Emirati Glitterati…sold their soul
All for an arty farty party so dull
Each troll got a very simple goal
Going for gold their Faustian role
Befriend astro knoll on pretend atoll
Look at me vanity but never a lull
Narcissist fantasy look like a doll
Maybe botox detox don't annul
Tax free captivity in goldfish bowl
Not like before well war takes its toll
Rakes get the shakes out of control
Save me plea on every single scroll
Fakes & flakes on the make must cull
Hard not to laugh at whole rigmarole
Tragic they chose their Arabic hellhole
Goodbye to Dubai magic back to Hull
Mull over becoming a prole on the dole
If there was a poll would say Tres Drole
Or on insular influencer peninsula "LOL"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
old shelves bow
like old priests
holding up confessions~
stories too heavy to tell
out loud.
cracked leather
spine cracks yawn
paper lungs inhale time
the atlas breathes:
still lost?
insular worlds
stand guard in maple frames:
atlas of seas, botany texts, star charts.
each shelf a compass
pointing elsewhere.
empty spaces where
paperbacks once huddled—
loaned, but never returned.
absence breathes
louder than the stories kept.
new oak shelves wait,
unvarnished and expectant.
Fill me with life, they whisper.
she stacks poetry first—thin spines
bearing thick truths.
That vacuum
inside you
once in it
you’re trapped
Insular
nothingness
too late
to look back
What’s empty
imprisons
no reference
in space
Where freedom
and choice
become duly
— erased
(Dreamsleep: June, 2025)
Miniature Edens. Regularly insular
but small hopes can't be
everything in poverty.
Big brains flee from atrophy.
Time strokes the wrinkled canvas,
the ancient spider in twilight hour
weaves the senility web,
the empty eyes wander in the wasteland.
The hedonist psyche refuses
to gauge the grief of loss.
The face morphs into metaphor
for the past panorama dislodged,
captured in the snapshot
of the narcissist impulse congealed
in the portrait I make of me.
It’s made of latent lattice of delicate design,
lines on lines contour my body.
The vibrant epitome of expression align
with the pattern of unique look personified.
An insular captive of my mental making,
I’m an inimitable loner within me,
defined by the entrenched essence singular,
scared to face the crowded world.
I get driven by the self-obsessed urge
to uplift my sagging morale,
clothe the portrait with an apposite attire.
I open the sparse closet to select a T-shirt
with the walking punchline
“Be Brave, Be You” inscribed bold.
It makes a simple style statement
for me coming out of the lonesome shell.
I faced this man, looking like a portrait,
I heard him whisper from heart straight.
You’re bold and flagrant frank,
voice vibrates with cadence of confident airs,
you’re logical, at times tangentially crank,
eyes encase dulcet dreams, at times tears
In the latent lattice of intricate design,
layer on layer, your mind is stratified,
the sanguine strata of all assorted hues align,
unique psychic patterns are unified.
Many aspects of singular distinction hide
within the network of your mind’s cipher layers,
can’t be decoded by the world outside,
the reticent sense of silent self never cares.
An insular captive of your mental making,
you’re you, an inimitable loner,
in your lane you see the aliens walk forsaking,
you’re defined by your essence sober.
These are the entity attributes of you people view,
different from the rest around you, for you’re you.
I looked at the portrait somewhat closer,
saw this man stare at me from the mirror.
Brushing teeth in school,to be like a golden rule,
Cutting back on a shuggery meal
Seems quite the lead; by touch and feel
Yet its quite ok to add, to their water (not a fad)
Around thirty three things? or more, from God knows what store?
Also injecting experimental drugs, from some mad alien thugs
Watching bloody wars, is part of life for them now raw'
Trangender also a big thing, its merits 'they must sing' so its
All good, and clear and fine, if you will just abdicate the mind?
Let an ideology run wild, takeing over every child.'
With (a i ) to follow life even more, i wonder why my heads
So sore? Yet i'm also sure; thats what is best.! is a human scale
We all need to face lifes usual gales, yet no more blasts of
Such reckless social change, from the no doubt insular.!
And of Minds deranged.'
\\()//
//A\\
n
c
i
e
n
t
s
a
i
l
o
r
lost boat
in tempest but swam on
sinking hope, a defoliated lone tree in a
desolate island far from secure longing shore, anchorage
abandoned, an insular being stranded in the realm of remote sea
~~~~~~~~~within the aquarium of alien waves~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
INTIMATIONS
feature
prominently
among
connoisseurs
open
to new ideas
new thoughts
awaited
in
an intense
meditative
ethereal
experience
the
height
of isolation
so insular
from emotion
latticed
to inspiration
a focused
theme
of
the increasingly
unpredictable
& appealing
in an age
of escalating
uncertainty
in
this secluded
place
the joy
better suited
to
the rambling
remains
of a seductive
backdrop
of precious
pieces
in a smooth
heritage
fortified
by
the contemporary
resonance
of the
temporary
a
taxonomical
neo-geo
connoisseur
moves on again
to
a totemic
astonishment
of many
yet
stifling
in every sense
&
in it all
prosaic
inspiration
poetically described
as
dystopian reimaginings
of flotsam
a natural
detritus
embedded
yet
not belonging
littered with empty
kitsch
inlaid with
a peripatetic
identity
&
linguistic
incomprehensiblity
a
perfected
undertaking
before
disillusionment
was growing
into
an insular
mutely
societal moment
a
tormented
self-portrait
to
reflect
the days
but instead
depicted
a recognition
of
largely passing
decades
hoisted
&
seared
in
a
retrospective
survey
Comes many a different way
Raised heartbeat so they say
Insular in thought and deed
Support from others they do need
Intelligent listening and a free shoulder
Soldier talk better to a soldier
Stay with then until they are safe
Unifying brotherhood defying the strafe
Providing comfort and lending an ear
Prepared to even shed a tear
Order a coffee and have a chat
Remain positive be a diplomat
Try to stay focused on saving your buddy
Energy zapped thoughts going through your body
Remain calm positive and you will succeed
Stress is an injury that can't be seen
SECOND THOUGHTS
comprehensive
yet
idiosyncratic
souvenirs
with unfailingly
interesting
but insular
an artefact
so
intricate
& exquisite
perfect&
precise
a miniaturism
palm-sized
auspicious
an
appropriation
with
appreciation of
reality
almost
revelatory
that breathes
& transforms
novelty
into
a reality
so
comprehensive &
often
charmingly
decorative
THIS IS AN OPEN(organic) FORM VERSE without grammatical symbols the ' open' relies upon 'the one breath limitation' & so inherently requires the 'reader' (reciter) to input and respond thus making the form a two way interplay and often a unique interpretation by the enigma so derived
In insular cocoons
lie sleepy heads curled
Can a deluge of death
rouse a somnolent world
I’m an industrial athlete,
A miracle of logistic efficiency.
I climb the corporate ladder
Over a hundred times a day,
And all I ever see are boxes.
I have no idea what’s inside.
That’s above my pay grade.
My only concerns are
Hand trucks, forklifts, conveyer belts,
And boxes, boxes, boxes.
Every day is Boxing Day.
I race around the warehouse
Filling orders at a pace that leaves me feeling
Like Britain stripped of empire:
Small, insular, and not so great.
Soon I’ll be losing my job to a robot.
covid mutates dividing earth ~ insular denial seeds rebirth
By
David Kavanagh
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.