Get Your Premium Membership

Best Poems Written by Charlie Butler

Below are the all-time best Charlie Butler poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

View ALL Charlie Butler Poems

Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Rats and Roses

I don’t have my learners permit.
I have had to be the adult my whole life.
I have had to tend to their outbursts and tantrums.
I have survived all their rat runs

I’ve always told myself it’s an assessment
A test of my determination
I will soon regain my adolescence
They’re just giving me a foundation,

I have had to deal with how their parents raised them up
As soon as I have passed these tests they’ll love me sure enough

I have been waiting
Where is my care?
I’d rather feel hating 
Than you treating me like I’m not there

I can’t just drop this idea
This hope for warmth
But I sit here freezing
In a blizzard north

I sit for years and years,
Waiting for dad and mom
They are physically here
But emotionally gone.

But “Mom” is grandma
She had made me call her that
From the day I began on
I am the rat.

I called her “mom”
Because she claimed to raise me
But now it’s “Ma’am”
And she refuses to respect me

It is not like she ever will anyway,
From the day I was born,To my last breath
To her, I am a rose that won’t smell sweet by any name
I will drown in this depth
  
You hold a rat underwater and it will surely drown
But for those 3 preceding minutes,
it will fight as hard as possible for its life
Kicking and scratching, begging for a single breath of air
All while suffocating in your cruelty
That is how I have felt all my life, from sun up, to sun down
The hand that holds me, testing my limits.
Seeing how hard I will fight
But I won’t ever resort to prayer
And you will not make a fool of me.

In the depths of my despair, I find resolve,
A resilience born from the trials I face,
Though their love, a distant echo, fails to involve,
I'll forge ahead, seeking my own grace.

For every trial, a lesson I'll learn,
In this journey to reclaim my own fate,
Though the wounds they inflict still sting and burn,
I'll rise above, refusing to abate.

Their neglect, a bitter truth to bear,
But I'll not let it define my worth,
Through the storm, I'll find a path to repair,
Reclaiming myself, proving my own birth.

No longer a pawn in their cruel game,
I'll stand tall, asserting my own name,
For the strength I seek lies within,
A spirit unbroken, ready to begin.

So let them test and scrutinize,
I'll face each challenge with steady eyes,
For I am more than their neglect,
I'm a survivor, resilient and perfect.

And though their love may never come,
I'll find solace in knowing I've overcome,
A rose that blooms despite the frost,
In my own journey, I'll find what's lost.

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025



Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Sound, Words, and Other Deaths

The air turned black all around me and the fear truly set in. The darkness is surrounding. Who's to know what lies within? The voices spin, dizzying in my head. They repeat all those words to me. All the words they said are closer than memory. As my blood runs out, the darkness swirls around me. My wrists stop shaking, and I die soundly.

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025

Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Distractions

Do I want this?
Your hands on my skin
You’re gripping my chin
With every kiss
I just want to be Nurtured
Your hands explore further
My mind resists
But my body continues
I'm not gonna miss you
I reminisce
To a time I felt scared
I wasn’t prepared
This isn’t bliss
My body feels dirty
I smile, flirty
Why do I do this?
I put myself in places
With so many faces
I cannot resist
The distractions they offer
‘cause that's what they all were
I’m done with it.

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025

Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Sleep

The whispers in my mind take over

The wind of my heart as my eyes close,

In the world, I feel like a clover

When I wish to feel like a rose,



The blankets I lie in are my meadow,

Drowsily carrying me to sleep

All the thoughts seem to echo

Pulling me in deep,



I must escape this feeling

That stays while I'm awake

The sleep begins the healing

The sorrow starts to break



When I lie alone, I am safe

This pillow holds my heart

The nights offer more than the days

The sadness departs



Will I sleep, or will I lie awake?

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025

Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Blue

Blue like the sky

And the beautiful waters

I feel as I could fly

Free from all horrors


Blue like the berries

Picked from the bushes

Eaten in my young days

My youth, where all the good is


Blue like the sorrow

That wallows inside

I dread tomorrow

Today will be my last night


Blue like the veins

I aim to slice down

Blue like the pain,

When no one’s around


But not blue like the silence

That blue is of its own

The blue of my tears

In which no one is shown,

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025



Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Killed from the Inside

I didn't mean to kill her

The feeling inside

As her eyes go silver

Yet I have nothing to hide


She was my confidence

It's what made me go on

They brought it to this

Her screams made a solemn song


All the others held a smirk

As I grasped her lifeless body

They wanted me to hurt

As I let go of her softly,


My confidence is dead

Only pain increased

They got to my head

And now she's deceased

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025

Details | Charlie Butler Poem

Death of a Dove

Am I in love?

How am i to know

She is my dove

Purer than snow

Sent from above

Not long ago

With push and shove

Her tears overflow



I wish I could be better

I’d give her my life

I hate to upset her

Id make her my wife

I go back where I met her

Along my thigh, a knife

I shall never forget her

As I end her life



I could not recover

The controversy of mind

I cry above her

The tears make me blind

But will I ever discover

The answer of mine

Did I love her?

this I will never find

Copyright © Charlie Butler | Year Posted 2025


Book: Reflection on the Important Things