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Best Poems Written by Paul Gerwin

Below are the all-time best Paul Gerwin poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

The One Left Behind

Oh dog, sweet dog
My companion and friend
I wish our journey
Did not have to end

But I always knew that
One would go first
For that one to be me
I feared as the worst

No, not to save me 
From life’s certain demise,
But to depart this world
Looking in your brown eyes

Because when I fail
On the very next day
To love you, feed you
And be there to play 

You won’t understand
Your heart will ask why?
Did I not return
From this final goodbye

Did I stop loving you?
Will my absence soon end?
What was the crime?
Can we make amends?

Because a dog doesn’t know
How life’s journey ends
Their heart cannot grasp
Why they’ve lost their best friend

I too will feel pain
And you will be so missed
But I gave you my soul
Fully knowing the risk

So I brace to submit
To the sorrow and crying
And pray bear the burden 
As the one left behind

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

Turning 50

To my lovely wife (who has a great sense of humor)

Turning 50
You may think is nifty
But truth be told
It means you’re quite old

You may have more wisdom
And a walk in tub
You rate a new AARP card
Now here comes the rub

In order to keep 
A proper perspective
Let’s count the ways
You’ll become more defective

Start with the skin
It’s beginning to sag
Your voice will be changing
It’s morphing to ’Nag’

And without that skin staying 
Healthy and supple
Your boobs will head south
Making friends with your navel

And now for the Butt
Destined to enlarge
Ready for that scooter
Once it gets a full charge

You can scoot to the Doctor
He will be your best friend
That is, until
The inevitable end

Best check your insurance
Talk to Alex Trebek
And Colonial Penn
Better bring a big check

Good thing for you 
That your finances are set
Relying on S.S.
Was a really good bet

What’s that you say?
That fund is no more?
Where is the Lockbox?
We trusted Al Gore

Oh well, not to worry
You’ll have Medicare
No, not that either
You say it went where?

It was needed to pay for
Cell phones and cable
And for those that desire
To be labeled disabled

Then best to be careful
Try not to slip
Hang on to your walker
Let’s not break a hip
 
Stairs now are your enemy
Too hard to climb
Is it weakening muscles
Or that growing behind

When we are younger
Playing the fool
Growing a year older
Was always so cool

Reaching a half century
The truth will awaken
Now your old bony knees 
Ain’t the only thing shaking

More and more often
This fact will ring true
Everyone else
Is younger than you

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

Guilded Cage

My big friend has locked me
Inside of his house
I do not believe 
I will ever get out

I don’t really mind
It’s comfy and warm
And except for that dog
I never face harm

In the earliest days
of my feline existence
A tough stray I was
Eking out my subsistence

Having lost all connection
With Mother and sibs
I started to shrink
Showing off my fine ribs

Yes, life was tough then
But I was up to the task
Should you doubt what I say
Here’s some others to ask

The cars that hurt me
And mangled my ear
I learned to avoid them
And never go near

All the invaders
That dared enter my space 
They howled and cried
From the wounds on their face

Of course there are more
The list can go on
But you get the story
In this yard I’m the one

Then one gray day
‘fore the onset of freezing
I sat with my friend
Drawing warmth from his knee

He held me in close
As he is oft to do
And took me inside
This was scary and new

Everything was different
No singing of birds
He spoke to me softly
In those strange human words

“I know that you love
to be outside and free,
but your wild escapades 
leave me in misery”

“Three years ago,
I could have bid you farewell.
But losing you now
For us both would be Hell”

“We’re making you family
No longer a stray
You can live here in comfort
Til your very last day”

And so it was done
No one gave me a vote
Now I don’t really need
My glorious black coat

It’s always warm here
I might as well be naked
There’s fresh food aplenty
No creature will take it

But there is no excitement
I just lay in the window
And ponder the world
I no longer go into

I gaze out upon 
The birds in the garden
And dream of the joy
I would feel if I ate them

One day I spotted
The gray cat named Jester
An enemy mine
I had formerly bested

How dare he just enter
As if it’s his yard!
Alas, I can’t stop him
So, for him .. not too hard

My pride, it’s in shambles
My soul duly crushed
I have no domain
‘cept the world in this house

But wait, there’s the key
In here I am King
I will rein over all
Every indoor living thing

No spider is safe
Every fly my next victim
All the vermin be warned 
I’ll most certainly get them

I will hunt them and stalk them
All day and all night
They will consider me Boss 
With a most dreaded fright

I feel much better now
My shame has departed
There’s fine work to do
I had better get started

But not now, no hurry
There are beds in this house
I must try a nap in one
Then! .... Then I’ll go find that mouse

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

As My Soul Slowly Bleeds

You came from the woods
Origin unknown
Wild at first
Scared and alone

Sustenance shared
Health now recouped
A decision you made
To reside on our stoop

The invite was given
Come into this home
No was your answer
Life was to roam

There were those times
A long night would pass
You’d not be waiting
For morning’s repast

Watching and waiting
With tension and fear
Out of nowhere it seemed
You would calmly appear

Now Winter’s upon us
Cold bitter dread
I built you a shelter
You rested your head

Three seasons have passed
And odds do not favor
A poor outdoor stray
This long can endeavor

Coyotes, roadways
Coons and disease
Dangerous obstacles
All of these

But a special bond
Symbiotic at first
Spontaneously woke
Ignoring the worst

Though strong and tough
Feral head to toe
The love between us
Continued to grow

I’ll never forget
To the surprise of all
When you climbed in my arms
And curled up in a ball

So now I am watching
Tears in my eyes
Why did I allow this 
Why so unwise

It’s been many days
Trees covered in frost
My friend hasn’t shown
I concede he is lost

My heart is now broken
I knew it would be
So I write down these thoughts
As my soul slowly bleeds

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

Nights Passage

A hole in the darkness 
Perfectly still
Coiled and waiting
Ready to kill

Silent black velvet
Watchful and scary
Spots its next victim 
Passing unwary

A leap and a pounce
Claws and fangs flashing
No chance for the victim
There comes a cruel slashing

A meal for just one
Not for the other 
Its short life is done
There’ll be no tomorrow

But the beast will continue
Its wicked desire
To hunt and cause murder
As nature requires 

A gruesome ritual
Carried out every night
The only defense
Is mornings new light

Sun slowly rising
Continuing its passage
Soft light devours
The monsters advantage

Some creatures survived
Were they just lucky?
Best scurry back 
To their safe little cubby

And for the assassin
There starts a new day
To find a warm sunbeam
Dismissing foul play

As its green eyes grow heavy
And sleep pulls it under
The little black kitty
Dreams of its plunder

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

The Fiend

There surely are monsters
Quite evil beasts
I see them roaming
The woods and the streets

Killing too often
Placing foul marks
Round their small world
A wicked hallmark

Nobody wants them
Always chased and harassed
They’ve learned how to be
Careful and fast

Should one venture
Onto unfamiliar lots
Chances are many
They'll be beaten or shot

So in the shadows
Mostly they creep
Growing more wild
Disrupting our sleep

Encountering others
Of their same kind
They leave their numerous
Multiples behind

One of these droppings
Is the cause of my notice
That more of the evil
Was now amongst us

Tho tiny and harmless
With positive potential
I knew that it’s darkness
Was most existential

But I could not contain
My curious nature
And allowed myself
A most dangerous venture

Let’s see what happens
When one is not free
So I placed my small prisoner
Into studied captivity

Ha! As I suspected
The creature now spoke
Informing me thus
That the Demon had woke

The sound that it made
Was both simple and frightening
Yet simultaneously
Somewhat delightful

Don’t listen! I warned
To my weakening brain
That sound is a weapon
Then I heard it again

Little more than a squeak
A weak tiny cry
The mistake that I made 
Was to look in it’s eyes

Hypnotic black orbs
That reached to my soul
And pulled me into
A deadly black hole

And now it is done
Damned to temptation
Curiosity settled
I’ve lost my life's station

Yes, I am the loser
This fiend is the winner
Now it’s time once again
To make the Cat’s dinner

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

Star

Star was a Cali
Dusty and long haired
Mature when we met
You could say that she’d ‘been there’

This was her third home
Each one a full lifetime
Why any would give her up
Is crazy in my mind

She was stubborn, haughty
And chock full of ‘tude
But oh so lovable
When in the right mood

The old lady’s now gone
There were no sad tears
She brightened our world
For 28 years

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

The Crumbsnatcher

Ebony BB’s
Long pointy nose
In the dark moonless night
The Crumbsnatcher froze

Forever alert
No lack of threats
In search of a meal 
Uncertain the next

A sense of a sound
From near, maybe far
Don’t move a muscle
Stay right where you are

Waiting and watching
Silent and careful
Don’t be impatient
Mistakes can be fatal

Neglect the cat
Your life will be over
They’re fast with the claw
Worry not about Rover

The Snappers are tricky
They tempt you with cheese
You may think you’re quicker
Take a chance, if you please

Wiser to skip it
Eat that old moldy wafer
Not the best dinner
But infinitely safer

In need of some water
Too long you’re in drought
Stay away from the sink
You’d never climb out

Now run for the shadows
Great urgency take
If memory’s true
It’s the stink of a snake

What was that now
A sound close to silence
Could be the Owl’s wings
Carrying violence

Huddle yourself tight
The night is soon done
Then return to the nest
Another day won

A Crumbsnatcher needs
Life’s skills be refined
‘Cause unlike that cat
He doesn’t have nine

Details | Paul Gerwin Poem

Here's To Me

Golden elixir
Spirit of mind
You bring me friends
You’re not my friend
Goodbye