Best Shelter Poems
Verse 1
His coat is torn his
shoes are thin
The cold cuts deep beneath his
skin
Little boy coughs small
hands that shake
Winter's breath is much to hard
To hard to take.
Verse 2
Sidewalk echoes silent
prayers
People pass but no one
cares
Cardboard kingdom borrowed
time
Every step is a mount-
Mountain climbed.
Chorus
And the city turns
away
Like they never ever knew his
name
Still he holds his boy so
close
Chorus 1st Ending
Runs through streets to bring him
home. (1x repeat back to beginning of chorus)
Chorus 2nd Ending
Whispers / "Son, we're going
home."
Verse 3
Once had a home once had a
plan
Once held hope in calloused
hands
But fate’s a thief it moves much too
fast
Dreams dissolve like breath on
Stained kissed glass.
Chorus
Bridge
And he sings a lullaby
so low
Soft as the falling falling
Angel snow
A father’s love is his sheltering
Wings of warmth
Even when the nights are
Broken broken and torn.
Verse 4
"Daddy I’m tired my chest feels
tight"
His voice is weak his skin much too
white
Stars above blur in his
sight
The world fades into endless
Endless cold night.
Partial Chorus
And the city turns
away
Like they never ever knew his
name
Still he lifts his boy so
close
Runs through streets…..to bring him
home.
Final Verse
He stumbles down an empty
street
The world is ice beneath his
feet
He kneels beside the frozen
City of stone
Whispers "Son… we’re finally
Finally home."
Chorus
Chorus 2nd Ending
Whispers / "Son
we're finally
home."
Outro
The snow drifts soft the
Sunday morning gray
No one stops and no one
Left to pray
Two souls lost in winter’s
hold
Together now, for-
ever and ever
In a City Frozen cold
Dangling from fragile threads
soaked in suppressed emotions
I weigh my limited options
as flashes from the past flicker
behind a barrier of uncertainty.
In swirling mist I see your hazy
expressionless face. I call out,
my voice cracking under the
strain of persistent instability.
Scornfully stonewalling me
you turn and walk away, while
suspended in the throes of time,
I hesitate, then stop in my tracks
dejected…rejected…hurting...
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
A Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
Placed 2nd
© 7th November 2019
Published in:
PS: It’s Still Poetry Volume II ~ (1 Jan. 2022)
ISBN-13:? 979-8793344418
Dark heart
Onyx bruises
Madd lover
Entrapment fooling
Swollen lips
Teal tears
Indigo ears
Crying years
Violet prayers
In shelters
Only light
Love weathered
Emerald eyes
Need sleep
Courageous flight
Embracing peace
She wandered along the path
Picking white daisies on her way
Following the trail of clouds above
The sun spread words she couldn’t say
Her heart full of love, no-where to go
Walking beside the open fields to see
Pieces of nature blowing in the wind
With miles ahead where she could flee
There, maybe her dreams waited
It seems she had searched so long
Keeping her own company
Always humming her faithful song
It was as if the friendly birds knew
Looking at her with curiosity
She only wanted to shelter herself
From a world filled with animosity
Heidi Sands
8/23/20
Ashen was the sky
That rejected hand of sunrise
Sullen was the heart
That stumbled in affection,
Incapable of lauding
Ruby blush of budding rose
And pink passions on horizon
Defying darkened woes.
In midst of a vibrant spring
Her garden blooms curled up
Amid hostile dry weather,
Teared-up, she sat alone
In pathos of indignation
Refusing to surrender
To demands of mendacity.
Crepuscular obscurity
Betrayed her evening
Fashioning night’s reverie
In trickery of nightmares,
As rancor of disillusionment
In ambivalent outrage
Recognized your stygian echoes.
Dead are her feelings now
Stilled in darkened cemetery
In graveyard of misdeeds,
Where spent emotions
Lamenting shattered love
Inscribe finality on tombstone
In epitaph of silent screams
Expounding your infidelity.
Oh, harbingers of cold hands,
Architects of pale shelter,
Glittering shiny metals
Disguising as genuine jewels,
Fear the cry of her angst
Howling soul forsaken
For she holds you in contempt
Of ancient Agape love
And monument to beloved--
The wondrous Taj Mahal.
November 15, 2019
Placed 1st: Pale shelter contest; Sponsor: John Hamilton
Placed 2nd: Strand special 11 by Brian Strand
a bus stop
with a shelter
remote and
standing tall
surrounded by
bleak countryside
where no one
lives at all.
does anyone
get off here?
just who
the heck gets on?
where does the bus
that stops here go
and where does it
come from?
Rusty Finds A Home!
Rust-hued kitty’s shunned by day, ignored through the night
Unloved and discarded in a world numb to his plight
As he meows by a door
Rusty meets family Tor
Who give him a home, protection and love glowing bright
—Robert Gorelick
Who could resist a kitty like Rusty
Who is lonely, scared and very dusty
Needing a safe home
Of his very own
And someone to adore him who’s trusty
—Beryl Edmunds
I keep tripping over hurdles
Barriers forged between our hearts
Walls of a garrisoned fortress
Lofty palisades I must ascend
without crawling on my knees
I admit my faults lie at ego depth
Perhaps it's why I expect too much of you
but I long for the affectionate touch
of your arms catching me when I stumble
and fall, dejected on the ground
When my patience ebbs like ocean tides
your emotions are concealed behind a veil
Please don't pull away from me. Stay,
and I'll soothe your troubled qualms
I keep tripping over hurdles
exposing the core of my darker side
that part of me I cannot hide from your eyes
Can you love me in spite of my flaws?
Will you be my refuge, an amorist crutch?
There's a battle line between us
but I don't recall waging war.
I fear my ways are much too strict
so I'll wave the flag of truce.
Spoils to the victors
when I've breached the final hurdle
With sighing breath across my syllables,
I'm pleading with you for another chance
Despite the way I've mistreated you
would you be a spark of light on my path?
Until I'm sure our love is realigned
I'll keep tripping over hurdles
across each rampart I approach
With hope, I'll reach your garden gate
and wait for your heart to open the door
December 6th, 2019
Pale Shelter Contest
by John Hamilton
`
Love, to you
nothing more than washed away graffiti,
once dripping along the
mismatched bricks of this worn facade
where tattoos mean forever . . .
even when they fade
A clutched lamppost,
scarred and dented, a fake shade of green
meant only for leaning
and illuminating handbills advertising
high rent in the slums,
supports me
As I look beyond the littered gutters
needing a good rain to wash away the past
where you left me standing again,
uncovered, exposed . . .
winter called and thinking it was you,
(it had the same chill affect) I answered
I thought you were it, that thing that I needed,
not a leaking roof draped in a blue tarp,
but the east to my west
when my direction pointed north
until you ran south
taking it all with you
Beyond my control,
you laughed at love, (cackled)
thought you knew better,
cut holes in my umbrella
and then prayed for rain,
while my life was already drowning
You gave it and took it
and with my happiness in tow
on that one way street
where “No Vacancy” signs were misspelled,
drove away, drove away from me,
tail lamps and your heart . . . never braking
11/12/19
Written for the Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
night's moonlit arbour
laden with blooming desires,
lovers' secret shelter
Date : 07/09/2017
Been sitting here watching life pass me by.
Maybe I should get shelter from all this rain.
How do I get you off my mind, this time?
You brought me to life with all your love.
The likeness of you flows thru me like a butterfly.
I smell your scent in the air I breathe.
For it is unto you I become whole in this life.
Everything makes sense when I'm with you.
Another old one 2/14/ 1999 Sun.
A Psalmody of Psalm Ninety One
God is our refuge, He is our shelter
Kept safe from demons are those who’re blessed
Beneath wings of the Almighty that cares
Spared from the snares of unwanted foul quests.
Fear not nightmares or terrors of darkness
Under presence of angels we’re redeemed
Freed from toxic perils that come by day
All being as seen in heavenly dreams.
Our God sees everything below the sun
The wicked face trial before one’s eyes
What goes around comes back around it’s said
Evil ways will always be recognised.
Those who love as the Lord said we all should
Will never become trampled underfoot
By any human man, woman or beast
Daredevils who tried would land up as soot.
Our dear Lord saves those seeking salvation
Call God by His name and you will be found
The shepherd will always find his lost sheep
From that day on one shall be glory bound.
26th September 2021
encompassed in the womb
through darkness, i felt touch
ethereal strums from fingers
against my unborn flesh
as a melody soothed
in rhythmic pulses
from your heart
...it's the only time i felt loved
you gave me life
taught me to walk
two steps shy of death's door
i crawled in the shadows, afraid
cowering in the algidity of a touch
i ached for in outstretch motions
as tiny fingers reached upward
reverting back with blades
that scribbled scores of depth
while trying to feel anything but anguish
...i wished to be unborn
you fed me
ugliness through affliction
of dispassionate glares
as you made me
unlove myself
starve myself
until i was but an empty shell
of what i could have been
...i will never be good enough
you gave me a house
filled with treasures, untouched
clothed me in ridicule
made me learn to crawl
on weakened knees
while filling buckets
with my tears, my echoes
shuddering down halls
where i curled up
and died, unheard
...you killed me inside
November 12, 2019
Pale Shelter Poetry Contest
Sponsored by John Hamilton
In a dream, I was exploring a green forest, lush and tangled with vines.
Following a path I was on a quest of some sort. As I journeyed onwards
I stopped often to investigate a wildflower or a plant or to listen to birds
singing and chattering. I have no idea what I was looking for but I was
on a mission, determined I walked through the thick vegetation and came
to a stream. Oh lovely, a place to rest, taking off my shoes I put my feet
in the cool stream, oh blessed tranquility! Of course, I fell fast asleep and
when I woke it was raining. I needed to 'seek shelter' so I started walking
deeper and deeper into the forest for a refuge, perhaps an abandoned den
or cabin. A haven from the rain and wind, hopefully with a roof! And then,
there it was the perfect hideaway in the shadows of ancient trees. An old
home, a retreat from the storm. The door creaked and spiders scattered.
It was dusty but dry, I set up a resting place in my new found sanctuary.
All that night I listened to the patter of raindrops on the roof and in the
morning to the dawn birds calling each other. I felt the sun on my face
and opened my eyes to find myself in my own bed with my purring cat.
birds twittered to me
as I traversed the forest ~~
a haven dwelling
His strength was his forte, but she was his weakness
She played with his emotions from the start,
He seemed oblivious to her true motives
and he would often seek shelter
in the bosom of her beguiling heart
She had cast her seductive spell
Now he was her puppet
She pulled the strings to make him dance
Dangling him for her amusement
He was mesmerized by her beauty, seduced by her charms
His strength could not save him
from her deceitful ways
The devastation of her betrayal left him broken