Bierce Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Death Take Us All

I heard you in the walls 
I think of you as a mouse trap 
Trap for eternity, poor chap! 
When it was us against the world, 
I smile more, my laughter was contagious  
Yours were thunderous, like a sense of warning 
Of us being untouchable, unbreakable. Duet theme 
That who we were! 
Then bomb! Our trust was broken, 
Our smiles and laughter seize 
Our duet became three,  
Three is an odd number: 
I refused to divided you in 1.5 
I heard you in the walls, 
I think of you as a mouse trap 
Trap for eternity, poor chap 
I wish she was trap with you 
But life can sweet and next mysteriously brutal  
Life is a little plot of light. We enter, clasp a hand or two, and go our several ways back into the darkness. The mystery is infinitely pathetic and picturesque. ~Ambrose Bierce 
Our Monday morning to reflect on your mysterious passing, 
Death takes us all, all left for most of us is sour memories with a smile.

Soldier and Civilian (1842-1913?)

Cloaked in a Civil War Cape
Swaggered the fierce
And fearless and cavalier shape:
Proud Ambrose Bierce.

Editor, author and wit,
Bierce had the zest
And courage and cunning to fit
Well in the West.

Then when his days dwindled lean,
Bierce rode away;
Old Mexico swallowed him clean,
Gulping her prey.

Cynics like him are the last
Men to seek fame,
So bitterness out of the past
Still dims his name.

Last Hope

Lost consciousness,
Awakened 
Ages later.
Pain
Followed by pressure,
Appeared to flash,
To beat
Like streams of fire.

Sensations,
Unaccompanied by thought.
Power only to feel;
Feeling was torment.
Conscious of motion.
Encompassed in a cloud.

Swinging,
Like a pendulum.
Terrible suddenness.
Light shot upward,
Noise of splash,
Frightful roaring,
Cold and dark.

Power of thought restored.
Rope had broken,
Fallen into stream,
Opened eyes,
Gleam of light above.

Rising,
Realizing,
“That is not so bad.”


-from An Occurrence At Owl Creek Bridge by Ambrose Bierce


Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace