Best Odds Poems
Hearts made of wax, sent through the mail
Should help relax, instead I wail,
They will soon melt in time's hot hands,
Loneliness is felt midst life's strands;
Hearts made of glass shatter and fail
When griefs harass, they don't prevail,
What use are these hearts so feeble,
Poor pleas of perishing people?
Hearts made of stone are cold and fake,
Even Love will own - "Hard to break",
Will they be healed? How can I trust?
Feelings concealed, what if they bust?
Hearts made of flesh and blood, I seek,
They won't crush my sentiments meek,
Understanding hearts of love - Now,
fear departs, before them I bow.
----------17.12.16----------
News
heard through
the grapevine
when a heatwave
threatened July’s joy
a baby girl was born
against all odds (while on air
Phil Collins sang to make a point)
tears ran down a happy mother’s face.
At last, the closure of an empty space.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
In the desert of doubt and fear,
A flower blooms, resilient and clear.
Like this bloom, we stand tall and bright,
Nurturing our passions, through day and night.
The desert's harsh conditions test our will,
But we draw strength from our inner still.
We brave the burning sand, and weather the storm,
For our dreams are worth the desert's form.
In this arid land, we'll find our strength,
And like the bloom, our spirit will take length.
We'll strive to reach our goals, and make our dreams unfold,
And in the desert, our aspirations will bloom.
So let the desert's vastness, be our stage,
Where we'll rise above, and turn our dreams into page.
We'll walk through the fire, and emerge anew,
For in the desert's heart, our spirit will break through.
And when the journey's done, and we've made our stand,
We'll look back on the desert, with a heart full of sand.
For it was there that we found, our inner voice so bright,
And the flower that bloomed, was our spirit, shining with delight.
What are the odds
The under
The over
The chance of portraying
Poor Toto
As Rover.
Lions and tigers and bears
Disguised
As their frightening fears.
Friendship discovered
When nobody listens
Somebody hears.
And witches
Like Glenda
How could she offend ya
Such courage
Such heart
a brain.
And a Wizard
Who knew
Was just like me and you
Afraid to admit
He knew not what to do.
I shall end this brief spiel
With a click of the heel
And to those who object
Say…
‘C’MON FOLKS, GET REAL!”
John G. Lawless
©2/18/2023
assigned to a track
race is but a game we play ~
handicapping fate
***
Read the Grahams and Templetons.
Sifted the Calvinists and Arminians.
Tried to qualify the Mortals and Venials.
John’s comfort was lost in Hebrew’s six.
I got the faith and conviction in
The Holy Ghost and Christ the Son.
Been given clear skies and sight,
but pre-meditated sins still done.
Eternal security for some so easy,
seems wide steps on a narrow way.
Deceit often more subtle than
Branch Davidians and jungle Kool-Aid.
This - A Seed of fear?
Carried by the winds of Mount Azazel,
watered by fallen whispers in my ear?
Or taking no heed, a fool plays with sin?
Don’t want to wake up under the wrong Throne,
Just think about the ‘few there be that find it’,
Intermittent obedience and lukewarms thrown.
Always, the fear of this, has been with me.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Contest: Where Do You Think You Will Spend Eternity?
Sponsor: Laura Leiser
09.05.15
An ember cloud and fireballs
lit up the sky,
as the lovers embraced
each other in deep
moment of love.
They held each other's
arms and kissed
as though time had
stopped.
The two lovers turned to pillars
of ash as Mount Vesuvius
spewed out lava and rocks
all over Pompeii.
Their love was so deep and powerful,
that not even the scorch
of Mother Nature could separate
them from their bond....
Date of Publishing: 9/14/2016
Inspired by the Movie: Pompeii (2014)
To take a risk and live trying
always resume positive thinking
with reasonable doubt inquiring
making love instead of secretly dying
For what is life living with a lover lying
compelling fears and tears co signing
starting over is better then a fear stagnant enables crying
significant meaning to true love endless passions defining
~searching the soul for answers never resigning ~
He's speaking his mind
No woman around to hear
would he still be wrong?
Beating the Odds
Life’s breath contained in heaving chest
slow breaking wave in angry crest
rushing toward the rock strewn shore
ragged rocks that ripped and tore
released the pain of rueful shriek
warning call to those who seek.
Never knowing what is real
what to think - or feel
never knowing how to free
desires held inside of me
dreams denied a resting place.
Living on the edge
of unopened window ledge
peering through opaque distortions
at life’s bizarre contortions.
Betting on ideas
better left unspoken
lies promises, unbroken
the odds
stacked against
Life.
submitted to the “I Do Not Know Poetry Form Contest”
sponsor – Andrea Dietrich
10/13/2014
Against all odds by Phuti Morifi
Breaking it loose from the toughness
Moving the mountainous stones not slipping trough the rocks
Walking a thorny road barefooted and ignoring the bleeding pain
That’s where it all started
In a small world beneath my breast there is a beat
Everything appear very slow and limited
It seemed useless to keep my faith
it seemed doomed to keep dreaming
But against all odds i am grateful for all that i have
I feel the braveness whenever the world see the ignominy
I feel ease whenever the world see the sadness
I smell the greatest aroma whenever the world smell the smoke
I move whenever the world see me neutral
I look around my grace everyday when i open my eyes
I smile at my reflection every time i see my image
I pause and watch see the solidity in me
i feel the best out of my toughness
I can break it all loose in my quietness
i can break it all loose in special sadness
i can open the darkest cloud with my faith
i can open the locked doors with my believe
I am given the authority to break all loose whenever the world get tough
I am given the authority to believe in what i see and feel within me
i am authorised to fly where ever i want
i am authorised to move whenever i feel
Against all odds nothing can stand before me
Againts all odds nothing can take my keys
Against all odds nothing can stop me
Because i am the manager, the Clothe President
Just say the leader in my life
Against all odds nothing is ever impossible
There is a girl
In a world
Far away from here
Where no fear
Can ever be conceled.
Her irritations are followed by
cathartic absolution
And even on the most stormy of
nights,
She glistens in the invisible,
Shinning light.
Her heart;
Can see no wrong
Her eyes;
Brighter then the sun upon dawn
She is what they all strive to be
Perfectly catalized.
In the depth of the sea,
They chide and chastize
Every move she makes,
However she will never break
And time after every melancholy
time
She astonishes even the
unsurprised.
Her charismatic way,
Brings even the doomed back to
life.
Against the odds,
she's shinning
Even in the dark
While shes crying
You cant miss her spark
Like superwoman
No one can hurt her now
She shines
Returning hope back to this desolite
town.
It’s hard to meet someone serious at college. Everyone’s busy,
self-centeredly grinding away at their dreams. So much so that
people tell you to not even try (especially as a freshman).
I was mostly at ease with myself—as a freshman. I had an
excellent skincare routine—it was downright luxuriant,
and it kept me going, through that romantically lonely year.
But we humans hope—we buy lotto tickets to dream on—though we know the awful math. We Gen Z’s seem to have our own unique brand of loneliness, born of covid and Internet-age experience.
My romantic expectations, sophomore year, were low—ok, unmeasurable.
Looking around was depressing. There were socially awkward STEM majors, jocks, frat men (sure the world’s laid-out just for them) and ‘CSOM Bros" (business majors more interested in parlaying my Grandmère’s money than me) and the elusive, emotionally reserved, ‘regular guys.’
But the unexpected can happen. We all know how crowded campus coffee shops are—the students move in and out in tides as noisy as the real, salty ocean. And then there you were, a rumpled, 25-year-old doctoral student—from another world—asking to share my table.
The loudest thing in that room was your sense of stillness. You seemed to be a new, and distinct species, and as we talked, you seemed to somehow smooth my anxious edges. After a few meets, the thought, ‘I really like this guy,’ seemed to have its own gravity.
We somehow managed to thread the ‘too busy to care’ dynamic, and as time went by, you helped me channel my absurd, fiery, pastel-painted, first-love, early-twenty girlhood heat into something longer lasting, deep and authentic. Congratulations! It’s been two years.
Separating now, would be like removing the salt from the sea.
.
.
Songs for this:
Playing House by Kudu
So Much Mine by The Story
While kneeling and praying and talking to God;
He said He did not like seeing the sisters at odds.
He was tired of the cussing, fussing and fighting,
He was tired of the gossip, strife and backbiting.
We say we are His children and we love Him so,
And the way we treat each other is as if we don't know.
That if we search His Word in it we will find,
That even Euodias and Syntyche were not of the same mind.
They labored with Paul, yet they both were at odds,
And their anointing; their gifts were given by God.
There was no need to argue and no need to fight,
No need to gossip, tear down or backbite.
Now these ladies may not have done all of this,
But as women of God, they did one are two on the list.
We are not in this walk for fortune or fame,
We are not here for a reputation or to make us a name.
We are in this walk to give God glory, honor and praise,
Deny ourselves, take up the cross and do what God says.
We must refrain from criticizing and putting one another down,
We must give words of encouragement and put a smile where there is a frown.
As pieces to a puzzle we must be perfectly fit,
Working as a team to pull souls from the pit.
Building up, building and not tearing down,
Bringing home a baptized church and then we'll get our crown.
For together we stand, divided we fall,
We must live a life that is a light to all.
So ladies let us come together in love, joy and peace;
No longer shall we be at odds, let the division cease.
Penned for a book entitled Girl Talk, Women to Women, Sister to Sister and
Heart to Heart 2002
Until I saw it for myself,
I never knew the power of
Innocent kisses stolen at every given chance,
the holding of hands throughout the store,
the little moments of pleasure we give ourselves
when we are alone,
just by thinking of that special one;
I never knew the power of
love.
So when,
after undying suffering and pains of
3 month relationships,
broken promises and
hurtful words,
You came into my life
I was skeptical.
But that never stopped me.
Instead, you tossed my heart around in your hands,
wondering whether to give this unbound soul
your own warm heart,
or to stab the heart,
making sure this poor soul never bothers you again.
For some reason you hold on,
not letting go,
yet not giving in.
You tease him,
tauning him through the months,
knowing you could never happen,
yet wanting him just the same.
You try to hide your feelings,
but through the hugs and
deep talks in the warm summer grass,
its obvious to me that your worth the time.
So a year after you met me,
you gave me a chance,
skeptical too.
But I took the chance,
and threw all I had into this relationship
to make it work.
We were seperated,
yet we always found our way back together.
Instead of giving into the
"you'll never make it",
we shoved it into their faces.
And lastly,
instead of turning tail
when we had our quarrels,
(which seemed to happen way too much),
we showed the world
that even though the odds are against us,
we will never,
ever
give in.
We will make it