Broadened Poems | Examples

Funeral Retirement Party

Construction workers, fishermen,
hands broadened,
reddened cracks in the wintertime,
teachers, office workers,
a standing cashier feels aging
in her legs,
careers extended.
Can it be just a few more years til
they have freedom,
to live on Social Security?

Paying off mortgages,
and children's student loans,
paying, paying.
Arthritis cream and knee replacement
surgeries,
their funeral will be their retirement party.
Groceries, housing costs have gone up,
while adult children still ask for
financial help.
Hoping their vehicles last a few more years,
hoping, hoping.

Their grandchildren depend on them,
when their parents don't fill the gaps,
aging in America, not for the faint hearted,
the sympathetic Lord will see them through,
as they hold on tightly,
Sunday dinner thanking Him for their endurance.
Their funeral will be their retirement party.
A gleaming white locomotive in the mists on the railway-
no work today, as it stops for them
to come aboard to Heaven. ~

Me and the Pea

How are you today?
My friends on Poetry Soup.
I trust you are feeling well,
And put your worries at bay.

I think Poetry Soup is a very apt name
A macedoine of people,
Not one of them is the same

A mixture of people
All in an enormous pot
Not vegetating
As we all write poetry a lot.

If we had to have a veggie name
I would choose to be a pea
There are many peas in this pot
Similar to me.

The pot is full of flavours,
Some are bitter, some are sweet,
Making taste buds burst to savour
A deep-rooted treat.

Belonging to PS
It has broadened my mind,
I question things now
More than I ever did before.

It has brought kindness,
And encouragement,
From Penpals to my door.

A beautiful mixture of 
All different kinds.
Who at times beg to differ,
Or find a marriage of minds.

If you read this rhyme,
I hope you will see
The sincere thanks,
Appreciation and love
Sent to you from me.

A Shot of Life

I fell silently to the tiled floor,
As the warm crimson stain spread.

The past, present, and future collided,
With an explosion of vibrant colors.

Hovering above the remnants of flesh,
I was drawn towards a blinding radiance.

It enfolded me in a quilt of comfort,
Awakened to a pristine moment of clarity.

Flooded with the knowledge of pending queries,
That was previously beyond my comprehension.

Time and space succumbed to disembodied wings,
As I became a traveler of multiple dimensions.

Bearing witness to uncountable past lives,
Seeking a vessel of anonymous beginnings.

The universal prism of light broadened,
And I emerged into that next infancy.

Vultures Circling

The ancients honored you in their cultures
Mythology crowned Jataya, King Of Vultures

Obligate scavengers, you conduct your foray
Toward putrid carcass of what will be your prey

Dead bodies, prairie dogs, rodents, wild boars
Insatiable eclectic pallet opens many doors

Vomit, your defense, your uric acid searing 
Hunched backbone, broadened wingspan so fearing

Here they soar, the vultures who seldom kill
Just scouting about for their carrion meal

Lucy and Desi

Lucille Ball
Made us laugh, playing hardball
With dingbat displays
And clever, nonsensical ways!

Desi Arnaz
Caused mayhem with pizzazz
Zaniness we loved to view
As he broadened the hullabaloo!


September 30, 2021

Contest: Your Pick
Sponsor: Brian Strand

TV Show: I Love Lucy

When the Masks Come Off

I now wear a mask
So do you
Credit the mask
For bringing a change
Making us new
The domestic help
No longer around
Any grudges and complaints?
No!
‘He’s having harder times'
We’ve found
The veggie and fruit vendors
Coming to our lane
Do we haggle with them?
No!
We are so understanding 
Of their pain
Helping others
Has become 
Our second nature
Our past memories
Comforting us
In an uncertain future
We are talking ‘spirituality’
Why?
Any sudden realization?
No!
Actually all ‘materialism’ has halted
So, we've broadened 
Our parochial vision.
Masks are uniting humanity
Like never before
It isn’t an individual fight
Against COVID-19
We are in it
Together, for sure
But a nagging question remains-
What happens
When the masks come off?
Will the ‘real' us be back
Again embracing 
Our old habits to scoff
At care, concern, compassion
And all such 'meaningless' things
Or,
We would’ve learnt our lessons
Which this tragedy brings?

Ebbs and Flows

there was a moment when
my smile broadened 
and its radius found
joy in the distance
as the future became apparent.

there was a moment when
my smile dissolved
and its dissappearance wore
wounds of recollections
as a void became apparent.

there was a place where
my heart circulated warmth
and hope became a river over
which aspirations floated
as a life captured continuation.

there was a place where
my heart had drained
and vitality became an ideal over
which a fading mind mulled
as a life capitulated to a destiny.

there was a manner to how
my thoughts had succeeded
and pieces absorbed emotion while
recovery became probable
as a puzzle began to forge.

there was a manner to how
my thoughts had grieved
and lines drenched in confession while
silence became cries
as a piece began to forge.

Oh, Pain

Oh, Pain!

Oh, pain! I remember the lost all too often,
Aged bones creak in silence, can memories soften
The blow? How lost lubricants broadened my smile,
Oft gave rise to new poems that bloomed without guile!
So a rainbow, whose softly lit curves can surprise,
My words poured, no contrivance, what joy shone in eyes
That no prayer revives through the end of my days.
In green fields still, the meadowlark murmurs its praise!

Life's storm short in passing, though winters lay longer
And laughter you miss, like a hunger, grows stronger
You'd feed if you could! It's like knocking on wood
For good luck! The sound's hollow with love lost to should 
Be's that can't pay the freight. There's no lock for the gate.
And no vending machine can replace a lost mate.
Those who love you lose too if it happens you're first!
But to die's a 'blessed' ending if life is not cursed!


Long Tooth
March 29, 2019

Lucille Ball and Desi Arnaz

Lucy And Ricky


That old TV show, 'I Love Lucy', was fun!
     With style, Lucy made us all laugh at each one 
of her silly faces and 'dingbat' displays.
     But yet, she was clever and smart in her ways.

And Ricky, her hubby, was always right there
     engaging in mishaps that would cause a flare,
and form such a comedy we loved to view.
     As goader, he broadened the hullabaloo!


January 12, 2019

Contest: 
Sponsor: Joseph May

TV Show: I Love Lucy

Flying High

FLYING HIGH

My home ...
an empty nest

Permanent reminders of you
scattered around like fallen twigs

Old school photographs
bring a lump to my throat

You have spread your wings,
flown the nest, broadened your horizons

Like a Swallow
I hope you will return again one day soon

My best free verse from May 2018
sponsored by Laura Loo



5/10/18

A New World Order

This age of connecting with other cultures
Has broadened my outlook and appreciation of others
It's no longer us and them
We're one happy blend
No more old prejudices, we're all sisters and brothers

Eleven Figures

By night eleven figures came to me
Unlocking doors that sealed shut long ago.
We travelled forward on a darkened sea 
To sleepy Somnus’ cave, hidden below.

Eternal slumber gave me rich insight,
Transcribing knotted weavings made by Fates.
The desert day so soon becomes the night.
A pink adenium opens the gates.

The broadened wings of Letum drive whirlwinds  
Destroying yet defining futile man.
This changeless contract Saturn can’t rescind.
This boundless desert wastes the best laid plans.

     The vision fades away, the figures leave. 
     The Moon is made anew, no need to grieve.

A Glorious Flag

The flag waves proud on the 4th of July
telling a story still in the making,
her cloth has been torn and tattered at times
but her spirit never fades,
our nation has broadened her stars
and fought to maintain her stripes,
we disagree with each other routinely 
but will lock arms to sing her glory,
she is much more than a piece of cloth...
she is America - in all of its glory.

A Changing Stew

I’m predisposed to Italian food,
  even when it’s bad

I’d rather live in a period house,
  old windows poorly clad

I tend to favor contact sports,
  over all the other kind

My mind was trained to like these things,
  though better I would find

It wasn’t out of malice,
  or a sense that I was best

I drank the open chalice,
  never beating on my chest

With time my views have broadened,
  and my edges softened too

My life a jambalaya,
 —and the truth a changing stew

(Villanova Pennsylvania: June, 2017)

Soup Du Jour

"Had I not broadened my menu, I never could have developed Good Taste" 
                                                                                

With all these ingredients, that have simmered in this soup
Has made some tasty dishes, from caviar to poop
With chefs from 'round the world, and recipes sublime 
Has made their kind of poetry, a favorite meal of mine  



PS: the part mentioning the poop (pooh) is attributed mainly to Jan Allison's contributions in the Soup, You've Got to Love Her !

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