Nesters Poems | Examples

Knight in White

Watch the leaves swim in the wind
As Autumn’s corners unfurl
And as we sail on
On the face of reflective waters
In our relationship
Just you and I now empty nesters
No one to pester us
(but we miss drinking from the scuttlebutt) 
As we greet and kiss the morning 
(And each other)

Now I'm her knight in white
And she's my bride in white
Now its just us twain
Reflections of when we first met

The Fine Art of Keeping Distance

Into the deep- green hearted forest
far removed from man's raucous tangle
the many tacky hues of self-centeredness.
There's only herbivores and carnivores
doing their thing in primal time harmony.
Nesters weave the incoherence together
Miraculously everything is spaced out evenly
I'm given a wide berth and tolerated to a degree. 

Even the gray silence keeps its distance from me.

A Natural Emptiness

The closet, once crammed with the styles of youth,
holds not so much as a coat hanger.
Dents in the carpet are the only evidence
that a bed, dresser, and nightstand filled the room.
The frilly window dressings and wall art are gone. The truth
weighs heavily on my heart; my sense of loss is intense
as I gaze through tears at the emptiness.

Five years ago, just down the hall, I stood in a room
stripped bare of furniture, clothing, and all hints 
of the masculinity that had thrived there. The gloom
set in as I visualized the weight-lifting equipment 
and the “man cave” corner that was always messy.
I reminisced and pondered where the time went.

My sentiments may resonate with others
who revisit vacant spaces—the fathers and mothers
now categorized as empty-nesters, who must accept
the reality that vacant rooms are part of the 
natural scheme of things; they are survivable.

Empty Nesters

Children leaving home
Starting a life without us
time to turn the page

A fresh coat of paint
brings fresh opportunities
making things brighter

Each stroke of the brush
Unleashes a memory
Tears begin to fall

Empty Nester

I never thought that I would be a mom,
you were an unexpected surprise.
I fell in love with you instantly my child,
My nurturing womb was your first home.

You alone were my absolute everything,
I enjoyed watching you grow up.
But the years seemed to go by super-fast, 
and I am extremely sad you have gone away. 
I love your dad, but I miss you so very much,
he gets on my nerves and makes me so mad.

Your father is loving and so supportive and all
but nothing seems to work,  I think I need help.
Maybe I need to go see a psychiatrist.
Without you my darling I don't seem to exist.

I stay in my bedroom for hours at a time.
I used to be active in the house and chores,
but my to-do list is blank, nothing is on it.
Things around the house are in disarray.

I prepared you very well to go off to college,
But I didn’t prepare myself for when you did.
Your dad tries to cheer me up constantly,
but his efforts are useless and I am in a dark pit. 

I have an appointment to see a shrink next week,
Maybe then I'll find ways to cope without you.
I heard about empty nesters, but I never thought 
in my wildest dreams that would be me.

Unwelcome Nesters

swifts are chattering
pilot burns in my fireplace
interrupts nesting


written May 31, 2021

Empty Nesters

empty nests aside
sparrows are happier now
fledglings flew away

May 29, 2021

As Love Matures

Couples coming into prime
exhibit an exact prognosis;
passions working overtime
while seeking love in heavy doses.
Never being quite enough
to satisfy their youthful yearning;
time spent lying in the buff
so sensitive to needs discerning.

Couples in their middle age
display a diff’rent kind of story;
passions lack that same old rage
as they once did when in their glory.
Obligations, no time free,
and children clinging to the tether;
“scheduled moments” seem to be 
the only way to come together.

Empty nesters think at last
that time again is their possession;
love will be as in the past
when passions flowed without discretion.
Yet they’re finding other ways 
to fill the moments of their leisure
browsing Facebook in a daze
without a thought of passion’s pleasure.

Couples in their golden years
just holding hands and reminiscing 
‘bout old times, as sunset nears,
recalling flames that now are missing.
Passions that were once the scorch
when ‘tween the sheets were interlocking;
wooden chairs out on the porch
the only things that now are rocking.


May 8, 2021

Sweet Birds of Spring

“In the spring time, the only pretty ring time, when birds do sing . . . sweet lovers love the spring.” -William Shakespeare

In early spring they reappear -
the shorebirds and the swallow.
Ducks, geese, red-winged blackbirds,
owls and eagles follow.

April brings more of the same
with woodpeckers and warblers too.
Early nesters of the spring -
instinct tells them what to do!

The cuckoo and the mourning dove,
but the biggest boon
for the end of April is
The nesting of the loon!

By May the spring time is ablaze
with hues of birds galore.
The cardinal and bluebird -
harbingers we can’t ignore!

Dear robin, I shall see you soon,
for on the way is spring.
With eagerness I wait to know
which bird I’ll first hear sing.

Feb. 22, 2021 for the Spring Birds Contest of Constance La France

Empty Nests

empty nesters watch
leaves skating on frozen ponds…
a soft sun beckons


©12/15/2019

Writing Challenge, December – Winter Haiku or Senryu
Sponsor, Dear Heart – Wiishkobi Ode

Empty Nesters

The Blue Jays of early Spring
bring wondrous wonderings to my eyes
with a determined flight of perpetual motion
carrying one twig at a time clutched tight in their beak
to build a nest far from peril
so the eggs they lay can break free
in the late Spring and new life is born
where they'll learn to dart from limb to limb
until they can finally fly
in the hectic days of youthful exuberance
before they abandoned the nest
and leave the warbled echo of yesterdays to memory


11/10/19 contest Last Year's Nest

Zero To 69

Zero to five. Can't say that I remember anything.
Five to seventeen.  School, work, play; see you later.
Seventeen to twenty-two. Working and going to college.
Twenty-two to forty-four found me getting married, raising
children, and working 'way above' and 'far beyond' nine to five.
Forty-four to fifty-nine took me into a time when we became empty                                                                          
nesters, and I began to feel as if I were emotionally in decline; and
I worked and worked all the time like I was out of my mind. At the                 age of fifty-nine, I started coasting into early retirement at sixty-two.                 And now, I'm having fun writing mini stories and poems at sixty-nine.

09242018PoSoup

When Quiet Screams

like vinegar and baking soda combined
daily hustle bustle and grind — in caustic silence —
erodes...  

precious time eroded in the rush to clear agendas
rushing to the rhythm of the— tick— tockin’ of time... 

engulfed with the toils and responsibilities of life
it all seemingly moving in slow motion...

'til suddenly it becomes sublime 
to realize just how much time— has passed 
now seemingly moving much too fast... 

like motion picture film spinning on a reel
as this arduous journey reaches a place of still...

still quiet —volume so loud —you can hear it scream
with flashes of the past rewinding inside your mind... 

revealing —in that slippage of time— often 
it was thou— you left behind... 

quiet screams —
time to exhale....accept or receive
what has been lost or achieved...

shhhh — listen!— the time is now yours 
time to lay to rest — hustle bustle and grind—
time — to relax your mind....

and enjoy —your way—what’s yours...

God’s greatest gift—

time......




***Inspired by the feelings many retirees and empty
 nesters experience...

Haikai - a Micro Anthology - Weather

~~~~~~~~

climate change... killing
spring bees...  spiders  many flies
early nesters starve

once joy the seasons...
the charm of springs overture...
winter defies it...

today... house  sparrows
 seen nesting... nature wishes...
hopeful they succeed...

grass... verdant... growing...
hedgerows holding back... afraid...
full spring biding time

jet stream...rioting
lost its way... meandering
disturbing nature

the hill piste lingered
children smiled... sledging... what fun
comes the rain... flooding

hot then cold weather
flu viruses all favor...
hope you had your jab...

don't stop feeding birds...
wild mammals too... squirrels nuts...
rats... mice... wildfowl grain

wintertime walking...
shush... have your camera ready
seen... a snowy owl

lincolnshire
just in case one thinks i've jumped
the north atlantic

~~~~~~~~~

Interlopers

Thirty years ago, multi-floral rose and 
fruit laden wild berry bushes could be
found in abundance everywhere around here. 
Native grasses provided shelter
to the ground nesters and the 
warm summer nights were filled
with the call of whippoorwills
and of nightingale songs.
Mature walnut trees shared 
space with the oaks and hickories-
wildlife had their own place
and pretty much stayed put.
Now, the well-oiled machines of 
development have bulldozed most 
of the trees and shredded them into 
mulch to landscape neatly manicured 
lawns that now flourish in place of the 
multi-floral rose, wild berries and 
native grasses- considered noxious 
interlopers-
they have been exterminated,
and collaterally, so too the ground nesters- 
the whippoorwill’s call and the nightingale’s
song are silenced.
Remaining wildlife have adapted 
by foraging back yards- 
turning over garbage pails, raiding bird 
feeders, preying on household pets and 
grazing those prized manicured lawns, 
ironically, causing the real interlopers 
much inconvenience, distress 
and collateral habitat destruction.

• Short Nesters Poems
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• Best Nesters Poems
• Read Nesters Poems
• Long Nesters Poems
• Nesters Quotes