Best Misquoted Poems
Indistinct, they circumnavigate in the raw ~
they’re thoughts unprocessed and unpolished
ethereal and feral, nothing more than impulses really
If it were up to me, I might drown in that sea of ambiguity
and forego all communication with the outside world
forever content staying confined to my private universe
In most instances I couldn’t be bothered
yet at times I’d almost want to scream to be heard
that’s when I’d want to be as loud and clear as I could be
But sometimes the words refuse to form
at times so deep they must be mined
and surface in their own time that can’t be rushed
So I write because it allows me to think at my own pace
I can capture what I feel, what I remember
I can seize it and can verbalize it
I write for different reasons
I write because most people
never ask what’s on my mind when the time’s right
or won’t wait for me to put my thoughts to words
I write because I want to say it right
I want to choose my words
not be misquoted
Mostly I write to capture time
time as a memory, time as a treasure
time as tangible, time as a toy to amuse
Mostly I write to be heard
I write so I can say I’ve done my part
I’ve said my bit and can’t be faulted for staying quiet
I write so I won’t die
without a voice, without saying my piece
without having said all I had to say
AP: 1st place 2022
Posted on September 2, 2022
Categories:
misquoted, introspection, voice, words, writing,
Form:
Free verse
"If you need a thesaurus to find the right word, then it's the wrong word." -- a remembered, probably misquoted, old maxim.
A week of rain
has left my yard spongy
but quite lush -- and birds, now,
are again appearing.
A small, strange toad --
here rarely seen --
startled me yesterday
at my threshold.
Inside, my three cats
persistently attacked a lone
long lizard hiding in
an artificial palm.
I mention minutiae,
breathe deeply in and out:
my unremarkable reality,
my routine life...
Too often, words -- and
problematic politics -- intrude.
Categories:
misquoted, introspection, language, perspective, political,
Form:
Free verse
Selflessly loyal to those I love but stubborn to a fault
Creating poetry, paintings, and artistic projects I exalt
Once touched by love, my heart is totally devoted
Resolved to honesty; intolerant of being misquoted
Perplexing, emotional, quite mysterious, and although
I am a water sign, I don't always swim with the flow
Opinionated but my sentiments, I hesitate to bestow
April 1, 2021
Star Sign Acrostics Contest
Charlotte Puddifoot-Sponsor
Categories:
misquoted, stars,
Form:
Acrostic
The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember.
Noah was a drunk
Abraham was too old
Isaac was a daydreamer
Jacob was a liar
Leah was ugly
Joseph was abused
Moses had a stuttering problem
Gideon was afraid
Samson had long hair and was a womanizer
Rahab was a prostitute
Jeremiah and Timothy were too young
David had an affair and was a murderer
Elijah was suicidal
Isaiah preached naked
Jonah ran from God
Naomi was a widow
Job went bankrupt
Peter denied Christ (3 times!)
The Disciples fell asleep while praying
Martha worried about everything
Mary Magdalene was promiscuous
the Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once...
Zaccheus was too small
Paul was too religious
Timothy had an ulcer....
AND
Lazarus was dead!
Now! No more excuses!
God can use you to your full potential.
Besides, you aren't the message, you are just the
messenger.
And one more thing...
1. God wants spiritual fruits, not religious nuts.
2. "Dear God : I have a problem. It's me.
Answer from God: " My Dear Child: I have the solution. It's Me! !"
3. Growing old is inevitable ... growing UP is optional.
4. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open.
5. Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted.
6. Do the math .. count your blessings.
7. Faith is the ability to not panic.
8. Laugh every day. It's like inner jogging.
9. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry.
10. As a child of God , prayer is kind of like calling
home every day.
11. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be
bent out of shape..
12. The most important things in your house are the
people! ..
13. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still.
God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot.
14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry.
15 He who dies with the most toys is still dead.
Have a great day!!! The SON is shining and He
can certainly use you!.
Categories:
misquoted, religiongod, prayer, god,
Form:
Don't count your days, make your days count for lost time is never again found.
If you want to see rainbows don't stare at the ground.
When everyone else walks out a friend will be first to walk in.
One finds a true treasure when one finds a true friend.
One ounce of Mother equals one pound of clergy.
Her love and concern will lessen your worry.
A teacher is paid to teach us to make a living but we learn how to live at home.
Teach a child honor and good common sense and he'll make you proud when he's grown.
It's better to attempt to do something and fail,
Than attempt to do nothing and prevail.
If God is your partner make big plans,
For when God is your partner the future is grand.
If your lips would keep from slips five things observe with care,
To Whom you speak, Of Whom you speak and How and When and Where.
Don't expect your kids to listen to your advice and ignore your example.
The way that you live gives ample example.
Life is what happens while your making other plans.
Be wise and prepare so through storms you can stand.
When opportunity knocks by some uncanny quirk,
It oft goes unrecognized it so resembles work.
Actions speak louder than words, it's true.
Though they doubt what you say folks believe what you do.
Well timed silence is more eloquent than words.
Folks who talk too much often go unheard.
If you keep your mouth shut you won't be misquoted.
The dog who barks the most is the one on the shortest chain.
We are prepared for great deeds by great trials.
What shouldn't be heard by little ears shouldn't be said by big mouths.
God's people are not without trial, nor are they without their God amid the trial.
Categories:
misquoted, inspirational,
Form:
Prose
They held an election and
nobody voted
Politicians complained they
were grossly misquoted
Atlas shrugged
The world unplugged
Slipped violently way out of
kilter.
Tea cups tipped
Newscasters quipped
Walk don't run but please get
to the shelter.
Strategists tasked to come up
with a plan
Went back to the time when
the country began
Senators grumbled
Sarcastic mumbles
Accusatory fingers were
pointed
Who's to blame
What a shame
Blame the system, its alright
we're disjointed.
But another campaign will be
meticulously planned
Based in part on the sweat of
the poor working man
Campaign promise
Faith jaundiced
A silent prayer for a magical
elixir
Tradition rules
A ship of fools
Looks like spoils still belong to
the victor.
Categories:
misquoted, allegory
Form:
Couplet
Bullet between the eyes, graveyard of dreams, demise.
Running bloodily through the fields
As the poppies to opium, they do give yield
Out on the fields with the mujahideens
Praying to an empty sky, drinking out of latrines
Loyalty to excess, their seventh heaven machines
Out of a book misused, misquoted, for such
‘heavenly’ deeds.
Up the Silk Road fast as he can
Out to raid the gold-loaded caravans
Enemy in his territory
Headed out to Afghanistan
Going to buy himself some powder
With this prizes of fine jewellery
Ore from the ground, black gold, opal
Measure against the dollar, coal and coffee
He made a bet he could bring them all down
Before they crossed into Tibet.
The darkness amidst innocents in the danger
Zone of despair, nobody cares for a stranger.
There is intimacy in conversation
That causes me a little hesitation
The cautious investigation in the eyes
All angels are just manipulators in disguise.
Holier-than-thou is a convenient act for now
Soon, the promises broken behind backs
After the wine and the taking of a vow
Dig in heels into the sand, and get in the bed now.
If the railroad’s end comes down to her
As a destination, I will jump the rails
And run just to get away from her
The kind of friend she is, an enemy
Stalking in the night while talking familiarly
All the time, in secret, laughing at me.
Categories:
misquoted, history, travel, violence, war,
Form:
Free verse
Actions speak louder than words, it's true.
Folks may doubt what you say but they'll always believe what you do.
Don't let the best you have done in the past be the standard for the rest of your life. Keep on truckin' . Practice makes perfect.
The greatest of all faults is to think you have none.
Jesus Said: "Cast your bread upon the waters and you will find that after many days it will return unto you."
But many people on remembering this will cast out a stale crust and expect cake in return.
The world's most disappointed people are those who get what's coming to them.
The trouble with some folks who give till it hurts is that they are so sensitive to pain.
We are prepared for great deeds by great trials.
Nature makes it impossible to learn the ropes without falling over them a few times.
Well timed silence is more eloquent than words.
If you keep your mouth shut you won't be misquoted.
A housewarming is to give a second chance to those who didn't send a wedding gift.
Fifty-one percent of being smart is knowing what you're dumb at.
Love is the only thing that power cannot command and money cannot buy.
He who gives when he is asked waits too long.
Glass, china and reputation are easily cracked and never well mended.
Many people have a good aim in life but fail to pull the trigger.
What shouldn't be heard by little ears shouldn't be said by big mouths.
Be content with your lot and don't try to be what you're not.
To be in step with the world is to be out of step with Christ.
It's not your Will that keeps you out of Heaven, it's your Won't.
"Virus" is a Latin word used by doctors to mean:
Your guess is as good as mine.
God's people are not without trial,
Nor without their God amid the trial.
Categories:
misquoted, inspirational,
Form:
Prose
There, in the middle of the vehicle free road,
she lulled herself, slowly and gently, back, and forth
to the rhythm of her rocking chair, as she sang
her song in earnest defiance, strident,
misquoted words of randomly recollected hymns,
but she cared not a damn.
Perhaps we should all have joined in
form a kind of manic impromptu congregation
right there, right then,
instead, neighbours looked on and whispered.
Next day she would be gone
taken to Jenkins.
Even us children knew what that was.
When she did come back, nothing was said
The word was never going to exit anyone’s mouth,
Ssssssh - no one dared mention it
but everyone knew
….. mother was mad.
Categories:
misquoted, mum, psychological, satire, society,
Form:
Free verse
Some can't imagine forever
So they came up with time and chance
The theory of evolution
Just one idea they advance
The Bible is not fantasy
Regardless what some may believe
The answers to our universe
A gift that we can all receive
Gateway to a meaningful life
It's crucial we take time to read
Although it's often misquoted
It's exactly what we all need
The book alone cannot save us
It's the marker that leads the way
To a special man named Jesus
Who did more than teach us to pray
Sacrifice gives us forever
Not limited by time and space
A special gift that we can't earn
We are all lost without his grace
Some may look at me as a fool
Who believes in a fairy tale
Still I know the reality
With my Savior I cannot fail
Don't sacrifice your forever
By believing a pack of lies
Trust in the Maker of man kind
His path is the one that is wise
Categories:
misquoted, bible, faith, universe,
Form:
Quatrain
Silence
Can be the loudest of expressions
Can be deafening
Cannot be misquoted
Yet, can be misunderstood
In silence
I am mastering the art of a swimming duck
I am mastering the taming of my tongue
I am paddling troubled waters
Yet, seem calm
When silent
I tend to calm my anger
I tend to see things in a different perspective
I tend to empathise.
Yet, long to rub minds
Silence
A time to be silent
A time to break the silence
A tool in effective communication
Yet, can build or break relationships
Categories:
misquoted, silence,
Form:
Lyric
If you're still not frequently misquoted
or not often lied about completely,
that means mighty press is not interested
and you're not yet a real celebrity.
To snatch and hold tight their attention first,
make the shrewdest media blitz that you can,
for they love the best even at their worst,
famous or infamous, you'll be their man !
Categories:
misquoted, people, political, social,
Form:
Didactic
What a pretty picture I have
for all the world to see.
It’s painted black and blue
and the gray part, that’s me.
Every color that is chosen
blend well with one another
and when I get upset
red overrides the others.
No one sees the real me
No one knows me for myself.
When I come to them for help
they put the problem on a shelf.
The people that I hurt,
the people I push away,
the ones I put my trust in
are the ones that betray.
I feel there is no help
for my family or for me
to save us from this selfish world
of greed and misery.
On the chance I have a good day
when things seem happy and full of light
they next day becomes too loud
and the light way too bright.
When can I stop feeling this way?
When can I just be normal?
When can my like go like the rest
with ‘business as usual’?
The things I say, the things I do
are NOT sugar coated.
The hurtful words used against me
are totally misquoted.
So the picture painted is not truly me
but a figment of my imagination,
to make you believe I live just like you
and not in the world of damnation.
Categories:
misquoted, angst, sad, social, world,
Form:
Bio
When I grew up there was no such thing
as microwave or t.v dinner's they hadn't
even been inverted yet
Come 6 o'clock we had to gather round the
dinning room table for evening meals and
parentally enforced family time to talk about
our day
To feast on such culinary delight's mother
used to burn as home made chips frozen
fish finger's and a choice of either tinned
baked beans or spaghetti hoops
Then when we're finally finished Dad would
go into the living room switch on the t.v
and watch the news
After that he would read his paper in order
to switch off and we would then get to watch
whatever was on 1 of the oh so many other
4 t.v channels
Only 1 singular t.v in the house shared
between our entire family permanently fixed
in the lounge.
And 1 singular telephone in the corner or
if you had one an entrance hallway
Both of which we're actually luxury's not
necessity dependant on if you could afford
to the bill and licence or electricity
And we weren't poor what we we're as
children was a little something called
happy and we'll adjusted
Which got me thinking about just how
different and far removed that time
was to current present day
Using the age old means of comparing
Apple's for Apple's regarding different
childhood's
To me growing up as a child what an
apple was or meant was bobbing or
ducking for at halloween , keeps the
doctor away and at it's best when it's
covered in sticky toffee candy
Fast forward to today the only Apple a
child knows comes in i - pad , pod , phone ,
watch or 4 in 1 form they carry about there
person constantly for companionship so
much so they can barely take the time to
talk or barely loook up
The same type of Apple that God warned
Eve all about not to try and eat for fear of
being kicked out
Because once you do there is no chance
of ever going back or a return to Eden
It's a place that only exists and can be
accessed by means of logging into Window's
or typing it into a search engine to look up ,
how exactly do you spell that is it
Bib-lol
Or by drinking how ever much Cider it
takes in order to pass out or forget
Reality is the new nightmare
So how do you like them Apple's now
Categories:
misquoted, 1st grade, childhood,
Form:
Free verse
I was alone
in here I found a crowd
I was scared
in here there was courage, strength they said
Strengths to harm and kick and maim and kill
Drown the world in petroleum soaked rage
Napalmistry is a real study
I, a vigilant student
I follow orders because alternatives are worse hells
drink deep. Drink true from 'god's' well
Drink fast! We have a story tell.
Match in tikis
how big were we?
Big guns equals big hearts, do you feel me?
Call you foul but your soul is white
Snow-blinded and numbed to remember the crash
Shhhhh I am too hungry load my bullet sash
Suited up for dinner just to dine on trash
Happily, orgasmically, hypocritically share like-minded high-fives
What fast times in this Ridgemont high
O what a time to be alive
To kill what I profaned, abused and stole
Goya's last six in dirty milk bottles
Down the hatch ideological Propofol
Diprivan-infused day-meres sending
Misquoted whispers bent out shape
That glorify the fear in my heart of things unknown
Fear fear fear
Hurt hurt hurt
Kill kill kill
I am afraid now.
I am scared
Please. Help!
I don't know how I got here
But I know
I am scared.
Categories:
misquoted, abuse, evil, fear, hate,
Form:
Free verse