Folly Poems | Examples

List of Member Poems

Premium Member Pursuing Madness, Folly

   Twice around the world he sped
       pursuing madness, folly
   Unrequited lover he
       denied, his desperate volley

   Once ignited, passions roused
       flames obey no limits
    Wildfires scorch the tender earth
       unbridled desire's afterbirth

This Day's General Folly

Stumbling down from out which Age
In keeping its balance
Mentally, had stood for respect
Emotionally, restraint

This day's general folly.
Yielded to, either side
"Do what you like's" mantra. Ensures
God's "doomed to fall" complaint.

The Folly of love

It is truth, opposites attract.
Seeing common ground is our tract.
Maths! for a plus, start in subtract. 
Love! great voice, hate a mouth breather!
Head in a spin! Gee gosh golly.
All the workings, end us as friendly.
If i could, go back? yes fully!
We know this and yet here we are!


Premium Member Folly in Flight

screech owl perched inside
suddenly fearful darkness
a glimpse of my death
my eyes - double-pained windows
my sense of self - foggy mess

fell heavy curtain
personification of
vampire wrapped in cloak
needles piercing my spirit
a voodoo doll shapeshifter

a light inside me
all nerves proclaim I belong
to heaven’s kingdom
each candle lit by angels
predator wings - breakneck speed

Yaldabaoth, the idol of pride and wisdom’s folly

Saklas, the fool who within his heart of indulgence 
Whispers: “There is no god greater than me” 
Coiling and consuming himself in self-indulgence 
Isn’t he like that voice in you and me 
Samuel, the blind idol who proclaims to the world 
Roaring loudly “There is no god but me” 
His roars thundering within the cosmic underworld 
Isn’t he like that voice in you and me 
The serpent begets nothing god-like or natural 
The lion just dims light for you and me 

Sneaking arrogance and boastful vainglory coiled up as one 
Pride, wisdom’s veil and denial of the humble Son 

The serpent and lion are coiled up as one, for us to see 
Yaldabaoth, the idol of pride and wisdom’s folly

Girlfriend Trouble and Other Aches of the Heart

Verse 1

Girlfriend Trouble

Pain
Hard
feelings
take hold.
A fight with her,
the one I care for,
and everything now
feels broken and heavy.
I just don't know what to do.
Why does love have to hurt this much?

Verse 2

Time Waits For no One

Tick.
The clock,
quiet machine,
Eat our youth whole,
Chews love into dust,
Leaves bones of memory,
Still,chase its shadow's tail,
Calling seconds by sacred names,
Pretending they'll stop if we sing the song,
We keep on running from the final tick

Verse 3

The River Forgets no Face

Flow.
Limps on
Through our sins
Washing lies away clean,
It hums to the drowned ones
Names carved in its ripples,
Even the mud remembers feet
No step unseen,no crime erased now,
The river keeps our softest griefs always,
Its ancient water never forgets a single
face


Premium Member Our Greatest Folly

"While dining at the table of an unimaginable feast
 We are asked to consider which one thing we prefer the least

Incomprehensible to me such a query should be presented 
For with unquestionable gratitude nothing should be resented

Yet with query though persisted over time we shout out “ the fly”
And in that instant life is seen through quite a different eye

To have so much through gracious gift only to have detracted
By that of such small consequence we all have over reacted

In parallel is life not found to be a feast most spectacular 
Yet is not same small fly of our eye the greatest of detractor

To have so much yet to take time in search of what is wrong

Oh !!! What great folly we are guilty of.   "


Darrell

human folly : haiku



         slanting hue 

              sink every desire due  ~

                        cackle at humans

Premium Member Steward's Folly

A sommelier was known to whine
at pairings made with pork.
The shoulder was in fact divine,
so tender, lightly forked.
Yet she was deign to recommend
a cab or chardonnay.
Esteem I’d had came to an end
though, just the other day;
I saw her swilling Boone’s Farm wine,
complete with plastic cork.

Premium Member The Folly of Buzz and Blur

You whirl, you whir, a sparkler with no plan.
A frantic rush, chasing all you think you can.
Each flip is fragile, fleeting, never really sown.
A scatter gun feast, that leaves you all alone.

You blaze as if the world will soon ignite.
Your tiny body burns with furious light.
Your haste is commanding, yet what is it worth?
Without pausing to taste the fleeting mirth?

The garden knows your madness; it makes it clear,
That no blossom trusts your beat to linger near.
You skim, you dart, you never claim the whole.
For your shallow sips can never fill the soul.

A slower hand, will plant, endure and stay,
Learning the patient slow cadence of the day.
For haste will scatter, shatter what was planned,
Quickly yielding the dust you cannot stand.

Why do you not linger longer at what you sip?
Your feet are a blur; your body is a whip.
But, why this panicked, fevered, fleeting chase?
What force is driving you at such a pace?

Can menacing winds command you to not rest?
Or are rivals sneaking in, invading your nest?
You know a steady heart, outlasts a flashing one.
Playing slow and stead get the victory won.

Premium Member The Folly Of Doing Nothing

The world is an awful place
so much going on so bad
it seems it's always been like that
looking on it's so very sad

But can nothing be done?
it's a really awful place
wherever one goes about
awful testimony of the human race

Evil is evident to triumph
what a picture this shows
of the sinfulness of sin
there's one way this goes

The real mistake is to do nothing
then there's no courage to attack
being good men is not enough
doing nothing's just so slack

It's so full of folly
to be doing not a thing
show your metal and shine
make the call so it rings!

(Quote
" The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke)

PROBLEM

Problem
Very disturbing
Being the victor
Makes you happy,
Being the loser
Make you worry and worthless.

Problem a disruption
Very annoying
To the educated
It Hinders growth 
Destroys relationships 
Leaving many vulnerable
Acting from panic and fear.

Have anything flourish amidst war??
No schooling and more
Problem very practical 
When you get a prey
It awards you
When you bite
More than you can chew
It disgrace you
Don't let folly takes over you.

Premium Member A Man More Patrician Than Not

A man, more patrician than not,
Of folly, he had quite a lot.
Stentorian voice,
But words of poor choice,
A sot, not a yacht, had he bought.

Premium Member Wars Folly

Wars Folly

Since you are there and I am here, 
have yourself an ice-cold beer. 
Raise your glass and sing with cheer, 
for all you love is standing near. 

This is not the way for me, 
I’m on a deck across the sea. 
The rolling deck as engines roar, 
as in the sky fighter’s soar. 

Barely adult’s young soldiers die, 
as their loved ones at home cry. 
On the land the sea or air, 
loved one’s bleeding over there. 

With hat in hand their families wait, 
for soldiers to come home they anticipate. 
The touch of their skin and smiling eyes, 
to give hope to their heart and spirits rise. 

This is not for all that go, 
say the crosses row on row. 
For at the point of a gun, 
dreams are destroyed and come undone. 

Hundreds dead or maimed for life, 
filled with sorrow, pain, and strife. 
Their mothers look at us and say, 
why do our children have to pay? 

It matters not to them we won, 
their lives are shattered and undone.

By 
Josehf Lloyd Murchison

ULTIMATE FOLLY

A girl from the Folies Bergere
Manoeuvred her feathers with care.
One night, to a gasp,
They slipped from her grasp
And there she stood totally bare

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