All Dreams Deferred
By Sy Roth
Bilious, they lay there in a somnolent heap
Dreams imprisoned.
Langston toed them, and lethargically they wiggled
But could not rise from the ashes of their sadness.
The dreams that once took residence
Wallow now in unfilled, charmless trifles
Like an uncapped bottle of cheap champagne
Its bubbles let loose into the ether--
A flat, unquenching drink.
Is there yet a miracle in terra infirma---
A thorned crown, stigmata of pierced palms.
Speared middle
To awaken dreams from the icy prisons?
It’s a drain to function
In an eclectic world where all spread a pall over everything,
Hums sad tunes, funeral dirges to dead friends,
Dying in inches
Toward inevitable endings,
Wishing only for a tranquil pass around the Inferno
Only to end up
A wheelchair-bound lump of decaying flesh
With Nordic icy beaches
A hirsute blanket for eternity
Listening to the song of the worms
As they paddle their way through the soil and you
Ingesting your dreams.
Charm is charmless-charming Charm... Until...
Charm Charmingly Charms Charm!
20 May 2021
Charm me ~ Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Line Gauthier
How nice to swim in sea, river, lake and pond!
Floating body, pressing water, moving forward
How nice to enjoy spattering, splashing sound!
Gesturing body, flapping wing, clapping hand,
I remember once while swimming with friend
To cross the local river to go to enjoy local band
Where we saw the singers sang hand in hand
In sweet voice, shaking body, hair, opening mind,
On the way home longitudinally in river we swam
All the while we gossiped and made lots of fun
Then we dove, caught fishes lately returned home
Many happy did return in every sun and moon,
Now, we swim paying money in swimming pool
And in artificial lake without lily though waterful
But funless swimming, charmless time passing
Though it is a game here with heavy contesting.
Beneath a bearded tree I sat
Expecting on a gaze,
When interview a headless hat
Came whiffling through the haze.
For laffs he wore a slight of grin,
And luck a charmless arm.
Four feathers grew upon his chin.
His steptwin was a farm.
Good Rooter with his tranquilize
Spread fat across the land.
To bleat the water from his cries
And polish up his hand.
‘Beware the Moo!’ A Cow called out,
His udders clothed in drag.
‘Beware its hook and pout-ful shout.
Its Moo-beams in a bag!’
Beneath a bearded tree I sat
Re-musing on the dayz.
When interview a stripy cat
Came whiffling through the haze.
In death chimes no dime;
But grime embraced,
In silent crimes,
Of critters dressed,
In maggot shawls,
Of this charmless congregation,
That chew the rot,
Till dust and dust lie,
On naked blankets,
Of dark sands.
Time is running like a silent speedy river
Colorful events are visible on its both banks
Sometimes they are charmless
Sometime they are of great interests......
Boatmen are crossing the rivers with passengers
Farmers are ploughing the fields of crops
Men are begging in serious poverty......
Why men become the sin of time
Why they do not become the virtue (of time)
Time is running with the tides in a flowing river
The river (of time) flows toward the future.......
ETERNAL
Have you ever thought, “Which is the most eternal thing in this world?”
The first thing that came into my mind was my soul.
Remains hidden but always in command,
But it leaves the body even if it’s in demand.
Now it was fear that struck my mind,
Always dominating but effect reduces with time,
Gets charmless and dissolves even if you go rewind.
Time, doesn’t wait for anyone.
We hope and pledge to remain still for a moment,
Doesn’t even consider the request,
Leaves rejecting it in the quest.
Finally I ended up discovering love,
Treats equally and unconditionally,
Even if it leaves you, remains with you,
Every time you think, regains charm and gets new.
VAMPIRE
I’ll tell you of Willard Van Drood
An alarmingly strange young dude
Young Willard, to all, seemed so harmless
Was so freaking plain, utterly charmless
Kids might ask him out to play
But young Willard always slept all day
At night when sister went off to bed
Willard crept around the house instead
The lad was so very bony and tall
Was never seen to eat at all
Light afoot he seemed to glide
In and out, just loved to hide
Sister Suzy, as usual, fast asleep
Didn’t see weird Willard peep
No one heard poor Suzy cry
The police found her body white and dry
When mother asked where Willard had been
Willard mounted a toothy grin
“Mother, dear, I couldn’t sleep
Nothing came of counting sheep
Then I had this awful thirst
I tell you mom I must be cursed
I gave old dad a goodnight peck
Under his chin, right on his neck
When I left his eyes were open wide
His fist clenched, tight, by his side”
Young Willard hung his head in shame
Then did his mom the very same
You quote a man not known but known to everyone when speaking to me
You still are my favorite one to dream about
I choose my words carefully when talking to you
Constructed forums for self doubt surround my delusional landscape
So do consider this an ode to you and your false perfection
I climb all the ladders in reverse when trying to reach you
O'er freezing waters and under painful thoughts
Around you is agnostic heaven
You are a graceful angel and i am your charmless flipper baby tourette baring sappy tap
danced party joke :/
smile...i like it
she borrowed her smile from the parkway
her sense of self from the stage
and claims to be in rebellion
against a charmless age
she jacked her mother’s van and then vanished
and drove up to Maine on her own
forked about three thousand in bad checks
before returning home
we must not hold this against her
she’s young
she’ll work it out in her own way
she’s young
I heard her new boyfriend is thirty
and did time for possessing cocaine
but she made this sweetheart a scrapbook
and brings him to church, all the same
we must not hold this against her
she’s young
her old man all but lives at the bars
she’s young
her friends dyed her hair neon-purple
and cut it up to her chin
she took one look and was bawling
so they dyed it back to dark brown again
we must not hold this against her
she’s young
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.