Most Commented Ballad Poems (503)

“We have eaten all the oysters,”
the Carpenter proclaimed.
The Walrus looked around to see
no single one remained.
“They were so plump and tasty, though,
we hardly can be blamed.”

The Walrus and the Carpenter
walked off along the sand,
then all at once they noticed they
were walking hand in hand.
Although, as to the reason why,
they did not understand.

And then the Walrus turned to speak,
but knew not what to say.
Perhaps a word or two about
the strangeness of their day.
“I’m worried,” said the Carpenter,
“I think we might be gay.”

“That’s not so bad,” the Walrus said,
“in fact, it might be fun.”
“Let’s stop right here upon the sand
And make love in the sun.
But when he turned to face his friend,
The Carpenter had gone.

she looks at me, mid pub, and asks
in a way, rhetorical
as if she knows something
I don't and will never

"why do you live on a boat?"

for the sounds of raindrops
above my sleeping head
for my conversation with dawn
always the same woman
uniquely dressed

for ebb for flow for light
light such as it is
it informs, comforts, and listens
for breeze, whiped

for a wild mirror
pitched at an angle
past me
to show truth

for the lone swan
whose visits mean more
to me than it

for the years that should have taken
yet didn't.

for the woman I'll know I'll meet
who speaks in the dialect
of unaware kindness
dresses in the clothes of realism
and sings in the key of smiling

for ropes for knots
bowline
single sheet bends
carrick bends
reef
anchor hitch

arteries around
this chamber of peace

For all the wonderful memories we will create together, For all the beauty that builds and dwells inside, We live to love and share our feelings for each other, To my amazing woman this goddess of mine, For all the minute's, hours and every season of the year, Image a relationship as a partnership of divine, For all the little things I've come to cherish and hold dear, To embrace for just a second is to love you for a lifetime.....

you know the summer's fading.. and the night is getting cold.. there's an east wind in the harbour.. and lord knows I'm getting old.. and my work it takes me everywhere.. and nowhere fast and slow..

it takes a man to plough an acre.. it takes a woman to make it grow

there's an orchard in the south field.. there's a herd of cattle too.. there's an empty chair that held you.. a rare creature tall and true.. and I dream about you always.. even nights that I don't dream..

it takes a man to set a plough right.. it takes a woman to hitch a team

more a fighter than a lover.. girl you picked me anyway.. and you tried to change my dress sense.. but you knew I wouldn't play.. and you laughed at my cowboy movies.. as I turned in to my old man..

it takes a man to work his heart out.. it takes a woman to give a damn

you know we never did much talkin'.. jesus girl you were unique.. and I'm sorry for taking the lord's name.. every other time I speak.. see they don't make girl's like you no more.. at least it seems that way..

it takes a man to save a harvest.. it takes a woman to save the day

well you know I'm big an awkward.. and as rough as a badger's a**.. I got two eyes that scare the locals.. and sometimes my talk is crass.. but I know each lock is different.. as unique as a key..

it takes a man to bring his story.. it takes a woman to set him free

I met her in the winter.. in a bar upon the hill.. when the dark was carved from starlight.. and the moon had paid the bill

I came in from the wilderness.. from the howling wind and rain.. I was weary from my journeys.. around other people's pain

"You are bearded broad and ugly".. said the prairie girl in fright.. not one for moralising.. we shared our bones that night

I told her of my story.. from the famine ships I came.. from a world of madness hunger.. where I killed men.. to my shame

corruption took our homelands.. our humanity and our dead.. I hated a world that priced our lives.. in the currency of bread

I left her at the dawning.. as a coyote fought the moon.. one night was our forever.. she'd be over me by noon

my road ís a lonesome one.. thrown far by a devil's hurl.. so I bellow out a fire.. for the prairie and the girl

(or the unwitting brilliance of someone who didn't know it)

you never walked.. 'twas more the curve of the earth.. found a mooring.. in the shape of your foot

you never sang..' twas more a distillation of vibrated yearning.. and what emerged.. saluted a starved ear

you never smiled.. 'twas more the agents of joy constructing.. permanent dwellings.. beneath your eyes

you never painted.. ' twas more you sketched what joy displaced.. and a magic kissed your brush

you never sought numerical truth.. 'twas more the starling cloud of value, settling.. on the branch of your logic

you never carved out a career.. 'twas more the align of the heart.. synced with restless thought

you never swam the spring tide

'twas more the sea inhaled.. and the normal laws of physics.. let you pass

I see missed steps along the silent highway.. forgotten by the sound of endless cars.. how can a soul of your enduring conscience.. compete with all them souls that have no scars?

silence is bitter when its raining.. you feel too much to set a deeper keel.. you've always lived your life like you're in training.. but you got the heart to go and make it real

you only read the signs when you're lost girl.. you only crave the darkness when you hide.. you only take the comfort of a stranger.. to cheat against the beauty that's inside

clocks put arms around the days and vanish.. you were meant for more than just a minor part.. take the road that leads you to your fear now.. and forge within some steel as you depart

you'll only need the ocean when you're angry.. you'll only need the winter when you're done.. you'll only ever be unfaithful to yourself.. I'm too remote to ever be the one

spiraling debauchery
the pit in which I fell
tis fiendishly amoral
the tale of which I'll tell

I dreamt of tax accountancy
but my parents had a goal
to live their dreams vicariously
by dint of rock and roll

I played the aul triangle
I went to music school
I figured t'would be easy
just stand there with my tool

fast forward twenty summers
as fiction fell to fact
an electric triangle player
in a norwegian metal act

now I know it sounds absurd
I mean.. you've never heard it said
that she left the front man standing
for the lead triangle's bed

rolling stone has done a cover
I've had groupies up a tree
"your crib will feature friday"
said the guy at MTV

my crazy rider lists
did set the crazy tone
a minatiure mount everest
made from toblerone

my accountant calls me jesus
can't count half of what I got
the tour bus has a golf course
and the chicks are smoking hot

I've got triangle roadies
they tune the different notes
it's wall to wall coke orgies
in my one of many boats

they love me in bermuda
I've got cult status there
we party for a week or so
and then just disappear

I get expensive clothing
and panties in the post
the fans play air triangle
I eat caviar.. on toast

the doc has told me watch it
he's seen it all before
a burned out triangle player
and the endless search for more

I met me a girl
called Deja Vu
her folks seemed to know me
and her dog did too

she told me my future
as we lied in bed
she seemed to know the architect
inside my head

dirty blonde curls
and big eyes blue
and a voice that told ya
that she just knew

when she drove my truck
she'd kill the clutch
she used to drive me crazy
with her singing and sutch

she had my number
as far as I could see
but she never gave tips
on the lottery

she hated the future
but spliced we grew
and I made an honest woman
outta Deja Vu

carrie walked out of the diner.. her shift was nearing its end.. and the trees made love in the darkness.. and her eyes to a smile did pretend

talks about music and college.. did rise and fall on the air.. and a heart that once loved another.. for no reason began not to care

I drove down there about midnight.. past farms that seemed to be free.. but I knew in the end that I'd buy one.. and that would be the end of me

now the birds still sing in the tall grass.. on the earth where she once loved me.. but it spins on an axis so different.. and I've learned to let certain things be

but her car.. her car.. is a dream

I knew she was getting tired of me.. my work it was getting her down.. and what good is a roughneck on dance night.. when there's a banker's hand in town

"will you see me on Sunday..?"
will you smile your smile and look nice?.. but you know that a question is worthless.. when you gotta ask it twice

now the river flows down like always.. from the mountains that once heard us sing.. but its funny how something is nothing.. when nothing was once everything

but her car.. her car.. is a dream

her small talk began getting smaller.. she spoke to a script I could see.. and her eyes that were warmer than summer.. did look to a place beyond me

feeling like an oak that's been hollowed.. yet my pride it still rode next to me.. and when she asked if I could say something.. I said no and just let me be

and the roads they took us homeward.. in my daddy's truck through the dark.. and I looked in the heavens for answers.. and saw nothing but stars and a lark

"I heard she married a Doctor"
my friend Jake did tell me years on.. and I smiled like it meant nothing to me.. and got sick when I knew he was gone

now the sparrows play in the cornfields.. where we used to make love all night long.. ain't it funny how some women linger..
and you can't seem to outdrive their song

and her car, her car.. was a dream