One cup was enough
to curl his toes
as caffeine
the psychoactive chemical
allowed no doze
or more than a mug
no matter how roasted
the polyphenols
affected his free radicals
'til he did feel really quite toasted
and yet with no wish to upset
the happy home
after so many years of married life
he chose to grin and bear it
the 'Harried Hubby' syndrome
for altho' his dear wife
brewed her coffee in a pot
bad-tasting as it was
grounds for divorce
it was not
CESSATION
That pain is like treading on bottle tops
Or stumbling into some hidden caltrops
Suddenly, as when some lightbulb pops
The welcome relief when it finally stops
Like making big gains on currency swaps
The blood pressure and heartrate drops
Yet is thought so typical of all milksops
With a false sympathy everyone adopts
Once ended, one hopes it never returns
Not just pain, but embarrassment burns
Yet that is only one of several concerns
How to grin and bear it, one soon learns
To hold your breath as the jury adjourns
It is more a prize of resilience one earns
But recall how much the stomach churns
When it’s never over, if one so discerns
Some sort of final line must be crossed
Ideas of permanent pain must be tossed
No wonder that one may then feel lost
As if buried deep within the permafrost
Like being frozen stiff without a riposte
Or see one’s ongoing destiny embossed
But with a better ending than a holocaust
Just seeking cessation at almost any cost
I
often
feel despair
about my health.
Doctors have no cures,
and my rare conditions
never go away; therefore,
I find things that bring me comfort
and do my best to enjoy sweet life.
Family, friends, and writing are my salve.
Also in life. I sometimes make mistakes -
not things of shame, but embarrassment.
I try to just grin and bear it.
Giving wrong information
to students that I teach,
I let them kmow when
I have messed up.
Humor is
my best
tool.
When it comes to all my sorrows
what do I do with them
Do I place them in a paper cup
and pour them down the sink
Do I take a mallet to them
and pound them soft as mink
When it comes to all my tears
where do I bring them?
Do I bring them to the sea
to merge with salty smears
Do I offer up my wailings
to the God above?
When it comes to all my sadness
what can take them all away?
Do I grin and bear it with a grin
then walk away on feet of clay
or do I pray for better days,
hoping that ,He'll lead the way.
Please excuse my putrid frame
Clutching my face as I collapse
My eyes glaring red into my grasp
Silent violence
Ever bleeding in a garden
Like a burning violet
Within myself I am hiding
But nothing seems real
It's all so surreal
Fire in flower fields
That's just the way It feels
It dies as soon as it flies
So hold me as the images creep back into my eyes
I've burned up my beauty
Turned my dreams to ash
Gone is everything I once had
In the flames I dance
Grasping for the embers of my past
I'm a mosaic made of shattered glass
And still you trust the fool in the flames
Flailing failing burning bleeding crying smiling
Dancing with knives in his eyes
And bloody fists full of butterflies
And for that I have thanks
Ill grin and bear it till my teeth break
Inside the liquid of the chalice, I see
a swirling liquid the color red be.
And as I hold it in my hand
there is an image grand.
It's of those moments in time
where my actions have not been divine.
And as the scenes of my life unfold,
a dread caught my mind in a choke hold.
It was not merciful, and it did not care,
some scenes of my life I should not share.
Then from the chalice emerged an evil spirit
and told me my past I should grin and bear it.
And from that moment there was no escape,
looking up I screamed “dang my fate.”
So here is my advice I give to you,
the chalice of the night will screw you through and through.
Poetry contest The Chalice of Night
Sponsored by: Chantelle Anne Cooke
The Volunteer
by Bob Moore (c) 2019
A volunteer is worth, a thousand conscripts so they say
I would never volunteer, if I had my own way
but when the sergeant says, two volunteers, that’s you and you.
you have to grin and bear it, and do what you are told to do
It may just be KP, or police the parade ground
but it could be latrine duty, digging trenches in the ground
then you have to go, and fill the old ones in
hold your nose, and gag a bit, the air in here is thin
Sometimes you go out on patrol, to see what’s to be seen
I’d rather be warm in my bunk, than walking jungles green
then someone yells out “contact” and you just hit the ground
and swear and keep your head down,
as you chamber another round
Then contacts lost, if it ever was, more than a nervous call
now back to base, and thankful, as into the bunk we fall
tomorrow it will all start again, and if good luck goes my way
I will not be volunteered, and I will last another day.
yes indeed life is not fair
why would the end be any different
we lose the people we love most
it breaks our heart and
shatters it in a million pieces
oh what a void it leaves
only the good die young
imagine if death was fair
some kind of logical exit strategy
we could wrap our head around
something we could accept
at least vaguely understand
but that will never be
oh no ~ only the good die young
while others freely roam the earth
miserly bitter in their quest
inciting strife at every chance
their itty bitty shriveled hearts
at home sitting on a shelf
soaking in formaldehyde
oh yes ~ only the good die young
what a waste and somehow
we have to bite our tongue
we have to grin and bear it
live with the injustice of it all
maybe even find meaning
it’s just the way it is
and not about to change
Read on air by invitation ~ May 28, 2021 'WORDS & MUSIC'
AP: 2nd place 2022
Submitted on February 8, 2022 for contest A STRAND (1069) sponsored by BRIAN STRAND
Originally posted on May 15, 2021
It seems so quiet here since you went.
The dog's more settled, the cat's more content.
My friends seem to visit much more than before
and I can visit the pub without starting a war
Now the dust has settled the house is just fine.
I order my groceries and things online
and the fit widow woman down the road
does my washing and ironing by the load.
Darts league on Wednesdays and the odd game of pool,
footy on Saturday with some old mates from school
all keep me active and stop me feeling bereft
which could so easily happen to me since you left.
I'm managing to cope, with the odd glass of wine,
when I'm feeling depressed, but then I'm just fine.
When you walked out the door I didn't think I could
but now I'm much happier than I ever thought I would.
My ongoing rehab means I have to endure
a fortnight away on the French Cote d'Azure.
But if it will help fill the ache in my heart
I'll just grin and bear it, I suppose it's a start.
So there's no need to worry that I'm not sleeping at night,
you're the last person I think of when I turn out the light.
So I'm holding my end up with great fortitude
and thinking of having my tea in the nude.
Hangnails are painful, wish for a cure
Wish they'd disappear, need a pedicure
That's only for the ladies
Tough guys ain't dainties
We just grin and bear it pretend it ain't sore
Life is pain
a splendid tattoo
as with all pain
I grin and bear it too
for what more than pain
makes life so tangible
the experience of being
being surely unregretable
2010.12.26
In spite of the negatives, you encounter through life
Smile and giggle and push forward in spite
It surely ain't forever
Let's grin and bear it together
With family and friends through all of life's plights
Walking through the ashes of a time once loved,
New bleakness
Life passes strangely enough.
See the weakness of a cold spine, twisted and curled.
Daughter of the twister, empty vase, another storm in the urn.
Where are the principles and morals of a flame that burns.
Following the traits with the same footsteps heard.
Flaring tempers daring to speak out of turn without thinking first.
Wearing a heart on ones sleeve and wearing the shirt.
If the shoe fits you wear it while all the others grin and bear it.
Who raised us from birth, took care of our hunger,
Made sure we were comfortable when discomforts could hurt.
Who took away the pain while they were struggling and misjudged.
Who took us to school so we could learn its stuff.
Indifferent to peers, I'm sincere, I know where I come from.
The side with the good blood not the c**** so what's wrong with you what world did you come from, where they cook up cons, the sun's setting now where no light sets on the dark corner of thought, walk through the door, who am I, where's the time gone cos I'm not sure
Sometimes life can get a little rough
Just “Grin And Bear It”
Or should that be “Grin and BARE It”
Sounds like good advice
Grinning and baring it can be a whole lot more fun
But make sure your friends have all gone home
And the kiddies are tucked away in their beds fast asleep
Before you and your mate start prancing around in the nude
Doing and saying all those naughty things
Like, “nice melons you have there my dear”
This starts the whole process
She responds with, “nice frontal protrusion!”
Immediately, the fun begins and the house starts rockin'
All because you, “Grinned And Bared it!”
Oh, such amorous flamenco
A bailaora who whirls fervidly
Nascent paltriness, a winged coo
Unruffled yet sways seamlessly
To grasp is to grin and bear it
To ace is quite an arduous drill
To master is to act with grit
And delectate the peachy whirl
One oblique pennant of breath
Suchlike to humane multitude
Defiance from old shibboleth
A vagueness of life’s certitude
09.23.17
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