Three Steps Forward Poems | Examples


List of Member Poems

Flamingo Tango

Did you know that
Flamingos love to tango?
Three steps forward, one side step,
Shake of the hips, they end the prep.
Quick, quick, slow, gracefully slide,
Flamingos dance as colorful as mango.

Pandora's Box

So…here we are at the apex of emotions
Back to the phase of contemplation
Let the blame game begin
Play the echoes of words faded
Rekindle the fire of the conscious ignored
Refresh the pain of the scars laid bare

Let's hold the conversation for a thousand time
With the same hope of the turning the ship around 
Run the race forward with the mind left at bay
Three steps forward then back to Square Zero

It feels like Deja vu? .....well, Its a habitual occurrence
Don't play the amnesia victim
Take notice of the surrounding
It's the rendezvous that is haven to what we have
become
The Golgotha of virtue crucifixion

Let the Ceremony begin
Unravel that which it holds
Let's rerun the race and draw the 360 curve
pathway to yet another conception of delinquency

Cctv Extract

A fire in the kitchen?
I smell of smoke in the hall.
Somebody is very guiltily 
Washing down the wall.
What’s left of the toaster’s
Just a burnt plastic shell.
Some time last night
We almost had a mini hell.

Thank the Lord for CCTV.
A bit of a disturbing sight
He’d come in a bit tipsy
Just after midnight.
Put the toaster on the hob
Switched the wrong device  on
Seemed blithely unaware that
The smoke alarm had gone.

He’d sat drinking tea
Supremely unaware 
Of the flames and smoke
Swirling around his chair.
A pajamaed figure appears
Smoke alarm must have alerted
Situation quickly sorted 
Potential emergency averted. 

White faced and anxious
Sitting with his dad and me
As we all sit and watch
The  Closed Circuit Tv.
He’d been doing so well
Getting back on track
But, three steps forward
And two steps back.

Give credit where it’s due,
Criticise where it’s earned,
Put it down to experience,
Just another lesson learned.
Mending broken soldiers 
We all voluntarily chose
Win or lose its a gamble
Last night it was close.


Leaving Town

Three steps forward and two steps back
Fifteen miles down a railroad track
Walking from misery in a no-good world
A no good job and a no-good girl
Leaving disgraced in other men’s eyes
Troubled haven from my lonely cries
Staring at rails while cursing my fate
Flirting with memories to compensate
Though, this journey I must despise
I welcome the birth of a new sun rise

I entered this flight from an agitated state
Longing to sing hymns at heaven’s front gate
For all the good that wealth would bring
All gone now, in a faded dream
Down this track my future may wait
My mind and feet in a furious debate
Which wins now, only God can tell
How long I tread upon this rail
What solitude I hope to find
A few poultry acres enters my mind
A cow for milk and fields for bread
Maybe an old tractor under a rundown shed
There are things this rail could bring
One good wife would make me a king.

Premium Member My Sanctuary

My sanctuary's no private place
  Nor is it my workplace

It's somewhere I go two times every day
  A community synagogue of men there to pray

I enter early morn oft-times before dawn
  Then again after work when the day has worn on

I head for the same table where I always stand
  Between two of my friends, each one a fine man

When we reach silent prayers, I take three steps back
  Then three steps forward, and I am on track

Closing my eyes, I praise God, my Father, our Friend
  Soon into Nirvana my thoughts and words blend

I ask for myself, friends and family as well
  Life, health, and wisdom wherever we dwell

Bowing low to the Lord for the privilege of praying
  Three steps back, and farewell I am saying

To that special sanctuary where dwells the King
  of the Universe, whose praises we sing



                   August 18, 2020
              Sanctuary Poetry Contest
                  Sponsor: Silent One

Twisted

Darkness surrounds me but the sun is shining bright
In this land of twisted madness
It’s hard to tell day from night
When your mind is full of twisted memories
And a heart so torn you can’t get up from your knees
How do you escape, how do you get out?
Screams are all in vain
There’s no one to hear you shout
Crying until your eyes are as dry as the desert sand
You search and search for one kind hand
Three steps forward, kicked twelve back
The blank hole in your heart leading this attack
Try and try but you can’t keep up
Somehow nothing is ever enough
The rabbit hole is turning darker
More evil, insane, and rough
You’re in an ongoing battle
Just to stay alive
So like a coward you must run and hide
Stand up straight and mask and plastic smile
Maybe you can slip through to the other side
Where they hide the real smiles.


Premium Member Sitting At the Top of the Stairs

Sitting at the top of the stairs
Reflecting on my life
Looking at the bottom
Of the stairs
A place I used to be and know
I realize how far I've come
And far there is left to go.

It was always three steps forward
Two steps back
Uphill everyday
Carrying a heavy
Troubled filled sack
Struggling not to fall
Between the cracks
And hit the ground
With a bump once more.
Just as I had many times before.

I was never weak
But much to strong
Never knowing when to stop
I just carried on and on
Suddenly my whole world fell apart
I lost my old self
My heart ripped apart
My childhood caught up with me
And poisoned my blood.

So whenever I feel once more like giving up
I find myself going back to the stairs
To take a look
To see how far I've come
And the battles I've won
And where there was just darkness
At last I see the sun
And smile again.


Peter Dome.copyright.2015.May.

Crying

Again and again,always falling back to where I begin.
   Again and again, same cycle with no end.
   Three steps forward, then five steps back.
   Always falling off track.
   Always a dead end, again and again.
   Get used to all the bad, 
   Better luck, I wish I had.
   Always losing, never a win.
   Again and Again.
   Nothing to do but keep trying
   Reflect back on it all, as I am dieing.
   Dear Lord, do you hear me crying?

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.

Get a Premium Membership
Turn off ads, get more exposure for your poetry, and get more features with a Premium Membership.
Book: Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace