Jagged Poems

Jagged Edges

There are edges Time leaves in passing
      Some of them are jagged
 A few edges are grey and badly torn
Sometimes the jagged are also distorted
      and leave one puzzled, confused
 Some edges can cause disquiet
And we begin to wonder where they were
Were they there all along and not noticed 
      Or, were we able to ignore.
Did we simply whisk them from our life  
 Along with Worry, Sadness, Fear
    
But, sometimes, when we look closely,
Grasping Time from its rushing
 We will see colors behind the jags
      lilac, red, green, blue, amber...
 Some colors will simmer and pop
      Some colors will magically glow
 Those colors we would like to keep
      For they are filled with Hope.

The Jagged Edges

The skyline cuts through faded tones,
With moonglow blazing gilded bronze
And fluid my ink is interlaid
As nightfall drifts like a peace shroud
        The glass pane teeters in the breeze
     With my pen zigzagging on damp papyrus

I hear an old couple laugh on the alley
Their banter rolling , perhaps, of younger times--
Across them, a lone man trots, forlorn
      His bent spine enduring road's travail,
Leading his wobbly feet to tangles of blooms
While egrets scuffle homeward bound.

My mixed thoughts wander at this picture show
       ...Receding off so gradually
From the tip- tap screech of cobblestones
        To my pane's sill, fingers reach for verses
Where each day is a page to write new stories
About jagged yet sleek edges of time's folly
        My hands sinking into tattered phrases, kneading

Recitals of life with unknown episodes.

The Jagged Edges

The barbs she threw at him
left jagged edges on them both
torn from deep within herself
        raw, bloody pieces of meat 
      hurled violently across the room,
          the space, the endless time.
They cleaved to him, each one
      slowly shrouding the man
until he became a prickly porcupine.
Some silent days, from weariness
      would bring respite, closeness.
          In intimacy, his spines
      would prick her open wounds;
They could not help themselves,
        They no longer had control.
And so they lived, or slowly died
      behind soft lace curtains;
        a bitter purgatory
          on the jagged edges
      of a new society.

Jagged Edges No More

  The jagged edges tear apart
The cornerstones of her heart
Each day, there's an emotional dart
Thrown by her counterpart
The husband's venom impart
And sadly, she's his push cart
Where seemingly, she's his spare part
That he abuses with his mouthpart 
She's  fallen to her knees and kick-start
Thus, a bullseye that cries for a depart
For the jagged edges will never depart
But wisely, she needs to be smart
And distance herself from his blackheart
She yearns for smooth edges and a new start
In the end, she clears off her sweetheart

connie pachecho

7/31/25

The Jagged Edges

J with Four Options Poetry Contest: Free verse 
sponsor :Constance La France 
Date:7/31/25

“Not all pain howls, some sharpens”
by poet


I never asked to come out clean
life carved me raw on purpose 
some parts were shaped in silence
        the rest I had to burn
not all soft things were meant to last    
I watched them melt then vanish
      while I turned thorn to anthem
       and dressed my hurt in steel
you think I cracked but I evolved
I had to break open just to breathe
if I could trace the shape of my breaking
      I might learn what it means to remain
still I stand here not whole but aware
jagged edges still holding what I could
I walk with wounds that never fade  
        but shine beneath the skin
my scars all lines of poetry
the world was too quiet to hear
there’s beauty in the splintered
      when you stop calling it a flaw

The Jagged Edges

Pride goes before destruction and a haughty spirit before a fall.  
Proverbs 16: 18

      she stood tall on the jagged edges of the cliff
face worried as she noticed the rough seas
whilst above high dark clouds rumbled
though the sun shone straight at her face
could it enlighten her about what had happened

      thoughts came and went, as she remembered
the letter he had sent her and wondered
        was she deceived by her soldier and sister
he insulted her refusing to marry him
and she insulted him back vowing
          she would never marry him come what may

      still thoughts rumbled inside her mind
was he really proud or was she prejudiced
          the jagged edges of a knife pierced her soul
could there have been some half-truths in his insults
she still hated him but admired his handsome face
      facts churned in her head and confused her even more
could she face those jagged edges of truths

      she turned and walked down the rough cliff
her soul lacerated with truths and pride

Placed 1

The Jagged Edges

"Life levels off in importance. Days are no longer 
jagged peaks to climb; time is a meadow, 
and we move over it with level steps." 
                                                ~ Gladys Taber


Her life is a page torn from a spiral notebook 
      whose jagged edges are tattered
She's bone weary and wears the haggard scowl
          of a woman whose heart has been badly broken

There are jagged lines, wrinkles and creases
      the kind that ages a beautiful face
where once his fingertips had left a gentle touch
          her skin seems ravaged by sorrow

No longer can she peer into a mirror
      none have been left hanging in her home
Into pointed shards they'd been shattered
          in a moment of hysteria

There are no straight-edged lines in lost love
      for the toll is measured in flesh
and the only traces of it left to recall
           are memories that tussle her mind

There's an emotional mountain she must climb
      jagged edged rocks will impede her way
but when she succeeds in reaching the crest
          from grief she will have been freed

The Jagged Edges

Natural things are rarely smooth
or flawless as they appear on the surface
      Smooth fur on skin and curve on wing
           are rough and jagged underneath
Push back against the grain shows true texture within
       reveals bristling hairs and quill barbs of feathers
          It's the grit within that shapes us
A pearl is smooth but inside is a seed of grit
We need the bumps knurls and gnarls to grip and hold
Slick things slip through silky wet and wanton fingers
          Most natural things are rough at birth
Stones and gold nuggets are fractured rough at source
They're smoothed by wear and tear of sand rubbing in streams
        Babies are smooth at birth but age roughens them
Humans grind away all day at nature's roughness
seeking perfection in shiny smooth and faultless
      Blissfully they're unaware that
it's the faults flaws texture and roughness within
           that glistens shiny the pearl
It's the bumps and gnarls outside that knurls the grip

Watching the jagged line

Here I sit gun against my head
Praying that I will soon be dead
A life with many ups and downs
True love I thought would never be found
That's exactly what she brought to me
The endless love is what it would be
Now I can only watch the jagged line
As her health will slowly decline
We once ran wild and free
So much in life we wanted to see
Then things turned to easy and slow
What was coming we didn't know
Now I watch as it's all down hill
This the life that's completely real
Not sure how much longer she will stay
But I pray to God every day
Hoping that together we will go
I love more than you'll ever know!!

Jagged Peace

I gave you a box of giggling clowns
to make you laugh during the downs
I gave you a spray of golden fins
to swim far away from your jinn.

This cracked heart you'll never have
for it has turned into a pulsing hive
a bouquet of hornets at the ready
to sting away your whitewashed lies.

The windchimes are chilled and quiet now
gone are the stingers and giggling clouds
a pile of dust where there once lay fleece
I pray that you'll straddle a jagged peace.

Jagged

The ancient jagged rocks stand, like black sentinels along the waterside,
Protecting the land from the continuous raging tide.

They are perpetually black, either slicked with water or as a sharp silhouette against a blue crystal sky.
They dominate everything and are especially feared by every mariner that make their slow way by.

On their landward faces they offer protection from the wind,
And creatures shelter there, in a place where peace is so hard to find.

The tops are sharpened points, that seem to reach right up to the clouds,
The only sounds are the wind, the sea and the gulls screeching out loud.

These sounds are never ending they go on for eternity,
The sentinels just ignore it all and stand there protecting everything from the everlasting sea.

Jagged

*For all people who struggle against adversity, deadly disease and oppression at the same time*

A bright mind wrapped in flakes of thorn 
A heart that braves the scoff and scorn 
A soul that wanders everywhere 
It walks on hills from here to there 

A body lamed and ripped and torn 
It bears the curse since time was born 
A rouge disease that claims its life 
Its soul is caught in mire of strife

Alone in dark, searching its soul 
Thinking of how to reach its goal 
The thorny mounds on its rough skin 
Defines the troubles it had been 

In dark of night, it shuns the light 
It is afraid of what is bright 
It builds some pricks around its nest 
To guard its heart from lurking pests

3rd place

Jagged

Jagged edges of this morning,
   clad in black skies dark adorning,
   issues now it’s subtle warning
   leaving living souls depressed.

Jagged are emotions teeming;
   deep within, our hearts are screaming;
   ‘pon our cheeks our tears are streaming 
   with our sadness now expressed.

Jagged are the headstones wearing 
   names of souls departed bearing 
   sadness in those here still caring,
   left behind with death’s bequest.

Jagged are my deepest feelings;
   deeper still my thoughts revealing;
   death now leaves emotions reeling 
      as we lay your soul to rest.


October 22, 2023

Elinore Catherine Gondolf
March 31, 1924 - September 23, 2023

Rest in peace, Mom.

Jagged

Jutting out dangerously.
Attention needed urgently.
Gashed and hurtful no one liked. 
Grating metal barbed and spiked. 
Exposed wire to catch your clothes.
Dull and jagged everyone loathes.

Jagged

On the jagged edge of conflict
 The sharp blade of hate begins to show
 This hate boils over into war
 and blood begins to flow
 Fiery flashes of bomb blasts
 Light up the violent night
 Innocent civilians caught in the crossfire
 There are no solutions in sight

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