Best Ride Poems
The old man looked a little out of place
Astride his pony on the carousel
A smile from yesterday across his face
As if he were entranced in some strange spell
A silver knight upon a silver steed
A cowboy riding herd out on the range
The little boy inside had been set free
Between the up and down, we watched him change
And when it stopped he sat there deep in thought
He pulled the little boy in with a sigh
A memory is what his dollar bought
I'm sure the price was not what made him cry
The perky saleslady looked at my aging bicycle
and asked if I would consider a newer model
something lighter
something sexier.
I told her, "My bike and I have a delicious history -
our past and future have merged into a single trajectory,
we're in this together for the long ride.
"I don't think of her as old, she is 'vintage'
we've been through many miles together -
seen breathtaking vistas.
"She knows what direction I want to go even before I do.
We have scars from the journey but each scar has a story
and every story brings a smile.
"Yes, we're slowing down and every ride feels uphill,
but for better or worse, she's never given up on me -
I owe her the same courtesy."
The saleslady chuckled nervously and said,
"Do you know you sound like you're talking about your wife?"
I got on my bike and said,
"I do".
Written 1 Nov 2020
When I refused to ride with Death
He tied my hands and feet,
Then tossed me in with some poor guy
He'd grabbed up off the street.
Oh, what a hurry he was in!
He slammed it to the floor.
We sat in wide-eyed, abject fear,
Each clinging to a door.
While whizzing past the school, we saw
The children run and play.
We passed the fields where tractors hummed
On this, our judgment day.
We captives introduced ourselves,
Shook hands, and sadly talked.
When Death heard unfamiliar names,
He gasped, slowed down, and balked.
He made a sudden stop beside
A swelling of the ground.
He scratched his head, he murmured low,
And then he turned around.
" 'Tis centuries until your time!
I've made a grave mistake.
Seems I misread the pick-up sheet.
You're free, for goodness sake!"
I love to ride in morning breeze
On paths surrounding forest trees
To share the scent of pine fresh air
Where fine mist lingers in my hair.
My steed is white with soft gray nose
We gallop on through drifting snows,
As snow drops settle soft and light
To make our morning spirit bright.
We stop to rest near mountain crest
And view an eagle's flight to nest
High above in a lofty pine,
To dwell in nature quite divine.
I lift my eyes into the skies
While bathed in colors of sunrise,
And watch how sun beams, fleeting flees,
My horse and I amidst the trees.
3-29-20
Some Paradise Where Horses Go Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Michelle Faulkner |
*A revision from an older poem.
I thought I could wow them with poems from earth
Poems of joy and humor, poems extolling it’s worth
So I laid out poems from Michael, Gail, and me
From Andrea, David, Gwen, and Ilene
From PD, Harry, Mandy, and Chris
From Jack, Craig, Cyndi, and Liz…
For I was sure once they read our beautiful works
They would embrace us and love our humanly quirks!
So last night I taped them all over my skin
Knowing they’d find them if they took me again…
When I woke up, they were gone and I had a reply:
“We enjoyed reading those poems last night,
And thanks for the names of the earthlings too -
We have many more experiments to do!”
2/7/13
For Michael's boomerang...send your poem for a ride contest
A sky bridge
of reflective rain drops...
Crows glide under.
© Harry J Horsman 2012
There's an urgent feeling, sweeping 'cross the land
Could the hourglass be approaching, it's final grain of sand
Terror pulls the trigger, hearts begin to quake
Searching for a way to escape.......
There's a Revelation in the back of the book
'Talks about a tribulation, It's bad everywhere you look
But down at the Station,folks are boarding fast
Leaving from what's gonna come to pass
To the restless, the rejected, to the broken and the blue
The Messenger's still shouting all about the Good News
Thank GOD some have listened, they've heard the whistle blow
As angels sing "Sweet Chariot Swing Low"
On that train ain't no tension, ain't no talking trash
Ain't no poor folks section, everybody rides first class
See that light in the tunnel, the redeemed are coming through
And the Redemption Rail has room for you
But you ain't got enough money to buy a ticket on that train
'Cause they've all been purchased in a Carpenter's name
But if you want to claim him as your destiny
Come on!! You can ride...for free!
Written by Chuck Melugin
Ruth and her six year old daughter Annie, were moving along the countryside by Train. Ruth was reminiscing. She was staring deeply into her six year old daughter's beautiful brown eyes. Ruth was feeling emotional, and had a deep sorrow filling up her worried heart. The train proceeded. She clutched her daughter close to her with a special mother daughter bond. Anne, her daughter, looked up at her, innocently and asked, "Mommy why are you so sad?" She kept repeating, until her mom answered her. Not wanting to worry her, she replied, "Honey your Mommy is not sad." The six year old intelligently asked, " Mommy then why were you crying?" Her mom replied, " I'm OK sweetheart, now relax, and hold me." Ruth was experiencing a flood of thoughts of Annie growing up as a child. She was asking Annie if she remembered the first time she told her that she loved her. Annie said, " Yes Mommy I remember." Ruth kept a special Diary of times and dates, of special moments she and Annie shared. Ruth thought of Annie's first birthday, when she took her first steps, and was falling forward as she caught her, preventing her from hurting herself. Ruth reached in her jacket and said to Annie, " Honey, always have with you this diary. Annie took the diary and started looking through it. She said, "Mommy this is so special, thank you Mommy." Annies dad was imprisoned, and it added to Ruth's turmoil inside. She was trying to ascertain his whereabouts but was difficult to do so. Annie kept reminding Ruth of her father. She constantly was asking, " Where's Daddy Mommy?" " We will be with him soon." Was her repeated reply. The train made its way through and a Loud whistle blew. It started slowing down, and just before it stopped the whistle blew again. Ruth looked at Annie and said to her, " Always remember honey your Daddy and Mommy, will always love you. Promise me you will never forget." Annie replied, " I promise Mommy to remember." As the Caboose door opened Ruth held Annie's hand. Annie asked her Mom, "Mommy where are we?" Her Mom replied, " We are going to see Daddy and Grandpa, and Grandma." Ruth was shaking inside, and the journey was finally over. The SS Nazi Guards motioned them forward, and directed them into The Auschwitz Concentration Camp.
Michael Tor
Dreaming dreams of purple-blue skies
I thought I’d take a little ride,
upon a comet, just to see,
the things that I had not yet seen.
So a comet tail I grabbed and
into the universe we sailed.
Then as I passed through Saturn’s rings
electricity danced through me.
Upon my passing right past Mars,
I saw an incredible star;
It warmed me with its soothing rays
and left me in a cozy state.
Venus, she was a lovely blue
and white clouds swirled all ‘round her face.
The Milky Way, it was the best;
Spiraling swirls had me impressed.
It danced ‘round like a spinning top;
it’s arms, waving, reached out to me.
Such a visage; such a beauty;
I had to smile, with delight.
The constellations, wondrous sight;
within them I played, dot-to-dot.
What a glorious adventure!
Then I and comet said goodnight.
Twisting and turning on tides of laughter,
we rise and roll with wild abandon.
Through sparkling sheens of summer rain,
those gentle gems of glistening, gleaming drops,
we fly freely upon this flamingo feathered carpet.
Happily we ride along the heights of heaven,
Gazing deep into galaxies that glow far beyond.
Saturn's seductive rings slowly pull us forward,
When suddenly we drop, diving low, dipping back into
the darling glow of our moon.
Then sweeping past the stars, smiling with delight,
we sail off in the distance, shouting our goodnight.
Now all the sights that we've seen shall swim within our dreams.
Come take my hand as I take yours and we'll fly off toward tomorrow.
Tanya Harrington © 07-30-2012
Inviting ~ Poet~Destroyer, Let's ride!
For Skat's Magic Carpet Ride Contest
I feel so grand this special day in June
while waiting at the station for my ride
aboard the new steam engine coming soon
to take me to a place where I can hide
from city noise and busy city streets;
from smog-filled air and houses crowded so,
to countrysides with grassy fields of wheat
and clear blue skies where soft winds come and go.
Here comes the beauty, black, in clouds of steam;
she pulls beside the station; "All Aboard"
is called, and so I quickly run and dream
to settle down with suitcase neatly stored.
Click-clack of spinning wheels sounds like a song;
the gray steam lends the awe of mystery,
with cloud-like drifts that form and move along
while taking me to somewhere wild and free.
With constant pace, the steam train grinds its wheels
through mountain passes, narrow tunnels too.
The beauty of the valley, hills, and fields
soon takes my breath away; a wondrous view!
As on she chugs with clanging bell on top,
she sings a song of motion heading home-
that place down yonder where she'll make a stop;
my destination of new lands to roam.
January 21, 2015
~1st Place
Contest: Railroads, A Historical Glance Back
Sponsor: BJ Legros Kelley
Judged: 11/16/2021
Some days are diamonds, some are stone
To quote an old John Denver hit
Truer words were never spoken
The “stone days” (not stoned days!)
Are only sent to us to test our resolve
And to appreciate the “diamond days” even more
To prove, that as dark or as difficult as life can get
There is ALWAYS a silver lining
Otherwise we'd all be candidates for the looney bin
Trust me, have I ever lied to you before?
Okay... well only a couple of times
And I was under the influence???
The influence of WHAT, you may ask
Uh, I take the fifth... okay here are some examples
Now let me see, watching a pretty girl go by
Or the government sending me an unexpected refund
Of a couple of hundred dollars YEEHAW
Maybe sitting down to my favourite meal
With my lovely spouse I've adored
Since the two of us were dreamy-eyed sweethearts
In grade school right up to the present
And now happily married with a couple of wee ones
Don't get me wrong, I do have days of stone
But my diamond days far outnumber them
So the bottom line is
Live, love, laugh and be happy
You only get one chance to travel life's highway
So ENJOY the ride!!!
© Jack Ellison 2014
Like a royal parade,
they waddled across
the well traveled thoroughfare
teeming with autos crawling to a stop;
otherwise road rage reduced to admiration.
The regal drake held his head high—his eyes
piercing straight ahead—oblivious to the traffic.
The obeisance of his trailing brace
reflected a solemn reverence to their chief.
A mother hen shot an evil eye to a baby Donald
who quickly got back in step before exiting onto
the dew laden emerald grass—Glistering.
With the aura of a spa for creatures
bearing wings or fins or tails, as well as feet,
the pond awaited them—one by one
quacking with pleasure as they entered.
As we mounted our bikes
to continue our ride, auto horns
began to honk and obscene words
abated the serene ambiance.
The oncoming truck swerved into my lane
And there was not enough time for veering
But I was suddenly relieved from the pain
By a golden horse with hind legs rearing
We galloped straight down the road for apace
And then turned onto a large green expanse
I hung on tightly, not used to a race
Though I was willing to give it a chance
My dull senses were roused on the fresh field
And my pale skin warmed from the sun outside
I slowly loosened my grip and revealed
That I could never fall off if I tried
I shouted out with a vivacious voice
Unlike the one that was used to hiding
With newfound feelings that made me rejoice
Due to the golden horse I was riding
In an instant we reached the tall mountains
That I’d only seen in big picture books
The kind with dreamlike waterfall fountains
That we climbed up without a second look
There were no hurdles too large in our way
Or tough boulders too slippery or coarse
That could in the slightest ever delay
Or stop the progress of my golden horse
We moved as swift as if running downhill
Giving me motive to close my own eyes
But once at the top got an awful chill
When the brave stallion leaped into the skies
This time I shouted out “Why in god’s name
Must I be saddled on this golden horse!?”
For a deed like this is truly insane
Until knowing my death, fulfilled its course
David Fisher-posted on 2/10/2015-For Structured Forms-Iambic Verse Contest
Wow look at me
soaring across the globe
All my emotions feeling & thoughts ride high
on this magic carpet ride
Welcome to poetry soup Kerry
a big shout from Anne Lise
So warm and welcoming
I feel so at home
poetry soup has changed me
I no longer feel alone
This magic carpet ride has taken me
beyond places I thought I would never roam
Fly forever now
for there is no stopping me
So many to visit
& still so many to meet
I must be off now
as my magic carpet ride awaits
to fly me too
the next poets place..
Written by: Kerry Singleton
Contest: Magic carpet ride (Skat)