Nicholas Gordon

Heads or Tails: Pantoums

I HATE YOU, DAD, FOR WHAT YOU DID I hate you, Dad, for what you did To me when I was just a child, A helpless thing whom you could beat Until the excess bile was drained. To me, when I was just a child, You were God unmerciful Until the excess bile was drained And you were once again my friend. You were God unmerciful, And I was Satan, Lord of Hell, Until you were again my friend And curdled my last drops of love. And I... (posted by Nicholas 245 days 16 hours ago.)

Let Me Be the Bandage for Your Bleeding: Poems About the Importance of Friendship

FRIENDS IN HIGH SCHOOL ARE FOREVER YOUNG Friends in high school are forever young. Unchanged, they're where you always will belong. The crowd is never gone, the pleasure stays, The music of the moment always plays, The time remains a field of wistful grace To which you may return from anyplace. Of course, you may still know them later on... (posted by Nicholas 286 days 20 hours ago.)

What I Wish Someone Had Told Me when I Was 14

EVIL HAS NO EASY EXPLANATION Evil has no easy explanation. Everyone is evil and is good. Sometimes we watch ourselves do something evil Frozen in a scream that's never heard. We cannot stop ourselves, so we go on, Knowing somewhere else the horror plays And plays and plays until we are forgiven, Healed by someone's gift of unearned love. When someone has been tortured as a child, Evil, like a mad dog... (posted by Nicholas 299 days 13 hours ago.)

To the Founding Fathers: Poems About Being an American

TO THE FOUNDING FATHERS Your light still lingers in our distant morning, A star that we perceive across the void. We chart our passage by your words, still burning Long after your bright core has been destroyed. No longer do we speak of "natural" rights, Nor can we think that Reason guides our will. We've been through far too many gruesome nights To hope we have reduced our lust to kill. Yet hope... (posted by Nicholas 329 days 16 hours ago.)

And the Child Shivered: Poems About Fathers and Sons

AFTER MY FATHER GAVE ME HIS BLESSING After my father gave me his blessing For the first time, saying, "God bless you" As I left him to the darkness, He held me there and kissed my hand. For the first time saying, "God bless you" In all the years that I had loved him, He held me there and kissed my hand, And the child shivered with delight. In all the years that I had loved him, We understood no... (posted by Nicholas 343 days 17 hours ago.)

Weekly Poetry from Poems for Free: A Mother's Day Poem and More

HINDER NOT THE HAPPINESS Hinder not the happiness Alive within the heart. Perhaps it's only natural, Perhaps it is an art. Yet many rarely feel it, Many do not know Of the eternal music That makes the moment flow. How might one listen to it Except to sing and dance, Reveling in beauty 'Mid clarity and trance? Singing to the mothers, Dear vessels of the soul, As Mary was to Jesus... (posted by Nicholas 1 year 20 days ago.)