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Best Poems Written by Beverly Read

Below are the all-time best Beverly Read poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Beverly Read Poem

Awakening - the Inn of My Heart Part I

The inn of my Heart 
has many rooms;
I thought I knew them all.
They were peopled with 
husband, children,
  family and friends.
    Even God had a room,
      and I visited them all frequently.
I really didn't think
there were any more rooms;
Until one day,
while walking through my Inn,
I discovered a suite of rooms
unoccupied.
"Who is this for?"
I loudly asked,
"And why have not these rooms
been used?"

No one could tell me who,
and no one could tell me why.
So I stumbled around the rooms
exclaiming over the things 
that I found there.
But as surely as day must dawn
the realization slowly came,
and with such a sense of discovery,
I stood there in awe
wondering what I would do.  
For I had entered the rooms
filled with the essence of me.
There were all the hopes,
  and dreams,
    and feelings,
of one human soul.
And when I looked with understanding,
I saw that even the ugly things
had not been forgotten here.

It was a fearful thing
  to be confronted with myself,
    to see so clearly all the things
      I had long ignored.
You see, the things we ignore,
hoping they'll go away,
simply move into our rooms
and wait for rediscovery.

Your turn will come, 
  if it hasn't already,
    to enter your suite of rooms
      and be confronted 
        with all the essence of you.
What will you do?
And, what am I going to do now?
Escape and close the door?
  Lock it?
    Build a wall in front of it?
      Try to forget the things I found
        in my suite of rooms?
          Put my blinders back on?
Or will I have the courage 
to move into my rooms;
to become familiar with those intangibles
that exist in all of us;
To learn to live with 
  the ugly things, 
    and not be defeated by them;
To sort out the useable 
  from all the rest, 
    and use it with enthusiasm;
To know that what I found here
won't always suit those around me, 
But acknowledge it anyway.
I stand now in the doorway,
   looking out, looking in, 
       wondering . . .

Submitted 17 Sept 2016
To Contest: What Might They Find There

Details | Beverly Read Poem

Shadows

Shadows hide behind the trees
Mimicking their shape.
They sway and bend in perfect time
But never can escape.

Caught for all eternity
The only time they're missed
Is when the sun goes into hiding
Then they don't exist.

Written Aug 23, 2016

Details | Beverly Read Poem

The Prayer I Never Prayed

I knelt before my God
With no words to speak my need
Only tears of regret and sorrow
Flowed from me endlessly.

Then He, in love and mercy,
Heard the words I could not say,
And in His wisdom answered
The prayer I never prayed.

Details | Beverly Read Poem

Stop the Noise

I just want it to be quiet.
Stop the music, stop the noise,
Stop my brain from playing
With her everlasting toys.

But I must think this through. 
If I stop the music, stop the noise,
Will I stop my brain from playing 
With her necessary toys?

Details | Beverly Read Poem

The Ride

THE RIDE

I got a horse named Sam, a dog named Joe, 
and my old Chevy truck.
In the front of my trailer is my saddle and bridle 
with a horseshoe thrown in for luck.

Got my bedroll and boots, one change of clothes, 
just enough money for gas.
I’m on my way to the next rodeo, 
so Darlin’, I think I’ll pass

Your kind invitation to hang around here, 
and take up a new line of work
That wouldn’t involve breakin’ my bones. 
To refuse makes me sound like a jerk.

But listen a moment to what’s in my heart, 
and maybe you’ll understand
Why I keep on ridin’ them wild buckin’ broncs 
while lookin’ for a soft place to land.

When I was eighteen I thought about gettin’ a job 
and workin’ from nine to five.
But I couldn’t find anything I could do 
that would keep me feelin’ alive.

Now it’s twenty years later and I ain’t got much 
to show for the years in between.
But it don’t matter when I get to the gate, 
‘cause it starts all over again.

I hear the roar of the rodeo crowd.
I smell the dust risin’ high in a cloud.
And there’s a thrill that starts to tickle my veins
when I hear them start to call out the names.

I know that soon I’m gonna be out there.
Win or lose, I’m not gonna care,
‘cause all I wanna do is make The Ride.
It’s all about The Ride.

Details | Beverly Read Poem

My Careless Words

I opened the top drawer of my mind
and carelessly took out some words.
I threw them about with little thought
of where or on whom they might land.

Many bounced when they hit becoming scattered and lost;
Some stuck like burrs holding fast where they fell;
A few jabbed like barbs causing prickling and itching;
One flew straight as an arrow into the heart of a friend.

But I was amused at myself and filled with conceit,
there in the midst of an admiring crowd.
Caught up in the wonder and pride of it all
I gave no thought to the missiles I'd fired.

But wait, the crowd grew quiet, and
suddenly I knew something was wrong!
They were all looking at me with disbelief and fear;
then the circle parted and I gazed on a terrible scene.

My words had become visible, each ugly one of them,
glinting and mocking me everywhere I looked.
I ran from the crowd, from their jeering delight
thinking only one thing, disappear, disappear.

It was then I saw my friend.


Fighting for breath and losing the fight;
impaled and dying on my careless word.
I cried, "Oh my dear God. Please, what have I done!"
And I ran to my friend saying, "please, please hold on."

Then I opened the bottom drawer of my mind
and carefully, so carefully took out some words.
I carried them to my friend and gently held them out
hoping, praying that they would be enough.

My friend lived that day, no thanks to me,
and forgave me for my awful deed.
But oh what I'd give if I could recall
that word and the pain that it brought.

To you who, like I, have been careless in your talk,
take care what you say, set a watch on your tongue.
Else you too some day will see effects you never meant
from words you can't get back, ever.

Submitted 5 Sept 16

Details | Beverly Read Poem

As I Am

Take me as I am
or not at all.
I have wasted
too many years
trying to fit round me
into that square hole.
I quit!  All of you
who sit out there
and push and prod
to squeeze me in -
Give it up!
It’s no use, I don’t fit.
I never did, I just 
kept on trying,
  and failing,
    and trying,
      and failing.
If I don’t meet
your expectations
consider this:
You probably don’t meet mine
either.

January 1978

Details | Beverly Read Poem

Gone

On a wild and lonely peak I sit
Waiting for the dawn.
I ran away from home, you see.
By now they know I'm gone.

Soon they'll come a searching
But they will never find
The me they thought they knew so well.
I've gone beyond their mind.

1 Sept 16

Details | Beverly Read Poem

Last Night

Last Night

Sleep,
Oh elusive wisp of rest.
You run and hide your arms from me.
I chase, then fall and lie awake
'Til finally I rise
To face a tired day.

Details | Beverly Read Poem

The Secret

Fragile is a beautiful word.
It brings to mind 
such things as 
the wings of a butterfly,
a rare piece of crystal,
delicately sculpted porcelain,
and orchids.

But the most fragile of all
perhaps
is our hold on life.
That thin, tenuous thread
of the next breath
and the next.
Some of us have warning
of when the thread
will be cut.
Most of us 
are caught by surprise.

We have no time 
to say the things
we always meant to say,
or give the gift
we always meant to give,
or be the friend
we always meant to be.
We all know
the thread will be cut;
Maybe the secret of life
is to live as though it were soon.

31 Aug 16