Best Hidden Poems
Hidden beauty I know can dwell
within a body worn and frail.
I think of one who had been doled
great miseries, so once grown old,
his body seemed a dismal shell. .
Although he’d lived on earth his hell,
grown nearly crippled and unwell,
his inner fortitude was gold -
Hidden beauty!
Life’s many hardships could not quell
his positivity, nor fell
that strength - his fire against the cold -
a virtue that should be extolled!
In knowing him, I well could tell
hidden beauty.
For Skat's the Premiere Contest number 14 Poetry Contest
I reach onto the bookshelf
Carefully removing the photograph album from the top shelf
We nestle together on the sofa
I slowly turn over the pages
Yellowing photographs that capture precious moments frozen in time
Suddenly you become animated
Hidden memories begin to return …
We laugh as you recall stories from the past
You lovingly stroke the faces of those now long gone
Wishing they were there by your side for real
Tears fill your green eyes as you reach out and gently squeeze my hand
Nostalgia Contest
Sponsored by Nayda Ivette Negron
11~25~16
..............I could write you
...................poetic images
...............that would make
............other women drool.
...............Speak of sunsets
...........wired, computerized
....................................to
.....................................P
...................................PU
..............................PULSE
............ ...to the rhythm of
.........your striking features
B............Build you a ladder
.............from light, that we
..............could climb to the
..............gates of euphoria.
..............Tell you that they
.............named it after you
E..........................Ecstasy.
............I could and I would
.........but I know you better
.......... ....than that. I know
.....................what you like.
.........................I can taste
..............it on my buds. You
....................want a man of
......................simple words
..................spun from truth.
A.........A man that will never
.........run out on you. A man
..............that when you hold
......................is steady and
.............rooted. I am steady
..............and rooted but also,
...........I am in love with you.
U............Not by the waterfall
.........or against the light of a
..........full moon. Not walking
...................along the beach
....................while the ocean
..............whispers in my ears.
............. I love you first thing
.......even on a dingy morning.
........................I love you on
...........evenings when it is so
.........cloudy there is not even
................one star in the sky.
........It is just dark. I love you
.........when we're on separate
.......couches reading different
.......books. When we're alone
...........or together in a crowd
.......I love you from the other
........side of the room. On the
.......first floor when you're on
....the twenty third. When you
.....have a cold and even more
........when you are sicker still.
T.....The simple truth is you're
.........stuck with me from now
.............to eternity........why?
Y.................because the best
............part about you is that
.........I know you love me too.
01~22~2015
Sponsor: Rhonda
Contest: Hidden Beauty
Imagine someone watching you
who wants you for his own
Imagine in the catacombs, a secret plan is honed
It echoes with a wounded heart
of someone so alone
He hides his shame behind a mask, that smolders, but is cold
Look beyond the chandelier that blinds you in the eye
Can't you see him lurking there, while waiting in disguise
If only you could see in him
a face that isn't cold
Behind the mask he wears for you,
a man has lost his soul
Search beyond the mask he wears and look into his eyes
Be wary of the rendezvous that he will fantasize
If only he was more than just a phantom of your dreams
If only you could find in him a promise to believe
Don't be betrayed by what appears to be for you alone
But be afraid, a million tears are hidden in the stones
He'll tell you from the very start, to search beyond the scars
He'll hide from you that you are meant to be his secret star
Sing to him your aria….. But don't forsake your heart!
If you believe he'll set you free, he'll tear your dreams apart
Sing to him of love, Christine! Sing to the rafters high
The chandelier will shatter then, into a million cries!
If you plead to him of broken dreams, you'll need to tell him lies
Sing about another love, but be prepared to die!
Sing your song of love, Christine,
it is sorrow you have found
Sing to him your aria…….. then, slowly watch him drown
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11/17/16
Contest: "Phantom of the Opera"
Sponsor: The Seeker
Her smile was lopsided, crooked
And her eyes had lost their shine
In a wheelchair bound and broken
Sat this mother dear of mine
Once the one that they called “Sunshine”
Now was bowed with grief and care
Garbled speech and eyes unfocused
Made the people stop and stare
Yet in this woman there was hidden
Beauty of the rarest kind
Love for God and for her family
Love for words all graced her mind
She was brave and she was noble
Took the falls and burns and smiled
Knowing that her child, a daughter
Lived with fear so justified
People did not see the beauty
Hidden in her crumpled form
All that they could show was pity
Perhaps that is just the norm
But in her dear withered body
MS had so brutalized
Was a mother’s lasting beauty
That her daughter eulogized
Once a flower brightly blooming
In the garden of my home
She remains my flower ever
In the memories where I roam
Eileen Manassian
I grew up knowing my mother was ill and that she would eventually die due to MS. I lost my Mama on March 19, 2000. I still miss her...Her name? Angel. That was my Mama's name. When she was younger, they used to call her Sunshine because of her dazzling smile....
More poems I've written about my Mama:
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/may_17_429673
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/my_mothers_daughter_480741
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/march_19__464436
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/i_remember_you_443028
http://www.poetrysoup.com/poem/the_hypochondriac_429384
A garden presents a most beautiful sight
When seen from afar in a much broader light,
For there in a setting with all that surrounds,
Its total of beauty and color abounds.
To observe much too closely, study and dwell,
Inspect every flower and leaf very well,
Will quickly cancel the powerful presence
Of unified form with divergent essence.
Then we are bound to observe those objections—
The scattered, meaningless small imperfections
Of petals and blossoms and leaves not so fair;
Lose sight of the wonderful whole that they share.
We can also apply this to those we love,
And sometimes must separate, step back enough,
To view the grand total of gifts which combine
To create an image of balanced design,
And appreciate well those colors which are
A bit subtle up close but strong from afar.
So trite imperfections get lost in the ray
Of the aura of wholeness seen from away.
And so like the grand garden’s totality,
When we stand back to thoroughly look and see,
We will vision with awe a marvelous view…
Total beauty and depth now perceived anew.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Contest: Hidden Beauty
Sponsor: Rhonda Johnson-Saunders
Judged: 02/04/2015
Quote: Ralph Waldo Emerson
“Every particular in nature, a leaf, a drop,
a crystal, a moment of time is related to the whole,
and partakes of the perfection of the whole.”
She has faced the ghosts from her past.
Traveled beyond the razor's edge.
She is haunted by shame's overcast.
Once engulfed in misery's darkness.
Blame it on insecurity.
Storms of emotion, she tries to repress.
She hides her tears in the rain.
Angry cries are muffled by thunder.
The wind blows away her pain.
A man's lust was disguised as love.
She was misled by impatience.
Her soul is cleansed by water from above.
\
She wandered into the light & found protection.
A discharge of hope revived her spirit.
Now, she can withstand bites of deception.
She hides her tears in the rain.
Angry cries are muffled by thunder.
The wind blows away her pain.
Poets
Dreamers
We dream with eyes open
Manipulators of time and space
Masters of imaginary universes
Warriors
Lovers
Healers
Nothing is beyond our reach
Pen in hand
Heart allowed to flow free
Words the oxygen we breath
Dark
Hopeful
Philosophers of our day
Pointing the way
Wishing to be heard
Will others see beyond the words
To where the wisdom lay
We all have our roles to play
So yes we dream
With our open eyes
Hoping others realize
We don't wish to disguise
Yet sometimes hearts lie
If you look underneath
The metophor
You will find a key to the hidden door
In the end
Thats all we are asking for
The Hidden Nature Trail
While I was hiking one soft summer morn
beside a streamlet flowing through a dale,
I found a narrow nestled path unworn
which led me down a hidden nature trail.
I walked amongst the pine trees standing tall
along the hidden trail their shadows cast;
I heard a song bird chirp his mating call,
and reminisced sweet moments from my past.
The hidden path meandered far and near
and ended by a pond of sapphire blue
with splashing birds and water crystal clear,
and sirens bathing in the morning dew.
I wonder was this but a reverie,
or is it just my secret fantasy?
November 24, 2023
Footsteps shuffle hurriedly on by
scents of jasmine drop down
from pearl white flowers
adorning her flowing hair
Paradise engulfs my soul
recreating memories of old
a time when I mattered
and life was deemed whole
I yearn to go back to that place
filled with a freedom of being
dwelling in favorable light
no longer hidden in plain sight
inexplicable coincidences
mystic synchronicity
divinity at work
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on March 22, 2019 for contest WRITING CHALLENGE 4, MARCH 2019_KIMO sponsored by DEAR HEART - RANKED 2ND
Written: July 17, 2025, for contest sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
Quote: "Poetry is when an emotion has found its thought and the thought has found words," By Poet
*********
It glides—not gently,
but akin to a scrupulous scalpel,
a syllabic salve for rusted throats
and trapped desires.
It drips down the well of grief,
melting into metaphor,
softening jagged memories
into pains that are easier to bear.
This poetry is not serene.
It is slick with secrets
and greasy with grammar's
serpentine filth,
and sentences thrum
through the engine of anguish.
You utter the words,
and the universe starts to shift.
A bearing in the brain,
a balm under the bruises,
and syntax strung, such as silk
between broken cogs of memory.
Each line is dense.
Each verse unwinds—
caught in the hinge of desire and pain.
Essence of the oracle,
gleam of refinement.
Let it spread:
a rhythm that caresses,
a mouthful of taut truths
seeping through the snags of silence.
Good writing , like gold , combines lustrous lucidity with high density. What this means is good writing is packed with hints. ~ Eric Hoffer
And should I cherish lucid moments of my day
to dwell on how my words will paint the blue vellum?
Or dream that in those lucid thoughts may lie the way
to philosophies protected by dark pelham?
Soon to write my thoughts in a pleasing structured form,
I turn to flow my life for all to analyze.
Is it eloquence I seek, or a bright brainstorm
to loosely form coherent thoughts and crystallize?
Basking in boastful brilliance, words outflow freely,
purest unbridled revelry is extended
to writing fraught with inner secrets genteelly
hidden in subtle between-the-lines pretended.
Laying my pen aside, I read what is written.
Word by word, in silence, I am humbly smitten.
You died so long ago
Everyone just walked away
No on even remembers you
You do have stories left to tell
So many stories no one may ever hear
Hidden behind little drawers
It would be great if someone snuck in
Checked out those little drawers
Opening one after another
Just so they can learn the stories
And bring a little life back into you
© Poem – XII/III/MMXXI
You knocked, and I opened the door of my life
The welcome mat to my heart took in your first steps
You crossed the threshold and my strong foundation weakened with the weight of your words, your touch, your kiss
When you held me, all my broken pieces melted together
As we entertained the thought of being together
An emotional bond built on trust fueled a desire we couldn’t deny
While storms raged outside, threatening to wreck our world
I lay in bed wondering if you will come back to me
Two lovers denied the night, stealing moments in their days
A fire still burns inside of me, the glow of passion smolders deep within
You occupy the rooms of my soul yet I feel so abandoned
A house whose walls hold secrets not meant for others to hear
We left the doors and windows wide open
The breeze whispers through, echoing your name
The clock on the wall still chimes as time marches on
If I could stop it, I would, just for one more moment with you
It’s a place I visit often, but it’s not the same without you there