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Best Poems Written by Rory Galbraith

Below are the all-time best Rory Galbraith poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

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My Ole Hound Dog

I was having one of “those” mornings
being all boo-hoo 
and feeling sorry for myself
just counting the ways 
that things were so uncool
when my ole hound-dog came up 
and nuzzled my thigh
I reached down and rubbed his ears
and got to thinking
do hound-dogs ever get the boo-hoos
and I realized
yeah, they probably do
with that revealing flash of insight
I got down on my knees
and gave my ole hound-dog a hug so tight 
that it hitched my breathing
he got to wagging and licking
tossing his head and smiling
and I got to making all that 
talking-to-my-ole-hound-dog-baby-talk
while we were having ourselves 
a good ole time together
I got to thinking again 
when you get the boo-hoos 
and start feeling sorry for yourself
what you must try and do
is give comfort to someone else
and if the closest someone else 
is your very own wag-licking ole hound-dog
then you just get down on your knees 
and let that comfort flow
while I was doing just that
and we were nose-to-nose
we looked into each other’s eyes 
and I had another revealing flash of insight
I wasn’t giving comfort to my ole hound-dog
he was giving comfort to me.

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Soldier of Tin

He took apart
his soldier of tin
to see for himself
what lay within
expecting honour, strength
valour and pride
he eagerly toiled
to get inside
with soldier now 
cleaved in two
he saw what he thought 
could not be true
half of his warrior 
now cupped in each hand
he gazed at an emptiness 
he could not understand.

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A Poem That Rhymes

I do not know if this is odd
but for me, most times
I do not feel the need 
to write a poem that rhymes
I generally find 
you see
that when that writing bug has bit
rhyming is not my go to proclivity 
‘cos when I do  
have something to say
rhyming very often
just gets in the way. 
so I’ll leave you with
this little thought
if my poem doesn’t rhyme
does that mean it’s all for nought.

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The Laughter of a Baby

As enriching as love
as infectious as a smile
as uplifting as a hug
as comforting as slippers
as welcoming as home
as magical as bird-song 
as wondrous as the clouds
as inspiring as rainbows
as perfect as snow-flakes 
as authentic as the sunshine
the most beautiful of all sounds
is the laughter of a baby.

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What Does It Mean To Think

What does it mean to think
to have thoughts
to have ideas and opinions
to have likes and dislikes
to trust and to distrust
to dream, to contemplate, to analyse 
to plan, to postpone  
to love, to hate
some thoughts remain inside
some thoughts are spoken out loud
what is it
this intangible that we call thought
this thing called thinking
who or what is doing it 
who or what decides the topic
the stance, the angle
we are the thinkers
but we are seated back there in the carriage
mere passengers 
we are also up front in the caboose
shovelling the coal
hand on the throttle, hand on the brake
doing the driving
we are both passenger and driver
my immediate thought is
how can that be
I have come to realise that it can be 
simply because it can and is 
that at least is my thought on the subject
that is what I think
I do however harbour this thought
what does it all mean
I think that I have thought enough
all this thinking has made me weary 
I will now go and lie down
and let both the passenger in the carriage  
and driver in the caboose
guide my thoughts where they must
and I will dutifully follow
alack and alas 
what does it mean to think.

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Mom

An inevitable sadness 
looms up ahead
crushing my heart
and filling my head
it’s the absence of something
that’s causing this pain
the undeniable knowledge
that I’ll never see her again
my Mom’s ninety-two
and still very strong
but I know without doubt  
that she won’t be for long
her heart is still pumping
without missing a beat
but we all take for granted
this incredible feat
only when it stops
and we hear it no more
will we truly appreciate 
all the love that she bore.

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Not Now Please Not Now

Have you ever reached
into that bag of goodies
that is your life
and experienced 
that tummy-dropping sensation
when you find it
to be a tad empty
a little short-handed
not containing what you need
for your current situation
and everything 
absolutely everything
becomes one massive 
all pervasive
reverberating echo
making you feel
positively, undoubtedly 
unable to cope 
and in your mind
all you can hear   
pulsing   
over and over 
is a great big disbelieving
“Not now, please not now!!” 
and then 
you pucker up
pull your shoulders back 
ignore the smell
and scrape the burnt 
top layer of toast into the sink
leaving the deluge of burnt crumbs for later
‘cause hey
we all love a good ole buttery crunch.

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Nay Say I

Nay say I
the cart 
will not  
be put 
before the horse
wisdom as old as time
I will therefore 
not
tacitly
or 
overtly 
tip the nod
in “bro” fashion
in support   
of your comments
about your wife’s cooking
not until 
I have dined at her table
and tasted her cooking 
which 
I am sure
cannot be
as bad 
as you say it is
I am absolutely positive 
that a woman
with legs and a figure like hers 
will cook like an angel.

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Ants

This morning
whilst brushing my teeth
and trying
with very little success
to obey the dental profession's plea 
to brush in a circular motion 
and not 
in a side to side motion 
I noticed some ants
scurrying about on the shiny porcelain
doing no harm
just going about their morning routine
as was I
with very little thought
and even less concern
I brushed them into the basin
turned the tap on for a beat or two
and flushed them away
as I turned the tap off
with toothpaste foaming around my mouth
and running down the toothbrush onto my wrist
a terrible guilt and a crushing sadness
at my unthinking cruelty
at my cavalier snuffing out of life
overtook me
and wrought within me 
an overwhelming desire
to tip my head back
and wail at the ceiling
to try and assuage 
the soul-deep sorrow
the deep-seated need for forgiveness
that wracked my very core.

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A Near Death Experience

A point to ponder… 
why I wonder
when we are young
and get jerked awake
by a dream or a nightmare
are we hugged and comforted
given the assurance 
“It’s not real, it’s not real!!”
and when we are older
and get jerked awake
by a dream or a nightmare
we tell ourselves
with great relief
“It’s not real, it’s not real!!”
whether young or old
we will however marvel
at how unbelievably 
real it was
but will gratefully accept
the comforting fact 
that it wasn’t real
not any of it
it all happened 
inside our heads
but  
when someone 
has a near-death experience
and they tell us  
of all the wondrous things
that they saw and did
inside their heads
whilst clinically dead
there are those of us
who emphatically believe
that what went on
inside that head
on that occasion
was in fact real
proving beyond doubt
that there is life after death
that that experience
fuelled and moulded
by the unknown forces at play
inside our heads
whilst clinically dead
actually happened
what I wonder 
is the difference between the two
all of it 
every single bit of it 
happens 
inside our heads.