nose to the grindstone
smudge of grease on his knuckles ~
blue-collar worker
I am a lazy bum thank God!
or else I would
have got caught up in
this society
It wears you down
turns you into a puppet
I would never have
become a Poet
having been tied
to the grindstone
Whatever caused me
to turn to Poetry
was a blessing in disguise
Life is a mystery
and you have to
go with the flow
Make whatever adjustments
are necessary believing
that you are headed
on the right path
Love, ha love!
You know this love,
Ha this love is for those
who work at the devil’s workshop
Who have a heart to spare
A heart to hurt
A heart to pine
and who are ready to die for love.
As for me,
with my nose to the grindstone,
No, thank you!
Love is not for me
I will not love
I am not the loving kind
I don’t like pining
I don’t like hurting
I don’t like to feel lonely
I don’t like my heart to be broken
and forsaken…
No way José,
if I see love coming
I’ll pass it by…
Hasta la vista, Love,
Go smitten someone else!
Contest: 1441 Love
Sponsor: Brian Strand.
Written November 11, 2025, for contest sponsored by Brian Strand
****************
Screen glow
Slow throw
Burnout
Turn out
Workload
Cloud road
Ping pong
Yawn song
Zoom call
Moonfall
Grindstone
Dreambone
Clock face
Soft grace
Task list
Kiss missed
Push pull
Hush lull
Bedtime
Head climb
When shawn
Mows lawn
I have walked the hallways
where minutes gnash like teeth,
each second a pebble pressed
into the jaw of memory.
The air tastes of iron--
memory’s rust,
old prayers swallowed
before they ever touched the light
Yet still - I carry my candle
into the jaw’s dark cavern,
its flame a soft rebellion
against the grindstone silence.
Soft laughter rests in the cracks,
like seeds grabbed
into the frozen earth,
waiting for the frost to release them,
for spring to rise
from winter’s quiet.
I move onward,
not a hostage,
but marrow unbroken,
a hymn rising
through bone and enamel,
singing until the jaw
yields to the light.
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
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 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
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
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
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. ~
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
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 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
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
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