Its the Sea horse and the Sea snake seemingly
in an embrace
Lo its the Sea horse and the Sea snake in a duet
A duet of life and death in an embrace
The poisonous bite of the snake pierce into
the horse.
It's a duel to the death in the salty sea waters
with the snake standing.
(Written on the 20th of November,2015)
I look into the face of the devil.
You tried to destroy,
My heart and soul,
But I have a burning ,
Inside my soul that will not die.
I smile at the devil,
I glare at him as he shows fear.
I see your soldiers, they are weak.
I protect the sick, the disabled,
And the children.
Excalibur will pierce your heart,
I will not back down,
I have the God's on my side.
If er' a fool, there was, there was,
If er' a fool there was...
I'd promptly pat him on the shoulder and say: "I was there once, I was, I was. Once I was there, I was"
And since I was there, and you were too, I'd tell the fool - "You'll do!"
"As nary a fool where once was had, there now appears to be two!"
Showdown at the OK Corral
It won't be the old traditional gunfight
It's gonna be a staredown
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
she sits at the bar near chamberlain high school,
her nails chewed to nothing,
a lipstick smear on the rim of her glass.
the men orbit her like moths,
drawn to her heat,
but she keeps her eyes on the jukebox,
fingers twitching against
the lacquered wood.
there’s something inside her—
a scream buried too deep
or a wound sewn too tight.
she scratches at the edges,
but it won’t bleed,
won’t break.
just festers.
the bartender pours her another,
and she drinks it fast,
chasing a man she’ll never catch.
Duel
A soldier sits, sleeps, breaths.
She wonders why she fought.
When people go about their day
without so little a thought.
Why did I face Death, she thinks-
and the monsters and the war-
to join the princes who have lived
without so little a chore.
Death has many faces.
Ravens, foxes, sparrows too.
The blackness of the Thames rises up
swallows them beneath its dew.
Drowning, drowning, into your own head.
That's what Death is
a sleep of infinite dread.
Where do you go? When do you go?
No time, no space.
Nothing remains.
Nothing, nothing, nothing.
Death stopped for me, lifted his head-
left me to my refrains.
People searching, looking, thinking.
But never seeking, feeling, breathing.
Why? To them it's simply nature.
And nature has faces, and nature has places.
And those that prey among the beast
will soon be swallowed by the gale.
With nothing to think about
and nothing to feel.
When you have danced and dined with Death
your skin and veins bleed ink.
And in your life he leaves behind
his foul scent and stink.
Palindrome Limerick:
High "Noon"
A gun duel set for high "noon"
A noisy crowd gathers round soon
See Dead-"Eye" "level" his gun
Against the quick, evil "Nun"
Then the "pop" gun went, Ka-boom!
Where I looked
Don't look at it anymore
So I surrendered to a woman-river
Hemlock juice across the river blue
I am blue-throated; Duel flaps its wings
Let's go through the umbilical cord of the sea And want back on the other side
Yet in the chest of this duel
The morning stars shine
Two beaches in one horizon
On the beach of waiting silence
Crying dreams of dawn looking for another beach.
Morganite, Jasper
Floor Voiced of many waters
Drinks of my Creature
Seers eyes roll over
Stigma of the Messenger
The Tree of Knowledge
Apple of my eye
Medusa's organa seed
My Jealousic Stone
The Palmer Worm feeds
Honey in mouth, sour stomach
Scroll is unveiling
Wisdom in connect
Strings of raw experience
Our discovering
Dew of Collective
Words on lips under cover
Supple Oasis
Sins hide quietly
Lions roaming to devour
Souls in Final Hour
Shaking Globe Hourglass
Signs, Flux relativity
Reveals Pearly Teeth
Sigh of Elements
Message in delivery
Krakens in release
My Equalizer
Binary Twin, incoming
The Throne has spoken
battle between bucks
deadly duel-decided ~
scavengers spectate
(November Full Moon – Dakota and Lakota)
dawn dual duel
two poets
a face-off duel joust
free verse rhyme verse
a modernist traditionalist
mull and muse tell it true
prompt a reaction lay it out there
lover of words, jarring lover of pattern, rhyming
readers response individual readers all delight alike
anything goes on loose lines strict punctuation and meter
memories jogged and jangled memories lovingly recalled
stark and confronting language beautiful nice melodious words
leaves reader's questions unanswered readers cherish the poems like songs
10 free steps 10 syllables
bang bang
both dead
duel done
babel babble
The left side of my heart
Tells me to live a happy life
But the right side of my heart says
I can’t, knowing I’ll never be his wife
The left side of my heart tells me
It’s okay to let go and move on
But the right side of my heart can’t
Even fathom that idea knowing he is gone
The left side of my heart saves a
Little space to keep you inside forever
But the right side of my heart screams
“Give someone else my love? I will never!”
The left side of my heart knows
You would want me to be happy
But the right side of my heart will
Forever and always feel crappy
The left side of my heart knows
You would want me to thrive
But the right side of my heart can
Barely function with you no longer alive
So what side of my heart will win?
Left or right? One must be the winner
But does it even really matter?
Because with you not here, the Devil wins
And now both sides of my heart are sinners
The Gunslinger
You think I am ordinary he said
As he wiped the sweat from his head
I have done things I now dread
Where I made choices with the dead
So you see if you want to conquer me
It’ll take more than wanting it you see
Anti up and let’s see what you’ll put on the line
And know the outcome will not be kind
We stood and looked at each other
Waiting for the first move to discover
Who would win in the gun fight
I shot him dead with my concern being only slight.
© Paul Warren Poetry
On this wait not for Prophet Joel
Nor for Augury rated Jewel:
Offensive language Sufficient Fuel
For what ignites Murderous Duel…
One I’d watched sparked off by Noel
To his shame like unpleasant gruel;
Keep words picturing like served gruel
For The Jailed by A Jailer cruel:
“I hate you: Satan’s Emmanuel”
“As much I you: the Devils Noel.”
Soon, the two on secrets start to dwell
And the pent-up anger starts to swell,
Ripe and waiting hard punches and kicks,
Noel involving stones, Emmanuel sticks.
Weapons chosen
Bullets go in
(Slow motion)
Fates frozen
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.