Short Down The Line Poems

Distance, space, and time,
we can take another look,
somewhere down the line.
...

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Working on a poem
Struggling with the form
Results are slow going
Feeling pretty worn

Probably going to punt it
Just go back to rhyme
Work on my assonance
Somewhere down the line...

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Gabby Hayes once said it best
Of an icon of the West:

“It’s Hoppy’s laugh I recall
As we rode on down the line—
Like water over a fall,
Makin’ the whole world just fine.”

Memories now ride the night,
Knowing Gabby Hayes was right....

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My tribute to those Alpha sisters,
They can be very scary witches,
Born with really bossy britches,
No need to argue with such shes,
In accord with place in family,
Sister A pecks down the line,
Verse for Alphas, their place and time.........

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Side to side
beaten a hundred times
at the hands of pride
down the line   smashed
how long will it last
on the floor   crashed

Side to side
aimlessly tossed before I fly
the innocent left to cry
deflated I hide
in shame    but to you
it was just a game...

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wicked soul mate, 
Her lovers pride, 
Pretense to the core, 
Her her fluttered,
She clamored 
Her tears dried up,

Broken heart down the line,
Heart saddaned, 
Her bellows reached out the realm of heavens,

She exclaimed!!. 
All is fallacy, 
Trust is costly, 
Softly she broke the vow.....

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I'm going under again---
You're pulling me down the line
With hook-fingers in my eye sockets,
Dragging me over open land---
I can feel my feet
Breaking ripping shredding---

Let me go...
You're killing me---
A slow death
That may take years

Break it, damn it
Pull the nails from my hands...

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Somewhere in the Universe
I am clocking my mind
Be it on a poetry group
Or a dream sublime

Somewhere the time is right
We have limited time to do
So I pour my mind 
Into a poetry frame for you

I jot down a verse
An pen down a line
It all pours out of me
My thoughts now rhyme.

Dated: 19.08.2020...

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Heart-warming wine
Jot down a line
Mood changes hue
To sweet silver blue

How high the cost
How much is lost
Back payment due
To sweet silver blue

Head shake and sigh
None left to deny
Insight in view
To sweet silver blue

Somehow I gain
Beauty from pain
As thoughts turn to you
To sweet silver blue...

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Oh balls
foul tipped
slow trickled….
down the line

Oh balls
you whirling dervish
biting air…quick clawing
down and away

Oh balls
wood slapped
rising in an arc of cheers
falling in the leathered web
of tears

Oh balls
the games go on
and though I age
the heart still plays


John G. Lawless
©9/26/2021...

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male mockingbird grasps
last year's bean vines in May's brisk breeze
plumage flies westward 

down to line newly made nests
harm-free, warm place to rear young 


down-in this poem means the soft under feathers(usually goose down is used but here it means the soft feathers of the mockingbird)...

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Forrest of faces
Flanked by rainment fine,
 Appear in many places
Up and down the line.
Stories beyond the scope are told,
Music from mindfull deeps,
Emotons handed down form "old"
Coming forth in leaps.
Energy from the ladies and sirs
Merge with flawless ease,
I feel the touch of many hers,
And I'm in love with these....

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The mind is a mystery,
a complicated thing,
it makes you who you are,
and documents, where
one has been.

Sometimes it will forget,
and not be able to recall,
the most unpleasant things,
some big, and some small.

Generation to generation,
its traits are being passed,
as down the line of kin,
their recognized very fast....

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I met you the other day
It changed my life in a way
You make me feel good
I knew that you would
I know that you are right
For my mentality, each and every night
You showed me a sign
I thought was lost down the line
The beginning came forth
From an end drawn close
Towards the light we will shine
To the universe we will grow...

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Their petals feel like velvet
And they prance down a line
Looking like miniature bells
Foxgloves, beautiful foxgloves!

I hide in their meadow
Hoping to never be discovered
Others can do the wash and the cooking
I am studying vegetation

I am a biologist
I am a geologist
I am a scientist
Sister can do the laundry, not me, never me....

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I hear you
Your raining
Its thundering
Down the line
Lightning strikes
My heart
I can’t do anything
To ease you pain
I fell the storm 
In your voice
Its howling
Down the line
I can’t say
If everything
Will be fine
I won’t offer you
False hope
Down the line
Courage and strength
Is all I can sow
We’ll hug and talk
Soon
One day
Down the line...

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The black suit down the road,that is touching 
It is worth it ;down the line, people are jumpy;
Bonjour Black
Black suit black shoes black suit down the road;
down the line, it is Black;
Black shoes , black-black suit and tie
everything is Black intact.

Just around the corner 
i see Black suit black and white shirt,
it is classic-classic yes.
A black Suit....

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Maybe in the future
Maybe somewhere down the line
Maybe when the seasons change
And so do we
If we stand the test of time

Maybe when we’re older
We can figure all this out
When the air is colder
When the leaves are falling down

Maybe when we’re wiser
When we’ve lived a little more
Maybe when we’ve been apart
Our hearts
Will come back to each other again...

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4’10” and 14 years young,
Words were said but fists weren’t swung.
5’4” and 2 years down the line,
Negativity slowed, I started to shine.
5’8” and a hopeful social work success,
People don’t doubt me,
I’ve made progress.
4 grades and 10 inches later in my mental and physical growth,
Needless to say I’ve improved highly in both.
All I needed to do was wait,
That’s just me,
Motivated By Hate....

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It Has To Be 

Right down the line, 
With the spark of some hope 
Someone is, reminded. 

Don't forget about tomorrow, 
I heard a man say 
I remembered when the tomorrow's
Wasn't a word in my vocabulary 
Only for that day!

We come back to,
Tomorrow's Promise
Must-be, God-given 
Must-be, Has-to-be!

Changes come, always! 
With it comes a new Hope 
And the new ways 
God-given, Has-to-be!...

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A few years down the line,
I had made a list of resolutions for the next year;
learning Chinese, learning how to swim, learning how to drive,
fighting fear of heights, fighting fear of crawling things......

Well, here I am today, with nothing to show for my effort;
I had made resolutions only on paper - resolutions were visible
only in ink.

I wonder whether another resolution will work for me.........

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As I looked down the line
Conspicuous stars faded away
The suns gradually disappear
And black swallows further 
Every Glimmer Of Radiance
My sword is drawn
Struggle against resentment
Safeguarding the cosmos
And every single one of its inhabitants
Apathetically exposed to the left
Simple downtime now
Prior to the depravity of man 
recovers and reappears.

Written: May 22, 2023...

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They walked hand in hand down the line
Sadly they would run out of time
Promises made only yesterday
Now those dreams just fade away
A love that had only just begun
Now ends sadly as one life is done
No longer will they share a kiss
Or enjoy each other with eternal bliss
No longer will loving arms embrace
Or gaze upon each others face
Once was is now in the past
Only cherished memories to last.

1/25/14...

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~Haiku~

your love flew away 
like a migrating bird
and never came back...

~Limerick~

Your lack of love pushed me to the floor
I couldn’t take it anymore
I signed on the dotted line
You were no longer mine
Why don’t you just hit the door?

~Couplet~

We entered into a partnership
Six months down the line you decided to jump ship


7th place
Contest: Divorse Club
Sponsor: PD

© November 2010...

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I carry a spring deep within my pocket 
once a child's toy

I hold it close and reminisce on his warmth 
a warmth now long gone 

A smile appears as I hear the laughter
permeate my mind

and remember the electric train tooting
and crashing down the line

For a junkyard there had to be, a pile,
wreckage, beside the line

he is gone now - away
a memory today
and I carry his spring in my pocket and smile...

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