Early morning, Carl Schurz Park,
And something caught my eye.
Right near my foot, a snail was
Inching forward, my oh my!
For surely someone on the path
Would crush his lovely shell;
Protection-wise, it really didn’t
Serve him very well.
I found a leaf and hoped he’d crawl
Upon it; what I’d planned
Was to move him to a place both safe
And on some grassy land.
A stranger saw me crouching down
And asked was I okay.
I pointed to the snail and thought
He’d soon be on his way.
But “Let me help” was what he said.
He lifted up the leaf
And found the perfect placement
Which, to all, was a relief.
He asked my name and shook my hand;
Our goodbye smiles agreed
That, by noticing the small things,
We’d both done a real good deed.
Rain wakes mossy stones
A snail crosses fallen leaves
Puddles catch the dawn
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.
Rak-a-tak-a-tak-a
A slowww, dry, kind of sound
Something unhurriedly clicking
Low down on the ground
A steady, deliberate noise
Like a clock, with rusty gears
Chik-a-chik-a-chik-a
Find the source, follow your ears
Discover a creature distinguished
By the leisurely shaking of its tail
I’d like to (slowly) introduce
The humble Rattle Snail
The jaguar, and the snail '
Rely both, on a head
And tail.'
A gentleman opened his mail,
When out jumped a sprightly young snail.
"I'm glad to be out,"
He said with a shout,
"I thought I was in a white whale."
How exultantly I hale
the grey wolf, the snowshoe hare,
and the ferocious grizzly bear.
I raise a glass of ale
to Coopers Rockymountain snail.
Spirit guide from above,
reveal the ways of love.
Tell me, my guardian snail.
Son, don't ever worry
or be in a hurry -
know that true love will prevail.
SNAIL MAIL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Young Stu, with his shell brown and bold,
From the forest post office, he slowly strolled.
With letters packed on his back galore,
With slime as his tires, he slowly went to each door,
"Your snail mail's arrived!" he extolled.
“You fool! Haven’t you heard of email?” badger exclaimed
“Of all your slowness, you should be ashamed.
“With the click of a mouse
You no longer deliver from house to house.”
“But, but…I’ll lose my job,” Stu proclaimed.
“Oh, Stu, you’re so uninformed, so old school.
Your skill set you must totally retool!
Have you not heard of UPS or perhaps FedEx?
You can deliver packages and other objects!
“But snails don’t drive. You’re such a fool!”
“Besides, I’m looking forward to my postal pension
Not to mention days without strife and tension.
And all those Forever Stamps I’ve amassed
I’ll sell online or on my webcast.
Then with Musk I’ll travel to space, otherworldly dimensions.”
back off !
snail tells her suitor
to slow down
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Seymour was sad that everyone generalized his kind
They do not think I hear, but it hurts, I truly do mind
They say we are slow, because we are snails you see
He did not have to tell me, said his Grandma Vee
She knew that the world made fun of the way they moved
In her day she had been a jitter bug dancer, who really could groove
But now she was just an old snail woman, alone in her chair.
But she knew Seymour did care, yes, her Seymour did care.
I think I will get a cycle and ride away good and fast.
Grandma smiled at his enthusiasm remembering her past.
She opened the garage, where inside sat her own Harley D.
Delighting Seymour when she said “you can have it for free”.
Outside with my water pail
stands a guilty looking snail,
and a half-eaten poinsettia.
You know, dear snail,
I'm going to get ya.
The snail slowly slithered from the wet grass
Crossed the cracked concrete sidewalk
leaving a silky slimy slender trail of mucus
carrying a shatterable shell as its shield.
snippy snappy sneezy snarly snail
met Melton Mickey, a piece of mail
preening privately in potter’s pail
saying Selena’s son Shawn should shortly sail
allowing alloys, alligators and aliens ale
believing beyond bunker boy’s blueblood bale
kicking kindhearted kiwi into kangaroo kale
amusing snippy snappy sneezy snarly snail
In the alleys of mirrors, reflections stare back with faces I've yet to covet. The cacophony of screams and whispers, a post-coital slack-jawed pause, the aftermath of endless nights and getting lost in vorpal holes of unwritten rules. Where pornographers masquerade as poets, sacrificing Eros on the altar of analysis. I squirm on the auto-da-fé of your ardor, land of disco balls and dementia shops, every step a temptation to drown in this make-believe proposition — lost prostitute histrionics downslope. Where lies persons end of having no escapes— ?
In vacancy lots of mind haste, I find a faze in the scars of my past memories, ghosts of my mistakes, the lingerings of taste and lust. They're the only constant in this toxic haze, the only truth I can hold onto.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.