Best New Jersey Poems


Premium Member Highlights of New Jersey

    "Highlights of New Jersey"



New Jersey is quaintly known as the Garden State for fun
with sandy beaches kissed by ocean waves beneath golden Sun
amusement parks and midway piers stream wooden boardwalk
arcades offer magic machines with flashing lights that talk.

boat rides on blue Atlantic coast and fishing by the bay
surfing upon white capped waves as marble tourneys play
shopping at the mini malls, stopping for frosty treat
funnel cake or snow cones to alleviate the heat.

racing monster wheels doing 'wheelies' in beige sand
as lovers stroll the promanade in love while hand in hand
bed and breakfast hideaways to  feed the appetite
miniature golf on hotel rooftops close to the Moon at night.

Memories in Margate with The Geeter With the Heater*
Convention Center marathons for dancers digging beaters
casino trips for tourists and residents alike
a visit to the Cape May Zoo or riding cool mountain bike.


roadside stands selling vegetables and fruits
plants and flowers beautiful from full grown or from roots
the scenic drive through highways or back roads share greenview
still munching on hot Curly's fries in circled crunchy chew.

a seashore paradise and a Summertime resort
with Christie at the helm with a positive report
museums of great art and historical conquests
a friendly atmosphere New Jersey loves to welcome guests.

sports reign supreme, with many choices of teams to cheer
fans follow scores from near and far in sports clubs drinking beer
good education for all children schools excellently rated
and seniors are protected in communities so gated.

a native of the Garden State am proud to boast and say
once you visit all the magic places to take your breath away
even Hurricane Sandy could not dissuade the residents
everyone joined in unison to assist with dire events.

New Jersey towns will build again in love with this great State
positive outlooks count so much .. even erases hate
and when we lay our heads down at night to pray
we thank God for His blessings in a very special way.

*The Geeter With the Heater - Jerry Blavat, D.J. at Memories in Margate Club.


*For Richard Tarr's New Jersey Contest.

New Jersey State Police

New Jersey State, New Jersey State Police,
we came with guns and excitement in our 
skins and uniforms, the guy had a beef with 
time and the unions and the bosses and his 
life in general, New Jersey State, New Jersey 
State police, we came with our training and 
our talk-down skills but he didn’t want to talk
and shot two local cops down, he shot two local
cops down, so we figured he didn’t want to talk,
he didn’t want to talk, especially to the New Jersey 
State Police, or a counsellor or Mother Teresa or the
Pope or the union bosses and he shot out a gas cannister 
and it blew him up and trapped his legs and that’s how
we caught him with his legs caught up and all and we the 
New Jersey State Police arrested him and the judge sent
him to jail for a long time a long time a long time.

Premium Member A Mermaid and the New Jersey Devil

with cloven hooves and bat-like wings
he waits for her as sunset paints the sky
a much-feared societal outcast
communes each night with his only love

here on the Atlantic Ocean
where waves sweep worries away
she glides gently to the rock jetty
hears a song that reaches only her ears

how such a beautiful creature
finds joy with a being so dreaded
has been a mystery since 1870
she sees not his unsightly frame
but lingers on every word he sings

his song saddens her
salty tears fall from her eyes
the sea grows deeper with every drop
only a mermaid can sense his pain
his loneliness she shares



*”Sightings included one in 1870 by a Long Beach fisherman who said he saw 
the Jersey Devil serenading a mermaid.” – From the New Jersey Historical Society
http://www.jerseyhistory.org/legend_jerseydevil.html


Premium Member Seaside Park, New Jersey

Along the shore in New Jersey,
just about in the middle of Ocean County,
stands a proud and pleasant community.
The boardwalk at Seaside Park was a place to see.
With the surf, the beach, and the warm sunshine,
visitors could enjoy a day so fine.

This used to be a nice spot for a vacation.
However, their boardwalk has suffered devastation.
Most stores have been destroyed in a conflagration.
The fire started in an ice cream parlor somehow.
Charred ruins and ashes are all that is left now.
The town never fully recovered from a storm last year.
Seaside Park must find a way to persevere.

from a local news story

Said the New Jersey Bomber a Terrorist

Said the terrorist,
Terrorized and
radicalized by what the mind dictates.
Spreads it’s evil into the eyes,
stares into arrogance
justifies presumptuous actions 
and forces you to comply. 

Did I not think?
Once done,
irreversible these actions?
But no,
this rude bravado
assumes it carries the weight of God.
Who am I to dictate such ignorance?
They do on to me and so I do unto them?
Revenge?
For whom?
Did God ask you to take revenge?
No that is of your choice.
I chose my actions.
The devil speaks into both ears,
into your eyes,
into your visions,
into your hands,
into everything you do.
You become the devil’s advisory,
a chilling killer.
Think again!
God is not on your side!


Why do we do what we do?
our infectious mind
spreads through the eyes,
motivate our visions 
till we comply.
© Al. Juman  The "said" Poet  7/7/2016
© Al Juman  Create an image from this poem.

Patterson, New Jersey Circa December 1st, 1957

amidst cavorting delightfully, enjoying thorough
frolicking gingerly, foreign hick hating slo
hip-hopping insouciantly sustaining row

biological status quo
kvetching lamely moreso mother became pro
naturally physically rumbling, 
   heard all the way in Oslo

   supposedly twerking, undulating vivaciously
wantonly x2c wisely yielded – nada no
   zona pellucida anchored byte size seaman,
   potent embryonic fetal moe 
newlweds nocturnal merriment 
   moma's Menses marked march 1959 

   lovingly joyusly, insemination happened ha low 
bullseye clenched diploid fertilization 
   guaranteed germinating heiress 
   while squaqking lichen Apache at Diablo 
   ma late mother did should know

upon awakening upon tautly stretched exertion 
   during dilating cervix, which jiggled like jello
three score orbitz round el sol, warmed cockles 

   and muscled away brutally cold degrees 
   tab billed an igloo,
   or circa six decades 
   drafted exuberant ho...ho...ho...
cuz, i.e. thencee at 362nd day 

   baby in belly did fully grow
December first nineteen fifty seven 
   sanctioned newly minted papa  
   to sing a capella for he's a jolly good fellow

   quintessential nascent 
   kickstarter heady everflow 
though wintry dark, 
   a “hi” beam illuminated 
   newborn girl with dayglow

sans, mechanical engine ear 
   papa (an honorably discharged army vet) 
   all spit and shine groom, 
   who wed a bride somewhat callow

first time parents with giddiness did saul fully bellow
Boyce and Harriet Harriet countenance 
   twas (like an elf on Christmas eve) all aglow.
--------------------------------------------------------
Dear Sis – I knew not what else to do
thus, this poem crafted fur ewe
a doe ting maternal gal – whose time on Earth flew


New Jersey

What does it mean to me
New Jersey
It means smell and warmth
iI…….  oops wrong sort of Jersey
Here we go start again …….

Was the home of the Lenape Indians
Till the Dutch and Swedes came their way
Followed by the British who named
It after a channel island off the UK

Was the home of many a battle
Including the American revolutionary  war
Who tried to oust the British rabble
Not such an easy chore

New Jersey has many counties
21 was the latest score
Morris County was indeed a pleasant one
Rich in tradition and folk lore
                   THEN
Theirs Atlantic and Bergen, Burlington too
Camden, Cape May, Cumberland  to name but a few
Essex, Gloucester and Hudson come next in line
Hunterdon,  Mercer and Middlesex are doing just fine
Monmouth, Morris and Ocean is that enough
Pacific, Salem and Somerset I am now out of puff
Sussex, Union and Warren  …….That is New Jersey

The Value of New Jersey

New Jersey is the type of place
Where you pay more and more
As you get older
While simultaneous the value
Of experiences grow less and less
Until one day
You're in a nursing home IV strapped
Sipping apple juice and leaking in a bed pan

Up Where,New Jersey?

mom's heart a given
grand ma's charity does count
presently up there

Premium Member Crabbing In New Jersey

Shellfish at high prices are what the fish store sells.
People pay a lot for those scrawny hard shells.
Catchers flock to the waters of the Jersey Shore.
They go to catch those blue claws they adore.
You see people with their wire mesh traps and string.
Crabbers are at bridges looking to get something.
They throw the traps into the water over the side.
Along the bottoms of the inlets is where the crustaceans hide.
Crabs turn red only while they cook.
A greenish-brown color is how they naturally look.
New Jersey folks think the crabs taste quite good.
There is no need to go to Maryland.  Crabs are right in the neighborhood.

New Jersey

rock n roll lifestyle
after a while,the lights go
new york,new york please!!

Premium Member New Jersey Gal

I met a young lady in Hoboken
Actually, her good leg was broken
She used her cane,
Mileage to gain
Went by bus with a Hoboken token.

written December 28, 2021

Woodbury New Jersey Whetstone 2

brings world word ii gunnery duty 
   as extremely frightful flashback
   which utterly displeases this elderly mortal 
   and such behavior moi aback!
 
Born in this same house 
   on Leona avenue, this oldster doth dwell 
which neighborhood once felt like heaven, 
   but now seems like hell

pet peeves arise with ever more frequency 
   from increased unpleasant encroachments 
   along this very narrow street
   some young hoodlum 

   left trash scattered on property 
   that blew everywhere pell mell
but also parks a slew of cars up and down 
   both sides of this narrow thoroughfare

   blithely co-opting an unused driveway 
   by an elderly lady who lives alone
oh, or a male friend of his 
   who guns the engine of a rosey roadster
 
   at the crack of dawn
   and when confronted blurted out 
   “i gotta do what i gotta do” 
   these complaints, i feel a need 

   (albeit anonymously) 
   this doddering soldier 
   of misfortune doth wish to tell
hoping the police can crack down 
   e’en if they need (billy me) to be idle 
   voicing rebellious yell!
   
address and name withheld on request
on account to avoid getting 
   preyed upon via ruffian's quest
so…please do not misperceive me a pest

but feel grateful (before 
   being dead) to clear me chest
only a concerned citizen kane at best
and a harmless curmudgeon i attest!

Premium Member New Jersey

New Jersey was just a pass through state
From Boston to Myrtle Beach
Just a turnpike in our rear view mirror
Before the final destination we could reach

We never gave her a second thought
Only stopped to get some gas
Every time they said we couldn’t pump it ourselves
This would make us start to laugh

Then one year we were bit by the gambling bug
And decided to give Atlantic City the college try
And discovered a whole coast of Jersey shore
Much more pleasant to a young man’s eye

One summer we fancied a canoe trip
And floated down the Water Gap
We never knew that there was so much beauty
Residing on the western side of the Jersey map

We began exploring other exits on the Turnpike
As the years started slipping by
Always amazed by the adventures that greeted us
With each new vacation we gave a try

When my career path lead to the Big Apple
New Jersey welcomed me in her home
I quickly made so many friends here
That I never felt I was alone

I now live in the Garden State
That a million others just drive through
I am sure many more would enjoy it here
If her diversity they only knew
© Joe Flach  Create an image from this poem.

Woodbury New Jersey Whetstone One

Woodbury, new jersey home 
   to me self since birth
my very late mother 
   (bless her long departed soul)

   slaved and toiled 
   per accursed penury and dearth
tried her darnedest 
   to create happiness while on earth

would be livid with rage 
   at lack of neighbors’ manners
   if spirit of said deceased 
   returned to this home and hearth

so let this poem serve 
   as springboard to communicate anger 
   for whatever 
   this literary effort might be worth.
 
this aged body of mine creaky, 
   nearly out of steam, 
   and well nigh lost track
of countless times auld lang 

   cos sine and concomitant excitement 
   filled past and long distant childhood 
   waiting for ole saint nick
to careen down chimney flue lugging 

   that humongous and bulging sack
or going out hunting 
   (when this area mostly woodlands) 
   awash with fauna and flora

   and not unusual for pop to bring home 
   a buck sporting many tiered rack
caught in the cross hairs of firearms 
   seemed like gendarme of the pack

now, which memories flood my noggin, 
   akin to overflowing waters o the Merrimack
especially disconcerting with hostility 
   from youths politeness to lack

spouting expletives with flip of the bird 
   to us older folks who cough n hack
   similar to staccato machine gun fire 
   in terms of that barrage of flack

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