To live bound by “integrity”, where rectitude derides you? It’s starkly accustomed. I enrooted, enclosed by academics--the desolate nature of my sentience consuming my interior. Nether perfection defenestrates my subsequent--and I’m so damn tired. Extort my studies till blood seeps via my retinas, weave my pencil till the anathematic led ruptures; a mere standard in our education. Sacrifice my youth as to my future, conglomerate extracurriculars till my collapse, lay none betwixt within life and school; label it as a system. Shut up, shut up all of you! My exertion incapable of being compensated for—silence, silence, all of you! Toil seldom for me, subsequently bequeathing my labor… Discard my passion, coerce me to fill the perforated gaps in tuition—quiet, quiet, all of you! Refrain from protesting till your own encounter, and perpetually weep!
Shut up, all of you
My future prioritized
Discard my own youth
Categories:
compensated, angst, anxiety, courage, dance,
Form: Haibun
A composition on canvas; lyrics written for a song
Tortured was a soul asking, "Where do I belong?"
Daunted with a fragile mind but never was he blind
to being rejected although his love for her was true.
In oils squeezed upon a palette, did he seek to find
peace in such a hostile world, he painted cobalt blue.
Don Mclean denied accusers of Van Gogh's insanity,
Windswept clouds were part of his artistic humanity.
Brush strokes of sadness were not proof of madness.
With such a depth of emotions, why did no one see
the hand of one who created the abstract landscape
unlocked Vincent's prison door so he could escape?
His visions of dark shadowed hills and starry skies,
were boldly brushed with sighs and wearied eyes.
A tapestry he left behind; a life of angst and regret.
Yet, no one listened before he took his final breath.
Van Gogh sought freedom but only found it in death.
A tragedy that can never be compensated or offset.
Categories:
compensated, how i feel,
Form: Rhyme
I am continuously by many hated
My mother alone has compensated
Soothing words are by her stated
A feeling of happiness is created
She will warm me up by kindness
And advice me to practice calmness
She will tell the greatness of fairness
Admonishing me to follow carefulness
When I recollect the past and feel
She will for me before God kneel
Asking the Almighty to soon heal
My sorrow making my will steel !
Always she will give something to eat
Then only her act is for her complete
She will encourage me to compete
And accept in case comes defeat !
My sorrow is to her a sad occurrence
For me she will pray to act as a defense
Her love is a fence giving me confidence
She is a boon given to me by providence.!
Categories:
compensated, god, mom, mother, mother
Form: Rhyme
On these thorny paths, I walked
Tip toeing, reducing weight
Fighting the tears back
Lest pain would smile
And pull it's eyes on me
I have taken so much
That could have even suffocated me
Only the heart did die though
Cause it really feels nothing
No pains just at ease
I have learnt to feign courage
I have learnt to ridicule the pain
Cause it feels powerful when it sees tears
Only subdued with dry eyes
So, I gave it no tears
Those thorny paths, I have walked
This thick forest through, I crossed
Scorching sun barefooted on desert sand
I'm a fighter, I am a warrior
The riches I smell down yonder
The destiny -laid in my eyes
The future locked in my mind
The riches i smell down yonder
Now within reach only with a step
Sour sweet, sweet sweat, pain compensated
Categories:
compensated, career, character, destiny, devotion,
Form: Blank verse
With moved words,
long emotions
compensated acts
attentions offered
loves, distributed
debts contoured,
friendships, contemplated
succor offered
supports maintained
speeches, delivered
silences, reverberated
teachings, followed
lessons, oriented
the possible accomplished
the impossible tried
Mission Accomplished...
it can be said that I lived
and still live Life... !
Categories:
compensated, adventure, allusion, analogy, appreciation,
Form: Free verse
I wonder if the “gods” have a union
a collective bargaining unit of sorts
to protect the language of their contracts,
mediate jurisdictional disputes,
proclaim that “all gods shall be compensated
in direct proportion to their minions devotion.
The “god” union would also have to discourage
any of the “gods” from breaking off to start another union
offering better or more lenient conditions.
Perhaps less severe response to crossing jurisdictional lines
allowing the minions to decide what union to join
which “god” to serve.
But wait, wouldn’t that open the door
for “open shop gods” who recognized no unions,
compensated “their” minions unequally,
offered little training, or job security?
But wait, shouldn’t all minions have the right
to work for any “god” they choose?
Who are these entrepreneurial “un-gods”
who choose to go it alone,
demand a slice of the celestial pie
and become a “god” unto themselves.
John G. Lawless
©11/24/2021
Categories:
compensated, god, satire,
Form: Free verse
Grief I have known little of.
It’s not as if I ever lost
my one true love.
One brother taken in his prime
saddened us, and yet I know
we’ll see him in good time
My father - two years ago -
passed away, but a stranger was he to me.
Grief too difficult I’ve yet to know.
Yes, great grief I think has yet to be my bane.
I’m compensated physically instead
with chronic pain!
April 23, 2021
(thanks for the reflection you had us do on grief)
For Line Gauthier's Grief In 12 Lines Or Less Poetry Contest
Categories:
compensated, grief,
Form: Rhyme
In this era of experimentation,
unforeseen boulders form
in the road of progress.
Low interest rates
encourage the right hand to invest,
while the left speculates unnoticed.
Governments spend money before the ink dries,
purchasing assets, forcing lines on economic charts,
following virgin protocols.
Skewed markets seem normal,
kurtosis no longer matters
in this 21st century laboratory.
Social scientists join the parade
with shutdown demands
to end a pandemic.
Boulders become barriers,
traffic crawls,
and anxiety replaces speed.
Fuel runs low,
compensated by steep descent
into a mist blocking the destination.
No one knows where this new turnpike,
with untested exits and unmarked lanes goes,
but drivers follow large road signs overhead.
Categories:
compensated, society, trust,
Form: Free verse
Be not impassioned faith that fails to stay
when driven back and beaten to the ground,
then compensated with a weed bouquet
or self-lamenting gift of thorny crown.
Be not the selfish soul that trips and falls
while treading down the mossy path you've laid -
avoiding faithful friends when last they called
and fearful of the truth you now evade.
Arise and brush self pity from your brow;
you are the child of all that God has sown,
and all the gifts with which you are endowed,
bequeathed from each and all that you have known.
So stay, now humble, in this wind so strong,
respectful of the paths that lead you wrong.
English Sonnet
Categories:
compensated, inspirational,
Form: Sonnet
Joy strengthens the spirit ...
Joy after the pain, it's comforting ...
Pain after joy, it's disconcerting ...
Laugh with joy at the defects,
to repair them...
The joyful are those who compensated
their feathers ...
Joy makes us forget
the weaknesses and exalt the strengths ...
Joy is being in heaven
being on earth ...
Send smiles,
dress with joy ...
Life will thank you ...
Live life with joy... !
Categories:
compensated, allegory, allusion, analogy, joy,
Form: Free verse
The waste from the cattails showed up
heavily against her green velvet dress.
Her mama was gonna be mad,
for she'd taken on extra sewing all last month
just so she could afford to buy it for her.
She had already decided that she wouldn't
even try to brush the fuzz off. Why? ---
When she had done it on purpose. After all
of the time she'd spent begging for it,
and all of the "no's", it had
suddenly lost its value.
Unpretty, as most things are when they're new.
All stiff and oderless... lonely.
Until life gets ahold of it and gives it wrinkles
and it starts to smell---like
alcohol and cigarettes. ... and kittens.
Yes! Yes! She would leave the piliferous vomit
right where it had landed.
So, she walked home,
quite aware of the thrashing which awaited her. Yet, she couldn't help but smile.
For she knew that what the green
velvet dress had lost in value,
she had more than compensated it
with character.
Categories:
compensated, growth,
Form: Free verse
After Glow
The pumpkin pie is steaming in the oven,
just exactly right for the evening dessert.
A sweet remembrance of all things...
that have happened since the first hello,
the first hug, the first call, and laugh.
Until the last goodbye, the last hug,
the last christen and the last tear...
have been spoken aloud or
fallen in earnest.
Merry Christmas to you and yours.
Merry Christmas to the world,
the Lord hath come...
Everyone is welcome!
It is a time of thanksgiving;
of hope and joy and song.
It is a time of grateful;
humble thoughts,
and open prayers.
Forgive those that trespass,
as we are forgiven.
A price paid, a ransom compensated...
for sin too expensive to ever be cleared of debt,
sacrificed for... and given to all by a King,
for souls lost,
and burned from the dark fires;
that never cease,
the agony of all humankind.
Mistakes made from the beginning,
my woman and man,
we humbly bow and pray.
Savior, of the world.
Your birth,
the first star,
the first light,
in all the world...
forever bright!
Categories:
compensated, angel, atheist, bereavement, forgiveness,
Form: Free verse
It's there -- the light at the journey's end.
I want to sprint ahead; my mind moves fast.
Many new adventures, many people to befriend.
I'm neither first nor second, I finished dead last.
That's alright, though, there's still much treasure to be had.
The race is through, now let's party and have a blast.
The forces of evil are no longer driving me mad.
The floods, the fires, and the storms are over.
I am now completely compensated for all I had.
Others just like me, picking up the mess they left over.
I lend a hand, and they lend one back to me.
Destined to survive, it was never game over.
Walking through the light was a whole new world to see.
We ate our fill, and drank from the spring.
Rest is needed, please let us be.
Darkness and thorns are gone, let freedom ring.
It's there -- the light at journey's end.
Darkness and thorns are gone, let us all sing.
Many new adventures, many people to befriend.
Categories:
compensated, endurance, life,
Form: Terzanelle
Oft overlooked veterans,
of EVERY American war
The Medal of Honor,
one woman only ever wore.*
Women in Military Service,
a concept slow to grow.
Unrecognized, under-compensated,
yet, always there, always ready to go.
A Memorial to Women in Military Service,**
a concept slow to grow.
In every war, everywhere,***
they are always ready to go.
Please join me in well-deserved salute
to these mothers, sisters, lovers
and wives; usually unarmed, always brave.
Many died alongside men — the traditional soldiers.
*Only one women has been awarded the United States of America's Medal of Honor: Mary Edwards Walker (Civil War). How Many more deserved it?
**Located in Arlington National Cemetery
***If you are not US Citizen, please recognize the women veterans of your country, I'm sure there are many.
Categories:
compensated, tribute, veterans day, ,
Form: Rhyme
Tempestuous gales imbued the horizons about
Thunder and lightning charged the dense sky
Watching shards of a rainbow swiftly fleeing
Flashing blacks and greys permeates the eye
Forsooth the heavens were vexed with rage
Hearken to the voices of the gods this day
Echoing through the mountains and valleys alike
There was no denying this mighty display
Expeditiously it came, like a furious beast
With a hefty breath, it suddenly dissipated
It was as if, the gods had been satisfied
Some way or another, they had been compensated
Within a heart beat, the birds took flight again
Flying in the wind, for now, they were immune
The elements now all calm, brewing in their guise
Don't play with this woman, she's a wild typhoon
Categories:
compensated, metaphor, weather, woman,
Form: Rhyme
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