Son Poems | Poemist

Popular Son Poems

If Jesus Was Born Today

by Steve Turner

If Jesus was born today
it would be in a downtown motel
marked by a helicopter's flashing bulb.
A traffic warden, working late,
would be the first upon the scene.
Later, at the expense of a TV network,
an eminent sociologist,
the host of a chat show
and a controversial author
would arrive with their good wishes

......

A Red Palm

by Gary Soto

You're in this dream of cotton plants.
You raise a hoe, swing, and the first weeds
Fall with a sigh. You take another step,
Chop, and the sigh comes again,
Until you yourself are breathing that way
With each step, a sigh that will follow you into town.

That's hours later. The sun is a red blister
Coming up in your palm. Your back is strong,
Young, not yet the broken chair

......

My Father Is A Retired Magician

by Ntozake Shange

(for ifa, p.t., & bisa)

my father is a retired magician
which accounts for my irregular behavior
everythin comes outta magic hats
or bottles wit no bottoms & parakeets
are as easy to get as a couple a rabbits
or 3 fifty cent pieces/ 1958

my daddy retired from magic & took

......

Carry On

by Robert William Service

It's easy to fight when everything's right,
And you're mad with the thrill and the glory;
It's easy to cheer when victory's near,
And wallow in fields that are gory.
It's a different song when everything's wrong,
When you're feeling infernally mortal;
When it's ten against one, and hope there is none,
Buck up, little soldier, and chortle:

Carry on! Carry on!

......

Still

by Wislawa Szymborska

In sealed box cars travel
names across the land,
and how far they will travel so,
and will they ever get out,
don't ask, I won't say, I don't know.

The name Nathan strikes fist against wall,
the name Isaac, demented, sings,
the name Sarah calls out for water for
the name Aaron that's dying of thirst.

......

Recent Son Poems

For My Lovely Son

by Ayatullah Nurjati

I didn't realize I am getting old
Dusk and maybe dim like an incandescent lamp that runs out of electricity
I am not realizing this hair is now gray
Gray hair is similar to the petals of water guava that fall out sucked honey by
bees and even by the gentle wind in the dry season

I don't do much to prove that I'm a passionate person
A desire that sometimes I find it difficult to contain it
There are not many things I have done to prove that even though you are far
away, you are very close to my heart

......

black stork

by norman rockwell

Our lives were once flocked together
with no one to separate us.
But as my wings were slowly shaded
by green of color,
it enraged your beating core
and turned your feathers black,
dark like the shadows that watches over us.
However, you were not there to watch,
but to kill like every mother bird do for their chicks.
The only difference was you did it to me, your child.

......

the man

by norman rockwell

You begged me not to confess, to lie about my quiddity,
for it pierces through your skin to hear my certitude and witness my color.
So, I listened and deceived you, as well as myself.
I did it for as long as air merged out of my body.
Still and all, the time arrived where I exhausted my soul.
You noticed but stayed blind.
That's the extent of the hatred you garnered to the man I embellished.
So I apologize, for I am what you loathe, father.

Coho Season

by Robert Chase

On the jetty - in the mist - dry under ponchos
Surf pounding at concrete - biting at the shore
Glowing gaslamp beckoning gnats - freezing on the tank
Poles in hands - lines in water - standing in entwined silence
Coho spawning - swallowing offered bait
Father and Son sharing heartbeats and serenity

It wasn't me!

by Dr. Robert Ippaso

Every time I do a smell
I think it's cool, somehow just swell,
I turn around and look to see
If they caught on it was me.
I cast a frown and act confused
For all to know I'm quite bemused,
I quickly learned this is the key
To then bleat out...it wasn't me!

I feign a gaze of sad and hurt

......