GoodPoetry: Recent Episodes
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by Teyuna Darris Exciting News: My First Poetry Chapbook is Now Available on Amazon! đ Dear Good Poetry Community, I am so happy and grateful to share some exciting news with you, today I self-published my poetry chapbook, entitled, âStuff I Wrote from My Heartâ Part One: The Ingenue. This collection is now available on [âŚ]
by Teyuna Darris This poem is on page 6 of my upcoming poetry chapbook, entitled, âStuff I Wrote from My Heartâ under the penname (or pseudonym) Margalo Meeks. I wrote this poem when I was circa 15 or 16 years old. The following is a link to a reel of my narration of my poem: [âŚ]
by Edgar Allen Guest (1881 â 1959) To serve my country day by day At any humble post I may; To honor and respect her Flag, To live the traits of which I brag; To be American in deed As well as in my printed creed. To stand for truth and honest toil, To till [âŚ]
by Walt Whitman I hear America singing, the varied carols I hear,Those of mechanics, each one singing his as it should be blithe and strong,The carpenter singing his as he measures his plank or beam,The mason singing his as he makes ready for work, or leaves off work,The boatman singing what belongs to him in [âŚ]
by Walt Whitman (1819 â 1892) Centre of equal daughters, equal sons,All, all alike endearâd, grown, ungrown, young or old,Strong, ample, fair, enduring, capable, rich,Perennial with the Earth, with Freedom, Law and Love,A grand, sane, towering, seated Mother,Chairâd in the adamant of Time.
by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Listen, my children, and you shall hearOf the midnight ride of Paul Revere,On the eighteenth of April, in Seventy-Five:Hardly a man is now aliveWho remembers that famous day and year. He said to his friend, âIf the British marchBy land or sea from the town to-night,Hang a lantern aloft in the [âŚ]
by William Ralph Emerson What makes a nationâs pillars highAnd its foundations strong?What makes it mighty to defyThe foes that round it throng? It is not gold. Its kingdoms grandGo down in battle shock;Its shafts are laid on sinking sand,Not on abiding rock. Is it the sword? Ask the red dustOf empires passed away;The blood [âŚ]
"We are thy sisters, Oh, woman, woman in thy brightest hourOf conscious worth, of pride, of conscious power"
by George Moses Horton True nature first inspires the man,But he must after learn to scan,And mark well every rule;Gradual the climax then ascend,And prove the contrast in the end,Between the wit and fool. A fool thoâ blind, may write a verse,And seem from folly to emergeAnd ryme well every line;One lucky, void of light, [âŚ]
"When black and white fought side by side,Upon the well-contested field,âTurned back the fierce opposing tide,And made the proud invader yieldâ" from "America" by James Monroe Whitfield
"Am I sadly cast aside,On misfortune's rugged tide?Will the world my pains derideForever?"
August âtwas the twenty-fifth,Seventeen hundred forty-six;The Indians did in ambush lay,Some very valiant men to slay,The names of whom Iâll not leave out.
by Paul Laurence Dunbar             I Beyond the years the answer lies,Beyond where brood the grieving skies    And Night drops tears.Where Faith rod-chastened smiles to rise    And doff its fears,And carping Sorrow pines and diesâ    [âŚ]
"...I washed thy face, but more defects I saw, And rubbing off a spot still made a flaw."---Anne Bradstreet
by Ellen Watkins Harper Let me make the songs for the people, Songs for the old and young;Songs to stir like a battle-cry Wherever they are sung.Not for the clashing of sabres, For carnage nor for strife;But songs to thrill the hearts of men With more abundant life.Let me make the songs for the weary, [âŚ]
by Paul Laurence Dunbar Oh, summer has clothed the earthIn a cloak from the loom of the sun!And a mantle, too, of the skiesâ soft blue,And a belt where the rivers run. And now for the kiss of the wind,And the touch of the airâs soft hands,With the rest from strife and the heat of [âŚ]
"May fiery coursers sweep th' ethereal plain, And bear thee upwards to that blest abode, Where, like the prophet, thou shalt find thy God."
"Silver bees intently buzzing, Silver honey dripping from the swarm of bees Earth is a waxen cell of the world comb,"--- from "Beehive" by Jean Toomer
"Oh, Kinsmen! We must meet the common foe; Though far outnumbered, let us still be brave, And for their thousand blows deal one death-blow!..."--- from "If We Must Die" by Claude McKay
"Though slavery's dead, yet there remains A work for those from whom the chains Today are falling one by one; Nor should they deem their labor done,"--- from "An Anniversary Poem, Entitled, 'The Progress of Liberty" by James Madison Bell
"Some view our sable race with scornful eye, "Their colour is a diabolic die." Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain, May be refin'd, and join th' angelic train." --- from "On being brought from AFRICA to AMERICA." by Phillis Wheatley
"God of our weary years, God of our silent tears, Thou who has brought us thus far on the way; Thou who has by Thy might Led us into the light," --- excerpt from "Lift Every Voice and Sing" by James Weldon Johnson
"Are the entrance-place of wonders, Where dreams come in from the rush and din Like sheep from the rains and thunders." --- from "Rhapsody" by William Braithwaite
"Be a bush if you canât be a tree. If you canât be a highway, just be a trail. If you canât be a sun, be a star. For it isnât by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are." - Dr. Martin Luther King, JR.
"...You who are a child of night. Open wide your arms to life, Whirl in the wind of pain and strife, Face the wall with the dark closed gate,..."
How much grit do you think you've got? Can you turn from joys that you like a lot? Have you ever tested yourself to know How far with yourself your will can go? If you want to know if you have grit, Just pick out a joy that you like, and quit.