Best World Poems
Each day Annie Lesley opened a can
Her eighty-six-year-old hands trembling
As she sat with her cat and ate pet food
What is wrong with this elder’s rendering?
Pride swallowed to remain independent
Large, sunken eyes peered from her weathered face
Her late spouse a decorated hero
Annie’s lifestyle a national disgrace
More enlightened cultures all over the world
Have revered their seniors throughout history
Asians and Native Americans
Are just two who honor their ancestry
Polynesians, other Pacific tribes
Respect the wisdom that comes with age
Seniors are welcome in family homes
But here in the states they’re placed in a cage
Bone-thin Annie Lesley chose to be free
Amazing neighbors with her endurance
When social services tried to intervene
She fought with remarkable resilience
Old photos on walls told many great tales
But only purring Tibby was listening
Each morning she rose to care for her cat
Until the day that Tibby went missing
In tears she claimed he must have been poisoned
Though in cat years he was older than she
Each day she sat by the window, staring
Awaiting the homecoming of Tibby
She’d been abandoned by society
Lost in the world’s most “progressive” nation
For sacrificing her spouse in World War II
Annie received little compensation
This widowed war bride never had children
Her mate had met his fate in Normandy
Posthumous awards she dusted each day
Annie’s life was defined by loyalty
To a man and a cat who never came home
And the vigil she kept all alone
Ended quietly one warm summer night
When an angel came to take Annie home
With a can of cat food in hand when found
Annie had nothing else to eat in her house
This is the way a veteran’s wife died
And tear stains had blemished her faded blouse
Although seniors’ wisdom is heeded
In societies that grow from history
Too many like Annie lead lonely lives
Wisdom untapped, they die in poverty
Courage of Youth, Battle of Ypres, Flanders Field
(A Tribute)
Tough as nails young man with a red right hand
red-fire and whiskey ran in his blood.
Courageous seed of vast and cold hard land
quick temper, power of a surging flood.
Seeker of life, its promised mysteries
rash gambler with all he would ever own.
Born on ship in high wind swept, roaring seas
toughest warrior his town had ever grown.
Met his fate by volley of red-hot lead
buried on ground scared and battle blasted.
Aye boys, fodder that machine guns were fed
fools marching to death, long as it lasted.
Now flowers cover up and Time denies
scenes of battle torn soil and blood-red skies.
R.J. Lindley
April 23rd, 1975
SONNET-(DEATH AND WAR'S FUTILITY)
Tribute to Courage of Youth-- Second Battle of Ypres, April 22nd 1915 .
Note- added - 8-26-2017
Wiki-
The name Flanders Fields is particularly associated with battles that took place in the Ypres Salient, including the Second Battle of Ypres and the Battle of Passchendaele. For most of the war, the front line ran continuously from south of Zeebrugge on the Belgian coast, across Flanders Fields into the centre of Northern France before moving eastwards — and it was known as the Western Front.
The phrase originates from a poem titled In Flanders Fields by Canadian Lieutenant-Colonel John McCrae, inspired by his service during the Second Battle of Ypres. The fields were not maintained for years before they were made into a memorial. Today Flanders Fields is home to thousands of poppies.
--------------------------------------
Found this while rummaging through some of my old poems. Decided not to edit it. Leave it as it was composed over 42 years ago..
Added the note for those not familiar with that battle and its horrific carnage, primarily from the insanity of large bodies of troops marching into direct machine gun fire.
*******************
Note:
This poem was selected and requested for teaching purposes at Cambridge University. Permission was granted for educational use.... RJL
CAMPFIRE
I thirst to taste your solid wood stare
I see you and no one else
Nestling under the stars
Hungry for each others ears
Chasing every comet across the sky
Fierce when it comes to standing tall
Desires releas screams from the mundane night
Running naked throughout the world
Firewood burning the depth of our soul
Dancing in a path we put mortals to shame
A swarm of gray shade arousing the night
Secret moans before, morning dew hit sunrise
Prowling in circles
Feeling each others instinctive curiosity
Surrender to the ashes of our hide
Passion lost within a dream-catchers web.
A pack of thieves we long to be
Weaving into an echoless growl
No one dares to separate the pack we create
A stare of solid wood I hunger to taste.
Night after night, IN THE MOOD ~always
Welcome to a brand new world
Verse 1
How are you feeling right now?
Is there still a yearning in your heart?
You're probably like, ten million or more,
praying for a brand new start
Verse 2
What happened to the world you imagined?
Where justice and peace ruled the day...
Is it merely a dream or wishful thinking,
a fantasy that leads you astray
Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!
Verse 3
God has shown us how to love
So why is true peace elusive?
Monsters and imposters hide who they are,
they send out doves with a Judas kiss
Verse 4
It's been about two thousand years now
Praying for God's kingdom to come
Now's not the time to lose patience or faith,
it's time for God's will to be done
Chorus
Welcome to a brand new world...
where evil men cannot be found
No reason to fear the nighttime,
a place where you feel safe and sound
Welcome to a brand new world!
This is not just a dream...it's reality,
joy in the heart of each boy and girl,
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
Welcome to a brand new world!
repeat and fade
John Derek Hamilton
December 13,2019
Re-posted with music and vocals
September 2,2020
You asked me the other day, my friend,
who I am and I replied:
I am you in another body!
Yes, it is true,
Look, how much the same we are,
No matter what, the color
The creed
The race
The status
Look,
I am born and I die
I suffer and I enjoy
I love and I hate, just
Like you!
I am a father, a brother, a son,
A mother, a sister, a daughter, just
Like you,
Happiness I seek,
Family to raise is my wish,
Peace to find I look for,
Just like you
I yearn
I abhor
I fear
I hope
I bleed
I heal,
Just like you,
I believe
I doubt
I accept
I refuse
I laugh
I cry,
just like you
We are alike
We are the same
We are brothers...
Children of a unique father.
Tell me,
My brother,
My friend,
My ally,
Why do we have to oppose,
To fight
To hurt
To destroy and
To eliminate
One another?
Are our seas really that narrow,
Our oceans that small,
Our lands so limited
To contain all of us?
Or
Is it the case that
Our hearts are not big enough
And our minds not so wide-open to
Enfold all mankind?
Listen to me, my other self:
It is up to us to change this world
We have inherited, with its virtues and vices,
History and culture
Flaws and merits
And
Try to make it
Better
Nobler
Kinder and more caring
By obliterating harmful beliefs,
Demolishing injurious divisions,
Destroying detrimental distrust,
Annihilating racism and eradicating
The erroneous feeling of poisonous superiority
For
To bring the dawn of a new loving world,
A world of acceptance
Of respect
Of justice
Of equality
Of love and
Of universal brotherhood
So as
With peace in our hearts, liberated we would be
From the past’s deleterious tribulations
That for myriads of years,
Have kept us, fighting one another!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
21 MARCH 2015
Copyright © Demetrios Trifiatis | Year Posted 2015
NOTE! Today because of the “ World Day Against Racism” my moral duty, couldn’t let me stay away!
This poem of mine is an old poem of 2013 that has been edited and improved today thus it is posted now as a new poem!
* I did this for all my friends who wish me to come back. I will come back when I am ready! Thank you for your love!
It's like a black cloak around our world bringing misery and death
Virologists are saying " you ain't seen nothing yet"
If only our leaders would look back, at how these viruses thrive
They'd have got answers in history books and many would still be alive.
It will soon be the norm for families each and everyday
To attend funerals of loved ones who have passed away
And while adults pay their respects and kneel down to pray
Children will get bored and around the tombstones they'll play.
Every country takes action their way and will not be told
If they follow the W.H.O. 's advice more would live to be old
But it's far too late now covid - 19 is thriving
While we fight the virus with emphasis on surviving.
Don't mix with others and steer well clear of the crowd
Or it might be you that will be covered with a shroud
To increase your chance of survival, ruthless you've got to be
Even keeping a safe distance from your own family.
Crime is now rife there's profiteering and panic buying
Not enough is being done and the death toll is rising
Some impliment soft measures that seem quite funny
They don't care about you it's all about the money.
We all need to take care singing from the same hymn sheet
Or it won't be too long before the army's on the street
People will get mean and desperate in order to thrive
Pushing aside the weak and vulnerable who'll struggle to survive.
Our health workers pushed to the limit administering care
While the selfish among us strip supermarket shelves bare
But others are doing good things for their fellow man
No one knows if they'll get ill so do good deeds while you can.
Written 21st March 2020.
Idle my tongue remained, my Lord,
till the moment it learned how to pronounce Your name
But from
that moment onward, it never ceased singing your song
which has set my soul aflame!
© Demetrios Trifiatis
11 June 2022
-
* I am happy to share with my dearest friends the honor of POTD. I thank those who visit and comment plus the officials of PoetrySoup who bestowed that honor. Be blessed!
-
Sophie Scholl was raised a Christian in a Lutheran family
Born in the town of Forchtenberg in south west Germany
For standing defiant against evil with her young life she'd pay
In a country that was in deep turmoil and had lost its way.
She was a young teenager in nineteen thirty three
When a new leader offering hope, emerged in Germany
Adolf Hitler was an Austrian, who came to power
And for many it was the start of their darkest hour.
To unite the German people the Nazis held rallies
In some of the larger towns and all the big cities
But something dark and sinister was taking place
The evil Nazis were plotting to create a master race.
All the youth were encouraged to join an organisation
Hitler youth they were known all over the nation
Sophie and her brother together, with some of their friends
Turned their backs on the movement and vowed to make amends.
Word was getting around about death camps and persecution
Together they decided to form, a small non violent organisation
Known as the 'White Rose' who urged the people to renounce Hitler
They handed out leaflets telling the truth, about the Nazis slaughter.
One day at Munich University where Sophie studied as a student
She was seen distributing leaflets on what Nazi ideology meant
A janitor intervened and confronted her, and wouldn't let her go
She was arrested and then handed over to the notorious Gestapo.
They interrogated her to find out, who her accomplices were
But she wouldn't give them their names, as they tortured her
They charged her with high treason and sentenced her to death
To die by the guillotine and the date of execution was set.
They executed twenty one year old Sophie for making a stand
And they had accused her of being a traitor, to the fatherland
They eventually captured the others, five of them in all
And they too walked to their deaths standing proud and tall.
It’s people like Sophie who want to make the world a better place
And not supporting some twisted ideology like a master race
The Nazis were eventually defeated and their leaders tried
But not before Sophie and millions of other innocents had died.
Written 15th May 2021.
I came upon two empty chairs atop a hillside green
They beckoned me to pause and think upon this verdant scene
Their canvas stripes of blue and white adorned a wooden frame
They rested sweetly side by side while calling me by name
I wondered who had brought them there, wherever did they go
And would it be ok for me to sit, I didn’t know
But then a gentle breeze began to guide me sure and true
And from my seat, I saw the world, yet from another’s view
Amazed to gaze upon the earth yet see it differently
Familiar in its landmarked bounds but not the same for me
Forever now to understand before one places blame
That from another’s chair, the view is not always the same
A bright array of rainbow hues
adorns the parchment now and then,
and gives a glimpse of writer’s views,
an image brushed by poet’s pen.
The yellow hues of morning sun,
the break of dawn described in verse,
or crimson sky as day is done
when, in the sea, sun will immerse.
A poem of gentle flower’s bloom
who’s petals drip with morning dew;
‘tis nature’s soft pastel perfume,
or metaphor of passion’s hue.
A verse of mountains white with snow
or verdant forest lush with pine;
the grass cloaked valley down below
where streamlets flow through scented vine.
Emotions penned within each verse;
sometimes a melancholy blue,
or red with passion to coerce
their dreams, as lovers’ lives renew.
A verse of lost love penned in rhyme,
or poem lamenting loved one’s death;
a lilt of lovers held by time
as passion takes away their breath.
A writer’s dream as brushed with quill
upon the parchment comes to life
as vibrant rainbow colors spill
his heart, with its emotions rife.
This poet’s heart, a calm serene,
he sees the world in many ways,
and with his pen he paints the scene,
preserved in time, a moments gaze.
September 2, 2020
A reflection of the coloured pencil drawn sky
skates on the glass smooth surface below it.
While a rebellious group of shades take their positions
on a glorious stage to express themselves artistically and
I...
i think of you
Wisps of clouds shaped like a palm leaf
fan the winds that stoke the fire
of a randomly sketched sunset.
I...
i think of you
The cool of an ocean breeze
travels the shadows of this low lit evening.
Caresses my skin like the essence of romance.
Enthralled by the allure of a candle lit sky,
I...
i think of you...
Our French Bakery early mornings.
Café au lait and croissants.
Our freesia soaked baths.
Your mink soft body.
Its milk and honey scent.
As I fall off
the edge of the world,
I...
i think of you.
March 19 2015
Armand
Real women
Understand a very simple yet important concept.
Love begins at home.
Everything else just follows.
To eliminate
Hatred from the world
Entails raising children with love and guidance.
Women deserve the utmost respect and support from their partners in their
Obligations as mothers to instill morals in their offspring.
Rare is the child who goes bad when love rules his home.
Ladies, demand respect, and value your precious roles as mothers.
Don’t you realize that through your children, YOU rule the world!
Written March 8, 2017 on the International Women's Day!
Love is not a color,
No hue, neither a race.
All of our blood is the same,
That runs deep within our veins.
If we could lift up each other,
And know that we all care.
If we help our sisters and brothers,
There's a bond that we'll share.
©2013 Honestly JT
The day Will Shepard shot my dog
His barn burned to the soil;
The flames licked at the Autumn sky,
The smoke as black as oil.
I dropped the torch onto the earth,
And felt the whole world turn,
I stood and watched Will Shepard’s barn,
I stood and watched it burn.
The day Will Shepard shot my dog
I set his horses free,
They galloped over grass and sand,
They galloped to the sea;
I dropped my whip onto the floor
And thoughts turned to my gun
I stood and watched Will Shepard’s herd,
I stood and watched them run.
The day Will Shepard shot my dog
I put him in the ground,
My bullets found his heart and brain,
He fell without a sound;
And as his lifeblood ebbed away
And light fled from his eyes,
I stood and watched Will Shepard leave,
I stood and watched him die.
And now I sit here in my cell
And through the bars I spy
The carpenter with wood and nails,
Who builds my gallows high;
My vengeance has been satisfied
As far as I can see,
For that old dog Will Shepard shot
Meant all the world to me.
The innocence lost so long ago
The undying faith we used to know
The gentle rain of a summer's skies
You can find it all in your child's eyes.
The world was right one time it seems
And we could reach beyond our dreams
To meet a challenge of any size
That fire still burns in your child's eyes.
In a world of anger and miscontent
And the frustrations of a life misspent
And you wait in fear as the storms arise
You can still find peace in your child's eyes.
Take the time for all those things
Hear his words: feel the joy he brings
There is no hate; there are no lies
There is only love in your child's eyes.