Best Meningitis Poems
First grade, pelted with eggs
Second grade, broke both legs
Third grade, fell down the stairs
Fourth grade, clawed by a bear
Fifth grade, ran into a tree
Sixth grade, twisted a knee
Seventh grade, concussed my head
Eighth grade, fell out of bed
Ninth grade, had meningitis
Tenth grade, appendicitis
Eleventh grade, torn hamstring
Twelfth grade, acute bee sting...
So, to allay any fears from admission committees
I wrote the following college application ditty:
You may consider me somewhat injury-prone
But I have yet to break my first wishbone
And I give you my whole-hearted assurance
That I will use my parents' health insurance
"Mom and I and Graham Cracker Pie ~ ~"
Mom's been gone a long, long time,
forever and a day.
She always treated each of us
in a very special way!
My favorite "Mommy" memory
of all the things she did,
was a "special" reward, just for me,
ever since I was a kid.
I've always loved, Graham Cracker Pie.
The ones she made were great!
That was my very "special" gift
when there was cause to celebrate.
I had Spinal Meningitis
when I was only eight.
Despite the odds against it,
my recovery was great!
I was laid up for quite a while,
had a long hospital stay.
When I got released to go back home,
I got a Graham Cracker Pie, that very day!
I enlisted in the Air Force,
but before I went away,
Mom made my favorite pie for me,
to send me on my way!
I was headed home on my first leave,
so what did Momma say?
I gotta make Graham Cracker Pie,
cause Ralphie's on his way!
When I rejoin my Mom again,
whenever that might be,
you can bet, my favorite pie,
will be waiting there for me!
Love you Mom.
Ralph Taylor
'Mother'
black snakeroot, yew, cocklebur, poison (ivy, oak, parsnip, sumac, ryegrass, hemlock), blister bushes, daffodil, mayapple, lilium, jerusalem cherry, indian licorice, deadly nightshade, christmas rose, bleeding heart, asparagus berries, wolfsbane, tomato leaves, doll’s eyes, the suicide tree, young larkspur, blue-green algae, stinkweed, dumbcane, european spindle, blind-your-eye mangrove, manchineel, laburnum, mother of millions, elderberry root, bacterial pathogens, exotoxins, mycotoxins, grayanotoxins, rhinovirus, chicken pox, sleeping sickness, cholera, yellow fever, typhoid, rotavirus, river blindness, measles, japanese encephalitis, hepatitis (a,b & c), cryptosporidiosis, shigella infection, pneumonia, meningitis, tuberculosis, schistosomiasis, malaria, influenza, herpes (1 & 2), crab louse, scabies, chlamydia, gonorrhea, syphilis, chancroid, trichomoniasis, hpv, hiv/aids, ebola virus, marburg virus, mad cow disease, mudslides, avalanches, blizzards, storms, cyclones, hurricanes, tsunamis, tornadoes, earthquakes, floods, fires, supervolcanic eruptions: evidence of absence.
Jonnie Peacock was born on 28th May in 1993,
And is an English sprinter and right leg amputee,
He won gold in the vital games of London 2012,
And into the category T44 he does neatly delve.
He was born in Cambridge, that old university town,
But at the age of 5 meningitis did make him frown,
So he asked his hospital for some football facilities,
Who gave him a prosthetic for his lively jocularities.
Directed to Paralympic sport, he did truly awaken,
To running the 100 metres, and he was totally taken,
Not faking, he raced at the Paralympic World Cup,
His first international, in Manchester, he did build up.
Next month June, the US Paralympic trials do occur,
Jonnie set a record time of 10.85 to squarely concur,
With his coach Dan Pfaff, who believed he could win,
At the London Paralympics, where we saw him grin!
ZACH
Let me take away your heartache,
Let me bear your unbound pain.
For I don't want you going through,
All that suffering again.
On the worst day of my life thus far,
We were standing side by side.
When we took our boy to hospital,
From Meningitis, there he died.
The pain I felt in my grieving heart,
I have never felt before.
I know those doctors tried to help,
And they could have done no more.
On the morning of Zach's funeral,
With a tear in my eye.
It's the hardest thing I've ever done,
As I bade our son goodbye.
To have your child die in your arms,
And there's nothing you can do.
Is the hardest test this world can give,
But his love will see us through.
So heavenly Father I ask of you,
Don't cast my Son aside.
For that young lad who we love so dear,
I now give to you with pride.
My Brother
Today is our twenty-fifth birthday, Dear Brother!
We were like-twins born on same date
Fifteen minutes apart
Who knew, you could leave me all on a sudden, Last Year!
By appearance we were alike, but opposite in nature
You were strong, energetic: Me weak, lethargic.
You! Always engaged being busy
Me! Preferred to lie down, being lazy.
In school, playground, everywhere, you acted as my protector
I was pampered by parents.
You took blame covering my fault.
I was all along indebted to you,
but got no scope to repay, only to admit gratitude.
Both of us were attacked by Meningitis.
Weak one survived, strong brother passed away.
Cruel Nature has done unforgivable injustice.
We were entwined for twenty- four years.
Timid backward brother left behind to shed tears!
Now I am a lone fighter in struggle of life,
only to put a posy of flower on your grave!
My Idol! My Brother! Bold and brave.
Since childhood I put my head on your shoulder.
My volunteered guardian! Fifteen minutes older.
My Dearest Brother
09/ 17/17
Poems that paint a picture 2 Contest by Silent One
Second Place
'STRAND SELECT F' Contest by Brian Strand
I once worked with a youth who had gingivitis
Twenty years younger yet she already had arthritis
Pretty enough in spite of her dermatitis
She so craved attention we all thought caused by meningitis
Winters seemed worse with time off due to bronchitis
Bouts in hospital for appendicitis and diverticulitis
Regularly like clockwork she came down with severe vacationitis
After each self-prescribed vacation she’d strangely suffer from moneyitis
She talked our ears off we kept hoping she’d get laryngitis
But no, it was only bursitis and colitis followed by gastritis
Ms. Black sure was high maintenance with her neurosis and neuritis
AP: 1st place 2025, Honorable Mention 2020
“2 weeks notice”
It’s the polite amount time to give before you move on,
Before you no longer have obligations to uphold with people you soon want to forget
But those are those people and I am me and unlike everyone else
I wonder
Why was I not worth it?
My supervisor always asks me do I have a lot on my mind,
Not because I am stressed,
Or even because I call out,
But because for a moment each and every day she spots me in one place or another
Just staring…
I tell her no,
But the truth is I am thinking of a letter addressed to god,
And in the letter I will hold back my rage and all my pain and simply ask..
Why was I not allowed two weeks notice?
Two weeks notice to run one more errand that was asked of me,
Two weeks notice to run down the street to the market to get those groceries,
Two weeks notice to wash that last load of clothes that she just couldn’t find the
strength to finish herself,
Why was I not given notice?!
Notice that she would no longer be there to greet me at the top of the steps after my
typical teenage day,
Notice that she would no longer be at the other end of that shiny gray cell phone I bought
for her on her birthday,
Notice that everyday that I would walk into her hospital room, there would be a need for
me to remind her of my name,
Notice to remind her that I was her baby girl,
Notice to remind her that I loved her every moment of every second of every day,
Why was I not given notice,
That when the meningitis finally took over treasured memories of her mind,
And that when the aids and stress finally weakened her body ,
That I would never be able to sit at the bottom of her bed and just stare at her placing
her favorite scented oil behind her ears,
That I would never be able to sit in my room and write of love while listening to her sing
gospel songs in the bathroom,
And at the end of my letter to god,
I will leave a post script,
Asking him that when the moment arises again for him to take another of my beloved kin
That he please be polite and give me
Two weeks notice
-Shelby
Impotent at birth
Impotent at death
and only somewhat potent in between
Why were you born without your own consent
What was the karmic guilt of your first birth
and what about those maimed in the mind
crippled in the womb
eaten by meningitis
by herpes
by syphillis
by aids
What are their chances of mending their karma
And what about that baby born without a brain
How is it to be blamed
for not giving its organs to some transplant bank
Who cares if you live on
If you die
who cares
and for how long
Does one have to care
being but ephemeral
© T. Wignesan, April 2, 1992 (from the collection: back to background material, 1993)
O dubious malicious horribilus
cunnigfilux goodfornothingfilux nillux;
go to hellishbellish boomboodydoomland.
Mean notsoclean bullfart smellitnot
go punking dunking blunking monkeying
jumpingjack bigfat*** fullofmethanegas
evilus spiritus devious mischievous
coronavirus getitis gastritis meningitis,
run out helter skelter to wither thither
into a zypher cypher blither blackhole.
27.5.2020
somehow i lost myself
right now i have no feeling
in this moment i lose myself in the façade that includes her
my one true love is waiting for me
i am too much of a coward to tell her that i will not be coming back
our son has had quite the battle with spinal meningitis
last night he called and said his chills were at that level again
i never returned his message for i was too busy indulging on cake with immoral icing
i am only thinking of me and the reflection i see in the mirror
i only think my son will hate me when he is older when i am dreaming
i want to pay my son a visit and surprise him with my cinnamon rolls with the sweet cream stripes that he likes
however guilt is kicking my butt right now, and i am so weak that i cannot even fight back
i find myself backtracking without even knowing it and end up at the she devil's house again
as she straddles me for another ride to self made regret, i blind myself in the temporary ecstasy to get my conscience high and oblivious to a truth that is so obvious
i lose again
stretch artist, A. Modigliani amplifies
sketching curvilinear bodies, weak eyes
his far-fetching figures still mystify us
despite his premature death to meningitis.
May 10, 2022
McDonald’s To Mom – Bug Off
By Elton Camp
In Arizona, disgraceful conduct is being seen
Because a parent wants McDonalds kept clean
Filth in the play areas Dr. Carr-Jordan found
The places refused to take action that is sound
She gave them notice and a chance to get clean
But days later the same conditions were seen
What she found was rotting food, dirt and hair
Such disgusting stuff was found most everywhere
Due to that, for dangerous bacteria she did check
What she found, children’s health could wreck
The germs that she found could such as these
Meningitis, nausea and gastrointestinal disease
McDonald’s, instead of working to get it clean
Ordered her out, not wanting a customer so mean
You would think her feedback they would extol
Maybe even employ her to bring infection control
But if they do nothing or take action far too late
It certainly seems to invite regulation from the state
Colds, sore throats, Meningitis,
Now I have the flu.
Wondering will this ever stop?
What do I need to do?
Vitamin supplements I’ve taken,
The guilt from work I dread.
All these negative emotions,
Whilst I’m lying down in my bed.
The children they still need me,
I can’t just lie here and be still.
A mother’s job continues,
Regardless of whether she’s ill.
School runs still needs doing,
Meals for the little ones too.
Even with a husband,
There’s still all these jobs to do.
At least I will recover,
In a week I’ll be back on my feet.
I won’t stay feeling down,
I’ll be too busy, there’s jobs to complete.
But while the kids are out at school
I’ll take my chance and rest
This feeling of being ill torments
The weakness I detest.
A gentleman from a grand, but time-worn oil-painting,
Unbelievably handsome in his fifties,
Immaculately dressed in a formal grey suit,
From the backdrop of a luscious tea-garden
On a mountaineous plush valley,
Looked at me with an intriguing smile.....
In my maternal grandmother’s house!
“Who is he?”
I remember enquiring my mother,
“And where did he go?”
My mother's eyes welled up...
But she wiped tears from her eyes,
And always said in a firm voice,
“He never left,
He is with us”!
Some day I realized,
My grandfather passed away in his prime years,
From a terrible disease called Meningitis!
Cruelly his life was cut short, but
He left a legacy of honesty, integrity, bravery,
Compassion for the poor and the needy…
He protected a huge population of
Distressed villagers in his area,
From being ruthlessly slaughtered,
When the country became devastated
With riots between religious groups.
Villagers composed and dedicated a song,
Chanting the bravery of a lonely warrior
Who courageously stood for them
Against barbarous enemies,
Sacrificing his own happiness,
So numerous men, women, children
Could live unharmed, and sleep peacefully
In their humble cottages.
King Arthur, legendary knight of the Round Table...
Legendary Robin Hood, the outlaw of Sherwood forest...
The legend of my own warrior,
jamais oublie'!