Crosshair Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Norway in the crosshair

Norway in the crosshairs 


The  scandal that has rocketed the royals in Norway
household has dented the people's belief that  they
are somehow unique, more democratic, than 
anyone else on the planet 

They have the bluest oceans, the whitest waterfalls
and the highest mountain in the world
They are also the wealthiest country, with 7 trillion
in the bank

They also have a rock protruding from the mountain, 
fondly called The Pulpit. Can any country be greater?
There is a dark side to this excessive self-belief
a nationalism marked by arrogance. 

They can not understand that there are people who prefer
to live elsewhere, those who do are viewed with suspicion 
We see an undertone of fascism here, not healthy
Perhaps the royal scandal opened up some eyes

Last Shot

Stalking a dream
trailing a memory
A scent came in focus
  wafting desire

Seized by the moment
alluding a time warp
Tracking its shadow
ambush on fire

Covered in greasepaint
fear is approaching
Hearing its footsteps
the jungle embarked 

Crosshair detention
target redemption 
Locked and reloaded
—one shot in the dark

(Dreamsleep: September, 2023)

Premium Member Flagging

Shook up shaking
the bigot tree
loose nuts crushing 
they them me
crosses bashing
crosshair fit
I should know better 
but I just can’t quit.


Empty Chambers


Stray ghouls are just zombie shrunken heads
being voodoo capitalist misled
Ricochet fishing for the ocean blue, 
deep pocket dollars:
The green algae money 
buried at the ethical wavy, 
graveyard bottom

Hollow days come every pointless, peon payday,
as creditors delight 
in debt shopping their widow maker wares
The pillaging, high priestess of bloodsport pleasure
lay many burglar, prey desires bosom bare

Inorganic idols ... phallic-shaped things;
moral mettle melts
at first grove, sacrificial trigger offering

Heated cries coming from
empty vow chambers
Crosshair eyes scope the killing view

Snuff the stitched mouths ...
get paid by the aged, smoking barrel
Follow the lemming violent trail,
collect the stained spent shells

Empty chambers got an earth bed full,
many died in the throes of hate
Envy green hearts using their lead tools,
leaving death marks — 
Bullet holes in the picked pocket of fools

Bella Horrida Bella

Overloading contradictions
Heads to heads, fated collisions
An exchange of blows never ending 
A grim nightmare in the making.

Casualties, bodies everywhere
a surreal view of morbid lust
In the eye, a killer crosshair 
aimed with precision, death's a must.

Reflections on what future holds 
with what hands are capable of
the harmony of war unfolds
deep down below in hell's abode

Hatred breeds hatred in a loop,
an infinity with a twist
our existence all in one scoop
laid in textbook manner, its gist

Ahead reality's marble
drawn out in a fated circle
A call to arms to fill that hole?
Or rather, pray a miracle.

Premium Member Sandpaper and Blue Pearls

Sandpaper hearts
take away the roads
dig a hole
fill your moat 
lifeless
gold.

Smooth texture from life
bleach the silver from crosshair 
eyes, the color of blanks.
A string of blue pearls
marching along the plywood vein.
Tapping at this tired thing.
tap-tap...tap-tap.

Produce or starve, says some ancient law.
No time to act tired or stall.
Keep the aces, toss the deuces away. 
Another day-another race
Don't ever make the same mistake.


Same Old Story

same old story as ever told before
girl meet boy they fall in love
two months later shes with his buddy harry 
hasnt this tale been told enough

wreckless smiles cloud a misty hallway
as our hero walks into her deadly trap
chained to a cross as she taunts him with his best friend
as the ground crumbles beneath his feet

mother please will you wake me from this nightmare
lock me away far far from here
dreams become useless at a certain distance
like a crosshair on a gun

same old story as ever told before
girl meet boy they fall in love
two months later shes with his buddy harry 
hasnt this tale been told enough


just the same old story


just the same old story

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.

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