Submit your work, meet writers and drop the ads. Become a member
 Jun 2022 Smudge
Grace
When I look at you,
I don’t see darkness
I don’t see rain
I don’t see pain

When I speak to you,
I don’t feel sadness
I don’t feel neglect
You always show respect

When I think of you,
It gives me strength
Because you’re so bright
My brightest light

When I dream of you,
I find myself in your arms
Right where I belong
Right where I feel strong

When I fell in love with you,
I knew it was true
Because you drowned my sorrows
And now I can see tomorrow
 Mar 2019 Smudge
Traveler
Stacks of memories
In a recycle bin
Pulling 'em out
Putting 'em in

Remember whens
Where we like to go
Never forget 'ers
Imprinted on soul

Lost in piles of files in flesh
Moments we were not at our best
Dark nights come and slowly fade
Until grey matter triggers spark replay

Up front the nows
The essence of living
The thankfuls to be
The resentful misgivings

The never forgets
Forgives and regrets
All the wins, the losses
The deaths
  
Yet there's still plenty of room
For those good memories
We haven't made yet...
Traveler Tim

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HivQqTtiHVw
 Mar 2019 Smudge
MicMag
Viral
 Mar 2019 Smudge
MicMag
What's it take
These days

To write a poem

That makes the world go mad
That brings the crowds to their feet
That spreads like wildfire
Through a dry winter forest

Is it those excessively long words?
The ostentatiously loquacious
Platitudinous ramblings
Of an insecure mind aspiring
To authentic intellect?

Is it perhaps...
     the "creativity"
               of      varied      spacing
  or...    could it be..... the lack
                              of capitalization
               the loathsome little letters
               screaming out
                         hey, look at us!
         ... or maybe it's
               the punctuation marks,
     littered, haphazardly
          through the text
                    (whether used correctly)
               or, theyre not?!
     despite worrds mispeled
          and a grammar might is broken
   can these gimmicks increase interest
        though miswritten or misspoken?

Is the trick alliteration
Whose bite brightly bids us
To center on the snappy sounds?
Although all along
     unvoiced underneath
Ideas idle in the isles
   (or perhaps the aisles)
Of the mind
To meld and craft and bind
Our thorough thoughts
And worthy words
Into lines
Which
Heard by herds
Raise the
                  Praise for which we
                  Privately, desperately
                  Pray

Maybe it's a magical mix
Of splendid in-your-head rhythm
Marvelous meter that perfectly clicks
Flowing smoothly without schism

Well-spaced stanzas
Well-used time
Well-crafted phrases
Well-thought-out rhymes

Well, maybe not...
     those gems are often ignored
     cast-aside, unread, even abhorred

Why?

Because the modern world
doesn't need your rules
your restrictions
your regulations
your misguided boundaries
your oppression
your antiquated ideas
   of "the right way"
   to write
   to speak
   to act
   to live
   to (fill in the blank)

No, what the modern world needs
is
Negation!
Contradiction!
Resistance!
Revolt!

And poetry whose words
Say the same thing
Repeat the same meaning
Echo the same lyrics
Rephrase the same thoughts
But in an ever-so-slightly
Different
Varied
Altered
Adjusted
Changed up way

Line
After line
Of synonyms
          over
               and
                    over
                         and
                              over
                                   again

-----

What's it take
These days

To not give in
To narcissism's spiral?

But more importantly:
What's it take

To make my poem go viral?
Only halfway cynically written, I swear!
 Mar 2019 Smudge
Ditte Jakobsen
Mirror, mirror
on the wall
why is she not the fairest of them all?
Mirror, mirror
why can't she see
the image of the person she wants to be?
Mirror, mirror
if she closes her eyes
then, will you stop telling her lies?
Mirror, mirror
set her free
and let her know; she's just as she should be.
But mirror, I know, it's not your fault
that I'm the victim of my own
mental assault.
 Jan 2019 Smudge
Nathan Cross
Lunar.
 Jan 2019 Smudge
Nathan Cross
She's smiling, but she's hiding.
Every girl is like the moon,
Parts are almost always hidden.
I learn those parts first,
and just watch the rest.

**-N.C.
 Jan 2019 Smudge
Joshua Myers
We go into battle,
Heads held high.

May we lose?
We say nigh.

We march foreward,
Pride held high

We don't take breaks,
We don't even sigh.

We fight for our country,
So our flag may fly.

Every soldier knows this,
It is not a lie.

We push on through hardship,
Even when friends die.

We hold it all in,
Too scarred to cry.

We hold them forever close,
A heroes tie.

We soldier on,
Freedom we buy.
For all military Personel far and wide. No matter the country or race they fight for what they believe. Soldier on.
 Jun 2018 Smudge
Amanda Kay Burke
I watch stars come out at night
These days they are my only friends
Giving me hope when all I have found
Are empty hallways strewn with dead ends

I look for an omen or sign
To tell me it's not too late
A burning bush will never appear
It's not meant to be, still I wait
Written 3-27-13
Next page