Best Shock Poems
She held a seashell to her ear
But heard no soothing sea,
Just choking gasps of life caught in
An ocean of debris.
05.11.19
Bite Size Poem No.38 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Line Gauthier
there he was
in his white coat
afraid of our reaction
as he dropped the C word
we watched it bounce off the floor
and hang there suspended
no one reaching to grab it
we all sat there with a blank stare
pretending to be deaf
frozen in disbelief
biting our tongue
holding our breath
limp arms down our sides
it couldn’t be
how could it be
wanting to unhear the word
but there it was
in all its ugliness
in the middle of the room
while the coat made its exit
that throbbing C word
loaded and sobering
resonating in our ears
leaving us in shock
Published in my 24-page photo/anthology ~THE POWER OF TWO~ 2020
AP: 1st place 2026, 1st place 2020
Submitted on October 21, 2025 to the contest 2025 POETRY MARATHON MILE 23 sponsored by MARK TONEY - RANKED 7TH
My friends come home draped in flags
I pause at the edge of the airplane door
Facing a tunnel leading me to a muffled joy
Strangers tell me I am related to them...
I deny a woman with three kids... her kiss
My friends are slipping in trucks with flags
They are loaded and back doors explode shut...
..............................................................
I wake up in a trench of blood and clean pillows
The same woman from the airport next to me
Peacefully breathing...and I thought she was dead...
I think I am finally home, fans are not propellers
Camouflage doesn't bear swing sets in backyards
My friends' helmets, guns and boots line up in my head
Patrolling with weapons made of aluminum foil
-------------------------------------------------
There is too much silence for a dead soldier walking...
I think I FEEL the kiss of the woman with three kids ...
why seek true love
when even the truest love is fleeting
the thing you should desire is
for lasting love to transpire
take my hand and hold your breath
this is a love test
do you have a single doubt
about how it will turn out
are you afraid they will leave
and how you could possibly grieve
worry no more the stress will disappear
and just send this to your sweet dear
because it's over they never really let you near
it is fact they are being clear they don't want you here
take your love and disappear don't live in fear
I'm sure this has happened to most of you
You come up with this brilliant thought
Before you have a chance to write it down
It vanishes like a shot
You try and try so hard to remember
This amazing new invention
But your mind's gone south for the summer
And has no capacity for retention
You start to sweat and feel the panic
It was a marvellous new discovery
It was going to change the way of the world
But the odds are slim for recovery
You consider the electric shock treatment
By sticking your finger in a socket
Thought better of it coz your hands were wet
And your hair would take off like a rocket
So you resign yourself and figure it's gone
Suddenly it pops back in your brain
The thing you were trying to remember so bad
Was your mother's and father's last name!
© Jack Ellison 2013
When the majority is accustomed to having their say,
it's a shock to the system when it's no longer that way
Dwindling numbers has turned the majority into the minority
Welcome to my world,
where having your voice heard is an exercise in futility
Go grab a megaphone,
or dial some digits
See if you catch your congressman or woman
and tell them something's horribly wrong
The deal is this:
You were the majority,
now you're the minority
The numbers tell the story,
and numbers never lie
I know it's a shock to the system:
Either rage against the machine,
or sit at home and quietly cry
You found a nice piece of real estate,
and were the prime time share owners for a long time
Deal with it,
a new group has come in,
and their numbers are not on the decline
It has to be a shock to the system,
has you feeling like you're Frankenstein
911 is the number you call,
when you think you've witnessed a monstrous crime
Welcome to my world,
being a minority ain't all bad
But if you're use to being number one:
it's a shock to the system,
when you've been demoted to second class
How was I to know a lightning bolt
would zig-zag into me? My body lies there on the ground,
a nurse, doing CPR.
Shocked voices. All eyes focused on the victim.
While over the way, I stand. Separate. Watching.
I move to tap a friend’s shoulder, saying, that’s me. But my hand
goes straight through. Spooked. Why doesn’t he know I’m here?
Floating upstairs, the foggy image of my legs, and physical self,
shimmer and disappear.
I find my wife on the other side of a wall. She’s reading,
to our youngest grandson. Bluish light shines around me,
clear and bright. But neither look up.
Suffused with pure love and energy, I’m attached
to everything, movement unrestricted.
Jolted back into my body, it’s agony. Sirens scream. Police .
Ambulance. Lights flash, white, red and blue.
Morphine. Sleep. Slow recovery.
But I’m not the same person. As a child,
I couldn’t stand classical music it. Hated the piano.
Now I ‘m driven to learn. That’s why I came back.
Taught myself to read music, plunked out tunes.
Still, destiny stalked the Concert Stage.
Music pours into me from dreams. Arriving so fast
I struggle to write it down.
I play night and day on an old instrument,
gifted my way.
A wide repertoire draws my concert fans.
People cry, have visions.
Moved by the frequency of the music.
While I shiver to think that, alive or
dead, there’s only a thread between.
the war was well
on its way
mottled and coddled
battled and bottled
before the
front was modeled
the frontline was hobbled
the forefront was cobbled
dark hearts be doubled
light hearts be troubled
the war is well
on its way
It came in with ice cream and half empty sunscreen
And went out with goosebumps and “EEK!” Halloween
That autumnal breeze and the fire in the trees
Gave way to demons and trembly knees
Leaves all relinquished their sure Summer grip
Fluttering down they would duck, dive and dip
To settle in russet hues there on the ground
But eddy and flit as the breeze whipped around
And by Halloween with the ground full of leaves
There’s zombies and ghouls in whom no-one believes
Well maybe the numbskulls who worship the night
But then monster lovers were never that bright
That late autumn day there was warmth in the air
I sat ’gainst a tree and I slumbered right there
Twas All Hallows’ Eve but why would I care
No fancy dress demon would give me a scare
I’ll suffer no grief from some worn out tradition
I’ll scoff at the undead and show no contrition
No werewolf nor vampire would make my skin prickle
Well... not til the leaf monster gave me a tickle!
She opened her door
stepped outside
Her walk best described
as an easy glide
She looked around
blinked her eyes
No moon, no stars
pitch-black surprise
In shock was she
the world gone mad
no light or hope
her heart so sad
She pinched herself
perchance she'd dreamed --
The darkness deepened
she heard a scream
She retreated inward
utterly stunned
Her trust shattered
completely undone
You and I, of course
we know better
'Twas just her Psyche
out to get her
Shock and awe
You can take away my freedom
You can take away my rights
But you will never take away
What I believe is right
You can hunt me and chase me
You can try with all your might
But you will never take away
What I believe is right
For 100 years or more
You have been knocking at my door
The tyrants and the despots
The army and the law
But there will come a day
When we'll be free
And we will live in harmony
And the world will live as one
Bush and Blair they have no cares
Now there both millionaires
They talked about shock and awe
But all we got was a horrible war
With 100.000 dead
And many many more
We will never know the final toll
But we know who ran off with the oil
The tyrants and the despots
Are they the ones to blame
Or is it Bush and Blair
Who should hang their heads in shame>
Inside out sun hole
Navigates concave pea bowl
Full degree skin jump
“Shell Shock”
(for my father J. D. Bowles
U.S. Navy Seabees- World War II)
I can remember, at an early age,
Hearing him cry out in the night.
Defending himself again against some
Threatening encounter,
there on the beach of that foreign shore.
It was as if all protection had vanished,
And he was there, alone,
Quivering in the dark.
Momentarily, he became a whimpering child,
Retreating at night, and struggling by day
To retain some semblance of a manhood
That had been battered and stripped away
By the savagery of War.
He was lost to us…forever,
Destined to battle his own private demons,
As best he could,
All alone.
No entity could reach that deeply inside him
And extract that gnawing orb of anguish that welled within.
It was a pain he must bear alone.
He fought the good fight,
So many, many years ago,
But we,
As his family,
Failed to win his War.
Bj pearce
[email protected]
05-01-2012
An opening sarcophagus in a pharoah's tomb,
Started emanating light into the room,
The mummy screamed, "I'll put a curse on you,
All your progeny I will pursue,
One should never presume to exhume."
The service conducted by the Reverend Bailey,
Irene Paula Lee married Jonathon Daley,
Now thee months since that day has passed,
Things going smoothly, nothing aghast,
Until a letter came addressed to, I. P. Daley