I remember how their mouths nipped at
me.
Fangs of wine-dusted petals, sharp.
Their thorny digits clenching my neck.
In the white hospital room, they come.
With white gowns that swirl like mouthwash.
The gleaming teeth that adorn the
uniforms.
Here, child. The flowers want you to
take this.
And I do, with the orange-peel pill bottle.
Lithium sucks the life out of my marrow.
My family, they do not know me.
And they do not care, to know me.
I gaze into Hades' little den of comfort.
When the shadows shift and shape,
I can see the hollowness of my future,
The futility of my unripe fruit.
Rotten, some of the apples, that's what
They all say. But I see the infant green
Yet, I also know it will never do.
At the hour, and season of eighteen
I slice into the cake of chocolate drywall,
And savor the aftertaste of adolescence.
Let my life for you sacrificed
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
Come and intercede to this helpless servant
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
Faithfuls suffer in this earth a lot
Hereafter there will be plesure and enjoyment
From eighteen thousand worlds' selected
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
Traveler of seven leveled skies
Above bound of Creator flied
In his ascension for Ummah prayed
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
Four caliphs are his paradise neighbor
Who is in love with him is away from evil
He is sultan of creations as a whole
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
What Dervish Jonah does in here without you
Real prophet without doubt and mistrust is you
Whom don't obey you faithlessly as an infidel go
His name lovely himself lovely Muhammad
Written by Dervish Jonah (Yunus Emre)
Translation Onur Ünlü
Daddy drove a truck
I'm a trucker's son
I'll be driving eighteen wheelers
'til my trucking days are done
Momma lives for trucks
looking good under the hood
born in a cab
I have trucking in the blood
and it takes air brakes truck stops
weigh stations too
pedal to the metal
coming on through
fired up wired up shifting gears
running on caffeine
it's music to my ears
I have a yearning
to hear those engines burning
rolling down the road
to the sound of wheels turning
hit the highway as day's dawning
I love the smell of diesel in the morning
Eighteen years ago, I was cradled in my mother’s womb.
Eighteen years ago, God whispered me into existence.
He saw me before the world did.
He knew me before I knew myself.
Seventeen years came and went
Some good, some hard, some unbearable.
Yet, here I stand, one more year added,
Not because I willed it, but because He did.
Some say, “I made it another year.”
But no—God carried me here.
His grace held me when I couldn’t hold myself.
His mercy spoke when I had no words.
So today, God, I thank You.
For every face You placed in my life,
For the ones who stayed, the ones who left,
For love. For lessons. For laughter. For her. Oh, her.
For grace that covers me even when I don’t deserve it.
You see my struggles.
I don’t hide them I lay them at Your feet.
Because every battle I’ve overcome
Is just another reminder of how deep Your love runs.
You know my heart, the weight it carries,
The dreams, the fears, the silent prayers.
And still, You’ve given me 18 years.
I own nothing. I deserve nothing.
But You, You are my everything.
And for that, I will never stop thanking You.
One for my comfy onesie, a word not invented yet in 1953.
Two twins – me and my sis against the world
Three favorite foods now are mashed potatoes, corn and chili beans
Four times the fun when our two cousins come over
Five means we get to go to school; we are in room five
Six and losing teeth fast, learning to rhyme- six, fix, icks, micks, licks
Seven – my grandpa went to heaven, on November 7
Eight cousins now, five girls and three boys, a tasty number for grandma
Nine and learning my multiplication table, nines are the most fun!
Ten little Indians – a movie that brings me to Agatha Christie’s books
Eleven, two one’s , double sticks, my legs look like an eleven
Twelve – one of my friends dies of cancer, twelve o’clock funeral
Thirteen -awkward age, I feel thirteen other girls are smarter and prettier
Fourteen – a boy much older is staring at me, is this the fourteenth hour?
Fifteen – I become best friends with my husband; he is an annoying fifteen
Sixteen- nothing sweet about it; no sweet sixteenth party in the Midwest
Seventeen – I am working full time at Super Value Store number 17
Eighteen – hopeful for the future, will graduate on May the 18th.
The Environment of Prosody
Suits not ‘Courts’ stand on Child custody,
Silly scratching up some melody
For what to a party is bloody
And might only excuse Threnody…
Its pains to father losers much stiff,
Court rooms they leave like some Child Thief
For - yes - a child is its mum’s fat hope
For Alimony - its dad’s steep slope;
Ex-wife for New Lover and mattress,
Alimony-Paying Guy for stress,
As long waiting for Child’s Eighteen Years
Better done in a mourner’s wear…
s
Not always nice story: bank account
And courts do not seem to this count;
All about a man honoring
But, sure, the woman, coloring…
Oftenest child custody women’s
Till date what a compassionate law means.
I had the easiest time letting go of my oldest.
She and I were not getting along any more.
I had to drag her to college and help her sign up.
I stood in line after line, to get her enrolled.
She who acted like I was a devil begged to return home.
The answer was no. I wanted less trauma and drama.
The middle daughter had pretty much left us at age ten.
She was an easy let-go. We barely knew her now.
The baby was ill the day we got her into a car for college.
She had to be on campus that day, so we took her anyway.
She had a temperature of over a hundred and two.
Made no difference, by then I was into my new hobbies.
Things I could not do with them around – cartooning and painting.
They would have made fun of me for it.
I ended up adopting dog after dog after dog though.
So I could take care of something after they were gone.
My emotions are a hurricane;
Thoughts of you?
The eye of my storm.
Brother Felix Manalo
Was chosen to do God's will;
The people of the world saw
That his election was real.
The Lord God's last messenger
Came from the isles of the sea;
Called by the loving Father
To give Him praise and glory.
The first leader of the Church
Worked for near half century;
He let his countrymen search
For the truth of Almighty.
He was one God's instrument
In showing the righteous path;
Preaching the Lord's commandment,
For men to keep from His wrath.
One hundred thirty-four years
Have passed since his happy birth;
We love him in joyful tears,
We remember him in mirth.
Topic: 134th Birthday of Bro. Felix Y. Manalo (May 10,2020)
Form: Tanaga
Oh to be eighteen again
Just for a week
No more morning pain
No more feeling weak
All the fun I could have
Party into the early hours
Play footy with the lads
Buy a sweetheart flowers
Oh to be sweet eighteen
Feeling fit as a butchers dog
It's ages since I was a teen
Grey hairs, I got a lot
wrinkles on my face
Liver spots on my hands
Struggling to stand straight
To be eighteen would be grand
I have my memories
Although they're faint
From in my teens
I was far from a saint
Sat in my comfy seat
Glasses on my nose
Hearings not so sweet
Face as red as a rose
Oh to be eighteen again
Only for a week
I could feel healthy again
Not mild and meek
Used carcase dealer
got a crash dummy discount
for the
covetous consumer
Pyramid chain customers
all have the
Pharaoh chariot lust
Crypto-coin tarnished souls
want a cartel vehicle
to transport
their false profit cargo
“You need a boss eighteen wheeler,”
says the
dark sunglass, shady-voice dealer
“Something catacomb big
to a-carry your
Faustian minnow bait load
I suggest a coffin-lined rig,
with a trapdoor
to cattle prod secure goad”
With a snake charmer drone,
the crafty saleswoman
viper spit rattled on and on
Raising the heat of the fever pitch,
she suggestively hissed,
“Don’t you feel that Route 66 itch
Get an added sixth gear,
and squeal hear the asphalt buckle below
The sirens, have no fear ...
blues on the take, gon be on cruise control”
“Purchase a roadkill deal, Dirt Devil eighteen wheeler —
And Judas silver grin sign
the blotted-out dotted line, ”
croons the black widow repo clad, used carcase dealer
I refused to bow down to the mean.
To be average would not be my scene.
I’d avoid every trap.
This would be but a snap.
When I thought this, my age was eighteen.
One question for you
How do children live today?
Renting a room is costly.
In the seventies
Eighteen could rent a full house
For a hundred bucks a month
This could possibly
Today pay for candy bars
In our expensive world
Eighteen lives at home
With his parents and siblings
As does twenty-eight
Sometimes thirty-eight
It is so expensive now
To be a grown up
Eighteen Years Ago Tomorrow
By Franklin Price
9/10/2019
Eighteen years ago tomorrow
The great twin towers fell
Airliners crashed into them
Made many lives a living hell
Another flew to Washington
Where the Pentagon was hit
A third was crashed in PA
Missed the White House quite a bit
Flown by men of terror
Not a country we could war
We still are bringing justice
Can never equal up the score
We'll never feel the same again
Not as safe as we before
Must fight the Terror everwhere
In every place that there is more
Everywhere around the world
Even hidden in our lands
All of us are part of this
Must stop it where it stands
Do not forget what happened then
That took us to the night
I hope,like me, you never will
As we struggle for the light
Eighteen things I love about
Katherine Dawn Brown
Katherine has the gift of charity
Always looks so good and sweet
Ties people together
Helps people forgive one another
Extends her borders into all walks of life
Runs free in the light and love of life
Is innocent and wise
Never says no, except when necessary
Elevates the world with her bright and shining:
Dawn, which colors up the blue and orange sky
Awaking the earth to a better tune that’s right
With perfect understanding of just the way to be,
No one is afraid to be themselves when they are with her
Bringing new life unto the earth on which she stands
Righteously feeding the Lord's sheep because she loves them
Opens her heart to others who need the love of Christ and God
Will never settle for less than the best, because that’s who she is
Now and forever, she holds my heart and hands!
Your loving husband forever!!
Shane R. Brown
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.