Long Crumpled Poems

"Open Oceans"



Kneeling on pearls
wisdom preys

praying
preying

hungry hearts
count the days 

wasting away
in all that preying 

for prayers 
to be answered

children become
strangers

reading 
strange words

finding 
themselves puzzled

genuflecting to a deity
they do not know, nor wish to

fumbling
mouths closed,

swallowed hole
in the...

Read More

The three little pigs came to the ball
Tried to blow the castle down
It didn’t work
It was made of solid gold
So they gave up and sat at their trough 
Ate noisily 
And snorted quite a lot

They...

Read More

The Ash Can  ©

I got the call on Sunday night.  I was traveling on business.  When I looked at the caller ID
 I wondered why my husband’s boss would be calling me....

Read More

“But I, being poor, have only my dreams; I have spread my dreams under your feet;Tread softly because you tread on my dreams.”
–“He Wishes for the Cloths of Heaven,” by W.B. Yeats 

“I love you...

Read More

Colin is a cabby with a proper taxi cab
He drives for all the passengers an Uber didn’t grab
Which means he has a lot of time to kill most every day
And lots of evil folk to...

Read More

WINTER, 1948 [40 Saxton Street]

for W.W

The winter nights that pass now
are so unlike the winter nights
that passed before, that I often
struggle back in those suspended moments
when sleep grapples for a hold,
to once again hear the...

Read More

He stood and aimlessly watched the parade of patrons and volunteers that wandered daily past his kennel.  All so familiar, so ordinary.  Just like every other day he mused.  Nothing new. ...

Read More

Introduction: one of the nice aspects of having an oeuvre as a poet is the ability to see where you have changed over the years. this is such a poem where i can see the...

Read More

Silently he sat in darkness, flinching at the sight of light.
Which created a glow reflecting on his balding head.
His cold glare did not help my nerves, 
so I simply stood there observing his silence.

His philosopher...

Read More

The Letter         

A young man strolled along the waterfront,
His mind and heart at ease.
Said an old man, sitting on an upturned punt,
Gazing out towards the sea. 

“Come...

Read More

MY FIRST FRENCH KISSES
by
JOHN M. ARRIBAS

My first french kiss; I was lanky, skinny, barely fifteen
I had the hots for the popcorn girl, she was eighteen
She made and sold the popcorn at the Strand Theater
Our mutual...

Read More

(Door bell rings)

 — The damn dog barks and a voice is heard. Arms stretch, forming a letter Y. A head shakes. Dimples become this smooth cheek; lips form a letter O... Exhaled respiration sighs; the break of...

Read More

LETTER TO A SOLDIER
A Trilogy


I.  SONGS OF LOVE

Love walked with me
In the crisp fall air
In a shower of gold and red.
Love showed me the print
Of a doe’s foot
And where she made her bed.

Love sat...

Read More

Twas the night before Christmas…
…And I finally sat down,
After last minute shopping, running all over town. 
Deciding to rest now, I opened my phone
To visit the Soup and read a few poems.  

As soon...

Read More

Halloween Tale, Poetic Dream Of Raven, Poe And I
(Not a contest entry)

When into an unearthed slumber I fell
An accursed storm came with its black tail
Within isles of swirling doom and gloom
I woke, a prisoner in...

Read More

With thoughts of getting fish-faced on a Friday night, 
I dropped anchor in a portside bar 
To contemplate the crooked path to closing time; 
Couldn’t guarantee I’d get that far.

I ordered a tequila, called myself...

Read More

It was like a whisper- 
My wife delivered the sad news- 
"Your grandfather was dead."- 
And so he was- 
Her eyes was awfully sad- 
Touched me gently on my back- 
He was old- 
The time...

Read More

Do you know what it is like to be an untouchable?
To be so filthy and disgusting
That people shrink away from you
Do you know how it corrodes your soul
To see how the stench that follows your...

Read More

I heard taunting echoes and scurrilous snarls.
It was my conscience, and I listened as it spoke
in accusations, contemptible remarks aimed at me.
Shameful words delivered to break my fallen spirit.
In mocking voice of Shakespeare's Hamlet, I...

Read More

A warm, glowing September night.
Nondescript small town bar with
people enjoying fine company and revelry.
College football game just finished.
We won!
Some friends find a table and 
a deck of cards. Pinochle.
Smiling, joy, and laughter. Lively conversation.
Good will...

Read More

(CRUMPLED THOUGHTS POETRY CONTEST)

When you hear the clamor of the birds loud
shrieking shockingly it shouldn’t frighten
you they simply don’t realize the magnitude
of the head of sand that gets washed away
onto your shoulders and violates sanctity.

Did...

Read More

"betwixt the pulse of our heartbeat
simply present, head-heart linking
dwelling in time stretched blissful peace
awareness became unblinking" ~Unseeking Seeker

I feel the surging bloom of bewitching butterflies,
fluttering in sync to cosmic sage and
saffron sparks~
sailing amidst waves of...

Read More

Asifa's Blood Pens 
(The Courageous Princess)

No! No! Wipe out the name of Asifa! 
No more Asifa's on this earth to be born!
O Lord, my creator, my benefactor, my protector!
My parents chose my name in your...

Read More

The Room of the Unrequited
By Roger White
    That evening, stillness permeated the lavender-scented room.  Dusk crept through the windows
smudged by oily fingers, The day’s twilight left a dull umbra on wall...

Read More

There are wrinkles
Now, lines erasing a past
Where the fine contours of her face
Were drawn, in color
Crisp, clean lineages from 
Time echoing hope,
Soothing away the fragments
Reality connecting the dots,
Gentling the descent
From her youth to the present
Moment,...

Read More