Best Stiff Poems
It was with immense fortitude that he endured the pain.
His back was arched and head rose as he strode down the thoroughfare.
No one need know what lurked behind his eyes.
Although in all honesty he wanted someone to know what lay behind his eyes.
He composed his mind determined to ride this one out,
“Ok…I’m fine…I’m fine…there’s nothing wrong” he kept saying as if it were a mantra.
A few minutes passed. Finally, the steely gaze was drawn across his face.
His lip no longer quivered.
His heart no longer tightened.
For now, he was a detached dispassionate walking skeleton, nothing to call human here!
Even the sight of a mangled kitten wouldn’t render a response.
My manners are now controlling my passion; they are forever in my debt.
Like Wellington, I’m going to have to grin and bear it!
Throw my deepest love into a raging, scorching inferno, as it will only get in the way of my duty!
I shall never succumb to societies miss giving’s. Never shall I spew forth my sensibilities to the stranger in the street. My convictions are too honest to cheapen that.
A friend, however, has the misfortune or privilege to walk among my thoughts.
I know that we will walk hand in hand into Daedalus’ Labyrinth, a Minotaur at every corner. Never knowing if we shall return. Nonetheless we do it together.
Judgement is never passed. A grimace expression will never rise from your face.
Only in your presence can I remove the mask.
Only in your presence can I let my lip tremble.
Only in your presence can I let my heart feel the despair.
…
Be that as it may, once I leave the comforts of your abode I shall once again display the stiff upper lip.
By Michael Mearns
Copyright ©Michael Mearns
Bart Bren was a novice politician
Who was fair at stating his position.
But folk who wouldn't listen
Caused a major transition.
Bart found his audience as a mortician.
The Bindle Stiff
Parks have beckoned me with aplomb
A bench to sit and lay at night
with limpid dreams I share with naught
And realize that I’ve been taught
To set my sails for wondrous seas
To live a life with only me
What prompts a man to live on scraps
To brave the heat and cold as well
A labeled bum who dwells in hell
The day will come though it may hurt
To change my choice and then convert
Until that day I’ll travel on
A vagabond for parts unknown
To seek the mysteries of lore
And beg a sandwich on my tour
December 11, 2014
there are those times in our lives
when we are the most afraid
a symptom of brain activity
that tears our nerves to shreds
in those times of misery
when the future is in doubt
we try to find some peace of mind
looking all about
while trouble speeds our way
were looking for solutions
before the fateful day
when it comes the conclusion
in this place and time
is where i am right now
i know God has the answer
i just wish i knew how
here i sit in my home
just days before destruction
i never felt more alone
while waiting for Gods instructions
in Him i'll put my trust
each and everyday
where ever this thing takes me
i know it is His way
i cannot see the future
but i have seen the past
i've seen a few disasters
i look back now and laugh
i've done this thing before
i have to face my fears
give up on the loneliness
doubting God and tears
no matter what the future
if it's here or if it's there
i know God is with me
my God is everywhere
He's giving me patience and faith
for when i'm old
things that now seem to me
worth much more than gold
a little more patience and a little more faith
two things i earn while God has me wait
with hairs turning grey
my wisdom is found
it took a lot of years
for wisdom to come around
there is danger in the future
but i am safe and sound
(the word (moll) means a mobsters wife or girlfriend)
I heard of a wiseguy named Guido
Who suffered a waning libido
His disgruntled moll
Made a quick call
Now Guido is incognito
Make sure you enunciate it loud
and all five girls in accord…
Then repeat three times,
“light as a feather…stiff as a board”.
One dark night,
a sleepover turned to fear-
The candle burning bright,
the hollowed spirit was near.
Light a candle and close your eyes,
concentrate feeling her body rise.
Five girls must place two fingers,
as her body is lifeless and lingers.
Going clockwise to the left,
left Bella scared and beret.
her stupefied arms crossed,
her mind blank, her thoughts lost.
All five girls kneeling,
as numbness Bella was feeling.
Open eyes on count of three,
a floating Bella you shall see.
Three inches from the ground,
calmness aching with no sound.
Bella paralyzed from toe to head,
while five girls wonder if she’s dead.
Two minutes pass, she still floats,
then she feels her closing throat.
She begins to choke and shout,
then the candle blew right out.
Falling in complete terror Bella tremors in fright,
“light as a feather, stiff as a board”...
…has worked tonight.
Make sure you enunciate it loud
and all five girls in accord…
Then repeat three times,
“light as a feather…stiff as a board”.
April 27, 2017
Now we have been released from the EU, and its cheap cost of livingWe are now going British with prices that are more than unforgiving
Keep a stiff upper lip, it isn't that bad
Things will surely get better
Life is a series of these ups and downs
Surely isn't always fair weather
Unpredictable is a word that's often used
When referring to things in general
For some strange reason as we all get older
Life gets somewhat less pleasurable
Can't do the things we once did with ease
Restricted by physical abilities
At one time things were second nature to us
They now restrict our activities
But all things considered I'm doing quite well
For a man of my advancing years
Can't do ALL the thing I once used to do
Also lost some brain matter I fear
© Jack Ellison 2014
A candle light
in a dark smokey room
Flames dancing
on the walls across the roof
A twinkling star
high up in the sky
Suddenly falls away
into the space yard of goodbyes
Dreams do die
in the bitter struggle for gain
The last high
usually's never the same
Until it's over
Only the drugs remain
And a cold stiff shadow
Payment for fortune and fame
BONDED STIFF
Our love knows no swiftness;
Its tied and bowed in stiffness:-
Our life of love, is no played game;
Rather, it's an everlasting bond attained:-
May our love always be like a royal evening ball;
A loving affair desired and wished for, by one and all:-
May this precious bond between you and me, ever be,
A God-granted blessed bonding, deemed for eternity:-
An Unlively Very Stiff (upper Lip) Masquerade
(any resemblance between averred one laid
to rest and yours truly...purely coincidental
regarding unnamed person liberated
into heavenly glade!)
though innocently youthful looking air
at three score year,
or so the trumpeting "FAKE" mirrored reflection
(animated, sans Alexa) programmed tube lear
and spout, one most familiar Shakespeare
refrain (frequently misinterpreted) wherefore
art thou Romeo, really translates as
“Why did you have to be a Montague?”
no matter living to max,
I did not accrue
hoping to lyft mine uber last dying wish,
no matter body besotted, kissed,
and riddled with ague
spirit fights futile demise submerging
into bone a fied underworld brew,
any bargain exhausted with grim reaper
past hour to argue
lifelessness accorded ritual
traversing along deathly
other mortals traversed, paved,
and hallowed avenue
sudden agedness tolled
danse macabre league
with trumpeting battue
rigor mortis in toto
human flesh turned blue
oddly starved of wrinkles
thee only cherished clue
that perhaps...key expiration
coroner did misconstrue
bah...false alarm let somber retinue
solemnly proceed so poet can continue
pointless against corpse
dead letter diktat to counterargue,
nor against cosmic creator
can one countersue,
or expect miraculous success cue
wing sudden resurrection,
when biological processes
particularly brought to halt by dengue
fever, and rendering void
erroneous, unlikely mistaken
death sentence, hence sigh continue
and marvel quiet eternal repose
avails most pronounced distingue
lying in state (within coffin)
pulling out all stops
guaranteeing her/his endue
perhaps casket sealed with
decedent's favorite chiffon fondue
unsure what grim missing fate will ensue,
asper the (soul) surviving,
perhaps reincarnated within
commencement of fescue
as verdant leaves of
wit man ask grass
or if cremated...surely
spiritual embodiment freed thru flue
but no matter,
(je ne sais quois) glue
thee only I French I knew
before bidding dearly departed
may dog bless ye - adieu!
The Bindle Stiff
Parks have beckoned me with aplomb
A bench to sit and lay at night
with limpid dreams I share with naught
And realize that I’ve been taught
To set my sails for wondrous seas
To live a life with only me
What prompts a man to live on scraps
To brave the heat and cold as well
A labeled bum who dwells in hell
The day will come though it may hurt
To change my choice and then convert
Until that day I’ll travel on
A vagabond for parts unknown
To seek the mysteries of lore
And beg a sandwich on my tour
December 11, 2014
Keep a stiff upper lip, it isn't that bad
Things will surely get better
Life is a series of these ups and downs
Surely isn't always fair weather
Unpredictable is a word that's often used
When referring to things in general
For some strange reason as we all get older
Life gets somewhat less pleasurable
Can't do the things we once did with ease
Restricted by physical abilities
At one time things were second nature to us
They now restrict our activities
But all things considered I'm doing quite well
For a man of my advancing years
Can't do ALL the things I once used to do
Also lost some brain matter I fear
So much alike on the inside, you would think we were twins,
Comparing us from the outside you would never be able to notice this,
We look completely different, we don't act the same,
We don't have the same hobbies, or play the same games,
Its certainly not boring, we learn off each other,
With a nod we get it, and understand one another,
When one wants to do his thing the other is engaged,
Because it's not about seeing just one way,
Loving the other without hesitation,
Being open in heart, they have the same destination,
What socially looks as if it doesn't fit,
Undermines the logic of the same size stiff,
The ones who seem to fear the change,
Who only want to see things their way.
a working stiff
Woke, the bedroom was cold under the duvet snugness
I burrowed deeper, enjoying the freedom of sleeping late.
Life was hard, getting up at five and preparing breakfasts for
grumpy seamen, smoking the first cigarette of the day.
The breaking of the fast was endlessly tedious, something
with eggs and fatty meat.
Sometimes when there was a gap between feeding times,
I tried to write; my hands stank of chip fat.
On hundreds of pages, “I’m alive, I’m a life”.
I was a robot; my body is going through a motion.
When peeling potatoes, I was suddenly awake
fake brown gravy and spuds; there were no robots
The bed is warm; nothing can touch me now,
touch me now!!!!