My rhythm is just awful
my rhyming’s out of sorts
As I light each poem’s tail
I hope that it aborts
Iambic pentameter
speaks not to my heart
Perhaps that is one reason
critics tear me apart
I’ve served my time: waited tables
washed cars, begged for money
Yet my poetry presents indifferently
worst of all ~ it ain’t even funny
Today, I woke up sad and blue;
and feeling somewhat out of sorts.
My mood is dark for sure it's true
sometimes so down I feel that's true.
Maybe, today I'll just stay home
perhaps I'll rest in bed and read.
Won't take my 'black dog' out to roam
just, tie him up so he can't roam.
Somethings in life I can control
but, 'black dog' visits me sometimes.
Then I slide down the big black hole
so, have to climb out from that hole.
My melancholic deep abyss
when mood swings take me up and down.
Ignore this state must not dismiss
my feeling therefore can’t dismiss
Some soothing music I might play
to lighten up my darkened soul.
It may help chase the blues away
I hope they soon will go away.
Let all my worries take a hike
Relax, unwind my troubled soul.
Regain myself, I can for sure
I’ve had the practice that’s for sure.
And when I do 'black dog' be gone
I'll smile again my blues have gone.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The needle pricks,
not fabric~
but the space between my ribs.
A threadbare heart,
pulled taut,
threatening to snap
with every awkward tug.
I am not like Mother;
I am no seamstress~
just a woman
with frayed edges
and hands that fumbles
with mending.
Each missed stitch
leaves a gap~
a tiny wound
where the light slips in,
unasked for.
And still,
I knot the thread,
bite it clean,
press my palm
to the uneven seam
Feelin’ stitchy is an old school term meaning feeling out of sorts. Today, the phrase implies a sense of enthusiasm or passion for embroidery and related crafts.
you may read a related memoir vignette at poetrysoup.com/short_stories/feelin_stitchy_13648
I'm eating a hot dog for breakfast
With mustard and ketchup
Watching lecture 18 of
'How to Listen to & Understand Opera'
Sometimes it's pain au chocolat,
But I'm in pain getting in the car at
6:41am; I drive in the darkness
Cuckoos, frightened birds,
Donkey-Jupiter, hurdy-gurdy
Tears, sorrow, cries
I hear the clouds -
See a chariot drawn by two frogs
I say out loud, "That's a mad silhouette of a person."
Such a description may well give the
Impression that the Earth is out of sorts
And every morning, this is the
Birth of comedy
I check the football news
There was a punch-up at the end of yesterday's game.
"Look how happy the crowd is to see a man being strangled."
The pig is in the poke.
You look out of sorts.
What's got you hot and bothered today?
Cheer up, it's friday afternoon !
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
There’s no doubt about it, no escaping it;
Living in the material world.
Yet mind and body end up at odds about it,
What it is, what it requires, what it has to offer.
It’s a work in progress
For us all.
Work that doesn’t appear to have an end in sight.
But also work in a world
That appears to have it’s own path forward
Despite what we want and say and do.
Thus our own mind and body
Sometimes being at odds,
And of course in and with
The larger world of others
Who are each at odds within,
And without themselves…
But the material world for all its limitations
Is certainly accommodating,
Generous to the extreme
Tempting with potential fulfillment,
But always within limits.
This is how you train a soul after all.
You give them just enough
To meet their individual need
And require of them just a little bit more,
Continuously.
Always off balance, a little out of sorts,
They then are compelled to keep falling forward
And so eventually learn to walk.
The longest journey may begin
With a single step
But all that requires something
To stand upon,
At least with the illusion
Of solidity.
(10/15/25)
We'd played each other on the
song guessing app for
six years, ever since we were matched up
when I visited Iceland in 2016; we
both liked Classic Rock and stuck to
70s playlists
For a few weeks one year (2022) I was
"out of sorts" and didn't log in; when
I next opened the app
I saw Haraldur had terminated our six-year
rivalry
I mean, I led him by 540 to 86 games,
he was a bit slow,
but I valued our unspoken international alliance
It stung for a while but my
main concern was that my wife,
whenever I played the game,
always asked me how 'your friend Olaf' was doing
And now I just can't admit that he's
no longer my friend
I am 55 years old
Taken the high road
Every damn time
Ending up in the gutter
No matter how hi I climb
Saddle up my high horse
Lead it to water
Same creek different source
One paddle is all they offer
High strung out and out of sorts
Last blast comes with no laughter
Burning bridges the last resort
Blown sky high regret pours soon after
Settn sail three sheets to the wind
High as a kite in lightning storm disaster
In a handbasket hell is destined
Desperate high times spent n plastered
Chasing that dragon that's got me imprisoned
Hell or high water the path to rock bottom is the only pursuit I've mastered
shadows out of sorts
wicked egos somber
crows on the wire
nature’s conductors
connived brouhaha
My darkness has lifted my future looks clear,
Then one certain trigger,
My eyes shed a tear,
Then thoughts after thoughts,
It's now all out of sorts,
Remembering the cancer,
3years that she fought.
My darkness has lifted my future looks clear,
Today's been a good day,
Had nothing to fear,
Thoughts after thoughts,
Of good days we brought,
Remembering the past times,
But the futures un wrote.
So one day of darkness,
And one day it's clear,
But there is no pattern,
There's nothing comes clear,
To grieve for my loved one,
There's no right way or wrong,
My ways to write,
A poem not a song.
Your face is getting red and puffy
While your attitude is huffy
Do not be so mean and rude
You really need to lose the 'tude
Don't be screaming in my face
You just look like a disgrace
Eyes of fuming reddish fire
Take a deep breath and retire
The smoke coming off your head
Take a walk right to the bed
And calm down--please talk to me
What is in your history
That made you so out of sorts
I will try to help abort
Any issues that will cause
Your identity to pause
Leaving destruction everywhere
Its as if you do not care
Who you hurt or push around
Try and listen to the sound
Of my voice so calm and low
As your breathing starts to slow
And I see my friend once more
Kick that evil out the door
Of your soul where it has taken
Over --leaving you so shaken
But this evil we'll evict
With a strong and steady kick
One day she left her house, feeling out of sorts
as if some premonition spoke to her.
It said to just stay home; to not go out.
No logic in this, though, could she infer.
She ran her errands, then bought groceries.
To her car she went, exiting the store.
Discombobulation hit! Something wasn’t right.
That feeling now she just could not ignore.
A handsome man approached her as she neared her car.
It seemed as if that guy came out of nowhere.
She saw his knife, then felt its menace at her back.
She looked around; the parking lot was bare.
Discomfort and confusion turned into grave fear.
Like acid in her throat, great dread was rising.
Bound and gagged, how she wished she’d listened
to her instinct! Sadly, her fate was not surprising.
MOON MOODS
Over a sink full of dishes I stand
Fry pans, coffee cups, sudsy hands
When I notice an ominous moon
Angry face signals bad things coming soon.
Weary from a day of dashed hopes
My mind turned to bubbles like soap
Then I threw down my wet, dirty sponge
And went out the back door with a lunge!
I climbed up my yard’s tallest tree
To the tippy top branch I could see
Then I whistled the 5-Star alarm
And swung from stars arm over arm.
Til at last I was before that old moon
Who looked at me like I was a goon
“Your face looks so troubled and mean,
“Foreshadowing the bad things you’ve seen.”
The moon took a breath, unfurrowed his brow
“Thank you, my sister, for stopping me now.
“I’ve been feeling lonely and just out of sorts,
“But you bring me cheer, and some stunning rapports.”
I turned for a minute to bask in his glow
When things all went screwy and more I don’t know
But I turned my head back and the dishes did beckon,
But the moon shown a happier and nicer reflection!
Chamois soft and diamond strong
kitten cute and tigress tough.
Childlike as a robin's song
and yet complex, strangely enough.
With you gone I always get antsy,
out of sorts and not-so-jingly.
With you here I feel romancey,
dancy, spry, and neck-hair-tingly.
The prize of your eyes a daily surprise
into their liquid grace I'm gazing.
You truly make our love lovely
and life's twisting maze amazing.
Like the fresh air a cool spring rain gave,
like a soak in a tension-soothing spa,
like spray from a warm Caribbean wave
you leave me in total ahhh.
// Celebrating Janet, my best friend and bride of 39 years //
Turkey Days are often fraught
With tensions and with stress.
The harmony that’s always sought
Could end in quite a mess.
The fantasy of family fun,
With everyone on board,
Exists until the day’s begin
And someone feels ignored…
Or overworked or pushed aside
Or simply out of sorts
And then those feelings have to hide;
It’s time to watch some sports.
Yet dinner somehow will get served
And all will sit to eat,
The conversations gently swerved,
Avoiding any heat.
Desserts will come and with them, smiles;
Then clean-up and, I guess,
Another T-Day for the files,
Considered a success.
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