cuckoo bystander
hippies hound
desecrate passing
shrewdly badmouth
siegfried bobcat
wake european
spirits enlisting
the globally
fortuitousness by
reading rhythmic
confrontation dutifully
fluster fission
spat and
unite your
sourness unlearned
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • September 7–13, 2026)
Retaliation-the action of harming someone because they have harmed oneself, revenge~ protectionism invites retaliation—def it is what it is
seeker of redress
queen of retaliation~
promotes dull v
e
n g e a
n
c e
I went to the docs for a blood test; routine
That morning I’d been on the weighing machine
So I knew my weight and my height… give or take
(And, okay, I don’t look a lot like a rake)
He asked me my height and he asked me my weight
Which I may not have known on an earlier date
I said, “Five-eleven and fifteen stone-ish,”
Then thought I’d impress him… “I eat lots of fish.”
But he shook his head with a quiet, “Tutt tutt”
As I sat and stared at the size of his gut
He told me that I ought to lose excess weight
I just had to say, “Are you serious, Mate?”
I think that upset him, for that’s when he said,
“Male, sixty-five? Hop up on the bed…”
Through dry lips I muttered, “O, heavens above.”
He said, “This won’t hurt,” and he slipped on a glove…
My deepest fears are coming true
Total darkness bleeding through
Raging inferno that's within my soul
No longer I desire to maintain control
Exposing the darkness for all to see
"Reveal your demon!" they beg of me
It is wonderful that you unilaterally
Decided to split up with me
Before Valentine’s Day
I am elated to make the following announcement:
The cake will be shared with my friends
The chocolate will be given to my cats and dogs
The candles will be donated to the church
My lovely mother will receive two bouquets
Of flowers and tomorrow morning
I will place three of your twelve roses
On my beloved father’s grave
And yes, we will have a blast without you.
Hebert Logerie
The old lady expels a sneeze that travels the length of the stadium
Landing with a salty splat on observers who are rooting for the other team
Yes! Yell her comrades, not realizing the other side has nuclear weapons
And little notion of how unleashing them may hurt the whole stadium.
The retaliation
the faithful wife came into her husband´s bedroom
he was propped up by pillows and had difficult breathing
I have always loved you, and she said I will help you now
stamped him with stiletto through his heart.
Law is the law she was found guilty of murder.
They sent her to an asylum for the criminal insane even
though she was perfectly healthy,
No locked door she could come and go as she pleased
everybody knew he had been a philanderer, but she
had forgiven him out of love.
What no one knew or suspected she hated him and
this was her revenge.
Fort Pueblo 1854, retaliation swift, no one was toying.
We rebels thought the British Empire annoying
Nonchalant agents ignored the plan with noncaring eyes.
It is a misnomer that the Europeans are the good guys.
We were the bad guys during the Indian Wars, totally unfair.
Giving smallpox laden blankets to the natives without care.
Making our friends our enemies, a move that was dire.
Making us less than people, a mean kind of fire.
In retaliation for the small pox deaths, White Earth led a raid.
He brought Apache and Utes in, to slay as if it were a parade.
They came to many a dwelling, and killed quite a few.
Dire displace of a woman and her sons, count of two.
She has belief
without comprehension
and in her crutchwork shack
she is
much like us . . .
tamping the bread
into edible forms,
regarding her children
at play
with something akin to relief . . .
ignoring the towers ablaze
in the distance
because they are not revelations
but things of glass,
easily shattered . . .
and if you were to ask her,
she might say—
sometimes God visits his wrath
upon an impious nation
for its leaders’ sins,
and we might agree:
seeing her mutilations.
He abused women then just left them flat
Pushed from a roof to the ground he went splat
At Gods feet he'd say,
"Forgive me I pray!"
But she replied, "Oh, It's too late for that!"
Going down the stairs,
Hand grasps the banister rail;
Hiding mantis bites!
Retaliation
The mate went ashore an afternoon,
For the purpose to go to the bar
and steal the cook’s girlfriend;
the cook had to work till eight
and when he finally came to the bar his girlfriend
had gone with the mate to a hotel.
How they mocked him next day, but the cook smiled
showing even, wolfish teeth not his natural once mind,
but nevertheless very white. It should
have worried the crew, it’s no good to
tease a man who can spit into their soup.
#retaliation
bare the feelin of betrayal
is nothin we wanna deal wit,
the feelin of betrayal will
make us wanna kill real quick fix,
some get back! would be real nice right?
bare the feelin of betrayal
retaliation? served cold, ice!
is it worth it? satisfying?
our freedom? family? future?
incarceration? maybe so
concrete obligations we meet
bare the feelin of betrayal
choose wisely, daily don't sleep
protect your peace of mind, stay blessed
and pray, because those who betray
will soon have a stiff price to pay!
bare the feelin of betrayal
On the edge,
you receive the onslaught
of moonlight.
Drummed and sawed,
you take up the challenge
and move on.
In rains
the dreams wash the rainbow
inviting the Iris.
Tonight, you
will have an audience
will the estranged god.
A taper
in the sun wants its
place on the moon.
Satish Verma
Retaliation Day
Mother Nature’s hurting
She’s crying, feel the rain?
She’s angry, we’ve abused her
For our own selfish gain.
The world and all its treasures
Are not for us to own.
When will we remember,
To leave her work alone?
Every time we falter
Somewhere people die
This we cannot alter
She’ll match us eye for eye.
Every time we raid the earth
There is a price to pay
How much we will discover
On Retaliation Day.
Sub Categories
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.