Orphan Poems

Orphan Of Love

The psychic tattoo
of paternity
darker than
fate’s blackest ink

The guilted knife
of maternity
cutting you
near to the brink

A prodigy alone
in the shadows
offspring of
scorn and disdain

Begging for love
and acceptance
from parents
— called heartache and pain

(Dreamsleep: June, 2025) 

Orphan

You chance upon her
in the far reaches of the backyard
a place you never go
and there she trembles  a tiny tiger in a blurred world 
secreted in shadows below blackthorn shrubs 

faint mews draw you closer
the power of her vulnerability
fills your veins with a pulse rising
brimming you with a nectar needed
like a dry stream bed

The Cry of an Orphan

In the dim light of the moon's glow,
An orphan dreams where the cold wind blow,
Hot silent tears trace paths on a dirtied weary face,
In a world too vast, an empty space.

The cradle that once rocked, now stood silent and still,
No more lullabies, no more warmth to fill,
Tiny hands reach for shadows of love and care,
But

Orphan Of Wind

Without our dreams
we sit naked and alone
Imprisoned by doldrums
adrift from our home

In fits of depression
we unstep the mast
Awaiting the storm
— of futures long past

(The New Room: August, 2024)

Circumstances

Circumstances
Poem
Lionel Derbyshire

Circumstances leaves you few A chances.
No nick, no pick, no give me more.
Just a little sauce.
No custard tart.
You on shoestring circumstance
It's rough-and-tough
In the orphan jungle

All I can stitch together in memory is my big toe sticking out from my small blanket.
Kismet! for that umbrella blanket I did not even own every night.
And yet civil

being an orphan

mother has been gone less than a day
her favorite time of day was daybreak, I think
I walk outside into the sun, but do not feel any better
there is something horrible about not having your mother

I did not realize it before
because I was never an orphan
but now I am
I sit on a bench feeling despair

I am

Not just for a balm

He carries a wound that festers with smell,
He fears within it, bad germs might dwell.
Since losing his folks, he’s lost everything;
Each morning, he wonders what life will bring.

Each coin that he grasps, he holds with great care,
For hunger and pain both watch him in fear.
He eats little and soothes his pain with balm,
His survival depends

ORPHAN WORLD

Different worlds
Different times
Growing up
In our minds

Neither here nor there
Ambivalence reigned
Father ruled
Mother gained

No holding
No cuddling
Sin running
Reason befuddling

Sickness and disease
Chaos ordered in line
Six days left
To leave it all behind

What's ahead
More of the unknown
Just a basket of fruit 
Showing how creation has grown

Written by Trudy Schrader on 01-27-2024

THE STORY OF BABY ELLIE

Ellie was just three months old,
When she was brought to our sanctuary,
A safe haven was our fold.
She was an orphan, her mother,
Her sister, her aunt, her brother,
All chased and shot, and left to die,
From our sad experience we knew,
That probably a foul mouthed, 
Red faced, sun frazzled man
Whose muscled legs would look   
Disgusting,

A POETIC ORPHAN

She sits alone
Shunned by those that rhyme
With sublime
Ridiculed by the raucous
And bellicose
For of all the words
It is said
She is the only one
That doesn’t rhyme
With anything.

She has ceased defending
Her presence
In the molten shades
Of breaking dawns
Her streaming brush stroked
Sunsets
She often sits alone
Amid the seasonal splendor
Of a New England Autumn
Shuffling through the rustling
Shades and shadows of her self.

She

An 'Orphan' Pleads for Mercy

    A young man murders his mother and father 'for fun'
      throws himself on the court's mercy, 'cos he's an 'orphan'

    The young man is Hamas, his mother and father, Palestinians and Jews
       the West is the court,

The Orphan Train

Four children had to tell mama and papa goodbye.
It was World War I. Would they ever see them again?
No one spoke of this, not wanting to alarm the little ones.
Janice was told to take care of her siblings if possible.

It was impossible. They were separated along the way
Brigid age three was chosen at their first

I'M Just An Orphan

I'm just an orphan.
A transplant to this state.
Basking in the sun light, sitting by a lake.
There's people all around me but I know not one.
It's active here now that bass season has begun..
I'm only one orphan on this bright spring day,
captive to melodic birds as they chirp away..
I'm only one orphan befriended by an oak.
It's

Forgotten In the Dark

Alone in the night, with no one to hold,
A life she never chose, yet she's so bold.
Her mother left her, on the day of her birth,
A cruel fate, that dealt her an insurmountable hurt.

She never knew the warmth of a mother's embrace,
Feeling lost and disconnected, in this lonely space.
She searched for love and care, but

The Orphan

In somber twilight's quiet embrace,
An orphaned child with tear-streaked face,
Gazed upon a golden fruit,
A symbol of solace, grief to mute.

The fruit hung high, a treasure divine,
A mother's love, that once did shine,
A beacon bright of memories dear,
Its glow bespoke of love sincere.

Alas, no arms to hold, to guide,
A void where once a heart resided,
In wistful

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