Best Tunnel Poems
Graffiti frames a tunneled tomb, beneath the city's core
where writings stretch upon the wall in dialects profaned
A hallmark and a tell-tale sign, but somehow, no one sees
Unspoken fears have set apart the lives that mingle here
In every shade the masses grow, and mingle side by side
Day, by day, the same routine, sardines until they die
The writing on the tunneled walls is just a sign to come
that walls have grown to come between the hands of humankind
They board as one, but coldness churns through veins beneath the ground
Habits honed have deafened ears to echoes all around
Distance tumbles through the aisles, small words too frail to say
"How are you, what can I do to help you smile today?"
Too occupied for reaching out to be the other's friend
No glance, no chance to say hello to the stranger by your side
No hands to grasp, no questions asked, just eyes in downward glance,
A phone in hand, whatever land, beyond all human touch
As seasons pass, left in the dust the silence breeds and feeds
more apathy, that beats the heart, as cold and hard as stone..
The sound of silence just rumbles on, until the walls come down
_________________________________________________________
4/27/18
The silence that's before us is a patent lie
For when you see behind the mask
There is darkness is those eyes
He says come take the high road
With his gracious and his meek
But down into a tunnel
His image has to sneak
I don't paint a picture
I don't wish him well
I don't tell his women
That he can rot in hell
If he tells a story
Check the words real fine
I heard them once or twice before
And I'm pretty sure they're mine
Ready or not
can't escape this ride
or the escalating surge
as the body leaves the pride
without a last word ...
traveling swiftly
through inky darkness
toward a brillant light
off in the distance ...
no more tears, no fright
flying ever forward
where the brightness begins
to take up my life
and the tunnel of love
removes all strife
as the I and Me and Mine
disappear in the bright
becoming the Light ...
becoming the Love ...
for all eternity.
Thoughts and words cannot be reconciled
In the tunnel I'm locked
Echo of mortal words
and the footprints of the killer
Spiders and hordes of bats
Although I am inviolable, death is stronger
I can not fight against the power of darkness
in this criminal underworld
Raw and intense - brutal realities
Trapped in my own body
Closes my eyes and disappears into my own existence
I realize the pitiful truth
The sledgehammer hits harder and harder
An ice cold, psychopathic killer
The head and the heart will so gladly accept
this indescribably ruthless pain
The past and the future are killed
I hope the shadows never find me
____/____ let my soul rest
until we meet again
28/01/2021
Sun :) - A-L Andresen :)
Copyright © All Rights Reserved
Murder in the Tunnel Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
3rd place in the contest
A beautiful tunnel of beautiful tree’s
Walking together beneath these blossom scenes
Hand in hand girl we walk together
Petals of pink blow across like feathers
Such an amazing colourful place
Beginning of Autumn shines on your face
Romance in the air for us to share
When you look at me I know you care
The wind blows gently binding us together
As we caress under this twilight weather
With the sun light twinkling in the sky
I see the love burning in your eyes
I feel your heart as we embrace
Can you feel mine too as it starts to race
You’re so gorgeous with a beautiful smile
You’ve taken my heart for miles and miles
There’s something that I’ve been meaning to say
It’s your love that’s blown me away today
© Copyright KC.Leake
9th September 2015
All Rights Reserved
On a cold Winter day, the couple went for a walk.
Shelby and Andrew held hands, and their talk
soon turned to starting a family. Shelby wanted
children, but Andrew's smile disappeared, daunted
by her eagerness since they married two years ago.
"Slow down, Shelby. I thought we'd take it slow."
Her heart beat quickened, annoyed at his reply.
Thunder rumbled, and dark clouds filled the sky.
Raindrops felt like knives piercing Shelby's face.
They sheltered in Rank's Tunnel, a cold, dismal place.
Her tears of sorrow showed the depth of her pain.
Andrew said, "We're gonna go through this again?"
She reminded him they agreed before they married,
to have children, but Andrew turned away, harried.
"Andy, tell me what's made you change your mind?"
He had to confess his affair. To that he was resigned.
He told her of his adultery. There was more to say,
but Shelby was devastated and tried to run away.
Andrew reached for her, but he slipped and fell
on the tunnel floor, where water began to swell.
His head was bleeding, he was alive but dazed.
Shelby reached for a rock. In anger and half-crazed,
she struck the wound again and again. How he bled!
Andrew's body was limp, and she knew he was dead.
The rain continued falling; water rising in the tunnel.
It was swiftly moving, like a small stream, a runnel.
Shelby walked away, not regretting what she'd done,
glad that she hadn't yet told him she carried his son.
She reported him missing, and when he was found
it was deemed Andrew had hit his head and drowned.
Take initiative go to the light where the force of darkness ends
A flame needs its kindled source as a sparking awareness mends
Our enlightened energy wrapped in an array of cavernous colors
Ribboned radiant impressions given in vast deepest depths squalors
A shadow self may live dormant and await unveiling the chaos within
When it has become an unbearable journey to live in your own skin
Opaque indigo stones skim over shallow waters in an empty well
Stratas rock labyrinths chiseled lies of neglect in a nautilus shell
Warm sorrel ribbon evokes sympathy in a disparaged tale of woe
A sorbet of violet, green, and tangerine conjure a melodious flow
What is truly a wellspring of a healing rainbow palette renders
We find the key to unlocking magic embers in dormant chambers
Dank darkness may lead us astray from individuality and truth
Take initiative, find the light of all brightest light reaching for you
In heat
the pulse of your streets.
I've heard the crack
of hard political whips
that pinch the air.
Cores of human topography,
your aging neighborhoods.
Your people kick cans
counting gravel like jewels,
while chiselers roast dogs
in the courthouse.
Swine flu kills
the papers.
And already the sky is
feverish.
In your train tunnels
a violinist plays pianissimo.
I've seen
railroad men search for him
along your tracks.*
But you are always
the sweltering sore
of the Atlantic.
A rusty mouth
for dark ships.
A blind brick town
of boarded storefronts
and ***** flicks,
you are buried.
Brown bag your way
to the last alley.
The tenants throw
rocks at your windows.
The rain has stopped
washing your sewers.
*From an old legend of
railroad workers on the east coast of the United States.
Published Black Buzzard Press - 1982
her tunnel vision
let her see only his wealth
and his handsome face
in a tunnel she lies dead -
victim of the rage he hid
Jan. 28, 2021
for Kai Michael Neumann's Murder In The Tunnel Poetry Contest
RAY OF HOPE IN TUNNEL
The sun behind the charcoal cloud pierces a hole
Light streaks of the tunnel strike the forest canopy
Layers of leaves hold them in fraction not the whole
Make the trunks of the cold trees warm and happy.
The foliage splits the rays in tangled tunnels bright
Furrows flashing patterns on the gloomy ground
The forest regains its tunnel vision lost in the night
To mark the lighted pathways to the world around.
You go outside the forest under the open sky clear
The Illuminated life shines in the splendor of the sun
Unshrouded sight reaches the distant and the near
With your open mind carried by untunneled vision.
When despair drives dark clouds in your stormy day
Gloomy life makes for the mind a narrow channel to run
Look through the bright hole in the cloud of dismay
The ray of hope will illumine the tunnel of your vision.
April 23, 2018
From a developing land
The body shakes
Trembling in ancestral amber
Swirling and flowing
It must penetrate the light
Its destiny is that light
Away from the closing space
Mother-bound
Nourishing and holding
But then they come
Proclaiming and brandishing
Curled tightly in this place
Hiding and frightening
The amber turns to mud
Green and thick like tar
There is no escape
Pulling and separating
The limbs freeing or fettering
Same result.
Unwanted here in a plentiful land
The tunnel is long and musty with water dripping from the wall
Into murky puddles where pavement is slippery and easy to fall
It is cold and empty with a lingering stench in thick, heavy, air
The dark figure follows me, bearing down, with a penetrating stare
I move with persistent strength and courage toward the light
The figure is fear that can catch me, consume my being with fright
So I have an inner shield to ward it off, refusing to let it be near
It is scary, relentless, ugly, fast moving, demonizing fear
It serves no purpose, only a warning to destroy what it clenches
To keep me lost in the depth of its known hidden trenches
Waiting to paralyze those who give in, as it preys on weakness it sees
The light shines ahead, as I focus only on reaching it, where it frees
Where I have faith as I exit, I will be out of one of the darkest places
Knowing, I overcame the luring force, in a tunnel with scary faces
Heidi Sands
9/26/18
We set the dials
The men in white
To send our agent
To the light
Switches click
Red glowing lamps
And needles swing
To show the amps
The clock it winds
As time descends
From present day
To make amends
A tweak to fate
A gentle nudge
When current outcomes
Fail to budge
To set things straight
To fix the error
And save the heart
From night-time terror
If only
There could be a way
Reversing time
To save the day
Pain
Can be
Traveled through
Maybe anger
Maybe many tears
Leading to a clearing
At the end of a tunnel
Released from the depth of your soul
It will bring healing, after its toll
For the next tunnel that you may go through
Heidi Sands
10/4/23
The narrow tunnel, darkened by shadows of denial;
my vessel of hope, adrift on possibilities.
A regretful mist hangs heavy in this melancholy place.
The haunting echo's of could-have-beens stalking close behind,
as I search for a spark of light at every turn.
Unable to turn around this voyage of time,
I will accept the fait that awaits me at the end.
I wonder..........
Will you be there?......