Best Graduated Poems
LOVE ANGER DEATH AND GUILT
Blog was A young girl who was
Still at school
Everyone loved Blog, she
Was nobody’s fool,
In fact her peers regarded as really cool.
She was determined to learn,
Her mom an alcoholic and her dad
Hooked on drugs,
She was determined to take a stern
Turn in her life, her brother also in jail,
She tried harder and harder, she was
She not going to fail!
She finished school and graduated with
Excellent grades for college,
By now an eighteen year old,
With a surplus of knowledge!
She was popular from the start,
And met a wonderful young man
Brad, who was the love of her life,
Cupid sent an arrow like a dart,
Straight through Blog’s heart!
Within months they became a
Well known item,
They were always together
From Christmas day when
They met, until the
Following Autumn.
But something was troubling Blog,
Brad seemed to be too friendly
With Beverly,
At every
Spare moment that they got,
They were together,
He seemed to be infatuated with
Her a lot!
However,
Brad and Blog were still together
And spoke of becoming engaged,
But one day Blog saw Brad kiss Bev
On the cheek,
At this she became totally outraged!
She had failed an exam, and now this,
What a week!
Blog was going to speak to
Brad that same night,
At her house on a bench outside,
She knew the moon would be bright.
But something dreadful happened
That wasn’t right,
Blog felt an omen, a bad vibe came
Over her, the phone rang, it was Beverly
She just cried and cried,
On his way to Blog, Brad collided
With another car and instantly died!
Blog was devastated, so shocked
Yet not a tear.
She felt guilty that she thought bad
Of Brad,
After his funeral having a cup of tea
With Beverly, Blog understood
Beverly was Brads cousin,
She wanted to get up and flee,
so embarrassed was she,
Now she cried tear after tear!
Brad and I held a secret from you,
Said Bev, we were planning a second
Year anniversary party for you two!
But it wasn’t to be,
Bev and Blog looked up at a starry sky,
And Saw a star twinkle, Brad would wink
With his right eye,
Which secretly between
Blog and Brad, meant I love you,
Her wink was bad, as she sent a message
Back to Brad - I love you too!
I believe in lots of things I can't see
My dreams are like a ship's consciousness
drowned in the ocean
I want to live for a reason
How I wish I could resign
from myself
How I wish now I was wrapped
on a bed neither to move my hands
nor my feet
I try to feel but I have no feelings
My soul is rich my spirit feels poor
I have a brain that feels unconscious
I got married but was never in love
I am alive yet I wish I was dead
I wanted to stay but I had to leave
I have tears but cannot weep
I've got memories
yet I crave to forget them
I feel a storm coming
without rain or thunder
People die but I cannot mourn
I am friendly but have no friends
I think I am intelligent but I feel numb
I thought I graduated
but threw away my diploma
I have a birthday with no wishes
I dream yet I forget them
I had a castle yet I feel I'm living in a hut
I have courage but I cannot face it
I am a body that looks like a skeleton
My heart beats but I cannot hear it
The sky is blue but I see gray
My voice
You dwell too much about the past
that taught you to be so cruel
I loved but nobody loved me
The flowers were blooming
but I saw them dead
I was a violin with broken strings
when I could not hold my anger
If I could only scream to listen to my echo
I rode a horse without a saddle
I was at the beach and I saw no ocean
I walked on the land but felt
only rocks
My feet were bleeding I cut them off
I wake up at dawn but I feel its dark
I rang the bell nobody opened
I was on the roof top and my soul fell down
I watched a beginning it felt like the end
Therese Bacha
14 November 2014.
In 1971 my wife, a nursing aid at the time,
working in small city hospital, experienced
a most remarkable event.
She went on to College, graduated and
became an RN. She through the years
went through the ranks and retired as a
Nursing Supervisor of a very large
Hospital.
Judith my wife shared a wonderful story
with me, that I had to share for all to
hear.
When she started her career in 1971. She
shared an event that left her speechless.
While caring for eighteen patients on the
three to eleven shift, she was making her
rounds. On a twelve bed ward, one of her
patients, she was caring for yelled, "OH MY
GOD IT'S SO BEAUTIFUL!!!!" My wife turned
and witnessed her patient from a laying
position, spring up saying those words.
Judith ran to her, to see what was going on
with her. Her patient then fell back on the
bed. When Judith got there at that moment.
Her patient had past away. My friends
Heaven Is Real...
Michael Tor
There's a bench at the high school where I graduated
The wood is cracked, chipped and all weather faded
But in its prime, there each morning faces smiled hello greetings
And was always the agreed upon place, for after school meetings
Many then, lovers initials are carved upon her wood
Though young love didn't last like we thought it could
Also, many peace signs and let's stop Vietnam
Even, one I love John Denver and a, I rule at pac man
Under her bottom is petrified gum of every flavor
Stuck there, because gum in class was considered bad behavior
Like some people need but one name to be known
The Bench, was like a city of its very own....
©Donna Jones
Originally posted 3-19-2013, On A Bench Contest
Sometimes, I think about my life
And the prices I have paid
All the places I have been
The choices I have made
Seems somewhere along the path
I stumbled upon a stone
At that moment I realized
I’d forgotten my way home
My home became a prison cell
My memory was forgotten
My soul was like an egg
An egg that had gone rotten
Sorry I had to go away
You didn’t deserve my shame
I moved very far away
No connection to my name
My life has always been a lie
One I kept hidden from you
When you thought I was in college
Serving time up in the zoo
On the day I was released
You thought I graduated
The moment you were most proud
Another lie to be hated
I have learned it’s never to late
I believe those words are true
Grandma I’m on a mission
I will graduate for you
I really want to earn the pride
You gave me so long ago
I think it will bring some peace
Releasing guilt up in my soul
I’ve learned in the game of life
We must earn our pride
Even if the people are gone
Resting on the other side
I’ve learned in the game of life
Even though they may be hard
Choices aren’t like rolling dice
They're not like flipping cards
Choices define who we are
I know these words are true
Every choice I know make
Are bringing me back home to you
Grandma, I know where heaven is
It’s right here inside my heart
Inside of mine your memory
Until death will never part
During the time I have left
I vow to always let it show
All the seeds you sowed in me
I shall nourish as they grow
In the end I’ll sit with you
Just like when I was a boy
We’ll sing and praise Jesus’ name
With eternal everlasting joy
Time has passed by so quickly
You’ve been gone 2 yrs today
I never knew something could hurt so much
The wound from losing you hasn’t even begun to heal
It’s still fresh and split wide open
Daddy, how do we do this?
I still buy your candy
Candy I’ll never eat again
I just give it away days later
It's just something that I gotta do
Oh Daddy, what are we supposed to do
Without you here with us
It’s so hard to believe
You were here and now you’re gone
What are we gonna do
Daddy, How will we find our place in this world, now
When you and Mom are all we’ve ever known.
I wish I could wake up from this nightmare
And you’d still be here
Oh Daddy, what are we supposed to do
Without you here with us
It’s so hard to believe
You were here and now you’re gone
What are we gonna do
I hope you can't hear me
When I cry out to Heaven to get me through Hell
I don't want you to be sad
None of this is your fault
How are we supposed
To fill this empty space
Nothing can replace
The life we made with you
I wouldn't let it even try
Those old wore out flannel shirts you loved so much
Gets me through nights
When nights get tough
They make me feel so close to you
Daddy what are we supposed to do
You've missed so much
Your first grandson has a daughter now
She's beautiful, Daddy
She looks so much like you
Your second grandson
Your name sake, Graduated 8th grade
What I wouldn’t give to have seen your face
When you heard his name called
Your granddaughter, your Tator-head got glasses
She loves them, unlike the rest of us
How are we supposed to do this without you here
What are we gonna to do
Time has passed by so quickly
You’ve been gone 2 yrs today
I never knew something could hurt so much.
What are we supposed to do now
We miss you Daddy
"I never travel without my diary - One should have something sensational to read"
...Oscar Wilde, 1891
30 May 48: I graduated from high school today now thank God I'm free!
No more doggone homework, perplexing algebra or teachers bugging me!
7 Jul 48: Enlisted in the Air Force today! Good Lord! What have I done!
The sarge said, "Forget Mom, Dad and Susie Q! You're now mine, my son!"
21 Oct 48: Finished basic training today with about a hundred other guys.
I thought it'd be more like a Boy Scout Camp! Boy, was I in for a surprise!
15 Feb 49: Graduated tech school at Fort Warren and sent to the Bermuda Isles.
Quite a change for a country boy! Water, water everywhere for miles and miles!
12 Oct 52: Was married tonight at Perrin AFB with Vera as my beautiful bride!
She was very pert and calm, but diary, I was somewhat nervous I must confide!
23 Aug 54: Our family grew by one today! Leanna, a little girl, my fondest wish!
She was measured by a nurse holding her by the heels! Just like measuring a fish!
15 Aug 55: Boarded a crowded troopship in New York and set sail for Morocco.
Was beset with a bit of mal de mer since the ship was wallowing to and fro!
17 Oct 57: Our little 'arab' Leslie was born today near Casablanca! What a dolly!
She has a hearty set of lungs, but that's OK, she's a healthy little dude, by golly!
11 Jan 68: Son Mark was born at the Air Force Academy and seemed a healthy tot!
9 Apr 68: Alas, we buried Mark today at Evergreen. Boy, do we miss him a lot!
24 Jun 71: My family and I arrived in Tokyo, Japan, to begin our three-year tour!
Japanese is foreign! For "good morning" do I say, "ohio gazamus" or "bon jour?"
1 May 74: Chaplain Porter notified me that I had been promoted to Chief!
Happy day, dear diary! I've reached the highest rank! What a blessed relief!
1 Aug 78: I retired today at Offutt AFB, after 30 wonderful years of service!
After wearing the 'blue suit' all those years, wearing civvies makes me nervous!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved
Placed No. 3 in Constance La France's "The Diary" Contest - April 2011
Lincoln never imagined
today’s white victim zeitgeist,
pouting persecuted supremacists,
their clenched jaws and fists.
Civil war rages in limbic memory.
Encoded somewhere,
the panic attacks and mirages.
Nobody is qualified because everybody is responsible.
So many whites have graduated from the struggle,
showcasing their diploma from the mill.
Lincoln never imagined
modern virtual vitriol,
merciless memes lashing out at specters,
infusing, inciting depravity among the sleep deprived.
These words are battleships aimed at the reviled.
The unshielded summon civility.
They beckon familiar principles.
But rabid cougars wait in hiding, eager to pounce.
All the feeble markets for platitudes have failed,
as subliminal cavities endure each generation.
Mental lynch mobs, rebel flags, supremacy’s utopia.
Lincoln never imagined
a 21st century cartoon president,
a white nationalist clicking social network epithets,
a whining overgrown tormenter
with a cult of Stalinist believers.
Where are the intelligible?
How is all this animated fury converted?
What is the lesson plan?
Who will bury the code?
How long this agonizing journey into normality?
Lincoln never imagined.
Published Tuck Magazine 04/ 2019
I was in the prime of my life on paper, I had
a lot to live for.
I came from a loving family, that were educated
I myself graduated with honors from Harvard.
I had an amazing fiance that I adored very
much,
However I was a phenomenal actress that
was very sick.
I had bipolar disorder and I hid it from everyone
including my family.
When I was high I was high, but when I was low
I was extremely low.
I thought about death every second and hour
of day.
I couldn't shake it , did I want to die?
Of course not but I felt like I had no choice
It was something that I had to do.
I planned the whole thing, I even picked
out my theme music on that melancholy
day.
I craved death and I was thirsty for it,
I wanted my death to remembered as
something beautiful.
Boy was I in for a rude awakening and a
big dose of reality.
When my loving man found my lifeless
body he wailed and convulsed,
He caused me to see that love does
not die.
But I didn't plan what he did next
He went and got the gun we had for
protection and took his own life.
I replay that scene over and over in my
head.
For I am stuck in between life and death,
It is pure hell and it is torture and far
worse than it was when I was alive.
Inspired by the “Death” contest
5-17-18
Respect in uniform
A man with respect
Major Oliver O. Howard
One of the US Armies best
A courageous soldier
With an order to follow
Dis-quell the Indian Wars
So there be peace tomorrow
Born in Maine
His dad died when he was nine
But this little boy
Turned out oh so fine
At nineteen, he graduated
A young man, already well rated
1854 Military pass
This bright young man, 4th in his class
Time advances to the Indian Wars
To do his duties, soldier sworn
To quell the fighting, peace be ours
Chief Joseph and the Indian colors
His task achieved, tho Indian losses
Orders he served, from Washington's bosses
Chief Joseph, from his lands he was moved
To Oklahoma, situation defused
1894 the retirement of he
Major General what he rose to be
Universities and College named in his name
This quite amazing soldier of Military Fame
http://www.thehighlanderspoems.com/native-americans.php
" When i heard about this gentleman, it desired me to write. Unknown to me he has actually
been in the historical background of one of my poems, and an ancestor of one of our poets "
From the Ohio River to the Great Lake Erie.
If they come from Cleveland, or south in Cincinnati,
these talented persons’ works are the ones we should see.
They have written some of this site’s greatest poetry.
They may live in the cities of Canton or Akron;
or perhaps in Columbus, Youngstown, or in Dayton.
They also come from many smaller towns in between.
They’ve written some of the best poetry I have seen.
Many of these folks have graduated from college.
Those that have not still possess incredible knowledge.
To them, poetry is both a science and an art.
Our Ohio members are all naturally smart.
even her name evoked colorful images
Ginger November, a student of mine
quiet girl with ebony hair
a blessing to teach till family troubles intervened
divorcing parents of a Catholic schoolgirl
Ginger tried to keep the burden hid
enduring much hardship
struggling to cope
mid-semester exams evoked fear
to avoid failure, students had to pass
no student could copy another’s work
four different tests I’d prepared
quietly, I patrolled each aisle
students barely knew I was there
from behind I approached Ginger’s desk
to find her checking notes in her sleeve
if I’d adhered to rules
Ginger would not have graduated
this thought I couldn’t bear
knowing her hardships at home
“You cannot get an A,” I said after class
“but return here after school”
at three p.m. she slowly entered
shame clouding the beauty of her face
a different version of the test I handed her
“If you pass, you’ll get a 70;
when averaged with your other grades,
you can still make a ‘C’”
this “A” student earned her “C”
but cried while retaking the test
other teachers might have let her fail
I thought she needed support
for Ginger I broke the rules
knowing the pain she carried
what I did was surely wrong
but a second chance I felt she deserved
January 16, 2019
For Chantelle Anne Cook's "Second Chances"
When I was a little girl,
I went through the most traumatic experience of my life.
I was diagnosed with a deadly infection in my femur bone;
Doctors had never seen a staph infection as bad as mine.
My childhood was stripped from me.
I had been given a new life.
A life where being in and out of hospitals was normal.
A life where being in pain was normal.
My biggest fear should have been falling down and scraping my knee.
But, instead my biggest fear was wondering if I was going to survive.
I was in more pain than I could have ever imagined.
Surgery after surgery, but nothing seemed to help.
I was fighting a battle that no one understood.
I never understood why this was happening to me.
I was a kid and dealing with depression.
I wondered if I was being punished;
if I had done something to have made this happen to me.
I wondered if I would pass school.
I tried my hardest to fight through the pain and make it through school.
I was determined not to be held back.
It even came to the point,
where I had to have a teacher come to the house and teach me.
But, I was willing to anything to pass.
I had a great team of doctors;
and a team of not so great doctors.
I had parents that loved me and never left my side.
I was still a blessed kid with a great family.
I've been to several doctors since then and they all me tell me the same.
I'm going to deal with chronic pain for the rest of my life.
There are some days where the depression eats at me.
There some days where I can't even get out of bed,
because my leg is hurting so bad.
But, I made myself do it.
I was determined to graduate on time.
And I did graduate with my class.
And even though I missed to many days to count, I was never held back.
I graduated with my class, the class of 2016.
I'm determined to share my story with others.
I'm determined to prove to people;
that you're more than the pain you go through.
I'm determined to prove to people;
that nothing can get in the way of your goals or dreams;
unless YOU let it.
Your pain doesn't determine who you are.
Only YOU can determine who you are going to be.
Only two things are certain in life,
death and taxes
You can cheat one,
but you can't cheat the other
Ooh, what would a person give to live
They would give everything ... and more,
if it was possible
I bet some wish
that the Grim reaper was the tax man
Then they could seek shelter from death
with a graduated tax-rate insurance plan
Strike a bargain for longevity,
then pass through the inheritance tax loopholes
Grease the Reaper's palms a little bit,
it would put a lot of cold water on those hot coals
When death is biting you in the butt,
guess what ...
you're gonna pay the tax man
his fair cut
So pony up
There's only two things
you need worry 'bout friend-o:
Death and taxes
Those two things are certain, for sure
The only two questions are:
which one gets paid first,
and where are you gonna go?
Will it be a tax-free trip to heaven on resurrection day,
or the tax trapdoor down to hell below
And that door
is sealed tight with no hedge fund window
Fortress of peace ...
dark entrance
Graduated depths,
steps icy
No more emotional eruptions
just volcanic slumber —
Something inside has died
Quiet brood ...
at what price came this cursed silent relief?
Left with only a lonely penance,
seems the calculations weren’t heartfelt
Wavy shadow movements increase
Flickering regret moments,
tears dripping ... briefly melting Arctic attitudes
Aurora nightfall gives illuminated rest,
as smouldering rage slowly cease
Wind whispers listen at a frosty distance,
creating such tranquil space
Gathering calm
beckons a cavern catacomb soul to go
where another rappel elevated heart went
Open mountain air ... no secret crevices
for the solitude to hide
Inter the cold,
and let the cooling revive
Let the northern exposure erase
all of the igneous pain
As the buried passion escape ...
feel the snow peak
kindled heat,
and watch the bonding of the flames
borealis rise