Short Mangle Poems

The poets from Yorkshire are best

That’s where I come from – you’ve guessed.

       Though our words can get tangled

       Like your smalls in the mangle

Phew! –  That’s quite a load off my chest!...

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Paul talked tough, said he wanted to pulverize his enemy
But didn’t have one as far as any of us roommates could see
I’d mangle and maim them like a warrior wrecking ball
His only enemies are on video games, our friend Paul...

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A thread of thought I caught
Then lost to watch it dangle
Among the ones flown past
To hopelessly entangle.
I try to tell you not to ask.
What said in haste might strangle.
The web of lies in idle thoughts
The truth would surely mangle....

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There is a din gurgling through my calm.
Rancorous roots reaching
into ceasing heartbeats.
They writhe and twist and mangle.
It is but an idea unbridled.
The slow decay of morale manifest
in teardrops long dry.
All that prevails, the black salt....

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My heartbeat’s wrath
Pitter pat, pat
When I see the house that
We used to love in.
Now all worn and broken.
The tortures of the used to be’s
And haunting memories
Mangle my mind into mashed potatoes.
Who will know more woes
Than those with brains of mashed potatoes?...

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Twilight comes too fast,
moral shadows closing in.
As I run from my past,
they all know my sin.

Twining 'bout my ankles,
tangling in my hair.
Trying to trip and mangle,
no on promised life is fair.

Emotions now run cold,
so easy not to care.
Though grappling for my soul,
they know that I'm not there....

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A laundryman let his dong dangle
While standing too close to a mangle.
When they stopped it, you guessed it,
It had folded and pressed it,
And now he must pee at an angle.


Entered in A Funny or Bawdy Limerick Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Tania Kitchen
May 1, 2023

1st Place (with 3 others)
Thanks, Tania...

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Misspelt poems mangle the message,
dealt a blow by a careless edit;
Svelte pen but could not match the approach,
felt you were done but did not see it;

When you’re lucky you get the wordplay,
jasmine doesn’t flow like the jazz men;
Again that’s just not how it works out;
Been there, mind spellcheck pay attention.
...

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Errant steals,

like globular e-mocking,

stark Jabs in test,

wave's of sustainment globally casting flesh aside,

wantoness stops as
tubular horns row them all away...


Nickled as jells in the jangles,

wobbie in a talk in a mangle-

flippin' at it's angle',

crunch crockie crangle,

the bottle on a walk,

like a Laker in a stock....

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I slept 
then I slept some more 
dreaming of being your whore 
a kept man chained to your wall 
released only for your passionate chores 
  
I will not weep nor beg or succeed 
I will pillage and mangle 
attacking each need 
and when you want more 
this little ol whore 
will excitingly feed   
on your graces with greed...

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Snipping through the skin
vocal pain ripping my eardrums
Breathing in your blood 
as i wash my sins
in your devotion
Masicate my masterpiece
Notes scratched in her skin
Mangle my manuscript
Snapping my fingers as i draw them down your chalk board
With the final flaying chord
My bow berates your jugular
And my opus is undone
Silence drowns all noise...

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Attempting to join the dots 
we tie up ourselves in knots; 
later try to untangle,
these barbs that scar and mangle.

Instrumentalising thought 
we rest in silence, self-taught,
letting go of doership crutch,
enabling knowing by touch.

One with universal mind,
wisdom of another kind,
definitive, free from doubt,
deep in soul, clear truth does grout.

18-August-2022...

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They mingle over the mangle,
bicker over the bike,
and how I lost
my life.

They scuttle around the scooter,
whisper ‘who does he know?’
as I’m sprawled out,
alone.

My face is crushed with crusty blood,
dust shames my bone-white shirt-
I don’t mean to
disturb.

I watch them as they walk away,
the bike goes for repair.
They know there’s life in that bike yet,
not in my stony stare.

No need for them
to care....

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My mingle-mangle mismash mixed bag of stuff
Is a pastiche, potpourri, patchwork of remnants rough
The accumulation of this junk was not so very tough
Feather dusters, ink wells, rulers, silver links of cuff
Pincushions, a beaver tail, old Spice, smelly snuff
Nails, shoe polish, tape, puffer that does not still puff
Potholders, elf statue, rags to give car a buff
Petrified cinnamon roll, please don’t give me guff....

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Mona Lisa half smile grin
poses lifetimes of too few 
pots to piss in
Still we mingle mangle mutter and mirror our Stalwart egos
so as not to comply with false looks of bliss.
Ignorant gossip useless praise spark drone conversations of 
putrid malaise. Let us try to live open book lives--writing
chapters of truth, paragraphs of love, flowing sentences of 
compassion with periods of long lasting empathy. 
Turn the page....

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Hands hold, faces face
Eyes embrace, distance dissolves
Time stops, love lingers.

Hands hang, faces warp
Eyes glare, bridges burn
Past crashes, time aborts.

Minds mangle, hearts abrade
Egos blaze, identity incinerates
Pledges perish, bonds break.

Road deserted, journey desolate 
Present pines, future forlorn 
Change reigns, time rues. 

_______________

September 25, 2022
For A Brian Strand Premiere Choice Contest...

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You press the keys time and again
And errors bog you with flat disdain 
In vain you try and rack your brain 
To figure what has derailed the train 

The website is but a tangled web
That sinks your spirits to a new ebb
Supposedly a tool to expedite work
Actually a means to shut your neb

On its homepage, the motto to dangle
Must be YOUR NEEVES WE JAR AND JANGLE
AS EXPLETIVES POUR OUT OF YOUR MOUTH 
YOUR PEACE OF MIND WE LOVE TO MANGLE...

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my mind is a jumbled-up mess,
it thinks it’s a game of chess,
with pawns in a line,
and knights in a bind,
it’s chaos, but i must confess.

it ponders like cats in the night,
chasing things just out of sight,
with dreams in a chase,
and thoughts all misplaced,
it’s nonsense, but it feels just right.

so if you catch me in a tangle,
as my scattered thoughts wrangle and mangle,
just laugh with delight,
and join in the flight,
where logic and silliness dangle.
...

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