A Poet
He — or was it she?
was a child who said little
but walked, endlessly, just looking
or stood still for minutes, hours,
and became what they looked at
was from a large family
but still people said, you’re an only child aren’t you
was it seems very happy in themself
but no-one asked, so never said
kept themself to themself, which annoyed
other children, who bullied them
and then were even more annoyed
when they didn’t play the victim
failed examinations and yet
was always wrapt up in a book
occasionally did things like cutting themselves
and was told off but never questioned usefully
wrote poems secretly but was unconcerned
whether people read them or not
was good to be with as long as you
didn’t expect anything of them
was secretly loved by some
who never liked to say so
because what they loved somehow
didn’t have a name
years later, some of them read the poems
and knew what they had loved
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
In the Spirit of Rumi-17
I said to My Beloved
Who is dearest to You, O My Beloved –
those who seek to know You
or those who seek to love You?
My Beloved said
Those who seek to know Me
must first know themself;
look deep into themselves
to know that which is not themself,
to discard that which is not themself;
then when they have found themself
so deep within themself
they shall find Me there
Those who seek to love Me
must first love themself;
look deep with love into themselves
and discard that which they love but
which is not themself;
then when they have found themself
so deep within themself
they shall find Me there
and those who truly know themself
shall love themself and Me,
shall love Me in themself;
and those who truly love themself
shall know themself and Me,
shall know Me in themself;
two paths lead all to Me:
some love knowledge,
some know love,
the treasure lies
where these paths meet
in Me
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Field Of Yellow Daisies
We met in a field of yellow daisies
Wild and young and free
And she picked a bouquet for me
She loved me...she loved me not
The daisies didn't lie
They knew better than I...she'd go away..yeah
But they didn't say why
Have you ever been in a field of yellow daisies
Where the air is warm, pure and sweet
Just as if the world is at your feet
She loved me...she loved me not
The daisies didn't lie
They knew better than I
She'd go away.....yeah
But they didn't say why
I may fail like petals from a daisy
But for her love I'll always yearn
Each year when yellow daisies return
She loved me...she loved me not
The daisies didn't lie
They knew better than I
She'd go away.....yeahhhh
But they didn't say why
They didn't say why
They didn't say why
They didn't say why
They didn't say why
They didn't say why
They didn't say why.........
song performed by by Tom Jones
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I wrote those poems for myself, as a way of being a soldier here in this country. I didn't know the poems would travel. I didn't go to Lebanon until two years ago, but people told me that many Arabs had memorized these poems and translated them into Arabic.
quote by June Jordan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
My birthday was different this year
As I was rummaging through
the file boxes my wife had left for me
in the garage
I found a yellow legal pad
scribbled with hand written poems
I had written one night
in a almost crowded coffeehouse
waiting for a poet friend from Chicago
to come up north to read
The poems talked about
how I waited and waited
before too long
several anxious poets
ran up to the microphone
not afraid to trip over themselves
share their delicate poems
about romance and almost romance
detailing having a job they don't like
and it seemed to me
they were also not liking much else about their lives
besides their job they didn't like
My Chicago artist friend as usual
was more then an hour late
which isn't bad considering Chicago
is almost three hours away
so most other places
damn, she would have been early
When I read the poem
I wrote about being at a reading
I didn't want to be at
I realized I was spending my birthday
by myself in a coffeehouse
writing poems
not making much eye contact
with people I didn't even like
although one of the poets
I think Francine is her name
came up to me during a break and said 'hi'
but she didn't remember my name
or knew it was my birthday
and a couple of days after my anniversary
or that I was getting a divorce
that poem I read
was a good sign of things to come
because this year
on my birthday
I woke up with a new friend in my bed
multiple orgasms for her to share
before having a nice breakfast together
of eggs, sausage, hash browns and italian toast
cooked on the George Foreman grill
and things didn't look or feel
the same again
poem by Oscar Mireles
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
To That Guy Towards the Back of the Class, He'll Know Who I Mean
Yes you,
the one who’s noisy when
he’s here which isn’t so very often -
you’ll never believe it but
I know you better than you’ll ever know…
oh yes I do and
maybe I could tell you but
the one who I don’t know is
the you that stands in front of you,
that writes your name, and not much else, that sits in class,
that looks at me as if
we were born into two different tribes
sworn to enmity
sometime in your life
someone told you you were nuffin
maybe they didn’t say it, just assumed it
maybe they said it when they were feeling foul
maybe they even said it when saying
the very opposite but
the way they said it meant
they didn’t quite believe it themself because
they felt themself to be like that
know what I’m sayin?
yes I know you better than you know
I know it from that great great place,
that great great space
that’s the same in you and me
and maybe we’ll get a chance
to talk about this some time
maybe meet accidentally in MacD’s
you’ll be embarrassed by the intimacy of that
as if you’d been captured by the other tribe
and you have to bribe your way out but
maybe we’ll chat and I’ll try
to hint to you about that great great space
which somehow doesn’t get
into the classroom... targets etc
that’s if, I don’t change schools first
or give up teaching, it’s a near thing; maybe
we’ll both be glad of the chat, it
could be the start (but keep it quiet)
of something new for you
you’d better believe it; with your life;
(‘bettuh bleevit’)
so try to attend more often,
know what I’m sayin?
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Loved
I loved,
But didn’t speak about it.
I loved,
But didn’t show my feelings.
I loved,
But didn’t expose my soul.
I was speechless
And I was tireless
To listen to your words.
For me they were singing birds.
I loved
And I had seen a wonder.
I loved,
Was not afraid of any thunder.
I loved
And heard only your voice.
You were my only rejoice.
Your eyes sparkled,
They were two shining miracles.
My heart used to sank
As only you touched my hand.
That was long time ago.
My love I didn’t show
As I was only seventeen
And all around seemed blue and green.
©Larisa Rzhepishevska
The 5th of April,2011
poem by Larisa Rzhepishevska
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
What They Will Say
Some times, I wonder if I write for the future.
That may seem like a strange statement to make.
Forty-three years ago, I wrote a poem
that at the time no one wanted to know.
Now it is my best-loved poem
read by countless people around the world.
Thirty years ago, I wrote two poems
and each one won me an award,
but at the time I wrote them,
no one wanted to know.
All of which makes me wonder
if what I wrote in my yesteryears
that then none wanted to know.
Could they all be popular now?
Today I started collecting and retyping
short stories I wrote twenty years ago.
At the time, publishers and agents
didn’t want to know.
Now twenty year on
I am wondering what they will say.
24 January 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Hearts Healing
I called your name
you weren't there
I waited for you
You passed me by
I asked you to dance
You asked someone else
I loved you
You didn't love me
I said hello
You said good-bye
You broke my heart
I couldn't fix it
I wanted revenge
You lauged at me
I cried
You loved someone else
No one heard my cries
My heart was aching
You moved on
I didn't
You were happy
I was sad
I had no one
You had someone
I got lost
lost
lost
In the dark was I
alone alone alone....
my heart still aching
the memoires of us still waking
help help help
no one heard
alone alone alone
forever forever forever
it seemed
the pain was intolerable
I was going insane
my heart was still broken and pain
then then then
I saw
a bright light
i heard a calming voice
calling me....
it was someone who loved me
more than you,
I felt a strong
loving embrace
It was an angel you see
He loved me very much
He told me to go on
That I wasn't alone
I was healed
I felt happy again
and I knew I was loved
and I would never have to wait for love again.....
poem by Bella Ravenstar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
I Didn't Mean To Turn You
Let you take me out
I knew what you were all about
But when I did
I wasn't tryin' to lead you on
Now you bring me home
And tell me goodnight's
Not enough for you
I'm sorry baby
I didn't mean to turn you on
You read me wrong
I wasn't trying to lead you on
I want a friend
I didn't mean to turn you on
I didn't mean to turn you on
I know you
Expected a one night stand
When I refused
I knew you wouldn't understand
Boy I told you twice
I was only tryin' to be nice
Only tryin' to be nice
Oh
I didn't mean to turn you on
Oh I didn't mean to turn you on
Turn you on
Tell me why should I
Feel guilty cause I won't give
Guilty cause I won't give in
I didn't mean to turn you on
[repeat chorus]
You think that I'm a fool
Cause I wouldn't play by your rules
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
You don't stand a chance
All I want to do is dance with you
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
I told you twice
I was only tryin' to be nice
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
I loved you for a friend
But I guess this is the
End of our relationship
Cause I didn't mean to turn you on
I didn't mean to turn you on
Sorry.
[Repeat]
song performed by by Mariah Carey from Glitter
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
0009 Favorite Poem
and you can’t remember much
about the first time you read it except
that it held you to the end, but most of all
this one line, which seemed to hold
the key to the whole poem
as if you were opening the closet of your mind
to bring out something which you knew was there
but instead something way at the back
called to you and you remembered
a moment from way back you thought
you had forgotten
and then you read the poem again
in company with the poet and
yes that’s it, and the two of you
became friends for life, almost
related.
So, now you’ve read all their poems,
feel some more than others but
as if you wrote them all in the same room
where you read them together
and you wait for their new book with
a sorta family pride
and like family,
you leave the poems for a spell,
grow up a little, then
come back to visit -
they mean more;
can it be,
you've both grown?
each time you come back to them
you carry them more close to you
in fact you feel that you could write
poems very much like theirs
as if you’d inherited, too,
the family gift
and though you wouldn’t of course
seek them out in person except
in a reading where you’d
have to share their warmth
with the rest of their extended family
but not say much since
you are a, well, close relative,
if you happened to be driving a route
not far from them, you’d detour,
park a little distance from their house,
but have it in your sight,
hope you might catch a movement,
wait a few minutes, then
start the car with almost a sigh
half relieved that you didn’t have to try
on their cautiously polite doorstep
to find words to say
you love them in their words,
which you almost wrote together,
lived them together;
love them like life itself,
love them
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Didn't Mean To Turn You On
Let you take me out
I knew what you were all about
But when I did
I wasn't tryin' to lead you on
Now you bring me home
And tell me goodnight's
Not enough for you
I'm sorry baby
I didn't mean to turn you on
Chorus:
You read me wrong
I wasn't trying to lead you on
I want a friend
I didn't mean to turn you on
I didn't mean to turn you on
I know you
Expected a one night stand
When I refused
I knew you wouldn't understand
Boy I told you twice
I was only tryin' to be nice
Only tryin' to be nice
Oh
I didn't mean to turn you on
Oh I didn't mean to turn you on
Turn you on
Tell me why should I
Feel guilty cause I won't give
Guilty cause I won't give in
I didn't mean to turn you on
(repeat chorus)
You think that I'm a fool
Cause I wouldn't play by your rules
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
You don't stand a chance
All I want to do is dance with you
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
I told you twice
I was only tryin' to be nice
(I didn't mean to turn you on)
I loved you for a friend
But I guess this is the
End of our relationship
Cause I didn't mean to turn you on
I didn't mean to turn you on
Sorry.
Repeat
song performed by by Mariah Carey
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
I Wrote A Poem I Loved
I WROTE A POEM I LOVED
I wrote a poem I loved
But I could not rest content with it.
I had to write another poem,
And another poem.
And in the writing of other poems,
Some of which I also loved.
I lost the poem I loved.
Essentially I am a writer of poems
And not their possessor.
I possess many poems of others,
But somehow mine, I cannot.
However I love them
Perhaps I really believe
None of them good enough
To be worthy of such love.
poem by Shalom Freedman
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
You'll Know You Were Loved
Some things come to he who waits
but all is lost if you hesitate
And I was never one to wait
you'll know you were loved
You can hire great lawyers, you can speak to your friends
you can say he did this and that some things don't change
Unwrap the present and burn the remains
but you'll know you were loved
Now you take Roscoe, he ain't much
people say things are ruined after his touch
It's like a tar was dripping from his brush
but you'll know you were loved
Or Stan or Jake emerging from your past
from those love affairs that didn't last
But me, I'll give it my last gasp
and you'll know you were loved
A parrot, a donkey, a dog, a bone
some of us never had a home
And if we did we left it long ago
and didn't know we were loved
Empty as a wooden clock
left in the woods at twelve o'clock
Insides all rusted and spring is popped
but you'll know you were loved
Even when you sleep at night
inside your heart will cry
You can never say goodbye
when you know you were loved
Under-achievers of the world unite
You have nothing to lose except your fright
And together we can perhaps past the night
when you know you were loved
And together we can perhaps past the night
when you know you were loved
song performed by by Lou Reed
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
If Daddy Only Knew
I wonder if Daddy knew I had to become super-responsible and a miniature adult at the age of 12
I wonder if Daddy knew life at home was full of broken promises and full of disappointment.
I wonder if Daddy knew why he didn't ever carry me fishing
I wonder if Daddy knew why I had to take life so seriously
I wonder if Daddy knew why I couldn't have fun like my other friends
I wonder if Daddy knew I never really knew what 'normal' was
I wonder if Daddy knew I had to lie and cover up the truth about our family for all those years when telling the truth would have been easier
I wonder if Daddy knew why he didn't ever tell me he loved me. Was it because I was a little 'man'?
I wonder if Daddy knew why he didn't come to my graduation?
I wonder if Daddy knew how much I loved him?
I wonder if Daddy knew how many times the arguments and yelling was my bedtime lullaby?
I wonder if Daddy knew..................that I knew
poem by Barry A. Lanier
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Didnt Know
Didn't know what you had
Until you lost it
Didn't know what you own
Until you got it
Didn't know of your sins
Until you fought it.
Didn't know what you needed
Until you sought it.
Didn't know your lies
Until someone spoke them
Didn't know of the truth
Until someone wrote them
Didn't remembered your dreams
Until someone awoke them
Didn't know they died
Until someone chocked them.
Didn't know you had guilt
Until you cried
Didn't know you felt sadness
Until you tried to hide
Didn't know you felt shame
Until you lied
Didn't know you believed in GOD
Until you asked him why.
Didn't know you felt sorrow
Until you shed a tear
Didn't know that you were scared
Until I saw your fear
Didn't know that you hated
Until you were near
Didn't know that you were unhappy
Until you looked in a mirror.
Didn't know who you truly were
Until your ways you sewed
Didn't know that you were evil
Until the truth was showed
Didn't know you did this before
Until I saw all of your woe
Didn't know who you really were
Though I wished then I did know.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Expectations
Are you waiting for me?
Am I waiting for you?
I hope you are not denying yourself happiness for my sake
I think at one time I loved you, I Think you might have loved me too
Unlike all the other girls, ideas of girls too
You were, you are different in so many ways and I don't think
That it was one-sided, when I think about you my heart does not sink
That was many years ago. Yet it feels fresh
But do you love me now? Do you wish that I would wait for you
Not seek love in other places, because I've found you...
Do I want that from you? Is that fair?
It's weird you aren't that far away- we could see each other
I think we want to, but we just don't
I don't know what to do, if I love another woman I would be crushed
If I learned you were still waiting there for me
Should we talk about this?
Can we talk about this?
What if there is no this
What if you didn't love me
Or you aren't waiting
Would it matter I'm waiting for you?
I'm not good at waiting I already have other crushes
Is that disloyal? unloving to you?
Does it matter?
Would it matter?
What do you expect of me and what do I expect of you
I don't want to wait forever
I don't want you to wait forever
I don't even know if you ever loved me.
Even if you read this would you know it is you?
I wish I could ask you about our expectations and who's waiting
I want to
But I don't know of I can deal with the answer
Yes or no they are both devastating
What then shall I do?
What will I do?
What am I gonna do?
Am I waiting for you?
poem by David Knox
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
0182 Parents (2)
OK, you don’t have to believe this;
but it’s worth thinking about.
Here’s the theory – it’s as beautifully
simple, and as subtle in its implications,
as any mathematician would enjoy:
In the succession of our lives,
leading by so many, many rebirths
to our perfection, each life
is shaped by our actions
in the previous life
and, deep, deep in our soul -
which wants only the best for us,
while we live through what’s laid down
by our past – some sublime reasoning
sets up the handicaps which we must
transcend in our next life; that is, this one
rather as if a jockey or a show-jumper
sets up the hedges, fences, walls, and water-jumps
for themself, so that they themself
may test themself to ride a greater course,
maybe a perfect round..
I’ll cut the moral, here. It’s all
beyond acceptance, and personal forgiveness, though
that’s a start; just a lifetime of
opportunities to ‘make something of yourself’
knowing in your heart that ultimately -
that is, right now -
it’s for the good
so, for a nice friendly family start:
you yourself chose your parents..
OK, you don’t have to believe this;
but it’s worth thinking about?
poem by Michael Shepherd
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The blues was like that problem child that you may have had in the family. You was a little bit ashamed to let anybody see him, but you loved him. You just didn't know how other people would take it.
quote by B.B. King
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
We Knew But Didn’t Know
Occasionally people come into our lives,
people we knew but didn’t know.
We knew them from our early years
before life sent us in different directions.
Years would pass before we met again
with this person we knew but didn’t know.
The passing years had changed us both,
wiser but strangers no less.
In the exchanges that follows a friendship grows.
A friendship that was never there before
with this person we knew but didn’t know.
Everything happens for a reason
and the reason is not for us to know.
In meeting it changes us, ignites a flame within,
a flame of caring given a chance should have been.
Now in maturity we get to know that person
we knew but didn’t know.
What the future holds is as uncertain as tomorrow,
but we walk towards it with this friend,
a person we knew but didn’t know.
27 March 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Letters I Didn't Write
I wish you could have read…
The Letters
that I failed to write
I wish you could have felt the touch…
Of hands that failed to
reach out at night
Would’ve liked for you
to have heard…
Words I couldn’t say
Would’ve liked to have felt
The emotions missed…
When I failed to ask you to stay
What you didn’t feel…
When you didn’t hear …
The words I didn’t say
I wish you could have
At least…Felt the love
That you didn’t feel that day
I wish you could’ve known …
The feelings
that I didn’t show
The words I couldn’t bring to light
And tell you
Long ago
I wish somehow,
you could know now
Of things you knew not then
Of words I didn’t say or write
Of touch, or love
Of things... that might have been
poem by David Whalen
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!