Best High And Dry Poems
A strange sight upon a lonely road.
A dream ripped in half.
Looking closer, I wonder what was the travail.
An old price tag attached, making me wonder at what price it was sold.
Along the edges, tattered and torn, it gave forth an evil laugh.
As if some sly devil concocted a way to turn someone pale.
Onward I traveled, with pack upon my back.
To the left and right of the road were littered with more broken dreams.
So many that one could not keep track.
Some having been blown into the parallel stream.
So, I checked the pack upon my back.
And, yep all my dreams were there in a stack.
Cold winds howl, trying to rip my back pack to shreds.
Freezing were the winds, but forward I march.
Never losing sight of my dreams in spite of many dreads.
They all hold up strong even though many times I'm in a lurch.
Suddenly I see people returning to the road.
Going back and picking up their dreams.
Dusting them off and restoring them to their pack.
Each and every one said to me, you are quite bold.
To go forth and not let the cold winds of fate not destroy your knack.
To face life as it comes and not give up even if offered gold.
Good, bad fortune, are likewise of no importance.
Put a failed dream back in your pack and maybe a new day will appear.
Where you can unpack that dream and give it another go.
But, for today, march forward, today's failure might tomorrow's dance.
You gave it your best, and win or lose, that game has ended with a spear.
Win or lose, that game is done so pack it's knowledge away in your pack and grow.
Suddenly down the road a new vista appears and a brand new game.
Left high and dry or victorious are the two possible ends of any venture.
But in truth, knowledge is all you will have, win or lose.
For tomorrows game is just around the bend, all the same.
Win or lose, the game of life only ends for the moment within sight of the new adventure.
So, to quit and call it the end, only makes you look like a goose.
Ryan, Where are You?
Oh Ryan, please tell me, where are you?
I'll never forget that tragic summer of August 1992,
when you left without even bidding a final adieu –
not even a single wave good-bye,
just leaving us high and dry.
How could you just simply disappear?
Like a dark shadow, in a grey mist...not really there?
Gone to heaven or God knows where?
My dear Ryan, did you think we really wouldn’t care?
One day you're enjoying the sunshine, doing so well;
the next day buried in a cold grave where you now dwell;
You always said that tomorrow’s not promised to anyone.
Now, you’ll never get to see another glorious sunset or dawn.
I heard you were run over by a Brooklyn-bound train.
But neither the police nor the coroner could adequately explain -
was your death instantaneous or did you suffer any pain?
Please help me to understand - who’s to blame?
Please tell me - was it just an untimely death?
Please explain to me - was it just your fate you met?
At birth, did the Three Fates your destiny set?
Or were you just in the wrong place at the wrong time...
an innocent bystander who hadn’t committed any crime?
When Atropos cruelly severed the thread of your short life,
the incredible pain of losing you cut deep like a butcher’s knife.
But, my dear brother, your treasured memory will be with us always,
through your children and in our hearts ‘till the end of our days!
05-23-2014
Contest: Favorite Poem You've Ever Written
Sponsor: Carol Eastman
Placement: 1st
REPLACEMENT
I champion a different philosophy of life
On a scale line of dramatic and emotional
Thought
Ranging from hate to love –
Weight dishes filled balanced evenly –
Replacement overpowers the right extreme
The love dish clatters noisily on the table
Hate is left hanging high and dry
Replaced by love
Whose presence is monumentally ponderous
The ideology remarkably simple –
Any thought residing in the suspended hate dish
Is blessedly replaced by love.
Dave Austin
I remember all the hateful acts
The times you made me cry
How did you expect me to react?
When you left me high and dry.
In my life, I have reached a point
Where I care no longer
All the times you upset and abused me
Has made me stronger.
I would like to thank you all
For all that you have done
I will hold my head up high and stand tall
So, do not think for a second, that you have won.
I am stronger than any of you will ever know
It is the reason I am the person I am today
Because of this, I was able to grow
And your actions paved the way.
Have you ever had an ‘I’ve wasted my whole life’ moment
If you have, or if you can close your eyes and imagine one…
You don’t necessarily have to be 'that old,’ though
you may sob harder at the age of dwindling returns
… The pain is soul-searing: you’ve poured your heart
into a child, a close relative, a relationship, a marriage
and now you’ve been left irretrievably high and dry,
so you have failed… miserably...
There’s no one can ‘coach you’ through waves of despair
stomach-churning nausea, ready to devour you
No ‘pep talk magic’ to revive your spirits, to restore your equilibrium
‘Pep talks’ are for performers; you are not acting, your pain is real
But there is this: It's All Good. For you.
~ Consider the Source.
We are the smallest birds,and some mistake us for insects!We realize who we are,and we communicate on many levels of intelligence so that we can be relavent!,and connected,and respected.We fly faster ,and higher than any insect,and we possess an intelligence that can cause a president ,doctor,lawyer,teacher,preacher,racist,hater,player,actor,mystic,or even a critic to change their minds to do right: We do this just in the nick of time to be blessed for stopping a mess!! We fly and land on a man,s chest,or a woman's breast,and when we land there;they realize that we are not insects,but small birds with words to help us all hold our heads high ,and dry tears from every eye. We as poets are here to bring joy,and power while using words of wisdom in any arena where some have to ,and must make a decision!The words of a "Poet"can and does change people,and the way they behave,and bring joy into their nights and days. We feel the vibes,and we transmit the positive waves;both morning,noon,nights,and years,and all days!Maya Angelou landed on "MY" manly chest,and she landed on my mother's "Breast",and gave us a message,and a quest!We were dying,but we flew over "Death",and "Death passed us by! We are blessed,and we realize the reason why we did not die!We put on the whole suite of armor that has been given to us to have a victory over any enemy "Achieved",so that we will succeed!!WHEN "YOU GET" MONEY OR ANYTHING ELSE": YOU NEED TO "GIVE" IN ORDER FOR YOU TO CONTINUE TO "LIVE" OR MAYBE YOU WILL "DIE" FOR BEING "THE GREEDY" WHO WOULD NOT HELP "THE NEEDY"!!!! WHEN "YOU "LEARN" ,GO AHEAD AND "TEACH"!!!SCIENCE IS "KNOWLEDGE",! sCIENCE IS A CERTAIN "KIND"OF KNOWLEDGE.THERE EXIST KNOWLEDGE OF "ALL, ALL, KINDS,AND PHYSICS IS "JUST "ONE"!!! SPIRITUAL KNOWLEDGE IS WHERE "ALL SCIENCE,AND EVERY THING THAT CAN EXIST COMES FROM IN THE "UNIVERSE"....NOW "THE PHYSIST CAN BUST A "NUT" AND FINALLY "COME! THERE IS A .NUT TO CAUSE A .NUT.COM.AND THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANYONE!!! .COM=.NUT. WHAT IS .COM WITHOUT .NUT?
Beirut.
You’ve always been the life of the party.
I’ve seen the sun smile at you,
on Saturday mornings.
As your women
hung over and wrecked
with Jesus crosses on their necks
waltz through streets
trying to find a ride back home.
Your green wooden window panes,
always left open.
Always left waiting.
A sign of hope.
As if something holy
or someone with a red cape on
would come
and save you.
I see it
I feel it
The pain
The terror
I see the bullets
That have pierced through your walls
Left you with nothing
Your anarchists
Your extremists
Your people
Your children
Are all fighting
Over a hit
of the fix you gave them.
Oh Beirut,
what have they done?
I see the clouds of smoke rising
I see your people left bare
with secrets to strip off
and hang on the laundry ropes
that fill your skies
The writings on your walls say it all.
You’ve lost your soul
You’ve lost your spark
Corruption
Destruction
You made the rules
and then asked us to break them.
I’m not sure who to blame.
Them,
Or you.
You left me high and dry-
Lost in the alleys of your dark streets
I didn’t know who to blame.
So I asked around, Beirut.
I asked the men on motorcycles
who snatch purses from old women.
I asked your nine year old
gypsy beggars.
I asked your officers
and the teenagers in cellars,
who in another world could’ve been heroes or poets.
I asked your university students,
but they were too stoned to comprehend my questions.
High on a drug of complacency
High on a drug of nonchalance
High on a drug of compromise.
So
Numb
Numb
Numb
I asked your gods.
Your middle-men.
The pictures on the walls
of your many leaders.
I asked your fathers
Your rapists
Your artists
Your lawyers
Your educators
I even asked the old man pushing a cart of oranges in Hamra.
But nothing was to be found…
Not even a tad of sanity…
Not even a sense of security
You couldn’t give me that, could you?
Oh Beirut.
You’ve always been the life of the party.
But I’ve seen them frown at you,
when dawn breaks and you walk out on them
hung over and wrecked
with a cross around your neck
walking over shattered beer bottles…
trying to find a ride back home.
Who the hell do you think you are?
Who give you the right
To behave
Like the rest of the cave men?
I thought you were enlightened
Learned
I thought….
Damn you!
Damn you for wasting my time
My love
My life
On someone like you!
I thought you were made
With heavenly fibers
With other world cells
That would appreciate the honesty
The devotion
The care
The babying
The being at your beck and call
The moving my schedule around to fit you
The moving my day around to suit you
The moving my life around to accommodate YOU
That you found in me!!!!
I thought....
DAMN!
But you are like the rest
Once you have it all
You take it for granted
Think you are the king of the world
THE MASTER OF THE UNIVERSE
You are just a man
A MAN
A typical MAN
Need the mystery???
The chase????
The need to hunt
To capture your prey
Still burns in your veins?
GO then
Get OUT
Go and hunt
Just don’t expect to come here...tired, weary
And have your meal ready
And your desert to be me
All creamed up
Ready....
To be licked clean...
Need to be treated like dirt???
To want?
To pursue?
Is that why
You came here to end it all?
I’m no longer a challenge for you?
Too much of a commitment involved?
Is your baggage getting in the way?
I could have unpacked it for you
And seen you through
Damn…damn damn damn
I’ll never learn
To hold back
And not give it all away
Now you want to leave???
Yea, it’s been nice
OF COURSE IT’S BEEN NICE, MORON
I gave you my heart and soul
THAT’S EQUIVALENT TO PARADISE
Yes, dear…
You would like to leave?
Can’t give me what I deserve
BLA BLA BLA BLA
Shut up!
LEAVE!
GOOD RIDDANCE!
I won’t grieve
Let me walk you to the door
I gave you all and more
Not because you were all that
But because I’m ALL THAT!
And MORE
That’s the way I love
That’s the way I adore
Go….good luck
When that temptress leaves you high and dry
And you taste the poison in her pie
When you finally come to see
She has the breasts
But NO HEART underneath
You'll remember me…..
Don’t come to this door
JUST LET ME BE!
Don't you DARE go knock on this door
Because, MR ALL THAT!
“LOVE DON’T LIVE ANYMORE.”
Eileen Manassian Ghali
Inspired by something someone dear to my heart is going through....
No one ever talks about it
it hurts
it throbs
uncomfortable
\No one knew what to say
especially when it was no longer all about them
but it was
Who have i been with?
who have you been with!!!?
the tears
pain
throbbing
thief of under
under where?
under there
All my friends were busy
Called mom yesterday we fought
My brother bout fell off the wagon
cause i want to move away if he moves near
and they're all blaming my ex
i know better
psychological torment
Im the ****
Im the whore
I blame myself as i should
serves me right
right?
so who wants a piece of this pie?
drug induced schitsoeffective
mood disorder
mentally ill
diseased
Lover Boy
all for you
Just give me more pills
Two friends left
I don't want to talk to the Angel whose ex stole my password to this site
My ex girlfriend whose room i lit on fire owes me 240 dollars for her drug debt
things are getting better
happy birthday rip off
merry Christmas debt
high and dry
Now Herpe New year
and i wept
again
stronger this time to not go over the reasons to live versus those i should die
and i laid in bed
with no one to hold
so young
people are cruel
I'm the joke dressed in suicide
just make sure you wash your hands
when you clean up after my mess
you might get infected
and then as the songs go sang by the artists
that sing about how my names are songs
I'll be the one responsible for killing all of my friends and myself after all
For the love of latex and lesions
practice safe sex
know your partners well
and remember life aint no merry go round
it can happen to you
it happened to me
and I've only been out of the funny farm
for three years
before that i was clean
before that was high school
and the nightmare i will always remember and equate with the word
DREAM
A special woman,
With a heart of gold,
Was able to walk, talk,
And perform on her own,
Her husband loves her,
Because shes simple and sweet,\
Till one day,
She was in a horrific accident,
In the hospital,
Laying in bed,
Her husband staying by her side,
She awakes,
And finds herself shocked,
She can't walk,
It's hard for her to talk,
Little by little,
Step by step,
She tries to take back,
Control of her life,
Her husband leaves her,
He gets tired of waiting,
She fully recovers,
With very few problems left,
He comes back,
Hoping she will forgive and forget,
She looks at him,
And begins to say,
"God bless you,
For I have managed on my own,
No help from you,
Because now your gone,
You left me high and dry,
When I needed you the most,
But I have over come it all,
You continue your life,
Without me,
Since you have left,
I have found myself again,
And I am very happy,
So god bless you,
And move on your way,
For I have tackeled all of this,
And you,
And it's time for me,
To continue this in my own way.....
"Sit Down Young Stranger" And I'll tell you a story
Of a troubadour who sang about "The Way I Feel"
I stood in his "Shadows" just "East of Midnight"
Couldn't believe my "Summertime Dream" was real
I "Salute" the man who sang about "Sundown"
His music helped ease my strife
Traveling his "Carefree Highway" I found
"Harmony" in the "Summer Side of Life"
"If You Could Read My Mind" you'd know
The "Rainy Day People" and the pain
O being left "High And dry" in a "Circle of Steel"
Standing in the "Early Morning Rain"
Now "The Watchman's Gone", there's a "Bend in The Water"
"Rainbow Trout" swim but the "Circle is Small"
I watch "All The Lovely Ladies" as I'm "Alberta Bound"
But they are not on my "Protocol"
I'd do "Anything For Love" , for my sweet "Daylight Katy"
I'd give up all my fortune and fame
Then "I'll Tag Along" "Restless" and tired
If I knew "Did She Mention My Name"
All Gordon Lightfoot songs in quotation marks.
He drives around, picking up girlz.
Proudly displaying his emoticon bumpertricker.
His vomitrocious personality,
hidden behind smiley face lie.
The master of snark,
with an old man's easy style.
Try not to look into those grue eyes.
His is a pretend wise with a fake smile.
He'll fill your mind with pretentious smog.
Your heart to clog, with consummating tobacco.
He'll blow smoke up your donkey,
from his corngobbed pipe.
Fifties fedora, a bodacious tie.
Hair colored in black dye, he wears a crisp white shirt.
Disguising inner dirt and devious smile.
Don't be blind, he's not worth a dime.
He'll leave you high and dry, you'll wonder why.
Why did you accept that ride?
Debbie Guzzi's Portmanteaus contest.
Emoticon
My word... Bumpertricker
Vomitrocious
Snark
Grue
Smog
My word ....Corngobbed
Bodacious
He stood for hours 'neath the inviting mistletoe,
But nary a gal took notice of his miserable woe!
He smiled and made goo-goo eyes as they passed by,
But they just tittered leaving him high and dry!
He slyly pointed to the mistletoe with a silly grin,
But this didn't impress a soul, much to his chagrin!
He shifted from one foot to the other still hopin'
When to his horror he discovered that his fly was open!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2013 All Rights Reserved
If you gonna hurt me
dont hurt me like this
paralyze me a hug
kill me with a kiss
Burn me with passion and
and drown me with with love
without you in my life im just a vegetable cant move
and if i cant have you might as well pull the plug
Just leave me hanging high and dry from the tree of misery and despair
sentence me to 25 to life on death row with you, at the end put me in the electric chair
Kidnap me put me in the basement of your heart
tie me up in ropes and chains
im your prisoner of love, make me your slave
Im dedicated to you so no i wont run
muzzle me and chop off my hands if i try to call 911
With you forever is where i want to be
so with you forever and all eternity is where i'll R.I.P.
Life can be glorious and life can be serene
Life can be discouraging and life can be mean
Life can be first love and life can also be its loss
Life can be a helping hand and life can be an albatross
Life can be a soft caress and life can punch you in the gut
Life can bring you happiness and life can leave you in a rut
Life can bring you disappointment and life can lift your spirits high
Life can bring you riches and life can leave you high and dry
Life can take away your pride and life can leave you without a friend
Life can bring you to your knees and life can seem a virtual dead end
What is this thing we view as life with its constant ups and downs?
To feel, to breath, to hurt, to love, to die amidst a million smiles and frowns
We didn’t ask to be here; we could have just as well remained as dust
Instead we find ourselves alive and so to stay alive we must
So how do we go on from here, given the situation that exists?
Should we choose to make the best of it with all its turns and twists?
Or should we find the nearest closet and hide behind its door?
Peeking out only now and then, never venturing out to re-explore
The choice is yours and yours alone my friend, only you can finally decide
Here’s hoping you choose to face life head on and give it one hell of a ride.
©Copyright Charlie Gragg January 1, 2011