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Best Poems Written by Joanne Cook

Below are the all-time best Joanne Cook poems as chosen by PoetrySoup members

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Perfectionism

Ideas
thoughts
potential
scattered and unrelated
until 
A twist
a turn 
a perfect form,
balanced.
Yet it cannot be sustained
competing forces
expectations
The pattern dissolves
as it is compelled to turn 
away
from itself.
Exciting ideas
moving apart and at the same time
together.
A new shape forms,
for a moment.
Never ending movements 
interspersed with 
originality.
Calm but
fragile
as the slightest
pull 
threatens its very existence

Ideas 
passions
possibilities
contained within a shell.
A veneer of strength
protecting it,
from itself.

To the observer
an impression of self-containment
control
success.
Yet for those who dare peer
Through the pinhole,
insight.


Will the kaleidoscope
ever rest
satisfied with its 
own creation?

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Anorexia the Impostor

Sneaky
Deceitful
Calculating and cruel
It poses as your friend
Offering comfort 
Strength
A sense of achievement.

It isolates 
Jealously guarding the relationship
Until it infiltrates 
Every cell of your being
And claims you 
As its own.

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Arachne's Triumph

You cause my breath to still
Arachne.
Your handiwork of splendid intricacy
Suspended from the armpits of nature, 
vividly displayed through the unfolding mist,
holds me in this moment.
Adornments of the ancient bushland,
Your labour of survival, purposefully created,
Surpass any mortal attempts of mimicry.
Mocking Minerva’s intention of entrapment
You continue triumphantly
Weaving delicate decorations,
Catching acclamation afresh.

Jo Cook

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Family

Inexplicably bound
Shared history
traveling alongside each other
diverging from the clan
to seek ourselves
only to converge
and celebrate together
the pattern of human experience.

Shared euphoria and expectation
as the baby’s first breath
raises all to a higher place
gazing in wonderment
stirred to protect.

Shared humor.
Delight in the child’s laughter
and its infectious joy.
Clever wit volleyed with affection.
Stories fondly recounted

Shared congratulations and trust in the future                                                       
as lifelong commitments are declared
And promised before those who care.

Shared grief when one of our number is hurting
Giving expression to the depth of the connection,

The bind is not inevitable
nor guaranteed
by shared DNA
or tribalism.
It  needs to be nurtured and cherished
For then
Its power to nourish
Is inexplicable.

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

The Labyrinth

Trust the path
to lead
have confidence in the direction
find  solace in its rhythm
as you walk
towards discovery
Rest and ponder
draw strength
from human frailty
and its capacity to endure
complete your walk
in faith
made whole.

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Flame

It dances
without rhythm or form
rather
impulsively
to energy around and within
offering warmth
and company.
The fragility of its existence 
startling in its strength
to illuminate  dark spaces.

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

One Tiny Tear

Begins its journey 
From the heart.

Its destiny to be released 
Visible 
No longer privately withheld

Sometimes its power overwhelms 
With the momentum gained from containment
Finally released it crashes like surf 
Only to be pacified when the winds die
And the tide turns.

Sometimes it makes its appearance gently
soothing with its rocking motion 
Settling when spent

Sometimes 
It ends it journey 
As it began 
one tiny tear
Forced into daylight 
Tracing its path across the still face
Finally a drop.
  

Jo Cook

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Writing

Put pen to paper and
as the ink flows
so too your strength grows.
The power of the pen
to heal and reveal
innermost thoughts
amazes.
Words within
hitherto unrecognized
take form.
As you scribe unconsciously
the introduction to self
sparks a new friendship
of intimacy.
Put pen to paper
for the combining of the two
creates a powerful force.

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Darkness

Darkness
comforting
no eyes to judge
merely quiet solace
surrounds

Details | Joanne Cook Poem

Stillness

The error
To consider the space
Empty
Assigning no value to the void
 Of seemingly little consequence
Akin to the nothingness that holds
The flame precariously above the delicate candlewick

That was before I understood its purpose
This deceptive illusion of nothingness
Rendering me blind to the power of contrast
In stillness
Invisible boundaries of time
Sound
Energy
Sharpening focus on the material
Just as the division of words on the page
Or distance between those in a crowd
The moments of silence between the calls of the bush birds
Paradoxically separating as they unite.

The stillness no longer
An empty place
To avoid
Rather permission to pause.