Rough Poems

OVER THE INFLUENCE

My lungs fill as I inhale the smoky haze of the September breeze.
Overcast skies stare down on me until the guilt drenches my bones.
A puppet to the pressures of most I cannot control, gnawing at my ears until the only thing I hear is the deafening sound of my own thoughts.
I no longer wish to

The horrible bicycle ride

1.The whole town was totally deserted,2.My hamlet was in the town's out skirted , 3.Dynamo lamp showed a beam of light,4.It was a troublesome new moon night.                            5.

Rough Mornings

a warm cup of coffee
the best ointment to waking up grumpy
~ we've all got our vices



Wordku: 5-7-5 words


AP: 2nd place 2025

rough draft of the I don't care

When I was a boy,
I was snarky and coy,
I learnt the lessons,
when the bullies
beat the heck  out of me
and too right as this
was my personality
and this little prick
was being such a dick.

Living so vividly
being taught a lesson,
I still smoked in the boy's
of the toilets
and got caught.
The teacher waited,
until I inhaled the last
as I knew

Amateur Golfer

You’re trying to hang tough
But your ball is in the rough
Don’t throw a fit
Just think then hit
Forget all that pro stuff

Diamonds Shine, Not Robots

What shines is a diamond in the rough, not a robot in a black box.
















Contest: Why I Abhor AI Generated Poems
Contest Judged:  June 15th, 2025 10:12:00 AM
Sponsor: JCB Brul
Placement: Second

ROUGH DRAFT

Verse 1:
I was once a whisper, light on your tongue,
A gentle hum, a soft song to be sung.
But like the fray of ink, fading with time,
I fell from grace as you lost your mind.

Your fingers once tender, tracing my lines,
Now calloused and tired, no longer entwined.
A thought you had, now lost in the folds,
A burden

Rough Life

We live — but not on level ground,
We are sunlight clinging to the edge of a crumbling wall.
I remembered Grandmother’s voice,
She warned me once: “Boy, beware the fall.”

We leap —
and soon enough
this house of days
will crash upon us all.

We were mountains once —
and still we held,
Like millstones
bearing every crushing call.

In a blink, the starling flew

A High School Rough Draft, Lyrics

Hello, Hello, just a shadow
In a rat race on game show
it’s a rat race on a circus show
Just a game for the cat chase, 
In a rat race against the cat chase
In this circus show
On my tiptoe, for Romeo
Under the mistletoe
But the lifeguard let go

Manifesto
I'm in denial
I'm in denial
Hunted by a crocodile

I'm swimming idle
I'm swimming

My skin is not smooth, it is a landscape, creased and rough

My skin is not smooth—it is a landscape, creased and rough, folded like a well-traveled map.
The curve of my neck cradles the sun, even when the sky is gray and distant.
The scar on my knee is where I learned gravity,
There I remember how my knees sought answers and bruised against silence,
The faded marks on my

Stuff was Rough and Stuff

what will have been rough
surely had been with much stuff
tending to be tough

How about that Horn Hilarious Haiku.

rough childhood

She felt she was in the minor league
Not quite brilliant or pretty enough
Her therapist had to triple dig
To learn her childhood had been extremely rough

Three Guesses

Originally published in Out on a Limb, an Anthology for Friends June 2020

Little dogs,
To show how “big” they are,
Growl and snap in a mean gruff bluff;
And “little men,”
Yell and beat their chests and their wives
To prove they’re big, rough, tough.

But when truly formidable challenges
Finally come their way,
Three guesses.
Who’s first to run,
And which dog has his

within it's rough

down wolf
sans lust

close pack 
a mask

white fang
something

its crown
her howl

pawprints
skirmish

no lies
eyes try

imprint
your edge

cry done
in love

Alpha 
laughter

Two Pieces of Wood

Rough cut pieces of wood bearing many splinters,
they shall be a portal through which all sin enters,
blood soaked nails being constantly driven,
one set of nails that will have a story written,
from a sapling these pieces of wood were chosen,
a destination to end stained a color of rosen,
part of history that will never be forgotten,
a mark

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