transemacabre | Poetry that won't make you nod off

I like poetry with bite, with clear imagery, that grabs you by the throat. I hate long long poems that go on and on and on, because as far as I'm concerned there's nothing of any importance that can't be said in about five paragraphs. With that in mind, here's some poetry that FUCKING ROCKS.

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, "Is it good, friend?"
"It is bitter—bitter," he answered;
"But I like it
"Because it is bitter,
"And because it is my heart."
-- Stephen Crane
The Black Riders and Other Lines

Some say the world will end in fire,
Some say in ice.
From what I've tasted of desire
I hold with those who favor fire.
But if it had to perish twice,
I think I know enough of hate
To say that for destruction ice
Is also great
And would suffice.
-- Robert Frost
Fire and Ice

When I am dead, my dearest,
Sing no sad songs for me;
Plant thou no roses at my head,
Nor shady cypress tree:
Be the green grass above me
With showers and dewdrops wet;
And if thou wilt, remember,
And if thou wilt, forget.

I shall not see the shadows,
I shall not feel the rain;
I shall not hear the nightingale
Sing on, as if in pain:
And dreaming through the twilight
That doth not rise nor set,
Haply I may remember,
And haply may forget.
-- Christina Rossetti
Song

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;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought
Than to love and be loved by me.

I was a child and she was a child,
In this kingdom by the sea;
But we loved with a love that was more than love
I and my Annabel Lee;
With a love that the winged seraphs of heaven
Coveted her and me.

And this was the reason that, long ago,
In this kingdom by the sea,
A wind blew out of a cloud, chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee;
So that her highborn kinsman came
And bore her away from me,
To shut her up in a sepulchre
In this kingdom by the sea.

Of many far wiser than we
And neither the angels in heaven above,
Nor the demons down under the sea,
Can ever dissever my soul from the soul
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee.

For the moon never beams without bringing me dreams
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes
Of the beautiful Annabel Lee;
And so, all the night-tide, I lie down by the side
Of my darling - my darling - my life and my bride,
In the sepulchre there by the sea,
In her tomb by the sounding sea.
-- Edgar Allan Poe
Annabel Lee

Nae shoon to hide her tiny taes,
Nae stockings on her feet;
Her supple ankles white as snow
Of early blossoms sweet.

Her simple dress of sprinkled pink,
Her double, dimpled chin;
Her pucker’d lip and bonny mou’,
With nae ane tooth between.

Her een sae like her mither’s een,
Twa gentle, liquid things;
Her face is like an angel’s face—
We’re glad she has nae wings.
-- Hugh Miller
The Babie

Since all that I can ever do for thee
Is to do nothing, this my prayer must be:
That thou mayst never guess nor ever see
The all-endured this nothing-done costs me
-- Edward, Earl of Lytton
Last Wish

Caro Lamb,
Goddamn.
-- Lord Byron
Versicles

WHETHER YOU LOVE WHAT YOU LOVE
OR LIVE IN DIVIDED CEASELESS
REVOLT AGAINST IT
WHAT YOU LOVE IS YOUR FATE
-- Frank Bidart
Guilty of Dust

Kidnap the President's wife without a plan?
Yeah, I gotta plan,
it's etched with a knife in the center of my hand.
So I guess I'll have to keep my fist clenched,
walk around DC in the rain till my wears is drenched.
Wait for that motherfucker to take out the garbage,
do a press conference on what great shape this country in,
and when them welfare cuts gonna begin.
And when he pat his dog and kiss his wife goodbye,
that's when I move in. I throw that silly ho in a headlock,
muffle her grill so her screams stop. I whisper to her,
"Your man ain't here to protect you, baby. He gone."
I dial up my nigga O-North, tell him meet me with the caddy on the white lawn.
I toss her in the backseat, I cover her head with a black sheet,
put the steel to her grill piece, be like, "If you don't shut up,
I'ma let two shots off in your dome piece!"
Watch her have fits.
If she don't understand, I give her a quick lesson in ebonics.
"I'ma shoot you. Baby."
I'ma take her to my hideout, in the low-income houses down the street.
I replace her Joan and David's with purple Reeboks on her feet.
I give her four hungry kids, no job, no ambition, no family support, and a last welfare check.
I give her crappy ass Medicaid, and an ill kinda growth growing out the side of her neck.
I tell her, "Fend for yourself. Keep you and them shorties in proper health."
Then after sufficient time on that hype, I introduce her to the... Crack Pipe!
Yeah! I let her feel its soothing effects as she tries to forget about the absence of them checks.
I make her sell her jewels for it, I make her pay her dues for it.
And then I'll come to her late at night, and I'll be like,
"Yo, everything ain't gonna be all right."
"You ain't gonna be able to go quietly into that good night."
"Peace ain't gonna come till your death be done."
And then I'll lead her up to the roof, and I'll show her all the shit she don't own.
I'll lead her over to the edge,
and leave her there all alone.
-- MuMS da Schemer.

One day I'll give birth to a tiny baby girl
and when she's born she'll scream and I'll make sure
she never stops.

I will kiss her before I lay her down
and will tell her a story so she knows
how it is and how it must be for her to survive.

I'll tell her about the power of water
the seduction of paper
the promise of gasoline
and the hope of blood.

I'll teach her to shave her eyebrows and
mark her skin.

I'll teach her that her body is
her greatest work of art.

I'll tell her to light things on fire
and keep them burning.

I'll teach her that the fire will not consume her,
that she must take it and use it.

I'll tell her to be tri-sexual, to try anything
to sleep with, fight with, pray with anyone,
just as long as she feels something.

I'll help her do her best work when it rains.
I'll tell her to reinvent herself every 28 days.
I'll teach her to develop all her selves,
the courageous ones,
the smart ones,
the dreaming ones
the fast ones.

I'll teach her that she has an army inside her
that can save her life.

I'll tell her to say Fuck like other people say The
and when people are shocked
to ask them why they so fear a small quartet
of letters.

I'll make sure she always carries a pen
so she can take down the evidence.
If she has no paper, I'll teach her to
write everything down on her tongue
write it on her thighs.

I'll help her to see that she will not find God
or salvation in a dark brick building
built by dead men.

I'll explain to her that it's better to regret the things
she has done than the things she hasn't.

I'll teach her to write her manifestos
on cocktail napkins.
I'll say she should make men lick her enterprise.

I'll teach her to talk hard.
I'll tell her that her skin is the
most beautiful dress she will ever wear.

I'll tell her that people must earn the right
to use her nickname,
that forced intimacy is san ugly thing.

I'll make her understand that she is worth more
with her clothes on.

I'll tell her that when the words finally flow too fast
and she has no use for a pen
that she must quit her job
run out of the house in her bathrobe,
leaving the door open.
I'll teach her to follow the words.

I'll tell her to stand up
and head for the door
after she makes love.
When he asks her to
stay she'll say
she's got to
go.

I'll tell her that when she first bleeds
when she is a woman,
to go up to the roof at midnight,
reach her hands up to the sky and scream.

I'll teach her to be whole, to be holy,
to be so much that she doesn't even
need me anymore.
I'll tell her to go quickly and never come back.
I will make her stronger than me.

I'll say to her never forget what they did to you
and never let them know you remember.

Never forget what they did to you
and never let them know you remember.
Daughter
by Nicole Blackman