Get Your Premium Membership

Best Poems Written by Kevin Cummings

Below are the all-time best Kevin Cummings poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

View ALL Kevin Cummings Poems

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

While I Wasnt Watching

While I wasn’t watching
A child was taught to hate
While I wasn’t watching
The hungry were told to wait
While I wasn’t watching
The future was betrayed
I finally looked and saw that a generation had lost its faith

While I wasn't watching
Another species died
While I wasn't watching
Another mother cried
While I wasn't watching
Another politician lied
I finally turned to look away and seek a place to hide

While I wasn’t watching
We settled into complacency
While I wasn’t watching
Dreams wandered aimlessly
While I wasn’t watching
The mirror waited patiently
I looked, but it was hard to see a path out of our apathy

While I wasn’t watching
The unknown became the enemy
While I wasn’t watching
Truth was sacrificed silently
While I wasn’t watching
I lost track of the good in me
I looked up, and saw that we have a shared destiny

Now that I’m watching
I must acknowledge the things I see
Now that I’m watching
What I was missing saddens me
Now that I’m watching
Can I help avoid another tragedy?
I see a chance to atone for my sins, and help restore sanity

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2018



Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Voices

So tell me do you hear
Those voices whispering in your ear?
Do they help you to think clear?
Or do they lead you astray?

Do they tell you things you need to know?
Do they cheer you up when you’re feeling low?
Do they lead you where you should not go?
Or do they help you find your way?

Do they sound like someone that you know?
A voice that comes from long ago?
Do they only come when you’re feeling low?
Do you wish they’d go away?

Do they show up when you’re all alone?
Or do they appear when you’re having fun?
Are you happy when these voices come?
Or do you tune out whatever they say?

You should know that we all hear
Voices whispering in our ears
They can feed our dreams or they stoke our fears
It’s up to us …

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2023

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

I Cried Today

"I cried today", said the earth to the sky		
"These people are killing me, I don’t understand why
With their wars and pollution, their hatred and greed    
They're destroying the world over things they don't need"

"I cried right with you", the sky did respond      
"They're breaking my heart the way they carry on
We won't survive if they don’t change their way 	
That’s the reason why I cried today"

It hurts to think people don’t care about damage they leave behind 
I can’t believe they’re not aware. Are they evil, or just blind?

"I cried today", said the sea to the land		   
"People just don’t care, or they don’t understand
They’ve got to do more than just hope and pray
So let the angels hear every voice cry today"

People please stop what you’re doing. It's time to make a stand
You don’t have the right to ruin all the air, water and land

"I cried today", said the father to the son		
"Can you ever forgive us for the damage we've done?
We wasted our time, now you'll have to pay
That’s the reason why I cry today"

People we’re not gonna make it the way the we carry on
We act like we’re immortal, but God knows that’s wrong!

I cried today	I cried today	I cried today	I cried today….

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2023

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Listen To Your Heart

When you gonna wake up from - the nightmare we’re living in
You know the one I’m speaking of, it’s the one with the bitter end
You know you gotta lift your voice, raise it up loud and clear
You gotta make enough noise - that they cant help but hear

When you gonna step out from - the line you’re waiting in?
Their speeches have you feeling numb, they make excuses for their sins
What will you tell the children, when they’re tired, hungry and poor?
We’re not supposed to kill them, with our pollution, greed and war

Things won’t ever change
Unless we demand it
How did we let it get this way?
I don’t understand it
It’s not supposed to be this hard, to do what we know is smart 
We’ve failed with argument and logic, it’s time to listen to your heart

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2018

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

The Question

What kind of people are we?

Veterans sleeping and begging on the street
Children without enough food to eat
Elders unable to pay for the heat
What kind of people are we?

We build stadiums where heroes play games
Casting big shadows to cover forgotten names
But nothing is done to address the anger and shame
What kind of people are we?

We just disregard all the damage we cause
We worship the grim reaper, denying his flaws
We’re starring in Mouseland, grasping at straws
What kind of people are we?

Someday we will answer, or maybe our children will
For turning away from our friends and relations in need
But rest assured an answer will be demanded

What kind of people are we?

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2017



Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Why Is It

The long days spent languishing over someone else’s ideas and dreams leave me too worn out to visit my own.

Is it some sort of humor that I don’t get?

Memories of the times looking forward into the lights of the oncoming; I feel all those gone before, yet I'm still alone. 

The american dream, but unable to awaken yet.

Bright eyes of children holding on to every word as though it may truly give insight, but deeper looks are required.

A future set out, but the price is never fully explained.

Elders sifting memories and garbage, trying to find what it was that they left behind - hungry, abandoned and tired.

Somewhere a place must exist, where honesty is less strained.

I’ve never learned to dance when I can’t hear the music that the band is playing; tho I wish I could.

When I was younger I never thought it would be like this.

When the day is done you dread holding those long conversations with your thoughts, but wish it would do some good. 

In this time of plenty, and yet so much emptiness.

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2006

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Epiphany

the morning begins like too many before it, the smell of the factory burns away the last remnants of the dreams i had when i was young

i bring effort enough to smile, offer "good mornin" to the others like me, and try to remember how this seemed like a good idea so many years ago 

i reach my station, alongside the co-worker that hums a dull tune of one note all day, and hang my head to play the part i've won

many days have passed, i hurt when i try to count the number, since i stood wide-eyed looking at a future that since went somewhere i don't know

i repeat the ballet, over and over and over, til the show ends and i can return to my place of solace where noone understands what i've done

i make it there, hardly damaged by my experience, look at the faces that welcome me, 

 

...and now i remember why i'm happy to do this

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2006

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Memories Stay

When the trees release their leaves and they crash softly to the ground
And summer moves along to warm a different face
We may miss playin in the sunshine, with good friends sharing good times 
While the summer may move on, the memories stay

I remember taking the training wheels off of my bike for the very first time
And I remember most of my high school days
My first kiss, learning to drive and the first time I stayed out all night
While the days of my youth are behind me - the memories stay

My mother and my daddy have both now moved on
Many friends and relations have also gone away
I will never hear them laugh again, those days have come and gone
While our loved ones may move on - their memories stay

And I’m thankful for the memories - may they never go away
I want to hold them close and feel their warmth, each and every day
I look forward to making new ones, that will cheer me when skies are grey
They lift me up when I’m feeling down, I’m so grateful that memories stay

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2023

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Where Have All the Leaders Gone

Where have all the leaders gone,
those whose words match how they act?
I mourn the death of honesty and sincere respect for fact.
What happened to religion, now it judges and teaches hate?
Jesus, Allah, Buddha nor Moses would recognize it today.
Why do profits mean more than people and other living things?
We treat the Earth as just a garbage dump, and ignore her as she screams.
Why is love viewed as a weakness, to be hidden, or only faked?
I long for open discussion that considers everything at stake. 
Why is war an acceptable answer to all the problems that we face?
The tapestry of our differences shouldn’t end the human race.
What will we tell the children who survive the hell we’ve made?
“I’m sorry” isn’t good enough, as they watch their future fade. 
Will we learn from all our past mistakes, and try to fix what’s wrong; or just sit by and slowly die - and wonder where have the leaders gone?

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2021

Details | Kevin Cummings Poem

Angels Here Among Us

Like the first cry of a baby, and the smile of an old man
Like a flower in the desert, reaching up out of the sand
There's no other explanation for why people fall in love
These are the miracles in life brought by angels here among us 

Like the way people forgive us for the mistakes that we've made
Like how the sound of someone's laughter puts a smile upon your face 
There's no end to the examples that each of us know of
These everyday blessings brought by the angels here among us

Like the early morning dew drops, after a night it didn't rain
Like how the memories of old friends get you through the toughest day
Sometimes you're the person someone else is thinking of
You just might be an angel living here among us

Miracles happen every day		
Things you can't explain away
You know they do		
You've seen them too
There are angels here among us		
They live and breathe and look like us
Maybe you	are one too

Copyright © Kevin Cummings | Year Posted 2023


Book: Shattered Sighs