Best Shrank Poems
Our shadows were so restless
As we passed from room to room;
They pretended to be living
But they died within their tomb
They shrank a little bit each day
When the sun shone bright above;
And both of us now waste away
In the sadness of lost love.
In days of younger shadows
That danced in noon's bright light;
Laughter floated on the breeze
Till our day turned into night.
Burdened by life's troubles
Our shadows danced no more;
They became the darkened spots
That faded on the floor.
Now death's arms have taken you
Leaving only memories of your face;
The shadow that was part of you
Is now gone without a trace.
Collab with Danny Boy, the Kearley
Categories:
shrank, angst,
Form:
Rhyme
It is human nature to hate him whom you have injured. ~Tacitus
as children
we looked past the world’s artificial trappings
the ravelment of doctrines
and the glaring capitalistic displays
the only criteria was that we’re friends
growing up
the world we inhabited
shrank as we embraced
the rules of others
to fit in
adulthood
meant that we
overrode innate compassion for others
paramount concern
belonging to the right group
often at the expense of many others
leaving a particular religious group
would lead to shunning
even death
lost in this Troxler effect
we have ultimately lost the ability to discern human value
we’re set in our ways
our value compass
eventually deliquesced as it decomposed
like a corpse
how did we become so jaundiced in our outlook
it is obvious
we hate the ones we have wronged
forgiving ourselves is only path to redemption
14 June 2021
Categories:
shrank, philosophy,
Form:
Suzette Prime
Beware of wolves in sheepskins
My what clever wolves
I wonder if the sheep could pass as wolves
Perhaps they could go to Wolves R Us
I've heard of a Fox in a Hen House
I wonder if a Hen ever visits a Fox House
Who was the idiot that let the Bull loose
The china shop will never be the same
I also wonder why so many Bull remain
Especially with all the politicians shooting Bull
I was so busy I had no time to get ready for my trip
So I invited a pack Rat over to help get me organized
My house boat started to sink and he was the first to leave
It started to rain Cats and Dogs
I think I need a better umbrella
He told me I could get there as the crow flies
I think he lied, my arms are tired and I'm still here
I thought I would become my own boss
This Monkey Business is tougher than I expected
My inventory is eating up all my profits
All my clothing shrank when I came in from the rain
I have to admit I felt a little Sheepish
The judge asked him to pronounce his own sentence
He asked if he could be Hung like a Horse
All my friends call me Eagle Eye
I like that so much better than Cyclops
I would be much happier if I had two eyes
I hope you all enjoyed the trip to the Funny Farm
All the animals here are crackers
Categories:
shrank, animal, fun, funny, me,
Form:
There is an antique writing desk
in my little study
handed-me-down
from generations of would-be
writers in my family
And there are ancient creatures
from days gone by
living in this old desk still
evil, larcenous little creatures
envious of literary skill
This explains much
Lately, I have caught them unawares
aghast, thought I imagined them
but they are really there
surly, sinister, repugnant creatures
in my writing desk
There's a putrid little jerk,
called Pernishicus who lurks
behind the piles on my desk
glorying in the mess
a malevolent, grimy-mauve gremlin
Who preys on newly created works
stealthily spraying them
with foul feculence
as soon as I commence
my writing-
...Sometimes missing slightly
and tagging my hand
making it hard to stand
myself (much less my writing)
for days on end
Then there's a creepy
mesmerizing fiend
they call Spelbadger
a translucent thing, quite obscene
who shifts in the shadows and purrs
With dark eyes deep- constantly changing
like stones from mood-rings
set in his skull
he psychically bullies,
intimidates and muddles
until my poor brain
is worn and dull
And perhaps worst of all
is that one, Grumblesleaze
with pale, glowering eyes diseased
a gray-green, mangy looking thing
whose famous quirk
is that he has the gall
to grouse about my work...
As he viciously shreds it
then glunshing and munching
greedily devours it all
leaving no note
or trace of remembrance
of my past brilliance
behind
Oh, out of spite
he might leave a few
of my ill-penned
unfortunate lines
I planned to cut anyway
or pull my worst attempts
from the waste-can
and lay them out
to remind me of my failures
Yes, this explains much
For there was only one before
our one lone ancestor
who was able to write
at this desk prolifically
tapping out volumes rather heroically
'Though tiresome and tedious
dry history and drivel
which, no doubt, shrank and shriveled
and lulled these creatures off
to sleep for years
Until we woke them up
broke their hibernation
with more interesting stories
and imagination, colorfully crafted
ingenious, piece after piece
Clicking and clacking away
on typewriters, keyboards
generation after generation
of irritatingly gifted writers
disturbing their peace
it had to cease...
Categories:
shrank, anxiety, feelings, humor, humorous,
Form:
Free verse
(An invented ghost tale)
A tale was told how centuries ago
at one old wooden bridge, there had occurred
a tragedy, for led there by some foe,
three children, by his scythe, were massacred.
It plagued my mind what drove him to this act;
how evil could prevail and not atone!
So one dank night the path to death I tracked,
and on the bridge I found myself alone.
Then suddenly I shrank. There loomed ahead
a disembodied soul with horror’s face.
Then circling endlessly the bridge, he fled,
as smaller ghosts with bandied blades gave chase.
Three gravestones lie nearby - no less. . . no more.
And yet the spirits I had seen were four!
An oldie for Carolyn Devonshire's Halloween Fright Poetry Contest
Categories:
shrank, mystery,
Form:
Sonnet
the fifty cal pierced the tank
flash and bang, it quickly shrank
shrill high screams,so briefly heard,
then comes the death's, savage bird
thus pecked clean; blue eyes and spleen,
not more terrible, death, seen,
and so the night's moon I'd thank
died, I not, in fiery tank
Categories:
shrank, horror, men, military, war,
Form:
Verse
Haphazardly,
Infinity and affinity mingled,
In an asymmetry imbalance.
A dishevelled universe,
Grew and shrank as fire devoured,
Yet ice sustained.
Outrages currents swirled,
Straightened, dispersed, and garnered,
Dissipated into nothing,
Only to surge again and again and again.
Until a soft soothing spirit unfurled itself,
Protracting into every nook,
Fire and ice detached their selves
Into their proper assumed place,
Light and darkness found their proper place.
How harmonious was creation now!
Categories:
shrank, creation,
Form:
Free verse
6/27/17
No longer dreaming
Just proceeding
Without cheating
I am achieving
More than I ever was believing
Every single evening
Now my impressions are leaving
Even more meaning
To other human beings
While I am still breathing
It's time to make this year better
Despite all the weird weather
My dome vexed
I felt my bones flex
Across stone steps
After being shown less
Before pushing past the home stretch
With all chromosomes left
I then took over the throne next
And any other opposition with cloned flesh
Nearby a crows nest
Now ain't that some ****
As they like to say payback's a *****
The light from the sun shines
Amid the pines
Where there was an abandoned mine
For a long time
The only hound stood
But how could
It sound good
All around the hood
When I doubt it would
It didn't matter if it ever would place in a chart
Because it was straight from the heart
Even when the day was dark
Across the bay and park
Beside all the waves and sharks
The flu hit
And the air was too thick
But I put out some even more true ****
Because the shoe fit
And it was the best way to do it
With very few tricks
While talking to some new chicks
A ship that got stopped atop the rocks sank
While there was an ever increasing fog bank
Some continued to give god thanks
While the size of several bogs shrank
I was feeling like I was in quite an odd place
If I never had it, then how could I ever have lost faith?
Vehicles at different rates going zero to sixty
Some of which go beyond one hundred and fifty
During winter smoke coming out the chimney
In the country and city
People walking their dogs and playing in the park with a Frisbee
Carbonation making it all fizzy
Spinning, all about now feeling dizzy
Areas spotless or really filthy
Objects and animals, tall average or mini
In the end the crime scene was grisly
Categories:
shrank, dark, how i feel,
Form:
Rhyme
It was the first part of September
As the leaves were just starting to turn
The bonfire shrank to just one ember
A fearful forecast she would discern
Yes, the hurricane season lived on
Although the seas were starting to cool
Bounty of trees now plucked – pecan
As children made their way back to school
Indian Summer brought such sad news
A woman still in her autumn years
Struggled from her eyes, tears to excuse
She had to face the greatest of fears
The doctor offered no hope for her
Would this month be her last September?
*Entry for Brian’s September Contest
Categories:
shrank, health, seasons, autumn,
Form:
Sonnet
The wind blew constantly,
Judas felt cold, cold outside, cold inside.
He had betrayed his love.
Could he make atonement?
Show some self respect?
Will love find out
how deep his guilt was?
Must he despair?
He was truly lost.
He sat down against an olive tree
A rotten fruit fell.
His despair increased.
The Bible never mentioned what fruit Adam and Eve ate. Certainly it was not an apple. Biblical studies considered the olive trees as the most predominant in the Mediterranean. It could have been large and sweet. After the fall of Adam and Eve, the olives turned sour and shrank. So Jesus began his Passion in the garden of olives. All this is theoretical. One can believe what he wants.
Categories:
shrank, garden, passion,
Form:
Free verse
Adventures In Wonderland-Condensed Version
Alice
malice
Rabbit's
habit
"I'm late
can't wait"
tardy
lordy!
deep hole
took toll
she fell
oh well
found note
I quote,
"Drink me"
it's free
too big
took swig
she drank
then shrank
ate cake
mistake
Hatter
chatter
treed cat
too fat
March Hare
he's there
Red Queen
so mean
beguiled
poor child
from shakes
she wakes
it seemed
she dreamed
amends
tale ends
>>>>>>>>>
March 22nd, 2017
Jan Allison's Fabulous Fun Footles
Categories:
shrank, adventure, fantasy,
Form:
Free verse
Once there was
a tiny tree,
who wished itself
a lofty, wide-spread
oak;
longing to have
on him song-birds light...
to share a tune
to strum some beams
on full-moon night –
but the cat was
about, with a silent
foot...and the birds
knew Whiskers
like they wrote Grimms'
book – so the tiny tree
never got a second look –
but an angel up high
shrank deceptively small
and with a purposeful
stall, settled on the dwarf's
most prominent, yet near
ground branch
introducing herself
as a lost parrot
named Blanch –
and they sang
and hugged all the long day
only stopping at times just
to briefly pray (gratefully pray)
– and the cat,
quite lonely, for also a stray
made a fiddle of its whiskers
drummed with its tail
tapping a rhythm beat
on an old discarded pail –
Categories:
shrank, cat, happy, humorous, music,
Form:
Free verse
Written: October 1st 2023
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In the ocean of silence, I’m stunned
Astonish by its grandeur as I descend.
A comely curtain of conciliatory calm
Elapse the chaos, surreptitious and warm.
In the hushed embrace of the twilight sky,
A silence plummets, ambrosial all nearby.
Astonied hearts stand in solicitous awe.
A comely night implies her ethereal flaw.
Emollient whispers waft into the air.
Surreptitious secrets are shared with care.
Incipient stars start their gentle wafture,
Surreal leaves create a ripple in nature.
Mellifluous melodies mend meteoric might,
Fugacious flimsies that fizzle out of a fight
Gossamer moonbeams cast their diaphanous glow,
Creating an aura of silence, tranquility, and bestow.
Ineffable fairness, fiercely feisty, not frigid,
The break of dawn silenced, as if timid.
Saturnine secrets shrank in secrecy.
Stupendous silence slides, sinewy spree.
Lull launders, looping the limp land,
As warblers start with a duteous band,
Sullen clouds gather, ominous and dark.
Yet awestruck hearts find solace in calm remarks.
Reassuringly, the heavy silence lingers.
Dour faces are glum, yet prudent fingers
Guide the oxymoron of emotions that flow,
Glowering and divine in their quiet glow
In the gloomy hush, discretion gleans hold,
As discerning minds decry peace in the fold,
The prudent ones, with a discreet glance,
Understand the power of silence dance.
Glum faces settle in quiet repose.
Views deepen, and worries dispose
Astounded by stillness, they are in awe.
Of absolute peace that stillness can draw.
Awestricken by the amorphous depth it brings,
They decry solace in the lull that silence sings.
A curtain of calm tumbles, amazed and serene.
As the amorphous depth of quiet is felt and seen.
Inauspicious cruxes balmily soothe fears.
As diaphanous whispers softly, quell tears.
Hinky hearts hearkens a hypothesis behind,
A voice uttered, "Love silence will never hide".
No query or qualm can squeal this bond.
Silence is where my peace is dulcet fond.
In the hushed embrace of the twilight sky,
Silence reigns, and my love will never die.
Categories:
shrank, analogy, appreciation, silence,
Form:
Rhyme
I held my small beautiful thing in my hand
Precious pure perfection
Oh how it brought me joy
You asked me “May I see what you are holding?”
I responded “Of course my dear friend.”
You blissfully beheld its shimmering shine.
For a moment you were speechless.
I felt you understood.
I wrapped my small beautiful thing
Placed it carefully away
Sharing it with you made me feel special
Every day you asked me about it
I had hoped you would forget about it
You said “Such beauty should be shared with the world!”
I did fancy fame and fortune.
I remembered how special I felt when I shared it with you.
My small beautiful thing grew
Somehow it changed
It was not itself anymore
As my ego expanded
My inner self shrank
becoming small
Everything I had went to protecting my large beautiful thing
I could no longer hold it in my hand
Then one day, or should I say in the night
A stealthy stranger stole it
He hid it far away
It became small again
It prefers it that way
I cried and felt relief at the same time.
Without it I found my privacy
I felt myself graciously grow.
As days passed I thought
“Maybe it was never really my small beautiful thing.”
In the end that’s okay.
Photo from ShutterStock.
Categories:
shrank, extended metaphor,
Form:
Free verse
It was a big backyard,
big enough to hold
the imagination of a boy -
trees to climb,
sheds to explore,
a large lawn to swing a bat
or kick a ball
and in a quiet corner,
a sanctuary for prayer
when my grandmother,
bent over and groaning
with angina, had me
go there and ask God
for help.
There were long summers
of almonds, plump grapes,
peaches and apricots
and cold winters bursting
with big, bright oranges.
There were places where
you could heal a hurt
or hide when bruised and full
of fear. Sad how it grew
smaller with the years
like an old religion,
less important to life,
ignored until it shrank
to the size of a lemon tree
nourished only
by the beer filled bladders
of teenage boys back from
the local pub,
dying for a pee.
Categories:
shrank, childhood, nostalgia, religion, teenage,
Form:
Free verse