Best Groaned Poems
“Why do the Rams behave violently?”
The little boy queried of his father.
“They need all their might to fight the Jaguars,
But Jags are fast, don’t know why they bother.”
“And why do Broncos try to beat up on Colts?
Wouldn’t this be much like you hitting me?”
The unhappy father just shook his head
“It’s competition, son, you just don’t see.”
“Daddy, this is not what I hoped to find
At a zoo like other children describe.”
“The football zoo is better than others
Some animals here throw games for a bribe.”
“But you told Mom we would see a real zoo,”
The youngster groaned, sadly eying the field.”
“Please just tell Mom you saw animals play
If she learns where we went, my fate is sealed.”
* For Barbara Gorelick's "Zoo" competition
Categories:
groaned, animals, funnymom, mom,
Form:
Rhyme
The ancient organ groaned
ended the passion
- bitter vinegar tones
pierced the walls
Heart had lost its fire
The prophets rubbed their heads
wisdom at any time and place
Overly high hopes
Resignation found in a
cast iron saucepan
The criteria for organ donors
are clear
~
Bell tower mourns
Categories:
groaned, giving, humorous, leaving, life,
Form:
Free verse
Written with sorrowful memories of the war taking
place inside the one I loved ~ through his perspective
I spent time with a friend in a low place
but that friendly face become a blur
when the frown of Jesus stared back at me
from the bottom of an empty bottle
With head in tremblilng hands, I groaned
realizing my life was upside down
and that 'friend,' my wife, had left me all alone
Remembering that phone conversation
when I said, "You left me. I can't hold you any more."
I cringed when she replied,"You left me each time
you raised a bottle to your lips."
I couldn't argue with her. She was right.
I take the blame for this weakness I despise
Hate knowing I put the tears in her eyes.
It's not easy to always be misunderstood
but no one knows the dept of my darkness
So don't preach to me about what I've done wrong
I know the words. I used to sing that song.
I've weathered times when I was cold as ice
Been rained upon beneath darkened skies
Shivered while trying to find my way home
and swore I'd change the way I live my life
Then I surrendered to the thirst, in sacrifice
Drowning in an ocean, lost in waves of doubt
only fortifified in depths beyond the shallows
where I fill a bottle with hundred proof brine
It's the elixir I call 'My besotted self-defense'
I'm fighting a war within riddled thoughts
and it's already cost me the love in her heart
I'm hoping one day I'll find peace of mind
and lay down the shield of my armament
The weapon in a bottle that I can't live without
Categories:
groaned, sorrow,
Form:
Narrative
The velvet sky was strangely quiet...
The Earth still and hushed beneath my feet.
No mountains groaned, no crumbling stone
Giving voice to my defeat.
The lake... calm and placid like mirrored glass...
Not a ripple to be seen.
Two loons at play had flown away
Leaving a tranquil pastoral scene.
Birds would sing to mark this day
As beasts roamed throughout the land.
I was not impressed and most distressed...
Nature's laws seemed well in hand.
The morning scented with a familiar air as
Meadow flowers made good their vivid fashion
But in my grief, there was a unyielding belief...
Nature should be gripped with far more passion.
I wanted Earthly reprisals and thunderbolts
To lash out their.. mournful roar.
I wanted winds to squall and towered trees to fall
And huge white capped waves to lap their shores.
I wanted the land to wither and blow away
Where wilted crops grow stunted for the year.
Where the force above... feels a desperate shove
And an unplumbed chasm then appears.
But then again... on further musing,
Such sights would not honor her at all.
We had oft discussed... there be no fuss
When she answered Heaven's call.
No trumpets roared or melodic lyres blurred
As a callous Nature missed that special day...
But Church bells rang and sweet Angelic voices sang...
When my dear Mother passed away.
The End
Categories:
groaned, grief, loss,
Form:
Rhyme
Along the pilgrimage path
life purged and plundered
minds wept and wondered
weeds steadfastly grew
knowing not what we now knew
weary travelers groaned and grumbled
stepping cross wayward stones, tumbled
some had stumbled or even fell
seeking separate stories to tell
ink driven, dried up, cursed, then forgiven
bent in half, twisted, some curved
tales told, valient bold and self served
where whispers turned and ran
down along side stolen scripts
falling elegantly off loose lips
masses cheered the absurd
romantic scenes poetically heard
death defied and defiled
joyous celebration in a time
infectious an emancipation
liberated through rhyme lest relief
"To weep is to make less the depth of grief."
Categories:
groaned, conflict,
Form:
Free verse
Smoke swirled and billowed from your lips
Like gossamer it extended itself like a ballerina arching in hopes of caressing mine
The crickets raised together their bows in consideration
The summer sun nodded quickly to proceed
The waves tickled our lanky set of alabaster knees
The dock groaned beneath us but I am anchored
Steadfast in this life
I see our life through kaleidoscope binoculars
Such cheery coloured spectacles and distortions
I want to ride on this merry-go-round with you
But it appears my pocket watch keeps spinning because
Time is relentless
I want to capture our laughter in mason jars!
Your fervour makes me feverish when you consume and devour!
Cloaked by nightfall and nimbus clouds
Within the recesses of my mind my anxiety is patiently awaiting moments to commit heinous robbery
This parasite creeps into my subconscious and whispers down my lonely hallways
It makes itself comfortable by weighing heavily on my shoulders! The entire body shudders from its hideousness
It’s toxic venom runs through my veins
Holding my memories ransom and masticating any feelings of safety
Writhing and wailing to dominate and keep me still
Never willing to compromise or to remain ill
Navigating through the muddy waters of my mind
Following the metronome of your breath demarcating our way home
Categories:
groaned, birthday, sexy,
Form:
Howard Marks and God Almighty
Shared a spliff, and had a whitey
Then had the munchies, and a bong
Annoying Peter with the pong
By which time it was far too late
To frisk young Howard at the gate
God, seeing Peter’s consternation
Outlined the process of creation
How on day three he made the weed
With every other tree and seed
To raise in some, apotheosis
And test some others, with psychosis
Now, Howard’s stash was pretty small
And didn’t last too long at all
So, as he didn’t see the point
Of heaven’s joys without a joint
He got his bong, and skins, and tin
Chucked all the roaches in the bin
And, following a wicked smell
Went wafting off to score, in hell
St. Peter looked above and groaned
As all the angels flew past stoned
by Gail
Categories:
groaned, addiction, creation, god, heaven,
Form:
Couplet
Two Freaks
Two freaks sat by the side of the road.
Ostracized by all their kin.
People laughed as they passed by;
At the very sight of them.
One was twisted in body and soul;
With hair like a dandelion.
The other sat quoting sonnets of old;
He was quite diseased of mind.
One had hands that were crooked and gnarled.
The other the face of a child.
One ate grass like the beast that he was;
and murmured and groaned and growled.
The other put violets in his hair;
And swore to be good and kind.
To Pray to God and remember those;
Society left behind.
He quoted Longfellow, Shakespeare too,
Matthew, Luke and Paul.
The other wallowed in the mud.
And didn't care at all.
And so they lived by the side of the road;
With so much valor and poise.
One fool making love to life.
The other making noise.
Then came a day when folks didn't laugh.
They came with ropes and guns.
And did what seems and awful thing,
But a thing that had to be done.
For in this weird, unhappy world;
It is a sin to sing.
They murdered the gentle poet,
And crowned the Monster king.
Categories:
groaned, analogy, angst, beauty, betrayal,
Form:
Rhyme
My heart lay barely beating, drowning in a marinade
of salted tears that fell from my reddened eyes.
Blood dripped down my chin from biting my swollen lips
as if they were wounded like a heart pierced by words
that were hurled as if they were whetted daggers.
Whose fingertips drew the target upon my lashed back?
The attack ripped my flesh, inflicting pain without pause.
My cries were echoing in refrain, pleading for the cause.
No response was given as I cringed and groaned
in this shadowed place, this empty void.
In fetal position on the floor, I flinched each time
I heard knuckles wrapping upon my weathered door.
Sluggish was my mind, as if waking from a nap,
wishing I could snap out of Alice's realm where I can't tell
if I'm under a spell or walking in a hellish nightmare
of reality where I wax and wane like sunlight and moonbeams.
Many things that surround me are not always as they seem.
Categories:
groaned, confusion, fear,
Form:
Free verse
She pumped the air and whooped,
'The holidays are through!'
She danced a jig, she spun,
and did a moonie too.
The grinning mother yelled,
'They're back to school again!'
But then her laughter died,
she groaned in awful pain
and mopped her furrowed brow,
for she's a teacher now...
written 20th August for Francine's Back to School contest
Categories:
groaned, parents,
Form:
Rhyme
The Lone Ranger came to visit me last night...
He was perfect, his shiny six-guns
hanging from his hip, and the mask
to protect his real identity.
"Howdy!" I said; "Hiya, pardner!" he replied,
and I motioned for him to take a seat. "No thanks,"
he groaned, "I think I'll stand, been in the saddle
now for going on three days!"
There were so many questions on my mind.
How come he always got the bad guy, and rode
off into the sunset with a flourish and a smile,
and how come you never saw the blood?
Things were less complicated then, he mused,
not like now where everything's so realistic,
so there's nothing left for people to imagine;
then he disappeared without a trace...
He's still my hero.
These days everyone's part good part bad,
so that the line is hard to find.
It was easier when men wore white and rode
high up in the saddle. The good guy always
grabbed the glory, then disappeared
in a cloud of dust with a hearty
"Hi ho Silver, away!!"
Categories:
groaned, blessing,
Form:
Verse
the mountains groaned, repulsed
by the distant grumble of thunder’s rough
voice rising on the edges of the dark
stirring the distant gaze of a still twilight
flooded with shadows, hasty halos
remembering what comes, after the storm
the gentle pelting, pretty droplets
erasing the murmur of leaves, dancing
crisp as the shadows, forever trembling
a certain power beneath the streams
pouring out their feelings, on hills
burning with laughter, seeking the night
where a brilliant lavender sky
sings to the explosion of light…
You are there, in the prayer
melting away the pain, the despair
quieting the music of a storm
who knows my most intimate yearnings
the muse of a promise, coursing
through veins of light, inklings
of a lost moment, when melancholy
sings, so alive on the still skies
where floods of water, stream, breaking
through the forest, woodsy scents
like pine and moss, delicate
overpowering the still muse.
In the center of this storm,
an ache, a presence, so forlorn
you pour out light from your warm,
you restore peace to my heart
you remind my soul, you’re the One
who tells the winds to blow,
who shows the moon its glow
who breaths hope into the flow
of wistful showers, all the hours
a storm who is sent to show
every heart, the music of hope
as a song fades from the soul
who hears the wind
and heeds the stirring
of a prayer beneath the dark
praising You, my heart’s renown
my spirit’s peace,
my great belief…
You are the One
who colors my love
with grace and joy
a gentle knowing – that Your love
will guide me through the storm,
never allowing me to worry,
always freeing me so I know
You are the One who will lead me on,
to a distant home, a heaven who knows
this is love – from God above,
the One who tells the storm to grow
the One who tells the storm to go
the One who tells the storm to restore
gentle peace to the mountain and shore
a still, cool breath from the spirit of grace,
peace that is more than a heart can expect,
the love that assures me You won’t reject.
In the eye of the storm…
You are my relief, my consolation, my security
the answer to my prayer for a still, sweet beautiful
who can prepare my heart to see
beyond the storm, to the eternal singing, its urgent touch.
Categories:
groaned, appreciation, god, muse, nature,
Form:
Free verse
Around 9 A.M. it opened
a toast and brie-encrusted laptop
to watch surfboarding ninja squirrels
on YouTube. When it laughed
the birds in its head fell silent
as if some cave-ogre had spontaneously
combusted.
Its recliner groaned like a woman in late term.
It day-dreamed,
now and then it thought of sex,
but in a nonrealistic way.
Around 6 O’clock, Its mate came home
to inquire about, ‘its day’.
“Been working on a poem,”
it said.
Categories:
groaned, poetry,
Form:
Free verse
It did not crack,
it groaned.
It did not fall all at once,
it shook itself like a wet dog,
it stood on invisible toes
like a dancer.
It twisted to look behind it,
then knelt briefly
sliding down its own shadow.
There was, of course, a crash
but it was muted
as if the earth caught it,
then rocked it gently for a moment
as the leaves rattled.
Birds stopped singing.
You would think
they would have squawked
or flown away,
but they just stopped.
Categories:
groaned, poetry,
Form:
Free verse
It wasn’t easy turning away from you
Sure like the sun rise
Is your love
Upon my bed I groaned
Sacred vow I made
A budding pal we appeared
Until nature's verdict played
Like Haiti earthquake
My guards shattered
A glowing dream muffled
Upon my bed I groaned
Sacred vow I made
A wave of pain I bore
Sighting you in anguish
Another traumatic jilt
Repose far from my being
Your sonorous voice I heard
Why did you leave?
*TEMINIKAN* is a pet name between lovers meaning MINE ALONE in Yoruba language
Categories:
groaned, lost love, nostalgia,
Form:
Verse