Staved Poems | Examples

IN THIS SPACE

I've been eating my soul, as of late
Devouring morsels of scarred flesh
Trying to find an end to constant unease
A place where my head could rest

There's an angst the lingers over
My big sturdy bed
Looping around billowing waves
Covering my staved off dread

But I have conquered all my fears
I have won the freaking war
Why am I still in sallow bone
Trying to run from threat of the moor

I'm here...in the exact same space
I was in 17 years back...my back...my aching back
I hear no thoughts of lack, despair, voices
Telling me to crack

....open the bottle

There's silence, that deafening silence
I shivered under the weight of it's magnitude
The sheer volume broke barriers set by trauma
That had driven the sharp latitude

....cutting asunder spirit and soul

But today, in this space, I am at REST.

Written by Trudy Schrader on 09-10-2024

Just a Breathy Sigh

A breathy sigh that moved the air
encircled us with lusty flair.
Its sweet and tender brush of love
Left unsaid our intention there. 
Some deep and thoughtful bold assertion
Drew us closer into its glare
And staved away intrusion of all others
Lest they disturb the passion bared,
And sweet the savory music flowed
Around, about, above, below
Until we floated on the brink 
Of true love's kiss and knowing wink.
Love speaks to us on deeper levels
Where mere words cannot communicate. 
How strong the pull of your embrace 
And sweetly tinted kiss upon your face.
Each breathy sigh wafts through space
No matter where you go from me. 
My heart knows each step you take,
And when you think of me
Every breath is shared with you 
Every moment of love in tune, 
Each sacred dream we share together,
And hope for futures yet unplanned, 
Caress the air with sweet perfume 
To pull us closer back together. 
Because our love remains strong and true, 
I dare not take a breath without you.

Copyright © Chula Fleming 3/16/1982

Luanda 1974

Luanda 1975

It was a fraught time in Luanda, the rebel army (freedom fighters)
was closing in on Luanda, leaving civilians exposed
to rape, murder and pillage.
The Portuguese army had dastardly skulked away and
General Spinola was in Lisbon playing politics
Colonialism was over, but there was fear of its ending
when hatred had to be sated.
Among the white population, there was a fatalistic mien
drowning their fear like the sinking Titanic, loud music, booze
and dancing, everything to live a little longer.
Then came the Germans (foreign legion) took charge
staved off the incoming, undisciplined riff-raff army
long enough for people to get on ships and planes to get
the hell out; as for the Germans found their way out to
South Africa.
The aftermath:
When hatred of the colonials subsided, the new Angola 
found they needed the know-how of the settlers they
were invited back.
Today, thousands of Portuguese live to thrive in harmony
with the black population,

In the Land of Opportunity

In the Land of Opportunity
    Entitlement reared her pretty head
  Without a backstop to plain bad luck
    Social Security's safety net was spread

  Next came the 'War on Poverty'
    Food Stamps and ADC                                 
  It might have staved off hunger for a bit
    But dependency was galvanized, and (yes), obesity

  Today there is unprecedented help
    for anyone who will only yelp
  Free computer classes, GED, ESL too
    Guaranteed Job Training programs in high schools 
                                       and community colleges, Yahoo!

  Yet the percentage of those working has gone down
    and dropping most free classes reigns supreme
  Seems that 'giving away the farm'
    won't bring back the American Dream

  It's only one man's unscientific perception ~
    but 'teaching a man to fish' still passes inspection  
  __________________________________________________________
  ADC = Aid to Dependent Children
  GED = General Education Diploma (Equivalent to High School Diploma)
  ESL  = English as a Second Language (for immigrants and their children)

Shearing Sheep

My head hangs low above the sink,
Ha, no, unlikely what you think!
True, there were times excessive drink
Did see the gut, recoiling, shrink.

Nay, far more happy time and place
Would best describe the here and now,
But weeds have overrun the fields;
It’s time to put the hand to plow.

’Tis head that’s needing to be shorn,
A humming scythe across the glade,
Or shearing sheep on frosty morn.
My tool of choice: the zero blade.

No victory until I die,
The onslaught merely staved, pushed back,
And when again the threat draws nigh,
My trusty blade will mount attack.

The Old Red Barn

The old red barn once stood proud
Against the storm, paying
Its own way with the Mail Pouch
Sign, brimming with hay
It staved winter's starving chill
A vanguard of stubborn will.
But now the storms have racked
The bones and flailed the bloody flesh
Torn away the shingles and
Raked across the giant yellow letters,
Letting in the cold and bitter air
Left the rubble for the vacant stare.

Who Deals

My mind it betrays
I want what you gave

In poems and notes
All the words that you wrote

Make foresight seem wasted
And conscience abated

For passion’s untamed
It will not be staved

Tangles and snares
I fight this great bear

The ignited flame
Creates a thick haze

That covers all doubt
And won’t let me out

I succumb to just feel
You win, now My deal...

Written- 10/26/2020

Boing Boing Boeing

Bounce
on the dead
ending 
in dread
no morals saved
great profits staved

Lost That Binds

A union blessed is that of ours,
filled with love, joy and other 
powers,
loneliness, sadness, 
and unhappiness,
shall always be staved;
for this love,
that came our way
which neither time,
nor space, 
nor even death,
can a love like this 
be put to rest;
know you now
and forever more,
that in eons to come
our love shall be 
a wondrous lore

Secret Place

I try to let you in 
But I still defend 
my deepest heart 
How do I start 
to lay bear my sins
and still be safe 
in my secret place
Weathered and worn
And bent by wind
Laped by wave
Erosion staved 
from my dwelling cave
My secret place
I hide my face
Metaphorically erased
Invisible to none
But never seen
Either I come out now
Or be replaced
But how can I leave
My secret place
Compelled by your Love
That has brought me here
To a place where there is
Naught to fear but fear
So now I emerge
Free from dark 
And confined space
For you I leave
My secret space 
Bear to the world
My Blood dose race
Because the comfort I've Chased
I feel in your arms
My new secret place.

Where Do Poets Get Their Inspiration

From the most obvious winds
From the fine pieces of clear air
From the dense smell of staved room
From the sun raise rotations
From the limitation of our oxygen 
From the carbon dioxide released 
From both parts of the body
From one another
From the essence of nature
From your eyes into mine.
Do you inspire?

Ode To Painkillers

Slow released relief from powder coated tablets.
To an ache which seems to never go away.
When I’m fighting to survive each hour, each day
I will take whatever comfort I can salvage.
My veins once rich with vital fluids
My skin once not so deathly in complexion
The recipient of my fixation
Turned inward on what I’m consuming.
For a few moments of brief relief
I’m condemned to greater sufferings.
There is a line you should not cross, and I
Have recklessly passed it countless times.
For what little anguish I have staved
Away, I have matched in dirt for my grave

A Versatile Commoner

In olden times things were saved or repaired
Old dresses stitched, boots and barrels staved
Worn-out clothing used as rags
No plastic wrap or bags
People believed in “A stitch in time saves nine” dictum
“Use and throw’ was a distant dream
I was the versatile commoner, the flour sack.
Branded with different names, 
And stamped with names in purple, blue and gold 
String sewn on the top pulled and seen.

Children used me as a school bag.
A man’s pillow, woman’s sleeping gown.
Or even a mail bag, or shopping bag
Constantly ready to serve, young and old.
All the time, at all the places.

Now lying in a deserted bunkhouse in a range
Still preserving the things of my master-ranger.

==========================================
Date 11-23-13
Dr. Ram Mehta
First Place win
Contest: Whatever Happened to Flour Shacks by Judy Konos

Clem Potts and the Moon

CLEM POTTS AND THE MOON

not a pleasant sound
combining potts with the moon,
but, farm girls had learned
clem potts, in his rustic way,
was quite the village dreamer

lord of the haystack,
when the field was night-flooded,
the cows all asleep,
was he crooning his love theme -
clem potts, wily moon-schemer

her name, clara june
was the prettiest filly 
with clem all aswoon
she’d met clem potts at the fair
where he’d won the ‘dog-eat’ fest

forty chili dogs
the last one nearly come up
he could still taste it
the beans, the hot tomatoes
belch without puke, the test

and, by god, he’d won,
had staved off hurl tornado
stored the big rumble
that churning away inside
mixed with green bile and the rest

he was quoting keats -
the moon-streaked straw in her hair -
thinking not those chili dogs,
about to brush clara’s cheek,
bent on a roll in the hay

clem said, “i love you.”
lord when lips formed the last word
clem’s gut did a flip
and the poor young clara june
turned blue from the blast, then gray



If your name is Potts I must apologize, so too if Clara June.

Just a Breathy Sigh

A breathy sigh that moved the air
encircled us with lusty flair.
Its sweet and tender brush of love
Left unsaid our intention there.
Some deep and thoughtful bold assertion
Drew us closer into it's glare
And staved away intrusion of all others
Lest they disturb the passion bared.
And sweet the savory music flowed
Around, about, above, below
Until we floated on the brink 
Of true love's kiss and knowing wink.
Love speaks to us on deeper levels
Where mere words can not communicate.
How strong the pull of your embrace
And sweetly tinted kiss upon your face.
Each breathy sigh wafts through space
No matter where you go from me.
My heart knows each step you take,
And when you think of me
Every breath is shared with you
Every moment of love in tune;
Each sacred dream we share together,
And hope for futures yet unplanned,
Caress the air with sweet perfume 
To pull us closer back together.
Because our love remains strong and true,
I dare not take a breath without you.

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