16 Penny Nails! Poem by Eric Cockrell

16 Penny Nails!

Rating: 3.4


strong harsh words,
16 penny nails driven
by a big hammer....

truth tears at the flesh
of the lie and the liar!
things arent pretty anymore.

hurt is real!
homeless is real!
jobless is real!

hunger is real!
the streets are real!
prison is real!

prejudice, oppression,
hatred, violence....
people used, and thrown away!

persecution... over religion,
over sexual choice,
over political viewpoints....

wars fought over oil fields,
riot squads beating peaceful protestors...
women losing the rights

to their own bodies....
lonliness, suicide, drug addiction....
a harsh picture, faces put on bodies....

and yet beneath it all
there still lies a beauty...
all human beings, all human beings,

made in the image of God!
how can we not respect each other?
and how can we overlook....

the value of life?
with trembling hands wiping away
the blood, sweat, and urine of life...

trembling hands that when joined
become the hands of prayer!
16 penny nails, with heart!

COMMENTS OF THE POEM
Jacqui Broad 19 November 2011

The walk of life. We are blessed if we can still see the beauty. I always learn from your poetry, thank you...

1 0 Reply
Bulletcookie 2017 03 December 2011

Reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel 'Hammer & Nail': the laundry list of all that is human and not. Sometimes it feels like a bent 16 penny nail and other times we get driven home! Best, c...

1 0 Reply
Ebi Robert 03 January 2012

magical imagery on the row here. Love it.

1 0 Reply
Ebi Robert 03 January 2012

magical imagery on the row here. Love it.

1 0 Reply
Juan Olivarez 30 January 2012

Strong and powerful piece, so much truth in your words.

1 0 Reply
Wahab Abdul 24 May 2013

stop giving birth, stop having high hopes, there will be no want of, no frustration, no pangs or pains... Buddha did know more well...lovely.. like it..

1 0 Reply
Karen Sinclair 19 June 2012

In each flower there is beauty and every human, hope...great thought provoker which im glad lifted the spirit by the end...

1 0 Reply
Marites C. Cayetano 16 June 2012

I prefer to see only the beauty....

1 0 Reply
Raja Nosherwan 12 June 2012

Good going, my good sir!

1 0 Reply
Okoye Charles Chukwudi 22 February 2012

This is so smooth...and clean...very nice poem...you are a preacher of truth....a philosopher....thanks for sharing

1 0 Reply
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