Great Poetry

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

My own humble contribution.  I think these are pretty great:



Boru

[LadyForCamus]

You write that, Obvs?

Yeah.

Don't worry. I'm not high on myself, posting it in 'great poetry'. I think other post their own writing here too. Couldn't find another thread for it, and so i've posted a few in here.

No, I loved it!  It belongs here!

[Mr.Obvious]

An old one of mine I found. Changed the name from 'edge' to shore. Think that would have been more fitting. Plus did some change in punctuation.

On the shore of infinite sadness
We are apes returned home;
face to face with a greater power
expressed in crashing foam
from whence mankind did flower.

Arriving at a sea of realization
that this force does not care
'bout it's awe-strikken creation
nor speaks of just and unfair.

Here we stand naked and dry
on the shore of infinite sadness:
on uncertain sands, eye to eye
with waves of chaotic madness.

And we roar mad with laughter,
fueled by an insanity from within,
given to us by the blind disaster
that spawned us and our kin.

For this is a time of low tide,
allowing us to build on our bay
'till no secrets are left to hide.
Here we are and here we stay.

[Brian37]

"Infestation", By Brian37 (AKA Brian James Rational Poet on FB and brianrrs37 on twitter).

You are 
The infestation
The malignant manifestation
Pandering to the worst in our species

Verbal feces history has seen
Separating children
On plantations
And concentration camps

Abhorrent 
Not a "deterrent"
To condemn those
Fleeing on top of which
You take it out on children


They were called rats
Both Jews and blacks
Ripped from their kids
Put in prison camps

And the hollow cries
Coming from the right
His party leadership
Now decries?

That this is wrong
But for years while he ran
Daily demonization
Of everyone

Now act surprised
But this will arise
Dangerous rhetoric
Makes humanity uncivilized


Reagan's "beacon"
JFK's "ask what you can do"
Lady Liberty's 
"Tired huddled masses"

We were built on migration
We've always been a nation
Pluralistic , diverse
And welcoming

But some insist
To win at at all costs
Divided the races and classes
With "us vs them"

We cannot afford
To allow one man
One politician
Destroy our land

He is the only
Real infestation
The attitude that
Our fellow human

Our fellow human
Are somehow different
Like rats on a plantation
Or subject to concentration

We must have the determination
To defeat such hate
To defend compassion and empathy
Before it is too late

[vulcanlogician]

Wanda Why Aren't You Dead

By Wanda Coleman


wanda when are you gonna wear your hair down
wanda. that's a whore's name
wanda why ain't you rich
wanda you know no man in his right mind want a
          ready-made family
why don't you lose weight
wanda why are you so angry
how come your feet are so goddamn big
can't you afford to move out of this hell hole
if i were you were you were you
wanda what is it like being black
i hear you don't like black men
tell me you're ac/dc. tell me you're a nympho. tell me you're
          into chains
wanda i don't think you really mean that
you're joking. girl, you crazy
wanda what makes you so angry
wanda i think you need this
wanda you have no humor in you you too serious
wanda i didn't know i was hurting you
that was an accident
wanda i know what you're thinking
wanda i don't think they'll take that off of you

wanda why are you so angry

i'm sorry i didn't remember that that that
that that that was so important to you

wanda you're ALWAYS on the attack

wanda wanda wanda i wonder

why ain't you dead

[The Grand Nudger]

The palm at the end of the mind,
Beyond the last thought, rises
In the bronze decor,

A gold-feathered bird
Sings in the palm, without human meaning,
Without human feeling, a foreign song.

You know then that it is not the reason
That makes us happy or unhappy.
The bird sings. Its feathers shine.

The palm stands on the edge of space.
The wind moves slowly in the branches.
The bird's fire-fangled feathers dangle down.

-Wallace Stevens.

Haters gonna hate hate hate hate hate

-Taylor Swift

[Mr.Obvious]

Tornado


The wind keeps tearing at the home we built.
Wood, would it splinter? Stone, should it crumble?
And where such poison needed to be spilled;
lead could be torn from beneath our scumble.

Why do we have to fight to stay grounded
and not drift off in a rage without form?
Though I know the roars will keep me hounded
I fell in love with the eye of the storm.

I am a man with no roof overhead;
looking at clear blue skies above, through truss.
I am calm, at peace, and the air is dead.
Trapped between walls invisible to us.

[vulcanlogician]

Phenomenal Woman

By Maya Angelou

Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I’m not cute or built to suit a fashion model’s size   
But when I start to tell them,
They think I’m telling lies.
I say,
It’s in the reach of my arms,
The span of my hips,   
The stride of my step,   
The curl of my lips.   
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,   
That’s me.

I walk into a room
Just as cool as you please,   
And to a man,
The fellows stand or
Fall down on their knees.   
Then they swarm around me,
A hive of honey bees.   
I say,
It’s the fire in my eyes,   
And the flash of my teeth,   
The swing in my waist,   
And the joy in my feet.   
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.

Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Men themselves have wondered   
What they see in me.
They try so much
But they can’t touch
My inner mystery.
When I try to show them,   
They say they still can’t see.   
I say,
It’s in the arch of my back,   
The sun of my smile,
The ride of my breasts,
The grace of my style.
I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

Now you understand
Just why my head’s not bowed.   
I don’t shout or jump about
Or have to talk real loud.   
When you see me passing,
It ought to make you proud.
I say,
It’s in the click of my heels,   
The bend of my hair,   
the palm of my hand,   
The need for my care.   
’Cause I’m a woman
Phenomenally.
Phenomenal woman,
That’s me.

[vulcanlogician]

When I Think About Myself

by Maya Angelou

When I think about myself, 
I almost laugh myself to death, 
My life has been one great big joke, 
A dance that's walked 
A song that's spoke, 
I laugh so hard I almost choke 
When I think about myself.

Sixty years in these folks' world 
The child I works for calls me girl 
I say 'Yes ma'am' for working's sake. 
Too proud to bend 
Too poor to break, 
I laugh until my stomach ache, 
When I think about myself.

My folks can make me split my side, 
I laughed so hard I nearly died, 
The tales they tell, sound just like lying, 
They grow the fruit, 
But eat the rind, 
I laugh until I start to crying, 
When I think about my folks.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Reprise by Ogden Nash

Geniuses of countless nations
Have told their love for generations
Till all their memorable phrases
Are common as goldenrod or daisies.
Their girls have glimmered like the moon,
Or shimmered like a summer moon,
Stood like a lily, fled like a fawn,
Now the sunset, now the dawn,
Here the princess in the tower
There the sweet forbidden flower.
Darling, when I look at you
Every aged phrase is new,
And there are moments when it seems
I've married one of Shakespeare's dreams.     


Boru