I keep my house uncluttered,
appearances are key.
Still dust accumulates,
I try to not let it bother me.
I don't make people eat off my floor
so... how clean does it really have to be?
AP: 3rd place 2026
You tell me I am no good
When I am sleeping
Next to you in bed
Because I snore very loud
And that wakes you up
Now you are having trouble
Going back to sleep
Also, I am obese
That is what you tell me
I put myself on a diet
Because I don't want
To have a stroke or a heart attack
You tell me that I still have time
I can sleep in for a while
Because it is Sunday
Don't worry I will wake up at noon
Slowly
I am telling you the truth
Yes today
I will spend my time
At High Park
I just love nature
It is wonderful that we have
Nature inside the city
And we don't need to go
To the country
You say that I am
The most honest person
You had ever known
I appreciate hearing that
In case you’d like a test
that doesn't always rhyme
Is the opposite of ‘protest’~ ‘contest’
You came into my life
You didn't ask so much of me.
You're the one giving out
I'm the one taking in
You came into my life
Expecting nothing from me.
You're the one letting it out
I'm the one keeping it in
One day you left me
Without saying a word.
I looked for more of me
Without you on board
One night you came back
And gave me answers I needed
To questions that pulled me back
And made me strong and mended
I was sorry for hurting you
And regret not keeping you
I am whole again for what you said to me
When you tell me that you love me
With you by my side
Keeping me on the bright side
I can feel the joy and laughter you're giving me
When you tell me that you love me
A MYSTIC’S VERSE-2, ”Questions”
How shall I see you in heaven?
Do you glow?
As the creator and temple of love,
Do you stand in unparalleled radiance?
Is there a glimmering of your aura?
Does your knowing all truth
Put a sparkle in your eyes?
Do the flames of your purifying fire
Leap up? And May we hear
Their snapping sparks?
Does music rush out ahead
To proclaim your nearing footsteps?
Does the silence of your visitings
Keep dancing within its rhythms,
Within its divine timing, which
We cannot comprehend?
Will you sit with me awhile longer
To tell how rainbows find their smiles?
And how you know I want to borrow
Some colors for my challenged days?
Tell me, too, how when
I told you in a prayer that, “I love you,”
You answered completely and simply,
“I know,”
So from that night on, my soul
Has been dressed in an eternal light?
Tell, how you see
Going on separate from you is
Lasting on,
Not a life, not living on?
*********. *********** ***********
(c) Sally Young Eslinger 9/13/20
Written in sympathy for Jane Ethel Ethel
You don't see what I see
or what goes on in my head,
so how can you tell me
that the sky is not red?
You can't feel my passion,
eternal flame in my heart,
so how can you tell me
from my pain won't come art?
You can't listen to my soul
or the melodies it sings,
so how can you tell me
that I don't come from kings?
You don't suffer my pain,
nor have you witnessed my story,
so how can you tell me
that I'm not destined for glory?
You don't value my people,
but know the price we were sold,
so how can you tell me
that your black's not my gold?
A father tends to his children's fears
with sweet kisses while drying their tears.
And his hug embraces them with love,
prizing each as a gift from above.
Can you tell me of a father's kiss?
A lover acknowledges your past pain,
supporting you as you smile again.
And desire brews an erotic scent
as sweat drops and sexy thoughts ferment.
Can you tell me of a love like this?
A child reaps the innocence of youth,
a magical time of trust and truth.
And laughter's heard almost every day,
resounding in the echoes of play.
Can you tell me of such childhood bliss?
A man sees God in a starry sky,
and he's no longer afraid to die.
Faith doesn't require anything more
than he believes; to make his soul soar.
Can you tell me of truths I dismiss?
(Rhyme)
6/3/2016
Drunken slurs
Vacant stares
More broken glass
Wishing this was the past
Slammed against the wall
Bloody, broken, and bruised
Dying
Bloody, broken, and bruised
Dead
“What You Tell Me ”
© 2003 Michelle Lynn LeBlanc
You tell me that I’m beautiful
You tell me you love me so
You tell me I need to trust you
In order for me to grow
You tell me I need to open
You tell me I need people's love
You tell me that I’m precious
And that I'm one you're proud of
Yet, I tell you ,“inside I’m ugly”
I tell you “love really means pain”
I tell you” it’s hard to trust you
Because how others said words in vain”
I tell you ”I need these walls”
I tell you ” I can’t handle people's love”
I tell you, “I’m just too broken
When their push comes to shove”
Yet You always draw near to hold me
To tell me I can trust your heart
Even when I run away so far
Your love always leaves its mark!
© 2003 Michelle Lynn LeBlanc
YOU TELL ME
I cannot be there
the way you
say
cobalt expanse
littered with
bright
shock
a stranger here
with a pen
as sex fills
the air
humid humility
many of my
lovers taken
down
kissed by crimson
roses that have
exalted without
crown
I have no lover
just a pen
yet I am told
by millions
I am adored
but…
no one calls
so I return
to you chasing
down an
endless
storm
you tell me
what direction
to go…
© Kim van Breda
Sonnet: Can you tell me why?~
(English sonnet)
Can you tell me why babies everywhere die?
Can you tell me why this world feeds from hate?
Can you tell me why we all have to cry?
Can you tell me why some can’t find a mate?
Can you tell me why sorrow conquers laughter?
Can you tell me why some kids are unloved?
Can you tell me why men just riches chases after?
Can you tell me why some valued no beloved?
Can you tell me why God most men reject?
Can you tell me why sin springs like water?
Can you tell me why most lives are wrecked?
Can you tell me why there’s so much slaughter?
Why? Why? Well, only God knows exactly why
But sin and lack of God, Love, makes world cry!
Dorian Petersen Potter
aka ladydp2000
copyright@2007
January,09,2015
Can you tell me why I feel so upset?
Can you tell me that you have no regrets?
Can you tell me why I’m emotional,
Can you tell me anything at all?
Can you tell me what I’m doing wrong?
Why is the day taking so long?
I wanna know why I feel this way,
I wanna know why people cant change.
Why is there so much violence... why is there so much pain?
Why are we – So full of hate and grief?
What an end to a ****ty day, oh,
What an end to a ****ty day!
Can you tell me why I feel so confused?
Can you tell me why I knew it was too good to be true?
I don’t know what's goin on in my head,
let alone yours, now I’m feelin brain dead.
I want you to wanna talk to me,
I don’t care what about... just ANYTHING!
Can you tell me why I feel so upset?
Can you tell me that you have no regrets?
Can you tell me why I’m emotional,
Can you tell me anything at all?
Can you tell me what I’m doing it wrong?
Why is the day taking so long?
If you tell me you love me...
Love me not for the color of my eyes,
But for the way they speak-
Love me not for my lips, not for my smile;
Love me for the all the things I smile for-
Love me not because I create art,
But because what I create is art to you-
Love me not because I deserve to be loved,
But because you can't help it...
I don't need to be loved...
But I need to be loved like something real.
I am the ear peiece device
They attach when your hearing fails
I am both the coffin and the nails
Your scary bed time tales
Of night stars and prison bars
I am the bug that lairs inside your head
Scaring you from going to bed
I am you
And I am what you tell me
Because you drive me
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.