What if I can see it, smell it, almost touch it,
That gilded throne where I will proudly sit,
Would people think me mad,
Is my ambition so preposterous and bad.
And why not me, have I not earned this crown,
Someone not worthy of that queenly gown,
Bejeweled and composed for all to see,
My vassals all around, bowing deep to me.
Naysayers bleat I'm just an empty ship,
With lights and streamers pretending to be hip,
Without a cargo or destination clear,
Sailing in circles relying on the wind to steer.
But if we're given to analogies, what if I were a Trojan horse,
With clear intent and undisputed course,
Where guile and purpose rule the day,
The aim to soundly win not merely one to play.
Demean and underrate me at your peril,
I can pivot between angel and pure devil,
While my laugh is designed to be disarming,
It masks a side of me considerably less charming.
Everything I've wanted I've achieved,
A trajectory few would have believed,
Do you think I'll stop at this last jump,
And in so doing fully flatten Trump?
If all the world could see inside
What wrinkled covers have denied
The storied life of one’s caress
For life and love and happiness
The inner glow remains intact
It’s just the outside that’s been cracked
If only they would realize
The key is in the ageless eyes
if not the world but one or three
Who’d care to see what’s really me
And not a ghost of supple skin
Not just the wrapping I am in
Why must they underestimate
Or misconstrue or underrate
The value of an older work
Dismissing with a scornful smirk
Ironic as each page is turned
In every life as we have learned
The same place we shall all arrive
So grateful just to be alive
“Prejudice wears a variety of hats, none of them becoming.”
~ Kevin Ansbro
Is it fear or is it hatred
Of a stranger, the unknown
The premise that the unworthy
Could deprive you of your throne?
Is it feeling self-important
With a right to underrate
Foreign people with behaviour
Prone to sow the seeds of hate?
Selfish, haughty, prejudicial
Are the stickers on your back.
Do your customs and religion
Make you special? What the heck!
-------------------------------------
Published in "Diverse Voices: The Poetry of Human Rights and the Pursuit of Peace"
~ (PoetrySoup) 2026
A ccept life as it unfolds
C omplaining only leaves things worse
C oncur with agreeable suggestions
E ndure the adverse currents of life
P ostpone judgement till things seen in better light
T ake people as they are
A llow room for criticism and correction
N ever underrate your personal worth
C ontinue being comfortable in your own skin
E njoy life with all its follies and foibles
March.2.2023
~ Placed First~
A Forms and Words Challenge Poetry Contest
Sponsor -Sotto Poet
Ode to Fanny
Her start in life was rather poor
with wastrel parents, ones to abhor
She avoided living in the gutter
Earning enough for her bread and butter
Her break in life came rather later
Before, bigamy and babies to underrate her
Her kids grew up in the care of another
She never took to being a mother
Her culinary skills proved rather good
She could write and critique on all kinds of food
Destined to star in sixties telly
She graced her shows in glitzy finery
Her zany persona was rather dippy
Her dress was ball gown and misplaced lippy
Shunning apron and hat that looked so drab
‘Cos cooking and baking should always look fab
The man she had met was rather fine
Ex army major, life was divine
They fronted shows as man and wife
Fanny and Johny, well matched and no strife
Her fame continued for rather a while
Overridden by others in different style
And gaffes too many, they booted her out
No telly shows, no gowns to flout
Her recipes of the past still rather great
She put pizza and prawn cocktail on our plate
She and Johny, always a couple
Poor but content to remain conjugal
Ooh rather!
Impeached, indicted, discredited, expunged,
Forsaken and little short of being hanged,
Does the punishment truly fit the crime,
Inciting sedition and for that I need do time?
Are they crazy or simply deaf,
Do they think I work for UNICEF,,
A do-gooder, a kind hearted soul,
The kind of man to pigeonhole?
I'm a maverick, a crusader at heart,
The one to lead, feats to start,
I change the world it doesn't change me,
I push and I pull, won't let things just be.
So someone please tell me where I went wrong,
Was I not trusted to be valiant and strong,
To Shake the tree, purge that swamp,
On bureaucracy and waste simply stomp?
Build the country, cut to the chase,
Squash every foe, win every race,
And now what, have I've gone too far,
Plunging to earth like a falling star?
Give me a break, cut me some slack,
I did a great job, the country's on track,
Save for this Covid all would be fine
All other Presidents would I outshine.
Don't undervalue, don't underrate
I'm the one man you can't just abate,
Count me out at your peril, think I’ll retire,
For those that have crossed me, their future is dire.
Dear Lord
May I not self-absorb
May I not self-appoint
May I not self-belittle
May I not self-deceive
May I not self-destruct
May I not self-devaluate
May I not self-direct
May I not self-disappoint
May I not self-impose
May I not self-indulge
May I not hesitate to self-inspect
May I not self-negate
May I not self-promote
May I not self-reject,
But be infused with self-respect
May I not self-underestimate
May I not self-underrate
May my life be so much less about me
And so much more, even all, about you
May my life's purpose always be made clear
So that I may love you dearly, needing never to fear
110220PSCtest, Free Verse - Old or New. Joseph May.3P
I woke up this morning like i can do anything
got the feathers to fly and swim with a fin
a divine right as though born to be King
I can do anything, I can do anything
I'm going gung-ho
I'll let the gun blow
I aint done no
until I say so,
I've got sayings to sow
when I lay they go woah
ink the words in the row
as I show off and show
why to throw me the doe
I can row the boat slow
fly high dive low
don't underrate bro
and belittle or bellow
as my bow and arrow
will hit you I'm hallow,
I'll take in the takings like a baker with dough,
rhyme baking and making it rise up and grow,
win prizes through flow
as I fly like a crow
cus i woke up this morning like i can do anything
“Comrade Bernie's in full swing
Arms flailing, fingers pointing,
Like a possessed puppet on a string
To his legions never disappointing.”
“We're a movement young and strong
Forward thinking, kind to all,
They call us mad but that's so wrong
Such a thought takes quite some gall”.
“We in turn look on bemused
The Stars and Stripes turning to the Sickle,
To put it mildly we're confused
Democrats floundering in a pickle.”
“Little do they understand
Momentum's on our side;
From our crusade we'll never bend
We march united like the tide.”
“Yet Trump's laughing with great glee
Re-election firmly in his sight,
Bernie's pitch a hollow plea
Republicans itching for the fight.”
“They may mock us, underrate
Wait and see, watch and learn;
Our revolution simply fate,
Love the man, feel the Bern.
Who is wrong and who is right
In this battle for our hearts,
One thing’s sure it will be tight
Once we get through all the barbs.
I'm going gung-ho, I'll let the gun blow, I aint done no, until I say so,
I've got sayings to sow, when I lay they go woah,
ink the words in the row as I show off and show why to throw me the doe,
I can row the boat slow, fly high dive low, don't underrate bro and belittle or bellow as my bow and arrow will hit you I'm hallow. I'll take in the takings like a baker with dough, rhyme baking and making it rise up and grow, win prizes through flow as I fly like a crow. An honoured untouchable tactical poet
incredibly abled to powerfully show it. Could it be these single syllables
are only good for simple silly fools and simply stupid individuals who sin and sit all cynical while I sing with awe so clinical reaching toward the pinnacle, ideals I'm phenomenal, I feel this is probable.
The lions tail
Let the sleeping
Wild dog lie
When is quitely alone
Never underrate
The power of a gentle
Man
Never look for trouble
When a man is humble
To you
For dog dont eat dog
Except
when you touch
The lion tail
I love the air, I cherish the freshness of my Ghana
I bask in the heat to sweat the liberty of Ghana
beauty in life and substance to form a distinct Ghana
Arts in fun’s colours, where should I be if not Ghana
I kiss the clouds that pour your rains my Ghana
and embrace the poles that permit your winds dear Ghana.
Small, gentle but mighty, that’s just my Ghana
your beauty grows but slowly, why oh why Ghana
don’t underrate your capable hands my sweet Ghana
in your team you still are a big brother gentle Ghana
unity lingers when I smell the cologne from Ghana
from the soils to the seas, God’s legs surely walk in Ghana.
A home of hope and peace is this lovely Ghana
Boadi, Amanianpong or Danquah my names in Ghana
Oh! Quaye, Akesseh and Frimpong still from Ghana
the mind finds rest with the beautiful bed sheets of Ghana
cornered by curtains of life only made by one in town Ghana
a home to my heart and one I’ll always find in this lovely Ghana.
Humble angels implore
Kaffirs unsaddle holy alms
If Kings underrate
The moment you comprehend that
No one is your foe,except yourself
You underrate your attainment
Hurl pebbles at yourself
Eclipse your sun because you feel jeopardous
You dread to be defamed
Yet yearn to be venerated
One advice:monitor two dogs or cats meet
Beyond the identity sniffing,
Eyes contact,tail-wagging to signify their status
Still remember above all
Status is more in the giving than the demanding
That acting modestly is far better
Than boasting in disguise
Remember a cat has done it ever since creation
Gazing deep into the king's eyes .
The last incentive, souls be found
in large, monopolizing's wait
wrong's closeness, jeopardizing sound
and even breath ways lose relate.
That joint remorse, my neighbor's frowned
to but cause worry, replicate
my higher level, hope's astound
is bartered down to captivate.
The slavery of unholy bound
does figure out its own remorse,
tries chastity with futile ground
its smallness building ~ decimates.
The nothingness content to scowl
and act important, underrate
intimidation's constant growl
the ego maniac's known gate!
Were greatness but from Faith's relate
or known assumptions caustic sown
must change my method, contemplate
and leave my brother's curse alone!
Oh God, but center my ingrate
to prayers console, restoring tone
loss' need do reconcile abate
to gather measures truth consoles!
The all of mercy, healing's fate
is in our own hands, carry's hone
lives driven to the edge, full weight
must lift together ~ to bring home ~
the love God gave us . . . . as His own!
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