Pretty women wonder where my secret lies.
I'm not cute or built to suit a fashion model's size
But when I start to tell them,
They think I'm telling lies.
...
You may write me down in history
With your bitter, twisted lies,
You may tread me in the very dirt
But still, like dust, I'll rise.
...
Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
...
Hold fast to dreams
For if dreams die
Life is a broken-winged bird
That cannot fly.
...
Do not stand at my grave and weep
I am not there. I do not sleep.
I am a thousand winds that blow.
I am the diamond glints on snow.
...
It was many and many a year ago,
In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know
By the name of ANNABEL LEE;
...
Whose woods these are I think I know.
His house is in the village, though;
He will not see me stopping here
To watch his woods fill up with snow.
...
The free bird leaps
on the back of the wind
and floats downstream
till the current ends
...
The most important thing we've learned,
So far as children are concerned,
Is never, NEVER, NEVER let
Them near your television set -
...
Writing a poem is not about bringing some words together to create some charming sentences. It's so much deeper than that. Writing poetry is a bridge that allows people to express their feelings and make others live every single word they read. Poetry is to educate people, to lead them away from hate to love, from violence to mercy and pity. Writing poetry is to help this community better understand life and live it more passionately. PoemHunter.com contains an enormous number of famous poems from all over the world, by both classical and modern poets. You can read as many as you want, and also submit your own poems to share your writings with all our poets, members, and visitors.
WE take from life one little share,
And say that this shall be
A space, redeemed from toil and care,
From tears and sadness free.
And, haply, Death unstrings his bow
And Sorrow stands apart,
And, for a little while, we know
The sunshine of the heart.
Existence seems a summer eve,
Warm, soft, and full of peace;
Our free, unfettered feelings give
The soul its full release.
A moment, then, it takes the power,
To call up thoughts that throw
Around that charmed and hallowed hour,
This life's divinest glow.
But Time, though viewlessly it flies,
And slowly, will not stay;
Alike, through clear and clouded skies,
It cleaves its silent way.
Alike the bitter cup of grief,
Alike the draught of bliss,
Its progress leaves but moment brief
For baffled lips to kiss.
...
Let us not talk philosophy, drop it, Jeanne.
So many words, so much paper, who can stand it.
I told you the truth about my distancing myself.
I've stopped worrying about my misshapen life.
It was no better and no worse than the usual human tragedies.
For over thirty years we have been waging our dispute
As we do now, on the island under the skies of the tropics.
We flee a downpour, in an instant the bright sun again,
And I grow dumb, dazzled by the emerald essence of the leaves.
...
The Sun once warmed the Moon's gentle face,
A love that danced between night and day,
But shadows grew, and time shifted pace.
The Moon sighed softly in silvered gray,
Sadness cloaked the light they could not share,
While Sun chased dusk, slipping far away.
Yet moments bloomed in dawn's bright air,
Joy sparkled in each fleeting glance,
...
(मंच शांत है। संध्या की हल्की रोशनी फैली है। वक्ता अकेला खड़ा है, हाथ में कोई वस्तु—शायद एक पत्र, एक तस्वीर, या किसी इच्छा का प्रतीक। वह ऐसे बोलता है जैसे खामोशी से स्वीकारोक्ति कर रहा हो।)
लोग कहते हैं कि चाहत समय के साथ फीकी पड़ जाती है।
कि समय सबसे तीव्र इच्छा को भी कुंद कर देता है।
पर उन्होंने कभी उस दिल से मुलाक़ात नहीं की
...
(The stage is quiet. Evening light filters in. The speaker stands alone, holding an object—perhaps a letter, a photograph, or a symbol of desire. He speaks slowly, as if confessing to the silence.)
They say desire fades.
That time dulls even the sharpest wanting.
But they have never met a heart
...
(मंच अँधेरे में है। एक अकेली स्पॉटलाइट ऊँचाई पर खड़े वक्ता को रोशन करती है। वह ऊपर आकाश की ओर देख रहा है। हवा की हल्की-सी गूँज और सपनों की दूर की प्रतिध्वनि सुनाई देती है। वह धीरे बोलना शुरू करता है, मानो रात के आकाश से संवाद कर रहा हो।)
उन्होंने मुझसे कहा—
"वास्तविक बनो।"
मानो वास्तविकता एक पिंजरा हो,
...
(A dark stage. A single spotlight reveals the speaker standing on a high platform, gazing upward. A faint hum of wind and distant echoes of dreams. The speaker begins softly, as if addressing the vast night sky.)
So they told me—
"Be realistic."
As if reality were a cage,
...
(मंच अँधेरे में है। एक मेज़ पर रखा दीपक हल्की रोशनी फैला रहा है। चारों ओर काग़ज़, किताबें और अधूरा काम बिखरा पड़ा है। बाहर की दुनिया सो रही है। वक्ता अकेला बैठा है—आँखें थकी हुई, पर उद्देश्य से भरी।)
फिर आधी रात।
वह समय जब घड़ियाँ फुसफुसाती हैं
और दुनिया अपने वादों को भूल जाती है।
...
(The stage is dim. A single desk lamp glows against the darkness. Papers, books, and unfinished work are scattered everywhere. Outside, the world sleeps. The speaker sits alone, eyes heavy but burning with purpose.)
Midnight again.
The hour when clocks whisper
and the world forgets its promises.
...
We give, we try, we lend our light,
In moments lost to silent night.
No echo comes, no praise, no cheer,
Just empty space where thanks might appear.
...
They broke me first with silent scorn,
Then cursed the way my soul was torn.
No guilt they wore, no shame, no plea—
Just pointed hands, all aimed at me.
...
A thief once came with silent tread,
And left me cold, alone, misled.
I held the grudge, I fed the flame,
And wore my wrath like cloak and name.
...
A shadow falls across the land,
A heavy fist, a cruel command.
Them and us, a bitter divide,
...
They're not ashamed of what they've done,
Just scared the truth won't come undone.
No guilt within their hollow chest,
Just fear their lies won't let them rest.
...
Your molten hot flow
Rocks between patches of snow
Shakes the whole mountain
City through the smoke and vog
...
I dwell
In the absence
You left behind
...
If you die before me
I would jump down into your grave
and hug you so innocently
that angels will become jealous.
...
Beautiful is the 'thank you'
Wrapped with gratitude,
Offered to peace prone people
Who offer what is real-themselves
...
Indoors by technology, outdoors by speedy transport
I travel the world
Today in Japan, tomorrow in Rome,
Next day by an ancient civilization or in Hawaii or Coast Ivory,
...
The low lands call
I am tempted to answer
They are offering me a free dwelling
Without having to conquer
...
The Peace Warrior Of Mzansi, among heroes - a colossus!
Sun Of The Nation; a rare gift of Providence.
Once, entangled in the web of racist succubus;
Unruffled he declares before High Justice:
...
(This is a composition in Pilipino Language the first one I did, the only one, and hope some of the Filipinos will get this funny poem in this site. The poem is updated with English translation)
Noong taong otsenta dekada
...
Love and lust are poles apart.
Lust is chaos, love is art.
...
Rappelle-toi Barbara
Il pleuvait sans cesse sur Brest ce jour-là
Et tu marchais souriante
Épanouie ravie ruisselante
...
you put this pen
in my hand and you
take the pen from you put this pen
...
On this dry prepared path walk heavy feet.
This is not "dinner music." This is a power structure.
...
"Come, pretty birds, present your lays,
And learn to chaunt a goddess praise;
Ye wood-nymphs, let your voices be
Employ'd to serve her deity:
...
If you had the choice of two women to wed,
(Though of course the idea is quite absurd)
And the first from her heels to her dainty head
Was charming in every sense of the word:
...
A little while, a little while,
The weary task is put away,
And I can sing and I can smile,
Alike, while I have holiday.
...
Between us now and here -
Two thrown together
Who are not wont to wear
Life's flushest feather -
...
185
"Faith" is a fine invention
When Gentlemen can see—
...