Best Paper Poems
Questioning eyes see through paper-thin lies,
igniting fear as flames erupt inside.
And devastated, she breaks down and cries,
trying to salvage what's left of her pride.
She believed you had both found your soulmate,
not imagining either heart would stray.
Yet, she struggled with bouts of love and hate,
watching her forever dreams slip away.
There's no ignoring an innocent flirt;
it's the first crack in a relationship.
And the lies that accompany it hurt,
causing the scales of happiness to tip.
Jealousy is an emotional trance
that snuffs the flickering flames of romance.
(Dedicated to one of my childhood friends)
You were one of those charming lilies
that bloomed, so fresh, in my springtime pond;
when my homesick wings of longings flutter and soar,
and my mind alights
on the periphery of the playparks of the past,
I reminisce all the little fun we had
along with our other friends -
as we strolled through the narrow trails
in the verdant flowery meadow
that sprawled near our school
during the tender years of our lives.
The giggles and the laughter
the chuckles and the chatter -
those shrieks and the squeals
that baffled even the needles of time
to forget their own pace
and hop and waltz along with us.
Then roads diverged, new air we breathed
as we took new paths to pursue our purposes in life.
Years later, you arrived once very near my place
yet we could not connect and get ourselves to meet.
That day when we talked on the phone
and I heard your voice after a very long time,
my mind leapt for joy and soaked for some time
in a summer drizzle of rainbow memories -
of those I had long forgotten
as you reminded them to me in our chat -
they linger on like pleasant petrichor.
Later, I tried to recollect and sing our childhood songs
rhyming it perfect with the
unrhyming clamor of our choruses.
When commitments in work and family responsibilities
seem to have rusted the gate to my nostalgic dam -
your call was the key to open it - and when creaking opened
wistful emotions gushed forth
to form an ocean of yearnings
to be a child once more.
You revived the puddles of my mind with paper boats
that carry leaves, stems, and flowers of fond memories.
I felt like a gleeful kite in the vast blue,
fleeing for a moment from the humdrum day.
You will forever be the same charming lily
adorning my little lake of most treasured blossoms.
My bestie, my soul-sis.
Note : This poem is inspired by the artwork and we chose to focus on it from a mental health perspective and how inner demons can play a significant role in relationships as well as considering siren myth and legend.
I am the eclipsed dawn,
swathed in searing blooms,
hemorrhaging the heat of restless smoke
into perfumed thorns
and sighing thistles ~
whilst aching to be loved
beyond the damage I cast,
like the queen of darkness,
dancing with demons.
Let your exhaustion cascade into me,
all being healed between this madness and rest.
Incessant pull caresses insistent longing;
collapse and captivation fuse to desire.
Flesh and energy intoxicate these bodies
in the time before hunger evaporates.
Death charges on
as you follow me into the stillness.
And what if the first spark of stars
hardened our night into a kingdom
of ice and frost,
of hurt and hollowness ~
would we not remain infatuated lovers,
pouring poison into
the grass that breathes
in chronic colors of this doomed devotion?
Without surrender, we sing in silence,
yet our swooned hearts remain drowsy from swirling strings,
twisting and turning on a surface seared severely by the sun.
What better way to fill the air with the fragrance of our thirst?
Let us fade into the dim fog
as we cosmically flourish ~
a forest of lustrous chaos, unseen, unbound.
Hold me in a cluster of all your stars,
the delicate ones you’ve laminated and fear might scar.
I’ll cradle them in the softest scarves ~
but even roses carry thorns all the way down their stems.
paper boat--
how far will it carry
my child's smile
© kash poet (kashinath karmakar)
======================
I made a paper tree of grief and
those now gone fill up each leaf..
Their faces, their lives, the people
I hold dear, have shaped it's
branches, year after year..
There isn't a root system to feed
my tree.
It's only sustenance is my memory..
I am what I meet in
My mirror; a reflection
Of perception, an idea
That’s me. I am a bunch
Of parts, named like
Constellations of stars
Real enough but labels all
The same. I am me and this;
Fleshy bipedal creature
That snorts and dozes and
Walks and talks and wonders
About, well everything.
I am a legacy of things gone
Before; the result of aeons
Of complex activity, of which
I am ignorant. I am what comes
Before things that will happen
Of which I am ignorant. I am a
Paper boat, riding a stream
Catching glimpses of dreams
That pass me by as I soak it
Up so much that I dissolve
And finally die!
The page
bears so eagerly
the weight
of everything
inside of me
my pen prostrate
leaves a dent
I muse
this paper could use
some weightlessness
I make an airplane
instead
Since you left, I've been unable to dream,
I toss about in tangled sheets all night.
And fold paper planes, odd as that may seem,
preparing the night's fledgling fears for flight.
I believed we'd be together till death,
till you cast me aside: alone and scared.
And left little incentive to draw breath,
what hurt the most was that I thought you cared.
Each night, I scribble down my hurt and pain,
inscribing how love devastated me.
And fold that page into a paper plane;
wanting the winds of fate to set me free.
And await a breeze to launch my letter:
hoping once it takes flight, I'll sleep better.
Do not be fooled by the power
of the king, by the shadow he’s enveloped
open your eyes to the shadow
he pokes, pricks, and stirs the fear inside
drowning in remorse, regret, and sorrow till
nothing remains but the hatred
hatred has the king for his paper kingdom
a tyrant evolves
Fragile like the house of cards
Tis but origami paper meticulously folded
with patience, is his castle
Immigrant why do you come?
Immigrant you must have dire reason
you’ll only find division, malice
and disfunction
So many dwell under a rock
blindly leading blind
toward the precipice
Tis this charade! The king’s been tricked
as he parades his symbols
dangerously close to the escarpment
How do we choose
Who will vie for king?
Riddled by the law
not founded on solid ground
after all
The two dimensions
The jack-ass consistently
kicks the lion
discombobulating him
Heretical in families
misjudging the way of the world
Nothing ever resolved
In his paper kingdom
how should society work?
Whose ethical ideas?
Whose ideology?
Spectrum such as the left,
the centre or the right
Rock Girl
You are scissors, and all you can do
is to cut all those paper hearts through.
But I’ve hardened my heart
and before you can start
to destroy me, I’m going to SMASH you!
(Gosh, PD, they won't even permit the ~sign in the title!)
Blank white paper
Infinite hope, endless promise
An inspirational instrument
The artists canvas and lawmakers device
How an absent lover expresses love so precise
So much to say, I’m intimidated by its potential
Fearful to express my true self to you
Or to people exponential
Fear is a disease
A disease impeding me from being me
Blank white paper
A horrifying shrill to action
Blank white paper
My call to create
Channel your optimism
Divorce your pessimism
Summon the courage, others will follow
Allow your new future to begin today
Reveal your dreams hidden by white ink on
Blank white paper
The Paper Clip
They were such a lovely couple
From a very very rich family
I was invited to
The birthday party
She was all of three
Adorable and soon ever more sweet
Once the candles were blown
That huge cake would be such a treat
Now the presents were a plenty
Clothes, jewelry, toys
Dolls, doll houses and bikes and more joys
I was somewhat shy, mine was not so grandiose
I had wrapped in an old cigar box
Another box much smaller
Inside a third box even smaller
Inside that me gift
A small piece of paper
Folded with a bright red paper clip
A wee little poem
That said these simple words
You are a treasure
Hidden inside these many boxes
So beautiful and worth the discovery
You are the jewels of life, you so lovely
I had drawn a pretty princess
On the paper fine in pink redress
I read her the words
From the bottom of my heart
Her eyes lit up so bright
I got the hugest biggest hug in sight
She ran away with a paper clip and
Three old cigar boxes
In a child’s happiness and
Pure delight
I sighed
The gift was so just right!
An afterthought from ancient times
The Poetry of Wine
Gifts that come from the heart
Light up the soul
When you gaze into a starlit sky
Count the millions of gifts from the heart
Their goodness shall shine
Upon us mortals
Too many cold nights
would follow these hours
FIrst frost will destroy
the blooming moonflowers
Because,WInter goes and WInter comes
Snowflakes melt our paper hearts
I want to preserve moments
before they' ll be the past
I just want to hold you
and make each second last
I want to taste your sweet words
breathing velvets on my lips
I want to feel your kisses
treading softly on my hips
I need to hear your lyrics
whispered in my ear
I want to let my hair down
cascading on your tear
I want to beg for your love
Be fondled by your touch
Want you to give me butterflies
Tickle and make me blush
I don' t want to make memories
But you won't be here
One day I'd call your name
pretending you're still there
Too many cold nights
would follow these hours
FIrst frost will destroy
the blooming moonflowers
Because,WInter goes and WInter comes
Snowflakes melt our paper hearts
Wet rain will cover palm prints
in the forgotten sand
New fingers trace your laugh lines
where I no longer stand
Stars wouldn't recall our waltz dance
and places that we've been
They won't remember falling
in once upon a dream
Whether poets, showmen or philosophers,
Or mere cowboys who follow herds—
They all want to leave behind a lasting mark—
More than frail paper etched with words.
But the cold, hard truth still lies in the doing
And all but a blessed few will fail—
But on we go like bison over the cliff—
Hoping our wings sprout and we sail.
And like restless sleepwalkers we do wander
From one thing and then to the next—
Till we find what it is that will then save us
To put life in proper context.
So on we scribble and strive for the right phrase—
Catch meaning and life in birds—
Put emotions and feelings we briefly hold
On this frail paper etched with words.
I tried folding a paper crane again the other day
and it didn't turn out right
tracing back my folds,
I knew I missed somewhere
unfolding, re-creasing, refolding
just tracing my fingers back
fingers
feeling the paper
and beyond
A three-minute fold
times 10 now
Even if I needed to do other things,
I paid no mind, determined to fold that crane
I had to get this right.
I had to.
Almost there...
As it turns out,
I only missed one step,
--something to do with its wings, I believe...
Amazing how a single step
could be so important.
Stretching its wings now,
the paper crane
soars proudly on my palm...
So beautiful.
In refolding this paper crane,
I hope I never forget...
Amazing how easily things slip from our minds,
but more amazing
is when our hearts Do remember.
We remember,
and then we Do something...
...I have hundreds of paper cranes yet to fold,
it may be taking me far longer
than what I had initially planned...
but yes, you are in my thoughts,
you are in my prayers...
and I shall continue folding these cranes.
...I revel in the thought, for that moment,
when I can send them flying towards the Sun...
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