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Best Poems Written by Linda Craddick

Below are the all-time best Linda Craddick poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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Eighty-Eight Keys

Eighty-eight keys of ivory
Create the story of history
From requiems and waltzes
To rhythm and blues,
From dirges and ballads
To pop and rock,
How amazing! What stories are told
By gifted musicians and eighty-eight keys.

In our music room
Eighty-eight keys are played
When I am happy
When I am sad
When I am melancholy
When I am bored
When the holidays approach
And on days that are lonely.

Listen closely to the music
And imagine the story
Unraveling through the notes
Light and lively, slow and trudging
Creating a visual of the colors and climate,
Thoughts and feelings,
Life and loss of the musician
And her eighty-eight keys.

2022 Marathon Mile 5 Poetry Contest
Mark Toney
June 15, 2022

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Fair Winds and Following Seas

Life spent on water
Filled with adventure and joy
The sea is my home


8.22.21
Note: Origin of poem's title is unknown and is a typical "good luck" to sailors beginning a new journey. Used often in Coast Guard and Navy.

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Idyll Thoughts

Through the forest glade I glide
Upon a golden horse
I feel the sunlight on my face
And smiling, stay the course.

Without a care through thickets filled
With trees and gorgeous ferns
I breathe the greeny forest in 
As hopeful my heart yearns

To emerge unscathed from forest dark
And on the other side
Break forth to find my find my lover there
As though he had not died

My wandering thoughts of bygone days
Of simple life and love
Of streams and picnics, fields and life
Of starry nights above

My love and I would canter through
The fields ripe with wheat
To our special, hidden place
Where we would love so sweet.

Alas, I ride alone and feel
As I never have before
My love, you see, went off to fight
And died while in the war

If I find a magic lamp
And wishes three have I
I’ll wish for love again restored
For his touch and starry skies.

That would be my perfect world
But for now my golden horse
And I will ride and search in vain
Forever stay the course. 

One day I will join him there
In starry skies above
And we will be forever bound
Together in our love.

9/14/21

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Crab Legs of Summer

Butter melting atop flames
Ready for dunking
Sweet meat from grilled king crab legs
Open the spiked case
Remove flavor bombs
Of sweetness
My!

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I Teach

I teach
Reading and writing
And speaking
And listening
And computer skills
And citizenship
And teamwork
And collaboration
And questioning skills
And thinking skills
And hygiene
And manners
And caring
And trustworthiness
And tall kids
And short kids
And thin kids
And thick kids
And smart kids 
And struggling kids
And patience
And pride in self
And self-esteem
And hope
And I laugh
And I cry
And I worry
And I pray
And I call DHS
And I grade papers
And I take classes
And I answer calls
And emails
And texts
And notes
And I Zoom
And FaceTime
And I take it all home with me
And it never leaves my mind
And I don’t leave it on my desk
And I’m on call to help with homework
And with internet issues
And computer problems
And placate parents
And hold my tongue
And take “advice” from 
Non-educators because they 
All think they know what it’s like to be
Me because, hey, they went to school.
Hey, I’ve been to a hospital, 
But I don’t advise my doctor,
And I’ve been to a courtroom,
But I don’t advise judges,
And I don’t call them after work hours
And I don’t email them after work hours
And I don’t expect them to drop 
Everything for me after work hours
To answer questions that were answered
During the work day when I wasn’t
Listening.
But I’m a teacher, 
So I do.
And I answer the questions
That were discussed in class
And I am on call 24/7
And I take blame from parents
For students not doing their work
Or listening to directions
Or following timelines
And getting bad grades
Because I am the teacher
And that’s what I do.
I teach.

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Science

Since when did parents decide to 
Collect medical information from entertainment tv hosts?
I remember getting vaccinated for measles because
Everyone was doing the right thing. It was our parents way of loving us and 
Not letting measles be a problem for future children and grandchildren. 
Covid appears to be different. Parents care more about politics and 
Entertainment tv then they do about their kids and generations to come. Sad.

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Let the Games Begin

Time to let the games begin!
A challenge I accept
To write a poem that will win
And show that I’m adept
Enough to continue the game.

What topics shall I choose to write?
I may need twenty-six
Or twenty-seven, I just might
Pen an eclectic mix
Of poems that will please.

Shall I write of summer days
Or nights of shadowy fright?
“How shall I love thee”--count the ways
Lock all the doors at night.
So many possibilities!

I shall dig deep!
I shall endure!
I shall not sleep!
You can be sure
That I shall prove to be a worthy marathon poet. 

2022 Marathon Mile 1 Poetry Contest
Mark Toney
Written June 13, 2022

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Anna and the French Kiss

As I wandered about the lush lawn
In the gazing ball I glimpsed
A breath-taking young woman with a touch of innocence
In her soulful, violet eyes.

I was mesmerized by her beauty
And I had to look up to see that this vision was real.
I did so slowly, and found her gazing a bit boldly
Straight into my very soul.

When she was sure she had bewitched me,
She slowly turned and walked down the garden path
Knowing that I would follow, meek as a lamb
Into her lair.

Into a secret garden she led me,
This girl with the violet eyes and beautiful thick hair
Which she started to unpin and let fall,
Cascading down her back like a waterfall of shining waves.

When we reached the center of the garden,
She turned and waited for me
To come close enough to see the rise and fall of
Her beautiful breasts, corseted to their full advantage.

Though they were lovely, it was the eyes that held me.
She ran a light finger along my lips then pressed it to her own.
It was then I noticed the fullness of her mouth, lips slightly parted
And silently beckoning me to join my lips with hers.

And so I did, and the kiss that ensued was
Warm, and sensuous, and became urgent as it continued.
I felt her tongue and tasted her sweet breath and thought
I might faint at the passion that coursed like lightning through my body.
And without notice, it ended, and I opened my eyes
And found myself standing along in the garden
My very body still on fire with the electricity
Of that kiss.

In a daze, I stumbled back toward the party,
And upon seeing my unsteadiness, my host
Invited me into the manor to cool myself
Out of the heat of the sun.

As we walked through the massive doors,
I glanced up, and over the enormous marble mantle
Was a portrait of the girl with the large violet eyes,
And the cascade of dark hair, and the lips I still felt upon my own.

I asked my host shakily, “Who is that”?
He replied with a shudder that she was Anna,
His betrothed, who had been lost on the sea
And had never been recovered.

Years later I wonder, was she ghost or spirit,
Was she there that only I could see?
The passion, the taste of her lips,
Still electrifies my body and soul as I dream of Anna’s French kiss.

Written 8.22.21

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Growing In Love

Expressed words of love oh, so sweet
Remind me of when first we meet
The one we are fated to love
Exploding with passion and heat
 
The feeling of sent from above
Two bodies that mold like a glove
To each other– made to be one
The precipice of our true love
 
Together as each day is done
Young and healthy, kissed by the sun
Beginning our lives now as two
Side by side, through life we will run
 
One day we get older, we do
And when our love is not so new
In my heart you will always be 
The one, my true love, always true.

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Black Cat

Ebony gazer
The harbinger of ill fate
Frightens with bold stare