Best Switch Off Poems
Gigaflops
Did you meet the Boogyman
Did you see his stare?
Or were you in the land of nod
Blissfully unaware
Of the face that’s at your window
Or the menace in your room
Or the giant bug that’s infiltrated each device you own
The sinister reflection to be remotely viewed
Or the troll that sits in wait beneath your old computer stool.
Did you know the Boogyman had come tonight to stay?
To interfere, to change the rules, to win, to have his way.
To permeate the World Wide Web and take complete control
To hack into your emails and alter all your codes
Open up your firewall, check that it’s enabled
Test your antivirus make sure that it is stable
Back up all your data your photos and your files
Scan and defragment, reformat your drives
Ask yourself which Boogyman do you fear the most
The worm, the thread, the virus, or the awful viral ghost
Step into the Matrix, be one with the machine
Understand it from within, if only in your dreams
Feel the power that drives it, look behind closed doors
Recognise the program files, could they possibly be yours
Switch off your computer, let the screen turn black
Gaze into the monitor and see it staring back
Even when the power is off the monster you can view
Face to face you realise, the Boogyman is you.
I stare at the paper, pen in hand
Nothing fills the lines but angry tears
Where are the words that overflowed;
where are the works that wrote themselves
What happened to the sleepless nights
a poem would scream to be heard
Refuse to let me rest until it was freed;
released from the confines of my mind
I squeeze my pen harder; willing something onto
the page. The empty paper that mocks me so often
Anything ...I search for anything that resembles a word;
one that unlocks the vat hiding emotions that spoke for me
But I search in darkness; neither seeing nor hearing
Pain grabs my attention and I focus back on my hand
I set down my pen and switch off the lamp
There is no longer room on the paper to write
Reaching for the door I look back at the desk lit only by the moon
...at the one beam of light shining on the red stained paper
Tears falling, shoulders back, I turn and close the door behind me
02/22/2018
WHATEVER, WHEREVER, WHENEVER!
Imagine what goes through
Our minds in one day,
Perhaps millions of thoughts
I would dare to say!
A complex computer of
Crisscross wires,
Our brain surely sometimes tires!
And if ever in doubt
About whatever,
I say, Hey Google,
She comes to my aid,
With answers galore,
She’s centrifugal.
We are so absolutely techno,
More complicated our
Lives than less so!
I touch a button and order a pizza,
A sandwich or whatever,
Had this ever been the case,
In years gone by from wherever?
We travel to work every day
And take a weekend off to relax
But remember on the way,
We didn’t pay our monthly tax!
Arrive at destination, damn
We forgot Uncle Bob’s 90th birthday
Can’t phone him till tomorrow,
Battery has died on the way!
Oh no, he will never forgive us,
To my husband I say,
As I suddenly spot a leopard
With his kill in a tree, hurry!
We forget Uncle Bob, I know you
Have you guessed where we are,
At the Kruger Park, we came to relax,
But it’s really far!
We decide to forget everything
And promise each other we will,
When my husband says,
I short paid the cashier at the till.
Well that garage knows us well,
We will pay her whenever,
Incidentally, he said that last poem
You wrote is rather clever.
SWITCH OFF we simultaneously say ,
We are on holiday,
Our brain needs a break
Even if we think we don’t,
But we both know we won’t!
Farewell. Great lady of the sea,
your sad expression impressed
against the wry wind screen,
your final moment fixed
within a haunting mind. One by
one the family file out, dazed,
yet the radiator to be checked,
the headlights and paint work
to be inspected, red, yellow and
blue entrails to be rid of, blood
to be cleared, a final polish
to hide away the evidence.
I switch off. From the furore,
My eyes. Stray towards the hedgerow,
there you hang, ensnared beneath
a thorny crown, reminding me
of a Sunday story long ago.
Predator encircles above, soon to
play his part in nature’s garbage
disposal plan, a cruel mission
so necessary. Yet it was
only minutes ago, the heavens
were yours, the lonely ocean in
need of your presence, the lone
sailor, bearer of sustenance
in return for a moment or two.
I imagine your fledgling squawking
in anticipation, only then
to grow slowly weaker without
the means to understand, in this
a harsh expansive world. “Thanks to
Hollywood” Life is so cheap, even
yours. Only I among five give
you a second glance, so even
if I had the answer, to the
reasons why you’re mutilated
body is there, and I am here;
to whom. Do I tell it to?
© Harry J Horsman 1993
I wonder what a musician’s life is like
As I notice you nonchalantly carrying your instrument
Much like keeping your voice boxed and in a velvet bag
I look at you and wonder as we sit in the commuter train
Pondering about a musician’s lows and highs
Wondering about your split personality
Like this one here where you sit alone with your switch off
Obviously recharging your batteries
Regenerating as you think of your next gig
I imagine your friends and fans who love to party
I can almost see them around you in a hazy cloud
Yet here you sit alone quiet with your case
Once open I know you’d suddenly come to life
Goodbye then
This is your stop
Goodbye
And I just sit here and continue
Wondering what a musician’s life is like
AP: 1st place 2020, 3rd place 2020
Posted on February 26, 2018
Because I have been let down
Because I have been hurt
Because I have walked empty streets in my town
Because to me he’s been curt
I’ve made up my mind to move on
To save my face
To switch off my phone
His memories to efface
Starting all over again
Washing away the sorrow in which I drown
Pining in vain
A new romance to grace the crown
I deserve in all fairness
To hold back tears that from my eyes roll
As I feed on a tasteless meal of sadness
Wrong advice brought about my fall
From grace in disgrace that hurts so bad
Still I love him
Although he drives me mad
Because he’s been so mean
To feed me on humble pie
Wrecking my pride
With a blue lie
That flattery can no longer hide
Making me wonder
Why I should love again
If all I reap is thunder
In a rather unfair bargain
That aches, bakes and shakes
My belief
That wakes
Up when from my life bolts for good a love thief.
L ive your life level bes T.
O cean of tears - cease this fiasc O.
V iva la Vida, never to see he R
E ver again, except death comes soo N.
R omantic days and nights platea U.
S uppose you don’t switch off the bedlam P?
*Live life
The Highwaymen softly play
Me And Bobby Magee
And for the next four hours
Every single drink is free.
Order what you like friend
And stick it on the slate
Tonight we’re saying goodbye
To my best and oldest mate.
On the bar in isolation stands
The Absent Friend’s Drink,
At the end of the night to be
Quickly poured down the sink.
Like every other human being
He was good and bad in parts
A fact that becomes apparent
When the reminiscing starts.
A man of strong opinions
Which he carried to the end
And we didn’t always agree
Me and this good old friend.
It was a friendship of honesty
We didn’t tell each other lies
We just agreed to differ and
Each learned to compromise.
From teenaged Squaddies
To men of retirement age
We remained mates through
Every changing life stage.
Strong willed, as often
Wrong as he was right
He never ever conceded
Without a spirited fight.
A mam of surprises
A man seemingly apart
But not far below the surface
One of good and kind heart.
The free bar has closed
Heaven knows how big the slate
But we gave a fitting farewell
To my much missed old mate.
I’ve drunk so many pints as
This night draws to its end
But I’m stone cold sober
As I think of my old friend
The Absent Friend’s Drink
Has been quietly poured away
Marking the official end of this
His wake and funeral day.
The music’s switched off.
Now just a big empty room
That, to quote the apt saying
Is almost silent as a tomb.
One last look around to check
Then they switch off the light
And tired staff follow us out
Into the darkness of the night.
Nature and Nature fight,
To switch off the light.
And to grab the right,
that loosens us at night.
People say it's not good,
since it grabs our food.
For so it should,
Be called Hudhud.
A day for destructing,
a decade for reconstructing.
With such power of its Incoming,
And an obstacle for Outgoing.
Bye bye Hudhud,
Never again say you could.
Skegness
Today we walked together, hand in hand,
for miles and miles, we strolled in the sand.
We had the beach all to ourselves, not a soul to be seen.
It was like being in paradise, a dream,
The sun shone brightly, the sky was blue,
A couple of days with nothing to do,
We picked up pebbles , and threw them into the sea,
What a great place this is to be,
Time to switch off from the worries and cares of life.
Time to be, just a wife.
Then off to the café, for our bacon, eggs, tomatoes, coffee and toast.
This really is the best value on the coast,
It cost£1. 99p each person for the lot,
It was even served piping hot,
Where is this place, where I’ve had so much fun?
The place for me, come rain or sun,
The place that helped so much when my life was a mess,
The Tranquillisers, the Agoraphobia causing distress.
For me paradise on earth is SKEGNESS.
“Are you sleeping still on Bed?
Have a view of gift ahead,
Oh, the Eid crescent is above your head,
May this beautiful eve turn you crimson Red,
Accept heartiest greetings and tweet,
Because Can’t I buy the bunch of Sweet,
May thou feel head over heel,
And enjoy this festive with full zest and zeal,
Embrace, hug, and switch off all disputes,
And be the human of piety attributes,
This poem will go on and on, So
Keep on enjoying Eid with chirpy brow! ! !
M. Shahid H. Chouhdry
Bahawalpur, Pakistan
All Rights Reserved.
Wangari Maathai is not dead
I roll back my tear
Peer from my window
Deep the grooming forest
Switch off my radio
Tear the headline
I refuse the epitaph
I write no word
Her monument must sprout
Beyond the canopy
She died to defend
Let Wangari not die
Mother of mother nature
Where she lives!
EMBRACE the things I hate. Let go of these disturbing issues
and find a way to relate! I am a lost soul.
RESET, turn back time and wrestle through this bad karma of mine
reinvent me and be a...
GOOD INFLUENCE on the grandchildren, their husbands, and wives
and teach them about heroes in our lives.
SWITCH OFF hate radio! Since The Fairness Act left the
scene—It’s no longer entertainment—It’s vitriolic and obscene.
ACCEPTENCE is key. Without love it's empty insanity,
I want to be whole.
LAST DAY OF SCHOOL
No more initiative to lack
Young voices no longer call me back
End of term
My clock is ticking
The last minutes in this classroom
Tidy up the debris myself
Books not fully arranged on shelf
Half-eaten chocolate bar
Unfinished game of dominoes
Math project incomplete
Talk of spelling and grammar
Irrelevant now after the drama
My chalk marks are easily erased
Switch off lights - last thing.
Then the long silence
The atmosphere is electric with joyous anticipation
The musicians are readying themselves to perform
You know some of the pieces that are on the programme
You settle yourself down and switch off your phone.
The concert is starting - the atmosphere changes
An energy filters to all in the room.
A tuning of instruments, the looking at scores
Some rustling of programmes, a settling of bones -
The conductor emerges to a rapturous applause.
The greeting of musicians, old protocols fulfilling
This fuss gives importance to composers long dead
The excitement is rising – the audience is waiting - then
A gentle quiet plucking - a crash of brass cymbals -
Violinists synergistically wielding their bows.
Wind takes up some threads of the melody
Soprano in blue sings out from her soul
Her face is mirroring a wealth of emotion
Slow melody – a gradual build up - a crescendo sublime.
A solo on viola – entwined with some oboe -
Conductor is dancing – the harpist entrancing
Percussion joy-riding
- an excitement of sound
Invades your serenity –
Fills THE SPACE THAT’S WITHIN.
You sit up straight – alert to the music –
Absorbing it all with each cell of your being
A smile on his face, your companion leans over –
“Keep this in your mind for when you grow older,
It will delight you!”