Wryly Poems | Examples

Snippets of Spring vol 2

Lyricism of wisteria ruses…peacocking muses gushing tomes

Classicism flocking..roams & woos homes not garden gnomes

Colourful creepers cruising..schmoozing with boisterously blushing bricks

Spring exudes mysticism..oozes oodles of bamboozling serendipity flushing

Cherished fingers rushing freely..delivers..unctuous ravishingly rambunctious

Relished slivers lavishly lingers..embellished..proudly protrudes

Inspires rhyming platitudes about gratitude...fires fresh

Attitudes across a range of altitudes & latitudes

Sprinkling wryly of vintner's drily sparkle...ends strange debacle...

Skint stints of wily skinflint winter’s splinters..with hints of now..Spring sprints

But also somehow.. if one squints..get an inkling of change..

Glints of summer's tints slyly twinkling

Your Poem

Did you ever open up a poem
And know that it was for you?
Those are the ones that you
Wished you wrote
But the words were taken long
Before you read them
Leaving you, wryly, 
With the taste of something missed
Almost, but, not quite
As if you had lived it.

Robert Sherriff Golf Humor Story

Robert Sherriff - Australian - Poet -Author - Singer - Actor - American Historian – Photographer- Dedicated TO Jarryd Health Peter Les Sherriff
Golf Humor Story
As I sauntered along the lush, green golf course fairways, the player ahead slowed to meet me. With a grin, I inquired, "How's your game shaping up today?"
Turning back, he met my gaze with a hint of exhaustion and replied, "A piece of advice - never spar with your spouse before hitting the greens." He smiled wryly, "Especially if she's a better golfer than you! I'm still trying to recover from the 'hole' situation."
He chuckled softly, "Believe me, my game is not reflecting its true potential out there."
Feel free to share this humorous tale with your golfing friends or on social platforms! It's a story that all golfers, from beginners to pros, can relate to. Sometimes, a touch of fun is all it takes to navigate those challenging rounds with a smile.

Wonder in the rain

In a gentle rain thoughts turned to you
seems so often that they do.. 
walking hand in hand 
our reflection held hands too.

Through puddles we romped and splashed   
as a child of a sudden summer squall
we, protesting youth 
ignoring the wonder in it all.

I sang from a place deep inside, a place of happiness,
but I can't sing, you knew..
my heart didn't care, you didn't show,    
smiling wryly.

Outside your front door, looked at the floor 
our eyes found each other    
they talked without words, 
about puddles left from the stars
those inconsolable stars.

Looking Away

She sometimes lets me kiss her cheek,
and sometimes, when her knees feel weak,
she grabs my hand to steady her feet,
or to help her sit up, so she can sneak
over to rest her head upon my chest.

She never sees tears of joy well my eyes.
If she tries, I look off despite her cries.
But she knows all my tricks, wryly smiles,
endlessly teases me with endless trials,
for she knows her hooks reach to my heart.

I love her so, yet within cannot find
the reason or rhyme to tell her why.
And the looking on her never gets old.
Each time she is as sweet to behold 
as the first; in awe, in love, enraptured.

Centre of the Storm

how gloweth thine eye
in this sadness of sunlight…
where trees cease shaking
woodland rests with bated breath
wryly squirrels search for home

© Harry J Horsman 2023

January Thaw

January Thaw

In the thrall of January’s dismal weather
(Comprising snowstorms and freezing temperatures)
While staring out the window from the interior,
I endeavour to regather my composure
By testing myself with a blithe question, I think keen,
“Isn’t this the coldest January you’ve ever seen?”

And wryly smile to myself with a whimpered answer,
“I think that the coldest January I recall,
From day one to the end of the month without thaw
Is this one, the coldest January of all!”

The Trials and Tribulations of Life

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friend

Malignant Clouds

Clouds loom drifting, passing by,
The west wind gently tempts them on
Though no one knows what cause them cry
And no one hears their pleading voice
As all their acid tears well dry.


Snowy white, in rank and file,
The south wind warmly glides them far;
Smiling wryly all the while
Natant high above the earth
Ambling on, mile after mile.


Alluring to the offhand glancer
The east wind briskly chafes them forth
Skittering like the showtime dancer
Yet hidden deep within their breast
A growing rude and covert cancer.


But nature's wrath will bid her toll
The north wind casts the clouds astray
Freezing, breezing, pole to pole,
The stricken, tainted, wisps will wane ~
Dare no one care to save their soul?


So now as time is dwindling low
As the ill winds clime their worst
The poisoned rains, in flooding flow,
Rape our land to end mankind ~
And still, the winds shall wanton blow.

Fine Day At the Beach

‘Neath the umbrella the sun peeked shyly,
My eyes flickered on the wash of the surf
A seagull in search glanced at me wryly.

A fine day at the beach, earning a smiley
Relaxing on Mother Nature’s sandy turf,
‘Neath the umbrella the sun peeked shyly.

Several beachcombers observed me dryly
Wondering, I suppose, at my sunburn scurf,
A seagull in search glanced at me wryly.

A ship on the horizon, a sight I prize highly
A toddler nearby was playing with a nerf,
‘Neath the umbrella, the sun peeked shyly.

I heard the kid’s mother call him Wylie,
“Don’t bother him, play with your smurf!”
A seagull in search glanced at me wryly.

Carefully, I slathered on sunscreen slyly
On the cargo ship, I imagined a tourist berth
‘Neath the umbrella the sun peeked shyly
A seagull in search glanced at me wryly.

Written March 29, 2022

Once In a Life Time

ONCE IN A LIFETIME

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're treasures my friend

Once In a Lifetime

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing about?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friend

The Battle Joined Today

The American heart now beats again
it stirs from a disturbing sleep within.
An unbalanced man had his knee,
kept it on the nation's neck for all to see.

Our heavy hearts were ignited today
one nominee's compassion shines the way.
A minority woman running mate -
will wisely guide in the world's next debate.

America smiles wryly in the thought
that democracy avoids this onslaught.
Hopes surge to brave hearts in moments sober
for Americans and friends world over.

Surrounded By Clasps

He had lost the key to his heart a few turns ago

The door pitifully creaked in its worn out hinges

Cobwebs smirked wryly on his dread locked beard

Haunted by the dark spineless spider in his soul

Locked down and shut out on a threshold of destiny

He picked his stubble as if to loosen a hapless bolt



The latch had long given way to rusty corrosion

Traces of decades’ oil mere traces of function

A fastener slowed down captured steady arrest

Pick axes of time surrendered as dust turned to dust

Memory’s cellar displayed on still roots of decay

Once more he scratched the surface of sorrow


The doorman bereft of shrewd loosening screws

Tightened his resolve and decided to move on

Reached for a grimy crowbar and lunged forward

After few futile attempts it dawned on the guy

That he needed to take back one step at a time

Wisened by the door stop he walked around …



07th February 2020

Once In a Lifetime

They're once in a lifetime
These moments of joy
The first time you rattle
That colourful new toy

Your first day at school
With the rest of the kids
Your hair all slicked down
Bad smells Mom got rid

The ultimate joy
Of your first tender kiss
The shock when she tells you
Her period she missed

A puff from a cigarette
Makes you dizzy and ill
The beer in the closet
I remember it still

The joy of our first child
The smell of their skin
The softness of touch
Their sweet tiny grin

Your first big promotion
The raise that you get
The first time you notice
A grey hair NO NOT YET!

Middle age quickly follows
With a sickening thud
It's all over now
Your life is pure crud

The sixties are next
And retirement awaits
Where did it go
You're in a hell of a state

Then someone says wryly
You've had a good life
'Whatcha crabbing bout?'
But it still cuts like a knife

These tender sweet moments
You experience through time
You'll remember them fondly
And treasure the climb 

Hold on to them tightly
They won't come again
They're once in a lifetime
They're to treasure my friends

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