A class on Zoom, as you’d assume,
Attracts its share of crazies,
But in your room, no need to fume;
Just rearrange your daisies
Or fill a grid your camera hid,
Completing Sunday’s puzzle,
If the teacher did not place a lid
On some who need a muzzle.
With mic sound shut, if every nut
Must jabber with a story,
You tune out, but, your tsk and tut
Won’t dampen someone’s glory.
The time will pass and soon your class
Will come to its conclusion
And then, en masse, you leave; the brass
Believing the illusion.
Judgment
and criticism
from people
who fear
the unknown
and want to
control others
do not carry
much weight
when it is
known that
most of these
same people
have already
thrown their
own personal
ethics out
the window and
have also
contributed
to the karmic
messes being
cleaned up
to this day--
which is why
we must carry on
and go forth
knowing that
someday our gifts
will help
the community
see more clearly.
I have always had my own voice
but my peers chose not to listen
Instead they negged and bullied
or overlooked to support others
But now that my voice is freed
they all scramble to give credit
Or praise that I did not ask for
even though it's long overdue
It feels bitter and purely untrue
which is why their new compliments
do not mean anything at all to me
These people are all just echoes
seeking my attention in the void
but I don't hate any of them at all
I just view them as mere shades
appearing on an empty, dimmed screen
Holding their hands out to reach me
but I refuse to listen to them now
It's my turn to tune out their speech
in favor of the peaceful silence
That my arts and crafts have given me.
Note: I wasn't comfortable mentioning it at the time and I probably should have, but this is a poem about the incels who are fake-nice. It was inspired by my short time in an online video game community where myself and other women gamers were targeted. It was an awful experience none of us deserved to go through. I kinda socially withdrew for a bit after that happened, honestly.
The so-called "scientists" don't know jack.
Tune out CNN journalists and abandon
The network. It's a mine of misinformation.
Completely reject science; it's totally whack;
Don't believe everything you see or hear.
Whatever you do, do not drink tap water.
The fluoride the previous administrations
Mixed in it, a cognitive frequency trap.
It has to be! My fellow illuminati said so!
Tap water teems with parasitic amoeba.
It's the quickest way to a wicked diarrhea
And a host of other untold ailments.
Ah, yes! Watch out for lead poisoning,
Which killed so many folks in Flint, Michigan.
What? Have you been living under a rock?
Watch out for that abdominal pain
And bloody stool. Oh, you better believe
It was well documented on the dark web.
I'm more informed than the intelligentsia.
Trust me, do not drink tap water.
It contains bacteria and more mercury
Than you'll find in a great white shark.
Only drink bottled water, the Aquafina kind!
Wake up, smell the coffee, you sheeple,
And get with the illuminati program!
Book in my hand,
Sentences beneath our fingers.
Through it, we find shelter.
Lost in a nameless land,
Then taking on a new role.
Showered by golden rays,
Washed by the whispering winds.
Put on our glasses and tune out everything.
Turning the page,
Writing a new chapter.
Together,
Let’s take a peek at our bookmarked place
Staring at the happy ending or lamenting it—
After all,
We vanish from the pages of time.
Not all of the sane tune out
‘More of the Same’
‘More of the Same’ bores
too the most Insane
Surprised?
Break The Mold
Just be yourself
Not like everyone else
Don’t follow the crowd
Protesters always complaining, just ridiculous
A waist of my time
Everything is still burning
Walk on my own path
No chaos
No social media
No garbage in my ear
Turn off the lies
Tune out the noise
No more common sense
Sucked into the drama
Break the mold
Society is broke
No more trees and no more food
We have lost our way
No one can think for themselves these days
Just a mad world
Always blaming someone else
Let's be lonely together
Lonely's no fun on my own
It doesn't depend on the weather
I'm lonely because I'm alone
The number of people don't matter
I'm often alone in a crowd
The words that I hear are just chatter
I simply tune out all the loud
Quiet by nature, an actor
I play a good role socially
But inside the governing factor
Is different in reality
When cast in the realm of the spoken
I trip over words I can't see
More natural convey I through music
I speak through it more easily
No need to befriend lots of people
Not more than a few, maybe three
But I'd be okay without any
If it could be just you and me
I do not want to turn on the radio because I do not want to hear about more Palestinians starving in Gaza
I do not want to satisfy the growling in my stomach because I do not want to feel full when so many perish, even as food deteriorates at locked boarders
I do not want to watch television because I do not want to see the calamity of weaponized famine
Yet
my ears can not unhear
my hunger can not go unsatisfied
my eye can not unsee
the brutal horror of vengeance
unchecked
I dare not tune out the collective moans of a starving nation
I dare not think of my momentary lack when so many have suffered to the bone
I dare not watch when
targeted aggression goes awry
and innocents die
and the Red Crescent is no longer a symbol of piece, but a target for chaos and destruction
No I will not watch the world watch,
in silence
I tune out the news
Just as much as I can,
So I won’t have to hear
When the s*^# hits the fan.
But I still read the paper
And catch little bits
From the radio as every
Story transmits.
The migrants, the pardons,
The Congress, the Court –
Democracy fighting
But coming up short.
The voters who quoted
The prices of eggs,
Now twice as expensive,
The question now begs…
Just when will you realize
You’ve made a mistake?
The heart and the soul
Of our nation’s at stake.
It’s hard to accept
Just how low we have sunk
And I wonder why everyone’s
Not in a funk.
Taste
See you doing what you do best,
Hopping around, laying on every female chest.
I guess you like the rhythm of their heart,
Or is it because it feels like art?
You said you had great taste,
But I don't think you know what it is.
She's sitting on your face,
While I'm here, picturing your lips.
I viewed you as a Greek god,
Until you opened your mouth.
I could watch you talk all day,
And just tune out the sound.
Never thought you were naive,
Now, I think you're a fool.
You're out there kissing strangers,
While I'm here in my room.
You probably think you did good,
Choosing something healthy.
But it doesn't excite you,
Only keeps you breathing.
You said you had great taste,
But she looks like a one-night stand.
My heart is tattooed with forever,
While yours is just a temporary plan.
You said you had great taste,
Dated me, an exploding mistake
I guess, it is a bad idea spree.
I better cut the ties,
Because you won't let me near she.
put up my feet and tune out
my favourite music in the background
forget the daily grind
no worries no busy mind
brush free the day's cobwebs
smile to myself and relax
shake off the weight of the world
AP: Honorable Mention 2024
Sometimes I pretend I’m Death's groom
I find my father’s sperm still inside
I find it nestled in my mother’s egg
I find the original template
I find dead things like DNA replicating
Sometimes I feel dead inside
I become fallen leaves in November
Their double-helix uncoupling
I become my bamboo chair sunbathing
I even become the lifeless moon
Death be patient, stay the desire
Trees need leaves alive or dead
Dead DNA bears many children
Wait, loved ones need me alive
What’s one more day of suffering?
Death are you more alive than dead?
Perhaps molecules have feelings
Perhaps a chair waits patiently
Perhaps trees mourn each fallen leaf
Death, you claim the universe
When Death knocks disguised
May I have the strength
Pour tea instead of spirits
Offer snacks instead of a smoke
I see through all your masks
Death don’t covet me
I’ll play possum with you
You’ll be a cancer in my genes
I don’t know how to be among the living
I close my eyes and tune out
I pretend I am your groom
Betrothed since I was a sperm and egg
The moon and leaves line the aisles
The chapel of bones and nails wait
And I leave you at the altar
To live simple ways
you can visit yesterday
or tune out the news
That boy will make you want to cheat,
led through mirrors in Joker’s fun house;
Your happiness cannot take a backseat;
Twisting your form you think it’s defeat,
perfect reflection but you see a clown’s;
That boy will make you want to cheat;
Don’t fall for a comedic pied piper beat,
or get a virus from contagious frowns;
Your happiness cannot take a backseat;
You hear his deranged phrase on repeat
‘til you tune out the background sounds;
That boy will make you want to cheat;
Swirling images show you incomplete,
all that’s missing are your golden crowns;
Your happiness cannot take a backseat;
Just as you are you are complete,
you already survived the hardest rounds;
That boy will make you want to cheat,
your happiness cannot take a backseat.
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.