Best Worsened Poems
Old Jack hated Halloween night.
The constant ringing of his doorbell
he didn't like. So he turned off his
household lights.
His wife said, "Why did you go and
do that, Jack?" he replied "They
won't see the house, and I'll get
some rest!"
Little did Jack know that the Trick
or Treaters were determined. They
found his house, rang his doorbell
and Jacks anger just worsened!
Every time Jack got up from his
easy chair, you could hear him
mumbling to himself, and start to
swear!
The little kids would yell, "Trick
or Treat!" Jack would throw the
candy in their bags, and say half
jokingly, OK now let me be!
The doorbell would ring over
and over again. Each time the dog
would bark and Jack would cringe!
His wife would say, "Jack why
do you have to be so mean?" His
reply was, "These kids drive me
insane, non stop, that's why I hate
this Halloween!"
"Every year it's the same old
thing. The doorbell rings, and rings!"
His wife said, "Jack can't you
see the joy you bring?" "It doesn't
matter if the doorbell rings,and
rings."
"My parent's never took me
Trick or Treating. So, I never did
experience what little boys and
girls are feeling."
She felt sad for Jack she took
him by the hand and said," It's never
too late Jack, if you are willing."
They joined a group of children,
as they stopped and got some treats.
The homeowners looked at Jack in
wide- eyed disbelief!
He noticed all the fun the children
felt, as they went from door to door!
And he felt a joy overtake his heart,
and something much, much, more!
He and his wife said goodbye to
their little friends that night.
And Jack became a little boy, as he
relived his boyhood side.
Every year since he changed his
ways. Jack can't wait. To hear the
footsteps of his little friends, come,
Halloween day!
His house lights are on, and his wife
is by his side. With a great big smile
he answers the door, and acts
frighteningly surprised!
The children love Jack, it's their
favorite house to go. He fills their bags
with so much candy, their bags just
overflow.
Screwed IX Contest Rob Carmack
Categories:
worsened, halloween, happiness, heart, humorous,
Form:
Rhyme
Pain had I ignited bright
Through my silence, had my hurt worsened
Denied conversations with all for superficial reasons, I had
Forgetting that love was my life
And people were my love
As I danced, did I repent
Slower were my motions
An expression of joy, had my face not worn
Though the subtlety, left all indifferent
Seen me as myself, they had
The scarring in my body, was concealed
Each hand grasped, healing another wound
My ignorance, claimed no mask
If my words you could not hear, they were not yours
A norm had I created, to destroy myself
Though forgiveness, had been a gift received
Grudges, were there none to find
Every gesture, a reconciliation for me
Hatred, was there none to emit
A wealth of moments, had been created
Unity had proved solid, through the rhythm
A spectacle, had the front created
Humanity at its best, is when material is undesired
My hate almost undone, through the arms of strangers
Caged my heart had I, for many months
Its beats' restrictions, pleading to stop
My acknowledgement, had been in vain
Torture did I sought more to inflict
Until your beauty was mine to behold
In your movements, was my heart freed
Your existence, I refuted as an absence
Success was inevitable through my acts
Than upon your face, my eyes fell
And my love, had been remembered again
All that was true, had I sighted in your acceptance
Swaying with you, transited my apologies
Healed my hate, had dance
Enabled reconciliation, had each hand
In swaying with you, had my love been freed
Categories:
worsened, change, dance, forgiveness, heart,
Form:
Sestina
The Great Lakes Engineering Works built a new boat
S. S. Edmund Fitzgerald, t'would soon be afloat
The people that owned her needed a name
President of the company was given that fame.
One of the largest boats to sail on the Great Lakes
Was a solidly built boat and had what it takes
September twenty fourth nineteen fifty and eight
Was her maiden voyage, laden with freight.
The 'Mighty Fitz' was the nickname they gave her
'Titanic Of The Lakes', sadly that would come later
For years she shipped freight from town to town
Crossing the Great Lakes, left, right, up and down.
The lakes weather worsened in the month of November
Ferocious storm's that would pull ships asunder
That fateful day 'The Fitz' took a route
Sailing to Detroit from a port near Duluth.
A hurricane force storm was heading their way
Other ships took refuge in Whitefish bay
Captain McSorleys last message, " We're holding our own"
What happened thereafter isn't quite known.
The storm battered the boat with thirty foot waves
And sent all her crew to their watery graves
November the tenth, nineteen seventy five
The 'Mighty Fitz' sank, no one did survive.
Lake Superior was where the tragedy occurred
When the news got out, church bells could be heard
The Reverend Ingalls twenty nine times he did toll
For the crew of 'The Mighty Fitz' every lost soul.
A memorial service is held once a year
The bells are tolled, they pray, shed a tear
Stories have been written, and a ballad too
Dedicated to the men of 'The Mighty Fitz' crew.
A Noteworthy Ship Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Robert James Ligouri
Written 18.12. 2017
Categories:
worsened, memorial, natural disasters,
Form:
Narrative
Wordsmiths, take heed ...
Letters of the alphabet,
By themselves are but harmless shapes
Of ink or graphite or digital information,
(Placed in ordered variations of ones and zeros),
But when combined in specific patterns and placement and propriety,
Become the most powerful weapons and tools known to humanity.
How many countless lives have been changed, worsened, improved,
Manipulated, darkened, brightened, ended, or even BEGUN,
As a result of their use by an intelligent mind and deft writing implement?
How much love, hate, kindness, vitriol, care, apathy,
Truth, hypocrisy, forgiveness, jealousy, joy, or even horror,
Has been carried to its mark by the thoughtful control
Of their placement and structure and management?
Oh, what horrible irony there is in the assumption that "words can never hurt" ...
They are, without a doubt, the most hurtful things ever created by man,
And yet their keen and acute ambiguity make them their own saviors,
And by positive application and intent,
Can be the most magnificent and wonderfully
Exquisite creations that we are capable of.
Be ever vigilant when you consider their organization and use,
For by their very nature you may be sending forth
A thoughtful work of fascination and beauty,
Or unleashing a monster of incalculable horror and venom.
WE are the bows that send the arrows forth,
WE are the guns that let loose the bullets,
WE are the catapults that let fly the burning stones,
But we are also the hands that pick the flowers,
That gently part the hair, that hold and caress with tenderness,
That encourage and help and touch and feel and explain and honor ...
ALL by the ways we form and group those individual letters of the alphabet,
ALL in the mindful ways we arrange
Those seemingly harmless little squiggles and lines ...
If we only treated words with the same care and respect and caution
That we allow weapons and miracles,
For they are easily as wonderful ...
And easily as dangerous.
Categories:
worsened, language, people, poetry, wisdom,
Form:
Free verse
When I was 12 weeks pregnant
my husband and I found out news
News that would change our lives
Shake our entire foundation.
My first son
my loved
Wanted
Long-waited for child
had local exstrophy
During what we thought was a routine checkup
We found out that his lower abdominal wall had not formed correctly
He had a mass as big as his head between his little legs
In the ultrasound
I could barely see his legs because of it
His tiny feet were already clubbed
His spinal cord was tethered
The doctor told us he would never walk or have a functioning bladder
A week later
The situation worsened
We found out his kidneys weren’t working
His lungs wouldn’t develop
After eagerly preparing for our first son
My husband and I
Found out he would die by suffocation upon delivery
If he survived that long
Faced with horrible and difficult odds
My husband and I did what we knew
What was best for our son
Our family
We made the decision to end the pregnancy through abortion
My husband and I loved our first son and wanted him dearly
We named him Thomas
I will forever mourn him
The decision to have an abortion challenged my beliefs around life
My faith
But I have never for a second doubted
This was the right thing to do for myself
My family
Especially Thomas
06122020
Categories:
worsened, abortion, baby, christian, god,
Form:
Dramatic Monologue
It's five o'clock, she checks her watch, at last the work day's done
Her forehead pounds, a coke is found, she gulps two aspirin down
Walking through the parking lot, a cell phone to her ear
Three calls to make, six texts must wait, until she reaches home
A dreadful day, is worsened now, by a cocktail shade of smog
Too dazed by crazy sitcoms that seem to fill her life,
on an escalator going up or down, to nowhere in the strife
A contrail stream of traffic noise, is brandished against her ears
The snail-paced freeway travelogue, a prequel to the dialogue
that sails into her blue-tooth buds, enhances all that aches
The modem in her deep-fried brain is in a dismal state.
Just blogs of malware, here and there, is skyjacked by the haze.
She fails to see a taxicab, in the multiplex of cars
A screech of brakes, a near escape, it's not her first mistake
The rushing, crushing motorcade, can't stop to see her scars
The escapade, the glitzy parade, no shelter from the beat
The drum that pounds, the sounds that come, awake or fast asleep
The docudrama of her life has muddied up her brain
Dumbfounded, by the life she leads, is lost before it's found
Some think, perhaps the gods are crazy, (at least that's what some say)
I think, instead, it's not the gods, but folks who've lost the way
________________________________________________________
1/6/15
For Contest: "The Gods Must Be Crazy" Sponsor: John Lawless
Categories:
worsened, angst, anxiety,
Form:
Free verse
My Comprehensive Learning Disabilities!
Began as child with always failing standardized test because I didn't learn like my fellow classmates did
I couldn't comprehend anything or retain anything either
I learned that I had a comprehensive learning disability, however, never was I placed in mentally challenged classes
I had a hard time barely passing my classes all throughout my school years and even in college
I learned that I had to use all three psychological learning types
auditory having to hear and listen to whatever is being taught to me
visual having to see whatever is being taught to me
kinesthetic having to actually write, do, mess up and be corrected or realize I was wrong and correct myself
I had and still have to do all three, in order to comprehend anything that I learned from reading books, being taught in classrooms
at home, on the jobsite, on two United States Of America's Navy ships, boot camp, college, love, relationships, churches and everywhere else as well
as a child and even an adolescent I taught myself to overcome it
becoming an adult I did all three of these whenever I wanted truly to learn something
I wrote down questions for tests on notecards read the questions and answers to myself and had three other people read them to me for several hours
my comprehensive disability then and even now we're surfaced, literal, occasionally figurative and metaphorical
as a thirty-three year old man, now it seems that memory, and my problems have worsened as well
because I every time I read something nowadays I cannot seem to recall it or even comprehend it either!
Categories:
worsened, america, conflict, confusion, crazy,
Form:
Free verse
All, please see, there is no way to make me eat
this taste-ache food, more awful than green peas;
not served cold, not cooked hot, not fresh or old.
Even my Father’s pleas in whispers or loud shouts,
could not make me fake bite it for a napkin spit out.
I would sit ‘till midnight for I would surely die,
or throw up and cry, if I tried even one small bite.
Even as a grown-up person, my aversion worsened.
Do not tell me if stored in a friend’s own kitchen!
People who use swords to fork salted cardboard
seem less dooming those maintaining a food hoard
complete with canned gross eats of yucky-sucky beets.
I never tried a fresh one, luckily, Dad couldn't afford one.
Categories:
worsened, food, funny,
Form:
Rhyme
Mother,
I used to walk in dark places and know that I was safe.
Because I knew that I loved you.
Mother,
I have abused my brothers and sisters.
I have contaminated your purity with murder.
I have raped your daughters.
I have kidnapped your children.
I have brought your blessed bosom to the brink of destruction.
And now, even when I walk in daylight I do not feel safe.
For now I am aware of what I have been to you.
Worse than a prodigal, I have endeavored to exploit the very mother who nurtures me.
And now that I have worsened whatever imbalance was in you before I arrived,
I endeavor to flee you like a coward through the grace of an oblivious savior.
Mother,
I have dreamed a dream of water.
I have dreamed a dream of living water.
And in this dream Jesus, my Savior, told me that he was not oblivious.
And in this dream Jesus told me that he was fully aware of my crimes against you.
Mother,
I have dreamed a dream of fire.
I have dreamed a dream of unquenchable fire.
And in this dream Jesus reminded me that I was sent here to heal you as you taught me of manhood.
And in this dream Jesus told me that if I could not love you, my mother, who I could see, then how could I love my Father in heaven who I could not.
Mother,
I have dreamed a dream of air.
I have dreamed a dream of whirlwinds.
And in this dream I breathed in the breath of forgiveness and I realized that it was not too late for us.
Mother,
I have dreamed a dream of earth.
And in this dream, Mother Earth, I see you and us together, fighting for our freedom.
Fighting against the delusion that our fates are not eternally intertwined.
Mother earth,
Please forgive us.
For true, we have betrayed you.
But it is not too late.
Mother,
I promise you that as sure as my savior is in heaven we are going to make it.
Mother,
I present myself to you as a living witness.
The Lord has not forsaken us.
For within our DNA is the secret to your healing and the end of our insanity.
Mother,
Thank you for loving and protecting me, even as I raped and wounded you.
And now it is my turn.
“In the name of Jesus, the earth and all of the earth’s inhabitants are one mind, heart, and body. In the name of Jesus, we are one person, one planet, and one purpose. In the name of Jesus, the lion will soon lay down with the lamb and this beautiful sound, this sound of the sacred Gaia will know harmony!!”
Categories:
worsened, animals, caregiving, daughter, devotion,
Form:
Blank verse
THE CHENNAI FLOODS - FIRST PART
Firstly the rains came calling cool
It instantly brought hope and happiness
For people relished the Celsius dip down
And hoped for reservoirs to fill to lips
But pretty soon the horrific floods followed
As it rained cats and dogs, days on end
As monsoon turned to a tormentor possessed
And led many to many a sleepless night
The inevitable pain came calling chill and fast
As roads and streets were ravaged entirely
And excess water submerged ponds and land
As waterways and drains could pass no more
The serious threat meandered in with a roar
With intense rains adding to the fury and more
Amidst storm, lightning, thunder on crescendo
Emanating from deep depressions in the Bay
Then fear and scare all showed up all night
As water inundated fields and farms alike
And entered into houses and dwelling units
Causing widespread loss to assets and life
The floods slithered in surely winding its way
Uprooting trees and destructing everywhere
Cattle, dogs and pets perished soon, unsung
With hapless people of all ages, in a gloom
The engulfing darkness brought chaos, for
Gloomy conditions only worsened soon
With nothing in sight; except rising waters
Seething snakes and reptiles added blues
Trauma and melancholy, magnified manifold
As waters chill, ran amuck human household
Swirling in; bringing great despair, in Cities too
Nightmare everywhere; yet nowhere to go;
The disaster itself was a Broadway show
As city and residences became a water-show
And in no time all hell had broken loose;
Making waterways of rail and road ways too
The big losses came quick and fast
As households washed off in a gaffe
And apartments and cars submerged
With basements becoming watery graves
Overnight and instantly everything was lost
Furniture, valuables, utensils and garments,
Refrigerators, kitchenware, other gadgets too
Gold, silver, cash and documents; phones too
And then it was the death that reared its head,
As people drowned and went missing cold
Pitch darkness engulfing the misery in whole
People breathed their last; their grief untold
........ Continued in Second Part
Categories:
worsened, courage, halloween, holocaust, horror,
Form:
Ballad
Waste has worsened widespread.
World's oceans polluted.
Wonder throwaway mind
Wadded to poor beings
Wreckage of planes and trains
Wastage slash-and-burn seas
Worldbank work tackle trash
2nd place in the W Pleiades contest
Written: May 9, 2021
Pleiades W Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Kim Merryman
Categories:
worsened, abuse, analogy, conflict, discrimination,
Form:
Verse
Creepy Tales
"The Lion"
On a dark stormy night a young lady took a stroll
through the local park, it was a short cut to her home
in London, as she was progressing she observed a large
bolt of lightning she found a gazebo to take shelter in she
could wait there until the storm passed, a young
man had a similar idea and also entered the gazebo, he
was a lecturer at the local university he introduced
himself and sat down on the bench, the storm by now
appeared settled, so he offered to accompany the young
lady, they walked side by side until the man reached his
portal to his street, the storm intensified and the
lightning was extreme, a huge bang was heard as the girl
noticed a lion's statue in the park, she walked on then
the lightning worsened, she heard a lion's roar, she
heard it again and it was getting closer to her, in panic
she begins to run towards her home, moments
later she is confronted by a real lion, she panics then
runs away from it, there is a large scream and she
collapses to the ground. On the following day a park
worker notices the girl's body lying next to the stone lion,
she was dead. The police arrived and notice she has died
of shock. What could have caused this strange event ?
Did the girl really see the lion or was it an illusion of her
own mind, could she have been struck by lightning. It is a
matter of conjecture, an unexplained mystery. What
are your thoughts regarding this creepy tale, is truth
stranger than fiction, I leave it for you to decide.
Author: John Ginesi
9th February 2014
Categories:
worsened, mystery, scary, storm,
Form:
Narrative
CORRUPTION
I look at the horizon of life,
the destiny of our country
No love,, passing infatuation
with crucifixion of hearts and souls
Blindfolded
worsened by highhandedness
closely followed by fate
woven in deeps of unknown state
No justice
corruption our downfall
swayed by greed
confused by haste riches
A perfect man eat man society
Our destiny, premonition
our sanity, stale
our culture, eroded
with corruption, life is unfair
the country is mired into corruption
Categories:
worsened, betrayal, chanukah, corruption, depression,
Form:
Alliteration
The Swirling Green Storm
Sea foam splattered upon his panicked face
his boat sank and life was torn asunder.
He had run away, he was a disgrace;
the storm worsened with a crack of thunder.
Each new wave tore at his weakening hold
yet he recovered, now he longed to live.
Wanting to hold her as he had of old
to taste sweet love only Kara could give.
The words formed inside, then out swift they rushed
Jacob prayed for rescue and a new start.
God, let me live, let my life not be crushed
please save me, please enter this aching heart.
Suddenly, silence, the sea stopped raging
as he had prayed he would get a new chance.
He could picture them together aging
he felt blessed by their renewed romance.
A ship rescued him, new life he could see
with many new paths to embrace with hope.
All that was needed was his heartfelt plea;
God's answer given when he could not cope.
Robert J. Lindley, 1-07-2016
Painting number one
Poem number one, Ekphrasis
http://www.georgiaokeeffe.net/blue-and-green-music.jsp
Blue and Green Music, 1919/1921 by Georgia O'Keeffe
Inspired by-
(After: Blue and Green Music - Georgia O'Keeffe 1921)
Debbie Guzzi's 10 for 10 challenge
Ekphrastic: Writing on Art and Art on Writing [this site ACCEPTS reprints] http://www.ekphrastic.net/submissions.html
Syllables Per Line:
10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10 0 10 10 10 10
Total # Syllables: 200
Total # Lines: 24 (Including empty lines)
Words with (syllables) counted programmatically: N/A
Total # Words: 161
Categories:
worsened, appreciation, art, beautiful, color,
Form:
Ekphrasis
I dreamt of a staircase that hung in the air. The landscape below was vacant and bare.
The sky up above was pretty and blue and the birds were all soaring like that’s all they knew. The staircase had no beginning or end, no place in which to ascend or descend. The voices were calling from above and below, speaking languages that nobody knows. Most suddenly the light began to fade and the stars began to show themselves like glittering jade. The birds were replaced with fluttering bats and the ground was filled with thousands of rats. I climbed ever higher to escape all these frights, higher and higher to the edge of night. A heavenly gate did so appear but was just an illusion and worsened my fear. The higher I climbed with no end in sight, ever higher struggling with all my might. Just when all hope had escaped from my grasp I fell to my knees hands tightly clasped. Oh Lord lead me From this horrible place and at that same moment I felt the Lords grace. As I awoke lying safely in bed, I Knew my Lord was true to what he had said.
Dreams
2/23/2013
Categories:
worsened, religious,
Form:
Imagism