I gathered the darkness into a collection
of small, trembling things,
waiting for the curtain to tear ...
...if I am your refrain, let my name burn -
cinder by cinder,
a tongue of smoke rising from the
brambly shrine of your mouth.
Thread me into the loop of your breath.
Let me be the phrase you repeat
until the rhythm carves through wood,
until the melody becomes a scar beneath your ribs -
a fire fed only by its own echo.
The twilight hangs like heavy silk.
I beseech the sun to undress the stars,
to pour its violent gold over the silver secret of our knees.
Let the cold, quiet myths we built in the dark
be stripped bare,
exposed,
undone by the glare of an unpitying dawn.
Show me what remains when the veil catches fire.
Leave nothing hidden -
neither the holy terror of being seen,
nor the ash of what is left after our song has burned out entirely.
HONESTY
Double dealing yet convincing individuals
Are all over like clouds in the sky even though abominations-
They could be on every corner of every street ignoring the heat
Under their feet as they wait for a new victim or recruit
But you must never be one of them despite their many methods
Of persistently swaying-they will eventually abandon you when it
Benefits them even if you rip a hem-you deserve a better life than
Than that of a Judas Goat`
Never steal nor lie about either yourself or others
It is neither honest nor right to do either even if you can be
convincing and want to ruffle some feathers-leave it to those who
Who enjoy causing trouble and instead huddle with the honest
citizens- your honesty will grow stronger!
I can't stand a food fanatic
They dine at my house, and want gluten free
I just smile and look enigmatic
Ignoring their wishes doesn't bother me.
For the vegans, I include an egg
For vegetarians, I sprinkle in beef
For teetotalers, I use beer from a keg
If they knew, they'd punch me in the teeth.
But why should I humor a food fanatic
Why should I waste precious cooking time
They're all nuts, like my aunt in the attic
Wasting good food is to me a crime.
I'm a meat and potatoes guy myself
Dunkin Doughnuts and McDonalds are good enough for me
A couple of drinks haven't ruined my health
Why should I honor their idiocy?
But I raise a question, because I must
Should we respect nonsense requests?
Are we betraying a trust
Or encouraging people to be pests?
Truthfully I'm a food fanatic
This whole poem is just a lie
I've weak, even my walk is erratic
But I'll stick with my diet, don't ask me why.
Further and further
Such thoughts do crawl,
Slowly, ever driven
Right up the wall
The craziest things
Are they real or fake,
When words are spoken
Or a picture, take
These days, these days
How can one tell,
Who is not on your side
Who is wishing you well
Who is behind there
Or what, if the case,
Be hiding from sight
Of a familiar face
This drives me mad
And this eats me away,
Too many questions
We must ask today...
Memory is too honest a word for something
That keeps arriving without consent
It shows up in timing
Not thought
A pause where there shouldn’t be one
A second that refuses to move on
I don’t call it back
It just occurs
Like a system running a process, I did not start
Nothing about it asks to be understood
It only proves it still runs
And I stop interfering with it
Because interference
Is where it learns my name again
Sometimes my writing feels choppy like the bay,
On a stormy day.
However, I keep writing and rewriting until it’s flows smooth as fine wine,
Until it becomes divine.
Something that was hidden,
Buried deep within and felt forbidden.
Things that others don’t want to mention,
I put them on paper and they are given dimension.
I stand alone quite often,
My words they feel I need to soften.
They simply don’t understand my line of thought …
All criminal urges start young.
We covet cookies from the cookie jar.
Forge daily our moral compass.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Give me a man who's introspects
Who concedes the flaw that's true
Give me a man who can laugh at himself
And can walk in another's shoes.
Give me a man who can stand apart
But who's able to blend in
When the road ends he can restart
He plays fair when he strives to win.
Give me a man who can see the world
Without a filter of preconception
Who can recognize when the script is overthrown
By one nagging exception.
Give me a man who can take a critique
But who can also dish one out
Admitting fault doesn't make you weak
And sometimes there is room for doubt.
Give me a man who hears the quiet voice
The soft alarm that something's wrong
Who steps back, revises his choice
Like rewriting the words of a hit song.
Give me a man who likes to jump in a pond
And swim to the far shore
Who wants to see what lies beyond,
And what the journey's for.
Give me a man with a strong arm and a soft word
Empathetic, but not to the point of harm
Who can go against the herd
When the party line raises an alarm.
Give me the company of men such as these
They'll keep me honest too
A trust so deep to keep at ease
And friends to see me through.
477.
Prayer For Honesty
Oh Father God, we pray for honesty
That in this world truth can have supremacy
Oh Lord Jesus, we ask for truth all the time
That we experience moments sublime
Oh Holy Spirit, we beg for truthfulness
That every person can trust & avoid double-mindedness
This we implore to our Lord God. Amen.
-12/23/2015
(Dumarao)
*Gideons Prayer Poems for Christian Virtues
I couldn’t fit
all of me
into an allegory
that fit the stanza
of time,
place, meaning,
or spice.
I am not
a Quaker
or Christian.
I do not fit
a mold, or
pigeon hole.
I am still
here,
trying.
a T.S Eliot time
there was poetry
and song
and the world was burning up
cooler
than today
and dirty dancing
was clean,
so is
Listerine.
A new man's been charged to run this town;
Dressed as a boss, but acting as a clown.
People are split between laughter and frown.
Some look glad; others feel down.
They're, all, in a sinking boat, but who won't drown?
Those brave people who can swim.
Those who, with confidence, brim.
Those who dare tell him
That he is totally dull and dim,
And that they refuse to be judged by his whim.
Hypocrites lack honesty, candidness and felicity.
And this man is even worse.
His running of this city is some sort of curse.
He's poisoned with prejudice and animosity.
So who would trust a snake faking tranquillity?
Why should people wait and hope?
Or force themselves to cope?
Isn't there a chance to leave his scope?
Respectable people should not be left to mope.
They should learn to say "nope".
Trying to measure
the worth of meaning
and value of me
without you
is as useless
of a venture
as a life
without
you.
Fewer clarities
have ever
occurred to me.
I fail, miserably.
Tonight, it was
the mad dash
to the grocery store.
I had just run 6 miles
in the 80-degree dying day
and I smelt like it.
I looked like an extra
from a bad horror movie,
or an escapee
from the local asylum.
My hair was loose
and wild, a half-made
nest for the robins,
no doubt.
My makeup had
rearranged itself
in odd places
across my face.
I just needed coke,
chips, and who knows
what else.
No one was looking at me
and I wasn't looking at them,
until...
"Miss Jen!"
Ahh!
I've been spotted!
I spoke in mumbles
and the usual
babbling nonsense
and sculked away
after I met
the whole, unimpressed
family.
I managed a joke,
horrible and trying,
yet there was
mutual understanding
in all our fake chuckling.
I was wearing my black
bike shorts, Panama Rocks
tee shirt, pink sneakers,
and I smelt to high heaven.
I grabbed a jar of triple
succotash, as if
intentionally.
Earlier, I was well kept
and wearing a ladylike dress
to a friend's birthday party.
Then, I had it together.
Who can maintain
that level of normality
for a whole day?
I'm not going
to the grocery store
tomorrow.
You are my poetry.
You are my Tarzan.
You show me birds
above the trees
and offer great
music
to my soul.
My Lee…
you make me feel alive.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.