If I was a beaver, I would build a dam
Filling each room with beans and ham
Installing near each entrance a hidden cam
Inspiring a waterway traffic jam
I would hole up with my cousin Sam
And possibly my neighbor we call Glam
We would cut down trees with a loud bam
As we added rooms to our glamourous dam
Categories:
hole up, 1st grade, 2nd grade,
Form: Rhyme
Friday the 13th always takes over.
I can’t be saved with a four leaf clover.
Everything is ominous.
My cereal is filled with angry ants.
If I turn on the stove, will I start a fire?
Then run and trip over an electrified wire?
I tidy up and call the electrician.
I sit on the couch to avoid premonitions.
Friday the 13th is a lonely day.
I’m scared to be here but also scared to drive away.
As I could get in a crash.
I throw my old toaster in the trash.
My friends text and ask what’s wrong.
Wasn’t I supposed to ride along?
I check my phone and realize,
That this day I’ve been viewing with fearful eyes-
Is Thursday the 12th!
So no need to worry about my health.
Tomorrow, I can hole up again.
But for now, I’ll have fun with my friends.
Categories:
hole up, angst,
Form: Rhyme
My main goal in 2022 was to clean out my enormous bedroom mess.
There is a stack of boxes beside my bed which is now under a pile of stuff.
Pieces of a variety of things stick out their tongues and irritate me.
In September I said, “I will get this cleaned up and out by October.”
In October I had a thousand other things to do for cleaning is not fun.
This pile has extended out into the pathway to my bed. I am slipping now.
I will clean this rat hole up during Thanksgiving break I promised myself.
Cooking did not get done either. Husband and I both had the flu.
At least I have fifteen days off for winter break, I reassured myself.
Agreeing to sort for one hour a day. That lasted all of eighteen minutes.
This is 2023. Today I slid on the pile, because it is monstrous now.
Maybe next year, I tell myself. Not in the cleaning mood once again.
Categories:
hole up, new year,
Form: Free verse
At night in the prairies,
on the savanna,
the plow harrowed land,
or the scrub and brush
of sparse hunting grounds,
creatures are illumined
by a shimmering fear.
Trepidation ignites dark niches;
blood shines.
Fox and rabbit
watch in their sleep,
in their tunnels;
both sense each other
through a voltage of fur.
They are electric,
those that are hid by a shaded moonlight
are lit by a light that consumes itself.
Eyes are flashlights,
minds openly hunt or hole up,
all watch for the dire
glimmer of danger.
Closely concealed or at a distance
all follow the trace of a searching scent,
all share the body-heat of the chase,
or the quick pounce
of a breath-snatching find.
Categories:
hole up, poetry,
Form: Free verse
Those who hole up in concrete brains
Miss much joy in the world
Do they fear others’ opinions might have merit?
Is this why they insist on blinders and ear muffs?
I cannot imagine how much energy goes into hate.
I hate this
I hate that
I hate the other
And how many more muscles does it take to frown?
I believe the most intelligent people are the flexible ones.
Flexible in their thinking, willing to listen to others
Willing to take chances, to risk something, to learn newness.
I feel sorry for the haters and the fearful. Don’t you?
Categories:
hole up, 10th grade, 11th grade,
Form: Free verse
In the backstreets of my mind I find passages anew
Along diverging paths, I often see my way through
There are places I can ramble or find myself rather lost
But there my thoughts can stumble at no damage or cost
As I rehearse new ideas in my own private hullabaloo
Then along some back roads not often taken or sought
Sometimes hard-earned battles are wearily fought
Am I good enough to give it a try? What if I should fail?
It is sometimes quite hard to allow myself to set sail
As my devils and angels ride by to espouse till I’m fraught
So I walk through my alleyways to hole up in a safety redoubt
Weighing each option before I’m ready to shout and come out
I choose to plunge in to move toward the road that continues on
For there’s no foreseeing the obstacles this path will then spawn
But I’ll use the streets in my mind and my “figuring it out” route
written: 9-25-2019
In the backstreets of my mind Poetry Contest 2nd place
Sponsored by: Silent One
Categories:
hole up, destiny, journey,
Form: Quintilla
She’s a wily one. Watch out!
There is a tornado coming, Tornado Tressa.
She is feral, ferocious, fierce, filled with fury.
Tread lightly, better yet, hole up in a ditch or a basement.
A paw comes out, tearing up my white sock.
Then I hear a small meow. Good grief.
Is this what they are talking about?
Apparently none of these Venusites have seen a cat before!
They think it’s a tornado for some odd reason.
I offer to take care of it for all the plutonium I can get into my space ship.
Mission is a huge success.
I wave happily.
Check my gauges.
Adjust my mirrors.
“Planet Earth,” I say to my MegaBlaster.
Plutonium Princess curls up on a pillow and sleeps all the way back
Categories:
hole up, 10th grade, 4th grade,
Form: Narrative
with scamper and scurry, slither and slink,
with rustle and rattle, crackle and snap
the shy, bashful, humiliated and humble
sneak away scared, to hole-up and hide-a-way
covering up their foibles and fears,
which they know all too well.
Categories:
hole up, anxiety, fear,
Form: Free verse
Since it’s the beginning of a rather bleak week,
I’ve decided to play games like hide and go seek.
First I have to round up some willing boys and girls,
They are around the corner , some are wearing curls.
We all have to be careful when choosing our sides,
We need glad ones, and nice ones, and some with tough hides.
We need screamers, and yellers, and gigglers too.
It’s keen fun playing games with pals that can “woo hoo.”
I like jumpers, and thumpers, and clappers galore.
To get this game started, I’d best go out the door.
I’m pedaling up the street, an inviting bike ride.
My friends cannot find me if I hole up inside.
Categories:
hole up, 1st grade, 2nd grade,
Form: Rhyme
Though the winds are wild,
And the gale unleashed;
Though waves bewail
And the surge swells:
My hurting heart still hums:
I know that Jesus lives,
I know He lives for me,
I know He's been my dyke;
I know He calms the storm.
So, I anchor in the Rock
Winds or waves cannot shake.
I hole up in its crevice
And wait for a while, trusting;
Just a while for God's glory
To drop like morning dew,
Distilling down the peace
Of heaven on the field
Dried by drought.
© 2015
Celestine S. Ikwuamaesi
Categories:
hole up, spiritual,
Form: Pastoral
Set 'em up barkeep and leave the bottle
I walked in know'n I may not walk out
I done robbed that stage last night
Now that there posse a'chasen, no doubt
Dang it, so tired of being noth'n much
Just want'n to start over, somewhere new
Didn’t mean to hurt no one for sure
But I did, now don't know what to do
So I'll finish this here bottle of Rotgut
And ride that sorry mule t'ward the west
If'n they don’t catch me before sunup
I'll hole up somewheres and get some rest
Now that pore broke down gal I know
Will think I's gone for all and good
Wished I could've helped her some
But can't go back, know I should
No good , that’s what Ma used to say
My pa was nothin, a mean robbin' thief
So when that there rain lets up a bit
I'll be ago'n, bring'n her no more grief
Hope I get a' buried by a big old tree
An' next time I'll try to be a better me…
Categories:
hole up, cousin, emotions,
Form: Rhyme
In the sky
At the bottom of the Earth
Four times the size
Of the U.S. of A.
In Chile,
Blinded salmon, rabbits,
Ranchers
Testify to something nasty
Going on with the sun.
Up North,
Cavefish politicians
Scoff at these revelations, saying,
"No hole up here, and see -
We've been blind for years."
One day these self-made eyeless
May find themselves upon the plates
Of forgotten Morlocks down below.
Categories:
hole up, change, dark, environment, visionary,
Form: Free verse