Best Shovels Poems

This banyan tree on the wayside pasture
boughs cradling the nests secure
the birds of blue return, 
verdant foliage making shade serene
the scorched travelers rest awhile,
the tree revels in pride.

The winds of harsh time take the toll
gaping trunk wrenches the soul,
defoliated, the skeleton stands stripped.
The birds don’t...

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Sparks flew
The earth moved
And I knew

Your love was going to bury me



March 2nd, 2019...

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There is a loud sharp scraping of shovels,
digging another grave;
this a daily event in the graveyard,
oh, death comes like a wave.
When our life time has finished we must leave,
and beloved must grieve.

We cannot hold back the shovels scraping,
and cannot hold back death;
for our time left...

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Each of them had one
A golden shovel
To sweep away the detritus
Of life’s lingering keepsakes
Scratching the gold-plated spears
Dodging deaths deadline 
Struggling to be remembered

Ecologically egotistical entrepreneurs
Pictures, suitable for framing
Polished, souvenir hard hats
Sign waving sycophants
Applauding the arrogance
Of progressive platitudes.

An old woman weeps
The shadow of her home gone
The...

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Wind blows ashes all around,
as men toil – bent over at an arduous task.
In the place where a scraping of shovels incises the coming night,
their blades incise cold and black encrusted ground.

Attached to the shovels' handles
are arms which are skeletons,
and the arms belong to bruised,...

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A man once knelt beside a mirrored pool,
stared into the eyes of a faithless fool.
An empty soul who made a devil's pact,
to turn away from truth in search of fact.

With no light to shine on this troubled trail,
he then became lost, then slipped and fell.
Leaving...

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My momma was big on naps when I was a girl.
Until I was eight years old, she sent me to my room on summer afternoons.
It was probably because of the heat in the south,
The way it it penetrates to your insides leeching every bit of...

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Like so many times when us youngsters reigned
We got up to so much that we forgot to refrain
Instances, confrontations, non immaculate we be
C'mon, c'mon, come at us you'll soon see

Then it went tit's up as we now look back and tell
Bravado at the time, drinks,...

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Sevens, Shovels, and Spades

Dig, dig, dig. Black soil and stone
Earth worms wiggle , Decay bones

Dig, dig, dig, scatter seeds there
Sprouting, searching sun and air

Dig, dig, dig, To hide our dead
Six feet under, body bed

Dig, dig, dig, create new life
Born of earth, Feed appetites 

Dig, dig,...

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A SCRAPING OF SHOVELS--

A duel of occupations;
Farming or construction;
2 metal clad tools of uncovering';
Clang N clang, touch rub N bang;
Scape-scape,  dig-dig on dirt, sand, gravel and rocks;
A scraping of shovels;

Excavation in construction;
Mechanization via steam shovels;
And later hydraulic equipment;
Hand shoveling dirt onto metal covers;
A scraping...

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Scooping up my pain with these shovels as I try to write, 
          embracing all I lost in a life I never knew I deserved.
Keeping forgiveness and empathy in my clear sight, 
   ...

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It is a sanctuary of hushed stillness here
muted sounds of nature prevail
a rustle of leaves, a scurrying of rodents 
flutterings of birds flying and chirping. 

Peaceful it may seem, and yet...
I have dwelt here uneasily, year after year
hard pressed to escape my confinement
tormented by nightmares...

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Old, weary, sad
Wracked with pain and sorrow
He wrapped the night around him like a cloak

Long had he waited for this eventide
And he had earned it, giving all to family and work.
The wind came up and carried in the sea mist off the fjords

He pressed his...

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Shovels' scraping shows work well done
Keep it up!  Congratulations!!!
Service to God is number one
Yielding fruits of commendations.

With the Lord's strength as girding might
Shovels' scraping shows work well done
Radiating life-building's bright light
Exemplified by God's great Son.

Designed perfection had begun
Masterpiece upon faith-venture
Shovels' scraping shows work well...

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cars sound the alarm
autumn delivers it's storm
night time is shattered

window faces watch
our world of broken branches
wheelie-bins gone rogue

when tomorrow comes
boys will collect their conkers
grown men their shovels 
...

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