Dunbar Poems | Examples

List of Member Poems

Premium Member Staying Afloat

¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ dream, ¦¦¦ all through life,
¦¦¦¦¦¦ up ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ through toil and strife.
Afloat ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ before ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ colored ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ skies:
The storm-cloud dark
Above ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦
The calm ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ blue
¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ hopeful hue,
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ passing beam—
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ labored ¦¦¦¦ and failed at last,
¦¦¦ sails too weak to bear ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ raging tempests ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ sent ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ astray.
But ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦
For wind or sea!
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦ "The tempest will ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ ¦¦¦¦ come to port."
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ through every cloud a ¦¦¦¦¦¦
¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ ¦¦¦ dream.


(Blackout of He Had His Dream by Paul Laurence Dunbar)

Premium Member Paul Lawrence Dunbar '

Took life to task..And wrote of a mask.'

We Wear The Mask

We Wear The Mask by Paul Laurence Dunbar



After poem by Olabosoye Wemimo Olaoluwa 


Love of our land's labour should make us proud;
The efforts, time, and energy put through...
Well enough to place our pride clear as vowed.

But we wear the mask of pain we don't plowed,
When slavery is to labourers in blue...
Love of our land's labour should make us proud.

Showers of rain ain't just of dusty cloud,
But of heavy downpour and not dew;
Well enough to place our pride clear as vowed.

Yet all harvest couldn't feed suppose crowd,
We become weary of need to pursue...
Love of our land's labour should make us proud.


Just an endless space to measure; unbowed 
Hearts and heads under threat, government subdue...
Love of our land's labour should make us proud,
Well enough to place our pride clear as vowed.


The Seed

A speck of seed
Planted on the ground
Hoping to sprout in its definite time
Turning into something;

Rain and sun came;
Night and day passed;
Day after day.

Time and hard work
Patience and hope
Determination and expectation.

At last, it began sprouting this tiny seed
Accomplished; undertaken
Became into something 
And joined the unit of nature.

© Jocelyn Dunbar
9 October 2022
5:03 PM

The Twirling Flying of Thoughts

" The twirling flying of thoughts in vivid mind "

An essential form of one individual,
The journey of everyday routine tasks;
A fantastic view of the mind.
The twirling flying of thoughts captured the mind;
Deep thought asks questions.

The wave of thoughts goes round and round
Circling in the galaxy of the mind.
The passion, vision, dream, hope, expectation,
Longing and experiences put together 
To create matter in the mind
The mind eye open;
Creates a unique fantastic sight of imagination;
Wondering, wandering;
Capture the emotion and feeling 
To express the nature of one's own person
In the dimension of the imaginary mind.

At last, it rests in the eyes of people,
Recognizing the concept of the creative mind,
Significant; phenomenon,
That allows an excellent effect on life's existence. 

© Jocelyn Dunbar
14 December 2022
5:12 PM

My Love To You

I love my quiet time with you,
I love having coffee/tea together,
I love talking to you;
Sharing lots of thoughts in life;
My prostration, my worries, my tiredness,
My uncertainties and my days of enjoyment.

I love my time crying with you;
Asking forgiveness, for mercy, and grace,
To start all over again and again.
I love my life with you;
My peacefulness, my loneliness, my isolation,
My success, my accomplishments,
My days, my moment, and time with you.

I love you;
I know you know it,
You see me, watching me wherever I am.
I love you, 
You were with me from the time I was born
You molded me through difficulties, hardship,
Challenges and experiences of life 
To gain an incredible strength of courage 
To overcome obstacles in life.

I love myself, and I am falling in love being with you,
Being a mother, being a friend, being a companion,
Being a sister and being a daughter.
I love the way you brought me to life
In knowing you and seeing me as I am
And teaching me the way that you know better than I do.

I love you,
Because you first love me,
And I love to thank you for loving God to me.

© Jocelyn Dunbar
14 November 2022
12:34 PM


I Scream You Scream We All Scream For Ice Cream

I scream for ice cream she shouted until her lungs burned 
she was a tomboy with a strawberry birth mark on her cheek  
she ran like she owned gumby legs and Popeye arms of steel 
never wiped a dish in her life, she was too busy climbing trees 

When she was home her tongue would never stop wagging 
and the stories that she told took up all of mom's afternoon 
She would dig into the fridge for freshly washed strawberries 
then ask with a grin " when is the ice cream truck coming? "

"Dishes don't get cleaned by themselves" mom noted  
Mr. Dunbar is fixing his truck, its going to take all afternoon  
then she would pull out a tub of strawberry ice cream and say 
"Dig in and enjoy the taste on your tongue" while Annie smiled

I scream for ice cream shouted a hoyden girl with wild curls 
she could really dish it out when she chose to holler 
when she came home with a tongue on fire from hot pepper candy 
"Dig in, enjoy the cool taste on your tongue " mom said with a grin.

July 5, 2022 
Words used :  strawberries, dish, tongue, afternoon

Doing An Irish Jig

Doing an Irish Jig***

(To the music of The Bothy Band)
          ———         ———
So early in the morning,
If you looked, you
Couldn’t tell that I
Was really awake,
With my mind mixing
Through an Irish hornpipe jig
Beside pretty Peg
And Tiddie Dunbar.
After meeting in
What seems a dream, 
We’re friends now
Here in the Glen.
We click.  
We switch and twist.
We swing quickly
Our feet forward 
And back, to stir 
Along on our route
Corner by corner,
Searching for  a feis.
They can’t trail our tracks 
On this fine traveling.
Perhaps we’re keeping
A foot to foot over the earth!

————————————————-
(c) sally young Eslinger 10/16/21
Thanks be to God

We Wear a Disguise

We wear a disguise.
Our feelings it belies.
It covers our shame.
It is our fame,
Helping us to rise above.

No one will know,
That in tears we sow.
Life is a game,
As we see life unfold.

We hide and we bide
Our time 
As we travel the earth,
From the time of our birth.
We live life,
As we see life unfold.

Parody of We Wear A Mask by Paul Dunbar

One On One With God

The spirit of God is in the words to make generally known
Of the mind that touch the heart to express and proclaim
The mystery and to establish the existence of words;
Widely, deeply, expressible, alive, powerful and remarkable.

I seat, I stand, and think, I views the life deeply in its own
Specific time. "Where my life comes from? My life comes from
The Lord, the maker of heaven and earth."

Let your mind think of me, breathe on me. Love me, know me.
I will open your eyes to see miracle from me. I will sort it
Out everything for you, so you can easily make it through.

Stay with me, I will make my words known to you that I am
Yours, and you are mine. I know that you love me.
I am watching you, guiding you from the time you was born.
Fix your eyes on me. I will transform you to never ending life
That I promise you.

Love God


(c) Jocelyn Dunbar
11 October 2020
9:30 AM

Prayer Prayerfully

Talk to the father in heaven, who rule over all.
His name is Yahweh, in English Jehovah.
That he will send his angels to rescue you,
Invite Jesus Christ to be your savior and
Lord of your life. He will wash away the sins and
The dirt of your sins. Ask the Holy Spirit to come
To you he will guide you and show you the way.

These strong energy that rule are the highest
Above all in heaven and in earth. They will
Restore life and save you. Pray, pray, and pray,
Your faith and belief will save you.
Whatever, wherever, whoever, whenever, your situation be,
Prayer works and do miracles.

Believe, what you imagine can be achieved.

When you cling to this strength, only you then experience
The mighty hands of God. No fears of dying,
Of loosing, no worries to think of, because you
Knew he holds and control situation of life.

May this words guide us to the journey of his love to us.
God be with us all.

(c) Jocelyn Dunbar-Sumido
7 January 2020
9.27 AM

Premium Member Paul Laurence Dunbar

Paul Laurence Dunbar
In terms of poetic excellence, he set a high bar 

He was called "the poet of his people", so adept
At writing his poems in African-American dialect

God's Love

The word became flesh, illuminating the sense 
Of action, mind over matter, courage combine 
With faith over obstacles.

A deep action, reverse our condition poured 
Out His rich mercy for us, through his begotten 
Son Jesus Christ death and resurrection, 
Ransom to all our sins.

God is holy. We are banded by the dirt of sins, 
Our self estranged from God. He sacrifice his 
Own love, the blood of his only son to 
Dedicated for our sins. God intuition make 
Available for use; confectionate, dedicated, 
Devoted, loving, merciful that benefit us all.

Great love are given for us. At last, we are 
Given a great privilege to come to him, to 
Fellowship with him through his son.

The stubborn love of God given to us are our 
Manifestation to dramatize our existence to be 
The source of our habitation acceptable to his 
Goodness and purposes.

Invite him to come to you and receive his gift, 
The Holy Spirit that guides your thoughts and 
Mind to enable you direct your steps toward 
The real destination of life.

© Jocelyn Sumido-Dunbar
Wed. 29 August 2018
2:33 AM

The Hero

In the existence of this planet, the equation Moves surround us, we never know who will Become on the day we were born.

We face natural flow of life in a different stages And categories; difficulties and challenges. Experiences gives us a huge impact to our Personal life. We are destine to face and fight War of life.

Whatever our capacity to stand in battle, the Main focus and objective is to survive. Whatever our weapon, it is our protection to Support ourselves. We must be courageous; Our determination must be super strong to Face the different waves of life.

Whoever; color, origin, race and standard,
Whatever; faith, belief and life we have,
Whenever; discovery of true identity, will lead Us to what we wanna be.
Our experiences have something to tell to Inspire many.
Our life existence, our life Challenge gives us purpose.

Whatever you are doing, whatever life challenge you may be facing;
Wherever you are, whoever you are, you are the hero of your life story.

© Jocelyn Sumido-Dunbar
1 October 2018 Monday
12 Midnight

Prayer

Talking, communion, releasing, 
Fellowshipping, worshipping

A freedom of soul; senses, heart, 
Emotion, feeling, mind, to breathe
Into his presence of silence.

“Honouring God the father ".

To quite our thoughts and motives
To feel and think, to ask favour, 
Forgiveness, request, guidance, 
And blessing.

To in tune to the highest excellence
Of God, to surrender to his majesty.
To trust, to believe.

Prayer... a words to connect our
Innermost being to the father
Almighty in heaven.

To whisper words in prayer.

© Jocelyn Dunbar
8 July 2006
5: 50 PM

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.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace