Best Guilt Poems
I drove home from a party one winters night
I'd had quite a few drinks but I felt alright
It was pouring rain as I approached our town
My girlfriend said to me, "John will you slow down" .
I turned up the volume of my favorite song
And pressed hard on the pedal speeding along
I was oblivious to everything that lay up ahead
And failed to see a traffic light that was on red.
A blue car suddenly appeared right before me
I found out later it was a young man and his family
There was a loud bang as my airbag deployed
My first thoughts were my boss will be annoyed.
Next thing I knew there were blue lights all around
It was eerily peaceful there wasn't a sound
I just felt so tired all I wanted was my bed
Looked at my girlfriend and I saw she was dead.
The big shock of it all made me come to
I thought this is a bad dream; it can't be true
A fireman got me out; he had to cut the door
There was glass, metal and blood all over the floor.
Everything was surreal and I woke up in a cell
And this was just the start of my living hell
The four people in the other car they too had died
Along with my girlfriend, I just broke down and cried.
A week later I was in court and I heard a few jeers
The Judge showed no mercy and I got twenty years
Two witnesses were called and said I was to blame
And all I could do was just hang my head in shame.
I'm in prison now all my friends disowned me
And often get flashbacks of that awful tragedy
If only I had got a taxi and chose not to drive
Then those five people I killed would still be alive.
I have trouble sleeping; I just lie there at night
Thinking of a way to try and put things right
A year later I wrote a book telling my story
Called ,The Drunk Drivers Guilt by John.T. McCrory.
If it stops someone driving and having a drink
Or even makes a driver just stop and think
Then my book will have been worthwhile; every single word.
As a warning to others, making my mistakes heard.
Written 24th January 2020
dust-wearing-wind carries a feeble cry in its palm,
settles it near ears that can no longer hear.
Cries arise from hollows of your hungry face,
a pulpit of high cheeks bones— in sharp relief
to sunken skin-scape sallow and paper thin—
a preacher on the harrows of hunger.
Vulture keeps a still, silent vigil,
a patient witness to your starvation,
comrade and adversary
in a fight for your last breath and beat.
Your loyal companion, a symbol of death
where drones rain with flames on tents of refugees
and sky splitting missiles make shrapnel of the sun,
where dragon fire artillery shoots the moon
and shreds stars till they fate-fall
like the last nightjars from nocturne skies.
Dear child of war,
alone with nothing in your belly but a stone,
rib bones a famine cage,
thoracic fingers squeeze your soul.
Your heart a hostage,
flutters like a lost moth against your sternum.
I long to hold you and feed you
honey made from a million wild flowers
uncrushed beneath metal plates of tank treads.
I yearn to bathe you of collapsed concrete dust
cleanse you of your mother’s blood, her
rattle-boned, battle-owned, maternal body wrapped
over yours as they fed her Kalashnikov lead.
My faraway ache for your plight pales
against your tiny body’s black-rose-throes,
a pawn to thorns of soldiers
grown on rocket-torn-boot-worn streets.
War-zone fig trees bear no fruit,
hibiscus buds die as hornets knit nests into shrubs,
tomorrow but a diseased wheat field laid to waste.
Dear child of war,
deliverance will come when pall-bearer winds
carry your cries elsewhere…
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!
Hold back the tears of sorrow
Imprisoned in this torment bounded by guilt
As I write your name on the wall
I miss the days when you were here
02.02.2017
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
This heavy guilt weighing on me,
Like too many leaves on a little tree
Covered in rain from a sky that poured
I hurt a person who I adored
If I could have just let things be,
Then maybe he could now run free
Instead he stands numb with a silent plea
My actions, once sweet, are now deplored
This heavy guilt
He and I, once we
Now like locks without a key
The distance so great we could never ford
But his name still on my heart is scored
I wonder if the world can see
This heavy guilt
I'm at your grave on this mournful day
There is so much that I want to say
I turned my back when you needed me
Ignored the signs that were plain to see.
I was so selfish living the life
Didn't matter that you were my wife
You were dying but I looked away
Guilt I now have that is here to stay.
I'm much wiser now but it's too late
And must live now with what is my fate
I had my chance but threw it away
Bad choices I made now I must pay.
You forgave me as you were dying
We hugged and kissed and you were crying
I realised then that our love was true
I'm sorry I wasn't there for you.
Written 25th April 2019
For Apology Poetry Contest.
Sponsored By Line Gauthier.
“And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work.” 2 Corinthians 9:8 of the King James Bible; "What shall we say then? Shall we continue in sin, that grace may abound?" Romans 6:1 KJV
God’s grace abounds where guilt does hide
As pardon reigns above sin’s pain
There --- mercy, hope and love reside.
God’s grace abounds where guilt does hide
Since divine forgiveness smites pride
Toward triumph of blissful gain.
God’s grace abounds where guilt does hide
As pardon reigns above sin’s pain.
Some mistakes are
Not so easy to erase
Some linger
And haunt you
No matter what you’ve done
No matter what you do
As you try to forget
As you try to make amends
Sometimes forgiveness
Never seems to come
Sometimes you’re so much
Harsher on yourself
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Submitted on August 26, 2019 for contest OVERCOMING MISTAKES sponsored by CHANTELLE ANNE COOKE - RANKED 1ST
Guilt is a wasted emotion,
like a drop in the ocean,
pray for forgiveness and move on,
as God suppresses a yawn.
For All Of My Sin, Guilt And Shame…
The sins I’ve committed… There are so many.
Is there any hope for me. Is there ANY?
The things I’ve done have caused me much shame.
I’m often embarrassed when
others call my name.
My past failures and mistakes. They abound!
And have a tendency to “pull me down.”
I’ve often felt “unlovable” with a discouraged mind.
It seems like my life, “is racing against time.”
I was told that Jesus loves me
and can make me whole.
How could someone like this love me?
I’ll never know.
How could a God who’s so
merciful and lovable.
Find anything inside of me… That’s “valuable?”
I’ve read in hi word, that he
purchased my life with his.
An abundant and eternal life… He freely gives!
Dear Jesus. I ask you to come into
my life and wash it clean.
I ask you to be my Lord. My righteousness.
My everything!
For all of my failures, mistakes and every sin.
I long for your presence and peace within!
Only YOU can restore my life through
your gift of salvation.
I give you my heart. And an opened invitation!
Thank you Lord! For the work
that you’re going to do.
I want you to know how much I love
and appreciate YOU!
By Jim Pemberton 09/21/11
When your heart shuns flattery's lies,
it opens and lets the truth in.
And time mutes the varied voices
fear once amplified deep within.
You know of love's magic through dreams,
where hope's crumbling walls get rebuilt.
And the sanctuary of sleep
banishes whisperings of guilt.
Your mind's a fantasy playground;
filled with flashes of second sight.
And skeletons of memories,
time's acid tears, have bleached bone white.
Tricksters and Angels coexist;
within echoes of silent screams.
And weave wishes with silver threads;
in reality's world of dreams.
Tricksters spin what you want to hear
their prime motivator is lust.
And like a whisper in the wind
their words are not tethered to trust.
Angels detest the emptiness
that eats away at lonely hearts.
And try to fill your heart with smiles;
they gather as each new day starts.
Suffocating,
In the depths of sorrow,
Beneath a flood of doubts.
Gasping,
Unable to surface,
I frantically search
For what weighs me down;
I feel nothing,
But the burden of guilt
That fills my soul,
And then I realize
The anchor is me.
©Ana Espinola Collins
There exists no more certain
assassin of joy than that of
anger turned within.
Guilt’s grim scepter,
harrowed mind thus firmly wields,
and this with deft uncommon,
to bring renewed complaint
at slightest urge.
Senseless ruin whose
vapid tongue hisses
only self-derision’s name,
nobility to confound.
Slacken then this twisted cord
and in its place benign regret,
for guilt condemns the soul.
She begged me to make love to her
I could not look into her eyes
I wanted to but would not dare
She begged me to make love to her
I knew deep down it was not fair
To lead her on with lust and lies
She begged me to make love to her
I could not look into her eyes
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Contest: One NEW Triolet
Sponsor: Alfred Vassallo
Guilt And Betrayal
"Guilt is the ultimate executioner__of those who betray the truth"
Penned: 1/12/2022
5:30 p.m.
Lake Worth
Florida USA