Short Payoff Poems

I'm afraid that I might be die alone.
Out in the world, love is like a war zone.
All they want is payoff, but not amour.
Yet the love-light, for me, that never shown....

Read More

O glorious day off
it's you that I've sought
you are the payoff
of a week, hard fought

You fill me with cheer
after many a mile
And now that you're here
I awake with a smile...

Read More

Spin that wheel!
I have that feel!
What's the deal?. 
Where's the joker?
Forty-five
dollar payoff.
I would rather play poker!

This form is known as a "whitney".  It has seven lines with a syllable structure of 3-4-3-4-3-4-7.  It does not have to rhyme.
...

Read More

Sun sets, sky glows cerise.
Throw the nets, catch showpiece.
     Fish abound, birds take off
     All fly round, it's payoff
Birds last meal, night is nigh
Strange feel, gratified high.


17 August 2021

Image 1
6 syllables per line.
Sponsored by: Joseph May...

Read More

Twenty-two, black and even is what I wanted to see.
When it came up on the roulette wheel, I was filled with glee.
Wasn’t I ecstatic when I saw that little white ball.
It spun around the wheel and landed in that stall.
Very shortly afterward, I heard the dealer’s call.
The straight-up payoff for that win is thirty-five to one.
That winner was all I needed.  I would take the money and run.
...

Read More

A ticket lay there waiting
  untold riches bye and bye

The Powerball on Wednesday
  buying freedom with its lies

All barriers seemed broken through
  the world at your command

Perspective dying, hopes run wild
  control spun out of hand

The numbers tell the story
  but the payoff tells the tale

Be careful what you wish for
  —as the raindrops turn to hail

(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)...

Read More

Take me to the verge,
push me to the edge,
Move me with a surge,
lift me with a wedge.

Keep me moving forward
in a line that’s straight,
Remember I’m a coward,
When it comes to fate.

It’s always you I need,
To keep me motivated.
And you must concede,
It’s not anticipated.

If you stay with me,
When I hit the wall.
The payoff you will see,
Will be worth it all.

Don’t let me back track,
Or ever turn around.
Having you I’ll never lack,
The power to astound....

Read More

Mortality

Fatality

Actuality

Split the difference

Meek or Innocent

A pocket full of Ashes

We all fall Down

In Nursery Rhymes

The age of innocence

Is puntctuated by the crack of a heart attack

As the light at the end of the tunnel
saying thanks for visiting slowly fades away

Until nothing is left

Because this is the point of no return

Where Mortality

In Actuality

Becomes Fatality

And if Faith
&
Belief 

Was worth the Payoff...

Read More

Today’s Political Climate
Tom’s Opinion
October 17, 2020

Politicians come to us with conflicting voices,
all intended to sway and influence our thought.
We’re bombarded daily with a myriad of choices,
most succeed in leaving us feeling distraught.

In today’s political climate, it’s mostly fake news?
Spewed are half truths causing many to scoff.
As Progressive Socialist’s are perpetuating their views,
career politicians continue reaping a payoff.
...

Read More

If you get injured, what’s the price
To help assuage your pain?
Do lawyers factor in how much
You whimper or complain?

Of course there are the doctor bills
And days you couldn’t work
Or drive or shop or do the chores
You’d never think to shirk.

They even take into account,
With formulas complex,
What’s owed to someone if
An injured spouse cannot have sex.

No matter what the payoff is,
I’m sure each wounded soul
Would gladly give up all that cash
To once again be whole....

Read More