Best Inspirational Poems


When I Stop and Pray

When the storm clouds boil around me, 
And the lightning splits the sky--. 
When the howling wind assails me,
And life's sea is rolling high--
When my heart is filled with terror,
And my fears, I can't allay--
Then I find sweet peace and comfort, 
When I simply stop and pray.

When the things of life confound me,
And my faith is ebbing low--
When my trusted friends betray me,
And my heart is aching so--
When the night seems black and endless,
And I long for light of day--
Then I find a silver dawning,
When I simply stop and pray.

There are things beyond the heavens
I can't begin to understand,
But I know that God is living,
And I know He holds my hand.
Yes, I know He watches o'er me
All the night and all the day--
And He's always there to hear me
When I simply stop and pray.

Premium Member Healing Power of the Drum

your labored breathing
called out to me
and in my soul I knew
what needed to be done

I reached for the drum
to summon the spirits
called out to ancestors
and anyone who’d listen

gently tapping to the rhythm
of our beating hearts
united as one in a prayer
released to the universe

filled the silence of
your labored breathing
drumming for hours
till the pleading was done

everything had been said
the prayer consummated
left in the hands
of the universe to respond

then it did in no uncertain terms
in an exorcism of sorts
draining the passages
to free your breathing

and so it was
in tune with the universe
the healing power
of the drum



Read on air by invitation  ~  February 11, 2021  'LATE NIGHT POETS'

Read on KPBX called Poetry Moment by Kara Bowman 2022 [karabowman.com and griefpoetry.com]

AP: 2nd place 2022, 2nd place 2021, 3rd place 2022, Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2022, Honorable Mention 2021, Honorable Mention 2021, Honorable Mention 2021, Honorable Mention 2021, Honorable Mention 2021

Submitted on June 13, 2025 for contest YOUR BEST AUDIO POEM sponsored by TOM WOODY  -  RANKED 2ND

and on  May 28, 2021 for contest ALL YOURS (MAY 29) sponsored by BRIAN STRAND  -  RANKED 1ST

Premium Member Written In the Stars

Two hearts bleached by the sun
        A Poem's - fallen wish
               The Love 
            Of A Life Time

Majestic beams fall from heaven meadow
Two hearts stitched by the constellation
Under the moon's glow 
   You and I
Gazing up into the Starry Sky

This night we sit under the dazzling diamond dust
Our eyes feel and meet tonight 
Stars twinkle a poem of each paired heart
Listen......While......The God's Whisper!

What Is Love? 
They asked
A wish so gently by the stars 
Greeting young couples' heart 
Poor but, in love
Mimicking an old shadow
Light embrace this Auspicious moment 

-Aster Flares-
Intrigued by a sad lover's tale
Two souls forever rich- 
Sharing eternity through celestial bliss
Gravitating in the world owned by the stars
A most unfortunate turn of events, 
Romeo & Juliet
Collapsing stars rising with a hymn 
From the moment they fell
Only to reveal how beautiful-- 
-- the stars in the dark
Ever so wealthy, around Orion's Belt
Reading notes on every rhyme, every heartbeat

Stars fall every eve entering the atmosphere
Seeping through the soul, making love a part of a light
Permanent illusion
Fireflies Flaring up 
A passion that lasts longer than a moment

Each  zodiac unfolds
The stars tell you, who you are 
Gaze upon eternity
Follow the Northern star
Beneath your peaceful splendor 
They will bow
Sunset and the evening star, 
"My Star Of Love" 
Like glitter dust upon a timeless shore
Never will the memory of love be gone
Look up at the stars tonight,
For somewhere out there 
I read about YOU in a poem.


Premium Member Welcome To a Brand New World, Song Version

Welcome to a brand new world

Verse 1
How are you feeling right now?
Is there still a yearning in your heart?
You're probably like, ten million or more,
praying for a brand new start

Verse 2
What happened to the world you imagined?
Where justice and peace ruled the day...
Is it merely a dream or wishful thinking,
a fantasy that leads you astray


Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!


Verse 3
God has shown us how to love
So why is true peace elusive?
Monsters and imposters hide who they are,
they send out doves with a Judas kiss


Verse 4
It's been about two thousand years now
Praying for God's kingdom to come
Now's not the time to lose patience or faith,
it's time for God's will to be done


Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!

Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!

repeat and fade

John Derek Hamilton
December 13,2019



Re-posted with music and vocals
September 2,2020

Premium Member Evening Song

Conducted by the Hands that gave them voice
Sweet songs of evening soothe my weary soul.
Oh, how I love to hear the birds rejoice
As frogs and insects hum adagio.

Each night I sit and watch the sun go down
Accompanied by song that has no score
Each night His orchestra holds me spellbound
That's why each night, I come right back for more.

Yet I am just a simple country boy
These nature songs were my first lullabies
E'en to this day they bring my heart such joy
And on occasion tear these simple eyes

When moon appears to watch the sun depart
My only thought, "My God, how great Thou art."   


                   Daniel Turner

Premium Member Playing Human

The smile on my lips
is forced and coerced
I pretend to pay attention
give the best possible advice
everyone praises me
I'm so kind, polite and nice
It's all just automation
I rarely actually listen
certainly don't care
all I'm doing
is playing human
blending in
fitting in
I'm so perfectly hidden
you'll never even
see a curtain, 
from where I stand

   Majoring in social events
   Put on a pedestal
   for computing with you
   I'm so perfectly hidden 
   smiling from time to time
   Labeling those 
   with all sincerity
   open mind every day
   Passing along appeal
   continuing to fit in
   blend in
   pretend
   force program 
   Is it just me or
   am I the perfect human?


Premium Member Of Ink

Partial Paper  - A Poet Heart-

When ink carries its final tune
Moonshine-like liquid sweeps the mind
Bottles of ink will fill the pen
Composing a symphony on every line
Drops of passion all over the mask you wear
Nothing compares to black stains and broken nails

This part of you 
"A CAN'T BE REMOVED" tattoo
The toughest skin you'll ever live in
Fountain pens of split identities
Who Are You?
Sinking  words like no other
Poisoned ink piercing every rhyme
Inferior poet, making the heart pure
Anger shattered walls "GIVE ME MORE!"

inclined with a desire to paint all day,
Breathing and beating in every way
Toxic lines, from which ink flows
Inhaling images from the world
Deep and cold sorrowed emotions 
True love is always easy to poetize
Dear Poet:  "Ink Never Lies."

Pretty pink acrostic ink when nearby
Sugar and salt, Epic taste of reality
Ballads sang under the full moon
Sunny Sonnets, on any rainy day
Odes of rivers from your past
A dark smile jotting down memory lane
Monologue tears brought under pressure
Loading cartridges of fresh Senryu and Haiku"
Dramatic red runs through your veins when all is done
Unfolding old and new propaganda's
POET: You are my favorite verse in every stanza
   Only this, and nothing more
Writing is like giving birth to the moon

Premium Member First Communion

The powdery snow gloves the fingers 
of maple forest, protecting barren bark 
with the expectation of rose tipped bloom.

A meeting point between pristine
innocence and the veiled promise of spring
ripening. Each trunk and limb mirrors 

the action of man. Reaching, arching, 
swaying, creating aisles of church-like splendor, 
a sacrament where the virginal may walk

toward communion with their God. Inward 
toward the birth of faith and outward toward 
the wedgwood sky in celestial sight.

Premium Member The Fallen

She rests beneath her willow’s weeping rain,
As autumn strips them bare behind its theft;
Of slender leaves and tears, they stand bereft,
Yet sorrow, like the wind, begins to wane.
For all that falls to earth won't fall in vain,
And what escapes our sight has not yet left;
Though heavy hearts must carry now this heft,
It's how we know what’s lost to still remain.

And from the tears, the grieving willow weeps,
Its twigs and leaves descend to softened ground,
Reclaimed by earth and soil from which they grew.
For all that's ever buried merely sleeps,
And what we mourn as lost again is found,
When spring returns, and life begins anew.

Premium Member The Park Bench

The Park Bench

I wish I was a poet
With magical words
To make people see all of the absurd
Tears fly, paintings in pastel die

When we look into our mirrors
We sometimes miss
What love dumps upon all of us
We shed tears, for we forgot to shed fears

I have no legs, nor any crutches
So my voyage has ended
I only observe
Sadness upended

When goodness is confused
When gestures are refused
When the kiss that could have been
When a poets tear seems obscene

The one who hears is often deaf
The deaf sometimes have nothing left
If I could give a kiss away
I would give it to lovers with hearts that sway

Drawing love on paper in may

Premium Member My Winter

You entered my room
a long time ago
across many summers,
now when this winter looks
at the trees shedding the leaves
you are by the closed window
leaning on the cold wall
and I am by the fireplace,
your eyes on the cracking wood on fire
mine on the frosted window pane. 

Have you ever wondered
why my voice doesn’t reach you,
the words crash on the wall
and fall silent, that’s why.

Have you ever wondered
why my warmth doesn’t touch you,
the feelings brush the window pane
and freeze inert, that’s why.

Have you ever wondered
why my eyes don’t look into yours,
the vision is stuck on barren trees outside
and waits for the spring, that’s why.

Have you ever wondered 
why my hands can’t hold yours,
the reach is lost in distant time
and breaks separated, that’s why.

I have wondered
if I could break the cold wall
shatter the iced window pane 
make the trees green again
would my voice rise from the dust
the warmth of my mind melt the ice
my eyes bring colors of spring in yours,
would the time stop 
stop to create distance
and I could hold your hands again.

Posted : November 23, 2017.

Premium Member In a Sad Blindness, One May Yet Find Hope

In A Sad Blindness, One May Yet Find Hope
           (The Solemn Prayer)

Raining splashing, fierce winds blowing and huge trees sway
I pray not for all this, on some other black day
With dark blue shadows plotting my early demise
I seek deep wisdom from sages worldly and wise
Not just some clever words to soothe this shattered heart
Instead sweet hope, light in words, to this life restart
With power to waken these world-blinded closed eyes
Stop salty tear drops falling from splintered skies.

On this day, life should see past these looming black-storms
Find solace in love, hope and my loving wife's arms
Yet that stone wall, yields to nothing but great power
Far more than this broken soul can muster this hour
When thus lost, can one ever find again that Light
Healer of dagger stabbed wounds, found on a dark night
I pray, gift wisdom to walk that one true-lit path
Release this sad soul from, this evil, wicked wrath.

Raining splashing, fierce winds blowing and huge trees sway
I pray not for all this, on some other black day
With dark blue shadows plotting my early demise
I seek deep wisdom from sages worldly and wise
Not just some clever words to soothe this shattered heart
Instead sweet hope, light in words, to this life restart
With power to waken these world-blinded closed eyes
Stop salty tear drops falling from splintered skies.

Robert J. Lindley, 2-07-2017

Syllables Per Line: 
12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 0 12 12 12 12 12 12 12 12
Total # Syllables: 288
Total # Words: 225

Note-  I decided to write this poem, this morn. About half had already been composed in my head yesterday afternoon and I finally sat down now to put pen to paper.
Believe me, in that it was not an easy task to finish this and be satisfied with the results.
Maybe I am just tired and stopped because of that.
I don't know. Maybe on another day, I could have and would have thought this lacking and rewritten it..
But today, I have only enough to say, this is as it is(and thus it may stay), hope you may find it agreeable and not fault me too much .......

Premium Member Warriors

This one is for the broken,
hiding behind invisible bruising.
For the forgotten and the ones 
who have forgotten us,
like the misunderstood misfits.
Who howl at the moon,
look beyond the stars, 
for some form of understanding.

For the one you labeled a weirdo.
Who's life is a cocktail of corruption,
struggling with ignorant co-existence.
For the ones who have lost their voice,
unable to speak unspoken truths,
like the child of stolen innocence.

For the abused, the violated, the humiliated.
Those who chose to run and are still running.
Hope you find a safe haven to call home.
Like the ones who no longer dream,
due to demonic intrusions.

This one is for those who 
continue to love ferociously.
Breathing genuinely in a world of 
hypocrisy and artificial actions.
Who's hearts are an archive of
old songs, lost in the concept of time.
Their piano keys of darkness and light,
have eroded with each tremor,
but still refuse to sell their emotions.
Preferring an overdose of life
lost in lullabies of rain -
battling against ugliness of adversity.

Their hope eradicates thunder,
emanating clear blue skies -
souls illuminating like a ring of fire.

We all have a purpose, a personal potential,
find it, feel it, be it.
There will always be a mountain,
with wandering wayward winds -
but there are several ways to conquer it -
just believe in the beauty of your being.

We are warriors.

Simple Musing
Silent One
30 November 2020
© Silent One  Create an image from this poem.

Premium Member Never Stop Dancing

I am the diamond
     that breathes 
     in your hands;
The fine lace to sway in
     breezes through windows
     as I crumble dedans la pirouette;
The cyclone, the earthquake,
     implosion of power
     in your arms.

          Spin me a room,
          Weave me a rainbow,
          Pull me to you and
          push me away.
          Burn me, absorb me.

I tumble, trip, fall, 
     to be lifted by you,
     elevated, levitated;
Finest rags, softest fringe,
     ripple around 
     last evening light;
Raise me slowly
     on tiptoes;
Rescue me, scream my name
     loud.

          Spin me your laughter,
          Catch me, don't drop me,
          Pull me to you,
          never push me away.
          Dance, don't stop.

Never stop.

***

May 10, 2017 
Copyright © Darren White

Premium Member Pardon From the Storm

Take my heart and carry me
to where all dreams are born.
Into loves arms, oh such a place
that's always safe and warm.
Away from such deceitful lairs
where blackened virtues swarm.
into a light where peace must shine
and grants us pardon from a storm.

High above the mountain tops
or low as low can be.
Makes no difference where we are
a wondrous lyric calls to me.
Singing of your splendor
like a miracle performed.
I'll stay with you to find the port
that grants us pardon from a storm.


POTD 03/03/2018

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