“In Plain Sight by Stewart Stafford How can I show the real me? My voice breaking as I speak, Parched hope's cracked lips, Delphic in this solitary chic. Vitriol cannot reach my shore, The purge reveals little to hide, Or does rage fester within me? A cannibal cheerleader inside. No father around guiding me, Burnt by mother's acid divide, Cataracts of persona non grata, A transient hat tipped in a lie. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” HopeIdentityTrustNarcissismLonerNarcissistDysfunctional FamilyIdentity CrisisDysfunctionalHiding In Plain Sight Author:Stewart Stafford
“From The Darkest Depths by Stewart Stafford Salvation swallowed in a bleak abyss, Of impossibly lost and betrayed souls, Swarming screams of frantic contrition, Clawing collisions in a drowning grip. Drops of reason cascade down the vortex, Falling infinitely through the fallen infamy, Snaking doubt constructing every delusion, Of false idols, prophets, and graven images. Scaling its putrescent and lacerating walls, Is a repentant struggle beyond endurance, Then distant dawn appears, growing nearer, Darkness fades and a basking reign forms. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved” HopeHellDespairNightmareLost SoulsPurgatoryVortexLight At The End Of The TunnelSurreal PoetryDante S Inferno Author:Stewart Stafford
“The door will open for you. Just make sure you're still around when it does.” HopeDestinyFateLuckKarmaNever Give UpCareer OpportunitiesJust DessertsHope Springs EternalBig Break Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Waiting Room by Stewart Stafford The waiting room lay empty, Gloom-prowled, leather-studded seats, A ceiling fan spun lonely circles above, Keeping no one in particular cool at all. Portrait of a rose in a shadowy alcove, A pair of empty street scenes framed, Mirroring the deserted room where they hung, Creating the vacuum of an infinity void. A wreath of hope on the door, The first patient of the day lumbers in, Where there's one, there'll be others, Smiles from all at the start of the day. © Stewart Stafford, 2021. All rights reserved.” HopeInfinitySmilesRoomVacuumAnthropomorphismPatient CareWaiting RoomEmpty RoomDoctor S Waiting Room Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Straw Dolls by Stewart Stafford After surrender's pin-drop grief, Came a nihilistic jackboot slope, Replaced with twisting blades, As you dangle on a slippery rope. Everything secure now ashes, A blind road ahead lies shunning, Every pillar of society smashed, In whipped despotic slumming. Fleeting daydreams of rebellion, They'll cut those ideas from you, Violence begetting violence now, The bloodied crown turned blue. © Stewart Stafford, 2023. All rights reserved.” WarHopePoliticsFreedomHistoryRebellionDictatorshipDictatorTotalitarianismDictators Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Springtime Guest by Stewart Stafford From winter's wounded sleep, Dear Nature rouses itself again, Bearing no ill will for the scars, Timely movement blooms again. Bursting colour, praising birdsong, Easy smiles when sprightly of step, Lambs and cats frolic in sunny play, Banishing winter's despair for now. Welcome warm kisses on the wind, Summer's young sibling promises, Much more to come in rolling time, With comfort in the heart of progress. © Stewart Stafford, 2022. All rights reserved.” HopeNatureProgressSummerSpringSeasonsSpringtimeBirdsongChange Of SeasonsSpring Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Lazarus Saturday: The Longest Way by Stewart Stafford 'Lazarus, come out!’ said Jesus: A dead man awoke in a burial place, wrapped head to foot on a stretcher; He shook the cloth away from his face. Four days dead; his soul had gone. Tongues lashed the Saviour’s tardy arrival. The Lord, resolute, could overrule death — From the afterlife came his survival. From white-light end to darkest revival, life surging back into decomposing flesh. His chest burned as it rose and fell, bloated and blotchy skin, alive afresh. Lazarus struggled to breathe the dusty air; His body was freezing, deathly pale. At first, he thought he had gone to God; Until his friend parted the ultimate veil. Shuffling stiffly toward the cave mouth, newborn-blind to this second life, The Disciples rushed to unwrap him, His sisters embraced him as a bachelor's wife. Lazarus longed to tell what he had seen, forbidden to impart it to mortal ears. No one questioned his silent burden — The aged expression of Methuselah’s years. Yet from that day, he walked without a smile, The Void still echoing behind his eyes; A living witness to what none should see, Some resurrections come at too high a price. The word spread fast of this divine act, Of the Nazarene’s immense power; That his reach could extend so far, Beyond the ruins of the Babel Tower. As the daughter of Jairus herself revived, And Christ himself would rise on the third day, Lazarus survived Death’s tightest grip — A ransom no earthly king could ever pay. All rights reserved. © 2024 Stewart Stafford (Revised 2026)” ChristianSpiritualDeathHopeJesusGriefMiracleResurrectionEasterLazarus Author:Stewart Stafford
“Beachcomber by Stewart Stafford Sundial straight, I strode onshore, Waves pulsing like a foetal lullaby, Canine companion nestling my knee, A chef's kiss-of-life breathing space. Looking glass shimmer at the cliff's base, Tranquility’s wellspring beneath my feet, Sanctum of meditation, a paused life retreat, My seagull eyewitnesses hovering above. The seclusion sought yielded rewards, A hit of joie de vivre in its purest form, The sky’s spotlight and the humid wind, Senses alive with the lapping, busy tide. Nascent cloud veils gather at magic hour, Amber inferno, foretaste of paradise, Welcomed, savoured, and appreciated, Driftwood floating home on sunset waters. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HopeSolitudeMindfulnessSerenitySpiritual PoetryNature PoetrySeasideLyrical PoetryContemplative PoetrySunset Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“Unspoken Sonata by Stewart Stafford Love's lullaby's unheard duet, Kisses of life drown shallow opinions, Prejudged by logic, yet set apart, Our oasis bars the negative legions. Eternal tongues of a mother lode; Looks of love, a second-sight ploy, To visions beyond earthly interpretation; Dance down darkest paths to ecstatic joy. Spoiler seers nix romantic ideals; Abyssal agendas in jealousy's biome, A caterpillar doxxed for its butterfly shape, Real love's navigator guides us home. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” LoveInspirationalRomancePoetryHopeRelationshipsMetaphorContemporaryValentine S DayModern Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“A Mother Steeled by Stewart Stafford A haunted mother in despair's glade, That echoed with her feral screams, Sifting through tiny bones for reasons, Catharsis an absent but invited guest. Healed knees, once bloody, kneel, Cobwebs wiped, storm damage fixed, Bittersweet, her baby has taken wing, His bruises, all of him, now flown above. Daybreak's star field on the final vigil, Dropping the self-flagellation whip, Fragment memories of her infant taken, Striding forth, her scars a living map. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HopeLossHealingTragedyMemoryMotherhoodResilienceClosureDeath Of A ChildGrief Poem Author:Stewart Stafford
“Arise Reborn! by Stewart Stafford In cosy choice, the complacent lie, Teasing open the serpent's eye, To outflank, usurp then suppress, A deceiver's mask under duress. Delusion lays a gossamer snare, Flicking forked tongues tasting air, Devotion to clan, a dying dream, Delirious mining of treachery's seam. Battle drums as heroes rise, Saving tribe and land by surprise, The call to action, your country's plea, The broad church of necessity. Lessons echo in infancy's steps, Territory gained, homeland re-annexed, Skirmishes coalesce in a patriot's war, To campfire tales of visionary valour. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” InspirationalHopeStruggleBetrayalResistancePatriotismNationalismHeroismRebirthSocial Commentary Author:Stewart Stafford
“Tomorrow We Starve by Stewart Stafford Grey aftertaste of dawn's biting light, In emptied pockets, lint lesions blight, A funeral march, with posture askew, To a larder bare, options few. A cup of tea's transient balm, Rip open bills in the trembling calm, Hope flickers in redemption's seam, Vanishing as we scratch a fragile dream. Wages held back, our pleas ignored, To cloudy ivory towers, we implored, Shadow people ground to a husk, Tiny crumb specks in the dusk. An overseer's laugh, a cruel facade, The golden rule's sick charade, Fingers sear in the dying flame, The keening wind calls my name. Reflections shatter, a distorted view, Pipe dreams, strangled at birth, through, The shaming shade exacts its cost, Each pore clogged with penury's frost. In darkest siege, a spark may ignite, Defiant ember beacon's twilight, Hope battered, but refuses to die, Whispered lifeline to the coldest sky. © 2025, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HopePovertyDespairSocial JusticeResilienceSocial CommentaryContemporary PoetrySocial InequalityRealistic PoetryEmotional Poetry Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Christmas Child by Stewart Stafford O this world’s resplendent beauty, Halting breath of sheer mortal me, Words in my throat pause freely, My eyes overflow involuntarily. Salted joy’s bittersweet reign. Sculptors can your looks ne’er feign, The greatest reward gifted to me, Wrenched away in coldest larceny. Death shall hold no fear, I say, With your sweet face to light my way, At precipice edge, a smitten retinue, My beloved, restored, so we continue. © 2024, Stewart Stafford. All rights reserved.” HopeMortalityHope And DespairGrief And HopeBeauty Of NatureOdeChristmas PoemLove And Loss PoemsWhat A Wonderful WorldEternal Hope Author:Stewart Stafford
“Halloween can never be a negative, it celebrates the imagination. Everyone is smiling, you see more of your community and neighbours than at any other time, and it makes people believe, young and old, that the world might be a kind, friendly, and helpful place on their journey.” HopeCommunityImaginationKindnessChildhoodPositivityCelebrationHalloweenAll Hallows EveOctober 31st Author:Stewart Stafford
“The Musket's Progeny by Stewart Stafford The musket's progeny, gunpowder's rise, Heirloom ingot cast in festering dirt, No scaldy-faced defecator's lies, Can tarnish gold's immutable worth. Besmirched, perpetual gleam to my eyes, Ne'er base, but plundered from thy berth, Another's private treasure, I cannot despise, Until thy loan fadeth i' th' afterbirth. With cloistered secrets to impart, Our correspondence doth expand, Let it encompass thy tiny heart, For when it groweth to understand. When from distant quays, emotion sails, My words guide thee in storms and gales. © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.” HopeAbsenceSeparationLegacyGuidanceHeartfeltFathers And SonsParental LoveParent Child RelationshipShakespearean Sonnets Author:Stewart Stafford
“Impostor Times by Stewart Stafford When dark forces mask your eyes Happiness, a distant beacon dream Hope approaches your warming fire Enjoy a toast, before flavours teem Each pillar of truth, now a traitor to you Motherland cut in mercenary march Bonfires of blood in purification rage Cuckoos in the nest, gloat in the larch Rebel droplets, merge into roaring flood Abort the tyrant's myriad bastard heirs Expel the puppets to the unyielding sea Birthplace restored as the patriot dares © Stewart Stafford, 2024. All rights reserved.” MotivationalHopeFreedomCourageStrengthEmpowermentResilienceOvercoming AdversityInspirational PoetryInspirational Poem Author:Stewart Stafford
“In the ashes of bitter tragedy, lie the seeds of astonishing rebirth.” HopeTragedyRebirthRecoveringComebacksRebirth QuotesRising From The AshesTurning Your Life AroundStarting AgainRebirth Quote Author:Stewart Stafford
“The tide of hope approaches us and recedes from us as we stand on the mortal shore - some of us wait for it to arrive, some chase after it, but we all vanish into the sunset and our footprints in the sand fade in time. The feet of infants replace ours, and the dance of the tide commences anew.” LifeTimeHopeHopefulCircle Of LifeLife CycleComing And GoingTide Of LifeTime Passing Slips Like SandMaking It Happen Author:Stewart Stafford