Hard Up Poems | Examples

But what’s a poor boy to do


Since the day I first saw light
I was so tough and hard up for the fight
I learnt the hard way as my rule
The school of hard knocks made me no-ones fool
But whats a poor boy to do

Up in the morning before the sun
My workin for the man a life with no fun
The sweat on my back and dirt on my brow
Living each day behind the plough
But whats a poor boy to do

I was always my father’s son 
Working each day ‘til the work is done
There was never a time just for me
All I wanted was life as free as can be
But what’s a poor boy to do

I vowed to myself I would not be
A dirt poor farmer working the land not free
I ran away from home at my first chance
Away from the struggle and the daily farmer’s dance
But whats a poor boy to do

I ran with a crowd that was just like me
Robbin and killin on a lawless spree
Until one day in a border town the sheriff won
And our bank robbin and murder was done 
But whats a poor boy to do

The judge had a reputation so proud
Hanging was my sentence the judge unbowed
So here I am standing with a noose around my neck
My last day has come so what the heck
But what’s a poor boy to do.

© Paul Warren Poetry

MOTHER SAID

Never go out on a stomach that’s empty,
Was one of my mother’s foibles.
If it’s only a salad sandwich,
You’ll ward off possible problems.
And always drink plenty of liquid
Or you’ll find you’ll run out of oomph.
She was always there to tend my wounds
(I was always hurting something)
My comfort when I was anxious,
She was my guardian angel
Though hard up, she denied me nothing.
Perhaps, looking back, I was spoilt.
But I’ll always remember her comments
If I live to be a hundred.
Form: Verse


Oh, those winter blues

I could hear the cold winds blow
     from the corner of my room,
I'm wrapped up in by bedding
     and I feel like a cocoon.

I've been here for days on end,
     shivering from the wet damp;
There's no heat that comes to me
     from my small reading lamp.

How long can each winter last
     is something I'd love to know;
Springtime can't come fast enough,
     putting end to cold and snow.

It's hard up in these mountains
     when the dry wood's hard to find;
Holes in the roof do not help,
     it was just not well designed.

I know the weather will change
     and somehow I will get through;
Still they never go away,
     those repeating winter blues.
Form: Rhyme

Premium Member Cost of Living

The cost of living is continuing to rise
With hard up family's there is no surprise.

To admit you are struggling you might feel shame
Unable to survive you hide the pain

To pay your bills is just one task that's hard to beat
The choice we have is to heat or eat.

But prices will still rise and families will survive
By tighting their belts and getting on with their lives.
P

Premium Member Size Does Matter

she preferred a bulge 
        the one inside my wallet 
         now i’m just ~ hard up

By
David Kavanagh
Form: Senryu


Premium Member Out of Ideas

Out of ideas? I laugh in my soup. Vegetables, taters, peas, corn.
Out of ideas? I drink my coffee. Pancakes, waffles, new ideas are born.
Out of ideas? My muse smacks me hard up the side of my head.
She twirls her pasties, and reminds me we will write ‘til we’re dead.

Out of ideas? I look at the sink. A cup, fork, spoon, tiny bug on the brink.
Out of ideas? The alarm clock goes off and make me irritated real quick.
Out of ideas? After I have given you at least fifteen in this bit of a think?
Perhaps you are not a writer; maybe you’d better be a pole dancer, slick.
Form: Rhyme

Cash

The gambler was hard-up for cash
Didn’t get it, but instead got a rash
He worked up an inch
His stomach started to twitch
Money hungry, the man felled and crash
Form: Limerick

Cowgirl

Rhoda Maverick loved Tom Mix
And cowboys keen on roping tricks
So hard-up men
Found her their hen
And all her chicks were little prix
Form: Limerick

4 Year Old Adults

They want to reach out through Freedom Of Speech,
contaminated minds reject and preach.

So many only see it their own way,
not on the whole,
individual points of view, they say away,
like detectives with evidence unavoidable,
but they're selective,
forget others have a different directive,
stubborn and narrow,
stick to their own and don't allow all else be known.

When explained they dismiss and moan,
stuck in their own,
minds that won't roam,
and then simplicity is there to see...….

XYNOPHOBIC, BIGOT, RACIST

accusations are thrown,
accusing horrible whilst being horrible,
not a glimpse of LIBERAL,
and this is in us all,
but some let it out like an emergency,
hard up minds let it emerge with ease,
simple minds are these, even those with degrees.

People need to learn we're free,
and free means all think differently,
if you can't accept opinions then just ignore,
because I'm sick of adults behaving like they're four.
Form: Rhyme

We Had Been Hard Up

We Had Been Hard Up

We had been hard up living in a tent,
And for all of our sins we did repent;
Garden planted;
Chants canted;
We are glad God gave us His consent.

Jim Horn

For Andrea,

My 5,555th poem.
Form: Limerick

Humanity-Love You

Humanity i love you
because you would rather black the boots of
success than enquire whose soul dangles from his
watch-chain which would be embarrassing for both

parties and because you
unflinchingly applaud all
songs containing the words country home and
mother when sung at the old howard

Humanity i love you because
when you’re hard up you pawn your
intelligence to buy a drink and when
you’re flush pride keeps

you from the pawn shop and
because you are continually committing
nuisances but more
especially in your own house

Humanity i love you because you
are perpetually putting the secret of
life in your pants and forgetting
it’s there and sitting down

on it
and because you are
forever making poems in the lap
of death Humanity

i hate you

Premium Member Barnyard Rump With a Duck Named Trump

into the barnyard with a high knee-jerk

a yellow duck waddles in with a smirk

it pecks the hens on the rump

Old Mac Donald named it Trump

like the president he's hard up at work


9/15/2017
Form: Limerick

Douglass-Dog-Lass' Story

I was Douglass
A good person
Better than the day that gifts a friendly sun
A humble fellow
Humbler than the trees that regard the regal ride of the
wind.
Oh, wealth
You all I desired, then
Why Playing ceaseless host
To those honest crooks
And left me waiting in the pinching rain of hard-up-ish?
Now, I'm Dog-lass
A rich man
Richer like a man who had 1, 000 wives
A smart fellow
Smarter than the chimpanzee even in its own game
Form: ABC

I Wonder

I wonder if she really feels the passion in my hand
When I touch her, and in my lips when I kiss her
I wonder if she notices the pride in my voice when I say that I'm her man
And I wonder if she hear me with I tell her that I'm in love with her
And that I'll do anything to please her
I wonder if she knows that I've been watching her
And that I clearly hear every word that she says 
She says that she wants the finer things in life
So I wonder if I give her everything that she dreams of
Will I really become her prince charming, her knight in shining armor?
I wonder if I brought her that rock that she wants to sport on her finger,
Send her on shopping sprees with an unlimited credit card,
Or if I took her on expensive trip across the land
Will I look like some random, desperate, hard up man
That's just trying to win her over to stay close to her
But then, I also wonder if I just simply love her with all of my heart
Without all of the material things 
Would she really see me?
I wonder?

Results of Isis Actions

Results of Isis Actions

Why does it sound like the same old song
Isn't anything sacred which was wrong?
Like to her parents continually humiliating
What we may need is much educating.

Their darling dear to heaven she has gone
All that is left are thoughts to think upon
Daughter who every day pictures will see
Now all that we have left is her memory.

How can they appear to be hard up for news
To exhibit bodily damage and mental abuse
A new life newscasters should be getting
While on her grave sun soon will be setting.

Our beloved child is now in heaven above
Singing like a snow white precious dove
Some day soon we will be hearing her to
Once we have died and our lives are through.

James Thomas Horn
Retired Veteran and Poet
RiverSea Plantation
Bolivia, NC

They need a category called "REMORSE."
Form: Couplet

Related Poems

Get a Premium Membership
Get more exposure for your poetry and more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Radiant Verses: A Journey Through Inspiring Poetry

Member Area

My Admin
Profile and Settings
Edit My Poems
Edit My Quotes
Edit My Short Stories
Edit My Articles
My Comments Inboxes
My Comments Outboxes
Soup Mail
Poetry Contests
Contest Results/Status
Followers
Poems of Poets I Follow
Friend Builder

Soup Social

Poetry Forum
New/Upcoming Features
The Wall
Soup Facebook Page
Who is Online
Link to Us

Member Poems

Poems - Top 100 New
Poems - Top 100 All-Time
Poems - Best
Poems - by Topic
Poems - New (All)
Poems - New (PM)
Poems - New by Poet
Poems - Read
Poems - Unread

Member Poets

Poets - Best New
Poets - New
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems
Poets - Top 100 Most Poems Recent
Poets - Top 100 Community
Poets - Top 100 Contest

Famous Poems

Famous Poems - African American
Famous Poems - Best
Famous Poems - Classical
Famous Poems - English
Famous Poems - Haiku
Famous Poems - Love
Famous Poems - Short
Famous Poems - Top 100

Famous Poets

Famous Poets - Living
Famous Poets - Most Popular
Famous Poets - Top 100
Famous Poets - Best
Famous Poets - Women
Famous Poets - African American
Famous Poets - Beat
Famous Poets - Cinquain
Famous Poets - Classical
Famous Poets - English
Famous Poets - Haiku
Famous Poets - Hindi
Famous Poets - Jewish
Famous Poets - Love
Famous Poets - Metaphysical
Famous Poets - Modern
Famous Poets - Punjabi
Famous Poets - Romantic
Famous Poets - Spanish
Famous Poets - Suicidal
Famous Poets - Urdu
Famous Poets - War

Poetry Resources

Anagrams
Bible
Book Store
Character Counter
Cliché Finder
Poetry Clichés
Common Words
Copyright Information
Grammar
Grammar Checker
Homonym
Homophones
How to Write a Poem
Lyrics
Love Poem Generator
New Poetic Forms
Plagiarism Checker
Poetry Art
Publishing
Random Word Generator
Spell Checker
Store
What is Good Poetry?
Word Counter