Best Wracked Poems
Through the years they worked their spells
From drawers and cupboards, taking things
That through them, thus, were given wings
And changed to sweetness meant for kings
With warm and wafting scrumptious smells
My Nana's hands ...
Countless times we'd strolled to town
To shop for what she'd need that eve
(First taking stock before we'd leave)
A shopping list tucked up her sleeve
My wee lad's fingers, safe and sound
In Nana's hands ...
The way back home was twice as long
Our arms filled plump with paper sacks
The makings and some special snacks
Oh, how the groceries bent our backs
Yet even then, I held on tight ...
To Nana's hands ...
Still it was always worth the chores
To watch her mix and bake and cook
While dancing to-and-from her nook
And glancing, sometimes, in a book
Oh, how I marveled and adored ...
My Nana's hands ...
But sometimes they were hard to hold
Curled with arthritis, wracked with pain
She oft' times had to stretch and strain
Though NEVER did she ONCE complain
Through rheumatism's stranglehold ...
On Nana's hands ...
See ...
Those bent old hands in disrepair
Worked twice as hard so we could eat
Thus each night's meal and every treat
Was that much more divine and sweet
All from the love and tender care ...
Of Nana's hands ...
And still, my fingers long to share ...
My Nana's
Gentle ...
Hands.
- by Gregory R Barden
~ 2nd Place ~ in the "Cornucopia Cooking" Poetry Contest, Chantelle Anne Cooke, Judge & Sponsor.
"America First",
is the worst.
Should not thinking of others,
be your thirst?
Those who are selfish,
end up being cursed!
Soon they'll be last,
instead of first.
Who among you,
prefers guns and war?
Do you really have freedom,
shore to shore?
If most have less,
are you happy with more?
Should the privileged few,
be guarding the door?
Protectionism,
rots you to the core.
In the end,
you won't know who it's for?
What does it mean,
to be "Great Again"?
I'll listen to learn,
try your best to explain!
Were there fields of cotton and sugarcane?
Was it back of the bus perfect,
everyone staying in their own lane?
A pain striped passport,
for those on the soul train.
If you know the truth,
please speak it plain.
I want to find great,
I've wracked my brain.
Whose America are you trying to regain?
Dear Mother, should my footsteps never tread
The pathway which would lead to your embrace,
Know this, though many words were left unsaid,
Your love has pierced the darkness of this place.
I cannot lie and least of all to you,
My mind is frail, and body's wracked with pain.
I tremble as destruction sounds anew
And blinding terror strikes this bleak terrain.
Incessant haunting screams assault the mind,
And sights I've witnessed which I'll ne'er forget.
Scarred men lie bleeding, rendered lame and blind
Their troubled souls with thoughts of death beset.
And how my weary spirit yearns to roam
Through country meadows leading me back home.
07/01/19
'War sonnet poetry contest' : Sponsored by: Mark Massey
Have I not heard the calling of day's gone by
or sat in careless prose and wondered why?
but years are as the rose
which are but reflections
that no one person knows-
I have sought with wonder
the diamonds in your eyes
but when the memories came
as falling rain
I couldn't help but cry
for my soul was wracked with pain-
The beauty of your heart
is always mine to keep
and knowing so much loss
each day I cannot help but weep-
But hold you close I always will
the beautiful star you are
for I know that no matter how far
each day I will love you still-
'' My verse was inspired by the lessons I have learned in this life....A canvass with so many colors, a book with so many blank pages, Let me be as the rain and nourish those I touch with my writing"
When darkness falls and finds us all alone,
When the heart becomes a small grey stone ...
Bravery is all there is.
When thunder shakes the windowpanes,
When those we love lie wracked with pain ...
Bravery is all there is.
Bravery concedes its fear;
Does not attempt to hide its tears.
Bravery is born of holding calm,
In quietly, doggedly, carrying on.
When reason fails to light the dark,
When the answer is a question mark ...
Bravery is all there is.
When justice seeks to rule in vain,
When sorrow sweeps the roiling brain ...
Bravery is all there is.
Bravery trembles while it stands,
Accepts what it cannot command.
Bravery bears its burdens well,
Looks not to see if others tell.
Be brave then, Mystery asks of us;
Face the unknown with silent trust -
For at the End, there is only this:
Bravery is all there is.
Bravery is all there is.
Twinkle twinkle little star
How I loved you from afar
Now I want the whole world to know
If our hearts unite I’ll never let you go
You really meant the world to me
But when we met we were not free
The love that burned within my heart
Was so intense right from the start
We met at work twenty years ago
Just one smile left my heart aglow
I always called you my shining star
In a designer suit and your red sports car
We were engaged to others, knew it was wrong
Still the passion grew and it burned so strong
You brought me lacy underwear
We met in secret and had an affair
Wracked with guilt - we had to part
The last time I saw you broke my heart
Thoughts of you were often in my head
But we both moved on and in time got wed
We are both divorced and now are free
Do you still have those old feelings for me
Guess we've changed a lot over the years
Had our share of happiness and tears
Meeting with you now it is down to fate
Can we rekindle our love or is it too late?
04~23~15
Contest Twinkle Twinkle Little Star – Kelly Deschler
~awarded 2nd place~
God's voice comes in gentle whispers:
soft and soothing
never harsh.
He whispers words of love and grace,
then wraps you in a warm embrace.
You must be quiet,
you must be still,
to hear God's whisper to your soul.
He'll whisper "peace",
when you are troubled.
He'll whisper "faith",
in times of doubt.
And when you're wracked
with guilt from sin,
if you'll be still,
and let Him in,
you'll hear Him whisper:
"I forgive."
715/21
They slipped their chains and spread their brains
On walls of bricks and mortar,
Bared their teeth in their belief,
Prepared themselves for slaughter.
Howled aloud in the smoke and cloud
That prowled the streets and alleys,
The sounds they made in their parade
Echoed down the valleys.
They shed their blood in crimson flood,
It stained the roads and gutters,
And people hid and crossed themselves
Behind their doors and shutters.
The gunfire cracked and bodies stacked
As one fell on the other,
When it was done and lived there none,
Each sister mourned each brother.
The sun it rose, diseased and froze
Out on a wracked horizon,
The jackboot bastards drank their fill
And cried out: “What’s our poison!”
Black as soot on a winter night,
Thin with eyes red to the core,
The tourists armed with skulls and guns
Beheld the Dogs of Warsaw.
Torn like rags in a threshing mill,
Shapeless sprawl on a killing floor
Yet history will not forget
The butchered Dogs of Warsaw.
She pounded the last nail into the lid of the coffin
The coffin that held her dream
She sat there for a while
In the silence
Thinking of all it had meant
What it was meant to be
Her dream
She threw herself over the coffin
And wracked away with sobs
The last hopes that lay
Buried deep within her
Silence
No one had come to mourn
No one had said a word
Except when her dream was alive and well
Only then
Then…they told her
“Look at the tell-tale signs
Can’t you see?
Something is amiss
Your dream…Your dream is…sick
It won’t make it
It won’t survive.”
She hadn't believed them
Thought they had lied
Yet, here she was
She wiped her tears away
What did they know?
What did they care?
How could they understand…
That wrapped up there in her dream
Was her beating heart
She could not bear to bury it
So, she pushed it underneath the shade
Of a weeping willow tree
Weeping
Weeping
For who she couldn't be
And she walked away
Dreamless
Heartless
Dead….
Unburied!
Eileen Manassian Ghali
YES !
Written in my palms
Within the plasma tempest of my cellular flow
Courses in the pulmonary oxygen
The direction linear fate
Souls writing indicates
Always through pass of time
Reverberates
My breathing in
Links my hands
Physical over mental
Pours consistent
Suffused empire shudders
Tangible still earthquakes
On a single point
Of longing
Yearning
It filters me
Through the hours
Designs my wishes
Sleeping naked
In a diaphragms rising
Lake of want
Each morning in helpless moans
At this state
The continent
The ocean
Of my empty arms
Emptying this need in me
Fills me more
Than any love
I have ever
Known
Re-born
I hanker in swelling desire
Even lust exhales
Its animal fire
And swims in the sails
Expressive
Storm wracked and howling
As I sit motionless
In this envelope
Of aching final
Suspended
In what it means
To be
To me
Completely
Powered by an undeniable
The force surge
Inscribes
Etches
Ensnares
And capitulates
To recognition
Without resistance
Builds a formulation of my destiny
Written in my palms
Within the plasma tempest
Of my cellular flow
The thunderclap
Resounds from above
YES !
I am in love
( And I weep
And I laugh
Each morning in helpless moans
At this state
The continent
The ocean
Of my empty arms )
Oh, speak to me of love, said Pain, now come
Draw up a chair and look me in the eye
Her limbs move slow, by sorrow frozen, numb
All nerve and sinew wracked by silent cry
Sit down, said Pain, the fire is hot and bright
And we must talk, for you have much to say
Not now, she begged, have mercy, not this night
Please let me speak of love another day
She feels the fire’s scorch upon her face
As devastation sears and burns within
We must speak now, said Pain, there is no place
Nor corner left to hide in; so begin…
She sits in silence as the fire flashes
Till morning finds her, sat with Pain, and ashes
by Gail
My body's all aching and wracked with pain
Not sure I want to travel this highway again
Once is enough
The journey's been tough
Who am I kidding, life's been like sipping champagne
My body's all aching and wracked with pain
Not sure I want to travel this highway again
Once is enough
Journey's been tough
Who am I kidding, life's been like sipping champagne
The last time I talked with you.
You gave me no hint it was over too.
I've wracked my brain,
thought I was going insane.
My heart and mind in a love twisted mess !
You left me clueless.
Time has helped numb this pain,
but the memories of you remain.
These memories of you,
they will never die,
I don't expect them to.
If you only knew
how I felt about you.
Even now, after all this time,
you're still on my mind.
I often wonder about you
and how you're doing too.
I often ponder,
maybe,it was something I didn't do.
I can only form my own conclusions,
because you left me clueless.
"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else." _ John Burroughs
In the Garden of Eden, an ominous silence spread.
From the Heavenly Paradise, all grace had fled.
Adam knew there was no recompense for his act
Against his crime, God would violently react.
Sorry that the pact once solemnly made did wilt.
In shame and regret the first lovely pair sat.
They moved away from God’s wonted path,
And hid under bushes fearing His wrath.
God as usual came for His evening round
But Adam and Eve were nowhere around
The omniscient knew what had happened,
Over the gross disobedience, He was deeply saddened.
God called out- “Adam… Adam,
From your hideout, come…come.
When everything else, I had given you free
Tell me what made you eat from the forbidden tree”
Adam said- Me Lord, I acted under Eve’s persuasion
For the forbidden fruit, I had no inclination
Next, God questioned Eve,
Who acted so very naïve.
She said she was treacherously tempted by Satan,
Who came disguised more like a charlatan
All wisdom and knowledge was assured
And with false promises, she was lured.
For breaking the pact, heavy was the price incurred
God withdrew all the blessings conferred.
From the bliss of Paradise, they were sacked,
To live in a world with all misery wracked!
Since then, the blaming game has been conveniently played,
And the onus of our actions on others' shoulders laid,
As from Adam to Eve and from Eve to Satan,
Cleverly passed over our accountability’s baton!
Had they not blamed each other and repented over their crime,
God would have forgiven, and their story might have ended with a sweet chime!