Small Poems with Great Heart

So here are quite a few small poems that I adore. I hope you enjoy them too.

Dragon Love Poem by Roger Stevens

When you smile
the room lights up

and I have to call
the fire brigade

Wild Nights by Emily Dickinson

Wild nights! Wild nights! Were I with thee, Wild nights should be Our luxury!Futile the winds To a heart in port, Done with the compass, Done with the chart. Rowing in Eden! Ah! the sea! Might I but moor To-night in thee!

Jenny Kissed Me by Leigh Hunt

Jenny kissed me when we met,
Jumping from the chair she sat in;
Time, you thief, who love to get
Sweets into your list, put that in!
Say I'm weary, say I'm sad,
Say that health and wealth have missed me,
Say I'm growing old, but add,
Jenny kissed me. 

Reflection on Ice Breaking by Ogden Nash

Candy
Is Dandy
But liquor
Is quicker. 

Self Pity by D. H Lawrence

I never saw a wild thing
sorry for itself.
A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough
without ever having felt sorry for itself.

Letters by Ralph Waldo Emerson

Every day brings a ship,
Every ship brings a word;
Well for those who have no fear,
Looking seaward well assured
That the word the vessel brings
Is the word they wish to hear.

Mr. Jones by Harry Graham

"There's been an accident!" they said,
"Your servant's cut in half; he's dead."
"Indeed!" said Mr Jones, "and please
Give me the half that's got my keys."

In the Desert by Stephen Crane

In the desert
I saw a creature, naked, bestial,
Who, squatting upon the ground,
Held his heart in his hands,
And ate of it.
I said, “Is it good, friend?”
“It is bitter—bitter,” he answered;

“But I like it
“Because it is bitter,
“And because it is my heart.”

The Red Wheelbarrow by William Carlos Williams

so much depends
upon

a red wheel
barrow

glazed with rain
water

beside the white
chickens.

This Is Just to Say by William Carlos Williams

I have eaten
the plums
that were in
the icebox

and which
you were probably
saving
for breakfast

Forgive me
they were delicious
so sweet
and so cold

First Fig by Edna St. Vincent Millay

My candle burns at both ends;
It will not last the night;
But ah, my foes, and oh, my friends—
It gives a lovely light.

"Life is mostly froth and bubble" by Adam Lindsay Gordon

Life is mostly froth and bubble,
Two things stand like stone,
Kindness in another's trouble,
Courage in your own

"In this short Life" by Emily Dickinson

In this short Life

That only lasts an hour 

How much -- how little -- is

Within our power

"My life closed twice before its close" by Emily Dickinson

My life closed twice before its close;
It yet remains to see
If Immortality unveil
A third event to me,

So huge, so hopeless to conceive,
As these that twice befell.
Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need of hell.

Résumé by Dorothy Parker

Razors pain you;
Rivers are damp;
Acids stain you;
And drugs cause cramp.
Guns aren't lawful;
Nooses give;
Gas smells awful;
You might as well live.

War by Ebenezer Elliott

The victories of mind
Are won for all Mankind,
But war wastes what it wins,
Ends worse than it begins,
And is a game of woes,
Which nations always lose,
Though tyrant tyrant kill,
The slayer liveth still.

Common Form 1914-1918 by Rudyard Kipling

If any questions why we died,
Tell them, because our fathers lied.

Impromptu on Charles II by John Wilmot, Earl of Rochester

God bless our good and gracious King,
Whose promise none relies on;
Who never said a foolish thing,
Nor ever did a wise one.

Epigram Engraved on the Collar of a Dog Which I Gave to His Royal Highness by Alexander Pope

I am his Highness' dog at Kew;
Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?

Lord Finchley by Hillaire Belloc

Lord Finchley tried to mend the Electric Light
Himself. It struck him dead: And serve him right!
It is the business of the wealthy man
To give employment to the artisan.

"Great things are done" by William Blake

Great things are done when men and mountains meet; 

This is not done by jostling in the street.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand by William Blake

To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand, 

And eternity in an hour.

A man Said to the Universe by Stephen Crane

A man said to the universe:
“Sir, I exist!"
“However,” replied the universe,
“The fact has not created in me
“A sense of obligation.”

The Coming of Good Luck by Robert Herrick

So Good-Luck came, and on my roof did light,
Like noiseless snow, or as the dew of night;
Not all at once, but gently,--as the trees
Are by the sun-beams, tickled by degrees.

A Word by Emily Dickinson

A Word is dead
When it is said,
Some say.
I say it just
Begins to live
That day.

A Clear Midnight by Walt Whitman

This is thy hour O Soul, thy free flight into the wordless,
Away from books, away from art, the day erased, the lesson done,
Thee fully forth emerging, silent, gazing, pondering the themes thou lovest best,
Night, sleep, death and the stars.

An Epilogue by John Masefield

I have seen flowers come in stony places
And kind things done by men with ugly faces,
And the gold cup won by the worst horse at the races,
So I trust, too.

The Common Cormorant by Christopher Isherwood

The common cormorant or shag
Lays eggs inside a paper bag.
The reason you will see, no doubt,
It is to keep the lightning out.
But what these unobservant birds
Have never noticed is that herds
Of wandering bears may come with buns
And steal the bags to hold the crumbs.

The Eagle by Lord Alfred Tennyson

He clasps the crag with crooked hands;
Close to the sun in lonely lands,
Ring'd with the azure world, he stands.

The wrinkled sea beneath him crawls;
He watches from his mountain walls,
And like a thunderbolt he falls.

"Stars I have seen them fall" by A.E Housman

Stars,I have seen them fall,
But when they drop and die
No star is lost at all
From all the star-sown sky.
The toil of all that be
Helps not the primal fault;
It rains into the sea,
And still the sea is salt.

The Night Has a Thousand Eyes by Francis William Bourdillon

The night has a thousand eyes,
And the day but one;
Yet the light of the bright world dies
With the dying of the sun.

The mind has a thousand eyes,
And the heart but one;
Yet the light of a whole life dies
When love is done.

On Semicolons and Ampersands: Forty Four Statements I Hold Most Dear

Firstly I want to thank Thalia so much for inspiring this poem with her own amazing poem. Click here. Seriously it's brilliant. I hope you don't mind I stole the last lines for my title. I really suggest that you all write your own poems on what you believe because people believe the most fantastic things and if you have no inspiration then this is a wonderful place to start. One of the things I don't mention in the poem is that the best inspiration comes at night but why did my brain chose 2:30 a.m to think over the things I believe?
Anyway I hope you enjoy the poem and if you haven't already read Thalia's then I hope you enjoy hers too.

On Semicolons and Ampersands: Forty Four Statements I Hold Most Dear

I believe in certain dark things but that they won’t seem so bad tomorrow.

I find fervency in fiction where others only see words.

I grieve the deaths and celebrate the joys of characters as I would my own family.

I believe that words can touch the heart and quicken the senses.

I believe in optimism unfettered by fact or convention or tradition

I believe in pragmatism infused with hope

And in pessimism not beyond reach of happiness.

I believe too often we define an ‘I’ and an ‘other’

And overlook the greater us.

I believe in letting your dreams consume you

Even when others find them amusing.

I believe the tragedy of King Lear is imperfect because it is unsatisfying

But its greatness stems from our sense of unfulfillment.

I believe the Jabberwocky was misunderstood

And Jub-Jub birds should never be shunned.

I believe that kindness, compassion and second chances are not innate

But learnt, chosen and even more wonderful for being so.

I believe no one is deserving of hatred,

Not even those who would not afford that same opportunity to me.

I believe that love makes us vulnerable but it also makes us trusting.

And those who nurture our trust will always be sacred.

I believe that spirituality is something greater than myself.

And I do not find it in God

But in the ocean, the stars and humanity.

I believe that Albus Dumbledore was the greatest wizard there ever was

That happiness can be found,

Even in the darkest of times,

If one only remembers to turn on the light.

I believe that the universe doesn’t always conform to our expectations.

I will never understand why the mantis shrimp chooses death and darkness when it has access to a beauty beyond anything I can imagine.

I believe that the only place where a madman can invite you into a box

And it’s okay is on Doctor Who and that okay will never be my always.

I believe that man seeks for reason but is a truly irrational creature

And that our contradictions and our paradoxes make us human.

I believe that animals feel emotion and that we are not alone

And the most touching thing I ever heard was spoken by a parrot.

I believe that trees are sentient and if I could experience the sensations of another life form

I would choose an oak or possibly a pine.

I believe in the curiosity of Einstein and the dream of Martin Luther King.

I believe that equality must be fought for

That violence will only lead to violence

And that war is only a necessary evil

For those who find living with peace impossible.

I believe there is a community for everyone

And the day you are welcomed will burn bright in your mind

For as long as the candle of your memories is shining.

I believe that memory is our most precious possession

And that we do live with Dementors and we call them dementia.

I believe in lust at first sight and that love brings commitment and commitment brings love.

I believe in songs and stories and sunshine.

I believe that Time has a sound and fear has a taste and that Monday is a pale silvery blue.

I believe in friends I’ve never met and in cities I’ve never seen and the deeds of dead heroes.

I believe that we must acknowledge not all evil people are mad

That sane people can commit atrocities too.

That we should treat the mentally ill with respect

And that stigma is the ugliest word I know.

I believe that shadows are a symbol of presence because they lack substance.

That nothing will come from nothing.

And isn’t it strange that something so closely attached to you seems to have a life of its own?

I believe that Oscar Wilde said a lot of shit

But he really hit the nail on the head with “to define is to limit.”

I believe that cherries play a much larger role in The Picture of Dorian Gray than expected.

And overanalysing the trivial is both hilarious and meaningful.

I believe that darkness blinds and light blinds and moderation is only good in moderation.

I believe that love is all you need but oxygen is a nice bonus.

I believe the real food of love is not music but my grandma’s chicken soup.

I believe emotions are like good advice since it is important to listen to both.

I believe that 42 is the meaning of life, the universe and everything

And that 42 will always have a special place in the hearts of those

Who adore wit, humour and just plain silliness.

I believe that funerals are for the living

That they should be a celebration of life rather than a mourning of death

Which is a deeply personal matter.

I believe the expression “that’s so gay” should be reserved

For only the most fabulous objects and the loveliest of people.

I believe that privacy can be used as an excuse to justify hurtful behaviour

And just because there are no windows

Doesn’t mean a decline in standards is any less shameful.

I believe grammar should be used for clarity of speech

Not as a weapon to stifle the voices of others.

I believe the pen and the sword can both pierce the heart

But the pen has a nobler purpose in doing so.

I believe that change should never be feared

And I strive to accept that tradition should be respected.

I believe in thanking those who help you

So thank you Thalia for sharing the things you believe in.

I believe the most pleasant music of all can be found in the sound of our words

For there is no greater delight than voicing a word

Simply because it is unusual and beautiful and new.

But most of all I believe in behemoths and passion fruit.