Best Unwelcoming Poems
A future world rule by Trillionaires and Billionaires
Each country with segments of puppet regime governments,
With exceptions of course,
The drug lords the cartel those with the power
And the glory to hold what they consider theirs,
They will be the enemy, and will be a constant
Thorn in the side of the establishment.
A world where every citizen registered
At birth and death, as always, the way,
Now a blink in the cell of a hand device,
Where to veer off, constitutes a written warning
Threatening one’s employment a system
Of points and reviews. Twenty years of age,
One is introduced to a multitude of choice,
Law enforcement, United Nations, battle hard platoon,
Ablutions cleaners, Spies and Reapers, alas,
Those over educated with self-righteousness
Seen as a threat, with re-education, to aid
Choose the right path. The system will know
And will have its way, even woke, on a long chain
Will have its day, when only one-sided opinions
Are set in law, therefore, easy to dictate the terms
Of one’s life. Yet if to conform, there will be no
Slippery slopes, humans, like colonies of ants, their purpose
Granted from the throne of insatiable grandeur,
Childhood once a foundation, where one found happiness,
Education now the way to the day of recognition.
If by chance, to live with one’s flexible opinions,
Those that somehow bypass, the system, will become
The hunted until ridiculed, outlawed, then to wither
As autumn leaves, windblown proud foliage will decay,
When minds forced to cast out truthful innuendoes,
Those, embedded in hearts and minds of fallible man, his ideal’s
Firmly fixed, of earthly struggles. Once weaken,
A blend within the unwelcoming stigma of standard deviation,
Those making policy from man’s inconsequential plight,
To decompose, the humus of society to clutter the gutter,
Until the arrival of the Street Cleaners!
© Harry J Horsman 2023
They hang like a beaded curtain
in a fortune teller’s parlor,
each buoy a bauble
from the sea’s own trove—
sun-faded,
barnacle-bitten,
unstrung from nets
that once strained tides for omens.
Now they sway in the wind,
rattling secrets and guarding
the doorway to elsewhere.
Who dwells behind the curtain—
a castaway witch, perhaps,
who brews fog in mason jars
and weaves seaweed into capes?
A fisherman’s widow still waiting
for him to return from
his final fateful voyage?
Or maybe no one at all,
just wind and longing
and salt-stung light
curling around a chipped enamel cup.
Or maybe an infinitely
unfolding maze that traps
who enters in eternal twilight
where each corridor breathes
with the hush of retreating tides,
walls papered in kelp and longing,
ancient air that smells of old shipwrecks
and unanswered questions.
Some say you can hear a voice
calling your name—not as it is,
but as it was
before you forgot
what you came looking for.
And yet the house remains,
perched above the tide line,
porch sagging like an old shoulder,
paint peeled by salt and time.
Through warped windowpanes
the ebbing light still flickers—
not warm, exactly,
but not unwelcoming.
Seagulls gliding in a gyre.
A foghorn’s distant intonation.
And always, the buoys tapping,
as if to say:
You’re closer than you think.
They pierce the unwelcoming night,
perserving eyes that receive nothing
but an unwholesome darkness,
hot accelerated breath scorches the
freezing air, as it penetrates
in entirety her raffish body while a
shivering anatomy provokes an age
of innocence, yet a stark awareness
of life’s tribulations, as she tucks in
her scarf, fastens her top button
before impetuously walking off into
the shadows to confront her next trick.
© Harry J Horsman 2022
LOVE FOR GREAT OR SMALL
Many eons ago, in minds far superior to ours
from a past Man never knew the earth became habitable
before the savage became Homo-sapiens
visitors had come from unknown worlds scouting earth for expansion
They carefully laid seeds of their DNA and planted green vegetation
returning several millennia later to sow their crops
the early laborers expressed love in the way they planted their crops
upon returning they saw earth had flourished
Mourn if you must for our present predicament
cry what we have become but our origins were borne out of Love
leave no unsavory emotion untouched all emotions have been earned
we must savor each emotion before we settle in our graves
"Stay brave," the space farmer said with affectation,
“Don’t become mindless dead meat enjoy the life you've been given
it'll be the only one you'll get, when you find a mate
love like you never loved before enough to last a millennia
and don't forget kindness, give your fellow humans much kindness"
Pundits and wise men have said it since Man could talk
there are no tomorrows in death
they also said death is temporary, souls are eternal
and experience of having lived before is not knowable
But care enough for someone at least once
and discover why love is so revered in the Universe
if you do not, you have lived a lonely, wasted life
and misused your life’s purpose and God's great gift of life to you
Nothing feels better to a person’s skin in winter
when the icy winds blow and snow scurries from nook to cranny
than body heat from both bodies cuddled, naked under warm blankets
it may bring forth ideas to commit to Love forever
Love is in abundance. just look around
yet Love is desperately needed but know there is someone for everyone
Love comes from the inner depths of one's heart
just don’t be so picky, experienced love has no equal
Love for all creatures, great and small, is desperately needed everywhere
nay demanded by the vast expanse
of this dark, cold and unwelcoming Universe
the place we call home.
I want to whisper to you...
at this very moment,
Darling ...no mighty ocean in the world,
no scary desert, no unwelcoming forest
can keep us apart,
Because I have found you at last.
The rustling fluttering leaves right in front of me,
the demure white jasmine in the corner,
the swaying fragrant petals in exuberance of their happiness,
can’t hold their joy, but want to share,
same as me - because I know, you and I have nothing to fear ....
I have found you at last.
FIRST PLACE
All Yours (May 27) Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Brian Strand
My fiancés' stone, ten years- she lost her life
Wish that she can hear me, yet well I know
And yet, in time, she would have been my wife
I grant I couldn't bear to watch her go
Do I think I shall e'er forget her scent
The vastness of my love, has yet, fused thine
And still, the ring I bought her, was ne'er meant
For this, a life of sadness, belongs- to mine
Served thy soul, unwelcoming-sordid boon
Rose odors- from her perfume bottle, still
Keeping my memories of her in tune
Glimpses of her smiles flash, ere- she fell ill
Kept inside my armoires' safe, ten long years
Her perfume bottle, overflows- with tears
Bright days of autumn have arrived
Leaving the unforgotten summer sunshine behind
Sneaking in shorter days with less time to play
Early nightfall chill under breath warm peaceful sleep
Suspended gray hue fog between sky and earth
Clouds weep cold rain yet eyes grasp
As autumn succeeds a breeze with ease
Deciduous trees start undressing their love of joy
Turning them from green to, yellow, scarlet, or both
Waltzing round and round like a flicker of flame falling to the bottom
Among the others becoming one with the earthly carpet knee deep
Hopes for harvest affliction reap
The rising sun and the darkest night of dreams
As winter makes his entrance as snow-flakes fall
Arising tall to cold winter frost, ice flowers on window panes
Glistening ice crystals on vegetation have withered and hanging limp
Unwelcoming blizzard stirs, lifting feathery snow with surprising sweep
Adults and children glide and spin effortlessly as their ice skate blades slice through the ice surface
Enjoying nature at its finest, skating on a frozen lake
8/28/2016
A Democracy forged in the fire of human discontent
and molded into an enduring symbol of freedom.
A Republic founded on the highest of human ideals
to aggressively defend against tyranny and oppression
that may come from within our borders and far beyond.
A country of immigrants from every corner of the world
who always held true to the promise for others that came.
A land of hope cradled between two shinning seas
where anything no matter how improvable was possible,
where dreams that seemed impossible could be realized.
A nation full of people who are stronger and better
only when they elect to embrace their great diversity,
and not only celebrate their differences, but relish in them.
The home of a grand lady with a torch standing in a busy harbor,
a bold monument to the virtues and principles of freedom itself,
a profound testament to what our great country proudly stands for,
a welcoming sight for those desperately seeking a flicker of hope,
for those yearning to be free from persecution and oppression,
for those seeking a new beginning in a more accepting place.
Please! Please! tell me where did our beloved America go?
How did we go from tearing down walls in other nations
to erecting these unwelcoming monuments in our own backyard?
How did we go from being the leader of the free world
to putting people from neighboring countries in metal cages?
How did we go from being the world’s defender of democracy
to separating small children from their families at our borders?
How did we lose our civility and our national sense of purpose
to become repugnant provocateurs of ignorance and intolerance?
Today one small child cries for their mother on our border.
Tomorrow we mourn in silence for a great nation,
that once was the focal point of democracy in the world,
that once set the example for other nations to follow,
that once stood as the standard-bearer for freedom everywhere.
Please! Please! tell me will our beloved America ever return?
My heart is woven of
The burdens of broken dreams
And the pain of separation!
For years the sun failed to
Penetrate its unwelcoming windows!!
Its land has turned barren!
I thought its bleakness was infinite!
But your presence made
It again suckle the rays of the sun
And spring flowers bloomed
Once more!!
Flowers which wore the color of the sun!
and bore the scent of hope!
I gathered them with trembling hands
And offered them to you!
But their swelling aura alarmed your discreet soul!
And they were returned to me
untouched!
Though I watered them with the rain
Of my eyes!
,the wind of sadness poisoned
Its droplets…
and my flowers withered!
Form:
I wish I could untie my tongue --
find courage, strength to shine
light upon those least illumined
recesses still hidden from public
view, shielded and scabbed over
like festering raw wounds...must I
accept that there will never be a time
when, freely, I can express my "me"--
that one among those other "me"s
I've not displayed? Depending upon
circumstances-- places and the hour --
perhaps I may set out at least a tiny
kernel of myself -- but I will never
ever tell, and can never be expected
to expose to this world's cold
unwelcoming climate my failing,
fragile, damaged -- pitiful -- but
still barely beating bloody heart.
.
SMILING FOR SMART
Arrogance of your silence, stinking attitude
Rotten breath from your mouth, saliva with virus
Beauty painted in ugliness of your expression
Your niceness is enveloped by naughtiness
If you could only smile your inner beauty will shine out
Unwelcoming gesture, mask of unfriendliness
Madness of unsmiling attitude hider all goodness
Kindness killed by unkindness of lack of positiveness
Love covered in lust, expressing bad and longing for laughter
Smiling uncovers your smartness in the presence of foolishness
Rejection of friends, family and fame due to fakeness
Smelling like a dog, biting the finger that feeds you
All you will ever need is in you and people but your attitude
Cacophony of bitterness clouds the benefits of smiles
Smiling is for smart, smiling is strength, smiling is sweet for your soul
Divided within, longing for the touch of comfort
Lost touch with inner happiness, horrific to smile
Blaming everybody for everything going wrong in him
Blaming everyone for everything going ugly in her life
Shake yourself; smile even when you are smelling inside, just smile
Even when you are frustration, forsaken, forbidden, smile
Even when you are in pain, pressure, persecution, smile anyway
Even when you don’t like them, or don’t laugh with them, just smile
Even if your lips have sores and it hurts to smile, yes-just smile
Even if you are in sorrow just smile, smiling is sweet for the soul
Smile speaks all languages and covers all fears and hurts, so smile
It's cold, and I don't belong here.
Around me everyone is laid out.
None resemble me, and I am a stranger
In this whitewashed world.
The wind picks up and so do I.
Energized to skip through the crowd.
At last, a few others rise to the occasion
And we make a game drifting about.
We settle, stacked high
Trees forming an unwelcoming winter wall
Characterized by peeling paint and uneven pickets.
Menacing in its countenance.
As the others begin to settle and rest
I notice a change in the scene.
Imperfections have been primed
By our frigid fineness; peace restored.
I am a tiny speck of white.
Alone, I can hardly be seen;
Certainly not appreciated or useful.
You would not hear me if I called.
But when I come together
With brothers and sisters, connected or not;
The landscape not only changes,
But gets a fresh start.
Your quest for life was an abbreviated forty-eight years.
You served our nation honorably -
In a war – On The Ho-Chi-Minh Trail.
Then,--------Then, returned home for an unwelcoming!!
In a time I can’t remember, in a war: you could never forget.
You only just a boy of Eighteen
Sent to die for the cause-
The Cause of a corrupted and mislead Government.
The fighting, bloodshed and lose of your best friends-
You brought them ALL home, when you were replaced.
Replaced with a war you could NOT win-
Because it should have never been.
Our lives crossed when I was just Twenty-one.
Little did I know, little did I know, You helped me become a MAN.
In two years, you did what only some dreamed of-
And what others only attempted. You helped me become a MAN!!
Then---------Then, on that cold September Day-
Out for a drive we went.
Little did I know, little did I know-
You would die…………… in my arms on that Cold and Dark Cairo Street.
I am sure it would have been better for you-
If you had died on The Ho-Chi-Minh Trail- near Saigon.
But,………..But: then you and I would have never crossed in life’s quests.
You would have never taught me to be a MAN!!
By: W.E.M.
And she picked it up -
The sleek black and white feather,
Threw it in the bin.
Black and white against
Unrelieved grey. Graceful curve
Against the straight lines.
A flash of beauty
In the gutter. Tidied up
To dull, gritty grey.
Mock Jasmine flowers -
Beauty and perfume all lost
For neatly trimmed hedge.
Bright scattered colour -
Gold and bronze leaves down the drive,
Machine blown away.
There’s a concrete path
Through the forest now. It’s grey
Stark, unwelcoming.
Remember? “You don’t
Know what you’ve got till it’s gone.”
Paradise is lost.
We’re lost in a world.
Where Nature is untidy.
We’ve cleared it away!
She robbed us of it -
The sleek black and white feather,
Stole it from our sight.
Long doors of dark have closed upon the day
And though the wind will batter till the knuckles bleed
It cannot presume to summon morning dawn
Or lift relentless bars, to welcome sun
The light is pillowed deep in slumber’s grip
Do not disturb is hung upon the knob
Unwelcoming, while daybreak still is sleeping
And earth takes respite from the busy day
And dreaming stars are breathing silent sighs
Whisper softly, tiptoe gently
Take care, thus not break the spell
You cannot speed, the night must sleep
The clock ticks on, and patience is the friend
Withhold the futile beating hand
Grow wise in silence and keep the peace
So when the dawn comes by to let you in
Much brighter still, it comes to greet
A welcome mat beneath your feet
Unlocked and free to enter as you please
Companioned by a warm serenity