# Are You A Poet? Then Show It! **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 29, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270 "2000-08-29T23:33:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/1 "2000-08-29T23:33:14Z")
I’m searching high, I’m searching low For the Official Poet of the IMHO Be it happy or sad, verbose or terse I invite y’all to send in your verse You can post in the form of a limerick If you’ve got some original schtick But if you put in a bucket Or a girl from Nantucket You’re chances of winning ain’t slick Haiku can be used Poetry touching the heart Dreams of pulp and ink So send in your best effort, and let loose your muse All poems will be welcomed and none will I refuse [I ask only that it be original verse To avoid nasty letters, or lawsuits, or worse :)] ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2000, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/2 "2000-08-29T23:44:31Z")
Slythe, you rock! 🙂 I’d post a poem of my own, but I’m a bit shy. Maybe after a few others post theirs. Oh, what the hell. This one I wrote after my grandfather died. Live Forever The suffering is over, your painful days are too. I didn’t get to say good bye or how much I love you. Your life on Earth has ended. Now you’ve moved on to Heaven. I hope that soon we’ll be together, but in my heart, You’ll live forever. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/3 "2000-08-30T00:20:10Z")
Silver\_Fire is the first I rather like his touching verse ---
**Author:** ![2nd\_Law](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/2/f475e1/32.png) [@2nd\_Law](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/2nd_Law)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/4 "2000-08-30T00:20:29Z")
He says if I’m a poet, I have to show it, says our mod Slythe, so I will oblige. On Dopers bright and witty I can go on and on, this group whose goal is to drive ignorance down, all followers of Cecil’s are we who are willin’ to call ourselves the Teeming Millions! We post on the boards and we chat in the room, we have us some fun and brighten the gloom, we meet at the dopefests and drink way too much, we agrue and debate and we do other such, For the most part we get along with each other, for there are those teemers I would call “brother,” but there are fewer females that I would call “sister,” as they’re all so cute, and me, I’m a Mr.! * * * I’ll end your pain here, folks… ---
**Author:** ![Silver\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e4f/32.png) [@Silver\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Silver_Fire)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/5 "2000-08-30T00:24:50Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by slythe \* > \*\*Silver\_Fire is the first > I rather like his touching verse > \*\* ::ahem:: **Her** verse, but I thank you anyway. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/6 "2000-08-30T01:05:48Z")
“Computers are fun, they melt in the sun…” ---
**Author:** ![andygirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a9adbd/32.png) [@andygirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andygirl)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/7 "2000-08-30T03:17:31Z")
This is one that I wrote that actually got published. I wrote it for quietgirl. Kiss I could sit here on this hard wooden floor and say how I felt when (buried in the soft scent of your cotton shirt regulating the throbbing of pulse) I melted into you laid as a living statue; distinctly remember the rarefied air sliding into my mouth (accompanied by the delicate interplay of tongue, sweet sensation) Yet such recollection merely clutters this room, spartan, with such sentimentality as cannot be cherished without you. ---
**Author:** ![relic\_11](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/50afbb/32.png) [@relic\_11](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/relic_11)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/8 "2000-08-30T04:11:58Z")
I am right now a semi-finalist in a contest for this one. Wish me luck! **Quiet Angel** I scream, no one hears. But there’s a quiet voice, …there’s nothing to fear… It’s always there, I just can’t hear it. An Angel’s voice, Drowned by demonic spirits. When the devils scream, I tend to forget, A gentle whisper From behind a loving pulpit. She comes to me on feathered wings, She comes to tell me of heavenly things. But sometimes I can’t hear her… If you like that I have another at [http://www.poetry.com](http://www.poetry.com) type in fiarman in the search box. P.S. I like andygirl’s poem. 'tis beautiful. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/9 "2000-08-30T05:12:48Z")
andygirl gives poetry a whirl And relic\_11 shows a bit of his heaven Guanolad’s verse is certainly terse While 2nd Law flirts with all who wear skirts 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/10 "2000-08-30T05:15:47Z")
A sonnet is the way, that I will show my skill To slyth, who poet of IMHO he is trying to fill. **The Love That Loves Me In My Head** I love you more each time I see you smile, Passionate expression I may never know. I long to waste away with you awhile, To warm by fires and watch the soft, falling snow. I shield my eyes from your glorious beauty, That the rest of the world can plainly see. For I know that there can never be us, Your soul will always be separate from me. But pine away for you I will not do, My bird will someday have to take that flight. Please forgive me because I don’t mean to Hurt your feelings but fate I will not fight. For even though this could possibly be, I know now that it was a dream, and is a dream, to me. How’s that slythe, I have many more, If you like that one, I have others in store. ---
**Author:** ![silent\_rob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@silent\_rob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silent_rob)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/11 "2000-08-30T05:20:42Z")
Please excuse my grievous error, see I let the verse out much to early. The last two lines I erred, and wrote in haste, Please exchange these for them, oh what a waste. “For even though this could possibly be, I know now that it must be a dream to me.” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 5:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/12 "2000-08-30T05:44:51Z")
Though to silent\_rob’s talent I will certainly bow More than one poem per person I should not allow Let’s give everyone a chance to give us their best And see who falls on their face, and who passes the test ---
**Author:** ![Monster104](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Monster104](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monster104)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/13 "2000-08-30T06:48:40Z")
Well, here’s my humble entry… Misery grips my beating heart Piece by piece tearing my soul apart Hope dwindles into a darkening night My love struggles in a hopeless fight Well fought but futile still As pain destroys my remaining will Damned is my life Seemingly bringing naught but strife Agony to friend and glee to foe Damning myself to eternal woe Chance plots against my success With burdens and pains in excess Joy and smiles are no more My broken heart but an empty core My love brought happiness in place of pain Now it seems all was in vain Nothing to her was I meant to be Never it seems she will see That I gave all that I can But now I am but a broken man ---
**Author:** ![Balance](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ccd318/32.png) [@Balance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Balance)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/14 "2000-08-30T14:32:54Z")
A poem I wrote on a dreary college day, Speaks of alienation and epiphany (in a Ricean way): Can you really see me? Do you know me for what I am? Or do you only see The illusion Of an ordinary man? I weave a web of shadow, My darkness to protect, And never know Where my soul will lie When the candle flickers next. I touch the mortal realm Like fingers trailing in a stream. A flash of fangs in darkness, A sleeper overwhelmed, And a dark and endless dream Can none see the monster among them? I’m ready for the fall! Let it be war, Or a quick clean end, Or are you monsters…all? ---
**Author:** ![yESTERDAY\_mAN](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a87d85/32.png) [@yESTERDAY\_mAN](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yESTERDAY_mAN)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 2:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/15 "2000-08-30T14:43:59Z")
I wrote this last year. In a way, it’s about many girls that I know, but it’s based on one in particular. She got pretty pissed when I hung it on my locker and told everyone who asked that it was about her. **Plastic Makes Perfect** My pretty plastic angel, You’re such a dirty whore, You spoiled little princess, You think you’re such a star. Just like a Christmas ball, You’re so shiny and beautiful on the surface, So fragile and empty inside. Christmas balls are shiny and beautiful, But they break very easily. My shiny little angel, You always want some more, Your head so full of nothing, You’re just a falling star. Who will save you when you’re falling? After you stab all your “friends” in the back, Twisting the knife in deeper Each time you hug them And say, “I love you.” My empty plastic angel, Lying shattered on the floor, Your pretty face all broken, You know just who you are. ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/16 "2000-08-30T16:27:08Z")
_ **Zen** _ Sometimes the glass is neither half empty nor half full, it simply is _ **Cendrillon** _ All I wanted was a ball; a moment of beauty in a lifetime of ashes. _ **Belle** _ My sisters wanted riches. They found my simpler desires contemptable, but mine was the better bargain. _ **Caution** _ Don’t speak to strangers - a walk in the woods is a walk through eternity, and we are not taught to trust ourselves. Girlchildren are born to be wise but shadowed by the cloak of red. Tricked to maturity too soon by the wild of the woods. Grandmother, share your knowledge with me. Baba, should I trust myself, and talk to the wolf? He only wants to share the sweet of desire. Or shall I circumscribe my life with woodsmen? To them I will always be a victim, in need of salvation from my wild nature. More poetry available at [Ngwalme’s House](http://ngwalme.freeservers.com/) ---
**Author:** ![SisterCoyote](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@SisterCoyote](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SisterCoyote)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 4:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/17 "2000-08-30T16:56:15Z")
My apologies for multiplicity of verse The error is mine, and so much the worse I did misread our moderator’s post And should have posted only one, at most. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [August 30, 2000, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/18 "2000-08-30T23:25:53Z")
For poems so fine, no apology needed It’s for _multiple_ posters that my note should be heeded. ---
**Author:** ![Gadarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e47c2d/32.png) [@Gadarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gadarene)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 6:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/19 "2000-08-31T06:19:32Z")
Aw, hell, I’ll play. **Roman Roads** Another voice has fallen low; the ruins of Rome are smiling And the Titans, glancing over dusty syllables of sundials, Make a small and simple movement, cover one of us in shade. Sympathetic shudders leap through our hearts In metronomic memory, hastening cadence As those unseen hands craft the rhythms of mortality Frightened of the rising past, we shut ourselves, Imposing interpretation upon Salieri: this is what he meant, This is what we mean when we bite a stutter From the lips of reason, saying ‘Shelley was wrong, Ozymandias has had his season, but we will have ours.’ Spending that season marking time, damning deities; Obliterating all implications of passage through the worlds. This is why we shape you into fables of valor, Myths of crafted darkness; this is what we are taught In the “democracy of the dead,” the necessary republic– Past on present, weighted down we march Carrying ahead the voices of our teachers Playing amanuensis, driven by heraldry Poising the sacrament atop makeshift mountains To be revered as fervently as the chosen color of our gods In hopes of storm or cessation, amnesiac absolution Transferring possession of legacy’s burden: Snowden’s secret, finite, fruitless, come to dust. This is why we tremble at the thought of passing on This is what we mean when we speak for you This is how we have come to this place, this is why You see us smashing the face of every wristwatch Against the mountain in dutiful three-quarters time We echo the sentiments of Salieri And hear only echoes, we disdain the Romans And travel upon their roads, we expect divinity But we have broken apart the measurements of the divine. ---
**Author:** ![Triskadecamus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b19c9b/32.png) [@Triskadecamus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Triskadecamus)\ **Post date:** [August 31, 2000, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270/20 "2000-08-31T07:11:42Z")
There, surrounded by the still Sweet waters of the infant sea, In Pangea, at the dawn of time, Grew the scion of the eldest tree. Long it stood, and grew alone, And lofted limbs above the barren land, And with it’s strong and slender roots, It crushed the virgin rock to sand. To no one there it gently whispered, Softly in the borning breeze, The quiet growing memories, Upon the newborn mountain’s knees. Long forgotten tales blew on, Through skies in which no bird had flown, To gather into cloudless rain And fall where never crop had grown. And as the passing years advanced Though centuries, and eons, too, Mysteries like drifts of leaves, And wood and bark, and seed it grew. And Oh! Imagine now the sound, The crashing echos through the dales, And the mighty bones of Earth are rent, As the ancient trunk, is bent, and fails. Soft now, the rotted trunk lies dead, As forests spring up where it stood, And poets merely dream of times, And places where the eldest stood. Triskadecamus [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/are-you-a-poet-then-show-it/31270.md?page=2)