Slothful Poems | Examples

Hope Flickers in the Reeds

Set sail in feathered ships
mis guided by shattered stars
and bent leaden sextants.
A little white rippled tempest
becomes a blackened water witch
hatched from a devil's chrysalis
sails are whipped and torn in half
sextant and mast fashion a crucifix
earth swallowed by the final horizon
souls churn upon Poseidon's spitz.

Slothful morning arrives 
amidst the frothy angel tide
an armada of prayers ignite
unable to buoy any sign of life.
The last candle flickers in the reeds
hope throttles down-to recovery.

LOST

Lost in echoes of darkened time
dampened, dithering, dazed
wet withered witches mime a dime
fearful, I’m mazed or crazed 

Calling Divinity, voicebox shut
eyelids glued, nostrils stuffed 
lips zipped with copper thread
eardrums worrisome waned

Where are chiming confluent clocks
highways and internet ?
shadows dim whisper, “badly blocked,
pointless you bet, get set !”

Surely I paid every debt
learnt my lessons very well
trusted faith, no futile fracas
rose from every slothful rut ~

LOST, part of adventurous life
to find own lucid laws
undoing inner sceptic strife
opens all barred doors …

The Vows of Gasoline and Forgiveness

Truth has been backwashed with elongated shadow
polluting the masses with exaggeration and lie
They've made corruption just a bit more palatable
maintaining power, they've great lust for us to divide.

We were great when battling against rabid tyranny
now we goosestep to war for the comfort of oligarchs 
Our children are sacrificed for the greed of oily kings
We the sheep are led to high cliffs by false prophets.

They say it takes a village to raise up our children
but the village is brimming with idiots and sinfulness
our courts are filled with jesters that turn a blind eye
the masses are slowly losing their God given rights.

I don't see another Ghandi or King on the horizon
I'm not holding my breath for our slothful messiah
my faith has been tainted by deception over time
It's time to marry gasoline to forgiveness and ignite.

Blank For President

A man or woman in the prime of life 
who values her husband or he his wife.
A person of strength with a disciplined mind,
One who is courageous, respectful, and kind. 

They have great intellect but do not boast.
They love God,their country, and family the most. 
The hardships and worries of every citizen
Are important and worthy of their attention.

Great honor and integrity they will possess, 
And view the poor and needy with tenderness.
Not slothful or selfish, not weak or uncaring,
Our future and reputation aware that they carry.

Believing everyone has the right to make their own choices,
 letting every person speak up, and hearing their voices.
A person of faith but not hypocritical,
They respect opinions, your faith they won't ridicule.

Not racist, not sexist, no contempt for disabled,
Believing all equal, all sit at round tables.
With strength and righteous anger for our enemies,
But able to compromise and all people please.

As much as I wish it, this can't be real, what a joke!
But if they were actual, they'd sure have my vote!

In My Skin

In My Skin

In my skin I know what is true
Don't lie to yourself,  you know it too
Clear away all excuse and  every denial
For your soul ,too, will be put on trial
Stop listening to that beguiling voice that says
You have every right, or your doing your best
For there is no greater or more clever deceiver than
The heart and mind of mortal man
We put on the glasses tinted with wild rose
And believe all the pretty lies that we are told
It's easier, you see, than to be honest and true
Which requires slothful bodies to get up and do
Come now, Don't be angry, I mostly preach to myself
I am the worst offender, in fantasy I dwell
So forget about trusting your heart and mind
In your skin you'll begin the truth to find
A solid reality you feel, see, and know
Not metaphorically or symbolically show
Let us be truthful, if to no one else,
We deserve to be honest, at least to ourself.

The Diligent

Everything is hard
For the slothful worker,
Ease for zealous peer.

Be Responsible

“What we really need to learn as humans is to take responsibility for ourselves” (topic quote of Miranda Hawley)

Be Responsible

Today it seems like hardly anyone
has great concern for others. You can see
this in society in many ways,
especially when folks want all things for free.

Some people choose to lay around – not work!
They try to get on welfare if they can.
Our taxes pay for these folks’ laziness.
I’d never want to wed a slothful  man.

We need example from good moms and dads
to change the way our youth are being taught.
The work ethic grows weaker with each decade.
The world owes us a living? I think not!

Be independent. Have respect; be kind.
Support is nice if you are down and out.
But even some disabled folks can help themselves.
The extra greedy needy we can do without.

Be Blown Forever

We are blown
Like a feather
Into every
Insane ether

To see
The unseen
And to brace
Or wither

At times
To float
In the river
Like a boat

Or for us
To vanish
For ever
Like a mote

We need not
Hold our frets
Nor for the frozen
Hide those nuts

We are one
With the dust
Drift with the wind
We must

You are lately
Forgotten
By your own
Very nest

Be forgetful
Be slothful
And you'd be
At your best

We come out
Of nowhere
And we get
Somewhere else

We look in
The mirror
To meet
Someone else

I Wish You Would

Does it take time for the sun to extirpate the dark night?
Or to ease its fire form to make the plight of farmers, light?
Can't a storm take the form of a tornado and revolve?
Or blow into a gentle breeze and prickly problems solve...?

You are like a lion, loyal, noble, and courageous,
Your love and compassion for all, yet, turn you umbrageous;
Like in a tiger, grace, strength, and suppleness are in you,
As true as the very steel, I find your ways to be true...!

Elegance brim-fills you as any finest of flowers,
To expand your powers, on you God his blessings showers;
Angels and saints surround you in all your journeys around,
Laurels of triumph are yours, though on your path thorns are found...!

No paths are so crooked, that they can never be straightened,
Sloth bears are not slothful; rather, they are well awakened;
I wish you would, my friend, being a brave adventurer,
Erase every error, and tyrannize every terror...!!!


06 April 2023
This or That, Vol 17 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Edward Ibeh
Rhymes Checked At: Rhyme Zone
Syllables Checked At: How Many Syllables

SAD

SAD is very, very sad 
Consuming food-like items daily 
Soon we're doing bad 
Jiving around, living life vaguely 

Clear vision is what's missing 
Stumbling and falling day and night 
Our beautiful health we're dismissing 
And slowly but certainly we're losing our sight 

Three squares a day, I heard them say 
There must be breakfast, lunch, and dinner 
Getting a few snacks too, the American way 
But so many are losing, so who's the winner?

Excess sodium and added sugar 
Covertly, life becomes more imbalanced 
Anger increasing and love is meager 
Over life becomes more calloused 

High-fat dairy, red meat, and cancer-forming 
We blindly play in debauchery 
Living for opulence but we're harming 
While this sordid path illuminates an ominous augury 

SAD is so sad 
Eating loads and loads of CRAP 
FOOD is being ignored and the world is going mad 
Being caught in a pen, a slothful trap 

I don't want a Standard American Diet 
I want to be a Healthy-American-Powerfully-Progressing-Yonder.

This Dance of Shadows

It seems that as the solstice climbs the hill
to goad the slothful sun to do its will
to taunt it with its ever-urgent plea
arise and start your journey sea to sea

and then upon days closing mock the moon
hold in abeyance lest it show too soon
its silver sheen that bids new lovers, kiss
shortening a one-time moment’s bliss

soft buds of Jonquil yellow breach the snow
their dream of petaled flowers held below
the softening of winter’s chilling grip
in sun and moons continued solstice trip

this dance of shadows wafting hot and cold
this gentle touch such lovers cannot hold

John G. Lawless
©1/13/2023

Defense of the Tick

I loathe the mere thought
of creatures so slothful and rude
as to steal their life's portion from others.

Ticks, tapeworms, leeches, and mosquitoes -
each I despise for their moral failings.

Yet, it is I who partakes of animal and plant;
I've never asked them nor any fungus for permission
to steal at least a part or even kill them
so that I could grow.

At least the tick leaves its victims alive,
and doesn't pretend it is nobler than it is
while I, haughty hypocrite,
hardly even consider my parasitism.

Sin of Sloth

Endowed by God with life’s functional might
Yet wasting labor’s optimal delight
Slothful* hands, though repentant, fully earn
Dearth-angst for which their hearts defied to yearn.

*Proverbs 19:24 A slothful man hideth his hand in his bosom, and will not so much as bring it to his mouth again.

July 21, 2022
1st place, "Sin of Sloth" Poetry Writing Contest
Sponsored by Margarita Lillico; judged on 8/2/2022.
Poetry Form "from Rhyme" changed to "Epigram" after Contest was judged.

Till I Am Laid To Rest

If our life is predestined and our fate preordained
Why stress and strain, why live a life of drudgery
Oh, why toil in vain, why to the grindstone be chained,
Let's indulge in a life of slothful luxury.



~Contest: Sin of Sloth
~Sponsor: Margarita Lillico.

The Slothful Person

 "Idle hands are the devil's playthings."

                                           Quote by _Benjamin Franklin


With each thing and each person alienated,
To the sad point that all things are hated in life;
Sloth dwells in a void of despair they created,
Their own existence is destroyed with their own knife.

_____________________
July 4, 2022


Written for the contest, Sin of Sloth
sponsor, Margarita Lillico

Rhyming verified on RhymeZone (Quatrain Rhyme pattern)
Syllables verified on HowManySyllables (12 per line)

• Short Slothful Poems
• Famous Slothful Poems
• Best Slothful Poems
• Read Slothful Poems
• Long Slothful Poems
• Slothful Quotes