Best John Steinbeck Poems
We harvested the grapes in late autumn
when ripeness of love was at its best,
but deceit in the time of maturing
changed the passion to wrath and unrest.
Acerbic vinegar replaced sweet wine
and richness of flavour ceased to be mine.
Betrayed was the pledge of a tender vine.
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Syllable count: 10-9-10-9 10-10-10
Rhyme Scheme: a b c b d d d
Novel: Grapes of Wrath (John Steinbeck)
Contest: Titles of Novels
Sponsor: Nette Onclaud
Placed 3rd
© paul callus ~ 10 June 2016
Categories:
john steinbeck, betrayal, lost love,
Form:
Rhyme
We farmers are sliding deeper into the hole.
The drought has caused a devastating dust bowl.
Unlike the Joads who moved out the California,
this family wants to keep its feet in Oklahoma.
Failures of the crops has really been a pain.
Can’t the Almighty be merciful and bring rain?
What we see is another dry and desolate day.
The only thing we have left to do is pray.
If the rain finally comes and brings an end to this,
the very ground we walk upon is what I will kiss.
Based upon the novel “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck
Categories:
john steinbeck, family, rain,
Form:
Rhyme
I have found what I consider a great prize:
In an oyster was a pearl of enormous size.
The villagers have all flocked around me.
This great jewel is what they have come to see.
This could bring my wife and I some money.
Now, I can see a future for our baby.
However, my once friendly neighbors hate me.
My wife and I are victims of their jealousy.
They are trying to get my pearl out of trickery.
Having no value is what they want to convince me.
For medical care, they demanded I pay.
My baby got very sick and died the other day.
Bad luck and misfortune have hounded us all the way.
This pearl is unlucky and not welcome anymore.
I will throw it back into the water where I found it before.
Based on the short story “The Pearl” by the late John Steinbeck.
March 15, 2013
Categories:
john steinbeck, adventure, grief, wife,
Form:
Rhyme
Once there was an end of the war in sight,
they built their John Steinbeck ship,
hoisted the Ayn Rand flag
and sailed to the promised land.
Upon the honeyed shore, there she was,
their old enemy, milky arms wide open in welcome.
Blood and spit dripping from her mouth, she said,
kindness isn't a two-way street.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 17 / 11 / 2016
Categories:
john steinbeck, allusion, immigration, journey, perspective,
Form:
Free verse
I wish Cesar was here
now
Someone who know how important
farm workers are, giving them a strong
voice,
You got to see this empire
and how it has exploited all the life
that built it,
And all the money spent to fight needless
wars,
And all the reasons why the rich invest
all their money in stocks and bonds,
And maybe try working in the fields
just for a day
And they grow wild flowers and
when the honey bees come in
they sing aleluya
just because they are wild
I just wish you trouble yourself
to know, that they know
that they are no different
that you
Aleluya Aleluya Aleluya
tell me about math
tell me about
all this life in the universe
I just wish
you cared enough to
worry about thee
Like Cesar, and John Steinbeck
did.
Is that even possible
Trust me when I tell you this
Aleluya yes it is.
Peace!
Categories:
john steinbeck, america, analogy, anniversary,
Form:
Choka
4 matches left
for John Steinbeck @ Annabel Lee@of course E.A.POE
Chickens; a roaring rooster
An old house filled with flys
and many bugs
Many Mexican neighbor
Friend
no water no elec
No Amends
Romans 11: 29
" For the gifts and calling of GOD are without repentance"
Cold beer sometimes-mostly hot
and a cheap cigar
Romans 12:9
dissimulation means Hypocrisy-Scornful-psalm1vs1
Noise heat sweat no work no shower no money no respect
NO REGRET
nO FAMILY NO CHURCH
A FEW RARE FRIENDS
I WILL NOT USE
Enlightenment
I AM embedded in a bunker on the front...
Know I Love You and all the little Children too...
I do not like Zealots who work for money!
I like people that work for GOD
Categories:
john steinbeck, baptism,
Form:
Iambic Pentameter
In youth I learned to jump
First off steps, then rooftops
Spirit of adventure
Nurtured in the heart of a child
Preschool acrobat twirling on my head
Grandma swatted my bottom
Repeated words like Tomboy
Never learned to be ladylike
Catholic school discipline
Uniforms, religion classes, daily mass
Never satisfied with any accomplishment
Even the nuns called me “perfectionist”
Blessed with storytellers in my family
Dad and sis would send me to dreamland
On the wings of a unicorn
Or Shakespeare’s amazing plays
Family and friends I hold dear
Each has influenced my thinking
I learned to offer support in troubled times
And to thank God every day for special people
Unable to have children
The most crushing blow
Accepted at a young age
But rued for a lifetime
Lover of Jack London, John Steinbeck
From Jack, I found adventure
From John, I learned compassion
Dickinson’s poetry touched my heart
If I can find a way
To make a friend feel joy
Then this is my mission
Comforter, nurturer
November 16, 2020
For Silent One’s “It's a part of me - Life and the perceptions and philosophies you hold Poetry Contest.”
Categories:
john steinbeck, introspection,
Form:
Free verse
She was half past metrical
quarter nonsensical theatrics,
bordered south of burbled oddities,
fashioned herself enigmatically stated
whorling an overly zealous lexicon,
recklessly aimed for macrocosmos
bust a rhyme on defeated asphalt,
whereupon she never ceased to
waver from gumption's potential
'tween vast illusions of poetry
“The writer must believe that what he is
doing is the most important thing in the
world. And he must hold to this illusion
even when he knows it is not true.”
John Steinbeck
Categories:
john steinbeck, crazy, hyperbole, identity, muse,
Form:
Free verse
John Steinbeck won the Nobel and Pulitzer prize
For his stories about struggles of the common man
His novel “The Grapes of Wrath” will bring tears to your eyes
As a family in the Great Depression seeks new land
Although Shakespeare’s comedies are still enjoyed today
Romeo and Juliet’s tale of star-crossed lovers
Grabs the reader’s heart and renders so much dismay
A powerful cathartic relief is discovered
Comedies give laughs that last only for a moment
While tragedies often leave a deeper impression
The characters and their stories seem far more potent
They stay with us longer and lead to introspection
Although we delight in O’Henry’s witty stories
The impact of tragedies remains with us always
*For Dr. Ram’s “Tragedy Is More Enjoyable than Comedy” contest
Categories:
john steinbeck, on writing and words
Form:
Sonnet
“A dying people tolerates the present, rejects the future, and finds its satisfactions in past greatness and half-remembered glory.”
“A strong man makes a weak people. A strong people don’t need a strong man.”
John Steinbeck (Nobel Prize 1962)
for the DEAD in the Struggle for EELAM
I
Ages from now, let it not be said:
Blood spills only as brother dies.
Ages from now, let not peace be bled
By chances lost now in sighs.
To the high nor low slams the door
To him who seeks the Law and more.
Take, take the Golden Mean way!
Truth your only key, don’t ever slay!
Where the elephant roams un-tethered free,
The familiar myna will echo carefree
Words of yore buried in sacred memory:
One breed, one species carved in ivory.
No greater fear simmers in the lowlands
Than the stealth of brother against brother;
No higher disdain festers in the highlands
Than vengeance lying in wait for the other.
II
Think not of the promises made and broken,
Think only of the time lost and forsaken.
Every hour, every day, a life blown or taken;
Every month, every year, a people woe-driven.
To the high nor low slams the door
To him who seeks the Law and more.
Take, take the Golden Mean path!
Truth your only key, never the lathe!
Think of Prince Paranirupasingham who to succour
King Jayavira’s queen, to Kandy, fled his throne:
Abandoned to court intrigue, schemes and wiles encore:
A princely retreat, a physician’s penance alone.
First governor, then regent, the last Jaffna King Cankili
Learnt best the conqueror's cruel art of slaughter;
Then, fired by the local converts' iniquitous treachery,
Revolted too late, his head the butt of lofty laughter.
Think of C.P. Ramanathan the island’s cause to defend
Sailed over choppy seas past wild submarines
To raise the nation’s flag in the court of the Empire’s den,
His homeward chariot drawn by one peoples’ teens.
(...continued in Parts 3 to 5)
Categories:
john steinbeck, political, brother, lost, people,
Form:
Quatrain
Clark Griswold, what a dumb fool you are.
Who wants to drive across the country in a car?
California from Chicago is a bit too far.
You were duped by a car salesman’s chicanery.
That Wagon Queen Truckster is so damned ugly.
Was your traveling worth it to see the scenery?
The trip cost you too much of your money.
This escapade was a big burden on your family.
How you went to such extremes.
The park’s closing got you angry, it seems.
Have you ever read “The Grapes of Wrath” by John Steinbeck?
If you read this book, you would not have made your trek.
Based on the film "National Lampoon's Vacation"
Categories:
john steinbeck, family, holiday, travel,
Form:
Rhyme
The modern immortal -
man of open heart, singer of the stars.
Professor at the prestigious university.
Prose stylist as John Steinbeck.
In your poems,
your prosody has melody –
rhythmic scansion
as Paderewski’s music.
You described us in your poems:
The New Poland,
thoughts of Holland
and the American States.
Edward Burne-Jones
painted what you described
so did Leon Bonnat, Styka
and many others.
The sculpted words of your prose
are with us. We are lifting the covers
of facts and truth in your pages.
Myrrh to you for prophetic words.
Categories:
john steinbeck, america,
Form:
Verse
Since I was a small child and would try to sing,
when we rise and sing the praises of "Old Glory,"
it brings tears to my eyes. Maybe it's because we
have endured much to keep our flag flying--too
many wars, too many injured, too many dead.
Or, perhaps, in this "Winter of Our Discontent,"*
whether Red or blue or neutral tan, we can, as one,
STAND UNITED.
call me old fashioned
but the star spangled banner
brings tears to my eyes
*Winter of Our Discontent," novel by John Steinbeck,
Shakespeare's "The Tragedy of King Richard III"
February 9, 2023
for "It Means A Lot To Me" contest
by Regina McIntosh
Categories:
john steinbeck, appreciation, emotions, freedom, winter,
Form:
Haibun
“Women can change better’n a man,” Ma said soothingly. “Woman got all her life in her arms. Man got it all in his head.”
“Man, he lives in jerks-baby born an’ a man dies, an’ that’s a jerk-gets a farm and looses his farm, an’ that’s a jerk. Woman, its all one flow, like a stream, little eddies, little waterfalls, but the river, it goes right on.
John Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath
She is a River
She flows from the hearts of the people
In the hope of preserving justice for all
On the battle-scarred Potomac
Where we became a nation
With her brave and unselfish history of law and order
Her tributaries lead through the deltas
Of the San Joaquin and Sacramento
Bending and stretching with assurance
Curving through the fruitful valleys
Of the golden state of promise
As she rose to the heights of public service
She rolls along the mighty Mississippi
Tendering southern resistance along the Missouri
In the heartland of the American farmer
Who has forgotten the words of equity
She channels rushing into a new economy
Diving into the waters of the Hudson
Unafraid of the rich and wealthy corporations
And its leaders that have exploited the common man
She runs with strength and fortitude
Surging with the untamed rapids of conviction
Where the headwaters of the great Columbia
Blends with the Snake River
Where the wilderness and our historical presence
Will be cherished and unabused
She forges through the frozen tributaries with
Her communion to the uninviting wilderness of the Yukon
And the tropical warmth of Hanalei rivers
Becoming the spirit of great explorers who have made America
The heartland of discovery
And in reaching the oceans of disparity
She breaches our common boundaries
Flowing beyond the seas with diplomacy and civility
To find the rest of the world as a worthy friend
So that the rivers of democracy find a resting place
She is a river of life and the world as we know it
Her tides and eddies nurture all that is truthful, kind and just
Harnessing the power of democracy for us all
She is the watershed for the world
That unifies us together as one
Categories:
john steinbeck, allegory, america, freedom, humanity,
Form:
Verse
John Steinbeck wrote the story
Of the Okie family Joad as they
Travelled down their bleak
Hard California bound road.
Tractored out by the Cats
After the bank had foreclosed,
No feelings of welcome as
They’d hoped and supposed.
Woody Guthrie sang the ballads
Of that desparate Dust Bowl
Spoke of the period
From the heart and soul.
From those depths of despair
Solidarity brought hope
Gave the Okies some comfort
Perhaps helped them to cope.
Were lessons learned
Could it happen over again,
With global warming is it just
A case of not if but when?
Have we learned any charity,
Would we understand the situation,
Or would it sadly be as before
That same old case of exploitation?
Categories:
john steinbeck, class, humanity, philosophy, power,
Form:
Rhyme