Best Rafter Poems
Like a rafter that broke under the weight it bore
Like a pupa, wound hard in a tight bind,
Like the torn pages of a book thrown into waste,
I felt trapped and broken and my life seemed a hard grind.
But when I discovered truths as life passed by,
Learning lessons from the past, knowledge did bloom,
Now wisdom imparts a discerning eye,
Unveiling paths to break free from gloom.
The scars of yesterday still may remain,
But they need not cause us constant pain,
For in the present, we have the power,
To rise and create a life that is full of gain.
I need to wake up from a state shadowed with doubts,
And try to claw my way up the walls that hem me in.
This desire I have like a compressed coil that can bounce
Instantly leading me to a release and a triumphant win
I pledge that I will use my remaining years,
For the rejuvenation of my mind and soul,
Instead of being tethered to my affliction,
I will wake up from my stupor and pursue my goal.
Thus, through uncertainty’s haze, I found clarity.
Now I embrace the challenges, imbued with grace.
In the depths of my mind, there is a beacon of serenity.
And I grow more tranquil with every challenge I face.
We laughed at each and every thing.
You were my sovereign soul mate.
How could I know when I wore your ring
that you were the one would teach me hate?
So many days filled up with laughter.
Nights of unmistakable pleasure.
Then you hung me from the highest rafter.
Caused me pain too deep to measure.
I worked so hard to perfect and please.
Giving you everything I was made of.
In times of stress I'd bring you ease.
You flourished in unconditional love.
One night I came home late from work.
There was my telephone message blinking.
Turns out you're a heartless jerk.
You shattered me without twice thinking.
Those words still haunt me to this day.
"I simply can't go on pretending.
I need my freedom and right away".
How cruel the message you were sending.
Yet when I recovered from the shock
I picked up the pieces of my soul.
For years my heart was under lock.
But now I'm healed and once more whole.
I've heard that you never settled down.
That great love's never come your way.
Well karma reigns and you wear the crown.
That's really all I have to say!
for "Betrayal" contest sponsored by Frank H.
The parachute just will not open,
As I spiraled, free falling to the ground,
This nightmare is happening again,
Never able to leave this merry-go-round.
Another day of struggle and strife,
In a throat hold deadly dangerous grip,
I’ve lost the concept and meaning of life,
Drowned in self-pity waters I do dip.
Love can neither rescue or save me,
Falling faster than the pouring rain,
On this rafter lost on the high sea,
I know in my heart I have nothing to gain.
They say that misery adores company,
In my case, this is neither right nor true,
Wishing that I could one day see,
And live a life never feeling blue.
***
The other side of me is light and free
As I'm soaring the skies like an eagle
High and jubilant, nothing escapes me
On top of the world, a ruler, regal
Who does need sleep? I don't, I'm writing
Poem after poem, and in between
I paint, play guitar, I am thriving
The most wonderful person ever seen
I am at full speed, creative high tide
No one can follow, I love you all
All that worried me I now push aside
Trying to forget about my next fall...
Why can't I have some balance, always!
Where I'm creative, and not feel bad
Where I can sleep, happiness stays
Without knowing that I'll soon be sad.
I was visited by brothers Zog and Ziggy
Who landed from planet Plumfiggy
They were attracted by my Christmas lights
Both joined in when we had snowball fights
Zog and Ziggy were young alien twins
both had lime green and purple tinged skins
On the top of their tiny marshmallow heads
they had dreadlocks which hung down like threads
Ziggy's eyes were of pure emerald green
and Zog’s eyes had a weird rainbow sheen
when we met I shook all their four arms
these odd hugs really enhanced their charms
Plumfiggians don’t sleep but chill out instead
at night time they would rest in my shed
I found them both hanging down from a rafter
this behaviour caused loud peals of laughter
Zog is quite plump, Ziggy's much thinner
I pureed them a Christmas dinner
They gave me a present of figgy joos
it tasted vile, a drink I'd never choose!
They found it cold so I'd made each a jumper
with four sleeves to knit my task was quite bumper
My guests stayed indoors until it was dark
Then we'd visit the children's play park
Ziggy loved playing on the big swings
In Plumfiggy they don’t have such things
Their planet is just twelve light years away
At Plumfiggy fest I'd be welcome to stay
208 words
Fantasy with fictional beings Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Caren Krutsinger
12/01/20
There she sits with grace, and dainty
Satin dressed, a charming lady;
Her dark blue eyes and golden tresses,
Adorns a face that heaven blesses.
Gems and jewels shining, gleaming,
As the queen of hearts sits there dreaming;
Where she sits in lonely fashion,
Not fit to share her only passion
Of love for kings and love for jewels,
Not to mention her share of fools.
The king of hearts comes for his lady,
Down the path neath trees so shady;
Over hill in stately fashion,
Rides the king with all his bastion.
Drums are beating, trumpets blowing,
With the horses onward going;
Down the street on feet that clattered,
As if the dream was all that mattered;
There to meet his blue eyed lover,
A prized illusion to discover;
And all the joy that rang from rafter,
Was nothing more than daydream's laughter.
It's hard to do an absolute classic,
First finding the words to create your piece,
Then compiling them is another trick,
The formula you will have to increase.
With so many forms one has to master,
Many poets simply stick to just one form,
Like a bird perched up high on a rafter,
Poetry comes in like a flood and storm.
The poet's life is lived as surreal,
A great many have a need to explain,
What it is exactly that makes them feel,
Some are extravagant, some are quite plain.
There is one thing they all have in common,
They all give others great inspiration.
/|\
(Ten syllables per line)
Now the public library in our town contains the knowledge for mankind,
and there’s not much happening ‘round the world, that I cannot find.
I can think of any subject that I like and tell Jenny what I’m after,
and she can find a stack of books that darn near touch the rafter.
The library’s helped me countless times from days when I’m at school,
and I’ve become a handy man with books my back up tool,
but aside from books on lifestyle needs, on fiction some are geared,
and some authors write for little kids, and some write on the weird.
I’ve hired books about our history and read about some shocking wars.
Our garden is designed from books, and I’m obsessed with reading ‘Jaws’.
But crime became my new desire with cases filed from years gone by,
where Capital Punishment was handed down and why some had to die.
Description of the victims sent a chill right through my bones,
right to the guilty on death row with all their over-tones.
I read about their last few weeks, with how and why and where,
before they took their final walk to the electric chair.
One story written by a Warder based in a Southern US gaol,
is penned about a chilling case that for you I will unveil …
Leroy murdered seven folk; the warder wrote down in this book.
For twenty years appeals were held then Leroy’s goose was cooked.
When you’re with someone for twenty years, no matter what they’ve done,
you can form a slight attachment even if a fragile one.
So one week before that final stroll Leroy was asked by Warder Black,
if there’s something special that he’d like, and Leroy answered back.
“There is something I do desire - but it must involve me faithful wife.
“My wish is” Leroy grinned. “Is to eat her meatloaf now for life”.
Well Leroy’s wish was granted and for three meals every day,
he ate the meatloaf that he begged for while the hours ticked away.
On the eve of Leroy’s execution there was tension being shown.
The corridors were creepy now with a ghostly eerie tone.
Forgotten were the seven victims - in the morning there’s one more.
Leroy must face ‘old sparky’ waiting down that corridor.
His final meal of meatloaf was brought before him on a plate.
Said Warder Black with teary eyes “You don’t look worried mate!”
Leroy laughed “I’m not my friend, that chair won’t kill me man.
If this meatloaf couldn’t do me in - I know that nothing can!”
Dust now covers where love once lived,
years of happiness wrapped in laughter.
This old house has seen its share,
of joy and tears from floor to rafter.
Bread was broken while troubles fixed,
prayers were prayed to the Lord above.
My parents' home we all would come,
because all was done there out of love.
Now we load their things because they're gone,
the walls now bare where memories hung.
The house seems lonely without them there,
no neighbors knock, no bells have rung.
As we hand the keys to someone new,
the once dark skies seem some how blue.
10/16/18
There is a thin line between the laugh and the cry.
The laugh is often perfected by one who has silenced her crying.
The laugh is sometimes a ruse, a ready weapon to camouflage pain.
When the laugh is hearty, loud, disturbing even, it can be masking a horror.
Do not be fooled by the laughing; these people are often hurting more than any of the others.
Get to know them. Ask “how are you really feeling?”
Do not be surprised if they laugh, pooh-poohing you.
If you persist they may tell you that they do not have any emotions.
Many children raised in the “olden days” were never allowed to have them.
Feelings were shut off in childhood, by parents who could only accept the laughing.
Sometimes the best clowns, the ones who keep us in constant stitches
Are doing so, to keep themselves from throwing a rope over a rafter.
Sometimes they break down, finally, and jump out the eighteen floor window.
Do not be fooled by the laughing.
It can be even more disturbing
Than a perpetual pouty face,
Or an angry arm-crossed bully-ish attitude.
Be aware of the laughing.
It is often a mask to cover the worst pain.
Robin Williams and John Belushi knew this.
In a dark sapphire night's trance
Flirtatious banter romance
Bright ray light fireflies upward dance,
Amorous scene within heaven's light
Others ignite on steeple leaves
To the moon's song in full sight.
Breeze pushes through full of laughter,
Serenading shuttering leaves against the rafter.
I picked the house whilst floating down
After travelling to this country town
The air from the house was delicious
As the shouting voices raised were so vicious
The first one I saw was a little girl
And I touched her lightly with a twirl
She would become a victim so sadly true
Getting her taste as sweet and clean will do
Then to the kitchen I did float
Touching the mother as I did gloat
For she would be the dead one
When the deed so evil was done
Then I looked him straight in the eyes
Transferring all the evil to him to despise
And I whispered in his ear
All the nastiness I could say so clear
With the scene now set
I settled down whilst he got onto it
The rage within him I had planted
Bubbled and broiled as it was fed
Until suddenly he sprang at her
Beating and straggling as her death occurred
He sat at the table with his head in his hands
Sobbing uncontrollably wondering at his next plans
After a half an hour he went to the shed
And hung himself from the rafter until he was dead
The little girl tried to roust her mother
But her sleep was eternal as no other
I savoured the scene drinking the sadness in
Delighting in it all from beginning to end
And when I had drunk my fill
I left the house moving on to deliver my next pill.
© Paul Warren Poetry
For those avid crossword groupies of which I are one,
I'm offering free of charge vital data to add to your fun.
So you're stuck on 15-down for the name of a barren of mules!
Groups of creatures you can now name if you use this set of rules!
A group of apes is a shrewdness and a gang of asses is a pace.
Tigers are a streak and you'd better streak should they give chase!
Can you believe that skittish plovers are called a congregation?
(I wonder, perhaps Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic or other denomination?)
You might see a cackle of hyenas or a tower of giraffes at zoos,
Or if on a Kenyan safari a bloat of hippos or a fleet herd of gnus.
The name for a prickle of porcupines is an appropriate moniker for sure!
A sleek bunch of ferrets is called a business, and, why, I'm unsure.
Pesky squirrels are called a scurry and a warren is for rabbits.
(There are many warrens of rabbits due to their promiscuous habits!)
Badgers are grouped as a cete and leopards are known as a leap;
Moles are known as a labor and a herd or drove identifies sheep.
Parliaments of owls meet in trees and eagles in convocations.
Jellyfish waft about in smacks and peacocks strut in ostentations!
Screeching cormorants are a gulp which sounds mighty weird.
Steer clear of a crash of rhinos since they are to be feared!
Charming finches are called a charm and larks an exaltation,
Turkeys a rafter, frogs an army and starlings a murmuration.
Locusts are known as a plague and cockroaches an intrusion.
An unkindness of ravens and their raucous caws just causes confusion!
Groups of humans are known as Republicans, Democrats or Nazarenes,
Jerks and morons but this barely includes all human species by any means!
Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
(c) 2014 All Rights Reserved
~~Let Him Without Sin Cast The First Stone~~
Back in the days when Jesus was said to have walked
There are lessons in life about which are still now talked
In kings it says “If they sin against thee (for there is none that sinneth not)”
It may help us to recall these words that we may have forgot.
In Psalms it points out that in sin our mother did conceive us
The genes and traits of mothers really do never leave us.
In Romans it points that the wages of sin is death and strife
But the gift through Christ and forgiveness is the gift of eternal life.
But John is the one to bring to mind I think
When the scribes and Pharisees set out to cause a stink.
An adulteress female they bought to the Christ in the morn
Caught in the act of adultery, they had all sworn.
To trick Christ by his answer but he was too clever:
(Not the man they did not take it seems men are to blame never)
He wrote in the soil then turned to them and said
"He that is without sin let him cast the first stone at her (to render her dead)."
None of the accusers could their conscience find clear
They left the woman with Jesus and this is what she did hear
"Where are your accusers now is there none to condemn you?"
He knew he had pricked their conscience-and his words were true.
“No lord they have gone even though they did call me a whore”
“Then I do not condemn thee, go forth and sin no more.”
We all suffer the sin of imperfection, of that there is no doubt
But it is up to each of us to ask for forgiveness, not for others to flout.
But as it says in Mathew let us not judge lest we be judged
We may not be as perfect as we let on, our own image smudged.
We all fall short of perfection in this human life
Let’s look to the rafter in our own eye and try not to cause strife.
A lot of poetic license is used here but the essence is here and the scriptures used are:
Kings 8:46
Psalms 51:5
Romans 6:23
John 8:3
Math 7
mostly
happy
ever after
hanging
upside down from a rafter
giving my cherished name
to short splintered sticks
that hits long balls
out of sight
both day and night and
did I mention the difficulty that I have
in going while hanging upside down
God made it so that
I must move to move
and stand upright
Drink at the table of men the wine
Tapped from the palm tree so divine
Release the ashimu inside of you
Let your body vibrate to the secret rhythm of Odu
Egu the gallant one in the land
Vibrating furiously yet lovely as the white sand
Move by the sea shore in gait
Hip twisting and acting like a hunters bait
The wind acknowledges his movement
For a pattern of life it represents at that moment
Let the owl blow his sacred trumpet
That shakens the heart and weakens the knee like a trinket
Let the forest come alive in the dead night
The animals’ eyes guiding them like a torchlight
Fire is come from beneath the earth
Illuminating the trees and casting shadows like death
The feeble in mind is left at home
For to go you must contain only bone
Hear the sound of the drums
The gay shouts of the flute in forms
The backing of the kacha-kacha
The wonderful melody of the skirt of rafter
Idu the greatest paces up and down
His muscle twitching upsetting his flowing gown
His toes digging the sands ready to pounce
Pounce he did but in a bounce
The spirits are ascended from the bowels
The ryhtm have increased in tempo
The shaking of sweaty skins has created wells
Ground dug with foot but like a hoe
Omachile the great surpasses all
His steps gazelle like and his shoulder tall
The earth bows to his frame
And yes…. He lives with the fame