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Here are the entries for the Poets' Graveyard contest.
Now that the contest is over, I've added the poets' usernames.
Enjoy!
=======================================================
1 : Life's Garden - Epitaph for a Florist/Gardener : Teena
Strolling through life’s garden, look what’s planted there
Every little kindness nurtured with such care --
Carnations for remembrance and though we have to part
you’ll find that friends aren’t left behind, they’re carried in your heart
Sweet Pea’s message of goodbye will never mean forgotten
These blossoms say that you’ll be missed and thought of very often
2 : William Blake : dclary
Laid to rest here next to this serene lake
lie the well-gnawed bones of one William Blake
Called once a poet and more oft a liar
The poor soul tried to set a tiger on fire
- o -
3 : Justin Thyme - A Repentant Thief : kdnxdr
4 : Untitled : NeuroFizz
No further need to criticize
I'd like to finally apologize
to each and every worthy soul
I've called an asshole, jerk or vole
who isn't.
- o -
5 : Hump T. Dumpty : totidem_verbis
Here lies Hump T. Dumpty's shell.
The way he died is hard to tell.
One sad summer day
the sun boiled him away.
- o -
6 : Abe Lincoln : Susie
Here lies a man who was quite tall
He was loved, but not by all.
Shot in the theatre by someone mean,
Yet he definitely stole the scene!
- o -
7 : Sylvia Plath : KTC
And on her dying breath,
The poet, with her gracious death
Did cause the winds of time to sigh,
And laymen, having read her words, did cry.
No sadness greater than creativity taken,
And at her own hand, unshaken,
She did leave the beauty of the world,
And took to the air, eternally twirled.
- o -
8 : For Charles Lamb, who died too young : Norman D Gutter
I knew old age was coming,
but not so bloody soon.
What turned out to be twilight
I'd hoped was only noon.
- o -
9 : TIgggger : onestepp
Spring put Tigger to sleep
Who made friends with a leap.
Recently heard from a wise old ern,
A bad spring did him a wrong turn.
- o -
10 : Old Man McSprite : nerdsRus
Here lieth Dickie McSprite
Who chased every earthly delight
Gossip abounded
The lassies astounded
By Dickie's alleged great might.
To his right you will clearly observe
One Lydia Agnes Meserve
To his left at her rest
Miss Sally Forth, by request
Both eternally grateful, that's sure.
- o -
11 : Joseph A. Sixpack : Rich
Had he but only rested
At that time between the halves
When the players, unmolested,
Relieved their aching calves.
No, he left the warmth of his TV set
Leaving beers and cigs bestrewn,
And with shovel he ran out and met
That snowy afternoon.
And before the snow-filled path diminished
His words foretold his epitaph,
"If I rush," he said, "I should be finished
Before they start the second half."
- o -
12 : Sherlock Holmes : Writer???
13 : Mary Schnelling : Writer???
14 : O. Henry : PrettySpecialGal
Here writes liar William Sydney Porter
Bank embezzler and humor exporter
Served time—Ohio Penitentiary
Then transformed his name to two new, from three
O. Henry wove a many twisted plot
But where he now lies, the twists it has not
From every day things, he took story cues
His wife, Athol, for him she was a-mused
Gift from the Magi- a chain for a comb
Two-hundred-fifty gets Red Chief back home
Some question the worth in O. Henry’s art
But for him, ‘twas only his work of heart
- o -
15 : Shel Silverstein : JRH
Put another log on the fire.
Ol' Shel has gone, he's left us on our own.
Doctor Hook and his Medicine Show salute him,
From the cover of the Rolling Stone.
We'll tell that boy named Sue about his passing.
I'm sure he'll want to mourn him, dressed in black.
It's hard to even think ‘bout life without him,
But, now he's gone, and he ain't coming back.
So, be gentle with the children when you tell them,
For he's the one who always made them laugh.
He brought them joy with all his silly verses,.
And I think that ought to be his epitaph.
- o -
16 : Rudyard Kipling : JRH
Of'n dismissed as a "less'r light"
‘e pictured ‘is world and got it right,.
For ‘e saw injustice, and took ‘im a stand,
An' spoke with the voice o' the Comm'n Man.
‘e told us ‘bout "Tommy" and "Gunga Din",
An' captur'd our dreams o' what might ‘a been,
So, ‘tho he be less'r in gentl'men's eyes,
Still, ‘e be our kinsman, an' we thought ‘im wise.
- o -
17 : A Patriotic Soldier : threedogpeople
Freedom asked him,
and he answered the call;
when his life light dimmed,
he gave his all.
No hero's salutation
when he came home,
no thanks from his nation,
his family mourned alone.
Parades and bands
would have made him shy
he was proud of this land;
just regular guy.
- o -
18 : Epitaph for Opposites : nerdsRus
Nuttie DeBean was divided,
(his brain being multiple-minded)
One voice in his head
Fought what the other one said
And nothing was ever decided.
Time neared for him to be planted
But where? old Nuttie demanded
I must leave instructions
Please quit your disruptions
Shut up! - I'm much too distracted!
And so in this boneyard you'll see
Nuttie's gravestone, times three.
- o -
19 : Elvis Presley : a_sharp
Still in our hearts and seen again
in shopping mall and parking lot
A soul writ large whose bump and grind
gave Rock 'n' Roll its Lancelot
- o -
20 : Count Dracula : rhymegirl
Dracula’s buried here in this plot,
His body is here, or maybe it’s not?
For vampires have a peculiar way
Of waking at night and sleeping by day.
So if perchance you think he’s found
Beneath this plot of hallowed ground,
Make sure if there's a nighttime sky
That you are nowhere near this guy,
For he might take a bite of you
And turn you into a vampire, too!
- o -
21 : Hamlet, Prince of Denmark : jpospich
......Here ponders Hamlet son of Hamlet
......................In death,
.........Sith latter pushed to former
.........................With
.........Bloody brother and wife remiss
And so torture-tossed the sluggish youth,
......So curried him with suspect truth
...............That he, suddenly,
.......Killed them all without a thought
......................And lost,
For though Denmark be indeed dewormed
............Buried Hamlet now be not.
- o -
22 : Paul Revere : sunkissed27f
Derring-do rider o’ the niht
Hath foretold Middlesex o’ its pliht
Liberating all o’ British knave
‘Ere we lay thou in ye grave
Evermore we shall cheer
Thine name Paul Revere
- o -
23 : My Poor Old Boots : Delarege
Upon my feet my boots did rest.
My poor old boots,
they did their best.
But I’m afraid they’ve gone and died.
My feet stick out
their leather hide.
I’ve had these boots four score and seven.
Their bottom’s gone.
Their sole’s in heaven.
- o -
24 : James C. Ductor : Pat~
Here lies the legendary James,
A rascal and a knave;
His penchant for the married dames
Led to this early grave.
- o -
25 : Oliver N. Flames : Pat~
If you would stay six feet above
This ground on which you tread,
Don’t light that smoke while filling up,
Or you, too, will be dead.
- o -
26 : Mel Blanc : poetprncess
Beneath the dampness of this soil
is what remains of Mel Blanc's spoil.
We knew him as bugs bunny's voice-
his animations we'll rejoice,
so here is where his fans will flock
to memorialize 'What's up doc?"
But Mel was more than Loony jokes-
hear him whisper ... 'That's All Folks!"
- o -
27 : Harry Houdini : rhymegirl
Hocus Pocus, chili beanie,
Here’s the grave of Harry Houdini.
He once was known as Ehrich Weiss,
But changed his name, like a quick disguise.
A magician and good at escaping was he--
(He loved those handcuffs especially!)
But if you think his body’s here
You just might be mistaken, dear.
When one’s a skilled magician wonder,
You can’t be sure he’s six feet under!
- o -
28 : William Alfred : saritams8
An angler, a husband, a father in name.
He couldn’t bear to breathe in the shame.
A sailor, a chef, a wandering eye.
His veins eternally ached to get high.
A creeping disease, the bullet was brisk.
Not even time for one last fix.
- o -
29 : visit oft' : kdnxdr
on the gravel path you trod
the little roses gave a nod
and I in my humble estate
for your loving company await
just to know that you are near
makes this hole a little less drear
linger long and think of me
where we meet, our hearts are free
- o -
30 : Bram Stoker : KTC
And in eternal sleep, he beckons still
The midnight’s fearful chill.
It crawls across the hunkered spine,
And lifts the throat to the night divine.
- o -
31 : Sergey Esenin : Priene
He wrote of ice-transfigured lanes
And horses chasing after trains
Mothers fretting, hanging charms
The ebbing world of peasant farms
He married poorly, swigged and swore
Insensate on the tavern floor
His body spent, without repair,
A vein slit in the Angleterre
A scrawl: Goodbye, my friend. Sublime
A poet lost beyond his time
- o -
32 : Ah Mary : BrokenSword
1802; Jefferson wrote in a letter, the idea of separation
of church and state
1864; first coin to bear 'in God we trust'
1962: prayer is removed from public schools.
- o -
33 : Virginia Pristine : p.h.delarran
Virginia Pristine
Housekeeping Queen
Left this dictum to the world:
I'm no sage and I'm no poet
But teach your kids to clean the toilet
And they'll be bright and they'll be honest
As they gaze into the mirror-spotless
- o -
34 : R.I.P. -- beckyinak
35 : Dorinda Doormatt : Paint
Here lies Dorinda Doormatt
a layin atop the grave
of ol one eyed Jack
a drinkin man he was
ol Dorinda, she don know
she caint live his death either.
- o -
36 : Sir Thomas Crank : scribbles
Here lies Sir Thomas Crank
Laid to rest by what he drank
Neither beer nor wine ended his life
‘Twas the poison given by his jealous wife
- o -
37 : Big John : scribbles
Rest In Peace, Big John of Maine
Of his life, ‘tis hard to explain
A mountaineer and trapper by trade
‘til a renegade Pawnee lifted his braid
- o -
38 : Andy Paul : Magdalen
Rest here, the ashes of Andy Paul.
He died alone, it was in the Fall.
He kept friends near and family close.
None of us thought he would overdose.
- o -
39 : Untitled : Magdalen
Into the pool of life he dived
Chin up, chest out, my faithful friend.
I only wish he had survived
That jack-knife at the shallow end.
Now that the contest is over, I've added the poets' usernames.
Enjoy!
=======================================================
1 : Life's Garden - Epitaph for a Florist/Gardener : Teena
Strolling through life’s garden, look what’s planted there
Every little kindness nurtured with such care --
Carnations for remembrance and though we have to part
you’ll find that friends aren’t left behind, they’re carried in your heart
Sweet Pea’s message of goodbye will never mean forgotten
These blossoms say that you’ll be missed and thought of very often
- o -
2 : William Blake : dclary
Laid to rest here next to this serene lake
lie the well-gnawed bones of one William Blake
Called once a poet and more oft a liar
The poor soul tried to set a tiger on fire
- o -
3 : Justin Thyme - A Repentant Thief : kdnxdr
It's just a little rest I take
in this earthly bed you make;
If I should rise and speak awake,
know for sure, it's for Heaven's sake.
- o -
4 : Untitled : NeuroFizz
No further need to criticize
I'd like to finally apologize
to each and every worthy soul
I've called an asshole, jerk or vole
who isn't.
- o -
5 : Hump T. Dumpty : totidem_verbis
Here lies Hump T. Dumpty's shell.
The way he died is hard to tell.
One sad summer day
the sun boiled him away.
- o -
6 : Abe Lincoln : Susie
Here lies a man who was quite tall
He was loved, but not by all.
Shot in the theatre by someone mean,
Yet he definitely stole the scene!
- o -
7 : Sylvia Plath : KTC
And on her dying breath,
The poet, with her gracious death
Did cause the winds of time to sigh,
And laymen, having read her words, did cry.
No sadness greater than creativity taken,
And at her own hand, unshaken,
She did leave the beauty of the world,
And took to the air, eternally twirled.
- o -
8 : For Charles Lamb, who died too young : Norman D Gutter
I knew old age was coming,
but not so bloody soon.
What turned out to be twilight
I'd hoped was only noon.
- o -
9 : TIgggger : onestepp
Spring put Tigger to sleep
Who made friends with a leap.
Recently heard from a wise old ern,
A bad spring did him a wrong turn.
- o -
10 : Old Man McSprite : nerdsRus
Here lieth Dickie McSprite
Who chased every earthly delight
Gossip abounded
The lassies astounded
By Dickie's alleged great might.
To his right you will clearly observe
One Lydia Agnes Meserve
To his left at her rest
Miss Sally Forth, by request
Both eternally grateful, that's sure.
- o -
11 : Joseph A. Sixpack : Rich
Had he but only rested
At that time between the halves
When the players, unmolested,
Relieved their aching calves.
No, he left the warmth of his TV set
Leaving beers and cigs bestrewn,
And with shovel he ran out and met
That snowy afternoon.
And before the snow-filled path diminished
His words foretold his epitaph,
"If I rush," he said, "I should be finished
Before they start the second half."
- o -
12 : Sherlock Holmes : Writer???
“Elementary my dear Watson.
It’s as plain as the nose on your face.
I died all too suddenly -
vanished without a trace,
when last old Doyle
put down his pen
and succumbed
to the Reaper himself.
Thus ended my reign
as the worlds finest brain;
my remains gather dust on the shelf!”
- o -
13 : Mary Schnelling : Writer???
Here lies the body of Mary Schnelling
Who alone, while her husband - or so they are telling,
Was bedding a wench of ill repute, and no one present to offer refute –
Mary died of a broken heart.
Her children paid to erect this stone –
Old Schnelling couldn’t be bothered.
He had no grieving for the wife he wed,
Nor care for the children he fathered.
Gone poor Mary, but not forgotten,
Remembered here in these words:
Relax dear Mom and rest with the angels,
Let Satan deal with the turds!
- o -
14 : O. Henry : PrettySpecialGal
Here writes liar William Sydney Porter
Bank embezzler and humor exporter
Served time—Ohio Penitentiary
Then transformed his name to two new, from three
O. Henry wove a many twisted plot
But where he now lies, the twists it has not
From every day things, he took story cues
His wife, Athol, for him she was a-mused
Gift from the Magi- a chain for a comb
Two-hundred-fifty gets Red Chief back home
Some question the worth in O. Henry’s art
But for him, ‘twas only his work of heart
- o -
15 : Shel Silverstein : JRH
Put another log on the fire.
Ol' Shel has gone, he's left us on our own.
Doctor Hook and his Medicine Show salute him,
From the cover of the Rolling Stone.
We'll tell that boy named Sue about his passing.
I'm sure he'll want to mourn him, dressed in black.
It's hard to even think ‘bout life without him,
But, now he's gone, and he ain't coming back.
So, be gentle with the children when you tell them,
For he's the one who always made them laugh.
He brought them joy with all his silly verses,.
And I think that ought to be his epitaph.
- o -
16 : Rudyard Kipling : JRH
Of'n dismissed as a "less'r light"
‘e pictured ‘is world and got it right,.
For ‘e saw injustice, and took ‘im a stand,
An' spoke with the voice o' the Comm'n Man.
‘e told us ‘bout "Tommy" and "Gunga Din",
An' captur'd our dreams o' what might ‘a been,
So, ‘tho he be less'r in gentl'men's eyes,
Still, ‘e be our kinsman, an' we thought ‘im wise.
- o -
17 : A Patriotic Soldier : threedogpeople
Freedom asked him,
and he answered the call;
when his life light dimmed,
he gave his all.
No hero's salutation
when he came home,
no thanks from his nation,
his family mourned alone.
Parades and bands
would have made him shy
he was proud of this land;
just regular guy.
- o -
18 : Epitaph for Opposites : nerdsRus
Nuttie DeBean was divided,
(his brain being multiple-minded)
One voice in his head
Fought what the other one said
And nothing was ever decided.
Time neared for him to be planted
But where? old Nuttie demanded
I must leave instructions
Please quit your disruptions
Shut up! - I'm much too distracted!
And so in this boneyard you'll see
Nuttie's gravestone, times three.
- o -
19 : Elvis Presley : a_sharp
Still in our hearts and seen again
in shopping mall and parking lot
A soul writ large whose bump and grind
gave Rock 'n' Roll its Lancelot
- o -
20 : Count Dracula : rhymegirl
Dracula’s buried here in this plot,
His body is here, or maybe it’s not?
For vampires have a peculiar way
Of waking at night and sleeping by day.
So if perchance you think he’s found
Beneath this plot of hallowed ground,
Make sure if there's a nighttime sky
That you are nowhere near this guy,
For he might take a bite of you
And turn you into a vampire, too!
- o -
21 : Hamlet, Prince of Denmark : jpospich
......Here ponders Hamlet son of Hamlet
......................In death,
.........Sith latter pushed to former
.........................With
.........Bloody brother and wife remiss
And so torture-tossed the sluggish youth,
......So curried him with suspect truth
...............That he, suddenly,
.......Killed them all without a thought
......................And lost,
For though Denmark be indeed dewormed
............Buried Hamlet now be not.
- o -
22 : Paul Revere : sunkissed27f
Derring-do rider o’ the niht
Hath foretold Middlesex o’ its pliht
Liberating all o’ British knave
‘Ere we lay thou in ye grave
Evermore we shall cheer
Thine name Paul Revere
- o -
23 : My Poor Old Boots : Delarege
Upon my feet my boots did rest.
My poor old boots,
they did their best.
But I’m afraid they’ve gone and died.
My feet stick out
their leather hide.
I’ve had these boots four score and seven.
Their bottom’s gone.
Their sole’s in heaven.
- o -
24 : James C. Ductor : Pat~
Here lies the legendary James,
A rascal and a knave;
His penchant for the married dames
Led to this early grave.
- o -
25 : Oliver N. Flames : Pat~
If you would stay six feet above
This ground on which you tread,
Don’t light that smoke while filling up,
Or you, too, will be dead.
- o -
26 : Mel Blanc : poetprncess
Beneath the dampness of this soil
is what remains of Mel Blanc's spoil.
We knew him as bugs bunny's voice-
his animations we'll rejoice,
so here is where his fans will flock
to memorialize 'What's up doc?"
But Mel was more than Loony jokes-
hear him whisper ... 'That's All Folks!"
- o -
27 : Harry Houdini : rhymegirl
Hocus Pocus, chili beanie,
Here’s the grave of Harry Houdini.
He once was known as Ehrich Weiss,
But changed his name, like a quick disguise.
A magician and good at escaping was he--
(He loved those handcuffs especially!)
But if you think his body’s here
You just might be mistaken, dear.
When one’s a skilled magician wonder,
You can’t be sure he’s six feet under!
- o -
28 : William Alfred : saritams8
An angler, a husband, a father in name.
He couldn’t bear to breathe in the shame.
A sailor, a chef, a wandering eye.
His veins eternally ached to get high.
A creeping disease, the bullet was brisk.
Not even time for one last fix.
- o -
29 : visit oft' : kdnxdr
on the gravel path you trod
the little roses gave a nod
and I in my humble estate
for your loving company await
just to know that you are near
makes this hole a little less drear
linger long and think of me
where we meet, our hearts are free
- o -
30 : Bram Stoker : KTC
And in eternal sleep, he beckons still
The midnight’s fearful chill.
It crawls across the hunkered spine,
And lifts the throat to the night divine.
- o -
31 : Sergey Esenin : Priene
He wrote of ice-transfigured lanes
And horses chasing after trains
Mothers fretting, hanging charms
The ebbing world of peasant farms
He married poorly, swigged and swore
Insensate on the tavern floor
His body spent, without repair,
A vein slit in the Angleterre
A scrawl: Goodbye, my friend. Sublime
A poet lost beyond his time
- o -
32 : Ah Mary : BrokenSword
Ah, Mary...
1802 – 1864 - 1962
...beginnings held the words that Thomas wrote,
sans Constitution, separation came;
church tried to state that such a state could kill.
...you pressed, we pressed, undressed, you stamped and smote;
when Chase approved, two-cents is what you claimed
'in God we Trust'—do you believe it still?
...when the bleed of need came to empty schools,
when fools were freed, they peed and drowned your thrill;
now prayers are past and trust is not the same.
*
Mary, Mary America bares fools—
so empty, empty, holds a promise still;
God's will.
10-10-07
1802 – 1864 - 1962
...beginnings held the words that Thomas wrote,
sans Constitution, separation came;
church tried to state that such a state could kill.
...you pressed, we pressed, undressed, you stamped and smote;
when Chase approved, two-cents is what you claimed
'in God we Trust'—do you believe it still?
...when the bleed of need came to empty schools,
when fools were freed, they peed and drowned your thrill;
now prayers are past and trust is not the same.
*
Mary, Mary America bares fools—
so empty, empty, holds a promise still;
God's will.
10-10-07
1802; Jefferson wrote in a letter, the idea of separation
of church and state
1864; first coin to bear 'in God we trust'
1962: prayer is removed from public schools.
- o -
33 : Virginia Pristine : p.h.delarran
Virginia Pristine
Housekeeping Queen
Left this dictum to the world:
I'm no sage and I'm no poet
But teach your kids to clean the toilet
And they'll be bright and they'll be honest
As they gaze into the mirror-spotless
- o -
34 : R.I.P. -- beckyinak
[FONT="]Rest In Pile
[/FONT]
[/FONT]
Where words are bound by slush
Entombed in miles of mush
And authors come to lie
Unpublished do or die
Farewell old foe
Goodbye
- o -
35 : Dorinda Doormatt : Paint
Here lies Dorinda Doormatt
a layin atop the grave
of ol one eyed Jack
a drinkin man he was
ol Dorinda, she don know
she caint live his death either.
- o -
36 : Sir Thomas Crank : scribbles
Here lies Sir Thomas Crank
Laid to rest by what he drank
Neither beer nor wine ended his life
‘Twas the poison given by his jealous wife
- o -
37 : Big John : scribbles
Rest In Peace, Big John of Maine
Of his life, ‘tis hard to explain
A mountaineer and trapper by trade
‘til a renegade Pawnee lifted his braid
- o -
38 : Andy Paul : Magdalen
Rest here, the ashes of Andy Paul.
He died alone, it was in the Fall.
He kept friends near and family close.
None of us thought he would overdose.
- o -
39 : Untitled : Magdalen
Into the pool of life he dived
Chin up, chest out, my faithful friend.
I only wish he had survived
That jack-knife at the shallow end.
- o -
Last edited: