Best Shrink Back Poems
Those little cracks you wear
on the outside -
why must you dislike them so?
Show them unabashedly,
for every little crease and wrinkle
is the sum total
of all that you have experienced -
the sum of your disappointments and afflictions,
but also the sum total of every single time
you ever smiled!
Neither shrink back in the shadows
nor try to cover your physical flaws.
Rather – let yourself be seen
in daylight’s brilliance -
the amazing you!
Feel the sun caress your spirit’s frame.
Let it paint you
golden.
Aug. 18, 2021
For 'A BRIAN STRAND Libre Vers' Poetry Contest
You don’t have to pitch a tent
Nor build a house to stay
When thousands of us wander desperate
Without a home or place to rest,
You own a house with a magic door,
That opens at will without a key or latch.
Well protected from all wicked wight
Safe from all robbers, rowdies, and rodents
No evil spirits, vampires, or ghouls
Dare to disturb it at any rate
It is stronger than all structures extant
Built-in mortar, bricks, or rocks
You are the monarch of a larger empire.
Land and water are under your sway,
Free to enjoy the treasures of the sea,
And feast on the wonders of the land.
You are a companion to the ravenous shark,
Darting spectres through the azure dark
And also monsters that roam the deep
With their uncouth gambols and abrupt leap
You love strolling along the slimy strands
And dive down along with the laughing waves
You bury your eggs on the sandy shores
And guard your progeny from all snares
You are another name for alertness and caution
You make sure that all around is safe and secure,
Before you come out from your rocky shelter
And shrink back at once when dangers lurk
You carry on your back your home and shelter
Built so compact to guard you from all external threat
Oh! Turtle, we deem you blessed under your carapace
But perhaps you may have a different tale to narrate
For all that we see or seem to see
Aren’t they truths far removed from the truth?
Nothing Wrong With me
Through changing, rearranging
sometimes we lose our way.
We search for and we can't find
the things we long to say.
So we hide within ourselves
and pray the world don't see.
While whispering to our heart
there's something wrong with me.
A part of us the heart of us
so filled with utter longing.
Wondering what has happened to
our sense of once belonging.
Trying hard just to not give in
but tired of the fight.
We shrink back in the shadows
that come with dark of night.
And there our search continues
in the shadows we can't see.
Praying no one notices
there's something wrong with me.
And then one day the light will shine
brighter than it did before.
It seems the search is over
not in darkness anymore.
Reaching into our tomorrows
and things still yet to be.
Crying from the rooftops
there's nothing wrong with me.
Edwin C Hofert
An old scholar called Mi Balls Hung Lo
Wished he could put his gonads on show
His poor wife got quite mad
But his daughter said “Dad…
just remember to add a big bow”
By Jan Allison
Now Hung Lo was really Gung Ho.
He had his big bow now in tow.
The new goal he set
was somehow to get
little Mister Happy to grow.
By Dale Gregory Cozart
Dolly Parton said, "Hey there Hung Lo!"
"Why don't you appear on my show?"
"While we're on the air
we'll show our two pair,
It might make your wee Happy grow."
Dolly said to Lo on a dare:
"Would you show off your pair?
I'll show mine
They're very fine
but not all covered with hair!"
By Lim'rick flats aka John Wulf
Lil' Mister Happy wanted to grow
So he could become part of the show
But overshadowed a tad
by the two giant gonad
Now so sad is Mi Balls Hung Lo.
by John Gondolf
To cheer him up they took sad Mr. Hung lo
To a place for encouragement to grow
Down they did jut
A poem for each nut
Mr. happy stood up tall for the show
By Pat Adams
Just woke up to this gorgeous day
What joy, think I'll go out to play
In my skivvies I will
Oh what a thrill
Tiptoe through the tulips twittering away
By Jack Ellison (My Poetry Soup Brother)
When Mi balls hung lo joined the nomads
Something happened to his small gonads,
the further they would go
much bigger, they did grow,
So he now uses them as knee pads,
Due to drinking the milk of the Yak
his large gonads started to shrink back
the more milk he did drink
more his gonads did shrink
problem was they were turning jet black.
By Roy Pett
PLEASE SOUP MAIL ME YOUR POEM AND I WILL ADD IT TO THE COLLABORATION
10-04-17
I often shrink back and lose my faith,
God’s love with abandon I crave and chase,
I have moved mountains with just a glimmer of hope,
I have enslaved nations and to children sold dope,
I am the salt of the earth and a scourge of mankind,
I strive with all that I am to dwell in Christ’s mind,
I am caught up in fear and many of its lies,
I intercede against the enemy so that all might rise,
I reflect Christ perfectly and defame his name,
I have the courage of David and bare Judas’ shame,
I have betrayed and been loyal,
I am Battered and bruised, triumphant and royal,
I have victimized others and acted in malice,
With many afflicted I have shared his love’s chalice,
I am divine and depraved,
I am soiled and saved,
I am a Christian, caught up in hypocrisy’s web,
And many to the light of love I have led,
I am a Christian and when my fullness is revealed,
You will see the lame walk, and the afflicted healed,
I am a Christian and though I don’t look it now,
One day you will see me and your heart will scream loud,
That you have seen God incarnate in all of her glory,
That you have seen a solution to this life’s worry,
That you have seen the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost too,
I am a Christian, I love Jesus, and so can you,
And together we will fall and together rise high,
To embrace our blessed savior in the cosmic sky.
He carries his troubles wherever he goes
The curse he conceals too easily shows
They shrink back in fear as the black tumor grows
He carries his troubles wherever he goes
He carries his troubles wherever he goes
He refused to re-pay the debt that he owes
Throw him to the fish as the raging wind blows
He carries his troubles wherever he goes
(I carry my troubles wherever I go
The curse I conceal too easily shows
They shrink back in fear as my black tumor grows
I carry my troubles wherever I go)
‘BLACK SHEEP DRAWBACK’
Discouraged, anxious and unsure—pitch black tarmacs start their war
Petrified, panicked and distressed—uncertainty cracks amidst unwelcomed guests
Dissociated and desensitised a perfect attack—as nervous disposition follows predictable tracks
Another prestigious black tie event—suites and shoes will seldom boycott consents
Perfected flair keeping companies in the black—elegantly formal their wives attack
Each one attired in the colour of grief—sadness and mourning a blackmailed thief
There stands Jack, in a room that is packed—emotionally elusive, cunningly drawn back
Mysterious, powerful negative dirt tracks—black-market malevolence no visible cracks
Observation, lack of confidence to engage—courage imminently pending and upstaged
An edgy apprehensive shrink-back—protection from impulsive reactive, confused attacks
Alarming blackout to opinions of others—ignoring motives of guaranteed buffers
A black sheep just got blacklisted again—anticipation of recurring hurt and pain
The Sins in the Heart
Once I looked upon my love
With sorrow in my eyes
The beast had come and claimed me
As his devil bride
The emotions that swirled through my head
The possession that the beast took
Left me cold hearted, vulnerable
Disgusting, vile
Until the day he died
I never knew when it would happen
Morning, night
Joining the souls that screeched for plight
I never knew what was wrong with me
What curse I had,
But when he passed everything hit me
Right through my damned soul
For, I had never known what would occur
If he had still lived
Would I have still been cold hearted,
Would I have still been filled with sin?
Was it the beast?
Was it the karma?
Was it the devil inside of me?
Or was it just.. me?
Twenty years after his passing,
I stood still in the temple of Death
Looking for his soul
But when I called out to it,
The horrible screeching noise made me shrink back
As I looked at the soul, my worst nightmare came true
The devil, the beast, the disgusting vile creature inside of me
The curse,
It had damned his soul also
Because of my love for him
I want to know what you ache
for
And if you dare to dream of
meeting your heart’s longing
It doesn’t interest me how old
you are
I want to know if u'll risk
looking like a fool for love
For Ur dream, for the adventure
of being alive
It doesn’t interest me what
planets are squiring your moon
I want know if you have
touched
The centre of your own sorrow
If you have been opened by
life’s betrayals
Or have become shrivelled and
closed from fear of further pain
I want to know if you can sit
with pain
Mine or your own without
moving to hide it,
Fade it or fix it
I want to know if you can be
with joy
Mine or your own
If you can dance with the
wilderness
And let the ecstasy fill you to
the tips
Of your fingers and toes
Without cautioning me to be
careful
To be realistic
To remember the limitations of
being human
It doesn’t interest me if the
story you are telling me is
true
I want to know if you can
disappoint another to be true to
yourself
If you can bear the accusations
of betrayal
And not betray your own soul
If you can be faithless and
therefore trustworthy
I want to know if you can live
with failure
Yours and mine
And still stand on the edge of
the lake and shout Yes!!
It doesn’t interest me to know
where you live or how much
money you have
I want to know if you can get
up after a night of grief and
despair
Weary and bruised to the bone
And do what needs to be done
It doesn’t interest me who you
know
Or how you came to be here
I want to know if you’ll stand
In the canter of the fire with
me
And not shrink back
It doesn’t interest me where, or
what or whom you studied with
I want to know if you can
sustain yourself
What sustains you from the
inside when all else falls apart
I want to know if you can be
alone
With yourself
And if you can truly like the
company you keep in those
empty moments...
I awake, dull crusted in shadows,
to the swelling roar of hard rain on shingles
wetly dripp'd down rusted gutters,
air thick with cool moisture,
ozone sharp razor clean,
somehow, the sod grew a deep green coat in one night
as dogwoods shed blossoms like fragrant dandruff,
when did spring arrive?
my mind still bundled in deep winter time,
ghosts of snowfields, untouched by sun,
blanket my mood in a stiller time
now shattered by detonations of life
melted by pollen infused with wind
scintillate bands of light burn laser bright
through pregnant clouds rain gray
beams play like shining faeries on the sill
as a weird biology compels me to arise
rush headlong onto verdant lea
dervish twirl'd and humid breathed
but lightswitched it's gone
thunderheads roll like playground bullies
smearing runnels on the window
dogwood prism'd to a streak
as I shrink back to a pillow
smelling faintly of grass.
Jackie Hall was very very tall
But I was very very small
I’d shrink back in the shadows for fear of being seen
Because Jackie and her gang were very very mean.
My only time of sanctuary was when I heard the bell
I’d dash out of the classroom, and then I’d run like hell
No one at home knew what was going on
But all my confidence and sparkle well that had all but gone
Then one day a teacher – Mr Perry – cottoned on
He asked me what was happening and from that day the sun shone
The bullying and teasing was stopped immediately
I was overjoyed and as happy as can be
Back then when I was at school there was little support
In schools now anti bullying lessons are taught
So speak out – tell someone and have your say
Please don’t let the bullies ruin another day
J Allison
26th February 2014
And they tell you 'schooldays are the happiest days of your life' I beg to differ!
Thinking I knew you from your smile
you wormed your way in with guile
my bete noire*, my bogey man
long of tooth and without a clan
I let you in, a worm with style.
le grand faux pas*, angel vile,
seeming weak, yet, so versatile.
Hobgoblin of dread, bogey man
Thinking I knew
Shrink back now into your defile
of sagging skin and toothy smile.
But, I have seen a reviled hand
and my open heart still here stands
wishing sweetness all the while
Thinking I knew
I
The form we take
In the shape of a life
From trumpet birth blasts
To the final shadow sighs
The faithful leap
From a Dayton hill
To silver supersonic flight
A mountain of yellowing
Paper words and work
Of worn shoes
Discarded styles
An inland lake of soapy water
A dark, cool mystery mine of sleep
A warehouse of frozen glimpses
Catalogued and filed
A hurricane of curses
Sneer-spital and hot tears
The back country
Mood changed
From bright desert
To dank moor
All and all wiped kitchen clean
A few dark drops and fingerprints
Remain of this victimless
Crime scene
II
Every valid morning
The escape committee
Meets in the yard
To talk about
Terms & conditions
Cooking up plans
Set to fail
Next week
We will turn
Into smoke
& float
Through the ventilation
Or maybe become
Water, no wait..
Tears
Yes tears
Used to seal
Weekly envelopes
Sent back home
III
No fuss
No movement
No heat
No perspiration
No credit
No charge
No shame
No refund
No record
No scar
No signal
No breeze
No traffic
No morning
No bed
No room
No sheets
No clothes
No water
No ceiling
No air
No doubt
No blinking
No past
No night
No sound
No return
IV
Something seen once
At the roadside
Shining like a lost jewel
Amid the rusted out
Beer cans
Greasy fast food wrappers
Could´ve been a
Lost crown
Or a busted hubcap
That was so long ago
But not forgotten
Like a comet
Coming back around
You should´ve stopped
But what would have
Happened
One less mystery
The world was
Expanding then
Outwards & out
Few of us notice
The point when it starts
To shrink back
The tide turning
At some atomic level
But it does
And here you are
On this life raft
So, so much ocean
And so little left
Of you
V
And suddenly
Some movement
Thinner than paper
The void
At first
Abstract & Foreign
Takes on some form
A voice you always knew
A blood voice
Begins it´s
Forever song
Sitter of the wee,
titan tamer of babies...
let them scream, cry, and drool
I cannot be uncool-ed.
Tick-tock the hours by and by,
as terror this child may try...
armed with diapers and wipes
we learn potty 101.
Pee in the tub,
poo he smears and rubs...
on the floor; in the trash,
count to 10 think of the cash.
Give me, I want, now, no,
how they demand so...
tantrum if I do not comply
deep breaths I shall not cry!
Flinging pea's, splashing potatoe's,
like a mashed tornado...
almost time to go to bed
at least that's what the mother said.
Sweet silent relief,
rest so very brief...
oh the daemon wails
away I go to re-sing him tales.
Jingle jangle of keys,
I jump and prance with glee...
parents return finally
away quickly I flee.
Never again shall I brag,
of taming the wee devil...
as I shrink back in vain
when I hear his wee baby name.
3/4/14
There is nothing worse than staring at an empty bottle,
Figuring out there it has more substance than your moral values.
Nothing more than the all-encompassing emptiness:
The deafening silence
Peering through the veil of ignorance, Unknowing of even who you are;
Not that anyone will notice you,
Much less remember.
As you crawl upon this earth,
And shrink back inside.
The shroud surrounding you
Covers all to see.