damaged people poems

The Great Santini | Stan Morrison - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

The Great Santini | Stan Morrison

twenty-five years in the us army
still got that little boy haircut
wearing fatigues to the commissary
while keeping important contacts
run your household like a drill sergeant
your sadistic fantasy career and life path
canned images of honor, glory and respect
“clean that latreen with a toothbrush, soldier
you’ll be cleaning it every day for a month”
obscene defense budgets for war toy games
parades, holidays for those who gave their lives
for the failures of old men driven by greed
wear your dress uniform to simulate greatness
honoring a lifetime of service to our country
my hero!

Half the Country | Celestine - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

Half the Country | Celestine

it seems like half the country
has gone mad
as if they don’t realize
that other people
don’t believe what they do
and are just fine
it’s all part of the personality
of individuals who believe
a certain thing and
have to force it on everyone
an insecurity that runs deep
a need to control others
seeing everything as a threat
to their way of life
thinking they’re more real
than those they call others

LORCA | Stefanie Bennett - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

LORCA | Stefanie Bennett

Not even the dream hand
Unknots you. I stretched it out
Never to placate you but
Take the wanton aback.

In your blind state… blind
Of a different kind
I fingered nose, eyes, mouth
And the ear’s sounding tribunal.

Your heart I felt. I wanted
Its telling above others.
The roar it gave forth – worse
Than any air-raid. The manning of guns.

I surmised the pulse of your being
Should be aligned with hollyhocks.
I surmised
A free flighted bird.
I surmised
Storm clouds parted –

But there, on your brow
Something painted
A peal of bells
Where your mind struck five times

Not hours spent, never the dream hand,
Neither my grace or its own
Beguiled wretchedness could impede
What was, or isn’t, there.

Invisible Fence | Langley Shazor - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

Invisible Fence | Langley Shazor

Such strange creatures
Contentment
A fleeting ideal
We chase voraciously
To come in arm’s reach
As it disintegrates
Beneath our fingertips
As I am
I think
Ergo I am
Here on the ground
Longing to be in the air
Once there
Desirous
For gravity’s power
Planting me firmly
Terrestrially
Only to gaze at the clouds
Remembering the view
From the other side

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