Refrained Poems | Examples

Nonsense Rhyme

With two left feet
he's clod-hoppery
tho' her little white porkies
are quite whoppery
as he thinks aloud
she's merely frippery
meanwhile she knows
he's really foppery
but slinking around
slippery-sloppery
in sandals she found
flippery-floppery
she came a-croppery
a total eye-poppery
yet flummoxed
gob-stoppery
he refrained
from quippery-flippery
remained on toppery
and maintained
ever chippery

End Credits

On the last day of the week
you were the first person to ask me
on a movie date

          and this was the first time     I refrained from hesitation
        the first time in a long time     I've loaned my bones expose

                      and as it plays on     my unforgivable fidgeting
	                              begins     twisting in positions in my seat
		                       trying     to lay my head on your chest
	                             without     breaking my neck

                            and I’m sorry     I couldn’t just 
				                    become comfortable
		            and I’m sorry     it’s about more than
				                    just the movie
        		   and I’m sorry      I was more focused 
			                            on what I wanted taken 
				                    than was capable of giving
		           and I’m sorry      all I can do is sputter off              				                                                                                            
                                                    apologies after you've
				                    long since stopped listening


Premium Member Pondering Possibilities



The question remains
Entangled, refrained
Of earth and sky 
Resting on the edge
Of due or die

And then I see you
Sitting so quaint
A peaceful mention
A wandering eye

Twining each branch
Climbing high
To catch your every promise
Your words so eloquently and refined 

Oh this wind struck passion
Blowing free upon the morning light
If but to find a chance
I dream a dream
Of you by my side

Premium Member Pondering Possibilities



The question remains
Entangled, refrained
Of earth and sky 
Resting on the edge
Of due or die

And then I see you
Sitting so quaint
A peaceful mention
A wandering eye

Twining each branch
Climbing high
To catch your every promise
Your words so eloquently and refined 

Oh this wind struck passion
Blowing free upon the morning light
If but to find a chance
I dream a dream
Of you by my side

Premium Member Cultural Mores Mirror

the moral landscape changes
with new blood surfacing
amplifying the flaws
inherent 
in the collective psyche

my ingrained prejudices 
bubble to the surface
harming 
my interaction with my fellow man

disagreeing 
with my elders
ancient scripts
based upon oral traditions 
faithfully handed down 
and embroidered upon 
to suit the occasion
holding a mirror up to my heart
I had to distil my own truth

I refrained 
from looking in the mirror
blaming 
the cultural mores 
for my current stance
turning a blind eye 
to the injustices 
and the crime
I must first practice to take the painful plank out of my own eye

before I could judge their truth
I failed to reason with my own


Unstoppable Force

One foot in front of the other,

Listening to the Mother.

Rumbling and tumbling,

Through the water.

And thought about,

The path it sought.

Since it began,

A trickle in the sand.

A puddle on the land,

S?ince time began.

Winding and Flowing,

Finding its way.

Eroding and growing,

Never knowing,

Where it's going.

Bestowing life,

T?o all along the way.

A path now showing,

It'll never sway,

Stays the course.

Patiently waiting,

Building up force.

A persistent existence,

Going the distance.

The path of least resistance,

Can change in an instant.

Is life any different?

Unstoppable,

Flowing freely.

Controllable,

Packaged neatly.

Who will you be?

Contained, trained,

Refrained from its domain.

Or connect together,

Let our river of life,

F?low on forever.

Premium Member Earth's Loss Heaven's Gain


Liberty, freedom, unchained
Plenty, riches, love sustained
Repentance,Forgiveness, not stained
Abiding, sheltered, in safety contained
Faithful, fruitful, on the right path remained
Knowledge, truth, wisdom, attained
From sin, self, and evil refrained
True Love, delight, joy, unfeigned
Heaven, eternity, eternal life, gained

Premium Member Lets Tango


The desolate wasteland of trepidation traversed 
by my jagged life that strived relentless for so long   
to smoothen the innate angularities of serrated mind, 
swirling in the egregious whirlpool of sucking indignation. 

Siphoned into sordid abyss of despondent delirium,
I searched out for myself a pathway of passion within, 
leading through the pulsating portal to my affable heart, 
not yet frozen passive in the prolonged winter of desolation. 

The spring of longing came with fragrance of fervor, 
floated on the dreamful wings of fleeting emotive time
across the flush of my floral heart where you had flittered
like a butterfly creating the cadence of chromatic symphony. 

The concert of the mesmeric music of my yearning, 
refrained the rhythm of concealed current called love,
that rolled between you and me to interweave us forever, 
as engrossed emotions danced with the ripples of rhapsody.

Accomplice

Your skin like leather 
my bulletproof vest
inkling tubes 
tuxedo of flesh 
harness me
hand on chest 
in between sheets 
stringing me along like a kite 
refrained from taking advice 
whistle and jolt
the casual bubble bursts 
bleeding love
and
quenching thirsts

Wednesday Triumvirate

Beyond The Nothingness

If the Universe vanishes
music remains
Each note but a memory
—forever refrained

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)


The Treasure

Life as a system
sits proudly alone
Unlike any other
secure on the throne

Not physics mathematics
or music can steal
What living the treasure
—of nature conceals

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)


Amor Est

How can you know it was love
—how can you not

(Dreamsleep: December, 2023)

Hopeful Wishing

Elevated intentions are futile in an attempt to hold your heart close to my own.

Could you see beyond a lie that was told with the best of intentions?

In between the war of the sexes is an ecstasy that could warm the coldest of hearts.

Jealousy shall be refrained until all other options have been exhausted.

Premium Member Indifference At a Funeral

We used to eat most dinners together.
Then we grew up and moved along.
Only gathering on holidays.
Some years later, most ate alone.

There are less of us every year.
Some are too ancient to travel.
Others have sparred with disease... 
Lost a leg or all of their hair.
Some waltz with silver walkers and wheelchairs.
Some don't even know they're here...
but their eyes still shine like babies.

Now we gather only to pay our half-respect.
The elders arrive, hunched and all dressed in black.
A second cousin once wore a Pink Floyd t-shirt to Grandma's funeral.
He stood bent legged, but his back was straight.
I wanted to carve indifference from his face... but refrained.

Ember of Love

The Ember of Love

As he was walking along the busy shopping street an old woman, came toward him
He knew her but hadn't seen her for many years
once upon a time, he had loved her very much
they both stopped; she remembered him and forthright, as she always was, told him he looked old
She was old also but refrained from telling her
 Their hair was white and brittle, and her prominent nose had dropped, giving her a look like a witch.
They hugged, and he told her she looked great! 
Behind the thick-rimmed glasses she wore, he saw 
a glimmer of her lost beauty.
After some more pleasantries, they parted.
Before turning the corner of the street, he turned around, didn't see her, and knew he would never see her again.

Saddle My Horse and Get Mi Coat

gotta be evasive of worldy things
gotta keep it straight
broken arrows
won't fly anyway
tryna watch my mouth
be careful of what
I say
tender feelings bruised hearts
and love
never mixed anyway
check my regimene 
nd keep my back straight
lack of proper posture
won't let it the way
I aint supped
better get sumthing
clear minded and
a fresh start
is the best catalyst for change

get my saddle ready
be back after while
grab my gladbag
I might something to snack on
still warm out
Baby I see ya later
be back in a while
i'll be back in a while

check my feelings at the door
My Baby don't want me any more
Looked me in the eye and said
she never did
said the weddings off
And I can go
said everything was just a show
get it right
she called me ah buster
said she refrained
as much as she could muster
told me I can find ah' nutha

get my coat
saddle my horse
clear my throat
change my voice
deep inside
what I want to say
but won't matter any way

A Grave In the Wood

I wrote an obituary for our love story. 
Buried the hatchet 
And refrained myself from asking
How your birthday went.
Locked the memories for safe keeping
And refrained myself from peeking
But I still can’t seem to throw away the key. 
I grow grayer and colder,
And the past becomes older,
Yet I’m still trudging through the mud
That you left me stranded in.
For every milestone is a boulder,
A weight I have to shoulder,
And the loss of you is just too heavy
To handle on my own.
But who would choose to bear it?
Ease my pain and share it?
For no one else will ever know
The gravity,
The weight,
Of the love that’s been shaken.
Hung up to dry
On a string in the shadowed trees,
Where I run off to cry.

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