#shame poems on Hello Poetry

I S A A C Jul 2023

Upon the announcement of my arrival
my ancestors weaved brillant threads to make a quilt for my bed
with steadfast hands, they weaved themselves a plan
who i was to become, what kind of man
upon the days of my arrival
my ancestors fantastically wrapped me up in the quilt of blue and red
this quilt housed me for many seasons
itched me, pinched me, left me cold at night
bit me, tripped me, straggling my rights
the brillant quilt made to protect became my golden cage instead
their plan created my strife
their plan corseted my life
after years spent suffocating in the threads
i decided to break away from the plan
emerging like a little chick out of an egg
i chose to live my life today
still the foundation laid was unscathed
every trigger sent my heart into disarray
independence fortified, return to the egg
the quilt might be itchy, it might be tight
but it is easier than learning how to fly

#quilt #shame #gay #homophobia #shameful #fly #egg #renaissance

xavier thomas Jun 2023

Oh wow 🫢

That’s crazy
to know your intentions are
waiting on the decision(s)
I make- to hopefully fail,
just so you can say -
“I told you so!”

#petty #shame

F Elliott May 2023

Raggedy Andi

      'You said,
     "Someday I'm gonna break your heart",
      the first time that we met--

     Were you warning me..

     ..or just seeing how close I'd get?'

If you didn't want to exist  in the heart
of a man like me, then you shouldn't have
allowed your scrapper little spirit
    to write the way you do.

And I was so naughty--  so very intentioned
in all of my obscenely-truthful lies..
I told you it was all your  fault
        that you got in so quickly

         --and   it  was.

I got you back, though
I knew it the moment you let on
that you had fallen  deeply  in love..   not with me..
but with the love that had so deeply  fallen
for every-thing about you

And so,  it increased..  but at such a strange distance.
But even then,  the years only perfected

   and strengthened..

   until lately..
                      until lately..

     'We lay down in a lover's sigh
     As a million years of time rolled by
     How can I be hoping that it's not over yet?'

     I wasn't done, young Andi..
     no..   no..   far from it

You see.. there's this shame-thing
I wanted to flood  with light.
I'm getting so close  to finding the words
     that have never been heard
     in this world before

   (And now.. and now.. and now..)

     'I can't hold on to the night
     Things change, ain't nothin' ever stays the same
     You're gone as far as I can see

     If you feel like letting go
     Honey, I don't wanna be the last to know

    ( I wanna hold on tight to the sweet memory
        of you loving  me)'

Let the good times find their own way home
I'd kiss you goodbye but you're already gone
Cryin' now.. just  tryin' now to wash me away

When you look back on the times we've had
Let the good ones wash away the bad
Don't look back on these bitter words
  we spoke today

I can't hold on to the night
Things change, ain't nothin' ever stays the same
You're gone as far as I can see

If you feel like letting go
Honey, I don't wanna be the last to know
I wanna hold on tight to the sweet memory
   of you loving  me

https://youtu.be/YyBLo20LY3c
~H

don't go

don't go

don't go
.

#love #childhoodtrauma #beginnings #endings #shame #healing #eternity

Manx Pragna May 2023

USDA - PRIME

Has shame dried
Cranberry bogs
On cotton
Have hormones peaked
Or have the eggs spoiled,
Turned rotten
Is there more to a woman
Than her ****** functions
Or will she do as she's told
And remain in her place
On the bottom

#cranberry #eggs #rotten #woman #body #cotton #shame #bottom #functions #peaked

Steve Page Apr 2023

Discovering Wendell Berry

After Do Not Be Ashamed by Wendell Berry

Unashamed

You can mute yourself at will
Or find you've hit mute in error.

On ocassion you might find
someone has muted you.

You can go off camera.
Observe and listen.
Unseen, unheard.
Ocassionally waving in the hope
that you will be called upon
to contribute
to comment
on the wisdom of others.

And after a while, on realising that
you've gone unnoticed, unneeded,
you give yourself permission
to walk away,
to simply listen in
while making a cup of tea.

And after a while, you walk out,
to test your necessity
and you won't be surprised
to find it wanting.

But then
as you return.
as you choose candour,
bear your inward clarity
raise your yellow hand,
as you select unmute, unashamed
click camera, unashamed
and find room, find voice -
then a sure screen will rise
from the margins and their eyes
will seek you out
and the mic is yours.

I recommend the original Do Not Be Ashamed by Wendell Berry https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poetrymagazine/browse?contentId=30634

#voice #shame #candour

I S A A C Apr 2023

over grown bushes

ticket to the train station
tempted to train my motivation
singing swan songs for my salvation
toking for a moments vacation, coaching vocation
warp the world around my thumb
sway to the beats of my drum
angels pick me up, scared to become
all the things i have been ashamed of
iridescent sparkles that were judged as vain
steady shovelling the ****, shaving down the over grown bushes
the path was there all along; i see her now
what the **** was i even doing

#bushes #iridescent #shame #vain #path #beat #drum #thumb

unnamed stargazer Apr 2023

reframe

i want to be someone who helps.
i want to be someone who hears.
i don't want to be who harms.
i don't want to be one who haunts.
i want to be one with open hands.
i want to be one with open heart

give me the chance.
and i will

#regret #guilt #shame