Harshest Poems

Tenement Psalms

The streets remember every whispered prayer,
sirens hum lullabies through heavy air,
Broken bottles brighten beneath Bronx blocks,
kids spin on corners, drawing lines in chalk.

Graffiti wings sketch saints on the wall,
my abuela’s pasteles smell in the hall,
Corners carry chaos courage can claim,
yet Harlem heals me when I call her name.

Skyscrapers guard what we can't see,
Dreams break the streets where hope used to be.
Dawn dances determined, defiant, deep blue,
so I rhyme survival into something true.

Love grows wild in the harshest place,
we carve forever in a fleeting space,
Each echo embraces every enduring eye,
Harlem, you teach me how not to die.

I see you-I’m free of you

See You, But My Mind Is Free
You discarded me just like garbage ,
Wrote poems about me, calling me Trash.”
Called me an old fowl- I was forgotten and erased 
Yet you linger in places to show your ugly face 

You said I wanted wood, but it was you,
Speaking of it, showing up out of the blue.
Valentine’s Day—you stood in my sight,
A ghost of the past in the harshest light.

And today, again, like a shadow you came,
Thinking I wouldn’t notice, playing the same game.
But I see you—I see every move,
Yet my mind is free; I have nothing to prove.

I need not acknowledge, I need not reply,
You are nothing, no one—a whisper gone by.
So walk where you will, but you won’t reach me,
For I’ve let you go, and now I am free.

Written by mj2025-Aug

The Anchor

You were                   T
                      ^         h         ^
                        A       e        R
                          N            O
                               C   H 
                                  v

When reality was unmoored and adrift
When life’s harshest winds ripped a rift
When ominous clouds loomed overhead
When anger leashed gloom tinged red  

You were a ( ( (( VOICE )) ) ) of reason             

When kindness and healing was sparse 
When probable friendships were a farce
You gave me hope, you kept me grounded
When rebound of love’s alarms sounded

You are a        J
                   E W E     
                       L      of the sea

A whirling tsunami washed you ashore
A precious rock, I’d come to adore
Like colorful sea glass, I’m eased by you
A gem of a gift gallant and true  
A treasured heart about to unfurl                                 
I’m destined to be your pearl of a girl

Labels and Light

They seek a label, something to define,
Then twists the truth and paints it all in shame.
It drags the soul beneath its harsh, cold flame,
And whispers lies to mar a spotless shine.

No kindness dwells where judgment takes its hold,
Where friends alone may pass without a scar.
Yet in this night, a quiet strength is bold—
A guarded peace that shines beyond the bar.

Though shadows fall and tear-streaked eyes remain,
And cruel words echo like a bitter sea,
The heart endures, defying all the pain,
Unseen, it guards its sacred honesty.

So walk away, unbroken by their lies,
For truth lives on beyond their harshest cries.

A black man

--BlossomMonyei--
Raised in the harshest sun
It hurts in his bone
This life he asked from no one
Planted amongst those with hearts of stone. 

A black man
Clueless, clumsy
His life's navigation was turned off
The don't care about him.

His mistakes 
He can't erase
He'll move on somehow
Though he withers.

A black man
Meets friends
They did him wrong
They did it again.

"Is the world against me?"
"Why?"??

#blossommonyei
#liberiapoetry
#WeeklyContest
Liberia Poetry Association.
Voice of Liberia-VOL

TEXAS PRAIRIE PARADISE

TEXAS PRAIRIE PARADISE
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
here, where the horizon bends.
the morning sun spills its warmth. 
the Texas prairie stretches~
a vast unbroken beauty where
golden grasses sway.

the air, thick with the scent of sage,
wraps around me like a familiar embrace.
dust motes dance in the light,
tiny galaxies suspended
in the quiet splendor of morning.

cacti punctuate the landscape
these sentinels of resilience,
their spines reminding me 
that life thrives in the harshest of places,
and wildflowers burst forth, fragile yet fierce.

here, the earth breathes differently. 
my heart learns to listen
to the distant call of a hawk,
to the rustle of a rabbit, and
to the soft sighs of the prairie.

the hawk circles high above me,
its shadow gliding across the land,
a guardian of this sprawling solitude,
reminds me of the freedom,
of the vastness within and without.

I stand rooted in this stillness, finding clarity.  
in the expanse, I find belonging.
beneath the wide-open sky,
I am both lost 
and found.

Plight of the Wight

Never again to know fresh air,
Combing worms from my matted hair.
No one remains who’d ever care —
Tied to my grave, this lonesome baire.
I must escape the sun’s harsh glare,
Tread carefully down crumbling stair,
Descend into my crypt just there,
Where I sit alone in dark despair.
Upon my ancient worm-eaten chair,
Inside my vaulted charnel house lair,
Such a sad and accursed affair —
Never to rest, always aware.
This kind of death is so unfair:
No converse, no song, no whispered prayer.
A thousand lifetimes in disrepair,
Unattended, solus, solitaire.
Harshest sentence beyond compare,
Caught in this endless undeath snare.
Naught to do but eternity stare —
And comb the damn worms from my hair.

Words of love

My entry in a poem challenge:
“Write a poem based on three words from a song.”
I chose: 'Words of love' by the Beatles 1964”

words of love

I’m the harshest critic,
the truest of nonbelievers,
when words of love are used.
Soapy words will not deliver
so please stop trying to be smooth.

Don’t compare me to a summer’s day!
I know that’s from some Broadway play.

Waste not flattery’s rose
praise not my grace,
at least not to my face,
you’re better off praising my clothes.

Forgo sweetness, promise nothing
then you may be onto something
say it, straight up, I won’t faint
trust me, sir, I am no saint.
.
.
A song for this:
Words of love by the Beatles
.
Maddy’ Music challenge:
“Write a poem based on three words from a song.”
Song: 'Words of love' by the Beatles 1964
.
Poem challenge:
“Write a poem based on three words from a song.”
Song: 'Words of love' by the Beatles 1964

Building my castle to the kingdom

Building castles within my own confinement 
only to be hit with the harshest of realities
 & replaying what it means to be broken, to heal, and relapse
 over and over again. 
Numbing the weight of so many life choices 
Drowning out screams from all different voices.

Lord please me show me your grace.
Seeing myself in the mirror 
I'd rather not show my face.

My self esteem crumbled 
Self-worth turned to dust 
I'm suffering due to a lack of self love 
And unwillingness to trust

 Feeling as if my body left me unhealed
 without my soul intact 
Praying I could right the wrongs
 that haunt me from my past
afraid of what appears impossible
A daunting peak..  still within my grasp 
 Have to take that leap of faith
 to start me on the path

Dear Lord I pray you break these chains that refuse to set me free 
bound from years and years of pain. 
Most of which have remained unseen 
Let me feel your light my Lord
The warmth shine on my face 
I need to feel your selfless love 
I need your warm embrace.

The thought of this battle 
it heightens all senses of "fight or flight"
I'm writing this in hopes to from now until forever 
Guide me into your light.

Lillian

Some people leave in storms
With their last words being harshest

Some people don't have to say a thing
You know you've already lost them

In fact they intentionally say nothing
They go out like a ghost

I wish I could've stayed but it's not my fault
You chose what you stood against

You lost the war to evil

You stood against smoke and sharp words
But thats your armor now

You use it to shield what you know is right

I used to be the one you told everything to
Instead you hang out with the ones who laugh too loud

Too loud for it to have come from the heart
Instead it comes from what they're holding in their hand

You know I would have held the door for you
Even if I had to watch you walk out

But you've left me wondering in the night
Searching for you

You never respond

It's hard to stay with someone when you don't read their texts
Instead you read the last one that you sent

Over and over

It would be easy to let go if we had never been so close
But we were

If this is really goodbye
Please remember me

I would still fight for you

Even if it's behind closed doors you'll never enter

Thinking Of A Divine Spring

Throughout the coldest days of the mighty winter
Think of a sweet spring and dream of a mild summer
During the harshest hours of the wintry night
Think of flowers and dream of a pleasant sunlight.

Season comes, remains a bit and then flees
Life goes through a circular event like the bees
Like the moonbeams dancing around Mother Earth
In order to charm, embrace and kiss her to death.

In the middle of deep winter, think of a divine spring
And dream of bright and sultry summer days
Never feel hopeless and pessimistic about nothing.

Better days and glorious nights are always ahead
Remain positive and resilient as long as your head
Is present. Think and dream of warmer solar rays.

Copyright © January 2025, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved
Hébert Logerie is the author of several books of poetry.

The Will to Shine

I've cried enough tears till my eyes could weep no more.
Pain, a mere consequence of love—
felt sometimes when it's here, other times when it's gone.
Given at times, taken at others.

To heal, we must learn to forgive ourselves,
to endure rather than run,
to grow even in the harshest conditions.
What is life without the will to strive,
to serve and, when it's our turn, to receive?

Life is but a pendulum,
swinging ceaselessly, offering both joy and sorrow.
So we learn Amor Fati, embracing what comes,
and Memento Mori, remembering what must end.
To live as we are willed,
manifesting the glory and grace of God.

How can we fulfill God's will if we refuse to shine?
Whom do we serve when we shrink from our light?
What benefit is there to those we love,
if we dim ourselves for fear of shining too bright?
To love is to teach.

Sunflower

Yellow rays of sun shining through the red of day,
petals on petals of gaining the courage once lost.
She's made it through the harshest of times,
broken, brushed aside, left alone in a sea of thorns.

Being a sunflower amongst roses, yellow in the red,
she is a beauty like no other, scars and all.
Healed and healthy, thriving when no one believed,
she is you, and you are her, stand tall and proud.

When the reds fade during dusk, yellows still remain,
go forth my little sunflower and thrive forevermore.
That be the name of the heavens pouring out,
screaming hallelujah, everything becomes new.

A Battle of Wills and Verbal Skills

Fed up with his constant prattle 

I got into a verbal battle 

The harshest of words were spoken 

But in the end his will was broken 

My voice was clear and strong of lung

I was sharp of wit and deft of tongue 

His face grew pale and ashen gray 

Then he finally just walked away

Globalism dreams itself a hegemon, a giant upon a throne of glass, ephemeral

Globalism dreams itself a hegemon, a giant upon a throne of glass, ephemeral,
And can only live through brief stints, sporadic in time and deed,
Through the harshest force of terror, its heart locked within shadow;
It silently prepares to rule through fear, for such is its path to ascend.
"Children of the world, unite!" is the cry, but it's a cry muffled by deeply implanted fears,
They hammer nails of "justice" into half-informed minds as into hard, thick wood,
To steal away the thought of self, to wring out reason to the last drop,
And to build within them a clean conscience for the dirty game they are doomed to play.
Crumbling on stage, this globalism cloaks words in noble masks of care and well-being,
But beneath them, the whisper of ancient chains lays upon the shoulders of the unsuspecting.
A world that rolls towards unity, yet breaks into pieces of ice and silence,
In their play, we become unsuspecting pawns, in a game that pawns its future for naught.

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