Good poems
/ page 265 of 545 /
M'Fingal - Canto II
© John Trumbull
"T' evade these crimes of blackest grain
You prate of liberty in vain,
And strive to hide your vile designs
In terms abstruse, like school-divines.
Breaking and Entering
© Ralph Angel
Many setups. At least as many falls.
Winter is paralyzing the country, but not here.
Here, the boys are impersonating songs of indigenous
wildlife. Mockingbird on the roof of the Gun Shop,
kumrads die because they're told)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
kumrads die because they're told)
kumrads die before they're old
(kumrads aren't afraid to die
kumrads don't
and kumrads won't
believe in life)and death knows whie
a clown's smirk in the skull of a baboon
© Edward Estlin Cummings
Hell(by most humble me which shall increase)
open thy fire!for i have had some bliss
of one small lady upon earth above;
to whom i cry,remembering her face,
i have never loved you dear as now i love
here is little Effie's head
© Edward Estlin Cummings
here is little Effie's head
whose brains are made of gingerbread
when judgment day comes
God will find six crumbs
Skating (4)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
Spring is past, and Summer's past,
Autumn's come, and going;
Weather seems as though at last
We might get some snowing.
Jehovah buried,Satan dead,
© Edward Estlin Cummings
King Christ,this world is all aleak;
and lifepreservers there are none:
and waves which only He may walk
Who dares to call Himself a man.
voices to voices,lip to lip... (XXXIII)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
voices to voices,lip to lip
i swear(to noone everyone)constitutes
undying;or whatever this and that petal confutes...
to exist being a peculiar form of sleep
pity this busy monster,manunkind... (XIV)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
plays with the bigness of his littleness
-electrons deify one razorblade
into a mountainrange;lenses extend
my girl's tall with hard long eyes... (XIX)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
my girl's tall with hard long eyes
as she stands, with her long hard hands keeping
silence on her dress, good for sleeping
is her long hard body filled with surprise
lily has a rose
© Edward Estlin Cummings
lily has a rose
(i have none)
"don't cry dear violet
you may take mine"
she being Brand... (XIX)
© Edward Estlin Cummings
-new;and you
know consequently a
little stiff i was
careful of her and(having
The Pact
© Sharon Olds
We played dolls in that house where Father staggered with the
Thanksgiving knife, where Mother wept at noon into her one ounce of
cottage cheese, praying for the strength not to
kill herself. We kneeled over the
1954
© Sharon Olds
Then dirt scared me, because of the dirt
he had put on her face. And her training bra
scared methe newspapers, morning and evening,
kept saying it, training bra,
The Broken Tryst
© Arthur Symons
That day a fire was in my blood;
I could have sung: joy wrapt me round;
The men I met seemed all so good,
I scarcely knew I trod the ground.
Directions
© Billy Collins
You know the brick path in the back of the house,
the one you see from the kitchen window,
the one that bends around the far end of the garden
where all the yellow primroses are?
I Go Back To The House For A Book
© Billy Collins
I turn around on the gravel
and go back to the house for a book,
something to read at the doctor's office,
and while I am inside, running the finger
By A Swimming Pool Outside Syracusa
© Billy Collins
All afternoon I have been struggling
to communicate in Italian
with Roberto and Giuseppe, who have begun
to resemble the two male characters
