Best Uncle Poems

  “Grief is like the ocean. The waves ebb and flow. Sometimes the water is calm. Other times it's turbulent. In order to survive, I had to learn to swim. In moments when I struggled with massive waves of grief, I rode it out.”...

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He lived in a small place down by the river
Raised a few chickens and a garden to tend
Neat and clean but we knew he had little
But to us children he was a dear friend

Always ready to come play our silly games
Or happy to listen to...

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Looking Back Long Ago

We had been looking back long ago
While time crept by seeming so slow;
Distance between time kept spreading;
May do something they were dreading.

On a broad beach boots hit the sand,
After looking at sight of a lonely land;
On shore was blowing a light breeze;
Exposed...

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In Arras field he watched that day
A flash of light against the grey,
High explosives whistled all around
And fallen thousands filled the ground.
Kentish man against the wall,
He had defended to the last;
A fleeting life--
So briefly did it pass.

One of the Lost generation  of World War...

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Steel resolution, made a thousand times
To reach across black rift between closed hearts
Carefully constructed, a thousand lines
Rose incantation, enchanted restart

Dim hourglass of the blind excuse dancer
Clings desperately to its final grains
Dark wolf’s mouth slavers, he smells your cancer
Speak now, or forever we keep these pains

Knock...

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He lies in peace beneath this tree

where death by shock came suddenly.

That thunderbolt struck Uncle Tom-

he faced the storm before the calm.


April 16, 2019

Premiere Contest: Your Best Light-Verse Poetry
Sponsor:L Milton Hankins
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1963.
I ran crying to Uncle Jim, standing by the barn door.
We hugged, and I tried to hold the smell of him,
of Vermont -- Old Spice, oatmeal, rotting leaves in crisp October air.
"Oh, kid, you and me, kid ... you and me," he said. 
But the...

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‘She’s on again - the annual campin’ trip regatta,
and we’ve got ourselves together for our plans to Wonnangatta. 
The high country; you can’t beat it for the peace and quiet
unless of course some plans get changed that nearly cause a riot.

Flamin’ ‘Dangles’ has to go...

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His ramrod back, his brill-creamed hair 
and waxed moustache gave him a certain air, 
a certain dash, and a military bearing. 
His speech was clipped. He walked his stick 
with sergeant major's flick.
His corduroys  were always neatly creased 
and Liberty cravat was tucked and...

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My uncle was a vegan
Back before that was a word.
As kids, we always found
His eating habits quite absurd.

His veggies he refused to cut
So there upon his plate
Were carrots, leaves and peppers – 
We could really not relate.

Especially because that meal
Was on Thanksgiving Day.
We stuffed our...

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I once knew a crazy old man Uncle Hanky P. Hunk. 
He had the dirtiest house, the drabbest bunk.
I think that he was often kind of drunk.
His bedding was full of icky sticky gunk.

Once in wandered a tiny black and white skunk.
He fell on the...

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Dedicated to my dear uncle who passed away recently

Grief permeates throughout the place
and enters into the veins of my hand
as I take out my pen and sit
to ink my mournful thoughts into words
in dedication to you, dear beloved uncle. 

The benevolent smile on your face
every...

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You are old, Uncle Joseph,
your short stepping gait
has aroused much comment
in the media of late.

My steps  may be short
but I still get along.
Like Johnny Walker
I'm still going strong.

You are old, Uncle Joseph.
If  I err, please forgive..
Your memory, they say,
somewhat resembles a sieve.

Being forgetful...

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He came in loud and proud, Uncle Harry.
We were glad our aunt Tee he did marry.
We liked him almost instantly, and well.
He always had the best stories to tell.
Until the cancer came into his life
Quickly wiped away so much of his strife
Ruining things and making...

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Promised a honey baked life by Uncle Sam,
a V.A. loan, and a mini-van.
Three kids and a fenced yard.
It should be attainable to those who
worked so hard.
They served, they sacrificed as mother's wept,
came home to be forgotten to a government
that's inept..
Our unsung hero's who fought gallantly,...

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