Best Reading Poems
It pleasures me
That she reads me
Inside her serenity
Parked on our bench of antiquities
I, whom gazes over there at her,
Later in the dusk of candlelight
Shall remove her pink dress
Tiss then
I shall see she derives her pleasures
As I read her
Behind a chair
Below a desk
with my bare feet on a wall, in my flannel pajama or a wet swimming suit,
With my hands on my peanut butter and jelly toast,
marmalade, not cherry or anything else
Next to an ocean, ignoring the smell,
Lying in a hammock or in the grass, even on a sandy gritty beach towel.
Listening to children’s giggles, being dripped on
by wet swimming suits running past
I can devour a pile of books.
History, science, animal facts, jokes, limericks, Dr. Seuss, Shel Silverstein, Coleridge, Poe.
When one grabs me and throttles me to pay attention I am lost….
I am no longer a mere mortal.
I am in a microscope, under a kitchen floorboard, in a tulip’s leaf,
I am a faery, a T-rex, a Stormtrooper, a police detective.
In a treehouse,
High above my neighbors, not hearing them at all,
Yet subconsciously hearing everything,
I learned to be a book worm, reading Agatha Christie first….
Written 3-08-19
Contest: The Bookworm Poetry Contest Sponsor: Kai Michael Neumann
To my daughter who never listens.
Life is not as simple as a cliché.
It's not lullabies and butterflies.
Not all sounds are soothing,
not all flowers are faithful.
It's not as relaxing as a reverie,
rarely as poetic as a poem,
so you can't hide everything behind metaphors.
You have to express your true verses,
you have to serenade in your own melody -
but never forget the chorus to our song.
Life is full of storytellers who will lead you astray,
so never believe everything you hear or see -
create your own biography, make your own history.
Our existence is fragile like petals,
yet your birth created an oasis in my heart.
I remember when they said you would not blossom,
yet you flourished in essences of evergreen elegance.
I was the first to cradle you in my arms,
as I promised to protect you endlessly.
Hoping that you would soar forever,
spread your wings higher and higher.
We never truly realise the sacrifices of our parents.
I wonder if you will ever know,
how sometimes all I had left was my smile -
never would I reveal my frailties.
It was not a simple case of masculinity,
because even the most ferocious lion cries.
I hope you never face a struggle,
as difficult as the trials forsaken upon me
and
I'm sorry if at times you saw no emotions,
apologies for the tears I never let you see,
nor the fears I never allowed you to feel,
but it was the way I was brought up to be,
it's how reality curated my personality.
If the suppression of my feelings made you distant -
remember a father will always be a shepherd for his flock.
Wars from the past have infiltrated mankind,
yet there will be many battles to come -
just don't fall asleep among heartless sleeping souls.
I shiver upon the thought of our closing goodbye,
when my shield can no longer protect you,
as every knight has to eventually lay down his sword.
The world can be a cruel and wild place,
and I remind you there is always a rainy day,
so choose wisely the paths to ponder upon -
learn how to build your own abode.
You'll always be a baby in my eyes.
I'll always be so proud.
Even in silence... I will forever love you.
Dad.
The sponsor chose words I’ve never heard of before
So if I don’t win the contest I’ll declare he’s a bore
It’s axiomatic that I’ve an altruistic attitude
But I don’t give a fig if folks think that I’m rude!
I’ll sign a declaration of my asseveration
Then bare my teeth like an angry Alsatian!
Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia is the fear of long words
Is this word some kind of cynical joke aimed at dim witted nerds!
REQUIRED WORDS axiomatic, altruistic, asseveration
Tongue firmly in cheek poem for contest
Triple A Challenge
Sponsored by Robert Haigh
4/15/18
I listen to the young men
in their black turtlenecks
who spit their consonants forcefully
in cryptic metaphors
about the state of the world.
Their work makes me think.
I guess this means it is good.
But I will never be
one of the edgy poets.
The sight of a bare tree
tugs on my soul,
and the stones whisper to me,
and I must write
about the lonely winter rain
and the cherry blossoms –
in softer voice,
simpler words,
a few lines to sketch
the small, quiet wonders
I so love.
April 23, 2017
On Reading a Poem That I Don’t Understand
By Elton Camp
Those lines that an author has penned
I would like very much to commend
I read it carefully twice more,
But remain confused as before
The words chosen are those I’ve seen
But the sentences, what do they mean?
Maybe the poem is just too profound
For a simple man like me to expound
Does the poet speak of himself or another man?
In his writing of it, just what may be his plan?
I can’t see coherent thought
To me, it expresses naught
That doesn’t mean the poem is no good
Only that by me it isn’t being understood
Comments that others post
Say that it is just “the most”
I am sure that true that must be
It’s just too hard for one like me
I have to seek an easier verse
With its author I may converse
If I had time enough to climb
this Everest of rhythmic rhyme,
I’d find my mind is wandering,
meandering through desert clime.
Each ancient word seems so absurd,
countless of which I’ve never heard.
The ear may hear, though wondering
and pondering what just occurred.
If days had space to ever trace
such epic poems of our race,
long hours of ours lost squandering
time, blundering one can’t erase.
Confine the lines under the bonnet
of sweet brevity's lean sonnet -
levity and glee arise!
These eyes will sing and smile upon it.
written 28 Mar 2020
As a child I loved to dream,
making my days and nights grand.
Reading made my dreams come true,
far off places I wanted to see.
As the many years went by,
some dreams came true,
others lay dying.
What I learned through the years,
as an entity in the dream we conjured-
we know not we are-
both the dreamer and dreamed.
How then may we wake up,
when we are in trance,
in bondage to illusions-
we ourselves streamed.
In this trance or bondage,
we may want to awaken-
but must we?
Maybe as the dreamer,
we need to be left alone to dream.
Well im thinkin that ive always been a romantic
Ive just always been concerned with all girls
To live in a world without them would be tragic
They love to run their fingers through my curls
And just when i think im in love with all
I find myself fallen for one in particular
As we hold hands walking down the hall
I try to catch a glimpse of her sexy figure
I just hope we dont end up like our parents
Well maybe yours wouldnt be so bad
Just know that i live only for your prescence
And without you id be beyond sad
But i dont even want to think of that
I dont even know where my mind will take me
Only with you do i like to chat
I would be a wandering fish if your were the sea
Now as i come to this close
I wonder about the future
I chose not to write this in prose
Because for you to read is torture (hahaha)
Let me speak of great love:
"Love!" no consonant can procure--
No vowel can lyrically form
Into lips and eyes so fair,
Dare I use the word divine
When proclaiming mine?
Yes! My love is all of these--
And adjectives numerous more
Than leaves,
And flakes it takes to white
The vast countryside,
And stars one counts when ribbons
Of stars unfold and
The dazzle of the heart cries
Out: "No other will do, no beat
Of life will pursue unless
There is you!"
I breathe a whisper love
Then shout,
My love exploding out--
Comes forth, such amorous rage--
Beyond poems,
A heart poured out
Running off page:
Not as buds--slowly, eloquently define,
Or as grapes aromatically refine,
But as stormy sea
Rushes to shore
My love thrust is this
And more…
No--my love has no face--
For this is not her grace--
A body such as she
Yet have I to find
For all are in my mind--
For all reveal some special way
What alone a throbbing heart
Can say--
What alone heaven
Has yet to share,
What alone
Mortal hearts have yet to bare--
For such love as this
If for others I would deem
One must never have
But always dream….
READING
Always have a book at hand,
In the parlor, bedroom and loo.
Condensed thought on paper,
This is the world for you.
My daughter loves to read,
Must have something to hold.
No cover or pages,
Not even a center fold.
Electronic books these days,
For the person on the go.
Flip it on for convenience,
Living color, like a show.
Reading can entertain,
Delight the lonely heart.
Those without education condemn it,
The learned ones tear it apart.
The many pieces of the written word,
Bring light to those in the dark.
Challenge the mind of the curious,
Give your life a spark.
No entertainment is so cheap,
No pleasure lasts as long.
Your mind flies o'er the pages,
The words are like a song.
The love of reading,
Challenges the soul.
Nothing else given to man,
Can make one whole.
There are those who read,
To know what the world has done.
Others to enhance their personal life,
To be the brightest one.
RAYMOND V. MORGAN
Master Sergeant, USAF - Retired
Reading alone gets wit and wisdom,
Wide reading increases knowledge,
We can learn a lot by that process,
That only paves the way for growth.
We must make a note of all the books
That World calls as a treasure to hold
And we must acquire them shrewdly
And widen our knowledge brilliantly
As one grows, reading gets narrowed
For innumerable reasons to quote
Main is poor eyesight that blocks
One's reading power immensely
One easiest way to grasp the essence
Is by reading the quotes of great men,
Their distilled wisdom when is learned,
Our wit reaches its pinnacle admirably
Quotes are made with greatest thought
To tell the longest story in few words,
The time taken to read them is less,
We can read at any time, anywhere!
Reading a large number of super quotes
Rinses brain in the ocean of philosophy,
We become great masters of thinking,
Our words contain the best ideas easily
When one grows aged, strain is more,
Especially the eyes lose their power,
Endurance is also seriously affected,
Under such a condition, quotes help
Brief quotes easily remove one's grief,
They stun the World by their simplicity,
By mastering them, we reign supreme,
Our mind is filled with enormous wit
So, reading big books is no doubt fine,
If we have the power and proper mindset,
But, reading quotes will bring huge rewards,
Just twenty of them will elevate our thoughts
Reading habit must be ever continued,
We must constantly develop our brain,
We must equip it for doing useful acts,
Reading is the basis for any great feat!
late afternoon
reading white ink blotches
in the sky
AP: Honorable Mention 2022
Submitted on July 3, 2022 for contest THE SKY IN JULY sponsored by ANDREA DIETRICH - RANKED 1ST
Originally posted on September 28, 2018
So boring were 1950's school reading primers --
See Dick. See Dick run. Run, Dick. Run, run, run.
See Jane. See Jane run. Run, Jane. Run, run, run. --
The status quo reigned. Schookids' futures' no fun
Then along came Dr. Suess' cat and changed all of that --
Sally and I and the fish jumped up and down on the ball
The cup and the plate, the spoon and the cake, all standing tall --
Who cares if later we watched all those cool things fall
By 1957, kids of all ages were moving and grooving a lot --
to Sam-I-am, Yertle the Turtle, and Marvin K. Mooney
the Vipper of Vipp and the Horton the Who driving us loony --
Poor timing, Sputnik 1: USA's finest now force-fed Science. O, ruined we!
I feel your words upon me
As they race across the page.
A running sense of wonder
Even late upon this age.
The whisper flips of paper
As the pages burn and turn,
Setting me afire...
It seems I never learn.
The secrets whispered to me
As I pause and try to hear,
Are echo cries of memories
That are laden wet with tears.
The hardened cover closes
Shutting down the riot sight.
As I nod and ponder deeply
Slipping off into the night.