Best Late Night Poems
i am made up
in equal parts of what i believe
and
in equal parts, i believe in
what i am made up of.
you break me down and you've got
equalityfreedomwomansrightsproch
oiceantibullyingantistigma-
herpes.
it makes no difference to
you
what happens when I take my pants
off.
but somewhere along the line I
became a
**** a whore a promiscuous little girl
with no rules and regulations about
who
sticks their dick inside me until I'm
infected with everything wrong in the
world-
herpes.
they sell you protection in the form of
condom boxes,
tied up in ribbons that say things
like,
happy anniversary happy birthday
happy Thursday happy **** me
happy little ***** at the bar i can get
my hands onto.
sex education is
vacant and expressionless and
i fell victim to
don't get pregnant don't get pregnant
don't.
get.
pregnant.
oh **** what the **** is happening to
my insides and my outsides and
please dear god let the burning stop.
this isn't some blame game,
this isn't some speech,
this is a plea and a please stop
satirizing my life
with your late night comedy show
jokes about my ******.
my herpes
not yours
not my next door neighbors
not the pharmacists
not the doctors
not yours.
So get down off your high horse and
try to figure out how
you
will avoid an infection that affects
80% of the population and why
we are all so damn afraid of it.
Herpes isn't hereditary but ignorance
is.
Into the kingdom.
From the kingdom was I bourne ancestral sailed into the fall of the hemispheres equator. Other earth side I became alive. The table on the fringe.
From the kingdom all my culture my speech unadultured, my faith absolute.
Into the kingdom was I taken lifted airborne did I rise and fall and gently sail above the Thames in cloud.
oh mighty I land, thence a war that had began.
two children to become lovers we played distanced by nowt but the days. And a haze of hedges, fences, walls. Lonely hence thus I alone until.
I pray together I held hands with the love of her and my our kingdom Albion.
kissed we kissed. Love we love. Listen we listened.
fettered by oath to because of the poverty.
Amongst knights and their princes did I train, against the kaffir whom we blamed. Attack now they preached I said laugh instead, this fool feels meek, love, they should not war in the name of the all and that that is above. Wise words from her.
war.
return to
peace.
oh into the kingdom did I go, into the kingdom there I roamed. Into the kingdom with all that was kind and brute and love and speech.
This child did roam through into the love of her kingdom, there I did go, into the kingdom I am. In time I am. Oh that I am. Man I am In the kingdom. Hear me times men of man, electricity I speak. Until I go. Now im away and waiting. Holding silenced im praying for her.
split speech wreaking for heavens sakes, im in the kingdom.
I fell for her, she fell for me. In the anarchy.
that was life and of death I say when that arrives,
until then spring, new loves and life for more we both memory our time we hope we dream we think we speak we remember our promises in youth.
friends forever more, no matter how we fall, if we fall. Uplift us again in love my friends.
She knows when the word, I there within, filled love with her our word as words and words the maker makes and doth we wrote, between the love life.
when the holy finds her, there I am stoic im her man, in virgin, Shield, for I am, im hers. From the shelter of her kingdom I return to the dark of the deep, the continent of the beasts. A lion roars.
The meadow's radiance gradually dimmed
and evening littered far and wide
it encouraged the unfamiliar
and everything uncertain.
The night accelerated sounds of anticipation
as a thousand strangers loomed
and I thought him to be a foreigner
until he glanced twice
as his smile slightly dropped
astonishment plagued him
Insecurity encompassed me
as I turned away in doubt
betrayed by the numinous...
that often guides my thoughts
He left with lady and child, to merge
With a thousand anticipating strangers
and the northern lights sheltered me
the explosions across the sky
gave satisfaction -to so much expectation
that unexpectedly emerged
Then the night was briefly soundless;
the applause prolonged
as were my duties...by my immersion
and within what felt like only seconds
he was passing,
through a thin pane of glass
all I could yield was a smile,
a smile to the incredulity within his eyes.
Enclosed with the evening...was the meadow,
and the difference was indistinguishable.
It is already late while I see
Those kids still play hide and seek
Dance around that pole which lacked of paint
The cockroach underneath tried to escape, run for a life
A night with an empty sky
Those constellations were asleep
Street lights accompanying me in a hush
But has yet to beat the rest of my spirit
I walk on melody towards to the gate of joy
Imagining love is waiting behind the warm sheet
Though those 'to do list' take a number of waiting list
They may have to wait and be on their queue
My eyes may have occupied by a ton of drowsiness
But not for my brain which still spin on its rusty gear
Fulfilling the tiny pleasure of a friend across the web
Life cannot be much prettier than this
Dedicated to all of my friends in Poetrysoup who were encouraging me to keep on writing
*Special thanks to Richard Lamoureux :D
It’s my therapy
Yet they never happen
It’s looking out and seeing nothing
Listening to music without a care
Crying and venting to emptiness
Being stuck in time while everything else races around
Trying to explain your silence
While being told to shut up
Because you “talk too much”
Late Night Drives are my escape
The escape from the constant battle in my head
Telling me that I’m not good enough
Saying I’ll never be pretty no matter how much makeup
Yelling at me to finally commit to the bit and end it
Late Night Drives
They help me clear my mind
But when they don’t happen
It races a thousand miles a minute
Listening to music without a care
Looking out and seeing nothing
Nothing but a trainwreck of words and emotions
Scared they will judge you
Judge you because of the music you play to cope
This fear would disappear
If Late Night Drives
Could make their way
Into this depression-filled life
I began to preach at ten
but had no idea why so late,
soon it would be dark, I thought,
and wondered why
it was not so already.
Several apathies passed unnoticed.
I gave them no mind.
And, finally, an opportunity
in a lavish, bizarre old living room.
But the matriarch was having none of it,
she was withered and severe,
she heatedly ordered me on my way
and saw to it that I did not mind.
The tongue-lashing didn't bother me much,
I was amused, come to think of it.
Leaving, I passed the housekeeper,
buxom and charming,
a smiling auburn gem
I should have met somewhere else.
And it was twelve.
The day was still bright
and the thinning traffic was still traffic.
I melted into the radiance of midnight.
23rd July 1997
It was all in the late night,
they took everything away,
it was all in the late night,
getting home an early day
from a trip to the west coast,
where I’d gone and closed the deal,
I came back on a late flight,
then everything became real.
It was then in the late night
that I saw through a window
a sight I never hoped to see,
rage I’d never hoped to know,
a stranger in my bedroom,
I just could not understand
why my wife did lay naked
underneath this sweaty man.
It was all in the late night,
with a bottle of Champagne,
I burst in and saw my brother,
then I went a bit insane,
I broke that heavy bottle
right over my brother’s head,
grabbed my hidden thirty-eight
and shot my cheating wife dead.
They cuffed me in the late night,
was no point hiding the guilt,
said I won’t breathe free again,
I suppose I never will.
Mother cannot stop sobbing,
and father has disowned me,
Ii they’re raised their boys better
they’d not know such misery.
The Late Night Storm
Looking up in a stormy night
Lightning flashes across a dark starless sky
Thunder rolls through fields and cities
Such energy released on a sleepy Earth
Ancient trees explode in massive fireballs
The amber light of the fires blend with the white heat
Casting demonic shadows on lifeless walls
The beauty of the storm becomes nonexistent
Boundless fear overcomes nature’s beauty
The storm seems to rage forever
Flashes, thunder and wave upon wave of rain
Pounding into defenseless ears
Forcing its way into the primal instinct to flee
The beauty is all gone
Fear has destroyed every vestige
Covered under blankets we hide
Waiting for the storm to end
Hoping we will survive the night
After hours the bravest look out of their shelter
The sun is shining in its entire splendor
The storms have long since traveled to the east
Fears go back to rest as we see the world
The beauty has returned
The Late Night Consultation, The Compromise, The New Delusion
Three nights of sadness, each a woe'some torture,
on that narrow ledge a cold raging deep within
I having lost that which I had foresworn to hold
and in that realization- saw myself as a true fool.
While wearing a smooth path on the silent floor
apathy and pain, moonlit beams beat on a crying soul
no amount of self-delusion calmed that sorrow
nor gave reprieve from guilt of a rash youthful act.
Sure there were those moments that I almost won
a compromise between aching heart and sad soul
but reality- its harsh resurrection invaded the scene
and dark despair into the room again loomed large.
Nothing to do but find a way to wake to a new dawn
get busy again with life and its many paths to take
yes, such clever deception had oft worked in the past
and does not each dawn promise a desirous new start?
Robert J. Lindley, free verse ,original Jan23rd 1977
Reworked, 6-24-2021
( In a self-discovering look back at life )
I had my 65th birthday on Monday.
Here are some things that were clarified for me by friends.
I hope it is a sign from God that I can still learn!
False, "erectile dysfunction" isn't a labor dispute at the
new high rise they are building downtown.
False, a "persistent vegetative state" doesn't send
representatives to the U.S. Congress and the Senate, it
does however describe the U.S. Congress.
False, Dr. Neil Clark Warren doesn't have the answer to
everyone's dating dilemma. He had a wonderful
transvestite, necrophiliac, faith-healer lined up for
me, but I got cold feet...................Imagine.
True, the only media entity getting lower ratings
than me and my poetry on PoetrySoup, is MSNBC.
False, Chevy Chase isn't one of the tracks they visit
on NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.
False, we don't subscribe to the theory that premarital sex
will make you go blind. At my age, it is called "Pre-
Interment-Sex" and I wear bifocals already, anyway.
True, I was really feeling a little low about turning 65
and all, but then I saw Hillary Rodham Clinton on the
tube. Now, I feel like the King of the World!
True, there will never be a clear winner in the battle of the sexes.
True, if you woke up on the wrong side of the bed
this morning, you still "woke up." Be happy!
True, I will never write any of this opinionated drivel
on PoetrySoup again for fear I get banned. If you
believe that................
Happy April Fools Day Soupers, don't take ya-self too serious
Supposed that life is not a limitation
Supposed that it stands, strips each and every casement of the mysteries
Penetrate the time limits
Penetrate the gray shutter
An illegible wilderness
A term that created to never stop
Each individual is like running but does not stepping
Is like carried away into the mainstream of nowhere
Restrictions unstoppable
Once in a while we confined and defined
You feel like understand, but more over in guessing
You were trapped in a perception of your virtual world
The elapsed labyrinth was the history by you
Created over the ideas and shapes of you
Say that you've been created by the basis of world's presumptions
Will it be better than stripped by the dimension of infinite freedom?
“If the doors of perception were cleansed, everything would appear to man as it is - infinite.”
-William Blake
Yanny Widjanarko
Dec'14, 2013
Relate your poem to one of these Quotes (Old/New) contest
Sponsor Giorgio V.
At my grandfathers wake in Mississippi the bereaved spoke in muffled tones.
Some dwelled on the fact he foiled a few family members’ extra curricular relationships.
Grandpa just didn’t cotton to that type of behavior.
The family patriarch was a good man and no one could deny that.
In the south it was customary for a family member to stay with the remains overnight.
I was chosen since my grandfather vested a great deal of his precious time to raise me.
I spent my younger days next to grandpa totally absorbed by his stories and wisdom.
Time flew by but my moving north and starting school changed everything.
I rarely saw grandpa thereafter, except in my heart.
This time would be good for us, alone and together once again.
Around 3am, I was sitting on the edge of my chair intently focused on grandpa.
Suddenly, I noticed movement in the silk draped over his open casket.
This gave me great pause and concern.
Was he really dead or was he breathing and trying to speak to me?
Slipping ever so quietly to the casket, I stared at his face covered by the veil.
Unexpectedly, a mouse bolted from under his pillow and out the backside of the casket.
I was mortified!
A mouse was invoking ashes to ashes, dust to dust on grandpa’s remains.
When the first shovel of dirt hit his casket, there wasn’t any mouse along for the ride.
I can personally guarantee that.
Draped, Slipping, Pause, Edge, Muffled, Foil, Wake, Deny, Dwell, Pillow.
This narrative is true and I’ve rarely told the story in 50 years.
Sitting in a chair and watching a movie I get a phone call,
She's dead, my little sister tells me, and I drop the ball.
you are really gone, I can't believe how this can happen,
You didn't have to go, I wish I could of dropped in.
Hearing and seeing all the tears that are being poured out for you is very sad,
This day will be remembered in yours and you two little angels forever and that's not bad.
Not being able to see you any more will be hard but ill think of something to occupy my self,
But till than tho, shine bright for our God and save me a crown a big shelf.
Dedication to: Alina Bukhanstova and her two little angels.
PS: R.I.P, you will be missed.
It's midnight,
The wind could care less about skin that shout "I'm to weak for burning freeze".
It's still passing by with the dark rain clouds in the sky.
Woosh!,
It knows my mind's destination,
Home.
I'm craving for the savoring smell of chicken and macaroni and cheese,
I make a long leap to my feet,
Before walking,
I look around.
I know,
I'm in a place where men hunt for meat,
And I can already smell the nature broken air of gun powder,
And i can hear the muted screams of the late night hour.
But my ears can't be silent like it's surroundings,
At least one has to boom!
Blocking out the crying crickets,
Singing loudly to the moon,
Black mist blinds my eyes from creeps of the dark night,
They're known for lurking for the late working,
Sitting inside of unloved homes where the odor of burned clothes and tall grass
lingers through dark alleys of broken glass and molded liquor.
Where memories sleep.
And I have watch my feet.
Every step is a quiet one.
I can't let them know I'm out here,
Alone.
While I lie awake at night I am sad and start to cry
I think about the things in life I can't change
While some are frivolous other are the gene pool and we all know it is after all the only
public pool where there is NO life guard on duty
In life we can pick our nose and we can pick our friends but we can't pick our family
With this in mine I will say the family jewels are NOT gems
I was just six when I over heard adult talk about family jewels and I wanted some
After all what little girl wouldn't
I loved to play dress up I had 5 sisters I always wore hand me downs
So be careful what you ask for when I ask my mom what family jewels were
She told me I really didn't want any because they weren't richest
and I wouldn't believe her so I ask god for some
He answered my prayers but he waited until I was older 42 and had a family
of my own a son in high school and a daughter in middle school
He gave me hemorrhoids and they were a pain in the a*s
I had surgery but they came back to torture me
Then came brain cancer I thought it couldn't get any worst but I was wrong
I kept forgetting and getting lost so then everyone stays mad at me
Now I have diabetes it was high and now it drops to low when it was highs I could take a pill but now with it to low I can't do anything accept eat to pick it up
thank you mom and dad and grandpa and grandma for my sugar that can't be
controlled
If anything can be said to life and where we land in it
Thank you GOD for letting me live in Mt Vernon Al.
They closed Sercy Hospital which is a mental hospital and let all the people out
Now I feel right at home in this town