Best Hollow Poems
A hollow heart devoid of love
is like a night no stars above,
or like an old abandoned well
whose empty echoes speak of hell.
A lonely heart will gently weep
as raindrops through her veins will seep,
and cascade down a pallid cheek,
and leave a weary spirit weak.
My broken spirit aches with pain
when sun sinks low at end of day,
and darkness douses hopes thereof
as midnight chimes amidst the rain.
These sad forsaken dreams portray
my hollow heart devoid of love.
June 17, 2020
under streetlights haloing amid the black trees,
your shadow follows close to me
on the familiar sidewalk
where we talk of a million nothings
at home in the dark
I lie awake, again,
whispering to you
my every thought
while the moon is caught
in the hollow space beside me
filled with the eager nearness of your
listening
now all is echo
hollow, where we once walked
hollow, where we once talked
of the nothings and the everythings
never afraid
never alone
I am given the vaporous rush
of you, lingering
in all that love,
there is no love
like that
which I feel
when the night begins,
in the dim quiet voice
of the hallowed silence
Watching the empty streets
As a heavy rain wash the dirty town.
Deep darkness drape the drives
That lead to dead ends.
Drafts of wind dash hanging pots,
Ruin is the reign of the time.
She barely breathed a farewell.
No whisper weaving a soft adieu
Not even a hug or a parting kiss.
My heart echoes a hollow hum.
It beats like the harsh wind outside.
Life is so hollow, so non-descript.
And sleep has fled. I’ll find no rest.
Sorrow does not sleep. Shadows fill my room.
No moonlight penetrates the heavy drizzling clouds.
Suddenly I leave my forlorn house
And wander right into the rain. Wet and cold,
I feel cleansed and I return, the past washed away.
That night I slept deeply.
(a combo of free verse and rhyme, so I'm calling it verse)
The race for all humanity is on.
On your mark,
Ready
Set
GO
Make a dash for Saks
Then realize their prices
you can’t afford.
Many of the runners
are way too slow.
How can everyone keep up?
Pocketbooks too
are running low.
What to do? What to do?
Will you accumulate enough
to make it through?
How glittery the gold:
the bracelets, the chains,
the fancy rings and other things.
We rush through life.
We run and run and run
trying to obtain all we can
beneath God’s golden sun.
The bills are coming in:
electric, water, gas,
the mortgage and insurances.
Taxes overdue.
Make a sprint to the nearest mint.
Discover this: is the gold even there?
This race is so unfair!
Yes, the race is hard, but do you still
want the facade of great prestige?
Then find the hollow gold.
It still can look big and bold
stamped authentic gold
from ten to eighteen K.
Only you will know the emptiness
inside.
Don’t let others see what you’re about.
Just be sure not to wear it out.
Life is closing in on you.
The race is winding down.
What have you got to show for it?
Are your spouse and children happy?
Did you make some people smile?
Were you kind to those in the race
left far behind?
The golden gates of heaven
await.
That’s a gold you surely need
and where there is no greed.
Before the race even had its start,
were you smart?
Did you drop out?
And if you’re still halfway through,
S L O W
down.
Stop the mundane madness.
Possessions you can’t forever
hold.
And the only gold that matters is
that of a heart of gold.
The October night was dark and cold,
As the autumn sun was going down,
When I recalled the legends I had been told,
About this sleepy, little town.
There were tales about the haunted woods,
They say the wind seems to call your name,
I was going where no one should,
And if I survived, I'd never be the same.
I walked through the covered bridge,
As the harvest moon rose into the sky,
I had made it around the darkened ridge,
Just as I heard a lone wolf's cry.
I walked the path of the dark, gnarled thicket,
Through the fallen leaves of maple and oak,
I heard the chirping of a cricket,
Near the hollow, where the bullfrogs croak.
Then, I heard the "hoot" of an owl in a tree,
And the "caw" of a raven on it's perch,
The headless horseman I hoped not to see,
As I passed the graveyard near the church.
I told myself I would be alright,
Just as I heard the hooves of a horse,
But, I knew I would make it home tonight,
Because there are no ghosts, of course.
August 30th, 2013
(This was my tribute to "The Legend Of Sleepy Hollow" by Washington Irving.
I wrote it from the perspective of Ichabod Crane.)
I want to howl, run and flee,
not to watch what I don't see.
I want to rise, run and flee
not have to watch what's in the sea.
Tonight, I am like a seed unplanted,
blown by the wind.
I pray not to remember
that day in December,
when the grass was green
and I fell in love with you.
I wish to forget when my life
felt so soothing with you,
when we met under the sparkling moon,
that unique night in December.
I crave to forget how your eyes
used to close, whenever you kissed me,
forget the way your heart beat,
whenever you whispered in my ear,
how much you loved me.
Forget how you used to rest
your head on my shoulder,
tell me words I wanted to hear,
forget it was only you
who could make me sigh.
Help me forget. It was only you
who could illuminate
my darkness,
it was you who could thrill
my heart with love.
I have to forget. It was only you,
who could sway me to understand
how to grant my reverie
become real.
Let me forget how each night at twilight
we would pray for the evening,
to be just the two of us,
dream of the days send
just to be together.
Forget how our sweet souls
would reach the sky, touch each other
until we could no more endure,
but make love.
Help me forget how my dreams
started to develop a sweet sensation,
than previous ones, after I laid eyes on you,
that day in December.
Forget how dancing with you
was almost charged with electricity
whenever we touched.
Let me forget, how you appeared
that day in December like an illusion,
when the light went on.
Suddenly, my life was shining,
nothing was normal when I knew
you were the one and only,
forty five years ago.
Tonight, we became separated shadows.
Tomorrow, will become hollow circumstances.
You left me sinking in my tears.
Therese Bacha
March 15 2014
I knew them in their innocence
Once filled with imagination and joy
Playing fun games, climbing trees
Offering a helping hand to others
Able to care, able to be who they are
Then, those who ruled had their way
Teaching inexplicable things
They were trapped by ‘conditional’ love
Striving, always striving to earn it
Nothing was ever good enough
Then abuse, turned their fear to rage
Later, I saw them become hollow
Empathy was gone with time
Hollow like dead, old, trees
Acting out as if they will never fall
Following footsteps of those who ruled
Becoming a reflection of all they endured
They are living, but they are gone
Carrying out their immoral ways
Was it the only way to get recognition?
Was it the only way to be safe?
By being on the side of perpetrators?
I will never know the full reason
I have only watched to witness
Their innocence disappear in the dark
But, I still remember the days
When they were young and innocent
Just trying to be who they are
Now, their eyes hold a vacant stare
Their beings are hollow, without a care
Turned into the monsters they once feared
Heidi Sands
6/11/18
*Placed 2nd in the Hollow Contest.
Hollow words they say , they write
No substance or truth in sight
Hollow words
Compassion, kindness they incite
No actions to support their caring plight
Hollow words
Pretence and deception in full flight
No confirmation to their meaningless trite
Hollow words
Their insincerity not apparent to all despite
Politely said , they are full of shi*e
And….
Hollow words
Hollow man
Hollow man, an empty vessel,
lived life with vain abandon
Selfishness and carnal lust
were his constant companions
Happiness was sought, indulging
frantically in fleshly pleasures
Pain was his only reward instead
of priceless treasures.
Chasing worthless endeavors,
enticed by deluded aspirations
Followed the leanings of his foolish heart,
lead to altered expectations
He gulped down licentiously,
every drink that was in fashion
Spent his life in wantonness and
unbridled passions
He spiraled down, seduced into
debauchery's black hole
and wonders to himself, why there
is emptiness in his soul
He seared his innocent conscience,
rejected words heard so long ago
Truth remains even though despised,
you will reap what you sow
Now, he sits, disillusioned and alone,
staring into the cracked mirror
His bleary eyes beginning to see,
the truth ever clearer
Still, he ponders
if these consequences...
are part of destiny's plan...
it's hard to admit to himself,
his own bad choices...
created this...
hollow man.
April 10,2017
I am the hope inside
That feeds on tide and wind
As ocean shores abide
A storm's subsiding din
I am the joy that died
Before the world took wing
Where cold and dark things hide
Beneath a cheerful grin
I am the vacant eye
The black and gaping stare
The vain and cunning lie
That only truth can bear
Where raging hearts surrender
I drop anchor there
As dying embers stir
And faith invokes despair
Written by © Raven Drake
Words and actions
We can't take back
Then say "I'm sorry"
After the fact
Pleasures taken today
Are tomorrow's regrets
Apologies offered
We hope they forget
Contentment subsides
Reality sets in
We got what we wanted
At the price of a friend
Self-gratification
Was our only concern
Relationships damaged
Why can't we learn
That consequences of acting
Before we think
Can not be repaired
By being succinct
Posted on another website under my pen name "poemdog" Daniel Turner
I, the empty man,
The hollow man,
Exist here in the shadows
Of twilight. My senses dead,
Burned out of me along with
The tattered, wasted rags
That were the only remnant
Of my tortured soul.
Like hellfire, the flames
Roared through my Self,
Consuming all there was and
Leaving naught but the acrid
Stench of a being destroyed.
My eyes now stare out from an
Empty shell that once held so
Much life and promise.
A vessel that once was filled with
Hopes and dreams of happiness.
Those are all gone now, replaced
With a fathomless nothingness.
Black is the void that dwells within
Now. It swallows all light and laughter
And echoes back a harsh mockery of
Life. Still the fires smolder, eating away
At the foundation, the supports, moving
Itself toward total collapse. When it does,
I will become the nothingness that I
Contain. Swallowed by the void, with
Nothing left but my anguished screams,
Echoing into oblivion.
locked - cell
dark hides in my place
my vains are filled with ebony
cut me and find out
my inner peace is lost outside
i will drown you where you stand
i eat egg eaters
K.
Crystalline Winter Hollow
A camp fire against solid hollow black
Holds the cold and limited visibility
Hours come born without warning
Near to night, wild on the snow storm
A dim light draws us home vulnerable
It is a dot in the distance
Illusions of fireplace and warmth
A hunt for life between each snowflake
Moving on as the snow deepens under foot
Each step is sunken treasure subaqueous submerged
Cold and water take their risk in winters grip
The lake may not take the weight of passage
Camp fire is a long way off now
So is that dot of light called home
Frozen images are all that’s left
Hidden there on the distance, crystalline alone
When a boy, I was forced to be a man
To large a task, for someone so small
Still when there is love, you do all you can
A minature adult, not very tall
Doing the job, that I was forced to do
To large a task, for someone so small
Happy memories, there were very few
Life was far from easy, trapped in that place
Doing the job that I was forced to do
All of the sadness, I wish I could erase
Won't give me back the days, the childhood lost
Life was far from easy, trapped in that place
You stole my laughter, forced me to pay the cost
All the hollow promises that you made
Won't give me back the days, the childhood lost
Time to forgive, in the ground you are laid
With the hollow promises you made
When a boy I was forced to be a man
still when there is love, you do all you can