Best Smugness Poems
(Inveniam viam)
Far beyond these eerie things, where limits have no scales
Fish are replacing gills, with turbine aerated tails
Sea level’s losing all meaning, for the humpback whales
Ships piggyback them, harpoons syphon wind from their sails
Today I woke up early, lately I’ve let dreams flow
Into an abstract yonder, where visions often go
A wave came over me, up from my downy pillow
When tidal forces passed away, many moons ago
As the ocean waved goodbye, I called for an encore
Behaving like a poultice, the beach drew back old gore
You could’ve bowled me over, sent ripples to my core
Never again I’d sleep soundly, near this bloody shore
After a fretful lie-on, facing truths with each turn
My sundial running on empty, stars can’t always churn
Moribund in dimness, til an old spark can return
Reigniting glory days, (let supernovae burn)
Overhead the vacuum grows, just to make more space
Stretching my dysmorphia, to align with gods face
No one knows for certain, who enhanced his human race
Gave an artful hand, outsmarting evolution’s pace
As life spirals forward, in a world out of control
Entropy dismantles, stripping back our maker’s role
The poet in me keeps goofing, digging deeper holes
He’s a junkie rhymester, overdosing on this soul
So hail all billionaires, who never walk down my street
Flying above fake cripples, with power in their feet
Prodigies of bad and worse, scheming to make ends meet
Leaves an aftertaste of smugness, one that will repeat
As for those big questions, some take a straightforward twist
Two things I thought might go away, stubbornly exist
Not death or taxes, I’m already over that list
Each day I arise, how come lies and bullsh!t persist?
First there was oblivion, til I woke up and saw
Now fully awake, dead ahead looms a fatal flaw
But so long as I can dream, and able to guffaw
It only hurts when I laugh, Don’t you think? vents my jaw
By David Kavanagh
Hms
Categories:
smugness, dark, dream, life,
Form:
Rhyme
I saw Nazis march yesterday
upon the streets of Charlottesville.
And, with swastikas on display,
crazed clansmen chanted blood will spill.
I saw Satan grinning with pride
at racial slurs shouted in hate.
And, bigots standing by his side
help the violence escalate.
I saw torches light up the night,
snaking through the black neighborhoods.
And skinheads looking for a fight;
all that was missing were white hoods.
I saw white supremacists, proud
of drawing blood and spreading fear.
And a car plow into the crowd,
its intentions made all too clear.
I saw President Trump place blame
on both sides for this killing spree.
And, a shocked nation reel in shame
at how prejudiced he could be.
I saw the projected end of
tolerance and democracy.
And, mantras of hate replace love
with smugness and hypocrisy.
Quatrain
8/13/2017
Categories:
smugness, america, angst, anxiety, bullying,
Form:
Quatrain
Blue, white, and gold
Are kaleidoscopic shades
That mirror shades from elixir
Out into the wide, blue ocean
Where the waves that rock
The mix that falls from the sky,
Whirling into stunning stain
That even a rainbow might grudge
Gorgeous blush dance with smugness.
Categories:
smugness, color, rainbow,
Form:
Free verse
A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else.
John Burroughs
bursts of anger once ruined me,
my hopes and dreams, fear and doubt stole,
leaving pain as deep as the sea,
blame the shadows shrouding my soul.
pride, the pleasure of vain conceit,
ruined the truth that did console,
more smugness than love could defeat,
blame the shadows shrouding my soul.
ego preyed on my soft yearnings,
dimming the light that made me whole,
masking warmth with lavish earnings,
blame the shadows shrouding my soul.
tempting me were life’s possessions,
felt like greed had taken control,
selfishness brought bleak impressions,
blame the shadows shrouding my soul.
still, I had only me to blame,
fighting my pride, knowing my goal,
when I failed, feeling so much shame,
blame the shadows shrouding my soul.
Categories:
smugness, angst, pride,
Form:
Kyrielle
We've all seen it
their cloying intensity
to the new cause:
tobacco cessation,
gluten-free digestion,
mindful rumination,
deep cleanse elimination,
erotic poetry,
for the lucky
erotic reality,
alcohol abstinence,
Yahweh's deliverance.
And we can only
smile and nod
knowing
this too will pass.
Categories:
smugness, change, november,
Form:
Free verse
You took my happy and you made it sad
You took the words I wrote and made them bad
You took my dreams and turned them into stone
My hopes you killed and splayed me to the bone
You took my smile and turned it into tears
The freedom that I had you nailed with fear
Whatever I held dear, you took away
and naked here I stand with this to say:
What's broken in your heart that makes you hate?
What gnawing anger growls that you must sate?
Look deep into your soul and try to heal
The pain you have inflicted feels so real
And while you sleep at night, I lie awake
The smugness round your heart is dipped in hate
You rise again without a single care
Your insecurities the robe you wear
And so I give to you all that you need
I try in vain to live, but here I bleed
Perhaps you'll look for me, and you will find
My death was brought about by words unkind
Eileen Manassian Ghali
Categories:
smugness, betrayal, sorrow, symbolism,
Form:
Rhyme
Retired but not retarded
Sure like to make that distinction
One doesn't necessarily follow the other
Though many have that opinion
Sent out to pasture, some say
Another that's very often used
Please try not to be so condescending
Clearly I'm not really amused
As useless as a little tit bird
Have you ever heard this one before
Begging you to be gentle with this old fart
Sensitive but with charm galore
You're also going to get there one day
So your smugness will soon disappear
As they help you into your wheelchair and ask
“Are you comfortable, my dear?”
© Jack Ellison 2014
Categories:
smugness, humorous,
Form:
Quatrain
Dependence and independence
(Humanity verses individualism)
The independence from dependence is the soul core of human affliction
The disconnection of the soul, mind and body is equal to death penalty
But liaison of waters to the roots speaks of the strength of the tree
The harmony of man’s heart to mind speaks of his actions-the scuffle within
Though it is our perpetual battle to reconcile our flesh to our spirit
Because without each other-life will drown in meaningless- cataclysm
Ecosystem of human mind, heart, soul and spirit-could be the answer to all
The independence from dependence is the soul core of human infirmity
Reacting to symptoms, diverting from the cause-the pride of man to be self-god
You will always be a slave in one-way or the other; our only sights are effects
Illusive freedom like sinking sands leading to hell and high water-caused by smugness
Dwindling within the skin, veins attached to my flesh, red blood flowing through-
Simplicity in complex, the unit and dependence of human body within itself
The day a soul can function normal without a body– that is day of individualism
The independence from dependence is the soul core of human disorder
Individualism, gender equality, fatherless and motherless society-cause of disorder
At Jiffy when marriage because minority to money, and a child is raised by neutral woman
Governed by no marital cords, submission is for the weak so she says-money answers all.
She cuddles whomever her desires crave for, driven by passion without purpose – devious
Walking in the shadows of reality, covering shame with make-up, eyelashes, and artificial hair
Self-blinded, becoming self-demon, possessed by iniquities of Genesis 3-self-gods or becoming
Categories:
smugness, africa, desire, destiny, inspirational,
Form:
Ballad
White Van Man
White van driver, he couldn’t give a damn
Oh how I wish that he would scram
From lofty heights he owns the road
He’s deft at signs sure to forebode
With cell in hand intent on chat
He swears at the driver wearing a hat
Coursing a path that’s bumper to bumper
Behind the woman, oh how he could thump her
His high sided vehicle sways this way and that
He’ll be there soon with foot down flat
He’s king of the motorway’s third lane
He’d love to shunt and scare, be a right bane
But to him his driving feels quite lame
He’s white van driver who feels no shame
A hotheaded madcap who loves to race
Carrying a smugness all over his face
When home he parks to own the street
Along with others, its quite a fleet
In the morn, he rises with the lark
Returning faithfully after its dark
He’s white van driver, he does what he likes
He tells his neighbours to get on their bikes
His majestic status is sure to be noted
Carrying an image to which he’s devoted
So white van man, you don’t give a damn
But I tell you squarely that you’re a right sham
Categories:
smugness, car,
Form:
Rhyme
My sadness looks much like your sadness I suspect,
And most do not see the difference in my smile
Because my soul is too frozen these days
To even feel my own emotion
Let alone find the heart
To really empathize with others.
Those leaders who refuse to compromise,
Think that their way is the only Right way, that
Politics, respect for one’s brother has become sin,
I thank you for teaching me to hate all you stand for,
For showing me that true evil is alive and well.
There is no benefit of the doubt for anyone
Who does not vote with other lemmings,
As they goose step like the little fascists they are,
Christ killers all, so fearful of God’s judgement
That they would crucify Christ all over again,
To protect themselves from the enigma
Of God’s Grace, from salvation in Christ’s blood.
I am sick to death of your hypocritical smugness,
Of your self-serving Biblical justifications for selling
Your own flesh and blood into slavery in Egypt,
Of your willingness to see your own daughters
Die of cancer someday as your judgement
That their God given sexuality is a mortal sin,
Of your belief that your interpretation of the Bible
Is Gospel, and God himself needs fear your judgement.
My brothers, I fear deeply for your souls,
Do not judge but suggest that you are
Your own worst enemies.
If every man is a sinner, and falls short of God’s glory,
If you are ordered by the Bible to witness
To the fallen, and thus be open to being witnessed to,
If any of this convicts you of the evil that lives in you,
I would invite you, my brother,
To discuss this with me over lunch
Sometime in the very near future.
Brian Johnston
February 9, 2016
Categories:
smugness, life,
Form:
Free verse
Vengeance
And I’ll get mine in glorified splendour
And you’ll get yours in the torture
Punishment I can’t wait for
As I sit back, all smugness
Praying for the day when the wicked and the weak
Harvest the fruits of their labour
While I will reap my reward
My cup runneth over; for me
And I will get mine in self-sanctimonious
And you will get yours in denial
And I will be saved
And you will not
For heaven awaits all those who are conceived in hell
I have been chosen
And you have not
Yet by blood and life
We walked the same path
For I am righteous, holy and good
And you are so obviously
Not
Categories:
smugness, faith, life, love
Form:
Free verse
I. God desires your faith my dear,
Sorry, I just know it's true,
It's not really in my pay grade
To explain God's love to you.
With meager faith I also struggle
Don't feel like you flail alone,
Loving others seems to help though
When He calls you to atone.
Don't just reach out for what you're lacking
Open up to servant's call,
Giving what you need to others,
Might be what serves you best of all.
II. So sorry that your hurting, wish it wasn't so
So sorry that your angry, wish that wasn't true
What qualifies me to act as God' ally?
It's certainly not strength or virtue
No, just my brokenness is why.
No answer really, even where to go
And what you feel is smugness speaking,
That I'm here to show you cure,
Is just a soul like you that's seeking
No illusions that I'm pure.
Sharing only what has served me
With no judgments to apply,
Knowing that your path is not mine,
Still would hold you when you cry
Still would be your valentine.
Do not wish you harm, not your enemy,
Don't suggest your words are crap
Or with you more than reason,
A friend it seems you won't unwrap,
In this or any season.
And though I hate to be a bore,
You really think you can't love more?
If service is your joy in life
Why now so sad that you're a wife! ?
Choose to show that you are free.
Brian Johnston
April 27, 2015
Categories:
smugness, life,
Form:
Rhyme
Acid reflux ~ 7:00 post meridiem September 24th, 2019
Ah... nothing more enjoyable than acidic gastric fluid flowing backward into esophagus, resulting in heartburn, disrupting pleasant dreams, nor unsure how successful literary endeavor crafting poem regarding aforementioned will yield.
While deeply asleep
during late afternoon siesta
above name named date/time,
yours truly immediately awoke
with a start, at strong violent
urge to upheap
I made little or no bowed peep,
but sat bolt upright stock still
tear ducts activated eyes
as if ready to weep.
Sadness less pervasive than fright
since reverse peristalsis uncommon
within body electric regarding plight,
which analogous volcanic eruption
albeit bubbling magmatic flow slight
reverse peristalsis found yours truly
on par with fire breathing dragon ar
goo ably momentarily nonplussed -
while dry cough minus gushing lava
gratefully only smoldered before sim
ring upper gastrointestinal tract did
allow, enable, and provide mouths
full of distilled water quench sudden
unquenchable thirst relieved result
ant unpleasant aftertaste (no pun
intended), yet distilling humor helps
me weather, manage, cope... with
unexpected physiological fee nom
mina - shot straight up within digest
heave tract, and did lament this rick
hitty packet of muscle and bone aft
times susceptible to disheartening
woebegone news afflicting this non
Norwegian bachelor farmer, whom
if the missus cooking triggered bout
unleashing bit torrent of unsavory
plate tectonics, perhaps indicative
of continental drift shrunk down to
miniature, where fault in thee stars
must be held in contempt of court
if for no other reason, I just wanted
to incorporate said phrase, tip here
me got some legal lear'n, when truth
Philly admits he seems to know less,
the he learns, which prompts me to
posit emphatically that ignorance iz
equivalent to bliss, thus presenting
quandary how kin this pronouncedly
reasonably intelligent garden variety
*****sapiens unfetter himself with
cumulative knowledge without reek
horse to invasive surgery such as...
prefrontal lobotomy, or te deum down
smarts some unknown cyber surfer(s)
could easily misconstrue as vainness,
smugness, quintessential pomposity?
Categories:
smugness, 11th grade, 12th grade,
Form:
Free verse
Old Shoe Box And Broken Candle
My great boldness keeps hammering on down
like blacksmith's hits on anvil it rings.
So loudly, it barks echoes around this town
forwarding slashes giving wicked stings.
My great arrogance so often I can not abide
proudly riding patiently with me daily.
In that awful smugness even I can not hide
covering with soft words spoken gaily.
Silly boldness, are not others far more bold
cried out this man thinking so wise.
Are not others greater in knowledge of old
tis' true, cried out this man so wise.
What pray I, do I have so very special now
that truth has found its clear start.
Only my great willingness to find out how
trade old shoe-box, broken candle for a heart!
Robert J. Lindley
April 9th, 2004
NOTE- I wrote this poem for my 16 year old daughter K.K. to turn in and discuss in a classroom assignment back then.
I let her do all the poem analysis and she did a very good job getting most of it correct. She got very high marks for the poem analysis!
Categories:
smugness, art, encouraging, introspection, simple,
Form:
Rhyme
Unfaithful marital transgressions
self admitted indictment,
crime and punishment,
no longer think high lee
entailing no mister re: demeanors,
I searingly weathered
(George by bushed, albeit thankfully,
no unwanted child left behind),
nonetheless one unforgettable
indelible, execrable, and abominable
professedly owned his
civil warring battle of life
transgressions undeservedly heaped
(Uriah hit about that)
(carnal feral hormonally seething
gone astray nightwalks)
woven by basket of deplorable
emotionally painful selfish object lesson
forever etched upon mine psyche
(left by one bobbing sponge -
cheeses crust station of his life
within sea of human life now
affixes moniker re: mister crabs)
inflicted courtesy yours truly
said marital indiscretion (philandering)
one among many issues discussed,
during treatment plan earlier today
February eighteenth 2020
concerning complex edifice
regarding mein kampf
existential bleak house
(figuratively crowded cheek to jowl)
with and hard times
fraught with many
unattained great expectations
unwittingly accepts psychological fallout
(among kissing kith and kin,
a shellfish chicken and hen thing for sure),
despite years elapsed ex post facto
deploying, incorporating, narrating, signifying...
narcissistic, opportunistic, and phlegmatic
self incriminating doom
visualize deus ex machina
betrayal rendered adopted smugness
invariably set in motion domino effect,
whereby emotional alienation
devastation, humiliation, maturation, suppuration
(yoking impossible mission
to shuck off penitence, the price to pay),
thus rightfully, truthfully, and veritably...
ably, readily, and willingly
allowing, enabling, and providing
incomplete resolution, (hence iresolution)
thwarting rancor thy deux daughters
(livingsocial many time zones distant)
embark quest to guide their own
metaphorical maiden voyaging ships of state
countless transpired hours
at counseling facility, where poetic papa
aired and mulled over bothersome
anguish to complete requisite treatment plan
to receive psychiatric appointment
next (and last) Tuesday of February 2020.
Categories:
smugness, 11th grade, 12th grade,
Form:
Dramatic Verse