Get Your Premium Membership

Best Poems Written by Brian Byrne

Below are the all-time best Brian Byrne poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

View ALL Brian Byrne Poems

123
Details | Brian Byrne Poem

4 Letters

4 letters can describe us all
Sane, Slim, True, Tall

ironic and solemn
Your 4 letters Will change
Love. Hate.
Here. Gone.

simplistic and short
yet complex and infinite

Baby to Wife
Wife to Mama

This is Your

Four lettered Word



pasted within Your incredulous Mind

Your 4 letters.
even you Will Hide.

Slut. Spic. Tard. Twit. 

oh no! no, no one can Know.

Hide. Hide. Hide.
no one Shall Know my Most 
precious Word

ridiculed and cursed
ashamed and misunderstood

Hide From Your True Self
Hide From That

Four lettered Word



in the end our 4 letters Will all be the Same
no one can escape From This 
villainous Word


It lingers the longest
seared swiftly on the Soul
This

Foul Four lettered Word

cursed Upon us all 
is 

Dead.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015



Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Daisy

Daisy.
there she lay
planted beneath the soft, brittle earth

I remember picking you
no roses or tulips
just Daisy.

I was the gardener—
your gardener
what now shall I water

I cry in hopes my tears
will make you sprout
come out of your flowerbed

white and pure
yellow and cheery
green and new

I knew you were wilting
I saw you lose your petals
your eyes lost their vibrant glow

small and feeble
easily carried by the wind
you died within my gloves

now you are back where you began 
the dark, eerie ground
but this time

Daisy. 

 you won’t grow

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

A Land That Once Was

Floods and fires, beware.
The time is ticking till all will despair.
The blood boils through my icy veins,
As she pours down through acidic rains.

“It won’t happen, it never will come.”
That’s what they said before she won.
But now she is back, more vengeful than ever,
reaping and sowing all for her pleasure.

She warned us once, she warned us twice.
She warned us all we’d pay the price.
But we played dumb and we played blind.
We hid behind our incredulous mind.

Those who heeded the truth were pained, 
For all of their sacrifice went unnamed.
Their stout hearts warned us so, 
But the price of Life is all that we know.

We murdered her children, we enslaved her kin.
We did all that we could to ensure we would win.
Our greed and our hunger were the ones that steered,
And that is exactly why she is now here.

Our Mother does love us, Our Mother does care.
But we’re making our Mother more and more bare.
We ripped out her branches, and burned all her leaves.
But the fire we bore released all her seeds.

They grew with a ferocity far greater than known, 
And slowly her saplings claimed all that we own.
She did not die, she never will.
It is only us that come and go still.

So open your eyes and open your heart, 
for you’ll never know when the light will go dark.

…to better days.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2018

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Yoga

The fresh, melodic air felt cool against my skin,
kissing the tips of my fingers, the back of my neck, even the tiny spaces between my toes.

A whirling, blissful rush of chilled waves rushed around me. 
I could breathe, and with each breath I tasted the succulent, promising flavor of hope, love, and serenity.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2018

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Weather

Nothing changes, you know.
The weather I mean.
Its just like any other spring day.
Sunny, green, full of life.

I imagined it being much different. 
I thought I would wake up feeling weak, weak in the bones. 
But no. I felt, honestly, better than I have in a while.
There was not hint from the god damn weather.

In Shakespearean writings there is always weather to foreshadow a terrible event.
Foreshadowing a tragedy.
A hurricane. Tornado. Even just a good ole’ storm!
But no. You gave me nothing but false hope. 

The birds were chirping,
Louder than ever.
As if they were mocking me,
Laughing at my naivety. 

Even Odysseus needed a storm to tell him he was in harms way.
No one told me I would feel like this.
No one told me I would feel dead,
Dead on the inside. 

In my advanced literature class,
They say to use the weather to depict the scene.
Use a sunny day when someone feels..
Rejuvenated. 

Well that’s irony at its finest, right?
I’m far from rejuvenated.
In fact I feel like I'm withering into nothing,
Nothing but pure misery.

So, God, next time,
When you want to pull a “prank” like this,
Please have the curtesy to send 
Bad weather.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015



Details | Brian Byrne Poem

What Lies Behind You

A boy. Short. He goes to school and cowardly hides behind every corner, scouting out what lurks behind the next turn. Always shoved and disregarded, he seemed to have no friends. He was bullied everyday by this monster. Someone who terrorized him since day one. “Why me?” was his battle cry, just before every black eye.

A boy. Alone. He was adored at school. A big jock. He hated his life, his choices. He picked on this kid, a rather small kid, who was simply pathetic. He would catch glimpses of him, cowering behind corners, and hiding in bathroom stalls. It was this kid that made him popular. He did not hate this him, but simply saw him as an stress reliever. Anger reliever. He was praised at school, abused at home. School was his safe haven; his home away form home, but no one knew what truly went on behind that strong, muscular smile. Divorce. Abuse. Shame. His mother was a prostitute, sold every part of her just to manage to keep him alive. His father was a drunk. Abused every inch of him to relieve him of his intoxicated wounds.

A mom. A prostitute. As a little girl she was very bright. Did well in school, and even managed to get into a good college. It wasn’t until that one night she mad a stupid mistake. It was one of those fraternity parties. “All the cool kids went, right?” She would tell her self. That’s all it took. One kid. One rufie. One sip. Next thing she knew she was pregnant. She dropped out of college. Told her boyfriend it was his kid. Got married. And had a beautiful baby boy. It took five years until she told her husband the truth. The truth about the conception. He left. She was alone, receiving no support. No money. It took her one month until she found herself in the back of a strangers car in an alley way for $200.

A frat boy. A stupid hazing ritual. “Host a party. Drug a girl. Have sex.” Only he made a mistake. He got drunk. Too drunk. He had no control over his actions. The demon residing within him took over, raped a girl, and impregnated her with what ruined her dreams, his dreams. In frustration he went to get fresh air.  And made one more stupid mistake. He was conscious of what he did, and knew he could not live with his mistake. Police found him hung from the fraternity balcony the next morning. 

This is in dedication to all those who suffered from something that was no in there control.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

A Mother's Love

This poem is dedicated to my mom.




A mama robin was granted a divine gift
And she began to form her new precious jewels,
Within herself.
The pain she was in while carrying these marbles,
Oh how burdensome they must have been.
But no.
She did not complain,
But instead rejoiced over her incubated prizes

Soon after conception she laid her bright blue eggs,
Fawning over the glorious miracle she birthed
She prepared for when they would wake
A busy fourteen days of enlarging her home and scouting for food.
She would spend most of those days plump on her prized possessions 
Providing warmth.
Her children awoke from their slumber.
Tears filled her eyes as she saw their precious faces.

As the years went on her baby birds began to grow.
She knew they would all leave the nest someday,
But she never expected it to come so fast.

“Mama. Why do you love me?”
asked one of her little sons.
“Why? Well that’s a silly question.”
“Why mama?”
“Because hun, you give me a new reason every day.”
“I love you too, mama”

That feeling she got every time she looked at her kids
Was something so supernatural,
So gentle.
Her love for them was never ending 

Never once did she complain.
Never once did she have regrets.
Yet she sacrificed so much.

That mama robin grew old,
And after bearing ten beautiful birds,
She never once left their side.
She sacrificed her dreams for her children,
And realized her true dream
Was becoming a mama,
A mama bird.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Lobster Bile

I was afraid.
The morsel of fear laid upon my finger
It laughed at my dismay

It was quick.
Leaping from my hand
To my carnivorous cave


It reminded me of home.
My moms warm garlic
mashed potatoes

Dancing around
Swirling with such soothing grace
It was peaceful, calming

It tasted like a buttery roll
A divine gift from the gods
Which fell gracefully upon my tongue

It timorously tumbled down my throat
Feebly and weak
I conquered it.

Then it sank its sharp fangs into my gullet 
Causing my nostrils to flair
And my eyes to water

Its taste was deceiving
Mimicking its appearance
It was evil.

It thrashed around
and slowly finished sliding down my throat
But it was gone.
 
I rejoiced over the demise of my foe.
I conquered the unconquerable.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Friskily Frolic

Friskily frolicking I call it. 
I don’t “play”
I friskily frolic.

Friskily frolic from far off field.
Far off field I will friskily frolic.

To and from
and back and forth

Friskily frolic for that flying fungo
Forever and all
I will friskily frolic
Friskily frolic when I play ball.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2015

Details | Brian Byrne Poem

Mirror

I’m different, very different.

 You know that feeling you get when you gaze into someone’s eyes? A moment where it feels as if you are staring into their soul, and time freezes? When I stare into my reflection; when I stare into his eyes, all I can see in a never-ending void of fear.

Copyright © Brian Byrne | Year Posted 2016

123

Book: Shattered Sighs