Best Travesties Poems
I have little control
over the world's travesties
I have power
over little more
than my thoughts
my words my actions
so put away that sharp tongue
so as to never sting or slash
best choose to be kind
so as never to regret
the smile not given
the kind word or
compliment not granted
preferring
to love
wholeheartedly
and spread kindness
as best I can
AP: 1st place 2021, 3rd place 2021, Honorable Mention 2021
Posted on March 4, 2020
Categories:
travesties, heart, integrity, introspection, life,
Form:
Free verse
I will draw unto the depths of my soul to love my life.
Although there are sorrows and some travesties along the journey
I bend like a tree in the wind,strong,proud and beautiful.
Categories:
travesties, introspection, journey,
Form:
Sijo
My early twenties found me oft' a cad -
A scoundrel, nonchalant and fancy-free,
So casual of sweet hearts and a tad ...
Too focused on finesse and ecstasy.
I walked a line, precarious and slim,
'Tween gallivanting and my dignity ...
A crave for women, gathered on a whim,
As many rendezvous as I could flee.
I saw romance as something of a feast -
Thus tasting all the treats of life's cuisine ...
Until a broken heart revealed the beast,
And all the travesties I'd come to glean.
One unique damsel made me acquiesce ...
Despite my errors, loved me ... nonetheless.
~ 3rd Place ~ in the "Standard Contest Number 90 Any Form" Poetry Contest, Brian Strand, Sponsor. *
~ 2nd Place ~ in the "New Poems (8 Difficult Words)" Poetry Contest, Emile Pinet, Sponsor.
Categories:
travesties, love hurts, passion, wisdom,
Form:
Sonnet
The stench of urban decay winds thick
and rank through squalid, narrow
streets christened with booze and urine,
permeating decades of neglect.
A drunken derelict slurs enthusiastic
amens in hopeful penance at a rabid
street-corner prophet spitting frothy
travesties of religious dogma and warning
of the divine wrath of a burlesque god.
A conspicuous tourist clutches her handbag
nervously as she skirts the entrance of a graffitied
alleyway and pretends to ignore the wolf-whistles
of a nearby band of loitering malcontents.
Her pace quickens at the sound of footsteps
and raucous laughter closing in behind her
while desperately seeking safety and the
illusive walking bridge leading to the protective
haven of St. George's bustling square.
Categories:
travesties, people, places, travel, urban,
Form:
Free verse
To be blessed
May the Lord Almighty set me free
To peacefully pace in His island’s lee
When the vice storms in a lusty surge
And Eden earth is thrashed with its scourge
When ethics to the right, to the left, adrift
And loosely swings in the tiring rift
When trains of thoughts on logic cease
And apothegms of love are trampled apiece
When war and war and war and no peace
And themes of strife are the best release
When peacemakers procrastinate
And terms of truce wholly terminate
When vacant words are in phoniness drenched
And policy pageants of the world are clenched
When nations forswear ingenuous deeds
And on travesties their heartache feeds
When hearts are sullied by Lies and Sins
And eyes deny afflicted beings
When stingy hands, know none to lend
And on vagrant feet sufferings descend
When man misdoubts “where is the Lord”?
And “when will He drum his heavenly chord”?
I pray to the Lord to set me free
For a blessed soul, I wish to be
Categories:
travesties, devotion, spiritual, world,
Form:
Rhyme
Lock down the LIMPING GROVE.
PIRATES have stolen the TREASURE TROVE.
I know all about the garden shed, how you
Hide and make your bed.
Watching with a whimsical stare he replied
I know nothing of these TRAVESTIES.
HERE are SOME FACTS you MAY not know:
Tedious TEASING TUSSLES to taste the
Truth.
Merciless MUSING knows what treasures
You have stolen, then you will not
Continue to repose
Tell where you have roved lest I'll
Lance YOU WITH this BLADE, to get the JEWELS YOU have
Sought
Real, EXCEPTIONAL TREASURES
Can not be BOUGHT. Drop your sack where you stand, do
This as I demand. A search of the sack revealed
Nothing familiar. As he made a hasty EXIT a telling
Jingle was heard.
PRICELESS GOES the NINES WITH
FEARLESS YOU IN MIND.
Categories:
travesties, adventure, conflict, confusion, fear,
Form:
Alliteration
I wonder what your thinking, in your country far away
And what on earth possesses you to threaten mine today
You allow your people to starve, munitions they are first
While daily people starve to death and many die of thirst
Your father and grandfather should have taught you how to care
Instead they shared their legacy of treating people unfair
Many live in work camps with three generations or more
Simply because they disagreed, so now all must chore
You live in style above the rest, have people who adore
But deep down, I believe that each person longs for more
You teach hatred and despise my country each and every day
For freedom and free choice would take yours away
Your people follow in fear, like robots in a line
I wonder how long they will conform or will it be your time
More and more try to escape, or die instead of live
In a country such as yours that takes much more than it gives
Each building,statue, memorial you have to tell a tale
Of twisted truths and travesties instead they often fail
For freedom is what's needed in the country you call home
Grow food instead of opium,and leave the people alone
You have the power in your hands to change what was past
Hurry please before it's too late you must do it fast
Do not start a war in which more people will die
Because your father and grandfather started it with a lie.
Categories:
travesties, fear, peace, war, father,
Form:
Sonnet
BROKEN FLOWERS
i.m. Ann, my sister 1947 – 1997)
Heads of fine purple strewn across cement
And yellowness heaped up in an airless room –
Travesties to which your heart’s golden fire-dust
Is an increment on pain. You asked
If the pretence of caring had now vanished,
Was it real now, under the cracked sky-line,
Like your memories dammed up under the rain.
Surely some vital drops will float
To pull your rootless beauties into holiness
Even as they die in a still vase –
There is no picture to quite stir the heart
As these fallen crowns, noble as the chalice
Of Gethsemane, which yet held the terrifying
Dark secrets of the world’s crime.
As you winter in your youth,
Beheaded flowers your beauty, your truth.
By Rosemarie Rowley
Categories:
travesties, angst, bereavement, death, loss,
Form:
Sonnet
Many take her for granted this beauty seen in our skies
Isn't she such a wonder for us she'll never despise
She glows when we are weakened by life's travesties
No matter our human gloom, she's there for us to see
Take a look back to her past, view her strife her life
Being battered by her neighbours, leaving her rife
Look to the scars she bears, whom does she declare
She never ever will, but do we humans really care
History has shown, to her out reach we shall travel
Into her out there black, shall we ever ever unravel
It'll take some years, but eventually we will find
I only hope and pray, that this beauty isn't undermined
.
Categories:
travesties, beauty, dark, earth, ocean,
Form:
Couplet
Listen to your inner voice,
return to childhood and
let those instincts free.
Become a child once more.
See things through their eyes
like unicorns, fairies and elves.
Do not stop and analyse just act
on your gut feeling its seldom wrong.
The more you can let go the freer
you are of modern travesties'.
And can return to a natural way
free from stress of every day life.
Categories:
travesties, child, imagination, life,
Form:
Verse
Things happen. Life unravels
The earth spins, perpetuating processes
And as we recount our travels
Our hearers marvel
Stories of prophets' heads on silver platters
Representations of old things
And we should be somehow flattered
By images of our saggy bottoms and flaked skin
All the expected supreme annoyances
In bags of leftover promises
Encased in increasingly cryptic codices
We're patching up until the expert arrives
I look forward to an immense surprise
For now, we can all be Lazarus
Sitting at the gate, all cadaverous
Hold my wings while I fly
I don't want to fly too low or rise too high
We are all Lazarus, waiting to exhale
Picking up crumbs, pushing carts
Domesticating stray dogs. Swatting flies
In alleys and under bridges. What a sight
It's like writing a hard exam
Roger, confirm your position
I'm flying over the flyover, over
Ah, Roger
Things happen. Life unravels
Things fall apart
Unexpected turns, astonishing events
Surprises and disappointments
Spilled milk, blood, sweat and tears
Broken hearts and shakedowns
Past failures and future fears
Betrayals, travesties
Misplaced loyalties. Broken trust
Uncollected royalties
Missed opportunities, misplaced sympathies
Mishandled moments. Misplaced comments
Unforeseen challenges. Broken sewers
Outbreaks and breakouts
Roger confirm
You are observing this insanity
I'm flying over the fly over, over
Ah, Roger
Categories:
travesties, allegory, analogy, conflict, life,
Form:
This is what I could not utter—
A rush of light, a whirlwind of strange emotion
A toss, a glimmer, a melodious peak Into the bindings of your soul
I breathed in your pain
And exhaled your smile
You said, “I am with you,
Remember me, and honor my strength
Cross the thresholds into love’s gaping acceptation!” You roared its welcome in my lust for knowledge
And how the world screams against those that love
To those who arise from the waters in flames
Freely and heavily, who wavers but the fear that imprisons us?
I want to unravel the world with you
Finish symphonies of psalms with you
Cross oceans, barriers, trusts and travesties
But I am bound here in this darkness
How then can you see my fire?
Because you are the fire You are with me
You are in me
In your pride, in your integrity,
You have accepted who I must become
These feelings feel alien to me
Like they were lost for so long
And have begged to be found
But once found they wish to crawl back into the night
But it is your light that will reveal its true beauty
This is what I could not utter—
For my throat was constricting reality itself The rest lay dormant in fear and despair
I was unable to comprehend its light
I was unable to apprehend the fright
And it was your fight
That so long ended the night
It was our light
That befitted my delight
You begged, “Please, let me in,
I am cold out here
Open, open open!
Let it all go,
You are one in a million!”
We are the same
In the universe we dwell
Making sense of it all
Yet we are so infinitely different But is there clarity in the shadows?
Is there truth in this fear? Teach me to trust the day Teach me to rise out of love
I rest easy enough in this languishing confession But can I close my eyes again to hear the roars that deafen my threats?
Can I close my eyes to this connection,
Is it hellbent,
Or heaven sent?
Chance is of the essence….
Or is it love?
To that hope,
I open my door to you
April 25, 2018
Categories:
travesties, animal, anxiety, appreciation, august,
Form:
Ode
Can we ever truly right the wrongs of the past?
Seems to me what was done cannot be undone,
And I am not a proponent of crippling remorse
So, let’s just face facts, as they were, and resolve
To learn from our mistakes, moving steadily on.
Must we pay the price for our ancestors’ follies,
Recalling that reparations will never be enough?
After all, we cannot reach those who were hurt,
We cannot undo their terrible pain and suffering.
I am convinced we must not reward poor excuses
Who wallow in unnecessary self-pity over time,
But reward those who rise above their travesties
Working toward equal rights and responsibilities
For the civil betterment of our inclusive society.
Written July 31, 2022
Categories:
travesties, america, angst, feelings, how
Form:
Blank verse
She hailed from the kingdom in the north named Israel.
This woman must have had her beginnings in hell.
She was wicked princess of Ahab and Jezebel.
Intemperance nearly led to great Judah’s death knell.
A heathen worshipper of idols and deities;
rule over God’s people made the worst of travesties.
This wife of Jehoram was a despotic monarch.
Her son Ahaziah’s death made her the matriarch.
For six long years ruling from the throne of Judah,
the nation’s only queen; her name was Athaliah.
She killed all her grandchildren hoping to rule alone.
Only infant Prince Joash would be spared for the throne.
He was saved by Athaliah’s daughter Jehosheba.
This princess was married to the high priest Jehoiada.
They sequestered the grandson of the queen for six years
with a nurse in the Lord’s Temple allaying all fears.
After seven years, Jehoiada gathered his forces.
In addition, the king’s support came from all sources.
The high priest said, “Our King David’s line must continue.
We should depose this wicked queen and then start anew!
This perverted usurper has much blood on her hands.
Here is your rightful King Joash the Lord God demands!”
Jehoiada proudly held up this seven-year-old boy.
They crowned the young king amidst the overwhelming joy!
Proclaiming the ascension of a new king quite loud,
Athaliah soon would hear the cheering from the crowd.
The queen then shouted, “For whatever is the reason
there’s a new king’s coronation here? This is treason!”
Athaliah appeared, and her arms the guards would seize.
They were ready with their swords as she was on her knees.
The priest said, “Do not stain with blood the House of the Lord”.
So they took the queen outside, and put her to the sword.
She was the most disgraceful woman in history.
The likes of her never existed previously.
Her name will live forever ignominiously.
Mentioned in both 2Kings and 2Chronicles in the Old Testament.
Categories:
travesties, religiondeath, woman, death, Grandson,
Form:
Rhyme
Thunderous palpitations upon benign sedaments,
Miscreants vindicate with justice of six cents.
A vociferous tyrannosaurus bursts sickly
Sanitized wives and rodents scurry very
Sedately towards dainty cliffs and heights
Of unforeseeable depths-withered sights.
A Persian rug is spread across garnered grounds
Before touring gypsies which please sound.
Great stories gather precariously on the head
Of a pen sent from hapless flutters in bed-
Sensations traverse a thing called a universe,
Discoursing various travesties as a nurse.
In gambits trained by substantial lapels
And triumphant whores who cast spells
Of priority towards declining propellers.
But, you're right, titanically proportioned cells.
Dwelling in tumultuous storms just to feel,
To melt the ashes of memories, means to heal.
Neglect the skeptic who's late for dinner
Skinning prunes and my meat suit's a winner.
Standard debasement sits beside youth
Stinking of stale sex and sweat of a sleuth
In the waiting room planning substantial
Equations translating to aliens:
We're still here...
Categories:
travesties, angel, universe,
Form:
Ballad