Grindstone Poems | Examples

The 'Whirlwind'

  
     Despairing of lightening her mood
        ten children her burden
        her life spent
          pushing and tugging 
          at a grindstone 
          of darkest despair

     She wrote of her misery
        to an elderly rabbi in Brooklyn

     He promptly wrote back
     words of encouragement 
        most unexpected advice
        
     “Attend every wedding in town
      Dance every dance
      Whirl like the wind
      Draw others into your circle”

     The desperate women did just that
     Her life changing by the week
       as she drew her new friends
       into her ever-widening circle

Body Language

Putting my best foot forward
shoulder to the wheel
nose to the grindstone
my Achilles heel
while sticking my neck out
I soon found
as
with my eye on the ball
ear to the ground
when I put my back into it
not with tongue in cheek
but to keep my chin up
heard joints creak
the onset of old age memory loss
an early taste
for in the end I forgot to bend
at the knees and not the waist

back to it

Back to black coffee
back to ryo cigarettes
back to the grindstone
the wheel
the rat race
to nowhere

back to it
back on track
back to basics
the spinning wheels
the hampster cage
the invisible prison

back on the regimine
back to the doctor
back in the gym
the vitamins
the cardio
the end

Crows Nest

3/10/24


Across the whole stretch
In all directions it pulls and tempts
Still the same old debts
Continual gold theft
Another night woke up in a cold sweat
Full of stress
Sinking below into ice cold depths
Struggling to hold the breath
Life doesn't revolve around a Rolex
It'll take ages to clean up the whole mess
From the planet another soul left
Leaving a hole in the chest
Secrets left in undeciphered bold text
If only we could understand what they told and meant
In our stubborn ways we are so set
Thinking they alway know best
All these folks hexed
Couldn't ever see it incoming even from the crows nest
No comparison, not even a close test
But that doesn't mean it's all hopeless
Time will tell what goes next
Focus keep your nose pressed
To the grindstone, it's your story make it happen with your own flesh
I'm somewhat happy, but I can do better, often I don't rest
Can't settle for a life of misery I won't accept

sedulous

pull out all the stops
keep your shoulder to the wheel
go the extra mile

bust your chops sweat blood
work your fingers to the bone
bend over backwards

go to great lengths put 
your heart and soul into it
and work like a dog

go at it hammer 
and tongs roll up your sleeves do 
the heavy lifting

put your nose to the 
grindstone put in the hours 
break your back

The Grindstone

A red-rimmed sun of summer,
of the sweat of the workers,
the salt of their brows.
Shoulders to the grindstone,
the strength of sinew and muscle,
hours of their labors.
The Lord of their lives
and their eternity-
gives them a dreamer's  sojourn
in the welcomed moonrise. ~

Among the Angels

When our grindstone comes into blossom,
A hen's curse might kill an eagle.
Maybe when hell freezes over,
The snake that I see will bite.

I am mortal but among the Angels
Left but never forgotten
Beneath the cudgel of pain
Pressed under, still my soul is as right as rain

I am a blessing in disguise and Invictus
Bright eyed and bushy tailed
Still, curses and atrocities comes knocking
Trying to knock me yet I am  consolidated

It's alright being in dire straits
I got the capacity to take the bull by the horns
I am out of this world, dare send a curse
I will fashion it into a blessing

Give till ye go lean

A rough stone when gives and gets of girth lean,
Grounded by a grindstone begets good sheen.

A warrior wrestles till gravely wounded,
Victorious, shines forth O bleeding red.

Take elephant in rut, gone lean and mean,
It stands out on giving and gone serene.

Glitters a river gone lean in autumn
From fully flooded in monsoon season.

No phase of moon seems so incandescent    
As one that hath gone leanest as crescent.

A young lass gone lean and pale post coitus,
A mother post birth, what a rare status!   

Who so that hath given to one in want,
Gleams having given till gone lean and gaunt.   
_________________________________________ 
Couplets |06.09.2023| giving

Perseverance

Perseverance is the name of the game
With every challenge before you
It applies to the highest mountains you climb
Ignoring distractions is the clue 

Roadblocks are there to test your patience
The glitter of gold clouds your eyes
Keep your nose to the proverbial grindstone
Much success will be yours by and by

I certainly haven't achieved all my goals
But employing this theory through the years
Has enabled me to increase the likelihood
Of avoiding many heartaches and tears

Working hard with the goal of cooperation
Bendability when shown a new path
You'll ultimately be placed in a higher standing
Great success will be yours at last

In closing remember this friendly advice
To assist you in climbing life's tree
Compassion and patience are all important
But perseverance is surely the key

The Truth That Birthed Revelation

She stood by the waters
And viewed the withered stump
Shall life come to broken wood
When her veins have clumps
...of deception

Hope almost gone, nothing left
Delivered to trying ground
She put her nose to grindstone
Til all the voices left...sound
...stillness of night

She followed the lamb

A ways down the road
With full armor and sword
She began to win territory
For the LOVE of her LORD

One TRUTH stood in every land
Daddy God's name is LOVE
No authority but His
Can bring a WORD above
...His sacrifice

Every soul that meets her mouth
With her LOVE connect
To the deception believed
Til the soil of the heart rejects
...below

At that exact moment
Of seed intervention
REVELATION shows forth
The beauty of His creation
...in self

I am LOVED

Written by Trudy Schrader on 07-27-2023

Ordinary Time

Orindary?
Hah! Not ordinary; no sir, not ordinary at all ...
Green, growing, grateful, gracious, grand -
the mortar of empires; stone condensed from sand.
Power, foundation, strength; no hesitation!
Plugged into the outlet
and drowning in perspiration.

It's ordinary time. 
Time to put the nose to the grindstone,
grow the morals,
build the habits, 
chase the virtues,
curb the vices,
and emerge from the cocoon
ever-better than before.

Ordinary time - 
The proving grounds of the soul.
The battlefield of destiny.
The crucible of the heart.


16 June 2023

Till I Am Laid To Rest

If our life is predestined and our fate preordained
Why stress and strain, why live a life of drudgery
Oh, why toil in vain, why to the grindstone be chained,
Let's indulge in a life of slothful luxury.



~Contest: Sin of Sloth
~Sponsor: Margarita Lillico.

Doggy Puddle-

Urination reigns rains flowing 
Covering the firmaments grasses 
Backing splashing on the oak tree
Nose to the grindstone Kentucky bluegrass
Sniffs out allergens striving to mark a path
Marking at territorial arenas grasp
A leg up Or just a squat
Relinquishing rains
Watch the green grasses 
Now yellow patches 
From yellow rain
Puring down tween a dog's leg


1/24/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022

Marley Plays the Bottom Line - With Apologies To Charles Dickens

Oh, don’t flatter me with presents from the Ghost of Christmas Past. 
Tis the season for nostalgia, but those feelings never last. 
It’s a gift-wrapped empty promise not worth tuppence on the street, 
Or a ticket to the opera when you’ve nothing left to eat. 

Oh, don’t weary me with visions from the Ghost of Christmas Gone. 
It’s a fairy tale for paupers who’ll be just as poor come dawn. 
I’ve no sympathy for indolence, nor ignorance and want. 
If you’re looking for compassion, find another bank to haunt. 

Oh, don’t bother me with worries from the Ghost of Christmas Done. 
Send those children of the gutter to the workhouse, every one! 
Put their noses to the grindstone in a more productive game; 
Earning porridge making bootstraps for the barefoot and the lame. 

Oh, don’t humbug me with pleadings from the Ghost of Christmas Lost. 
Sir, the figures on my balance sheet won’t justify the cost. 
So, our business is concluded and I’m free to wash my hands. 
Tell the Sisters of St. Alban’s, the eviction notice stands!

To Taste Freedom

Education starts at home
  Work kids' fingers to the bone
Pile up the chores after school
  Then on to homework
               --  That's the rule

No TV shows or quick little breaks
  Nose to the grindstone 'til it aches
If you want them to taste freedom
  Prepare kids to counter Red China's Kingdom

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