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Best Poems Written by Anthony Vannelson

Below are the all-time best Anthony Vannelson poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Anthony Vannelson Poem

Fear

FEAR

Feeling tired, washed up, drained
Moody, irritated, relationships strained 
Life’s journey just filled with inevitables
Questions answered in mono syllables

What initiates this fearful  condition
Invades your space without permission
Starts out small yet urgently this knot in the gut
Leaves you nowhere but sadly stuck in a rut

Attacks your senses blurs your vision
Negative thoughts follow with precision 
This surgery will change you to the core
You’ll think a woman not loved anymore

Fear is the venom a tragic lethal dose
Remember when fear comes faith goes
Though this body of death will eventually decay
Just identify the positives in each new day
 

When negative thoughts your mind assail
Encompass it with faith drape it like a veil
Dispel those thoughts send a message clear
You are wonderfully made with nothing to fear

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Young and Strong

Young and Strong

She was young, she was strong
Working cleaning all the day long
So much to do, but she carried that load
So concerned about everyone, at Kenmore road.

Then we moved, to Strandfontein we came
A new challenge for her, her commitment the same
So proud of her house, her castle her own
She decided to go work, had to pay a loan
No high education, no professional post
Just a menial job, but she worked better than most
Then she took ill, an anxiety attack
The work, the people, she was taking too much flak
Leave out the details all too sordid
In her best interest, she had to be boarded


Came two thousand and ten so significant
Shocking a lump in her breast, malignant
Here the genesis of a prolonged and fiery trial
She bravely faced the truth, never in denial
Chemo, radiotherapy, side effects and all
My health, my life I want it back was her call
Then they punctured her lung, a mistake they say
Whilst inserting the port, they went the wrong way
Ten days in hospital, a new trial began
She could have died, but it was not in God’s plan
The pain the suffering the trauma, she endured
She trusted, believed that ultimately she was cured


Two thousand and thirteen, an “annus horribilis”
The diagnosis so devastating, so preposterous
The cancer had spread of this they were sure
The back, the sternum the liver all needed a cure
Chemo, radiotherapy and pain she did it all once again
Then that fateful day in June, she had to take it
The treatment had failed, she wouldn’t make it
She had three months to live and yet so much to give
Anguish and pain all etched on her face
She stood firm and declared I’ll finish this race
If it is God’s will she was ready, we heard her say
Her petition, please Lord no suffering, hasten the day
Still some cancer in the back at the end of the year
But through God’s grace, the organs were clear
It’s been seven months now, time for a new song
Not so young anymore but still as strong
In the annals of history, the story of her life
She is unquestionably, a loving mother, a faithful wife
A reminder then, the lyrics of the new song
Not so young anymore, but still as strong.

Two thousand and fourteen with hope looking ahead
A loss of control in the one leg, the other one dead
What’s happening now, don’t really know
Pelvis also numb can’t even feel the flow

Diagnose, analyse even consult still can’t say
Once again XRAY  Ct scan MRI the order of the day
Life’s straight path again throws her a curve
Radiation killed the cancer, but damaged the nerve


The treatments, the medication all so profound
Worst case scenario, she’ll be wheelchair bound
She could give up now and say, I’ve run my race
But for loved ones with a special kind of grace
Her children, grandchildren always lifting her mood
Unwavering support, their presence, spiritual food

What lies ahead, how traverse this congested road
How stay the course, how bear this added load
No glib answer for every tribulation, every occasion
But a quiet resolve, God is never, out of the equation
In the final analysis, clearly, some victories won
But for the quality of life, the fight rages on

Two thousand and fifteen, just a nuance of dread
What if, thoughts mulling around in everyone’s head
We witness her suffering, the sweat on her brow
Confined to her bed, but hand still on the plough
Quietly fearlessly contemplating her ultimate demise
Reality check, more treatment an abortive exercise

October spring Christmas and the joy it will bring
She contemplate reflects hears every bird sing
They whistle, determined to praise their creator
She momentarily forgets the pain and discomfort till later
Her mind now flirts with moments down memory lane
Emotive incidents, special songs with a wistful refrain

She’s homeward bound, that’s clear and plain to see
Once there she’ll get all the answers, just let it be
Then quietly serenely, she joins that celestial throng
My heart my life’s partner, this forty five years long
Fare thee well Dora my love my wife, my life
Finally, forever young and forever strong.
{c}
APvN

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They Said

They Said

Don’t talk when big people are talking
Leave their presence now, start walking
Be a good boy don’t ever backchat
Greet a big person, take off your hat

You got bushman blood, hair’s not straight
To be dark of complexion just wasn’t great
Your brain, the way you think wasn’t fast
You’re just another coloured, second class

Don’t worry just finish standard eight
Then you can go work, with bricks or slate
A carpenter, a bricklayer, good to have a trade
Also okay and no disgrace, to just be a maid 
 
Bread , rice , potatoes and stuff like that
You should not eat it will make you fat
Always remember there’s a thing called fate
Won’t meet a life partner if you’re overweight




Go to church on Sunday you’ll hear the bell
Do good, love your neighbour and live well
Heaven’s real, way up there, it’s not just talk
And down there’s hell and the devil with a fork

Did anyone  really listen to what they said
Pray and don’t drink tea before you go to bed
Go to the shop and make sure you hurry back
There’s a boogeyman around and he’s always black

What of today, what are they saying now
Still the same? what  when  why  how?
Quiet no talking, here’s a new mission
Let’s hear what they say on television

They made statements, ignorant of some things
Always hoping we’ll not be paupers but kings
Some listened, others not listening still
 Truth is , I guess they never will
{C}
APvN

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Bohemian Rhapsody

Bohemian Rhapsody
Their music invaded your organised space
Your soul coerced migrated to another place 
I see a silhouette of a man a prophetic phrase
Soulful harmonic interludes those glory days
Into the limelight with a genre so vibrant
Melodies and lyrics emotive just brilliant
A fusion of opera and rock distinctive clean
Only they dared this eccentric group Queen
Freddy’s vocals echoing guitars instantly smitten
Bohemian Rhapsody greatest rock opera ever written

19/8 /2017

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Footprints In Africa

Footprints in Africa
Africa oh Africa you beautiful piece of earth
Gold, diamonds, minerals of immeasurable worth
Mountains and valleys, great rivers and trees
Blessed beyond measure, God must be pleased 
Have you ever wondered where and how, it all began
How we all found favour, in this huge awesome land

To shepherds working night shift, a message clear
In a manger, baby Jesus was born, salvation was near
But black hearted Herod, wanted all boy babies dead 
So Joseph, Mary and their precious baby, to Egypt fled
Cast back your mind and see, Lord Jesus, now a boy
Playing in the dusty streets of Egypt, running with joy

See him standing on a hill, gazing at the river Nile
Wonderment on his face and just a hint of a smile
Did he then know, that Calvary’s cross was pertinent?
That his life he would lay down, for this vast continent?
So rise up Africa, forever freed from bondage and toil
For baby Jesus planted his footprints, on African soil.

 
APvN

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Beautiful

Beautiful

Mountain high prominent and majestic
Fauna and Flora protected eclectic
White cloud silently settling like a moth
Table Mountain and its peerless table cloth

Distant sails of a pleasure boat cruising by 
The sound of the waves the seagulls cry
Bright red and yellow of a setting sun
Caressing the horizon when day is done 

Winelands stretches of emerald green 
Air unpolluted hint of an aroma clean
Sun embracing the vineyards at dawn
Scarecrows security tattered and torn

Rivers lush valleys gardens and trees
Birds serenading the humming of bees
Behold this jewel rare and bountiful 
The Cape and its synonym, “ Beautiful “

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At War

At War
In the annals of history, records of what they saw
Anarchy, carnage and devastation men at war
World war one world war two, who can forget
Annihilation on battlefields when’er men met

Cords of discontent prevail, the reasons at first unclear
Arguments, umbrage, discontent in the atmosphere
One tribe better than the other conflict never ending
Murder mayhem injustice, now called “ethnic cleansing”

Hooligan misfits, gangsters in the media given status
For breaking news on the flats, this is the latest
The innocent, our children at school, they’re not safe our cry
Gangsters don’t care, money drugs turf, someone will die

A family in one house, living sharing always together
Then one day, brother against brother enemies forever
Dialogue, meetings arranged, a rejection of détente
Gulf widened so much hurt, reconciliation? Just can’t

Man’s final hour, hoping longing for his eternal abode
Been a protracted and tiresome journey bearing that load
Here finally a gratifying sigh, so grateful he’s reached his goal
But there’s one last war, one final battle, the battle for man’s soul.

APvN

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Have You

Have You 
I’ve been around and about awhile
Seen pain cogently hidden by a smile
I’ve seen the concluding moments of the day
Saw clouds roll away as blue turned to grey
Have you?

Felt so dearly loved and loved in return
Saw joy and tears enough to fill an urn
Tasted bitterness  incited by a bitter heart
Saw compassion enter and acrimony depart
Have you?

Been blissfully partnered, enough respect to atone 
Until a parting of my better half, heart turned to stone
For a fleeting moment that feeling would remain
Felt that comforting sweet assurance, we’ll meet again
Have you?

Sojourned in Namibia this beautiful blessed land
Saw its majestic undulating dunes it’s faraway strand
Found in its people an abundance of caring and love
Healing virtue hovering over me like a snow white dove
Have you?


Ultimately my very soul momentously satisfied
Realised this was nothing else but grace personified
Finally I depart a downward glance till I lose the view
I am content we’ve made memories and good ones too
Have you?

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Walking Away

Walking away
It starts small yet expands unobtrusively
Unnoticeable even strangely illusively
You didn’t notice but it inevitably grew
So bad now will eventually suffocate you
I’m walking away

Enters pain acute the very worst kind
Saturates my body and even my mind
I know others share this terrible plight
Fact of the matter its just worst at night
I’m walking away

Loneliness whispers I’m here to stay
Exclusively yours both night and day
A one way road a quite single lane
A settling in this melancholic domain
I’m walking away

Scattered pictures my thoughts assail 
Recollections prominent almost a holy grail
Precious memories oh thou soul set free
I will never ever walk away from thee

Details | Anthony Vannelson Poem

Of Memories and Loneliness

I miss you so much it brings a tear
Tangible emptiness you’re not here
Days are long nights are dreary
Not tired but my heart is weary
Arthritic pain a constant companion
Feeling lost in a no way out canyon

Disturbing thoughts my mind assail
Have I really done enough or did I fail
Suffering silently not saying much
Trusting your maker always in touch
Sometimes I just long to see your face
Like Paul of old you’ve run your race

If you came back what will you see
A world filled with pain and endless agony
Families driven apart by lust and greed
Noble principles a sadly forgotten creed
I miss you and the feelings are so emotive
So difficult just penning this narrative


Reminiscing of how things used to be
How little we knew of our family tree
I recall us not always seeing eye to eye
You so honest just couldn’t tell a lie
Your closing argument would always be
Mr van Nelson do you really love me

Have to smile when I soliloquize
Happens often as questions arise
What if you could come back today
Clear as a bell I can hear you say
I can stay here but only for a while 
Must go back then you’d wave and smile
What a thought having you back with no pain
But then you’ll have to leave and we’d cry again