Short Labored Poems

a 
smelly
cigarette
hurts my asthma
perfume even worse
labored breathing
suffocate
awful
breathe...

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I aspired to be inspired,  
So I labored all the day. 
No inspiration--just perspiration,  
I guess I'd better use the spray...

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~   O2 depleted

               each icy step is labored ...

                              summit's frozen maw   ~...

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  One at a time
  He climbs the steps
    breath uneven, labored
   
  Though crossing crowded streets
    he's agile as a jaybird
  
...

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Clyde Stanson sought to repair clocks
he labored in school of hard knocks.
Getting them to tick
was a simple trick.
But they wouldn't produce any tocks....

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a ship has sailed
tears flowing
a labored breath 
upon my cheek

off in the distance
dark shadows looming
out to sea her image fading

a ship has sailed...

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A farmer owned a farm in Iowa.
In vain, he toiled and labored every day.
He'd pick his corn and shuck it,
And pour it into buckets;
Then crows would steal the corn and fly away....

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trembling and ravenous a dragon nesting watches
not his prey but his rider
his vulnerability
his master, his pet
as unnoticed pretty ladies danced about the fire
caused by his labored breath...

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An old man slumps on a wooden seat --
Pigeons flocking to his feet.

Once he labored.
Once he loved.
Once he dreamt
Of days to come.

Now he ponders on a park bench
Pigeons pecking at his recompense....

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How I spend me time
And labored, night and day
Weeding, fertilizing
Sorting heather, from the hay
Breaking soil wit me plow
Greeting daybreak with me pen
Then capture morning light
As I write with Rose again...

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How do you lay off a writer…
unemployment assured
In labored obscurity,
his fortune unscored
How do you invest in a future
that’s devalued today
When checks never balance
—and words will not pay

(The New Room: March, 2021)...

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Giving birth to new feelings,
  life to the unborn

Eternity swaddled,
  cradled and warm

A labored delivery,
  nibbed forceps demand

Prying out a new meaning
   —each stroke of the hand

(Plane To Las Vegas: July, 2016)...

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Acceding blight, civilization despair.
Entwining fallacy, germinating history.
Ideology jaded, kill-joy labored.
Martyr naught.
Obstinate paladin, quick rumbling spreads,
tense unattainable vicious warning.
Xenophobia yap zipped....

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Giving birth to new feelings,
  life to the unborn

Eternity now swaddled,
  cradled and warm

A labored delivery,
  nibbed forceps demand

Prying out a new meaning,
  each stroke of the hand

(Plane To Las Vegas: July, 2016)...

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cauldroned lakes of steam
wafting up in fevered plumes
labored breath as life exhales
venomed arctic gales
plunder trees on sun starved days
brittle claws of tumbled leaves

17 Sep 2014
Choka Me - Poetry Contest
5 - 7 - 7 - 5 - 7 - 7...

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Surely, all man can wish
has already been spoken
to stars

Surely, all men can plead
has already been prayed
to his God

Surely, all men can work for
has already been labored to
the bone

And yet, there seems division

only death will fully atone...

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I said the vow
now
we are parted
you slept well
years passed
no one
knew
watching
labored
deep
snoring 
could be 
so boring.

Loyal yet
I recoiled
from the frigid
side.
of the bed
pouting
praying
that love
would have
restored
your desires....

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My ego lost virginity,
upon the critics throne 

Pregnant with doubt ectopic, 
its embryo disowned

With labored forced delivery,
and fetus left unsired  

 A chastised unwed mother
—giving birth to words bemired

(Ronald McDonald House: February, 2020)...

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Emotional reconstructive surgery
Tiny cuts deep within 
Bending, breaking, reforming
The pain is hard to deal with
But the outcome will be worth it
No feeling, like nerves gone dead
All numb with a sense of loss
Breathing labored, and winded
Razors couldn’t cut this deep...

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Her trace of terror remains in every home.
The fear of death lingers wherever she roams.

Although improved and four years removed,
We will always remember her tyrannical rule;

And never forget medics who labored gallantly
To halt the evil beast of death and travesty.

...

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Happy memories have me grimacing,

Beloved friend I would have given all for,

Unmercifully plunged a stake into my heart,

Relishing my every labored gasp for air,

Replaying each moment of my agony,

Trembling, I mouth the word "why,"

Staring into my horrified eyes, she laughed....

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It's humid out, the world's annoyed
Polite folks swear, their nerves threadbare
No energy by noon or so
It's humid out, the world's annoyed
Exhausted now, you've labored so
Too much to bear, you sit and stare
It's humid out, the world's annoyed
Polite folks swear, their nerves threadbare...

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REASONS BEYOND MY CONTROL
HAVE LEFT ME COLD
AN EMPTY SHELL OF BEING
MINDLESS DOING
A VAPOR
CARESSING THE END
CARELESS
WITHOUT SUBSTANCE
RUNNING TO THE VOID
KISSING THE COLD HANDS
PLEADING FOR MERCY
LABORED MOVEMENT
PULLING ME UNDER THE WAVE
PUSHING HARDER
DON'T LET GO
I'M COMING....

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See the weeping stone angels?
Long have they labored in their mossy wetness.

Sometimes I think they are God – why not?
I consider the sorrowing marble a God,
the granite masonry a missionary of God – why not?

And those long falling tears
could they be turning 
slowly to tears of laughter?

Why not?...

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His hands,
Sending an army of shivers down her spine.
His breath,
Hot and labored on her neck. 
His sweat,
Dripping coolly onto her bare skin.

She lays,
thinking
Of the rhythm of the music
In sync 
with his own beat.
She lays,
Thinking
Of how her dignity wasn't the only thing 
Stolen
That night....

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