Short Grindstone Poems

gyrating grindstone

cold rusty winds kiss and chap

digestion decay...

Read More

Be resilient is the mainstay
For trouble and strife can be a moment away
Don’t overthink or wonder too long
For strength in adversity is needed along
With you nose to the grindstone and not on the air 
Don’t be weighed down but show you care.

© Paul Warren Poetry...

Read More

If our life is predestined and our fate preordained
Why stress and strain, why live a life of drudgery
Oh, why toil in vain, why to the grindstone be chained,
Let's indulge in a life of slothful luxury.



~Contest: Sin of Sloth
~Sponsor: Margarita Lillico....

Read More

A red-rimmed sun of summer,
of the sweat of the workers,
the salt of their brows.
Shoulders to the grindstone,
the strength of sinew and muscle,
hours of their labors.
The Lord of their lives
and their eternity-
gives them a dreamer's  sojourn
in the welcomed moonrise. ~...

Read More

Back to black coffee
back to ryo cigarettes
back to the grindstone
the wheel
the rat race
to nowhere

back to it
back on track
back to basics
the spinning wheels
the hampster cage
the invisible prison

back on the regimine
back to the doctor
back in the gym
the vitamins
the cardio
the end...

Read More

Education starts at home
  Work kids' fingers to the bone
Pile up the chores after school
  Then on to homework
               --  That's the rule

No TV shows or quick little breaks
  Nose to the grindstone 'til it aches
If you want them to taste freedom
  Prepare kids to counter Red China's Kingdom...

Read More

pull out all the stops
keep your shoulder to the wheel
go the extra mile

bust your chops sweat blood
work your fingers to the bone
bend over backwards

go to great lengths put 
your heart and soul into it
and work like a dog

go at it hammer 
and tongs roll up your sleeves do 
the heavy lifting

put your nose to the 
grindstone put in the hours 
break your back...

Read More

Urination reigns rains flowing 
Covering the firmaments grasses 
Backing splashing on the oak tree
Nose to the grindstone Kentucky bluegrass
Sniffs out allergens striving to mark a path
Marking at territorial arenas grasp
A leg up Or just a squat
Relinquishing rains
Watch the green grasses 
Now yellow patches 
From yellow rain
Puring down tween a dog's leg


1/24/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022...

Read More

I forgot.

When was it
the word withered
the phrases fled?

When did vigilance for the lines
crumble laxly into the air.

Was it when I, unfaithful
to my craft, forgot to work;

in nonchalance to practice;
lost nose to the grindstone.

I thought, poetic as I was,
the majestic write would

upon me light like 
pollen in the breeze.

Write it down, when it comes.
I'll bet that's what Dr. Seuss did.

Kathryn Collins
May 8, 20016...

Read More

WHEN I HAD ASKED HER WHERE SHE'D BEEN
SHE ANSWERED
AT A CONFERENCE FOR
KANUON HALTER
AT THE BOOTSINGER CONFERENCE HALL
I HAD TO DO SOME UNDERHIM WORK
WE PUT OUR NOSES TO THE GRINDSTONE
AND WERE UP ALL NIGHT
WE WENT AT IT AGAIN IN THE MORNING
AND DAMN! I STARTED THINKING ABOUT YOU
SO I CAME HOME TO SEE IF YOU WANTED SOME?
I AINT TAKE TIME TO FRESHIN UP
AND I HAVE TWENTY EIGHT MINUTE UNTIL
SWIGGEL COMES ON THE TELE
SO IF YOU WANT SOME
THEN COME ON!...

Read More

Birthdays come, and Birthdays go,
Yours is past, as you well know,
Not really sure why I forgot,
Could it have been an evil plot,
I always have good intention,
Just too busy, worth a mention,
Better slow down, smell the roses,
Stop the grindstone, save the noses,
You’re thought ‘bout, more often that not,
You’re in my prayers, never forgot,
So I say with no reservation,
Gotta stop this procrastination,
So in closing, I’m thinkin’ of you,
One in Mass. and One in Muzoo....

Read More

I am twenty.
I am in love.
She is beautiful.
But has a tongue
as sharp as a razor.
I should run away.
As fast as I can.
Instead I get out the
grindstone and
sharpen it more.
I think she is
Seeing other men.
We fight
She slashes me
with her tongue.
I throw a cup at the wall.
It smashes into shards.
Just to show her
what bad things
good people could do.
I break the silence.
I love you
I whisper.
What I should have said.
Was
Don't leave me
I hate sleeping alone....

Read More