Dark Poems | Poemist

Popular Dark Poems

Boots

by Rudyard Kipling

INFANTRY COLUMNS

We're foot--slog--slog--slog--sloggin' over Africa --
Foot--foot--foot--foot--sloggin' over Africa --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)
There's no discharge in the war!

Seven--six--eleven--five--nine-an'-tw enty mile to-day --
Four--eleven--seventeen--thirty-two the day before --
(Boots--boots--boots--boots--movin' up an' down again!)

......

Crazy

by Laxmi Prasad Devkota

1.
Oh yes, friend! I'm crazy-
that's just the way I am.

2.
I see sounds,
I hear sights,
I taste smells,
I touch not heaven but things from the underworld,
things people do not believe exist,

......

Courage

by Robert William Service

Today I opened wide my eyes,
And stared with wonder and surprise,
To see beneath November skies
An apple blossom peer;
Upon a branch as bleak as night
It gleamed exultant on my sight,
A fairy beacon burning bright
Of hope and cheer.

'Alas! ' said I, 'poor foolish thing,

......

A Prodigal

by Elizabeth Bishop

The brown enormous odor he lived by
was too close, with its breathing and thick hair,
for him to judge. The floor was rotten; the sty
was plastered halfway up with glass-smooth dung.
Light-lashed, self-righteous, above moving snouts,
the pigs' eyes followed him, a cheerful stare--
even to the sow that always ate her young--
till, sickening, he leaned to scratch her head.
But sometimes mornings after drinking bouts
(he hid the pints behind the two-by-fours),

......

Tours

by Carolyn D. Wright

A girl on the stairs listens to her father
Beat up her mother.
Doors bang.
She comes down in her nightgown.

The piano stands there in the dark
Like a boy with an orchid.

She plays what she can
Then she turns the lamp on.

......

Recent Dark Poems

Hope Nebula

by Ayatullah Nurjati

In the dark night sky, I sail on the ocean of stars, looking for a ray of light, in a nebula of hope far away.

Cosmic dust dances slowly, whispering promises of the future, amidst the eerie darkness, I found a glimmer of light.

Oh, nebula, the vortex of dreams that never goes out, you draw a path in the dark, towards a day full of courage. Every colour you emit, is a prayer that floats into the sky, touching the throne of the Creator, carve your destiny with love and hope.

So let me fly, penetrate the endless sky, with the hope of being a guide, into a new universe.

Slipi. 05 December 2024. 9:19 PM

Holy War

by Bryan Burkevics

Searing blades full of thunder,
Helping tear the world asunder,
Bleeding truth of guile and fear,
Raucous voices emit a cheer.

Bring again the word of dark,
Preying demons soon embark,
Stalk the innocent, selfless lives,
As light must flee so darkness thrives.

......

The beast within

by Saleh Ben Saleh

There is a beast,
that lives within.
In every man,
promotes a sin.
You hear his whisper,
from deep within.

Inside your brain.
under your skin.
He looks around,

......

Final Moments

by Aheli Mustafi

I can hear the cars passing down below
The lights light up the street
I can feel the wind blowing on my face
I doubt anyone is looking for me
I am drowning in my own fear
I just want to be free
I am stuck in my body, waiting to be free
There are kids skipping on the pavement below
I’m so scared, I’m overflowed in my own fear
I can see every person, every dog, every cat walking on the street

......

Burnt honey

by Quinn Smorenburg

Slobber on his shovel; this old man shits nothing.
Naked and shaking; his begging lips crack.
He swallows his honey, swinging his lanterns;
but piercing his darkness: two button eyes –
rimmed golden; reflections of want glazing his jowl.

His shadows birth those dregs swallowed.
Hounding sweet truth, his lanterns in hand.
Shine they do not, but gulp and lick that
waste remaining; unknown, still crunching.

......