Lagged Poems

I Love Being Jet-lagged

I said to the class,
"Now the first thing we're going to do, is feed this poem."
& I asked my friends, "Do you want to help me write an Arthurian epic?"
They replied, "Do we?!"

My son is writing a story, with a character called Professor Question-Mark
My daughter believes we're taking a plane somewhere every night
I picked up my children on the last day of their summer camp, 
With my son running out the automatic doors uttering, "Let's get out of here."

Hundreds of pounds down the drain
Mad cheddar
Mad stacks of cabbage and
Post traumatic Christmas disorder 

In the King's chamber at Windsor Castle
The audioguide informs tourists of its decorative history
Before announcing the bed in question in front of us is not the actual bed
A man groans and walks off 

My mum asks me to go check on my dad in the public bathroom
I knock on the cubicle and say, "Dad, are you in there?"
He replies, "Yeah."
We find him at Victoria Square and I realise it wasn't him

There is mad screaming from another carriage on the train
I know we are near our station

Unsaid Prayers

She rose at dawn
and laid the mat,
not from longing,
but from old habit.

She bowed, then sat,
hands curled in form,
but the heart lagged—
a breath behind.

Whispers once lush
now stumbled dry—
echoes of names
once called with fire.

The tasbih clinked
without intent,
rolling bead by bead
without a soul.

She used to plead,
soaking her sleeves,
but now she blinked
and called it done.

Ameen, she mouthed—
not out of hope,
but in fear of what
silence might mean.

Her faith remained,
tired and thin,
folded like cloth
kept from the sun.

She loved her Lord—
but the fire dimmed
in the hurly winds
on dusty paths.

And so she kneels,
devout and hushed,
with prayers unsaid
threading her tongue.

One day, she hopes
her tongue will stir,
and her lips will lift
to pray aloud again.

Old Letters

We don’t craft and send no more
Penned words residing in my draw
Those dated thoughts and gone events
Scrapbook of yore it represents

Handwritten mood, pain and regrets
Once sunny days, audacious bets
One young at heart, the choices made
Mundane events still on parade

Creased paper, yellowing in time
Cute fading stamps, once worth a dime
Ideas frozen, saved and kept
And people, places somehow trapped

For boys and girls, for moms and dads
Grandmas and wives of spouse-nomads
How stay in touch, to share crave
To savor love and send the wave

The way we were, like photo framed
Re-read those words, yourself reclaim
A little pile, ribbon-tied
Link to the past it hides inside

The world has changed, days flew by
We type, not write, and say ‘goodbye’
To letters, pushed aside by chats
So glued to screens in our flats

I have regrets, as letters gone
The dialog to act upon
Mailbox flag’s up, lagged outcome
And glory, when the letter comes!

September 11, 2024

The Manual

Where was your manual for me.
The mandatory rehabilitation.
Ignorance is bliss and you had built up frustration. Aggravation.
Where was your patience.


Waiting for the other shoe to drop contemplating.
we needed a manual for the situation.
That’s all i’m saying.
On the other hand where was the contribution.
lost for words at the amusement.
The alternative resolution.

Where was your manual for me.
The mandatory rehabilitation.
Ignorance is bliss and you had built up frustration. Aggravation.
Where was your patience.

should of said can you do a favor  for me?
provide the struggle.
show her how hard you had to hustle.
what it’s like to get into a scuffle.
it’s all fun and games until you have to adapt.
you got work with what you have.
that you didn’t have apart of your craft.
it lacked and lagged. 

Where was your manual for me.
The mandatory rehabilitation.
Ignorance is bliss and you had built up frustration. Aggravation.
Where was your patience.

if you were taught would of been a different story.
should have been given more.
what you had on your plate was more than you could afford.

Halloween Brew

 She said some words and blackbirds cawed
 As she stirred her cauldron to a goblin's applaud
 Her nose was crooked, her skin was green
 As her cackles echoed on Halloween

 The Halloween night was filled with gloom
 As she patrolled the skies on her trusty  broom
 She was looking for stragglers, those who lagged behind
 Then she'd swoop down and catch them,  their fate unkind

 The first one she brought back began to scream
 But this only made the old hag's eyes gleam
 She waved her hand to and fro
 And turned him into a crow!

 Then off again on her broom she flew
 As her cauldron bubbled with a fearsome brew
 She saw another straggler dawdling by a gate
 She swooped down swiftly to seal his fate
 All her victims would scream and scream
 Wishing and hoping they were in a dream

10-11-2024

i'm jet-lagged listening to Tina Turner

it's three in the morning
i'm so awake it's euphoric
i want to feel this way forever
drunk on translucence 
the creases in the pillow beam at my exhilaration 
God-fearing doughnuts and coffee  
James Cameron was so excited by 2001
he vomited outside the screening
i listen to the sax solo and want to vomit too 
what am i going to do?
'don't worry' the song begins
'i won't hurt you.'
i would never hurt you either Prince
she sings she wants to take me higher
she can't 
i don't really wanna fight no more
don't leave the cap off the toothpaste babe

It Was Never Then

Once there was back when
In the history of “then”
‘Fore the “be” began

In these days of yore
The people lived before, for
There was nothing more

‘Twas a different time
When the latest lagged behind
“Is” had not arrived

None of then’s events
Happened in the present tense
That had not come yet

Language done ‘em in
As their “be,” already been
Never to begin

Now was not "to be"
Then, verbs ended in “-ed”
All done, already

Trapped in simple past
People didn’t sit; they sat 
Didn’t sh_t; they shat

But then’s now’s not when
Life was yesterday to them
It was today back then

We do what we does
Not in history because
Past ain’t what it was

Lone Fish

I observed some tiny fish whose formation was a ball,
But one fish didn't keep up too well and lagged a bit behind.
He looked a lot like a soccer ref, ready to call a foul,
But perhaps, his sense of circle had never been defined.

Pastoral

By the shore, with effortless strokes, he paddled.
On the bank, a pasture with holstein cattle -
Sitting there, up high on the wooden seat, he
        lazily dabbled.

Softly crept the coyote, prepped for battle.
Warmed by sun, a little one lagged to tackle
dandelions, all nestled in the clover,
        grazing and addled.

Overhead, a mockingbird spied the rabble,
saw the calf who from the herd had now straggled.
Shrieking then, she dived at the rascal, oh so
        noisily tattled.

----------

Haven't tried a sapphic stanza before - pretty picky placement of feet
in a 4-line stanza. Not sure this hits very well, but as always, try
and try again!

Trochee, trochee, dactyl, trochee, trochee (3x)
Dactyl, trochee

Honoring the English Wombles

Don’t wake him up yet! Shansi said with a snicker.
Orinoco needs his sleep, for his soft-hearted ticker!
So Great Uncle Bulgaria gave Orinoco fifteen minutes more.
But then you have to leave for school, he said. Right out the door!

Miss Adelaide will be waiting, and you know she is fine.
This school mistress wanted the Wombles there in good time.
Tobermory had to fix Bungo’s bike before they could leave.
Bungo had a fine idea to put on a weird new blowing sleeve.

Tomsk was raring to go, he loves to drive through the woods.
Yazz told them to wait up, she had to primp up her girly goods.
Wellington lagged a bit, for he has such a scientific mind.
He stops along the way to gather everything that he can find.

Frilled Neck Dragon Competition Is On

I am a frilled neck dragon, and I hail from New Guinea he bragged.
We were all intimidated by this guy who never stopped or lagged.
Until a new frilled neck dragon came into the woods in May.
My daddy’s bigger than your daddy, I heard the newcomer say.

The newcomer was from Australia, and at least another foot long.
He ate his crickets and meal worms as he sang his braggadocio song.
First frilled neck dragon got on a boat and sailed away across the sea.
I know this happened, because first frilled neck dragon lives with me.

Still I Stand Strong

You think you've lagged me behind ,
But I'm sorry to say that you're wrong. 

You've tried to weaken me;
Shatter me & scatter me,
But still here I am, standing strong. 

There's only one way to settle this;
once & for all. 

Let's do it my way,
No matter night or day. 

I'll walk alone & conquer the quest,
In the journey to be the very best. 

You may try but you ain't gonna win,
At last, you'll have to pay for your every single sin.

Suppose

Suppose I came home after a long drive,
suppose I see a car in our overstuffed garage
- it's not mine.
Suppose when I enter our apartment
I discover myself in bed with you doing adulterous things.
What would I do?

Imagine if we went away.
then when we arrived home
- while we were unpacking,
all evidence of our trip evaporated,
Imagine we both remained jet-lagged for days
yet dared not speak of it.
What then?

Suppose I died last night
suppose the battery of my life failed
leaving only the shape of my ass
in the easy chair;
though to your sleepy eyes this morning
the indent of my shape
has created an illusion of me
and that's what you think you see?

As I sit here fretting about all this you hand me a cup of tea
- say over your shoulder:

“Write it out kid, write it out.”

The Mirror

its wood frame is flaking

the face reflected in the glass
is time-lagged
recognizable only
when molded
to a memory

tomorrow
i will strip the frame down
varnish it
polish the mirror
then sell it on

as a good riddance

Once Yours, No More

If this is where I leave you, I deny
 the moments of our last goodbye
let the tears fall fast and quick
  without restraint or a walking stick
  we once were well mixed, love bound in the thick of it.

I have loved you always and forever
  moments of our times of joy and pleasure
never truly yours, just a point measured
  realizing I never once possessed you,
  you were never mine, how well I knew.

Let me hold my breath a moment
 pausing, as I breathe the end of our atonement
take your time to reminisce about the old days
 years that lagged in the sadness of our life play
 and each of us can leave, to go our separate way.

For a moment in the thrusts of passion
  a memory of love has come and gone, not everlasting
insecure and disbelieving in a soul mate's bond
 life begins to slowly move along
 once yours, I am no more.






Brian Dtrand's contest
All Yours 2/9/21

• Short Lagged Poems
• Famous Lagged Poems
• Best Lagged Poems
• Read Lagged Poems
• Long Lagged Poems
• Lagged Quotes