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Best Poems Written by Kelly Crenshaw

Below are the all-time best Kelly Crenshaw poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Cyber Real

Has the convenience of technology 
inoculated us from reality?
Do androids dream of electric sheep?
I pray the code my soul to keep?
Does your universe live within 4G
Or megapixel infinity?
Which memory lies within
The one that was
Or the one that's been
Or how much gig how much ram?
Which reality is true?
Cyber me
Or cyber you?
Cyber bully
Cyber crime
Cyber hate 
Cyber time?
Cyber boxer
Or cyber brief?
Who is the real identity thief?
Cyber pleasure
Cyber pain
Hours spent glaring into the screen
Choosing an alternate username.
Status updates and trending tweets
Fill your mind and rob your sleep.
Clever hashtags and Instagram 
Will shape your image and gain more friends.
Is the you you've shaped in cyberspace 
The same you I'd see face to face?
We hide behind our computer screens
And criticize with brutal ease.
Virtual reality
Is buying souls of men you see 
And robbing the ability to dream real dreams.
I want to conquer something real
That I can grab that I can feel.
I want to touch life and hold on tight
I want to unblock true friends
And "like" real sights.
I want conversation face to face
In real world time
In a real world place.

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

It Only Hurts When I Smile

I put a smile on my face when I go outside 

My friends all see the pain I try to hide in my eyes

And I try to act like I can make it on my own 

Since you've been gone I'm alone 

I suppose I'm gonna be here a while

And for the rest . . . of my life

 It only hurts when I smile.
.
I thought our love was strong

I didn't think you would leave

I think about about you all the time 

Do you still think about me?

and when I think of how I threw us away

It only hurts when I think 
.
The first time I laid eyes on you you took my breath away

I lost my breath again the day you walked away

Pain won't go and damage is done

And I just can't feel a thing

It only hurts when I breathe
.  
And I see where I went wrong

And I see what I've done

But I don't see you coming home to me

And when I look at it all that way

 It only hurts when I see
.
And I just can't live without you 

My heart is still in your hands 

And there's no "this" left to fix

And there's no "us" left to mend

And I guess I gotta live with it

So it only hurts when I live
.
I put a smile on my face when I go outside 

My friends all see the pain I try to hide in my eyes

And I try to act like I can make it on my own 

Since you've been gone I'm alone 

I suppose I'm gonna be here a while

And for the rest . . . of my life

 It only hurts when I smile.

And for the rest . . . of my life

 It only hurts when I smile.

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Simply Time To Go, a Little Brother's Lamentation

Too hard for me to say goodbye
For all apparent reasons why
Even though we all know it must be
Each heart will someday stop the beat
When the rhythm of life, and silence, finally meet
.
Yet I always seem so surprised 
To find that death is part of life 
Knowing that regret, will now haunt my every rhyme 
The specter called "if only", will inhabit every line.
Wish I could arbitrate a deal to have gained a little time
Just one more talk with Sissy, to ease my guilty mind. 
.
And the sun now sets on my regrets
I gamble on time and lose each bet
Thinking I'll move on and yet, 
here I set . . .
Wishing for one more time 
One more pun
One more smile 
That will never come 
.
If I could just recall the things you said that mattered to you most.
Memories un memorized
That now I'll never know
Years of conversation when I didn't pay attention
Times I should have said I love you 
And somehow failed to mention
.
Then when you tried to tell me you felt your time was drawing near
Your selfish little brother pretended not to hear.
Even when you did your best,  and tried to let me know
You'd made your peace and you were ready, and that for you . . . 
It was simply time to go

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Trading My Tomorrows

The things in life that cost me most are the things that came for free.
And what I thought I was,
Was not what I would be.
And what I thought I was looking for
Was not what I could see.
And every time I got close
I threw it all away.
And the price of that keeps going up
It's more than I can pay.
So I keep trading my tomorrows
To forget my yesterdays.
And every time I get close
I throw it all away.
And I know I'm gonna do it
But don't know what makes me this way.
And every time I get close 
I know I've got to pay.
And every time it changes
It always stays the same.
I couldn't wait when I was young
To get away from home
I've spent the rest of my life wishing
That I had never gone.
Chasing my regrets
They're dragging me along.
Willingly unwilling
To forget and just move on.
Driven by the things 
That keep me all alone.
Taking comfort in the pain
Knowing every time that I get close
I'll throw it all away.
And I know I'm gonna do it
But don't know what makes me this way.
Like a secret life has kept from me
To dry me with the rain.
Drinking life like it was whiskey
And chasing it with pain.
And the things that cost the most
Are the things I got for free.
And the ones I need the most 
Are the ones I throw away.
And I know I'm gonna do it
But don't know what makes me this way.
I just keep trading my tomorrows
To forget my yesterdays.
And there's not enough days ahead 
To pay for the days pre-spent.
That prize I've chased in life
I just don't know where it went.
And the things that I've loved most
Are the things that came for free.
And the ones that I need most 
Are the ones I throw away.
And I know I'm gonna do it
But don't know what makes me this way
And the love that cost the most
Is the love I'll throw away
And what was given to me free
Had a price I wouldn't pay.

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

What Is Real

I saw a tree crying in the rain
A woman hurting with no pain 
The wind blowing but I couldn't 
prove it
The earth spinning but I could 
not move it
The song itself could not sing
The thought it travelled with no 
wings
The words alone could not 
speak 
The gauge could measure but 
could not heat
The ocean roared but could not 
rain
The valley moves not yet isn't 
lame, and a deck of cards can't 
play a game
A knife can cut but can't taste 
the meat
And a drum can never hear a 
beat
yet a broken heart can keep on 
beating
Fall leafs can fall without 
leaving
But can you cry without your 
tears?
Can time go by and not make 
years?
Can you lose your mind and 
still be sane?
Can she hurt . . . and not feel 
pain?
And a tree can't cry in pouring 
rain
But looks can be deceiving and 
memories can fail
Perhaps it was the woman 
crying in the rain, and the tree 
that could not feel
For who's to say what's really 
real?

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Running

I'm running away but I don't know where 
Can't find my way but I really don't care.
And I don't know which way I might go
I guess it all depends on which way the wind blows.
But I'm running
And I don't even know what I'm running from. 
I'm just running
I'm just running
Running blind with no where to hide
Running head on towards what I can't describe
I'm just a running
Just running
Running hard away from what I am
From what I've been just as fast as I can.
But there's no where I can run that You won't see
And no where I can go that I can't be
Maybe one of the ones I'm running from . . . is me.
But I'm running
I'm running.
Maybe I'm more afraid of stopping, and having to deal with me,
Than running blind into, the devil I've yet to see.
I keep running
I keep running
What makes me run well I don't know
I can't be afraid because it scares me so.
I'm running
I ain't running free
I'm running
Trying my best to get away from me.
Am I running from who I am
Or am I running from who I'll be?
I don't expect that you can answer that question for me.
And in the meantime,
I'm running
I'm running

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Always 17 To Me

You will always be 17 to me 
Your smile was the most beautiful thing I believe I'd ever seen
We thought we'd have forever
But that just wasn't meant to be
That was years ago
So many years ago
But in my mind, you'll always be 17 
.
We'd talk all night on the telephone 
And you found a side of me that I'd never shown 
And any time we found the time to be alone 
We'd play that song
And you'll always be 17 to me
And I heard the other day  your mom didn't have long 
And ya know that's just a shame
I remember that dress she made you for the senior prom 
And remember laughing in the rain
You were beautiful 
And you'll always be 17 to me
We thought we'd have forever
But that just wasn't meant to be
That was years ago
So many years ago
But in my mind, you'll always be 17 
And I hope you're doing fine
And I hope that you are happy
And every now and then I think of you
Do you think about me
And in my mind
You'll always be 17
We thought we'd have forever
But that just wasn't meant to be
That was years ago
So many years ago
But in my mind, you'll always be 17 to me
.
I got a grandson now
And he looks just like my boy
He's got a crush on his first grade teacher
Lord he brings me so much joy
But some day he'll meet a girl and when he meets her
I hope he always remembers 17
I want to thank you for the memories
And when you waltz across my mind I always smile
Because in my mind 
You'll always be 17
.
We thought we'd have forever
But that just wasn't meant to be
That was years ago
So many years ago
But in my mind, you'll always be 17 to me

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

A New How

If you could relive an ancient day, which day, which day, which day would you say?
First kiss, first date 
Or undo a mistake?
.
Watch your child be birthed again 
Go back and unhurt a wounded friend?
Unsay a word?
Unbreak a heart?
Undrink that first drink?
Unscar that first scar?
.
Or would you go to another place
Feel your dad's hands
See your mom's face?
Laugh with your sisters
Let little brother win that foot race
.
Maybe pet that dog just one more time 
Hear grandma recite that old nursery rhyme
Maybe take up for the kid that got picked on
Or hear again for the first time your favorite old song
.
Or tell your kids you loved them again and again
No matter what they'd just done or how late they had been
But you can't go in reverse to relive any day
What you would have done
Or what you would say
.
But you can say now what you wouldn't before 
You can be someone new open up a new door
You can make a difference in your here and now
You can't be a new when but can be a new how

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

A Call To Life

Alone in the night 
A memory stood 
Naked and cold and veiled 
Fueled by the lie
Of destiny robbed 
A ghost of itself 
In hopelessness wailed 
.
In fear the memory, frozen; 
Heard a call from deep in the night 
Apprehensive heart flooded with passion
A rhapsody to run to the light
The dirge of sorrow subsiding
With dawn overtaking the night
.
The substance of hope now rekindled
Evidence undeterred yet unseen
The call of the fathers resembled
The one forming and coming to be
The groan of creation upon it
Made by the Son to be free
.
The chains of religion now broken
The shackles of fear dissolved
Windows of Heaven reopened
Overwhelmed by the power of Love
.
Strength made perfect in weakness
Basked in the glow of the call
Gates of hell lying in ruins
With Grace overtaking the wall
Fear and hate shamed and defeated
And Life freely offered to all

Details | Kelly Crenshaw Poem

Sometimes the Pain

I picked up the phone today
And I dialed your number
I didn't know what to say
So I hung up on the second ring
You see I thought that I could explain
But I just couldn't play through the pain
And you probably wouldn't have answered anyway
.
One drink wont make me forget 
It's gonna take me
About 10 more yet 
But I know by morning light
 your memory is gonna haunt me 
out of my mind
But I'm gonna try to drink you away
One more time 
Anyway
.
I'm haunted by the ghost of yesterday
Whiskeys' the only exorcist, to drive it away
But those Ol Demons just won't leave
They know too much about me they just won't go
And even though it only tortures my soul 
Sometimes this pain's the only friend I really know
.
One drink wont make me forget 
It's gonna take me
About 10 more yet 
But I know by morning light
 your memory is gonna haunt me 
out of my mind
But I'm gonna try to drink you away
One more time 
Anyway
And even though
They're killing this man
Sometimes they're the only friends I have that understand
There's no comfort in the pain of what might have been
.
One drink wont make me forget 
It's gonna take me
About 10 more yet 
But I know by morning light
 your memory is gonna haunt me 
out of my mind
But I'm gonna try to drink you away
One more time 
Anyway
And even though it only tortures my soul 
Sometimes this pain's the only friend I really know