Operant Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Premium Member The Programmed Mind

("The Mothership", 2024, original encaustic photo collage)

The Programmed Mind

Riding our brain waves
What we do and say and think
Finds a lasting home
At whatever level
Those vibrations take us.

Do we remember our dreams
What we did, said and thought
As the relaxed state of REM sleep
Molds us, solidifying or disrupting,
Our daytime persona?

Do we consciously seek out
Our own reprogramming
In deep prayer and meditation
Establishing familiarity
With primordial zero-point awareness?

Or do we simply
Follow our impulses like a dog
Basking in the pleasure
Of comfortable routine
And operant conditioning?

It is our mind after all
To have and to hold
Or rather as the case may be,
To reclaim and rewire, 
Program and heal for ourselves.

(4/16/25)

Self Portrait

They still don't find me
savvy enough
to be respected
as aged sir ...
I haven't been serious yet
enough to be
confused as
serious man...
I'm still playful
that much to be
considered responsible ...
I'm not eld enough
to be treated as
wise ... or grumpy
enough to be
appointed to the post
of elderly ... and yet
I'm not spent enough
to be seen as
"non operant" ...
Thank heaven no...
I'm completely different:
because I actually am one
crazy boy of
60-something ...!
And live...!!

Fire Operatie


FIRE OPERATIE.      (operatie is Dutch word for operation in English)


F ine matter in combustion with oxygen too luculent,
I ncandescent fire's poise flares up its ligament.
R esourceful if used with a well crafted stroke,
E nds up in its originality into a smoke.

Barbeque pomfret dances on the hot grill plate,
Fella operant is harum scarum,focus drifts to marr,
Fish a dish untowardly gets blackish straight,
Penchant of the palate now becomes a scar.

Water cycle disturbed,soil has furious fire,
Ex improviso calamities,lava,firestorms dig deep,
Diseases new to skin pop up,scorching rays conspire,
Greed of us if controlled,time again will reap.

Flambeau flickers soothing fire,inner heart purges,
So many wants wanted,this is what one urges.


Contest:Elements Part 4.
Sponsor:Brian Davey.
01/05/2016


Gooseneck Above the Signage

It doesn't look like temporary domestic violence. 
Her pearl necklace made of each moment 
of disappointment.
Nobody leaves his comfortable trenches 
To stuff with the power of city centre, 
until her menstruation is gone

When the words are getting immature, 
they seem to lead to the organic things
or to the other nonsense.
I feel a pity, operant conditioning 
doesn't work as would I like, no one can pretend

This is a win win situation, 
however unknown prosecutor could give different verdict.
Just a win win untill the man gets back home

****

driven 
face 
down
into the
bed
into the
pillow
hands out
squeezing the
sheets for
all dear
life---
she didn’t 
plan on
this &
yet this is
what
happened &
what could
be comparable
for a heterosexual
man,
who wants 
satisfaction in his
sexual
demands?

what has she 
asked of him
that comes even
close?
she says in retrospect
that she squeezes her
eyes shut &
just 
wants
it 
to 
be over---
and this is in something
consensual.

using the pain as 
sexual currency,
saying that she lets him
when he’s a 
good boy,
her operant conditioning
is a catch-22 &
yet,
what would happen if she
went to her drawer &
got a steel *****,
spiked for pain &
asked the very same of
him?

Triangular Quadrant Riddle of Love

I was caught in a triangle were four hearts were broken. 
Two were being played but four took cupids tokens. 

Two were speaking in secret while the others tried to hold true,
both on opposite ends of the playing field who didn't have a clue. 

Our hearts ached and beat away from each desired direction. 
Thinking of our loved ones where we found our true affections. 

"I hope you find happiness" and "I hate you" being slurred. 
"I don't ever want to see you" and "I hope you die" were her painful piercing words.  

Somehow love found it's way, kindled and reunited. 
with blissful joy and happiness that four so delighted.

Operant conditioning assisted us in seeing the path, 
back to each original love, the love that will last.


Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.

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