Should Poems | Examples

THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE

THAT WHICH SHOULD NOT BE


A long forgotten kiss
Lies bitter on my tongue
Like salt and copper pitch
Blood, and secrets none
A wind worn sail
Hangs loose across my arms
A lash, the Devil's tail
Breaks the morning calm
Dreams of touching you
Breathes fire to my wounds
Ridicule and ruin
Burn, like falling stars
That which should not be
A shell, the desert Sun
Driftwood in the sand
Water, there is none

a poem that should not have a title

i have come to believe
that my home is real.

the cup slips from my hand,
falls to the floor,
and breaks with a sound.

my home
has learned my name.
even the mirror
knows who I am.

government men arrive
and write out a receipt for my house.
there is no extra charge
for the blue on the walls.

my home
begins to chew on me,
then swallows me whole.

my home
cannot feed my hunger.
so I go
to work in someone else’s field.

autumn.

at the corner of the neighbourhood,
i notice the sky
has changed its colour.

i buy a new tube of toothpaste
from the grocer
and return home.

beside the window,
a bed lies awake all night.

i am there too.

i enter the house
carrying a handful of dust.

everywhere,
there are so many traces of me.

my home
keeps me alive.

When Should I Smile?

When Should I Smile?
Smile, they say. It will help break the ice.
Smile, they say. It does not cost anything.
Smile, they say, it will help fix everything.
So, why should I smile?
To show that I am not sad?
To make you feel less bad?
To forget my anger?
I don't think so.
I will smile when I want to.
I will smile when I need to.
I will smile when I feel like.
I will smile....for me!

What Should Say

And what, other than a God, should say
why days begin and nights enfold? 

Could any sun, rightly, determine such a 
bright thing, 

with his blushing moon, while on a typical
night-fling? Perhaps a depth-sea, on a map flat, 
bragging lifts of surf its tides, should determine where
and when, day rises or hides? 

Maybe continents of mighty slips and slides, 
would sufficiently declare if day lights~ thus 
illuminatingly abides?

Independent of a God could man learn to reign
totally Free, each his own crucifixion
then clemency? Best that a God continues to keep all course, 
determining when light to dark is lost.  Myself included
judged by degree~ how Fahrenheit or centigrade a soul’s 
eternity.

You should have known

After everything,
I just hope I’m not one of your regrets.
But you should have known
we weren’t going anywhere.
You should have known we were doomed
when your replies slowed
and my heart grew loud.
You should have known we wouldn’t last
when I smiled less
and pretended more.
You should have known it was ending
when I stopped asking why —
Because silence is louder than questions.
You should have known it was over
when we started borrowing happiness
from strangers.
You should have known we were beyond saving
when temptation no longer tasted like guilt.
You should have known we were finished
when my name burned on your tongue
and yours stopped feeling like home in mine.
You should have known
when I flinched from your touch
and didn’t reach back.
You should have known it was over
when you planned a future
that didn’t sound like us —
and I imagined one without you.
You should have known.
And I should have known
that silence doesn’t save love.
I tried.
You tried.
We tried.
But we cannot cross an ocean
on a bridge
that was never built for two.

What Should I Feel?

Everything turned pale and went
Off the rails and far behind
Other people’s hell present 
Pictures of another mind 
Thoughts dart down like birds of prey
Human thoughts of endless peace
Still I’m living for today 
Using my old bunch of keys
Desperately I miss your face
You define a fake from real 
Seems I cease to be amazed
Tell me love what should I feel
For I see no crucial difference
Between houses with their walls
Between anything that stands
Between anyone who falls..

I Should Have Loved You

If You Should Hate Me

If You Should Hate Me 
by Tr. Elvis Otieno Gikoi

“Ladies and gentlemen, let’s talk about relationships. You know it’s serious when someone says, ‘If you should hate me…’ Like, wow, we’re already skipping the honeymoon phase and heading straight to the courtroom drama.  

If you should hate me, don’t just ghost me; at least send a PowerPoint presentation. I want slides, bullet points, maybe even a pie chart showing exactly how annoying I am.  

If you should scorn me, please do it creatively. Don’t just say, ‘You’re the worst.’ No, give me Shakespearean flair: ‘Thou art the Wi-Fi that fails at midnight!’ That’s hate I can respect.  

And if your heart still remembers the good times, don’t cry, just prank me. Swap my coffee for decaf, hide my socks, or change my Netflix password. That’s the kind of hate that keeps love alive.  

Because honestly, hate is exhausting. Love is complicated. But memes? Memes are forever. So if you should hate me, at least make me go viral.”

A Snail Should Know

Eat your leafy greens.
Don't worry.  Take it slow. 
Go when it's time to go.
That's what a snail says,
and a snail should know.

Regrets

I regret of travelling years
Shouldn’t have been to many places
Memories do disappear
Faces mix with other faces
Shouldn’t have been humiliated
When they asked how long I’d stay
Should have turned my back and waited
For a flight home the same day
You don’t dare to question me 
Should have said, but chickened out
Offered my excuses politely
Was allowed to join the crowd
Once I stood beside the study
Of the Constable’s Leaping Horse 
Thought I’d rather be that muddy
Piece of clay on painted earth
Than to bear this old torment
Of the human pedigree 
But if you could say that moment
Wasn’t my best, I would agree.

should they take the lights

Polar bear insisted on putting the string of lights up this year
After downing three cases of wine and a keg of not-so-light-beer
the other animals stood by, not terribly close, but rather near
Should they try to take the lights from bear? It was totally unclear

Horsing Around When I Should Be Studying

I saw a horse, 
the other day, 
walking on powerlines, 
diving into the ocean, 
drinking sea water. 

It stood on the railway, 
facing the train,
that barreled towards it. 

I thought the horse, 
so tired of defying limits, 
would lay down and die 
right then and there. 

But it stepped onto a rainbow, 
and rode into the sky.

Wouldn't you kill to be this horse?
Rising above it's seared 
scars,
proving it's will to heavens, 
so much they had let it in?

I realize humanity was a born a horse, 
that it locked up in a stable, 
to haul wagons
until it's back broke.

Should always listen to Mom

They wait for us in the dark,
lurking in the light of the moon.
We tremble when we're cornered,
no hope to escape any time soon.



AP: Honorable Mention 2026

lets decide who she should date

Slippery, an obstinate ostentatious otter
was determined to date my lovely daughter
I was against it said the pompous potter
such a silly idea, on which I threw cold water

There are worse men said the Potter’s wife, Cotter
This made his indignant anger grow hotter
Slippery is a good guy, argued his cousin Blotter
She is a professional scribbler, a true jotter

He is no slacker agreed his great grandma Knotter
But no one had asked the Potter’s lovely daughter
She came into the kitchen to get a drink of water
Slippery who? She asked the Potter and Cotter

They hemmed and hawed like a teeter-totter
Acting a bit stuck up like some kind of snotter
I decide who I date, stated the assertive daughter
Laughing hard now was her outspoken grandma Knotter

I Should Have Read Instructions

Sobbing: my paycheck is now gone!
grabbed by disposal, (see Page One)
Instructions neglected by fools
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