Best Rougher Poems
A fleeting still small voice tries to warn me
A sudden overwhelming desire to run
The tell tale taste of metallic flakes
Means my nightmare has begun
Everything around takes on a ghostly pallor
A landscape of anguish and corrosion
A moment of silence before the violence
The flash of light, the brilliant explosion
The sound of the Sun fills my ears
Fear, my throat, though none escapes me
And paralyzed I clench my eyes
As my tormentor prepares to rape me
And it's endeavor is absolute
Consumption is its ultimate goal
It exists to chase me so it can erase me
Whilst feasting on my soul
And then that familiar salty smell
The sudden rush of warmth so stings
Engaging me relentlessly
In vile unspeakable things
Over and over and over again
My limbs stretched and wrought
As it's teeth tear my bones bare
It's mind defiles my thoughts
And still wounds beget wounds beget wounds
As in the mouth of madness I suffer
And with every injury he just seems to be
Rougher and rougher and rougher
Then just as suddenly as it began it ceases
And for a moment I am clearer
And then the true horror of it all
Is revealed in a darkly lit mirror
There in front of me stands my destroyer
Face flush with it's fill of my pain
And I find that it's eyes and mine
My God, they’re one in the same
There once was a cranky old parrot
who had all the charms of a ferret.
She went to great ends
to get rid of friends
and now lives in a draft-y garret.
The draft made her sicker and sicker
which caused her to bicker and bicker.
She tried writing verse
which made matters worse
so that she would bicker much quicker!
She couldn't stop coughing and wheezing.
Her vanity there was no pleasing.
The truth of her curse
was no gift for verse
which she blamed on all of the breezing.
This made her get tougher and tougher.
Her verses got rougher and rougher.
She wouldn't stop writing,
but kept on delighting
in making the whole country suffer.
BY DALE GREGORY COZART
The parrot soon dropped off her high perch
From the top of an old silver birch
Now she’s no longer squawking
And her husband is walking
To see the old bird buried in church!
BY JAN ALLISON
At five years old, starting out in kindergarten
I went to school with my favorite best friends
Girls and boys I’d known as my local hearten
The ones I loved so I had no need for amends
We lived on a farm that was above the school
And my grandfather often drove me there, too
It was there that I learned to follow each rule
Where I simply knew the good ways that I grew
It just so happened, that our family had to move
So into town I went where I found a new school
At this new school I found very few to approve
The kids there were all about being so very cruel
After trying to know these new boys and girls
I finally realized that I was much better off alone
My past friendships had been such true pearls
That this new place begin to feel like I was grown
Somewhere amid the moving of my life to town
I discovered that I had lost the child who had been
She was alive inside, still wishing she wasn’t down
But there weren’t any new friends she could win
As the years passed by, my books got me through
But when I finally did find friends again in high school
They were wild and willful; the rebels were my crew
With these rougher crowd I was so sure I was cool
It would be years before I could finally look back
And see that the move away from our old farm
Led me to a loss that would haunt me with black
A world that was filled with loneliness and harm
When I see my old friends from those old days, long ago
I remember them with a sweetness that fills me up
They were the first relationships filled with love, although
The years that came later would teach me to standup
The moral of the story is that children feel the effects
Of loss, moves, divorce and other grown up decisions
If I could change it all, I don’t know what happens next
But I do know that love would be kinder with provisions
So if I could change one moment in my lifetime
It would be the day I moved away from that farm
Where I was so loved and known by that time
That I was content with my life that was such a charm
October 5, 2019
If only we could turn back the hands of time Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Silent One
Even though you've been gone for a year and a half, at times I still feel lost without you.
When I feel this way, it's so sad and I don't know what I'm going to do.
While you were on your deathbed, I asked God for a miracle when I prayed.
But he still took you after you had been my mother for over four decades.
When somebody has been a big part of your life for that long, it's very painful when they're taken.
When the doctor said you were going to die, I would've given anything if he had been mistaken.
It broke my heart to see you lie in that hospital bed and suffer.
The situation was bad enough but it was bound to get rougher.
Things became much worse when I woke up and saw that you had died.
At times I still feel lost without you and it tears me up on the inside.
[Dedicated to Agnes Johnson (1948-2013) who passed away on March 6, 2013.]
It was late one night when Finn walked in
And sat next to McGee at the bar
McGee, looking down was wearing a frown
While Finn lit up a cigar
Finn saw McGee was in mourning
By the black band he wore on his arm
And approached his friend so slowly
With tactfulness, Grace, mixed with charm
"McGee Who died ?, and were you two close ?"
Where the words that sprang from Finns lips
"It was me cousin Tim that passed"
Then, McGee raised a glass for a sip
"How old of a man was your cousin?"
McGee answered, "Still in his prime"
"Had he been sick and dying,
Or victim of some kind crime?"
"No, It happened while he was asleep" sighed McGee
"Well It good that he didn't suffer"
"True, But the folks on the bus he was driving,
I'm thinking it was a wee rougher"
I crashed into a language barrier
So they put me in an induced comma
As they re-calibrated my damaged grammar
Transforming my full stop into a full start
As I wake from my abbreviation
I feel tense in the present
Realising that an apostrophe is now all
and nothing more I will ever be
I have a kindled yearning to compound
my spoken words with good intention
But I’ve become a symbol
that marks a past behaviour into memory
I stand in place of the person
whose ending is, with my start, synonymous
A person with their own tale
which I can read but can’t understand
It’s my story, but a rougher drafted version
Reading it I feel anonymous
Is this where I’m killed off but my character returns?
I find asylum asking questions, with an ampersand
And…
…The blurb on the back of life gives me the shorthand:
This is the punctuation that brings order
In the arc of your lived life
And if you see problems with recalled quotations
Then choose to learn, or live with strife
And…
I’m not ready to die
So here I am
Prepared with notation
The things I’ve seen and learned combined
Swapping the chip on my shoulder
For an indentation
And…
Don’t ever put down the pen while you’re still writing your history
And…
http://samnicholasharrison.tumblr.com
Everyone wants the world to change today
Why not, when so many people suffer?
Even in this scientific heyday,
Everyone still thinks they’ve got it rougher
And the visionaries with their grand schemes
I hate to sound like a cynical jerk
Ask before you buy into their daydreams:
How can they truly know how it all works?
I think it’s so far above my pay grade
To assume that I alone can mend it
Do you understand how the changes made
Can cause problems that were not intended?
So, to avoid an unwanted error,
Please first fix the problem in the mirror!
4/10/16
For Contest: If you Could Change the World
Sponsor: Dan Kearley
Inspiring lyricist to many,
His rhymes are extremely varied,
at first I thought he was crazy, but in his stories I saw me,
trying to escape, always trying to make things right a little too late,
but remind yourself to never listen to the hate.
When you feel it, it' almost hard to believe it, you're probably destined for nothing less than great.
Then the pressure adds,you feel no other emotion besides to get mad,get loud,
I'm simply losing my cool, called a fool for losing my sense of humor because i decided to like school.
Just like him, I did it for me, I wanted to get clean, my addiction was any drink containing some henny.
I no longer wanted to limit my abilities.
Life though seems longer,slower, and rougher but now I can remember life itself.
Now I see me.
There is beauty filled with insecurities, welcoming warmth,but a predators attack towards anyone who want to question me.
Painful past, fake ass home, it's like I was taught to put on some kind of show, but i refuse to take part in that anymore.
Just like him I'm discovering my roots, who I am along with all the truth.
It rained today
Just like yesterday, just like the day before,
Just like it had rained two months ago.
It has rained for many years now.
It has rained, but no one
pays attention anymore –a boring drizzle
one can get used to, and one can live with.
And so men on earth have done,
lived with it for many years now.
At first, everyone wondered why it rained so much;
Would it ever stop, so that we can live life like it was before-
under the sun, always warm, always happy?
But it seems it will not stop,
it seems heavier rains loom,
and rougher storms,
where mere life is at stake.
Eventually, the sun will also emerge,
but faintly; with tender rays
that cannot make us warm,
that cannot make us forget the rain.
They say, though, that one only has to get used
to the rain, and forget that it is there,
and that it is raining.
Then, they say, things will get better,
we will find joy in the little things,
and all will be like it was before.
The very softest forms
Of martial arts
Tai chi
It’s very similar to a dance.
You’re a dancer who dodges.
And aikido
for when things get a little rougher.
These seek to do no harm to a predator
To disarm with the least amount of force. This woman does aspire
Chi point strikes are more dangerous to your opponent, and fellow being.
If you choose to learn them, okay. That’s your choice.
You are always in the process of gathering tools.
It sickens me to hear of advice
Of gouging with keys
And other flimsy
means.
How are you supposed to take care of yourself?
Or worse, seeking to do the most harm with the least amount of effort
S. I. N. G.
That is not a type of “singing” I’d EVER endorse.
It boils my blood. That stupid coincidence-
That is laziness
And inability to feel empathy
Plain and simple.
“Miss Congeniality”
Sandra Bullock
She punches and beats up that man that did NOTHING.
There’s nothing congenial
about targeting someone’s genitals.
And then teased him
And everyone LAUGHED.
Who’s the sociopath now?
Or the SADIST???
If a man punched a woman anywhere
And then taunted her
You would be baying for his blood.
Like lionesses who wolf down dogs cowering
You are not that different.
You’re the same species.
Sheesh.
Have you ever wondered?
Being in an adult blunder
A reason for going to class
Besides the well-known intellectual pass
Is it to learn the alphabet?
Addition subtraction you may get
Going to the swing set for fun
After morning school work is done
Lessons get tougher
Recesses physical education play is rougher
Dissect a frog
Read the Odyssey Greek log
Experience another language like English Shakespeare
Experimenting wiping your first ‘in love’ tear
Relationships come along
Figuring out who is really in the wrong
Respecting alternative lives
Not giving a bother to the neighbors who are two husbands or wives
Going off to a higher level
Where some are angels others are devils
Sharing dorm rooms
Walking back from the library under the moon
Having a serious set back
And a fraternity support with a paddy whack
Sorority sisters are all right
Waiting for a passionate slobbery bite
Four years later you turn your tassel
Return to Mom and Dad’s castle
Food on the table
Free cable
First job
Is an easy lob
Getting a start
Pushing the mail cart
Reality has no happy hour
Invited to the executive lounge to be introduced to power
Boss gets nailed
You end up in jail
Who pays the bail?
Parents docking from a vacation sail
Life is cruel
Is the golden rule
Stay independent
Avoid resentment
Enjoy the short time here
By passing another six pack of Corona Beer
I decided to drive through the city today
Instead of the freeway. And,
I still remember when we first met.
It was like receiving my little red bike under the tree
so long ago. The excitement of something so new,
so shiny. I was just so impatient to take you out
and tour your beautiful boulevards, striving to
explore every block of you—one by one.
You were a skyscraper that reached so high
that you ripped the very fabric of my sky
and spilled fortunate stars like
glitter on my existence.
The rain never came. And, I felt it never could.
I would just hold you like a crane—breathless.
All those delirious nights that lasted ‘til dawn.
And the laughter, think back how we laughed,
out loud, that it would echo through the alleys
and above to places the pavement couldn’t reach.
My mouth got wet with just a whisper
of your name on my breath. And I gorged,
oh how I gorged at the restaurants of
your soul until there was no room left and
I was ripe and plump for the picking.
All the boroughs of you,
I thought, would never stop growing.
Now, the constant sun (that used to be there)
can barely break the fog from your buildings and
beyond. When did your sky turn into a sponge of
liquid silt that I squeezed and squished
over my head—constantly? It feels like I never
have an umbrella anymore. The roads got
rougher and the cracks grew into fissures
in need of desperate repair. Some,
beyond repair. Where did it all go?
Time can be so careless and relentless.
You have been torn down and rebuilt
in my mind, many, many times
to unrecognizable sizes.
It all just got confusing and crowded, right?
We saw all the signs and signals
steering us in the wrong direction.
But, we journeyed on,
slowly—never surely.
The whole thing, everything, now,
just looks like the homeless from the
thoughtlessness and neglect of it all.
It was just red light after red light.
I saw our favorite restaurant,
still standing on our favorite corner.
And at that moment, I remembered, how much
I still love you.
It was a special day and he’d hardly said his vows
When some gory militants struck in the northern part,
The groom’s suit he replaced with the soldier’s uniform
And the merry radiance faded to reflect his troubled heart.
As the journey north spiraled into the prickly thickets
He still heard the cheery songs cut short by the duty’s call,
The charm of his newly-wed’s kiss hung on his drying lips
And still could hear the echoing claps of those in the hall.
“The soldier’s portion is as bitter as gall…”
He thought as the precarious road got rougher.
The soldier must pay for the civilians’ peace,
By being self-denying, and sacrificially tougher.
And so our soldier and his mates were ambushed
By the enemy fire that caught them by surprise.
The newly-wed wife anxiously awaited the news
Of the operation that led to her hubby’s demise.
This unfortunate guy’s fate is what a soldier daily faces
Simply to guarantee the civilian the happiness he chases.
They say my duty is to protect the lands
Defend it! Even with your bare hands
I train so hard in the sun and rain
To become stronger, something to gain
Task after task it gets tougher
My heart and skin become rougher
Learning how to become a predator
I was chosen for this, not just a visitor
Aim for your target's heart
Kill him, find another one, restart
Gradually, I lose all emotion
Combat is my only devotion
Suddenly terrors outbreak
Our country is at stake
What are we going to do?
Start a war, come soldier, you!
Surely, the fight begins
But who are the villains?
I didn't have time to think
These dots to link
I was at war
Fighting like a wild boar
Killing as many enemies as I can
This terror, I will surely ban
An enemy tries to run
I kill him just for fun
Wait! Am I enjoying this?
What is this unholy bliss?
Feeling delight by making others suffer
What is it that I offer?
Wasn't it peace and tranquility?
How come I'm committing infidelity?
I look around, the seeds of hell
Have all come out of their shell
Pointless murdering
Me and my fleet are shouldering
Countless cases of rape
Committed by the heroes wearing the cape
The land we were supposed to protect
With corruption, it, We did infect
Following orders from above
All our humanity we had to shove
Why didn't we ask first?
Why, for blood, did we thirst?
The enemy I killed was just a kid
Going back to a place where he hid
To the world, I'm a hero
Personally, I'm just a zero
My humanity is back
Taking me to the right track
But I'm chained to my regret
A shame that I can't neglect
Although, I did quit the war
It’s not enough to pay back the score
I got a soul, yet I'm just a boulder
I am the honorable soldier
Lady luck she'll steal your soul
She'll cure the heartache and she'll ease the pain
She'll put you on a level with the devil
But you'll pay to pass this way again
Lady luck don't ever let me down
I swam a river o' whiskey an' I didn't drown
Tried to beat the Devil at his own game
Love's passed me by but it'll burn again
chorus
Lady luck be good to me
Come show me things I never dared to see
Tho' the tide of time is flowing endlessly
Sweet lady luck be good to me
I've known some girls who'd laugh at shame
I've seen some women who could cure the lame
It's a rougher ride down the faster lane
Sweet lady luck's too wild to tame
Well the days remorse has gone 'n' run it's course
Let there come a time when there will be no sorrow
Now I'm drunk again an' I don't feel the pain
I'm gonna give it up, but not until tomorrow
chorus
Lady luck be good to me
Come show me things I never dared to see
Tho' the tide of time is flowing endlessly
Sweet lady luck be good to me