Best Rite Poems


Premium Member A Quaint and Ancient Rite

Nothing stirs the blood more than lies


I stand upon sacred ground of honor
Defend the truth with my soul's honest sword
I'll hold character before dishonor
And cut away at any lies discord
Face with an angry voice, all lies that creep
That hides inside minds of a human throng
Who scurries from the truth, for lies are cheap
They sell each lie in darker shades of wrong
This line so sacrosanct cannot be crossed
Nor tossed aside a quaint and ancient rite
I'll face the ugly truth and pay its cost
And live or die indeed, for its true light
I find that lies betray a chosen dearth
And will leave a tarnished stain on your self-worth


5/1/18 contest Emotions that Rock You

Premium Member Rite of Passage

Rite Of Passage
          *
My Walk to Remember

My father takes my hand,
   tucks it in the crook of his arm
      and smiles at me as we walk through 
         the old pasture that has been transformed
            into an outdoor chapel
Tears roll down his face
   with each paced step we take,
      towards the alter, the pastor
         And the hopeful face of my
            of my husband to be
His grip tightens on my hand
   as the congregation stands
      and all eyes turn towards our progression
         as the clouds give way to the
            warming April sun.
I recall the pungent, smoky scent of
   the tanned buckskins we wore,
see the blue cone of the tepee with
   lodge poles reaching towards the pale blue sky
the red and white bunting my sister
   so carefully wrapped around the fence posts
My Beloved’s eyes shining with
   promise, hope and love
and the Indian flute music that
   drifted on the tangy spring air
      marking my rite of passage from
              Daughter to Wife.

Last Rite Exit

Nearing the end of their fleeting days,
short-inhaled lives infirmly await the long dark
Garrulously tilting fermented liquids in a park,
they watch their former youthful ways

Addled memories of a once robust stride
keep the brown paper covered truth hidden well
Selfish pleasures have left their flesh bodies frail,
weary envious exhalation of tearful pride

Uncomfortable thoughts tinge their mind,
feeble resistance offered in boisterous recollections
Never given to ingest any sobering contemplations,
aged souls possessing only wrinkled opine

Cantankerous wrong heights stooped on a bench,
bemoaning last rites of spirits dead long ago since


Premium Member Drizzle's Cleansing Rite

Mild 
drizzle
soaks on pane;
and hums gently
like  day’s cleansing rite
easing  breaths, tired:
heart  lifts  up
as  mist
floats.


8/7/2019
August Ninette Contest of Caren Krutsinger

Rite of Passage

i journey chasing
imaginary wisps, in
reality bound.

Rite of Passage

We seem to have it all
As we want for nothing
In the darkness of the womb 

We are evicted into the light
Sadness, then happiness 
Unaware of the looming doom

We seem to have it all-
Sadness, then happiness
Cloudy-vorfreude abloom 

We hustle, we jump huddles 
We cry, we hate, while loving
Then the reaper to the tomb
© Okoi Nkanu  Create an image from this poem.


Premium Member A Maid-Rite Rock Anthem

Try to imagine the Alice Cooper song "School's Out for Summer" as you see these words. I tried to match the rhythm of that song to this jingle:


Well, I need to eat,
but I’m in the mood
for some seasoned meat
and the world’s best food.
Well, I can’t eat any old hamburger
A Maid-Rite sandwich I prefer!

Maid-Rite’s the winner,
lunchtime or dinner.
Love that place to pieces!

Crumbled cheesy beef on bun
Onion rings and shakes! What fun.

Well, I don’t want shrimp
and I don’t want caviar.
And I don’t want rib eye steak.
Not even a pie or a chocolate cake.

Crumbled cheesy beef on bun
Onion rings and shakes! What fun.

Tenderloins or crispy fries.
Maid-Rite's is the food I prize.

Lunch time or dinner, 
Maid-Rite’s the winner.
Made RIGHT and tasty,
Maid-Rite forever!


5/28/15 Now used for PD's 100 in a ROW contest -- 11 PREMIERE number 2 Poetry Contest

(Last year they closed the one and only Maid Rite place in my state. So we drove a long distance to eat there. It makes me wonder if the owner did enough to market his restaurant. Either that, or this state simply can't catch the vision!!! Maid-Rites, rock on forever!!!)

Nature's Rite

Seasonal petals,
Anointed by dawning dew:
Morning baptism.

Premium Member Rite of Passage

Is it any wonder that on a recruit's first day of service he is befuddled?
From day one he's told to do things by the numbers and his brain is muddled!
From the moment he stepped off the bus, mean ol' sergeants began to yell!
Sergeants, it seemed, were born to make life for raw recruits a living 'ell!

He was herded to the barbershop where he was shorn of all his hair!
He was as bald as a billiard ball, but the barbers didn't seem to care!
Next on his rite of passage was to strip bare as the day he was delivered,
To be poked, prodded and given shots as he moved along and shivered!

Sergeants double-timed him to the quartermaster to be issued all his gear,
Still smarting from all those shots he'd just received in his arms and rear!
He drew a gun, socks, drawers, uniforms and a couple of pairs of boots,
Then the sergeants taught him close order drill and how to make salutes!

The next stop was at the mess hall where cooks concocted dubious fare,
Mysterious vittles that in no way with his mom's cooking would compare!
He was double-timed to his barracks where he was assigned a sagging cot.
Along with fifty snoring and snorting troops, this was to be his hapless lot!

He aspired to be a fighter pilot but the tests he couldn't comprehend,
So he was assigned to the good ol' ground pounding infantry in the end!
At the sound of "Taps" he felt mighty blue as he collapsed on his bunk.
He was disillusioned with the whole affair and was in a dreadful funk!

Robert L. Hinshaw, CMSgt, USAF, Retired
© All Rights Reserved

Jewish Rite of Passage

Yes, I love you child
more than you'll ever know
Although you don't understand me right now
because you're only one-year-old

Rest assured,
rest assured

Yes, I love you dear
more than you could possibly know
Even though you're smarter than me
when I was ten-years-old

Keep your heart,
keep it pure

Yes, I love you daughter
in every way you now know
Because your love has surpassed mine
now that you're twenty-years-old

Always believe
love endures



Dedicated to my beloved daughter Sade

Rite of Spring

Absent is the frigid cold
Breath expelled now goes unseen
Come are days of warmth and light
Dawning of the longer days
Ere the twinkling stars of night
Forest green returns my sight
Gone are drifts of wind blown snow
Hardening has the Winter been
Inspiring is the Sun again
Juniper again in bloom
Katydids begin their swoon
Lambent is the setting Moon
Meandering is the ice less stream
Nature once again will sing
Opulent is the scent of Spring
Palpable is everything
Quavering voices can be heard
Revelations of the Birds
Sanctified by warmer rain
Telltale signs of Summer
Unborn flowers yet in bud
Versed is Mother Nature
Wakeful is Her duty keep
Xenophobic wildlife roam
Yonder, never far from home
Zealous is the Rite of Spring

02/16/15

Last Rite of Passage

Last Rite of Passage
(for Elizabeth) 30th January 03:11am

Through towering colonnades of stars
She rises with the daybreak's fire,
As angels strum on lute and lyre
And frost sparkles like fractured glass;

And when dark clouds have filled your eyes
Pray do not yield to let them cry;
For she is where the white doves fly
Amid the glades of Paradise.

Sacrificial Rite

Her Fate lies on a
Predestined canvas
Of muted red

Darkness speaks truth
Though gifts are silent 

Blindly, she feels for
The magical key
That will finally unlock
His lonely chamber

Her spirit is gentle
Ready to disclose the one
She has loved 
Forever…

’Drink the blood that patiently
dripped from my heart into
this Sacred Cask, and as you
feel me rushing through
your veins know…I love you’

Can he see beyond
Time’s Regal cloak?
Lift the veil of which separates
logic and emotion?
Sight and touch?

She’s coming for him soon
With the key to his 
Rebirth

‘Meet me at the
Bottom of the Spiral Staircase’

The tears she sheds
Belong to him…
For him…

Reaching
Within the nucleus of an
Isolated cell

Love hurts that much
A seemingly black abyss
She descends
Answering to the Dark
Moon's Call

Discovering
The deepest place
That eats away at her flesh...
She’ll sacrifice her life
For Him…

If one moment
His eyes see…

Rite of Passage

mountain of esteem
low valley of perceptions
platonic plateau

Premium Member Rite

I want to write a poem that you will go to
when you feel down
Do you know what's eating you?
Not your neighbor I hope
Why does it take two to tangle?
I can tangle all by myself
Why do you need cause for sorrow?
Because you don't want to be a man or a woman without a cause, do you?
Does it seem like forever to you?
What? It's been that long?
Do you tit for tat?
Why? When you have tit, you don't need tat haha
Does it matter what I think?
Why not?
Why does it always begin with you?
Adam and now you
I think I will ride
Bite, will ya?
Now cite
No Aphrodite 
Excite?
Okay ignite
That's it for now
I hope you feel better
And don't let the bad bug bite lol

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