Extinguished Poems | Examples

When A Light Is Extinguished

(“The Heart of It #2”, 2007, original oil)

When A Light Is Extinguished
(for Charlie)

Today a great light was extinguished
A great soul lost to his family, his friends
His nation, and humanity as a whole.
Shades of MLK Jr.’s assassination,
A shadow of hate swallowing up the light,
Spread out across the nation
Like the Sun eclipsed at noon.
In the dark we cry
Hearts broken open 
By the senseless taking of a life brighter than most,
Reminding us what kindness and brightness 
And generosity of spirit is truly like,
Bright and true
And in its essence deathless eternal.
Rest in peace young man,
Go in peace great soul.

(9/10/25)

On a nameless night, under a sky sprinkled with extinguished stars

On a nameless night, under a sky sprinkled with extinguished stars,
Thoughts trickle like oil in the engine of an old dream,
And I, a lost acrobat, sway on the thin thread of life,
Trying to grasp in my palms the essence of a world that smolders quietly.
You don't have to write to feel poetry in your veins,
It's there, in the smell of gasoline and the smoke rising to the sky,
In the eyes of the one who fills tanks with untold stories,
A poet without words, dancing among car queues and time.
I am an artist of the trapeze, not fitting into molds,
With my heart suspended between a yesterday and an uncertain tomorrow,
Each leap a long verse, each catch a moment of grace,
For between falls and flights, true poetry is born.
So, in the silence of the night, among ticking engines,
I wonder, who am I to name my art?
A trapeze artist of destiny, a dreamer in the shadow of light,
Or perhaps just a soul that knows how to breathe poetry without words.

Love extinguished

Where is our love, where did it go?
When did it slip away
My heart is sad for I loved you so
How did we come to this cruel day

I’m still the one you promised to love
To cherish and care for all of our life
We’d weather all storms, we’d rise above 
A couple, a pair, husband and wife

But it seems in your anger you need someone to blame
And I’m always there in your line of fire
Such is your wrath you don’t remember my name
I’m only an object for venting your ire

But this violent storm I can no longer thole
It’s time to break free if I’m to survive
I’ve given too much, I’ve given my all
There’s no morsel left , I’m hardly alive

I’m walking out of this life, out of the door
Leaving behind all the hurt and the pains
The tender young love that we knew before
A  heart-wrenching memory is all that remains.

Extinguished Names

Extinguished Names
David J Walker

The old farmhouse looks older
	What else can it do
Burdened by weather 
Threatened with fire

Memories have long ago escaped the
Walls painted in tears 

	Windows with laughter
	Doors that clatter 
in an afternoon wind

When we left we left  
	A piece of us
In scenes behind drawn curtains 

Someday 
	Lightening will strike in an
Act of vengeance by the Devine

The long-awaited flames and 
The tears we left behind
Will never be enough to 
	Extinguish the names

Extinguished Fire of Love

Upon the hearth I lay an open flame
Flickering orange and red inflamed
Roaring as a lion hunting for game
Extinguish by another desire

Taking my kindling and covering mine
Left is a spark among rubble and dire
Smoke without signals of laughter
The wood shed now empty and bare

One tree is left standing now falling
Among an empty forest of broken branches
Bare limbs dead leaves falling to the ground
Gathered and placed into bags

Waiting to be thrown away

Extinguished

I have to let you go now
my dear sexy friend

You have 
steadied my hand
been a light
I could hold on to
in those darkest of times

So much time
spent
spending

With nothing to show
but ash and smoke

Extinguished

where has your light gone
celestial luminary....
spectrum now greyscale
cold rain and raven's stares

warmth to frost
i exhale dark misery
the sunrise halts with your goodbye
rainbows turn to rain as you disappear

night and star
black rivers flow
out of my heart
it's sackcloth groans sound deep in the night

hope wilting in death's embrace
black tears
black tears
black tears from your face

i reach for you in the eerie glow
i reach for you, but there's just snow.....

light is fading now
as its dimming down
i wander in mist
extinguished

Extinguished

I lit a fire in your heart
You lit a fire in mine
We would’ve watched these flames grow stronger over-time 
But we are too clumsy
Our hearts are as fragile as oil lanturns
That we have both dropped 
And left burning upon the ground
They will say, 
“The wind put that out”
“The rain must’ve gotten to it”
“Fire fighters came and shut that down”
But what can become of it when your love is left out in the open
Exposed to the elements
It will only vanish and become smoke
White, wispy and disappearing
The ghost of what we could’ve had are
Carried off into nothing

Old Embers Near Extinguished

Smiling to himself…
Again, he had fallen in love
Amazed at the moment 
A line crossed, forever blurred

Laughing inside…
His humanity back on display
All doubts ignited 
Old embers near extinguished
 —on fire

(Villanova Pennsylvania: February, 2016)

Extinguished Lights

Once a long time ago 
Noah was told by God 
to build an ark below
for Mankind was found flawed.

And it'll pour down rain
for forty days and nights
until the sons of Cain
vanish, like snuffed out lights.

Almost Extinguished

Sometimes, for no reason,
my depression returns, for a season.

When I feel my heart begin to crumble,
I'm at my weakest point and usually stumble.

What I wouldn't do to have a hand to reach for,
but, all my lady loves have gone out the door.

We each contain within us a flame,
some nights it burns brighter, most days it's the same.

When I believe myself to be totally alone,
my light is almost extinguished, almost gone.

And then I think of who's still here,
my two precious daughters who are very dear.

Then my flame gets hotter, grows stronger
and I know in my heart I can last for a while longer.

While I'm capable of living much more with some lady to love,
I realize that God has me here for reasons only He knows above.

So, I'll try to be more light and do more right
and keep flame I've been given burning through each day and night.

Extinguished Flower

the ember glows
then lifts free from the fire
extinguished flower

Extinguished Divine

Soaked into the mystery 
of turquoise night
Soaring through time 
glide in pure light


Helium engorged , 
floating in the wind
in peace thought I , 
inveiglement brought sins


Divine grace slayed 
mercy was splayed,
lifeblood split , 
eternity is made


Falling and swirling 
opened eyes blaze,
shrieking of glory
black night sways


Veils over faces
sins will be reviewed,
what evil wrought
glazed out with no moon


Blood in trickles
like paint in the sea,
tears line my face
as mercy is freed


Extinguished this bright
of everlasting life,
and I cried softly
with misery tonight

Extinguished

A flame extinguished
With a heart full of anguish
No more sparkle in the eye
No more tears to cry
Living turned dormant
Longing made torment
Gone the will
Fled the ability to fulfill
Left forsaken and hollow
Absent the voice to follow

A flame extinguished 
All hope relinquished
A creature forlorn
Too long had it mourned
Once did it glisten
As all came to listen
Once did it radiate and glow
Given all the world to grow
But somewhere vitality
Surrendered to reality

A flame extinguished
Ambitions vanquished
Even Fear packed his things
No longer could he bring
A feeling of mortality
A reprieve of morality
Should we pity it
Empathize with its forfeit
No,  this path it chose
And this it knows

• Short Extinguished Poems
• Famous Extinguished Poems
• Best Extinguished Poems
• Read Extinguished Poems
• Long Extinguished Poems
• Extinguished Quotes