Manfully Poems


To Sock Or Not To Sock

He wore his desert wellies
With suitably besocked feet 
As he strode manfully along 
The rain driven wet street.
Britain in the summer time,
Ten climates in one day,
So the British stiff upper lip
Really is the only way
To extract maximum enjoyment
From such a variable clime 
And to spend hours pondering
Is just a waste of time. 
So we wear our Desert Wellies
Ensuring we’re not being rude
By appearing on the street
With feet that are nude.
A man can maintain his dignity
Ensure his social stock
So long as each sandalled foot
Be modestly clothed in sock.
Categories: manfully, fun, humor, irony,
Form: Rhyme

A Dream Like That

out on my legs
little shaky
little flaky
achy

blue jay scolding
it sees my weak ankle
it knows

mercilessly mocking

got to walk
car at the nail salon
stalk my own steps
slow way to go

been
ballet dancing
in a barrel of beer

fell out of bed
inside a dream like that

i am lame
swollen

holding up
hanging on

manfully
i stumble onward
to Brannigan's Bar.
Categories: manfully, poetry,
Form: Rhyme


Premium MemberA Boy, a King

selected when but a child
ruddy face and handsome, he,
short of stature, manfully
used the sling to great effect in wilds,

protecting flocks from the beasts
caring for the last, the least
numbers swelling, they increased
providing bounteous banquet feasts 

using sling, a stone he threw
aiming well, yes, aiming true
careful placed, a giant slew
epic win for king, for country too

hero on the battlefield
courageously, sword did wield
to his men's hearts, he appealed
claimed high ground on bloody killing fields

poet, gifted with the lyre
soothing words reduced king's ire
breathless verses to inspire
strong laments when times were hopeless, dire

kingly, noble, well adept
loved the law, the precepts kept
like his fathers, he too slept
forty days, the people mourned and wept

----------

for the Lind30 Rhyme Poetry Contest
sponsored by Chantelle Anne Cooke
written on 03/18/2022
syllables checked by HowManySyllables.com
Categories: manfully, hero,
Form: Verse

Premium MemberTomorrow, Tomorrow

Tomorrow I shall see the birth of the awaited dawn
Today it seems I am locked in a midnight zone
Tomorrow I will not walk into the dread of the night
But shall be led by the blazing light

Tomorrow I will carry my yoke manfully
And never recite the litany of my woes mournfully
Tomorrow I shall slow down and stop by the mountain side
And watch the silvery stream joyfully down way glide

Tomorrow I shall seize every chance that comes my way
And never wait for them to fall on another day
Tomorrow I shall be out of my prison cell with discord round
And shall enter a palace with joys abound

Tomorrow I shall willingly partake of another’s grief
And never seek solely my own relief
Tomorrow I shall wait for the calm that follows the storm
And not grumble in haste that life is a withering dream

Tomorrow I shall look beyond the clouds of gathered gloom
And see for myself the beauty of stars that in hundreds bloom
Tomorrow amid hostilities I shall keep alive the sparks of friendship
And never mourn the absence of anyone for companionship

Did I hear someone teasingly say to my utter surprise
“Your resolutions sound so good! But what if tomorrow doesn’t arise?”
Categories: manfully, appreciation, celebration, inspirational,
Form: Rhyme

The Arrival of Sound

Once upon a long time,
The silence blanketed my world
Like snow covering an arctic forest.

The nooks and crannies of my days
Were filled with the wispy webs of quietude 
Worked by whispering limbs

Mine was a vast tundra
Of silence
Across which great unheard herds 
Of thoughts could roam
Freely, gambol and graze
Encountering nothing to disturb them

Rivulets of words
Gathered and trickled
Over the schisty shingles
Of my mind

Eons passed

But one cold, silent, snow flaked January morning
A pioneer strode manfully, meaningfully
Into my wilderness without warning.

Falling in love with all that he saw
He began to sharpen his axe.

Now the hordes of herds have all but disappeared
And the rivulets have been dammed and channelled
Into a thousand subterranean pipes
And there is TV and MTV and DVD and MP3
And my world
Is rich with sound.
Categories: manfully, environment,
Form: Blank verse


The Arrival of Sound

Once upon a long time,
The silence blanketed my world
Like snow covering an arctic forest.

The nooks and crannies of my days
Were filled with the wispy webs of quietude 
Worked by whispering limbs

Mine was a vast tundra
Of silence
Across which great unheard herds 
Of thoughts could roam
Freely, gambol and graze
Encountering nothing to disturb them

Rivulets of words
Gathered and trickled
Over the schisty shingles
Of my mind

Eons passed

But one cold, silent, snow flaked January morning
A pioneer strode manfully, meaningfully
Into my wilderness without warning.

Falling in love with all that he saw
He began to sharpen his axe.

Now the hordes of herds have all but disappeared
And the rivulets have been dammed and channelled
Into a thousand subterranean pipes
And there is TV and MTV and DVD and MP3
And my world
Is rich with sound.

© Barry Freeman – April 1984
Categories: manfully, meaningful, symbolism,
Form: Blank verse

Premium MemberDecisions Decisions

Life is so full of decisions
we seem to have so many to make
what would it be like without any?
making our lifes a piece of cake

Every day is filled with them
many causing all kinds of stress
just wish one day to have none
that would be nice none to address

But really when we think about it
it's for our growth and personal good
getting our minds to work manfully
so we know ourselves fully understood

When we made that first decision
as an infant think it be about then
we never knew millions more to make
who knows how many more to when?
Categories: manfully, change, life, spoken word,
Form: Rhyme

Fond Reminders

If fond reminders seek a passion void
Then leave without a voice of "I love you"
Make him feel that you are still annoyed
And lead him to this place without a view.

That this allure has possibly been used
It far outstretches things beyond his reach,
He doesn't mean to show what seems abused
But manfully designed he's lost for speech.

Yet wait, the full intent of passion fills
What seeing less of you has seemed to be
He wants to understand you, with these skills
That taught him, most of all, 'It's not just me'.

While closer you've become while there are two
Converse in turn, just listening content
Creating words with meaning, ones that woo,
You back again without the need for vent.  

And gradually the sway of tides embrace
Can sunsets on horizon sleep in peace,
'Love', is such a word that shows the face
With smiles that no frustration can release.
Categories: manfully, happiness, hope, life, love,
Form: Personification
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