read a poem

The Clock Sat Smugly on the Shelf | Firestone Feinberg - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

The Clock Sat Smugly on the Shelf | Firestone Feinberg

/ Best Poetry / , , , , / Leave a Comment

The clock sat smugly on the shelf,
As if upon a throne,
Contented with uncounted wealth
Accrued through debtor-loan.

One thousand minutes from the lad
Who tried some time to keep-
Two hundred hours from the maid
Who’d stolen off to sleep–

And twenty days the afternoon
Full washed away by rain–
And thirty weeks- owed by the moon–
For daring so to wane.

Then laughed and laughed the greedy clock,
And selfish sneaked his hands,
As screaming trumpets- tick and tock–
Exclaimed his steep demands.

More at http://www.firestonefeinberg.com and http://www.verse-virtual.com.

The Lesson | Claire Meadows - Contemporary Poetry Website Featuring Notable Poems

The Lesson | Claire Meadows

/ Best Poetry / , , , , / Leave a Comment

Did we find answers there? Across
The square they walked in groups, twos, threes.
You watched, trying to recall a lesson,
The Latin I had traced with a fingertip.
A lesson common to them all.

The air was green, and the jasmine had turned,
The smell sickly yellow.
Delicate. No-one could bear it,
But you, who made an afternoon bloom, and
Flushed me out from my study. For all time.
Caught me, like a child, with remembrance.
With voices from your past, breaking my peace,
And deserting me. My love.
You wore your crown of bays and recalled the lesson.
And my place was shattered.

I think we found our answers there. In a place,
That you could break and tear.
Until all that was left was me.
Did you still come willingly?

Best Poetry Online