Pour a liquid butterfly
into a canning jar.
Kiss me on the 4th of July
beneath a falling star.
Time is precious and should be cherished…
because every day a little more sand flows out our cup
and we don’t often have the luxury of knowing…
when our time is up.
So may I suggest that
a little more love
a little more kindness
a little more empathy
a little more acceptance
a little more generosity
a lot less wars
a lot less hatred
and a lot less prejudice and defaming …
would help to make this world a better place…
in the time we have remaining.
diffuse
adaptations
discovered
pleasures
vital
full
precise
yet
simple
&symbolic
vague
allegory
tantamount
to
the opaque
instead
of
exact
equivalents
excel
in
objective
intrigue
aesthetic
visual
&verbals
verify
expectations
exceeding
superficial
mosaics
of
perception
both
instantaneous
&
simultaneously
fused
in
eternal
creativity
Suggestions
All words suggest
Nothing and
Everything
Vastness may suggest
Nothing
A wheelbarrow may suggest
Everything
Yet all words
After it is said and done
Suggest nothing at all..
Don't back up car near neighbor's pool
Do pay your latest traffic fine.
Close window first, then yell, "you fool!"
It's wise to always look behind.
If driving an elderly "jewel,"
remember: gears aren't there to grind
If all else fails, try traffic school.
Take bus if over eighty-nine.
Meddling Maude has a dangerous belief
that she knows better than others
she can raise your child and discipline it too
whatever you do, probably needs tweaking
and she is glad to be the tweaker
She does not see any benefit to keeping opinions to yourself
Maude shares her brilliant advice with people she encounters
strangers on the street are given tips and tidbits
About what they are doing wrong
And how they could do them more right
Maude rapidly makes snap pea decisions and judgements
Lavishly slathering these ideas and suggestions on
her family and co-workers
She used to help her “friends” out too
But most of them have shunned her
They do not respond to her texts.
This does not stop her from leaving her ingenius deas
as to how they can improve on their answering machines.
Dissatisfied Dickie sat in the chair to mope
He likes that mood said his brother, he can be a dope.
It’s not his fault said another, he has had a mean wife.
So do I said the brother, but I have had a good life.
To get over being sad, he has to get up and go.
Begin a hobby or go fish salmon in the snow.
Jump out of an airplane or write a novel or something.
Instead he sits waiting for his cheer-up-dumpling.
I want suggestions she tells me
She is a colleague at my work.
I finally make some reluctantly.
they won’t work, she says. they won’t work!
I have had a sense of true self since babyhood.
Others wanted to socialize me. It was semi-possible.
But my internal voice told me what I needed.
I have always followed my soul.
Perpetually believing in myself when others didn’t.
I am a painter who has accumulated thousands of paintings.
Painted by me for me, to uplift my soul, increasing my joy.
Others might make suggestions; they fall into an uncaring crevice.
I have wondered what Poetry Soup would be like
If poems submitted were subject to critical eyes
And contributors were free to critique the poems,
To say how they really feel about a poem, to analyze.
Of course, it cannot be, for we are a thin-skinned bunch
Often our feelings are hurt by the slightest correction
And, I am of the opinion having been here for a while
We all think we are so fantastic, we need no inspection.
Well, I, for one, realize my poetry would be much better
If I had the opinion of those who could read me critically
Not those who would merely wish to tear me down,
But who would help me become a better poet, literally.
I would welcome those kinds of sincere suggestions
Although, I must warn you, I don’t accept advice so well
So, be careful how you approach my best efforts,
I know my poems would improve if they laid aside a spell.
With this being said, let’s continue to be kind to each other
Appreciating each other’s comments and camaraderie,
But, if you see an obvious mistake in one of my offerings
Do not hesitate! Please, by all means, point it out to me.
Written November 27, 2022
Some teachers think they know what I do.
No one does.
Sometimes not even me.
They want to help.
Give me suggestions.
I listen to them all.
They do not understand.
My goal is not to parent other people’s children.
My goal is to create a solid relationship with them
so, if something bad happens, they can talk to me.
I listen to their suggestions
Because sometimes they have a really good one.
Other times, not so much.
For they do not know what I do.
I don’t even know what I do.
It’s all trial and error when you are a counselor.
When our suggestions fall on deaf ears
And what we think carries little weight,
We begin to realize our deepest fears
When ideas we cherish do not resonate.
Saddened by another’s lack of concern
When our suggestions fall on deaf ears
Deep down we feel a bit of heartburn,
Occasionally it wells up in bitter tears.
At heart, we have their best, our peers
And share only what we think is wise,
When our suggestions fall on deaf ears
Or, are met with utter disdain and guise.
‘Tis best to slough off disappointment
Replace it with thoughts of good cheers,
And follow up with a fun entertainment
When our suggestions fall on deaf ears.
FIRST PLACE WINNER
Written April 31, 2022
Brian Strand's Standard Contest
Try not to get caught in a sooty coal scuttle
Or trying to rip off your local cross-town shuttle,
Be especially careful to remove your shoes
Before getting into your best friend’s canoes.
Never talk out of turn in a dim lecture hall
Or declare your intentions right after a fall,
Nothing is so special as finding a gum wrapper
Or spending an afternoon with a Twenties’ flapper.
Pay extra attention to your barbershop’s rules
Lest you be clipped bald with his rusty tools,
Take notice of the colors on the roulette wheel
Better to take a first-base than a third-base steal.
Last, but not least, remember to remove your hat
Before jumping into a pool all covered in fat,
Should you forget, don’t hang around taking blame
For you may be the first one to go up in a flame!
written August 11, 2021
Thank you for your input. I appreciate the time you have spent.
Trying to fix me, to mold me, to make me better.
Some of your suggestions are wonderful.
I shall consider them, pondering them over and over.
I will throw them into the air and toss them around with my feet.
Some will stick on the ceiling where they will stay forever.
Others will land on my head.
I will comb them into my updo and parade them around town.
I will show the world how helpful you have been.
People will write you thank you notes.
I will put them all into a satchel and carry them to you.
If you live far away, I will mail them.
Please send me your address pronto.
Contest Judged by a Jury of Your Peers
Sponsor: Mark Koplin
Written 11-11-2020
Crocodile voices whisper
in the loneliness of your serotonin void
Calling out from the dark deep,
they
speak
seductively ...
urging you to come closer
to the edge,
and step off into the murkiness —
Dark Shadow depths of moral ambiguity
Attic warm, wooly fond memories
clothe the coldness
of your heavy cynical chest
Those emotional cumbersome, faded picture frames
only tell half the story
As you sink into the Darth abyss,
to greet the devouring Vader words
which temptingly suggest —
That you can have the whole
of whatever it was you lost ... and so much more
A glut of pleasurable sinsations
velvet touch drown
your chaste, austere inhibitions
The drip drip drip of temporal torture,
fills your cracked ern thoughts
st
ci
with vain epidermal things ...
Naked desires, which heretofore
were foreign to you
Ipnotico suggestions,
of coral reef carnal beauty,
lures you into the deep deep sleep ...
where awakened Leviathan jaws
are opening
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.