Popular Observational Poems
POEMS AND SHORT STORIES
Poetry about life, society and the natural world
Popular poems, listed in order of their popularity this month.
the sometimes painful folly of being sentimental
(and other lessons learned)
"After this, there's really nothing left"...
she says, almost absentmindedly,
while pulling out a tiny black velvet bag.
(have no doubt, this was her mostly playing martyr)
I quickly catch the simultaneous swallowing
of the huge lump in her throat,
proof, that was more telling than she'd like.
She went on saying (with trademarked bite)
that she'd gifted my sister
some old piece of her jewelry as well—
perhaps a ring
or earrings ...
"After this, there's really nothing left"...
she says, almost absentmindedly,
while pulling out a tiny black velvet bag.
(have no doubt, this was her mostly playing martyr)
I quickly catch the simultaneous swallowing
of the huge lump in her throat,
proof, that was more telling than she'd like.
She went on saying (with trademarked bite)
that she'd gifted my sister
some old piece of her jewelry as well—
perhaps a ring
or earrings ...
#mother
#TimeHeals
#frustration
#daughter
#healing
279 reads
27 Comments
Foxes & Wolves
I wondered back then
A long time ago
At fourteen in middle school
A year before the quinceanera I never had
Where I’d be later in life
Everyone my age left middle school
and their teens early
My girlz grew up way too fast
String bikinis
Hickeys on tummies
Laughing in detention
Fights in the restroom
at school or the movie theater
Wasn’t my thing though, never was
I wasn’t scared of fighting
but my mother was a different story
And my friends knew it
They didn’t have to answer to her ...
A long time ago
At fourteen in middle school
A year before the quinceanera I never had
Where I’d be later in life
Everyone my age left middle school
and their teens early
My girlz grew up way too fast
String bikinis
Hickeys on tummies
Laughing in detention
Fights in the restroom
at school or the movie theater
Wasn’t my thing though, never was
I wasn’t scared of fighting
but my mother was a different story
And my friends knew it
They didn’t have to answer to her ...
#confessional
#memories
#SelfReflection #nostalgia
#SelfReflection #nostalgia
287 reads
27 Comments
Exercise Tiger
April 28, 1944
Devon, England
It was only a planned rehearsal
or so it was meant to be
taking place on the beach
of Slapton Sands, Devon
for the invasion of Normandy.
But coordination and communication
don’t always go as planned,
resulting in not only friendly-fire injuries
but the death of 749 American servicemen
by e-boats of Nazi Germany.
April 28, 1969
Devon, England
I was only ten-years-old
the first...
Devon, England
It was only a planned rehearsal
or so it was meant to be
taking place on the beach
of Slapton Sands, Devon
for the invasion of Normandy.
But coordination and communication
don’t always go as planned,
resulting in not only friendly-fire injuries
but the death of 749 American servicemen
by e-boats of Nazi Germany.
April 28, 1969
Devon, England
I was only ten-years-old
the first...
#war
153 reads
26 Comments
Lens
pajamas at Walmart
everyone covered in blotchy green tattoos
texting drivers
AI images of lush creepy dream homes
plastic water bottles on the ground
obsessive self-documenters
super morbid obesity
diabetic kids breakfasting on cookies and Sprite
choosy beggars on social media
an apocalypse of screen zombies
the Milky Way murdered by city lights
smog blotting out majestic mountains
bad news everywhere
danger
danger
a reflected traffic light
on a drizzly city...
everyone covered in blotchy green tattoos
texting drivers
AI images of lush creepy dream homes
plastic water bottles on the ground
obsessive self-documenters
super morbid obesity
diabetic kids breakfasting on cookies and Sprite
choosy beggars on social media
an apocalypse of screen zombies
the Milky Way murdered by city lights
smog blotting out majestic mountains
bad news everywhere
danger
danger
a reflected traffic light
on a drizzly city...
#beauty
#escape
178 reads
12 Comments
Annoying Sexy Body Opinions
"You look greatest when you feel like a damn Queen"
-Most Girls, by Hailee Steinfeld
A disturbing number of guys I've known have had their opinions on what I should/shouldn't do: how I should wear my hair, the clothes I wear, what beauty treatments/products I spend money on, and if I do/if I don't wear make-up that day, my ideal body weight, what I should change (or not change); you name it.
It went over their heads that I could give two Fxs less about what their opinion is on the matter.
What I want to do to feel...
-Most Girls, by Hailee Steinfeld
A disturbing number of guys I've known have had their opinions on what I should/shouldn't do: how I should wear my hair, the clothes I wear, what beauty treatments/products I spend money on, and if I do/if I don't wear make-up that day, my ideal body weight, what I should change (or not change); you name it.
It went over their heads that I could give two Fxs less about what their opinion is on the matter.
What I want to do to feel...
#women
#sexy
109 reads
17 Comments
Self Made Men
Born from a light in a tunnel
raised by angels and rakes
broken teeth left on the asphalt
holes in the shoes on my feet
privilege to eat at the table
gold to fill in my teeth
built myself a mansion
so others could adore me
only to sleep alone
under its sheets
had I listened much better
to the wise ones
to their where's
and their when's
standing atop of the rubble
would've known
there's no such a thing
as self made men
raised by angels and rakes
broken teeth left on the asphalt
holes in the shoes on my feet
privilege to eat at the table
gold to fill in my teeth
built myself a mansion
so others could adore me
only to sleep alone
under its sheets
had I listened much better
to the wise ones
to their where's
and their when's
standing atop of the rubble
would've known
there's no such a thing
as self made men
#greed
117 reads
16 Comments
Abraham's Legacy
Few memes have spiked Western Civilisation more
than the vicious concept of ‘original sin’
a master-stroke of manipulation — its core?
The many are damned — a few self-righteous get in
Forced choice — binary division — heaven or hell
plus fear-guilt-shame tipped cleverly into the mix …
ask: whom does all this abject horror serve? Well, smell
the demon control-freaks with their carrots and sticks
Weird clothes and ceremonies embed the mystique
obscure language elevates the gate-keeper few
moulding group psychology with...
than the vicious concept of ‘original sin’
a master-stroke of manipulation — its core?
The many are damned — a few self-righteous get in
Forced choice — binary division — heaven or hell
plus fear-guilt-shame tipped cleverly into the mix …
ask: whom does all this abject horror serve? Well, smell
the demon control-freaks with their carrots and sticks
Weird clothes and ceremonies embed the mystique
obscure language elevates the gate-keeper few
moulding group psychology with...
#anger
#corruption
#power
#war
#religion
181 reads
25 Comments
excavation
In this cage, blood alone
will not break this bondage
it takes sweat
to excavate the key
that fits the lock
we can salivate
like a rabid dog
pushing against the bars
our ears ringing
with our own voice
beaten down
by the bouncing echo
our teeth will not gnaw
through this curse
we'll break by the weight
of our chains first
and our mile long howl
on the way down
will do us no good
we have to dig
all writers do
will not break this bondage
it takes sweat
to excavate the key
that fits the lock
we can salivate
like a rabid dog
pushing against the bars
our ears ringing
with our own voice
beaten down
by the bouncing echo
our teeth will not gnaw
through this curse
we'll break by the weight
of our chains first
and our mile long howl
on the way down
will do us no good
we have to dig
all writers do
#LifeAsAWriter
#WritingPoetry
63 reads
6 Comments
profundity of kitty litter
one of the most profound things she ever said in my presence
had nothing (& everything) to do with life
my little sister is a wealth of unexpected knowledge
but this statement has always stuck in my mind
we were sharing a house at the time
splitting household chores & expenses
among them...4 cats between us
she came home one day with a new kind of kitty litter
scoopable...which wasn't a thing until then
I watched as she filled the box
then frowned when she pulled out a soup ladle
placing it neatly in a jar beside the pan ...
had nothing (& everything) to do with life
my little sister is a wealth of unexpected knowledge
but this statement has always stuck in my mind
we were sharing a house at the time
splitting household chores & expenses
among them...4 cats between us
she came home one day with a new kind of kitty litter
scoopable...which wasn't a thing until then
I watched as she filled the box
then frowned when she pulled out a soup ladle
placing it neatly in a jar beside the pan ...
#sister
#memories
#learning
#wisdom
#PersonalGrowth
88 reads
13 Comments
A Comforting Inevitability (2024)
The sun rises beyond its normal horizon —
from this point on are all things changed
a switched journey is inked in the upper house
since missing truths have merely been mislaid
a sense of new order emerges with increasing frequency
and patterns of deliberation give way to a singular path
the new base-line points to a tropic of conversion
with questions answered before even asked
in the final analysis one moves beyond looking back concerned
and looks forward with a kind of anticipating TLC
where, of all the many futures on the...
from this point on are all things changed
a switched journey is inked in the upper house
since missing truths have merely been mislaid
a sense of new order emerges with increasing frequency
and patterns of deliberation give way to a singular path
the new base-line points to a tropic of conversion
with questions answered before even asked
in the final analysis one moves beyond looking back concerned
and looks forward with a kind of anticipating TLC
where, of all the many futures on the...
#spiritual
#LifeChangingMoment
#SelfReflection
73 reads
6 Comments
A David you're not
If you want to throw stones
at a giant
make sure there is a volcano
in your palm
ready to erupt
when it hits your target
Sling it in an arch
big enough
to make the degree scream
sign language to the deaf
Let the whistling of its trajectory
wake the earth
let every eye follow the arc
of its intended path
breaking sound barriers
along the way
If you want to sling stones
at a giant
make sure there’s a volcano
in your palm
ready to erupt
when it hits...
at a giant
make sure there is a volcano
in your palm
ready to erupt
when it hits your target
Sling it in an arch
big enough
to make the degree scream
sign language to the deaf
Let the whistling of its trajectory
wake the earth
let every eye follow the arc
of its intended path
breaking sound barriers
along the way
If you want to sling stones
at a giant
make sure there’s a volcano
in your palm
ready to erupt
when it hits...
#politics
#bullying
135 reads
12 Comments
It’s not where you’re from, it’s where you’re at
We drive through flats
that are more grime
than home
it’s where we’re at—
at the supermarket
where yellow stickers
dishonour good food
in a way it doesn’t deserve.
There were two food banks
on the way
but it’s exactly
where we’re at
filling a trolley to a tenth
of its capacity until
a stomach reminds
a human how little
the body needs
to survive
.
.
.
I struck gold today.
...
that are more grime
than home
it’s where we’re at—
at the supermarket
where yellow stickers
dishonour good food
in a way it doesn’t deserve.
There were two food banks
on the way
but it’s exactly
where we’re at
filling a trolley to a tenth
of its capacity until
a stomach reminds
a human how little
the body needs
to survive
.
.
.
I struck gold today.
...
#FreeVerse
#Britain
#poverty
103 reads
5 Comments
DU Poetry : Popular Poems about Life, Society and the World