Could never live in a city,
nothing about it feels right,
so cramped, crowded, and quite dirty,
hard angles always in sight.
The stress I see in the faces,
pricey closets for a home,
everything near someone else’s,
no land they can call their own.
Moving like rats in a subway,
nothing but concrete to walk,
all this to live where ‘things happen,’
at least that’s how many talk.
So few of them will have children,
the cost most just can’t afford,
and most went there for the fast life,
gives nothing but demands more.
The morals always declining,
any in they’ll tolerate,
cling to it amidst the chaos,
and die still claiming it’s great.
The crimes of degraded people,
city hall doing nothing,
don’t care to arrest criminals
when they need them all voting.
It hollows out the whole city,
great buildings rotting away,
the people not getting better,
the whole place endlessly fades.
And yet they say we should live there,
believe they top all the rest,
better than all of those ‘rednecks,’
see other folk as much less.
No, I can’t live in a city,
the whole place is insane,
no job, museum, or night club
can be worth that kind of pain.
She mentioned 'worthless' ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
degraded ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ the ebb of love-”
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ the end of love-”
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ with visitors, ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ childlessness is ending. Love
¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ over,
¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ adopted: she ¦¦¦ a month ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ (perhaps) many ¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
until ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦¦¦¦ another Henry, ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
¦¦¦ to ¦¦¦ pal.
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ tiger-lily dreamed.
¦¦¦ we dream, uncertain, ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ here
& there: ¦¦¦¦¦ we our loves, whereas ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ somewhere.
¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ We're on our way ¦¦¦ the ¦¦¦¦¦¦ fair
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ flicks & ¦¦¦ single flick
¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ intolerable ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦
A pred o vile name of dustin wallace some scum that degraded to slime, is in snake river correctional doing two terms for the crime.' He violated to the death i beleive
A girl of only five years or six.? Sahara was
To be his victim, the thought makes me feel so sick.' Judge Garrison gave him the gift, of two life terms inside.' But it could not restore Sahara, to her father..And today
Still bitter tears he cries.' Because the state
Has changed its stance on crimes done by
Felons under eighteen years at time of deed.' And Tyler Saharas devoted dad is down upon his knees.' They have reccomended the slime that is within its prison cell to be released back to the town
Where Tyler Dwight still dwells.' I beleive there is a facebook page where you can leave your thoughts.? And even a petition
If you might care aught.' To help this broken hearted man, maybe thats the thing
To do, i trust this poems staying up or i"m
Getting legal i promise all of you.!!!!
Down, down, down town
To the space of demise
The love of his life
Degraded to nothing but lies
The news of joyful bliss
Now the announcement of death
Wanting to share in commitment
Rendered as the contract of regret
Open to love within means
Is fear with license to kill
Unaddressed trauma has a seat
In expression that is never real
Closed is the casket of cause
No reason for flow to end
Except for the unyielding heart
With sharp edges, unwilling to bend
...untold
Written by Trudy Schrader on 05-23-2026
Spring, as the first rays fall on frozen ground
The dew glistening in the early morning sun
And below ground the green curl begins
As heat from the astronomers source
Penetrates the distant land
The budding fern begins her journey
Long fallen autumnal foliage
Settled over winter under snow
Degraded now, brings new life
Nurture the ground, replenishing
Restoring natures balance to the soil
For new life to spring as the seasons forge ahead
The summer showers to moisten and some
The thirsts of long sun-soaked days
Restoring, verdant and texture as fronds unfurl
To sway in autumnal breezes, as earth cools
Damp in the air denotes the coming fall
Mists lay on meadows as nights draw in
Finally the green fades, dried and darker
Winter wind flurries and rustles the tendrils
All visible growth now returning to earth
Yet as the winter rages, snow and ice
Below the soil the fern she waits, patiently
Until the sun once more penetrates the soil in spring.
The boy who escaped
This boy wanted to escape life.
He was afraid he wasn't good enough.
He just wanted to curl up and fall into a never ending slumber
But he knew he couldn't escape this hellhole.
He was tired but wasn’t allowed to sleep.
He doesn’t want to be degraded.
He just wants one person to show they care
About him.
He doesnt care if your lying to him or telling the truth
He just wants to be loved
But no one listened to him.
So he stood at the sink with the pills in hand.
He left the note on his bedside dresser.
He takes the pills.
Everything goes dark.
His body falls onto the bathroom floor.
The pill bottle falls from his hand.
His body takes the last breath.
His body can now rest .
He has finally “escaped”…or has he?...
When we met, we were like two peas in a pod
I always thought that love at first sight was odd
Our days of love and laughter slowly faded
In the end we both felt degraded
Many times, we would argue over pure nonsense
It seems we were both a little bit dense
When our children asked for us both to try
All the both of us could do was cry
It was at the point of an unfixable relationship
Time had come; we had to both get a grip
A grip on reality, a grip on our lives
We were just two (together) dull knives
So, the time had come to do what was best
It was time to put "us two" to rest
We gave each other a hug, and we went our separate ways
Now honestly, me, her, and our children- have better days
Something inside of me is broken, broken beyond repair. Broken into tiny pieces, each piece is a hurtful word you said, or a hurtful name you called me, or all the hurtful times you degraded me. I can never really put myself together ever again and the most saddest of it all, is that you didn't even really care.
Detection of orbs, orbiting my eyes
Perfection absorbs, and I'm paralyzed
Broken and brittle, split in the middle
She spoke without tittle, spit out a riddle
Follow the hollow, to swallow the hollow
Wallow at every turn
Wallow and swallow, or sorrow tomorrow
Follow or ever burn
Baited, deflated, fated not sated
Orbiting eyes would burn
Hated, degraded, fated not mated
Some boys will never learn
Things That Offend
Miracle Man
3/5 2025
At eight o’clock sharp our telephone starts ringing,
Medicare telemarketers can drive us nuts.
Seven calls daily keeps both of our hands wringing,
seeking information from some elderly klutz.
Then charitable letters from some we’ve aided,
are reaching out to us concerning our estate.
This causes some feelings of being degraded,
we’re only a name and number whose time grows late.
But these annoyances are just another life test,
that keeps both eyes and our thoughts focused on the cross.
It reminds us daily we’re here to do our best,
without letting these things become our albatross.
loudest was the music from her parties
loudest was her audacity
to come in a town
and challenge the town’s rules
stole neighbor’s dog
and sent a clear message
her degraded reputation
and unnoticed kindness
got her a tag of mad woman
never scared of bringing change
Now a role model
For women in her age
We bow our head to hide our shame they point the finger and say your to blame.
We hide behind a fake smile and say we are alright but they don’t know the demons we have to fight.
Screaming from within but making no sound cry tears of pain when no one is around.
Waiting in the darkness waiting for the pain knowing it won’t be long before you come again.
I tried to tell someone of the things you did but they said I was lying because I was just a kid.
As soon as I could get away I left that evil place but I’m haunted in my dreams as I see your evil face.
The pain is still inside and I never will forget all the things you did .you hurt me and degraded me and I was a kid .
For a hot minute like a cigarette we burned, faded.
You were like nicotine making me feel elated then jaded.
We had fallen in love again until it degraded.
FADING PHOTOGRAPHS
Once I thought those sepia tones
Belonged only to a different era
Now, images are on our phones
As quality paper is much dearer
I have albums still gathering dust
With snaps taken many years ago
Always keep them close as I must
Yet how was I supposed to know
Some blurred, and become faded
As memories can also go that way
Over time, quality gets degraded
If only they were right here today
Did you know?
Secrets are like the baby grass on the patch of
Grass next door; they flutter like the wings in the
Small breeze of late Autumn.
They glitter like the sand on the beach under the
Aurora last night; and they sleep like fairies under
Small mushrooms in the hidden forest.
If only you knew…
How many secret bookmarks were filed in my book,
And how many degraded, teared apart and
Fluttered away in the wind.
Sub Categories
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.