Dead Reckoning Poems | Examples


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Premium Member dead reckoning

i’m an agnostic bloke that sums up life ~ by doing short division 

god knows I can do it the long way too ~ but that’ll take a vision 

 By
David Kavanagh

Premium Member Some dead reckoning '

Taxes finance death,
yet the dead.'
Will pay no taxes.!

Premium Member Dead Reckoning

 "God sent neither a philosopher or a general,
but a savior with the power to forgive."

                                                Quote _Unknown

             
I was sad to hear of a friends death
    it was so unexpected
I assumed that they would always be
      like a lighthouse guiding
so, I felt it was time for a  dead reckoning
    to lay bear my heart and flaws
admit that I am adrift and need to find my way
     out of this labyrinthine called life
oh, the time of reckoning will soon arrive
    and my life assessed
perhaps tomorrow or in time
      and what will God say . . . 
at my friends funeral I had an epiphany
   I felt like a ship tossed on the sea in a storm
and my only chance for eternal life was
     adead reckoning of my unworthiness
God, there are scars on the road map of my life
    and it is weather-stained, I say
but, I see the sun rise life a jewel above each day
      a gift from you to me, thank you
and I pray that with my final judgement
. . . . I will be lifted up with you


Premium Member Dead Reckoning

Why did I have to silence my brain
Thinking it would alleviate the pain,
If only that hair trigger had paused
... Now look at all the troubles I caused

Forget the moment the last breath drew
The people who cared more than I knew,
Tomorrow is nothing but grass and grave
Six feet from all the love that I crave ...

Alone with the cries from left to right
Echoes of agony do fill my night,
Killing the time while waiting to rot
The dead reckoning is all I have got.

DEAD RECKONING

DEAD RECKONING

That stain of guilt, it haunts me still
And it will live with me until
The end of days, when that arrives
As we account for all our lives
In that moment one pays the bill

A veil of black, no tuck or frill
When ink has dried upon the quill
And rust has blunted all the knives
That stain of guilt

When all sorrow has had its fill
And others may think what they will
Then, so very little survives
The balance is reduced to nil
That stain of guilt

Dead Reckoning

The devil in the details
—hell the final sum

(Dreamsleep: February, 2020)


Premium Member Dead Reckoning

I can close my eyes and see it again
Caribbean blue of the ocean at dawn
Sailor old sailor, follow your dreams
Tears in your eyes as you keep moving on

As a wild young man I set out to sea
Lured by its' mysteries and charms
Hands on the helm, run with the wind
In search of a young woman's arms

She was a woman like none I had known
A lover, a sailor, a friend
Alone on deck, I gaze at the stars
I hear her voice in the wind

Days turned to weeks, weeks turned to years
Sailing from port to port
Though I planned to return, it can never be
Life on the sea is so short

Following the stars, I've finally arrived
The lights of the harbor in sight
I know she'll be there as she always is
Haunting my dreams every night.

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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