Short Napkin Poems

intricately decorated napkin
my pen runs dry...

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Ah, a mental block-
a temporary thing, like 
a folded napkin!...

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mouth missed the pickle 
it landed on the napkin
a tasteless event...

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your red lipstick
kiss upon 
the 
white napkin
shall
fade in the winter snow...

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Game to take this dare? ~

  Devour a creamy eclair

    ~ with no napkin there...

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poem
placed in a box
written ten years ago
on a napkin folded in half
found love...

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scrawling on the party napkin in my mind — celebration of words


1/4/2020...

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folds in a napkin
paper crane come to life
memories of you



AP: Honorable Mention 2025

Posted on April 16, 2025...

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napkin holder...
                                               what an
                                               easy job...

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A dance of fire
and a Rootbeer
smile,
chewing french fries,
watching skin dry.


Hot dog buns show us
the true murderers.
salted pretzels
the sinners....

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Holding her hair back
vomiting not sure smells like feet
Heres a napkin
use my mirror
yours have run
the joker would be proud
Lets teach that er
you hurt them
as her heels slipped off...

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The Soup is swimming with amazing peeps
Animals and vegetables, loaded with heaps
Can't imagine no yummies
No Soup for the tummy
Would throw in my napkin and sit there and weep...

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~ink flowed on napkin, becomes "Wings of a Butterfly," my first poem...~




How My First Poem Was Born Poetry Contest (Winner: 1st Place)
Sponsored by JCB Burl
Date written: 10/05/2020...

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...

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aka Robert Petrie

The Music Man, starring Dick Van Dyke,
on a Vegas stage being so lifelike,
at the end of the show, he came down to greet fans,
smiles, as he signed my napkin after, shakes my hands.

2020 December 18...

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Mr Napkin Holder

What troubles or 
afflicts Mr Napkin Holder is
voices on a 
speakerphone are too 
loud, are too 
confident, the smell of 
instant noodles, and
those who say aka instead of 
saying 
also knows as.
...

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Love is a name
I talked to myself
To understand
Why you'd stick around
For my falsetto

Today I match
And say
Something I write
On every napkin note
Every day

My lips and breath are yours
I just need your love
Always...

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Her face lit up with a smile
radiance, ebullience
for the longest while
plastic fork and spoon
cast aside, napkin astride
the floor
while more and more
and more of the
chocolatey cake ends up
as the latest 
one-year-old birthday-girl 
makeup...

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SMALL    CHILD    CHARACTERISTICS



Runs into a hundred resting  pigeon
Which explode into an escaping cloud

Eats her ice-cream with my shirt as napkin
Asks awkward family questions aloud

Favourite animal today – armadillo
Sleeps across me as her pillow...

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Before I was aware
I used you to pacify myself, back then I used my mouth to explore the world.
Later, you became a napkin. 
Ok, I'll admit, a Kleenex oftentimes.
How I long for those days of simplicity!
Because now, and maybe for the rest of my days
You are just outerwear for my heart....

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Things happen when you drink too much 
and at the wine soaked kiss
I gave you my heart 
scrawled on a beer soaked napkin
you loved me and I loved you
until we woke up to the perfume
of stale sweat and alcohol
and dreams of love ended
in a hangover’s haze



© JGF 2017
Form: Free Verse...

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Damn ants-
found one
walking on 
my good glass table.

grabbed a napkin
pinched it over
the black body.

there's something 
so unnatural
about having a bug 
in your home.
how the hell
do they roam in anyway?

You'd think 
the rest of the world
would be room enough
for one little black bug....

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No time set aside
The words reformed
Again at their own pace

No place to reside
They’re written down
On a napkin or empty space

When I try to hide
They find me sure
In mountain or in plain

As new moments chide
The past adieu
  —and thunder turns to rain

(Villanova Pennsylvania: March, 2015)...

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Napkin on lap
Sit up straight
Finish everything 
On your plate
Quietly chew
Do not burp
Sip the soup
Never slurp
Do not talk
While you eat
Little bites
Cut your meat
Never ever 
Play with food
Elbows down
Don’t be rude
I try to remember
The rules I’ve been told
By the time I do
My food is cold....

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Corruption reigns while silence is served.
We hone their knives with indifference,
keep polishing their plates with our fatigue.
The reckless and the cruel—
they feast well, for the tables are laid.
A democracy isn’t taken;
it’s surrendered, a napkin at a time.
We end the banquet by taking the plates away....

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