Integrity Poems | Examples

List of Member Poems

Premium Member Silent Sentinels

When the wind whistles, 
silent sentinels, 
shading thick thistles,
softly sway to the beat

Their coat of arms, 
protects from harm,
the forest fauna's charm,
that rises from the heat

For they find no shade,
in forest glade, tho know,
they rise from Heaven's glow,
then they bow and retreat

They can't disguise,
under watchful eyes,
the true prize, proudly lies,
where the air is so sweet

Premium Member Outspoken Spirit

Not of Earth's people.
I am simply an alien.
Body so broken
For being my own person.
I'll always be outspoken.

Premium Member "A Reputation That Can Survive Accusations "

A reputation like mine
Ain't born in the afternoon 

It crawls out of the alleys
Where whispers sharpen 
Themselves 
Into pocket-knives.

I walk through rumors
The way old gods walk
Through storms-

Unbothered,
Unmoved,

Already knowing the wind
Never had the final say.

They throw accusations 
Like stones at a monument 
They different  build.

But I'm  carved from a truth
That remembers every strike
And still stands upright. 

Integrity  is the currency 
You can't  Counterfeit 
Noise is cheap. 

And when they try to rewrite 
My name 
With their shaky  little stories,

My reputation answers
In a voice older than their

Shawdows:
I was built to outlive
Your version of me.


Premium Member "Boot-Leg Twin"

They printed a bootleg 
Twin of me,

A knock-off stitched in pixels
Of Remnants,

It emulated  my stride,
But the soul wasn't tied,

Just a shadow that ain't 
Ever been free-

So I caught it slippun'
In the alley-light chant,

Patched together from borrowed 
Glow,

Walkin' through  corners
I ain't never trodden in.

It talk like me
But the delivery is glitchy 

Moves like me
But the spirit is empty, hollow,

A Counterfeit clone
Trying to spend my name
Like loose change
In the wrong hands.

And when it tried to pass
As the real one,

I felt the half-rhyme beat
Kick back in my chest:

A twin made a fleeting in the
Dark of night,

A remix wrong, a stolen light,
It copies my flame,

But can hold my name,
Breaken' apart when failed
With what's right.

So I stood in my authenticity,
Watched that knockoff 
Silhouette 
Glitch at the edges,
Unravel at the seams,

Cause it ain't built from my 
Breathe,

Ain't blessed by my walk
Ain't stamped by the Supreme Being
Will.

Just a Bootleg twin
Tryna link with my
Daylight,

But falling apart
In the real me.

Premium Member Schenectady

There once was a man from Schenectady
Who could not keep his hands off the lady
He hit bugs from their behinds
Got fired because they did mind
He thought he was fine, but no one else but he

Premium Member " Brown & Black Young Boys and Men Lives Matter"

Unified Call- We speak their names with
Reverence, and the ancestors rise in
The unseen to witness. 

The world reads them before it knows them,
But the obscurity answers; their capital is
Older than any bias.

They learn caution too early, discretion too
Young, yet the unseen strolls with them in
Every stride.

Harm pursues them without petition 
But protection gathers like a second  horizon,
Shifting the air, not today, not this one.

Their names hold history, optimism, and the
Right to grow old, and the ancestors say each
Name is an ancestry of brilliance. 

When the world looks away, injustice transforms 
Into bold, but the shadows rise; we do not look
Away.

Truth returns to them like a safeguard,
Justice throbs even when unheard, and the
Unseen closes the circle:

Their lives mattered before the world began, and they matter now, fully incessantly.


Premium Member Fake Christians

Fake Christians

Jesus required no qualification
no paperwork for the soul
empathy and compassion
was all one needed
his love never hid his anger
towards the temples of the devils
he spoke up
for the oppressed
the hungry
the meek
not the coin dealers
or those
who slaughter humanity

Orientation

Right or wrong it won't take long
to see whose side you're on
as for me I'm on my mine
although I know
no one's in my corner
and that's fine
body and soul will survive
in control I'll get by
stay whole get out alive
for when the fan is hit
then down are all the chips
but never lost at sea
or in the bewilderness
unlike passing ships
tried and true it's no or yes
will they won't they
as whichever way
the breeze may blow
in sunshine rain and snow
or apparently prevails
born with a built-in BS-detector
I'm my own whether vane
known to keep wind in my sails

Premium Member Moonlight Memories

Moonlight memories are decidedly very human traits
How then, will AI be able to judge what a hand will write?
if bots have no heart nor soul,  will they hesitate
to pass judgement? Will they find this to be their plight?

Throw in the gloom of rain and emotions are in full swing
Can bots comprehend the feelings of emotional pain
or will they judge on Thesaurus words. That's their thing.
Using AI to check for AI... that seems ludicrous and arcane

Premium Member Not a Snotty Literati

                I know a fine gent named Bartholomew
                Quite a literati, I promise you
                    He always finds a way
                    To read ten books a day
                Barth, how can we possibly honor you

Premium Member I B NOT 4 U

There be none of that
U b fresh to me
You're not cool to me
Rude as dirty pig
You be loud stinky and unruly
I be not for you. 
My heart I shall not give
Simple as that
You shall not
Wind me over with your lust
I be not for you
I beat trust
Not to mess
I am chosen
To a king beholden
You can't have it
My vessel nor soul
You can't have it my vessel
I'm spoken for
I am my kingdom's bride
my king I am his
Virtuous, I'm chosen.
I b not 4 U
~
Dia be none for dat
u b fresh to me
you're no bi dey sharp to me
rude as dorti pig
you be loud stinky and do anyhow
i be no bi for you.  
 mai heart i shall no bi find
shikena as dat
you shall no bi
wind me ova wit ya lust
i be no bi for you
i beat trust
no bi to mess
i am chosen
go king beholden
you no fit don it
mai vessel abi soul
you no fit don it mai vessel
i'm spoken for
i am mai kingdom's bride
mai king i am im
virtuous, i'm chosen. 
 i b no bi 4 u

9/1/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2026
Afrobeat Song

A MESSAGE TO THE NEXT GENERATION

This is a message to the next generation 
Take it slow now, one step at a time 
But don't remain stagnant 
There's always the right time
To do anything 
When the time is not right, you have to wait 
That's why patience is the key to success.

Whatever you're doing 
Take your time 
Don't let pressure, push you out of line
When you rush it
You might be depressed or you'll live in anxiety
Those you're trying to impress 
Won't give you a dime, so take your time.

I'm talking out of experience 
To react is not to act
Things forced, are forgery
They never last
If you no endure, you no go enjoy 
Isaiah 60 vs 22
When the time is right 
I the Lord will make it happen
Be patient; take your time.

Premium Member "Words Reveal The Heart"

The one who spoke in flames

Burned solid through their

Own name,

Their mouth revealed their

Art-

Every syllable displayed their

Heart.

Premium Member Death Doula

An event planner from birth,
he becomes annoyed to notice
what had been short-range planning
is now long-range
hoping to renew
anthropocentric intelligent investment

What sentience may his cells,
molecules,
atoms have that remains?

Now free to transverse
transform
transparent with non-other
neighbors

Looking for unconditional love
compassion
enlightenment
cooperative empowerment

With synergetic
energetic
united,
but not uniformed,
neighbors

Rematriated,
reformed
from patriarchal caste position
preservation
compulsion

Recreating a less anthropocentric view,
panentheism becomes as humanely obvious
as sacred ethos wealth
embracing organic eros health

Renewing virtues 
of green ecological climates
planning a robust EarthMother democracy.

Premium Member " Rebel of the Shadows"

I experienced early on the block
Don't respect a rebel

So I etched my own lane, created 
On truth,

And battled every day just to
Earn my come-up

' Cause the streets only fear a real rebel

One who won't fold, won't flex from the truth. 

Some twilights I bled for the cost of truth

But discomfort never immobilized  my

Hierarchy rise,

It only amplified the fire in a rebel. 

Rebel, truth, rise; the lore I transmit through 

The shadows

Sub Categories

Definition | What is Integrity in Poetry?

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.

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