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 Apr 2017
Francie Lynch
When yer high on a streak
And no doubt its a freak
Aint nothin can beat yah
Not luck bad ner good
Dont doubt its a bet
A streakers regret
Tho yah aint beaten yet
The times surely set
Not by fate or yer odds
Ner the whim of the gods
But by an incredible drive
To keep going
Then die.
Just ended a 30 game streak in Crib. Play my buddy, and my two daughters. Play each of them separately. Andrea stopped me at 31. However, I still have by bud at 15, and my other daughter at 11. I suppose I lost a third of a streak. :0
 Apr 2017
Traveler
I realize the ketchup
Is not where it belongs
And while the tooth picks
You counted are pretty much Gone
Relax my friends
HP will carry on
...
Traveler Tim
I know you don't want to hear this but
I like some of the change.
 Feb 2017
Francie Lynch
She's a thoroughly modern Maura;
To know her's to adore her.
She brought Christmas home,
Made special days our own,
Setting aside her own wish-bones,
So we were well-looked after.

(yes, she explained to me
the import of hygiene:
you gotta remember,
we were pretty green
when we first landed on the scene)

And,
From this point on,
We were good on our own.

Yes, I love all my sisters and brothers,
But in my highest esteem,
My Maura tops all others.
Maura:  Actually, Mary Alice, but that was only on the B.C.
She's the oldest of the eleven sibs. I'm the seventh.
She was/is the best. Seventy-one years and raising a pint for many more to come.
 Feb 2017
Keith Wilson
Been  away  for  7  weeks.
Glad  to  be  back.
I  am  so  touched people
have  missed  my  poetry.
hope  you  have  been  doing  well.
Many  thanks  again.
Take  care.

Keith  Wilson.  Windermere.  UK  2017.
 Feb 2017
Hannah Field
love is not blind it sees more and not less but because it sees more it wants to hear less
 Feb 2017
JR Rhine
I broke up with God
at our favorite eatery
in our favorite booth.

We settled into familiar creases
and asked for the usual.

My eyes lazily staring at fingers
stirring the straw around the ice cubes,
God cautiously spoke up:

“Is something wrong?”

“Nothing.” (Thinking about the dormant phone
concealing behind the lock screen
the open Facebook tab
lingering over the relationship status section.)

They silently mused over the laconic reply,
til the waitress showed up with the food.

“Thank you!” God blurted with agonizing alacrity.

I received the sustenance lifelessly
and aimlessly poked at the burgers and fries.

The waitress eyed me with vague inquisition,
popping a bubble in the gum between
big teeth, refilled my water
and pirouetted hastily.

We ate in ostensible harmony,
the silence gripping like a chokehold,
the visible anxiety and subdued resolve
settling like a stifling blanket
over the child waking
from a nightmare—

Til we couldn’t breathe,
and I ripped back the covers
and looked into the eyes
of my tormentor.

“It’s not you, it’s me.”

God, taken aback by the curt statement,
dropped their burger with shaking hands,
silently begging with wetting eyes
a greater explanation.

So I elaborated:

“It’s not you, it’s me.

For your immaculate conception
was created by human hands,

your adages rendered obsolete
by human words,

your purpose and plan for us
distorted by human nature—

I cannot hate myself any longer.

I cannot pretend to know you at all.

Who my mother and father say you are
is not who my friends think you are,
nor my teachers, my pastor,
the president, Stephen Hawking,
Muhammed, the KKK, Buddha,
the Westboro Baptist Church,
Walt Whitman, Derek Zanetti,
******,
and Billy Graham.

I am told you care who I bring into bed (and when),
and what movies I watch,
and what music I listen to—

I have not heard what you say about
child soldiers, the use of mosquitos,
or the increased destruction of the earth
which you proudly proclaimed your creation,
or the poverty and disease and famine
which has ridden so many of your children—”

God interjected,
“But you’re chosen!”

I snorted,

“You say I’m chosen
to spend eternity with you—
why me?

Why’d you pick me among
thousands, millions, billions?

I’ve been told I’m ‘chosen’
since birth
by others like me—

those with fair complexion,
blue eyes,
blonde hair,
a firm overt ****** attraction towards women,
and a great big house
with immaculate white fences
delineating their Jericho.

I’ve already fabricated eternity
here among the other ‘chosen’
and there is a world of suffering
right outside the fence
and I see them
through the window of my bedroom
every day.

Am I chosen,
if I don’t vote Republican

Am I chosen
if I am Pro-Choice

Am I chosen
if I cohabitate with my girlfriend

Am I chosen
if I never have kids

Am I chosen
if I say ‘Happy Holidays’

Am I chosen
if I don’t want public prayer in schools

Am I chosen
if I don’t want a Christian nation

Am I chosen
if I don’t repost you on my wall
or retweet your adages?

I’m tired
being the ubermensch,
for it has not brought me
happiness
and I blame you.

I will not ignore
the cries of the suffering
believing it is I
who is destined to live
in bliss.

I will not buy
Joel Osteen’s autobiography(ies).

I will not tithe
you my money
for a megachurch
when another homeless shelter
closes down.

I will not tell a woman
what to do with her body,
or a man
that he is a man
if they say they are not.

I am neither Jew nor Gentile,
and I will stand with
my brothers and sisters
of Faith and Faithlessness,

Gay and Straight,
Black and White,

and apart from these extremes
free from absolutes
the ambiguous, amorphous
nature of Humankind
which I praise.

There is much pain and suffering
in this world,
potentially preventable,
but hardly can I believe
it’s part of your plan
to save
me.

I will not be saved
if we are not
all saved—

not one will burn
for my divinity.

The gates will be open to all—
and perhaps you believe that too,
but I’ve gotten you all wrong
and that cannot change,
as long as there is
mortality, and
corruption, and
power, and
lust, and
greed.”

God whined, growing bellicose,

“It is through me that you will find eternity,
I am the one true god!
I am the God of your fallen ancestors,
it is because you have fallen short
that you need me!”

I replied, growing in confidence,

“We have all fallen short,
yes,
but we are also magnificent.

We have evolved,
we have created,
we have adapted,
we have survived.

We have built empires,
and we have destroyed them.

We have cured diseases,
and we have created them.

We have done much in your name.
We’ve done good,
and we’ve done evil—

And unfortunately it’s all about
who you ask.

Your name is a burden on the oppressed
and a weapon of the oppressor.

You are abusive, God.

You tell me you are jealous.

You tell me apart from you I will suffer for an eternity.

I’m scared to die, yet want to die,
because of you.

You have made life a waiting room
that is now my purgatory. It is

Hell On Earth.

So you see,
it’s not you,
it’s me—
a mere mortal
who has tried to put a face
to eternity
and it has left me
empty.

And also,
it’s me,
for I have learned to love me,
as I have expelled your self-loathing imbibition,
and the deleterious zeal
I have proclaimed
through ceaseless
trepidation
and self-flagellation—

I have learned to love me
by realizing I am not inherently evil,
that my body is not evil,
that my mind is not evil,
and, ultimately, that
there is no good
and there is no evil.

My body is beautiful,
my mind is beautiful,
this world is beautiful,
and we are destroying it
waiting for you to claim
us.

I leave you
in hopes to see you
again one day,

and perhaps you will look
different than I have
perceived or imagined,

and in fact
I certainly hope so.”

Just then the waitress strolled back up
with a servile smile:
“Dessert?”

“No, thank you,”
I smiled politely.

And with that,
I paid the check,
and took a to-go box—

walked out into the evening rain
to my car,
put on a secular song
that meant something real to me
and drove off
into the night—

feeling for the first time
free
and alive.
 Jan 2017
SøułSurvivør
Tomorrow is my birthday. I will be 60 years old. Where have the years gone? They seem to have pulled along like a Volkswagen behind a large semi...

When I was 5 years old, I was petrified of death. My mother would tell me I have many years ahead. But I knew it wouldn't be long before I was old and gray. I was right.

I am no longer afraid of death. I know how unimportant this life is. This is merely a testing ground... To learn the lessons of obedience and love. What we know is this world. But there is so much more...

I am not in any hurry to leave, as I have a job to do here. But I can't wait to be with Christ. I dream of it. But no dreams I have could possibly ever match the Wonders that await me. And indeed every believer Redeemed by Jesus.

This Temple... it is getting very worn out. It is arthritic and has a lot of other problems. And God has not seen fit to heal me yet. I am not complaining, actually. I know I brought my condition on myself because of the way I lived before I met Jesus. But I can't wait to have a perfect body again. One that can never get sick. Won't ever be in pain. Can never die...

I wish I had known Jesus all my life. But that was not to be. I have a much more powerful testimony being a former atheist. I am not going to give you a lecture on atheism. But my belief in an afterlife has comforted me so much... and I would not wish to believe as I did before. I was in constant fear. Now I know that God is in control of everything and works everything out for my good no matter how bad it seems to me at the time.

I'm sorry I have not been on this site reading as much as I would like. I've been very busy in the last few days. But after my birthday I will get back to reading and writing again...

Take care, my friends! I will see you again soon...


♡ Catherine
 Dec 2016
r
To all of you poets
down South and up North
West and to the East
whoever you are
whatever your beliefs
I wish you much joy
happiness and peace
for on this one night
at least think no more
of spite, anger and war
sickness, sorrow or grief
for wherever you are
may kindness be the star
that lights all of our ways.
Peace to you, holy poets.
 Dec 2016
Marshal Gebbie
Sarah and Solomon married at Foxglove in verdant Taranaki…a magical time for everybody at that beautiful, beautiful occasion.

Dear old Grandpa Verne Bell passed from this mortal coil and went on to the next with his typical strong eyed fortitude and open curiosity.

Major earthquake shatters the top of the South island and is felt with trepidation from one end of the country to the other.

Trump hauls votes from the impossible and manufactures an improbable US Presidency…. Much to the embarrassment, alarm and discomfort of the majority of the thinking American population.

Oceans continue to rise and atmospheric temperatures climb…..and nobody really cares enough to try to do anything much about it.

Russia and China flex their military muscle and snub their sabre rattling noses at the West.

Interest rates and the price of gas started to escalate upward again.

Friends and relatives have been rocked by ill health, hardship and misfortune.

Key calls “Enough” and passes the Prime Ministerial gauntlet to a (thankfully), very capable Bill English.

Janet and Marshal both reach out and find new jobs, fresh horizons & new avenues to explore.

Syria slides into chaos and anarchy with absolutely no regard for it’s ordinary, civilian population languishing in the dreadful ruins of East Aleppo.

The Hectors dolphin numbers dwindle to 87 living animals, surviving  globally.



But….We, friends, live in a peaceful oasis…forgotten at the very end of the earth.

We live in a land of plenty and opportunity, a land of rare green beauty where individuality is prized and freedom valued.



May we pause for a moment this Christmas…and appreciate just how ****** fortunate we all actually are?



MERRY CHRISTMAS FRIENDS

M.
Hamilton, New Zealand
20 December 2016
 Dec 2016
Sjr1000
Nothing is going to protect us from the human condition
We can have fortune and fame
Be on the top of our game

We can be a rocker
in Lost Wages
We can be a woman with a small child
Trying to do welfare to work
We can dance the tango with a Friday night ****

We can be busted for another dui
We can be the head of the corporation
We can even be Paul McCartney
Michael Jordan
Kennedy may be our name
But nothing is going to protect us
from the human condition

I've gambled and won
I've gambled and lost

Millionaire wives die of cancer
Joanie's Johnnie gets SARS
Steve Jobs takes the last dive.

A truck driver falls asleep
A thirty seconds delay winds up catastrophe
So sorry!
Nothing protects us from the human condition

There are mine fields all around us,
most we don't even see

We can be in Mosul
We can be in Aleppo
We can be in Somalia
We can be in Mozambique

One ember, a conflagration
One breath of air, a hurricane
One drop of rain, water everywhere

Twisted Bill Cosby
his son
murdered while changing a tire
Your name can be Whitney Houston
mother and daughter
have died

Ronald Reagan's dementia
he didn't remember a thing

The list of the names
it never really ends
all that fame power and fortune

All of the pain loss and suffering
of me and you
Bad moods ain't seen nothing yet
There is no protection from the human condition

You can set me up another one
I'm drinking to
"how it goes "

I hide out
I come out
I'm probably like you
I don't know what I'm supposed to do
except
find slices of delight when able
There is no protection from the human condition.
Michael Jordan's father was killed at a rest stop. Paul McCartney's wife Linda died of cancer, she was 57.
 Dec 2016
brandon nagley
Just wanna ask everyone for prayers for me and my family, I hope and ask for continued prayer alot for me and family in this time of year. My dad's mom just passed away December 1st my grandma nagley. Stress has overcome me and family as well as Dads overly stressed he's already had two massive heart attacks in the past months back and . And lately I've been dealing with sickness in my body and heart issues. To say I'm not afraid to whatever may come next would be a lie. I'm praying lord takes away this fear/anxiety. *** to be honest this is quite overwhelming ... Alot. Not including me and my family got a note on our door maybe week ago. A note saying we have until the 1st of January to move out and if don't move out by the first then quote ( we will get 3 day eviction at that point. The apts owner as their are two brothers owning tons of apts . I don't hate/ nor dislike the man who's making the decision. He's given us no reason to why were getting this, other than he said for him And the apts best interest. Though we feel for another reason though not sure doesn't make sense dad always pays rent and me and my parents aren't some huge issue to this complex. So we ? What's happening. And even through all these trials/ tribulations we gotta trust God. My healths making it worse for me lately. This burden is heavy. Really begging for prayers. Thank you for all praying for my family-and me. Continue in Christ's love and forgiveness always. Because that's what life's about. LOVE! Never forget that
.God bless.
Brandon nagley...
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