Long If not Poems
Long If not Poems. Below are the most popular long If not by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long If not poems by poem length and keyword.
(“Mind’s Eye Merit Badge”, 2020, original oil)
Can you see the real me? Can you? Can you?
If so you’re doing better than me
As I see only the effects, the ripples
And detritus that hangs up along the edges.
The real me, or should I say the mind I call me,
Is nothing if not a vortex
whirlpooling down and out of sight
Sucking in everything it possibly can
Conscious, unconscious, it matters not.
I can hear the sucking sound, ringing in my ears,
And roaring out when I open my lips,
But I can’t see where it all goes.
All I can see is the flotsam
Spinning on the way down
And the jetsam, backed up, held up
Momentarily along the way.
But eventually as sure as day follows dawn,
And yet as right as rain,
It all goes down the open drain of our core
Leaving us about the same as we’ve always been.
Feeling like a fool
Trying to catch a glimpse
Listening to that sucking sound
Wondering where it’s all heading
Down, down, ever flowing down.
(9/30/25)
Is depression a band playing?
Always jeering at my brightest sets
Blows off the smallest bow leaving me a husk
Depression cat calls behind the veil
Dark days alone with my ever-present God
Hopelessly kneeling to my sad nature
A dead mane of a palm tree stripped by squalls
My rot rooted by reality's check ever on stage
Pop Seroquel to quell me to sleep
Teach me patience in this depression
Teach me the meaning of petite mort
Keep me practicing dying on stage
If not for love's tethers I would gladly exit
To my ancestors behind the ol’back stage
With my relations in line to come to Jesus
Barred by chemical prescriptions
Pop lithium and lamictal to unite polarities
Lurasidone to sway my psychosis to tunes
Trazodone for slaying me to sleep
This time I'll stay adherent and penitent
Drugs are courage buoying stage fright
Chemical messengers knitting neurons
Exposing me to paper cuts from the crowd
Shrouding mania with suppressed dopamine
Sadness in the background overwhelms me
Remember dust to stardust gravely falling
Those dark days twisting without love
Sex and drugs are cheap distractions
Cigarettes just crutches in the limelight
Without drink and weed on center stage
I want to go back-stage when love recedes
Then I would not feel my heart racing
Keep me above ground as life grinds on
The accretion of well-intentioned lies
Another day another poem
Like broken records on repeat
Veils of depression weighty as curtains
Knowing doesn’t tear the thread of identity
When I cross the veil, leave it all behind
But, it's not time to go back-stage
If not for love I would cut Fate’s twine
Stay alive long enough without disguises
Endure hours naked under the spotlight
Hold moments of joy without expectations
Confetti dismissed by peppered depression
Killing time while crooning cruelly alone
Waiting impatiently for the curtain call
Depression waiting back-stage as usual
Long before the cold war
Just before Vietnam
An agency created by U.S.
Similar to the FBI and CIA
A governmental agency
Called S.H.I.E.L.D
SUPREME
HEADQUARTERS
INTERNATIONAL
ESPIONAGE
LAW-ENFORCEMENT
DIVISION
The agency the chronicles and fights
Illegal crimes against man
America, the World
Protectors of every man woman boy and girl
From Communist, USSR
Criminals
Agencies A.I.M and Hydra
Hydra captures and or kills one of those heads.
Another bad guy will replace them
And AIM a bunch of evil bad scientists
Ready also to rule
And if not too busy with all that
Shield will occasionally fight a super or none super bad guy
So check your past ports
Check under your bed
Watch out lock your doors
Cause this super agent group
On the loose
And it isn’t anything that stay's concealed
Espionage crime fighting Nick Fury and the...
Agents of
S.
H.
I.
E.
L.
D.
12/11/17
written by James Edward Lee Sr.
COMPANY PRIDE DIVIDED
THEM.
THEY THOUGHT
WHAT EACH
OTHER DID, WAS BEST
IF NOT BEST BETTER
THAN THOSE IN COMPETITION!
THEY RESEARCHED AND
FOUND THINGS TO BE TRUE.
THEY SOUGHT THUR DETAILS AND
FOUND THOSE FALSEHOODS THAT
WERE DEMONIC IN THEIR DETAILS, AND
MADE THINGS DIFFICULT FOR CLARITY.
THEY USED MYTHS TO SOLVE MYSTERIES.
AND FOUND WAYS TO MAKE RIGHT
SOME WRONGS.
WISER MEN SAID THEY WERE FOOLS.
FOOLISH PEOPLE SAID THEY WERE WISE.
COMMON FOLK APPRECIATE
WHAT THEY WERE DOING.
SOME COMMON FOLK, SOME SAW THEM
AS THOSE KINDA PEOPLE WHO DISTRACT
PEOPLE FROM THE REALITIES OF LIFE,
THAT THEIR WORKS,
WERE EXAGGERATED TO CONVINCE A WORLD
TO MAKE THEM SEEM LARGER
THAN WHAT THEY REALLY WERE !
BUT THEY WERE GREAT MEN!
THEY WERE CELEBRATED MEN!
THEY CREATED THEMSELVES
THRU THE EXISTENCE OF THE PAST
SO THAT THE ART OF BELIEVING
WOULD BE SEEN IN CLEAR VIEW
AND APPRECIATED!
A sullen
sickness
befallen me
from whence
a darkening
ventured
nigh
and stolen
the sparkling
embodiment
features of
stars
in the
gloaming
of the mundane
hovering misery
of shooting
dead stars
aloft my
head
aches now
fevers the whole
of me afire unceasing
as it spreads and
grasp my soul
this simple
cover
to shield
the chill that
stills my blood
like frost to ice and
flits burning back
to hell's hold
temporal
twas
until the
perspectives
exchanged one
to the other who
now lays its claim
and tortuous
name being
Dante
I wrapped
myself and
snuggling in
hopes to shrug
off this biting cold
that locks its icy grip
on my body and soul
if not for the beating
of my heart that it
reassures me
that soon it
will pass
and end
malady
pursual of
my deepening
doctorless gloom
that will drift a parting
long-awaited since at first
my eyes had closed and will
soon be opening to the
welcoming vision of
her striking ascent
prepare myself
for that cure
is here ...
Aurora.
THE SON IS LOVE, AND WE’RE HIS MOONS
Sooner or later,
If not before,
We all will come
To realize, God’s love
Is not a thing,
But a living spirit:
His shared gift
Of self,
Being His Son’s
Resurrection:-
What God gives
And shares
Can never
Be lost
Or taken away:-
His love is eternal,
And likewise,
Is its supremeness:
The womb of the universe,
And its Milky Way of life:-
In light,
There is no darkness.
In darkness,
There’ll always be light:
Wherever the sun shines,
It leaves behind its moon:-
God’s Son is love
And He’s chosen us,
To be His shining moons,
Ever waxing
In labors
Of His
Supreme love:-
One More Delivery
Please wait at the door.
I told the man holding the package.
He smiled,
not unkindly,
but as patiently as one might expect,
from a driver with a truck full
of items still and yet to be delivered.
There was a strong smell emanating from the kitchen,
another one from the fire place, but the odor was different.
Why was their a fire there at all,
had the kids finally decided that tricks were old,
and truth mattered.
No...
they just found stale marshmallows and it was still early.
How did I take a chance, a moment, or perhaps...
accidentally if not willfully disobedient to the essence of reality.
It was half past, and no one was going to bed.
I grabbed money from my purse, tipped the man...
and let him go.... mercifully, if not by choice.
At least he looked or appeared to show,
visible calmness regardless of the hour,
and the arrival of all things magical.
In this case, the "closet of wonder",
safely and securely kept locked,
until just the right moment was to be revealed.
Up...
Get out...
Go to bed, or there will be no tomorrow!
An empty threat, well known for my exaggeration of the moment,
if not the day the week and even the hour.
Off they went,
knowing that I would follow.
Faces to kiss, until they will no longer let me.
Stories to tell, lest they forget our traditions,
which will never pass to anyone from here.
Blessings on this house,
and all who dwell here.
Thank you for another reason,
to sing and be joyful for the season,
Holy Light,
into the Night...
I sing.
I will put toys together,
and build castles from clay and dough.
I will shine all surfaces, brightly...
to reflect the glory of the day to come,
the hour of His birth,
the hope of all our tomorrows,
for my family...
for your family,
for you,
and,
for
me.
Create a new heart within me Lord.
I pray Thee, renew my spirit,
That when Death comes for me and time is no more,
I will have no need to fear it.
Let me please You in all of my ways,
And let my words not offend Thee;
That when I stand before Your throne,
I'll have no need to fear when You judge me.
As a man thinks, so is he, You said,
So let my thoughts please You always.
Enter my mind and my heart this day,
That I'll not be barred at Your gateway.
Of all Your servants I'm far from the best,
And if not for Jesus I'm lost;
But He sought me and bought me with His Precious Blood,
And He didn't give thought to the cost.
Thank You My Father for Your Precious Son,
And thank You Dear Jesus for coming.
Because You have come now all things are new.
A bright new day is now dawning.
Amen
Hidden Figures are us women living
In a male dominated society
Fighting for a chance
To change our circumstance
With respect and dignity
Recipients of our own destinies
We need to understand
That as hidden figures daughters of the Lord God
We are equal to any man
Yet we are the least likely
To be the protagonist in any story
But as women we are more than capable
Of having a testimony
We need to change the narrative
That men have embraced
That women are just accessories
Who sit pretty in pearls and lace
To them we're just hidden figures
Yet our aura is just as potential
For we are the womb of life
Our presence is most essential
We are competent, courageous and confident
And we'll take every opportunity
Just to show mere men
We have full capability
Hidden figures who must arise
To every occasion
To show that we deserve
Every commendation
No longer to be silent
No longer overlooked nor obscure
Breaking thru glass ceilings
Leaders in industries hidden figures no more
We now demonstrate our abilities
With our God given capabilities
Ready to take on any task
And do it just as well if not
Better than any man
Competent, courageous and capable
No longer hidden
We now boldly stand
Just As You are
who am I to judge
That I may fall
I love you just as you are
Who am I to call out
For repentance when I have my own
My own blemish
Who am I to love
Where am I to go
if I don't know the way and yet I know
I know that deep inside
The way
WHO AM I TO JUDGE WHOSE AM I TO LOVE-
Who am I to judge when
I myself am guilty maybe
if not the same transgression
But yet and still I am filthy
Who am I to love
When I have this beam in my eye
Why the sparkle in heart your light shines bright
I am in awe and as you walk
And as you say in your solace
WHO AM I TO JUDGE WHOSE AM I TO LOVE-
As you kneel as you pray as you talk
To your personal love
Who am I to come in between you are
Who am I to judge what I am too am not spared
Of a similar sin there's no lesser sin we are all flawed
So I rewind I begin and in my blemish
I asked for the Father's hand to remove me soften my heart
To renew start all over again
And in my heart and in my mind
Give me the kindness of the Father speaks His heart beat into mine
WHO AM I TO JUDGE WHOSE AM I TO LOVE
And has His breath flows through my vessel
I take my judgment off His children
Who am I to love if I am too want to love
I first must be forgiven
Who am I to judge whose am I to love
And there's no greater forgiveness than Jesus Love
4/20/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2023