Long Stranger Poems

Long Stranger Poems. Below are the most popular long Stranger by PoetrySoup Members. You can search for long Stranger poems by poem length and keyword.


Premium Member The Dreadful Mourn

I'm a Piketown son who left his mum
To sail the eastern shores
Spent a year in Gloucester
'mong the barkeeps and the whores

Then a man came 'round to Gloucester town
Said boys I need a few
Strapping lads such as yourselves
To join me whalin' crew

The pay is mighty lowly and
The work'll break yer backs
But if ye crave adventure, men
You'll ne'er get a better chance

Those who'd go out wi' me, lads
Prepare ta leave at dawn
There's a whaler at the dockside
She's called the Dreadful Mourn

Ho! Called I to Captain Frye 
My services you've bought 
I've traveled here from Piketown
To earn a tale heart'ly wrought

Aye, me lad then ye shall have
A yarn ta spin yer sons
So join me on the Dreadful Mourn
'Ere long's the risin' sun

I nodded Aye to Captain Frye
Then turned to swig my ale
When a man appeared beside me
And pulled up to the rail 

He shook his head and then he said 
His offer you should spurn
There was another Frye set out 
Yet ne'er did he return

This other Frye for he was kin 
Of the Captain now about
That fortune on their family frowns
Of that there is no doubt

I turned to the stranger, smiled
Said thank you for the warn
Then headed down the gangway 
Out to the Dreadful Mourn

For weeks on end I coiled the ropes 
Boiled the oil and pulled the line
Though it was grueling labor
I was feelin' pretty fine

But the winds they soon blew colder
And the ship began to slow
The Captain said don't worry men,
This is how the whales go

One day the ice so thickened that
The ship came to a stop
The Captain cried a wild whoop 
Boys I think I've found the spot! 

For 'twas about this latitude 
Where me brother's ship was lost
And now I've come ta bring him home 
No matter what the cost!

Sorry I lied ta ye lads 
I blame ye not for yer ire
Now calm ye selves, we've work ta do
Afore we can retire

Of course you know we would not go 
Along with his plan 
The crew decided mutiny 
Right down to the last man 

For Captain Frye's madness
We must pay an awful price
But he would join his brother
As a ghost beneath the ice

The ship was stuck, the stores near out
'Twas nothing left to do
'Cept sing a sailin' shanty 
And toast the Dreadful crew

So I took a final dram of rum,
Cursed the day that I was born
And lay down to my icy fate
Aboard the Dreadful Mourn

June 24, 2017
Form: Rhyme


Spring Equinox 2018

this middle aged rue stirring bummer
   haint no stranger to cold,
when dark hen stormy wintry days
   eggs hit from Arctic portal en fold
ding Atlantic Seaboard

   in a blizzard of bitterly, blindingly, and
   brutally sub zero temperatures
   from an occasional nor'easter
   fiercely gripping hold

the majority years, sans this prolific
   recalcitrant scrivener lived
   in various and sundry abode
   housed within Southeastern
   Montgomery County, Pennsylvania
   with 19*** zip code,

and during my boyhood recall,
   how massive ice sheets did erode
the (then) opened expansive farmland,
   in preparation for planting time,

   where runnels of frigid water flowed
with childish cheeks exposed to glowed
after hours upon 
   many a green acre got tilled and hoed

despite feeling energized and refreshed
   with arms and legs n'er fro zen
aye didst eagerly await with exuberant yen
kickstarting thy body electric

   experiencing hearthstone nook
   designed and built by Christopher Wren
after heading indoors counting fingers
   and toes to make sure, i still got ten

soon hearing the chorus of fauna,
   and floral kaleidoscope of color 
   aground or taking wing
thus, upon thawing out thoughts
   drifted toward approaching spring,
the season revitalizing 

   dormant natural inhabitants,
   whose excite (like mine) didst ping
announcing the debut of fecundity
nsync with screeching from the lizard king.

This Spring Equinox (i.e. man date:
   12:15 PM Tuesday,
   March twentieth two thousand eighteen)
doth rejuvenate 
   inviolable hibernating animals

   and plants, and me equate
to experience sensation,
   whereby entire being does inflate
and (despite marital status),

   nonetheless envisions another gal asthma mate
no...no...no...please do not think this chap
   mean spirited and under rate
the woman (at present taking a siesta,

   and i breathe easy),
   who oft times doth henpeck, a trait
inherited many a chic hen
   (with tantalizing tail feathers)
   now (until she awakens)
   proscribing yours truly to wait

for my repast most likely ad hoc
moist ideal for any nerdy kid to knock
senseless, the worst facet of self important jock
   consisting of pop slop mock
Hungarian Goulash, a melange
   of relics from age old meals 
   transformed into a petrified sawed little rock.

Jade



      In the void of my transitional mind, 
the aimless scatter-shots of snapshot in kind 
finding itheir way.through pokes in the brine.
Saran wrap bindings of biased memories, invent orys, 
and tupper-ware leftovers tidings of dreams, kept palatable for the aroaming beasts. 

I find the manipulations stirring like mercurial-gravy, 
sardonical Last Suppers of my humanity at
the toppings station, insulting.
Where's the variety, where's the if there 
is a will there's a way?
Where's the frikkin beef?
I heard that  commercial say- (I agree, 
where's our defense against the dark arts Teacher 
or our non f'd with bandwith to have our say?
;My Atriuk-Consultants, 
disappearing, through a buffet line 
of suitors for my gun hand-as treason's malignant mercenary gland.
Stranger in a strange clan.
Now every thought is like a remembrance, a 
severance to pay for it all.The tying to-me 
in Gordian crossroads mocked silverly 
by multi directional unabaiting winds
 blowing adversarily.
Each pointing "this way you fail !"
"Every which way a noose !"
"This way you fall !"
Of on the loose this way dungeon echoes 
a calling as dark corridor Shades 
with no true form to call.
The past haunts, the future calls,
lost in the chaos urn, as time falls-
in diminished return, 
for the base is nearly full to lay 
as a squandored mound of time.

Like shooting stars across the sky,
my dreams flicker, then fade and die?
Searching for purpose, to see what sticks.
I fire all of my rounds at once
In this endless maze of day and night I pace
 these walls, like those Demonic Shades, 
who chant "hey Jude" and perform "Jude Law" 
in Shakespearean play, "There's something about Mary...
whomever target to sway. Come wicked this way s.

But in the darkness, I find a kin-spark 
guide in my self defense, 
of cheerlead everence in reference to 
hope belonging to everyone the same.
A torch in the deepening dark 
to saber heroicly for my good name.
Iwill rise from the sullen ashes, 
strong and brilliantly bright, aiimless no more, 
faith in my sights.
Pull !
Let the scatter shot fall where it may,
I'll carve my path, come what may.
For in the chaos, I see the arts of strength, 
the part I play,
I find beauty's confidence and vision
 in the facets of my jaded heart,
that maybe I can help the World in some small but 
contrite way.
art
Form: Rhyme

An Afternoon With Katherine

She said that this man, my grandfather,
held her head under the black pool water,
while up above, a German man leaned
out of his window, against the moss and brick
to scream violently: "Don't hurt that woman!
She is the most beautiful woman in the world!"
The tone of the man's voice, authoritative, cold
broke my grandfather's concentration and he
let her bob up to the surface, coughing, sputtering
in an almost drowned manner, while still maintaining a beauty uncommon to humans, as she stole a quick glance
to the heavens of heavens to acknowledge the saving
power of a stranger.
This is her story today, as she sits on three moth-eaten,
velvet pillows to make her tall enough to reach the kitchen table.
She has shrunk in her old age and is no longer "the most beautiful woman
in the world".  
She sips her black coffee out of Russian demitasse cups with diamond emblems
until she reaches the grinds which have slept in warmth on the bottom, 
to fool her, she thinks.  
She nibbles her white toast with butter and honey and shivers in the air conditioning as royalty should.
When she has filled the remaining ten percent of her stomach (the other ninety percent was removed from the worry 
of ulcers when technology was in it's infant stage), she continues her story.
It lasts all afternoon and twists and winds around the basic sub-plot that, somehow, her beauty and dignity was 
acknowledged in the worst circumstances, and, with her infinite wisdom, the world was made a better place.
Her voice soaks into the wooden cabinets, and will remind me forever of strong, fresh-brewed coffee, and I think, 
right at that moment as I look at my hands (which I know will resemble hers one day), that I miss my grandfather.
The most gentle man in the world, whose thoughts never amounted to more than wanting to garden well, or shape 
the perfect pizza in his pizza shop.  
This man, who set chairs on tables to clear the floor before he danced in pure Zorba the Greek manner, with a glint in 
his innocent eyes.
This man, who looked at this woman, this fabricating, self-absorbed, once beautiful woman, with an adoration never 
deserved.
I clean up the dishes, while still listening, and kiss her good bye on her forehead. 
Jittery from stories caffeinated and old, I chose to walk the long way home, lightening my mood and shedding her 
words along the way.

Premium Member Armadilly Billy, the Slingshot Kidster

Armadilly came galloping into Troll Lake, bent on seeking a new life, to unwind.
He’d rode out of the Badlands, leaving only a trail of blowing dust and leaves, behind.
His steady stead Jalopy had been pounding feet, relentlessly with powerful strides.
Rearing up, Armadilly stopped before our Troll Bridge with his slingshot at his side.

I could see, he rode the sleekest mount, and the biggest tortoise, that I had ever seen.
Man that armadillo knew his tortoise flesh… this was the fastest one, ever been!
I would say: he truly looked, the devil’s mount… with glowing, fire stocked eyes.
The stranger named himself as Armadilly, but his true identity, could not be denied.

He was really Armadilly Billy, The Slingshot Kidster, as he bowed to us, so very low.
With a yes Ma'am, and a no Sir, he was smooth and could charm, near any old soul.
The Trolls loved him for the spell binding stories, that at the campfire, he gave away.
He never talked about his past, but we knew who he was, without being told, that day.

The rumor had it that Sheriff Bunny Garret had shot him dead, on one fateful day.
Another said he’d faked his death, heading south to Mexico, his life to live away.
But we knew better, for he was here with us, right now, on this illustrious day.
We knew he was a kind and misunderstood guy, because of what I’m about to say.

He saved our squirrel, Funkundilly, from a hawk diving straight for her, inward bound.
With his slingshot, like streaked lightening, he forced the hawk to spiral to the ground.
And we all applauded that Funkundilly was now, once again, so very safe and sound.
Then he strode, spurs a jangling, to dish out his own type of justice, so very renowned.

With a steely glint in his eye, he ordered the hawk away, or meet his end, he did convey.
And you can say that frightened bully hawk, really high tailed it, as he ran away.
Everyone celebrated that night, with Armadilly, all the way to dawn’s embrace.
Before he left, Armadilly knew from then on, he’d always have a home in this place.

But his mind was set on a wandering, more of this world’s adventures, to unweave.
So with a HiHo! Jalopy! He took off, leaving in another cloud of dust and leaves.
But I heard him shout that he’d be back again, soon… 
And we were sure, that’s just what he would do!


Inspired by Silly Billy the Kidster's--- Billy the Kid Blog
An epic poem by Carol Eastman


Take Me Back To Alode By Jonah Okpabi

The land is soaked with blood
The sand is soaked with tears
Oh
How many barrels of blood must be spilled
to know that so many souls are gone?
How many basins of tears does it take
to have more than enough tears?
.
I am the voice of the little child
crying in the wilderness
I want to caress the flowers that spring
out of the ground of my homeland
I want to watch the ripples when rain falls
I want to play with my mates on the sand
along Chu Ngoke street
I want to sit at home and watch my parents returning from a bountiful yam harvest
I want to stand at the playground and watch the traditional wrestling
I want to hear the sounds of Egelege and Egoni talking drums reminding me of yesterday and a great future ahead
I want to chase away goats from eating the maize in my mother's garden
I want to open my mother's pot
and pick a meat out of the soup
I want to see my homeland
Sweet little home of ours
Please take me back to Alode
Please take me back to Alode
.
I am the voice of a man
Whose hope lies in shackles
Whose homeland lies in broken images
A town deserted and forgotten
I am tired of being a stranger 
in another man's land
I am tired of begging for crumbs
When my barn is filled with yam
Mudskippers can still be found in our swamps
Please take me back to Alode
I don't want to die in another man's land
I want to die in Alode, somewhere in Eleme
I want to be buried near the grave of my father and see my ancestors usher 
me home with a shinning crown
Take me back home
Take me back home
.
Take me back to Alode
Let me see the beautiful women that
toss about the streets
Let me admire their buttocks
Let me stare at their breasts,
those two round objects protruding out 
of their clothes, breasts that could make me feel like a child again
Let me kiss Nyime Owa Eleme, that beautiful lady of my dream
Let me lay her down on my bedside and
make life worthwhile
I want to go back home and see
the sunshine with it's illuminous rays
and the tender droplets of the rain
Oh Please take me back to Alode
Please take me back to Alode
.
Take me back to Alode
Let me touch your borders
From Alesa to Ogale
From Echieta to Onne and
From Ebubu to the Onu Nmu where they say the hands cannot reach
I want to touch the land of Alode
I want to touch the Eleme soil
I want to touch the soft green grasses of home
.......
Form: ABC

His Life Mattered, Part Iv

..She felt so damn nervous making that call,
and when he picked up she just gushed it all,
he listened quietly, then she asked to meet,
she quickly wrote down the place and the street.

She met him at one of his restaurants,
he looked different now, his eyes didn’t haunt,
he had no gun, just company t-shirt,
but something about him still spoke to her.

She asked him, “Why did you do what you did?
Why risk it all to go and save my kid?
We destroyed your business, threatened your life,
made it clear we hated anyone white.”

He gave a sad smile, and then explained,
“If that’s why you’re worried, I’ll make it plain,
how could I have just let your child burn?
The thought of it just makes my stomach churn.

“He’s a human being, in danger great,
what kind of man would leave him to his fate?
Whatever rage that the mob felt for me
had nothing to do with a child of three.”

Jacinta learned forwards. “You didn’t care
that my people didn’t much want you there?
After what happened, and what we destroyed,
you went to rescue a random black boy?”

“My ‘people’ call themselves American,
and I’m pretty sure that you’re one of them.
Even if you weren’t, I’d still have to go,”
he said,”Such horrors children should not know.”

She felt amazement, and shame more than a bit,
that it took all this to understand it,
she thought ‘color-blind’ had been some quaint phrase,
those were the words that her family would say.

But this man had felt that her son mattered,
even when he had been just a stranger,
and she realized that his life mattered too,
whether black, white, or brown, such people were few.

This one man refuted lies she’d been taught,
her brother’s nonsense had all been for naught,
she saw a good man, wanted to know more,
started talking with him about his stores.

He told how his father had opened the spot
that the mob had burned, she felt her soul drop
on hearing how he’d played in the kitchen,
and chatted when young with those who came in.

She told him of Keenan, where she now lived,
he offered a job, said, “It’s mine to give.”
Soon enough Keenan would play in the back,
and the man smiled, gave him lots of slack,

mostly because he was dating his mom,
Jacinta didn’t stay on welfare for long,
the other workers snickered, she let them,
where would she find such a lover again?

CONCLUDES IN PART V.
Form: Narrative

An English Life

An English Life

It is midnight the Milk train pulls into darnall station
No ordinary passengers here
Steelworkers with their families
Loaded with fishing tackle, sandwiches and maggots
The Fossdyke in Lincolnshire, their destination
The fare Half a crown for happiness

The long walk in the dark,
A stairway to heaven in my memory
Dawn on the Foss and a cup of tea,
Fever in the blood, the first eel of the day
Our cane rods lovingly handed down from father to son.

I remember, Pheasants looking for mates
Shrieking their songs of love
Swans begging for scraps
Their majestic white necks, nodding,
 A greeting into their kingdom
 
The mist off the water revealing families,
being together, laughing, enjoying what was free.
For tomorrow the grime returns.
A conversation with a stranger then out of a bag,
The rabbits, sometimes hare, sometimes pheasant.
Onions and carrots, shortly follow
The smell, forever linked with summer
The scent of my childhood

Summers were hotter then;
At times I drank the Foss, for I was nature’s child
Being clean was never a priority,
Catching fish was, never killed always returned,
Our Covenant with Nature.
For it is the sport that we honour. 

And with age comes reflection,
Poor I may have been, my education neglected
But I have a Doctorate in nature, for I have seen the dawn
Away from the factories, where the pheasant runs free
And where the swan reins king, I was part of them.
It was here I learned what family was, 
To share, my last drink of pop with my neighbour,
 A simple life, maybe, but what a life

For I have seen what Constable painted
Lived every word that Wordsworth wrote
Understood the Fragrance of the Flowers
 And revelled in the poets dream.
I loved every colour, every sound, every scent,
 And every fish I ever caught.
 
Father and mother are gone now,
Never complained about their Station in life, 
For they found paradise on the Foss.

They left me the seeds to their heaven
And the key to my happiness
A key forged in a mans worth
To open up my soul to the beauty
That surrounds us all.

Dawn on the Foss, was my church
 My soul was cleansed here
And my heart was shaped here
My memories kept safe here
And the Foss fever still resides here
I will die on some bank side, one day
Rod in hand, and I will be content,
So Tight lines my fellow Anglers.

The story of life

If you have a story to tell of how the birds met under the tree, if you have a story to tell of how the wilderness submerge into the sea, the coastguards were not around and destiny could not be found. I stood on the mountain of hope and watch the seagulls circle around the trail trying to pull up the fishermen boat from behind the vail but it was already at the bottom of the ocean and making way to join a thousand more missing souls. If you had a story to tell of how you live for ten years beside the dry well, no food to eat, no place to sleep and your body becomes a punching bag for stranger and the unknown but hope keep you confound. If you have a story to tell, let me hear it now, let it out and let the bitterness walk about; get ready for the big show, I will show you where to go. The story of life is filled with life; the story of life will tell you where destiny dies. If you have a story to tell of how you confront and defeat twelve vicious enemies, when they surround you with guns and you had nothing to defend yourself except for the wisdom in your head, they attacked you from four sides but compassion was among the lot to save your targeted life. They could not raise a gun, they had to get up and run when you stare them in the eyes and faced the sun with dignity and pride. If human could fly many would build their sanctuary in the sky, and the heavens would die. The story of life is not about paradise, the story of life is not about passion and pride, the story of life is about life and how I survive. The music in the air is what I have to share, it reminds or life in a faraway cold country, when the birds and the beast were living in harmony, I had no shoulder to lean on when the temperature was minus zero degrees and the sheet was so thin, I got up in the middle of the night and start to sing but I kept my focus and rub my hands together to keep warm, the story of life is about life, it is not about your materialistic bride, it’s about how I started from nothing and came out to something; I remember those days  when I was studying alone and it was the music of life that comforts my soul, my days quickly fades into night and the moon light was my only guide , I could not explain how I feel but all I know, my emotion was real; If you have a story to tell, tell it now and set you spirit free. The story of life is just about life.
Form: Narrative

A Poem For You -First Collaboration With Michael J Falotico-

A Poem for You
By  Michael J. Falotico & Dinda Minardi

(Finished in August 14, 2011)
                                                                    ~Dinda~                 
Same like yesterday of yesterdays,
I sit under this three
He sits on the woodenbench
Before, he just him in the same ways
Then unique him set free
Tastes like dewy meets thirsty to drenched
I’ve sighted his eyes, down to nose, slide onto his lips
How come a stranger makes me beat my heart faster?
I can’t imagine if he talks to me, can I bear the shock waves?
I wonder, when will I get that eager to see his face closer?
My underestimation has been impressed wider
I used to be a talker.
With him around, I’m only an observer
What can I say, I am now an admirer
Atleast this park provides me air that's clearer
So I can still be sober

                                                                    ~Michael~
A day in the park seems to take a change..
I try to write words but they spill out strange..
This blank page is being played with by the sun..
Shadows crawl up and down but none with fun..
My eyes travel past the wishing well to a tree..
A smile that shines but I only wonder is it for me..
All these words I write she can't see or hear...
My legs are frozen from this beauty I fear...   

                                                                        ~Dinda~
Who is he? He robbed my breath and blocked my sanity
Could he be? The one who’ll keep me from uncertainty
Or it’s just my brain mutiny because I want him too badly?
How should I know?
My self-esteem suddenly low
Should I start it first, or would it only make out worse?
What a perfection he has, I can only gasp
By his all I sigh, while my hands sweating on my lap
                              
                                                                       ~ Michael~
Well she is moving closer, what should I say?
I will tell her I'm drawing a picture of today..
When she see's there is no paint only words and letters..
I answer "I have drawn a poem of you" which I feel is better..
With no words we kissed and smiled for hours..
I flipped the page over and drew you a flower...


*I had fun in this collaboration. It was my first collaboration and I feel honored to collaborate with such sweet poet like Mr. Falotico. 
I hope you enjoy! :)
Form: Rhyme

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