Lock Away Poems | Examples

Nonchalant

Never show
outward emotion,
not to them, and certainly not to yourself.
Cause if you do, they’ll snap the neck of the
        bluebird 
     that still chirps in your ribcage at 3 A.M.
          the only time of the day it's okay to ease 
          up and                         express. 
Hide your cracks and conceal your pain,
All the while, you’ll keep the strain.
Lock away each tear and sigh,
Avoid the mirror, don’t let them pry.
Never let them see you frail;
They’ll shoot out the bluebird
     and pluck out whatever feathers remain of 
                 the                      nightingale.

Death Row Man

As morose as it may sound
I know I’m really just another 
Death row man.

No, 
I’m not locked away
For a crime I have done.

I’m free,
But that doesn’t mean
I’m still not on that row.

And that also doesn’t mean
There isn’t some crime I could have done
That would have me lock away and unfree.

I’m sure there are stacks of crimes
I have done
Just all in different lives.

And some of those lives 
Are in the past
And some are in the present.

And those guys 
Are now locked away
While here I am still free.

Death row, in the here and now,
Free or not
It matters little in the end.

What matters is our willingness
To be redeemed
And the peerless opportunity to be free.

So you
Who are on death row too
The question is, what are you going to do about it?

(7/27/25)

Forgotten Dreams

I don’t remember my dreams.
I wake with a vague sense that I’ve seen
something more
of my brain
the consciousness of my inner self.
Or maybe the madness that I 
lock away during the day
breaks down the walls at night while I’m asleep 
and dances
leaving only a trace–
footsteps in the mud of memory.

ROT

keep on hurting me and keep on cutting me, make my blood flow like the greatest river, this eternal heart has never seen past winter, for i have embodied all the disease within me, i am the rot, soot, and grain that flows fiercely on the ground, the vermin and pigs feast upon me until nothing here is found

may the rats find nourishment in this heart that you have not, may they love the breath i take as i gently tie this knot, may the flies find salvation in the bones within my body, and may the maggots find peace in a brain that once loved somebody


even if you won't love me there's plenty of things that will, because ill find my peace 6 below where everything is still, the frost chills and grows up my body once more, i guess its time to turn the key and lock away my door

Unstable

You think this is quaint, a case of the blues
A handkerchief for a dainty cheek
But I want to howl, I want to shriek
I want to tear the world in two

As you safely stand
In your well-dressed land
Handing out ornate soliloquies
Like pennies
yet neglecting to understand
The poverty of agony

While my dark demeanor 
is dismissed
I will burn buildings
If you insist

On painting glitter 
over rage
On labeling my pain 
a phase

An inconvenient rite, a blight
On your ladylike
well-mannered path
My wrists bleeding
As you correct my math                                                                                                                                       
                                       

My words are not petty, not obscene
I am not a robot, not a machine

To defuse, deprogram or debug
Or merely lock away and shrug

In your placid belief 
that compliance is peace
What is prison for
If not release?

When I am tumbling through
Unstable skies
And need a roof
To calm my eyes
Bring me more than
A structured reply
Just sit with me
And ask me why

6/24/22

Month of June

Oh, please give me the month of June any time!
Summer flowers, butterflies and busy bees,
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!

A shady oak tree blowing cool breeze sublime,
I walk around in flip flops, shorts and bare knees,
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!

To the music of ABBA I dance and mime,
as I relish salted chips, sour bread and cheese
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!

January marks the end of winter time,
Then come March and April with their rainy tease, 
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!

Long summer warm days spent in music and rhyme,
My Beatrix Potter hat sport rabbits and geese,
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!

June is the month where leisure is not a crime
I lock away work and throw away the keys,
Oh, please give me the month of June anytime!
Out in the garden with a glass of iced lime!

Month of the year I like most contest
Sponsor Mohan Chutani
Written 2/July/2020

The Beginning

Lonely nights, hugged only by the moonlight,
Waiting for my prince to make it home alright.
Sitting alone on the edge of my window,
As he turns the corner, I see a second shadow.

He brings home a new girl every Saturday night, 
I just hope this time, he didn't cause a fight. 
All alone, I will lock away my pain,
It can't be washed away, not even by the rain.

My biggest pain is the blade that cut his veins
No matter how hard I try, I can't rid the stains. 
If only you could feel how much it hurts, 
Watching the one you love act like he's cursed. 

I'm dreaming of us, while he's dreaming of dying,
All I want to do is stop his heart's crying.
The wall he built around him, I swear I'll break it down
Then, he'll be able to see, he's worthy of his crown.

A Cool Drink of Water

Hook: (like a church  hymn)
hum, hum  
hum, hum  
oh! hum, hum  
you were my cup 
of joy 
my cool drink of water
the love I, needed most  

and, It was so long ago
oh! it was so far into my past 
and I, still can seem 
to let you go

and still I,see your face 
and still I, feel the pain

of having you,
not there 

I,can't remember 
was it 
the love in your 
eyes


(stronger and deeper)
or was it, your golden boy
lady killer charms

that had all the girls 
knock-in at your 
front door 

but memories do fade  
and time plays new 
games, 

and each new year 
it, 
get harder to remember 
your angelic face 

but this hell
keeps me 
lock away 

(self-anger and pain)
not knowing 
how in the hell
did I, let you 
get away


Hook: (like a church  hymn)
hum, hum  
hum, hum  
oh! hum, hum  
you were my cup 
of joy 
my cool drink of water
the love I, needed most  

and I, could not 
stop time 
from taking you 
away

Smoke Signals

The second hand smoke
Of a relentless pursuit of peace.
Projects the burned out forest 
Of my soul. My tired trembling hands
That I return to my pockets
Because of the blood stains under my 
Finger nails. Never finding anything remotely 
Close to home, I am a careless visitor in my own skin.Black sheep,the shame swept under the rug.the claustrophobic  cataclysm that nobody talks about.The dirty secret hidden in a box lock away 
In shadows.Shame I have always carried to the name that never was mine to begin with.
Systematically hell bent on finding something worth what fight I have left.This battered  broken glass  heart of mine, the glue oozing 
From the cracks is the metaphor of my whole life.
  ~JAZ~

Forgotten Name

Her name slipped away
Her shadow disappeared
An empty frame on the wall
That use to hold her face

No perfume smells or
Smells of dinner all gone
No nylons hanging to dry
No more, do I look to fat in this

Kisses missed
Opportunities for forgiveness
Gone
Memories faded away

As if we had never met at all
All have disappeared
All stored and lock away
I have lost the key to our love

Demons

I struggle with my demons daily 
this ain't on no religious  
because I'm the only one who can save me
but when I speak on demons, I mean my past 
it's like I can't detach from the pain 
even tho it's just for a moment 
I can't shake this omen, I wasn't always this open
but transparency has always been key 
to lock away everything that has taken a hold of me

Youthful Dreams

Red brick walls lock away
	within rigid structures must stay
rules seek to contain
	dreams of youth running free

empty words upon the wall
	equations that nothing contain
teaching the words of long since dust
	seeking to stifle youthful dreams

seconds move upon the wall
	counting time that never does change
endless hours of endless days
	too long years till running free

longing gazes cannot be contained
	flights of fancy running free
dreams of that which will never be
	unseen by those who would contain

too many die and do conform
	crushed by traditions long
death of dreams of youthful days
	things that now will never be

kept alive by some not known
	youthful dreams hidden away
till the day they may run free
	till then born may be

White Linen

Hot summer sun in clear blue sky
	golden light pounds down on pavement black
searing heat reflects on walls near
	boiling hot the wet summer air

shingles of white reflect to sky
	captures the heat that lies beneath
wire screened windows were no wind blows
	moist searing heat in stillness lays

cold clear water now called forth
	shocking contrast within the heat
freely flows running down
	too quickly lost into the ground

weaving mesh of shocking white
	clinging tightly on moist curves
trapping holding moisture there
	growing warm within the air

quickly dancing within the flow
	chilling frigid unbearable cold
washing the heat quickly away
	coldness clinging within the weave

cold white linen clinging tight
	to quickly warming within the heat
briefly cooling what lies within
	giving form to what responds

searing heat wrapped in cold
	shocking message boldly told
slowly fading diminished away
	moisture hot lost in summer air
suburban walls lock away
	burning heat on a summer day
frigid cold of waters clear
	cannot long the heat contain

Wild Daydreams

, italics , and center 
I felt it before he uttered it
The breath of undiluted love
Blowing away my fears and doubt
But leaving behind the scene of impossibilities

I knew it before it was denied
That some dreams are to be locked away
Despite the strong feelings
They are never coming to reality

Now that they are beyond reach
I nurse in my heart my blur daydreams 
Hoping to go back in time
And make sure I lock away every possibility 
, italics , and center

Time For a Showdown

Time for a showdown with my ruptured soul,
because I have come to the breaking point;
no more-  the sad past has taken a toll,
I will end fear and express my viewpoint.
Time for a showdown and confrontation,
living in the dead past is not living;
to stay this way will be my damnation,
I accept life can be unforgiving.
Time for a showdown and decisive fight,
from this day I lock away my deep grief;
I will look to the future with delight,
go away sorrow that comes like a thief.
Time for a showdown with my battered heart,
new paths are unfolding so past-  DEPART.

___________________________
March 6, 2018


Poetry/Rhyme/Time for a Showdown
Copyright Protected, ID 18-1001-747-01
All Rights Reserved.  Written Under Pseudonym.


Written for the contest, Rhyme Battle X: Showdown
sponsor, Juli-Michelle

Ninth Place

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