It is not a large clue
for the collectives blues
to come from the tools of grim news.
We spoke to authors and speakers
to speak on all who expire
for death is fair, but life is unfair.
He and she, they and I
know of a stars end
and the hearts that burst of thy neighbour
and the rebel who rode into heavy metal
and the victim melted into the dirt.
Our lives are shaped by experience
but our ends are shaped by circumstances
yet we know
yet we don't wish to know.
One who made his heart beat,
In his heart who has a permanent seat.
Whose smile made his day so bright,
Whose watery eyes made him fright.
For whose happiness he killed his desire,
With whom he never acted so tire.
She loved singing, he became her mike,
He spread her voice to everyone who like.
Who knew one day she'll fly too far,
May be in heaven or in the star.
But still destiny couldn't separate them,
The path of poison he chose then
Overflowing from my bank
The unwelcome water seeping.
To and fro and lurking still
Into my soul it's creeping.
Scourge this, be damned to you
I have never asked this claim.
I live my life
Provide for many, leave me just the same.
I watch over babes, provide sustenance too,
Caring and warmth and love.
Their thoughts and actions rebound to me.
The grandest of God above.
Be gone you scourge that is mine,
Be gone you pestilence now!
I will fight, I will win, cast you aside,
And take no heed, no how.
All have joined and all will love
For all that I will give.
I never stop to offer more
and that is why I live.
I live by this, from all of you
To keep my spirits clear.
With all of you around me,
You give me strength...
I have no fear.
She found someone she truly liked
but sadly, the person sent
hadn't fully healed.
So, now she is paying the price.
She did everything right.
Showed up but you were still undecided.
This left her questioning her worth
for loving someone who didn't know
what they were looking at.
She thought this was love
but it was just her reflection.
the s.o.b. had it coming, but systems fail – why am I in jail?
i would do anything for you
and that's the problem
no matter what you do to me
i will keep giving and giving
as if giving enough will make you love me
even if you already have all you need
you'd take anything i put in front of you
if you needed to borrow something,
i'd just give it to you
if you needed to buy something,
i'd just buy it for you
if you wanted something,
i'd already have it ready to give you
yet you won't give anything back
sometimes i feel
it's almost as if
i took out my heart for you to use
but yours was already fine
you just wanted to take mine
You gave the perfect alibi
Swept your dirty laundry under the mat
Fooled everyone ~ everyone but me
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
I know how the cycles of life, death, and rebirth can be unfair.
I know how it used to feel like they never showed they care.
I know how it feels when nobody at all wants to share.
Why do so many not have enough
for their most basic needs
While others have more
than they can ever spend
They can’t take it with them in the end
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
there is ugliness in this world
where there is no need for it
why do we tolerate indifference
injustice, brutality and greed
when there's plenty to go around
it's a game of checkers for the have's
and mere survival for the have-not's
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Never again to know fresh air,
Combing worms from my matted hair.
No one remains who’d ever care —
Tied to my grave, this lonesome baire.
I must escape the sun’s harsh glare,
Tread carefully down crumbling stair,
Descend into my crypt just there,
Where I sit alone in dark despair.
Upon my ancient worm-eaten chair,
Inside my vaulted charnel house lair,
Such a sad and accursed affair —
Never to rest, always aware.
This kind of death is so unfair:
No converse, no song, no whispered prayer.
A thousand lifetimes in disrepair,
Unattended, solus, solitaire.
Harshest sentence beyond compare,
Caught in this endless undeath snare.
Naught to do but eternity stare —
And comb the damn worms from my hair.
I'm sorry for being black
I'm sorry I ever cared
Every moment
Every smile
Was pity
Why be ashamed?
When I'm just me
Standards on standards to fit
Expectations to meet
People to please
Now I am ashamed
Ashamed that I could not fit and distort my true self for others
Eight years old, on a staircase, trying to scrape off my complexion
Maybe if I was not this way people would like me
Too light
Too dark
Things I cannot change I ought to be ashamed
To whitewashed,
Too woke
I should have never spoke
You leave me on a staircase, wondering where I went wrong
I'm sorry for being black, I'm sorry for being me
The expectations of a girl, a black one are so hard to meet
Too bright
Too shallow
It's not right
You should sink back, let the men do the talking
We are not the obedient children we used to be
Your boys are men and your girls are now women
Why do you still try to clip their wings,
I'm sorry for being black; I'm sorry for being me
An apology, is all this should be.
A ll
F or
D istraction
i g farben, now bayer pharmacutical firm, worldwide reach seems almost charmed.? Purveyors of zyklon b the
Cause of great harms.' Still today a legal entity' in lawful
Standing for-sure.' Despite supplying genocidal gas into
The concentration camps very doors.' While Alternativ für
Deutschland..' Is targetted and called 'far right' by day and
Night.' Yet I need to just know why.? Such disparity is allowed to be? Like how can such full out falseness.' be even allowed to fly?
why did it begin in the first place?
and then why, it have to end so early?
it was meant to be another lovelorn story,
a story with arcs developing faster than fiction
everything shattered in the blink of an eye
our first conversation, it was all accidental
and so was our fate- it was tragic and unfair
Labour of hate
Turn on the heating
It’s getting cold
Why do we shiver?
Just because we’re old
It’s Kier’s labour, who wants us all to die
Said he liked pensioners just another lie
Another lie
Angels are calling
Is this the end
We are elderly
No family or friends
Can’t pay for heating or any of our bills
While Rayner’s cheating, fingering the tills
In the tills.
Reeves bills are paid for
But she’s a millionaire
Rayner is raving
She doesn’t care
Release the sausages, where is his brain
Paying a photographer, Rayner’s so vain
Is so vain
Take all our money
With inheritance tax
Charlie didn’t pay his
He can now relax
Rich becoming richer, Starmer leads the pack
Free clothes and glasses stabbed us in the back
In the back.
David Cox 13/12/24
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.