Short Harsher Poems

A Whispered Blink
            by Odin Roark

The poet lives the allegory of a whispered blink
Knowing the harsher the voice
The less one hears
The longer the eye dwells
The less one sees...

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Spring is late in coming and March is chilly,
England’s weather seems to be getting harsher,
Friends had snow and here it is cold and raining…
Easter in wellies!*

* Wellington boots

For Craig’s Sapphic Stanza contest...

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One man’s treasure, one man’s trash;
saved for years, then sold for cash.

Though held once in high esteem,
tarnish overtook their gleam.

Dull they sit and patient wait,
helpless to control their fate.

Auctioned off, or harsher still,
land ignoble, in a fill....

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a belief in yourself that allows you to write 
understandably brave, for all will not appreciate your words
taking a risk with every syllable for written is harsher than spoken 
hoping it will all work out, and you will connect with someone else 
outfielder catching fly balls, sometimes in the head 
risk is worth it in the end, for you are sharing your truth...

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Some mistakes are
Not so easy to erase
Some linger
And haunt you
No matter what you’ve done
No matter what you do
As you try to forget
As you try to make amends
Sometimes forgiveness
Never seems to come
Sometimes you’re so much
Harsher on yourself


Submitted on August 26, 2019 for contest OVERCOMING MISTAKES sponsored by CHANTELLE ANNE COOKE  -  RANKED 1ST...

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But my school master
my father and mother
the classmates and friends
contributed little, or nothing

Lessons to write poems
Life taught me major skills
Inspired me with intrinsic love
And it made me to conclude;

“Best and lasting lessons in life
are not taught by institutions,
but by the often neglected
wild bushes of life. 
The harsher the wilderness,
the greater the lesson.”...

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to fly a plane such an ordeal
I was checked my hands a potential weapon
and dogs to smell mine
and on a return i told them you much harsher giving the full monty
like I hide a gun in my tee shirt but the dog could be explosive 
want to check is anus eight pound of love you must be joking
as he have two chips on its shoulders you'r blowing my mind
and safe travel who they are kidding not me....

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Widened

Yell my dear love live far from me
Ring not me ever  see you in dreams
Spaces between us widened not show care anymore
How i am alive without you without you dear absconded

Sun is dull without you Evenings are dimmer without you
Skies are harsher without you my existence incomplete without you
Show yourself once more  need I you more
Widened the space between you and me without a reason...

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My insight is tattered and torn
Nothing left to see here 
Except threads of my confidence

I am exhausted 
Having battled tigers, lions and bears
Oh my!

Emerald City is much harsher 
inside my mind 
than it ever was  in Kansas

I cannot think
Even my eyelids are exhausted
My inspiration is taking a nap in a foreign country

I’ve got this my phoenix assures me
Go to sleep baby.
I’ve got this....

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I used to fear that some would find me strange.
Yet I'm seeing life harsher than I thought.
Thus I shape a wandering mountain range.
I used to fear that some would find me strange
My hunch tells me it's time to make a change.
It's simpler than what I aimed or I've wrought
I used to fear that some would find me strange.
yet I'm seeing life harsher than I thought.

Written: March 10, 2023...

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The dream: I stroll my house to a promontory
I stare out of the limitless, restless ocean
stepping ahead, dived into the ravenous water
something white was on the beach today
I dug up many bones entrenched in the sand.

Whispers became harsher
to sever and wreck their nasty spirits
as he greeted his eternal partners
there was a swarm of slain people
they shut an ailing slayer in the vortex of hate.

Written: November 07, 2022...

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Words have a way of wounding,   
piercing deep into the soul,
harsher than physical pain
within their imprints leaving.

Like cancer cells invasive
they strain relationships,
treacherously ending them
that no remorse can repair.   

Often leaving ugly scars
that time itself cannot heal,
there is no taking them back
once cast, finding their mark.

Be careful of what you say
before opening your mouth
for even remarks not meant
could actually hurt the most....

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