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Best Poems Written by Bryan Norton

Below are the all-time best Bryan Norton poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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I Wonder

I wonder as I wander
From head to heart to soul
If life is like an empty game
Or more, an empty goal

If passion is the price we pay
For pure and perfect peace
If people are the problem
Or the path to our release

For who I am and what I know
Is not what others see
When life is like a rocket ship
And no one cares but me

The path to my salvation
Is a long and winding road
But I am glad to make it
With an extra heavy load

The promise of a better life
Is part of who I am
The lesser peace of harmony
Is worthy of a clam

The urgency of living 
Is a worthy fact to face
The silence of a shooting star
Is harder still to trace

The universe is full of those
Who buried on the shore
Gave deference to those who died
By living so much more

The story of eternity
Is written in your heart
The actor that you suffer long
Is waiting for a part

The soul that you should conquer
Is the hardest one to win
The restless dream within you
Is the place you should begin

But when you do remember
That discretion is your fame
The wiser part of virtue
Is the value in your name.

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

Leave Me Alone

Leave me alone, I yelled to the kitten
The almost adult one that stood on my head
It’s four in the morning and where is it written
That I should wake up when you wish to be fed

Leave me alone, I called to his brother
Who walked over me as I struggled to rest
Why don't you leave me and bother another
How can I breathe when you stand on my chest

Leave me alone, I say when I’m eating
Nobody told you to mooch off my plate
You better know as I watch you retreating
That was my food that you carelessly ate

It doesn’t matter that I may be sleeping
Eating or resting or doing a chore
These are my cats and they never stop creeping
Over my dishes and in through my door

Funny to know that whenever they bug me
They like to purr just as loud as they can
They show affection by how they are happy
Knowing I love them as their biggest fan

Leave me alone, is a phrase I am using
Spoken more softly and always in vain
What is the point when I know that I’m losing
Leave me alone is like stopping the rain.

Written and submitted November 12, 2021
To the "Leave Me Alone" poetry contest
Sponsored by Mystic Rose Rose

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

The Soul

The soul is the spirit and body
The union of life in a man
The way is not merely a hobby
But more like a wonderful plan

For life is a personal journey
With plenty of stops on the way
To savor and never to hurry
The flavor of living each day

The purpose of life is for living
And lifting each soul that we meet
A pattern of showing and giving
The love that will make us complete

For love is the answer to sorrow
When hate is a thorn in our side
And comfort is claiming tomorrow
When joy is the place we reside

The soul is the person we nourish
By feeding the spirit with care
And hope is the dream that will flourish
By spreading the love that we share. 

Written and submitted to the "Soul" Poetry Contest
On November 17, 2021

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

Thru Maritime Miles

Thru maritime miles of minions in motion
We hedge our opinions while pledging devotion	
To serving the Captain and sharing our smiles
Through barrels of onions and flea-bearing trials

But even the pirates who pose in a rumble
Are learning the merits of those who are humble
The path of our choosing where sinning is pleasure
Is better for losing than winning a treasure

I plunged overboard when I soared off a plank
At the point of a sword and a sore lady's prank
The captain's first mate made her daddy agree
That my fate was a date with the fish in the sea

I knew she was baiting my body at brunch
To catch me in waiting and serve me for lunch
All pirates are worthy to fish and to feast 
But no one should make me a dish for a beast

From well on the brink to a splash in the sink
I fell in a flash for a female fink
I knew she was watching me fall in the tank
And laughing discreetly with daddy to thank

I should have resisted the words that she said
But when she persisted they went to my head
I told her I loved her but so did my mate
Who never returned from his very first date

It seems bloody retching but fatefully true
When somebody fetching is fatal for you
You flee from the danger but fractured you find
That pretty young stranger has captured your mind

You think that she needs you for making a start
But she really knees you for breaking apart
A mob in her keep is the poorest of help
Who force you to leap in a forest of kelp

Though mad as an adder I drifted from reach
To bob like a bladder in search of a beach
The Great White beside me was my willing host
To have me for dinner and eat me the most

Then something resembling a storm with a tail
Came surging at me in the form of a whale
I lost my composure and when I passed out
She tossed me all over to sit on her spout

Upon this brave lady who skirted the water
I fled for my life from the ship captain's daughter
She brought me to land on the girth of her blubber
To flip me ashore like a lousy landlubber

From deep in the sea to a seat by a seal
The freedom I keep is a cheap kind of deal
The beach that I sleep on is sunny and hot
So happy to be where my honey is not...

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

In Starlight Time

The beauty of a galaxy 
Is heavenly
A tapestry of dreams in speckled light
Beneath a lilac tree
You made love to me
More tenderly than truly at first sight

My ecstasy is suddenly
A raging sea
A misery so deep it will not die
In this, my fantasy
Of love, eternally
Your memory is with me by and by...

I don't know why the stars on high
Are shining still
Mocking me at will
The virgin snow
Reflects a warm hello
But I am colder for the chill

Like a Whippoorwill
In the throes of deep December
When Autumn leaves still blow
In dreams of late September
And smiles I remember
For the glow

Beside the train that night
We said goodbye
You were born to fly
Somewhere on the breeze
The scent of lilac trees
Still brings a teardrop to my eye

In a lullaby
Or a song of sweet persuasion
If reason follows rhyme 
Where all my dreams come true
My thoughts will be of you
In starlight time.

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

Oliver, a Boy

My mother's name was Seraphine
A sadder child was never seen 
Her duty was to serve the table
Of newly widowed Mrs. Grable

Her husband Mr. Grable died
To keep the British gratified
For which the lady, born and bred
Was brought to stay with Master Ted

Their lineage was the House of Bean 
A family favored by the Queen
When epic wars left many dead
The House of Bean was spared instead

For serving well Her Majesty
The Beans were blessed with property
And one small subject, good and clean
The lowly servant, Seraphine

When Seraphine was just a child
Her Master Ted met Mr. Wilde
A gentleman from Derbyshire
In need of servant class for hire

In Derbyshire he kept a farm
A new estate with country charm
That came with dairy cows and sheep
And one large lake two fathoms deep

He lived in lonely solitude
Without a wife to share his food
The class that served so faithfully
Was not a fitting company

When Seraphine was strong and able
She dug the grave of Mrs. Grable
And thought about a different house
To serve within a different blouse

For Seraphine had seen the day
When Master Bean refused to pay
The twenty pounds he paid before
Although she labored even more

She knew the way to break his sway
Was leave his house without delay
In search of better work and food
And just a bit of gratitude

But Bean would always tell her no
Because he feared that she would go
And tell the queen most truthfully
About the time she worked for free

She thought about a running mate
Another maid to share her fate
But all the other maids were proud
To be among the servant crowd . . .

When all their work was duly done
And shadowlands replaced the sun
The manor maids were then excused
To crawl in beds where they recused

Though waifish girls of every type
Were thus inclined to sit and gripe
They quickly found that like before
The cheeky ones were shown the door

Now Seraphine, just might have stayed
But all the rest were duly paid
Who thus, redeemed, and paid at last
Did not object to be outclassed

For manor work was hard to find
And prostitution was the grind
That left you sick and often dead
But rarely meant you got ahead

The girls shared a laugh or two
As servant maids are prone to do
But sheer exhaustion proved to be 
The ending to their revelry

Though Seraphine could join the crew
Who went to bed and promptly too
She quietly topped off her sack
Without a thought of coming back

A dreamer on the kitchen crew
Was dreaming with a window view
When suddenly the breaking dawn
Betrayed the maiden on the lawn

The kitchen boy released a shout
That startled everyone about
And made the Manor Lady scream
And wake the Master from his dream

A bobby who was passing by
Was startled by their anguished cry
And hurried with a worried frown
To find the Master in his gown

The Master told a mournful story
That even sold the Morning Glory
And made the bobby blow his whistle
Enough to kill a bed of thistle

A 'Peeler' by the name of Cook
Approached his calling by the book
And made a vow to Master Bean 
To capture cunning Seraphine...

***

This intermission that we take
Is meant to help you stay awake
Through what I say and for the sake
Of everyone who needs a break...


	Continued in part 2 . . .

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The Gift That I Give You

The gift that I give you 
Is living within you
The warmth of a bright summer day

The comfort of living
Is born of the giving
That comes in a wonderful way

When two hearts are rising
Their love is surprising
For hate is surmising their fall

But hope is much stronger
And joy is much longer
When living is loving at all

The way that I love you
Is stirring above you
The gift of an angel in flight

My wings are the reason
My joy is in season
For giving you shelter tonight.

Written 06/25/2021
For "The Gift that I Give You" poetry contest
Sponsored by Mystic Rose Rose

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Conversation With the Soul

Once upon a midnight dream
Of fantasy in flight
I fought the degradation 
Of a dragon’s appetite

My heart was beating stronger 
As it broke my fevered brow
Breaking my resistance
To the meekness of a bow

All my dreams of darkness
Were the dungeons of my soul
The sad and somber wreckage
Of a savage in control

Soul, I cried, refuse me
In the pattern of my sin
Help me to be stronger
In my struggle for a win

Favor me with courage
In the carnage of my fight
Clear my path of passage
In a prefatory light

Strengthen my compassion
For the suffering I see
Flip the side of sorrow
For a joyful jamboree

Teach me thy persistence
In the moments I am weak
Nurture me with patience
For the blessings that I seek

Hasten thy forgiveness
In the mercy of thy way
Chasten my resistance
To the truth I must obey

Set me on a higher plane
To lift the needy poor
Raise me on the ladder 
Of the blessings you restore

Teach me of the promise
And the purpose of a man
Lead me in the practice
Of a wiser master plan

Help me to be humble
On the highest mountain peak
Catch me when I stumble
In the knowledge that I seek

Thank you, soul, for teaching me
The truth about my quest
Strengthen my conviction 
To be equal to the test.

Submitted to the "In Conversation With the Soul" poetry contest 
Sponsored by Unseeking Seeker
on January 2, 2022

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Whenever the Weather

Whenever the weather you get
Is wild and windy and wet
The parrot is talking
And people are squawking
If I should be walking a pet

The wind blows a breezy disdain
It sings with an easy refrain
It helps me to cope
With a quiver of hope
And a sliver of soap in the rain

The weather is wild today
A couple is ready to play
In a tryst with a twist
And a warm, woolly mist
With a strength to resist by the way 

Now the weather is sunny and hot
And the people are sweating a lot
So why do they scurry
Back home in a hurry
If rain is a worry or not.

Submitted to "The Weather" poetry contest
Sponsored by Angela Tune
on December 29, 2021

Details | Bryan Norton Poem

Grin

Grin, for the gift of laughter
Grin, for the lift you’re after
Grin, to begin
With no cause
For chagrin

Grin, for the show you steal
Grin, for the glow that's real
Grin, for the spin 
Of the song
You are in

Rush, to the food you’re missing
Gush, in the mood for kissing
Dream, once again 
By the way
That you grin 

Grin, for the joy of living
Grin, like a toy for giving
Grin, with a chin
That is proud
Of your skin

Grin, for the blues you shattered 
Grin, for the news you mattered
Grin, for the win
That you get
From within

Life, is the sun we borrow 
Strife, can be done tomorrow
Hate, is the sin
So please
Just, grin.