terrorism and militancy never occur?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where children are cared for;
Where the youth is skilled and gainfully employed,
patriotic, not brooding over a dark yore?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where aged persons' care is available;
Where social security is standard,
and medicare is sure and affordable?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where industries thrive;
Where electric power is effectively distributed,
Where citizens access petroleum, and refineries survive?
Have you ever dreamed
of a Nigeria where corruption is abominable;
Where common resources are fully harnessed,
and the system's process is due and infallible?
I have dreamed and dreamt, till date, I still dream
of an invigorated nation, a greater Nigeria;
a realm where the common masses reign supreme,
Yet each time, some others put it down as malaria.
@chumammeka (a.k.a. Tchar) June 16, 2014
Categories:
gainfully, angst, patriotic,
Form:
Rhyme
In an attempt to document my worth to your esteemed organization, I hereby submit my unredacted resume.
I was educated using blocks, books, chalk, blackboards and the slide rule. “Testing” was used to “evaluate” progress and assist in future choices.
I graduated Magna cum softly from a “free” education facility with a double major in life and its unlimited learning experiences. I am presently enrolled in its post graduate “Masters” program.
I am currently up to date on all of the recent “vaccinations”, upgrades and mask wearing theory.
I do, however, suffer from a long-standing problem with a “work ethic” issue and find it difficult not to show up and produce as I believe it is important to my remaining gainfully employed.
When asked by another employee a question such as: “I wonder what he/she thinks?” I usually reply: “I’m more concerned about why you're so concerned about what he/she thinks.”
I would bring to your “work” place an open mind (not to be confused with an empty head).
If you are interested in offering me employment please contact me by snail mail as my computer mysteriously disappeared last night.
John G.Lawless
©3/20/2023
Categories:
gainfully, education, humor, work,
Form:
Frequently, fragrantly followeth I
Fickle and fallow and famously shy
New love is true love and true love is known
Not by the seed but the need to be grown
Fortune may function to fashion your fate
Finding the future of passion is great
If your position is painfully pressed
Feign your audition and gainfully rest
Blamelessly fighting the urge of the pack
Shamelessly citing the courage they lack
Purely delighting the young and the old
Surely inciting the tongue of the bold
Sleeping is meant to be well by the way
Reaping her scent by the smell of the day
Keeping her bent to the vent is the key
Seeping that went from the tent next to me
Leaping about is the essence of fame
Deepening doubt is the presence of blame
Death is the vagrance of hope in the beast
Life is the fragrance of love in the least.
Submitted to the "Rhyme Rumi Quote" Poetry Contest
On August 11, 2022
Sponsored by Sotto Poet
Categories:
gainfully, life, love,
Form:
Rhyme
He died for freedom and the righteous cause of liberty.
He gave up his own life so others could enjoy liberty.
"OOH What a lucky man he was. OOH What a lucky man
he was.....Nobody could save him so he laid down and he died."***
The Short Story.*** "Oh What a Lucky Man he was."***
He died alone with no freedom fighters at his side. He fought
against slavery and oppression and to help liberate his fellow man.
But he was just another human, and an ordinary man. He was not
a professional solder or a police man. He witnessed danger around
him so he sacrificed his life for his fellow woman.
He died in an dark and dangerous ally way, trying the save
the life and the virtue of a young woman. Vicious hoodlums
instantly attacked and knifed him. The earth cried out in pain,
as it received the life blood of a young and noble man. Their
attackers also murdered the young woman, after robbing her
of her virtue!
A few days later their bodies were discovered by the police women and
the police man. He was given a hero's funeral for the courageous way
he died. He wasn't a pillar of the community, he was not important nor
gainfully employed. If the facts be made known, he was unemployed.
He never held a job in his entire young life. He was a drifter and a loner.
He lived and died a John Doe and she also lived and died as a Jane Doe. They enjoyed their fifteen minutes of fame upon their untimely demise. The law enforcement community and the family of the young woman mourned
their wasted young lives! The hoodlums were apprehended by the law.
But they did not repent of their dastardliness deeds. They held no remorse
at all. How many other victims' did they stab with their knives?
Love as always,
Roxanne Lea Dubarry
Roxy Lea 1954
Roxy 1954/ October Country
October 05, 2020
***This is a fictional short story.
Categories:
gainfully, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form:
Ballad
It is fall clean up in my garden, Lord.
I'm feeling guilty, sad, lonesome and blue.
The grasses and the weeds have over run
The lovely flowers, planted there for you.
Is this a mirror to my life dear Lord?
Have all my kinder deeds been overcome
By ugly thoughts and hurting acts and words?
Wild dandelion crowds out chrysanthemum?
Forgive me, Lord, if I have failed to tend
My garden in the manner that I should.
I'd claim the days I spent so foolishly
And use them more gainfully if I could.
Now that I'm in the autumn of my days,
I hope to take each day I have in store
And spend each precious second of that time
More usefully than I have done before.
Now as I pull each baneful weed and grass,
Removing each intruder one by one,
I hope to stand before you judgment day
Well kept, weed free, with all my gardening done.
By Joyce Johnson
For Constance a Rambling Poet's "I am sending you a gift of poetry, dear heart" contest
Inspired by her "Working in The Garden" poem on page 7 of her file
Categories:
gainfully, inspirationalautumn, hope,
Form:
Quatrain
Wildflowers sleeping late on dewy days
Rather than traveling on mountaintops
Two flowers embrace in harmony
Cognizant of nature's patrimony
Thankful for the few good years that remain
Their love gracefully grows time and again
Their patience now merrily thrives again
Wildflowers could choose to question each day
Whether they're pleased with love's years that remain
Times that they picnic on blue mountaintops
Mindful of scenery's patrimony
In a world rejoicing harmony
All nature embraces harmony
Its beauty will gainfully grow again
Flowing through wild nature's patrimony
And rising with the new sun every day
Traveling across ancient, rugged cliffs
Primordial with thousands of years that remain
Here, they seek to triumphantly remain
With emergent nature's harmony
The journeys across grassland mountaintops
With love infinitely growing again
Nature knows to embrace the sunny day
Aware of life's unique patrimony
What breed's nature's carefree patrimony?
What will wildflowers evoke that remains?
Will they take time to value emergent days,
Basking in life's vast harmony?
The cliffside climbers all ascend again
And there emerge challenging green clifftops.
Rather than travel upon mountaintops
Consious of primeval patrimony
Wildflower's bright love gently grows again
Thankful for the modest moments that remain
Wildflowers embracing in harmony
In flower beds, sleeping late, lazy days.
Categories:
gainfully, appreciation, beauty, flower, inspiration,
Form:
Pastoral
310+ & 71.1 billion dollars
if you live in the US,
the belly of the world’s policeman,
you live with over
310 tax exempted religions---
that’s over 310 groups of
idiots, who get to practice their idiocy
without paying taxes---
it’s estimated that the annual
amount
which is lost by NOT taxing these
idiots,
is
$71.1 billion
a
year.
think for a second
just what this country could do with that
money.
think of the kids that could be educated
in schools that have budgets that do not
DECREASE every ****ing year,
think of the departments in these schools
that would not be CUT &
think of the teachers who would be
gainfully employed & not TERRIFIED of
losing their goddamned jobs,
so that they could breathe for a moment &
spend their time enjoying the process of
exchanging information with the future
most brilliant minds in the world.
do we need to go on about the fact that this
money could go on to help fund
UNIVERSAL health care for americans &
instead of providing further venues for
ignorance?
do we need to talk about the green energy
programs that could be begun with this money
to save our species from frying up like
crisp bacon? how about the jobs that could
come from putting such programs into motion?
let it all bubble up in your head
while another catholic priest gets dragged out
kicking & screaming
from behind the vatican curtain
for molesting a bunch of little boys.
let it all bubble up in your head
while another abortion doctor gets shot or a clinic
gets blown up to smithereens.
let it all bubble up in your head
while another self-made messiah
rapes his harem of young girls, forcing them to
produce his holy spawn on whatever ranch he
pleases, wherever he deems it appropriate &
the next time stem cell research
can save your life or the life of someone you
love,
make sure you remind yourself how valuable
these organizations are.
Categories:
gainfully, life, life, time,
Form:
Free verse
She watches from her vantage point;
A rickety rocker in a second-story bedroom
Her gaze drifts to the shifting sands,
Once alive with strangers and friends,
Years barren and wasting as the ache in her hands
Her sullen silence a self-imposed isolation
In her empty kingdom of the sea
Sands dancing gainfully
Right where water used to be
Driving through the rusted boat husks
Rising, falling, swirling like what's lost
In her mind she sees it again:
Sapphire canvas embed with shining diamonds
Lit like fire under the blazing sky
Intense as the depth in her one loves' eyes
All of the sea could fit inside
Its beauty may well have been written
Like a tattoo across his face
Beautiful pearl-smile like night and day;
On one side, stark and gleefully bright
On the other, tongued lies dark as night
In him, all her oceans did reside
Her world fit in those beautiful eyes,
It's no wonder her oceans are gone
Categories:
gainfully, heartbreak, integrity, lost love,
Form:
Free verse
Frequently, faithfully, followeth you
Chasing the dream of a zillion or two
New love is true love and true love is sewn
Not by the seed but the need to be grown
Fortune may function to fashion your fame
Finding the future of passion is game
If your position is painfully pressed
Your opposition is gainfully best
Soon a solution is heading your way
Your resolution is coming today
Pack up the pickup and pay for the rent
That's how the rest of your money is spent
Sleeping is meant to be cool as the breeze
Carving her name is the function of trees
Love is a lady of laughter and grace
Joy is a word for the glow on her face
Leaping about is the way people see
All of the joy that is your company
Every new day is your chance to be true
Shining the ray that is living in you.
Categories:
gainfully, beautiful,
Form:
Rhyme