The Echoes poetry competition to celebrate Write Out Loud's 20th anniversary is now open.  Judged by Neil Astley.

Competition closes in 8 days, 5 hours. Get details and Enter.

Popular last 30 days

poetry love Trump nature Democracy resistance Life shame History poem

voice (Remove filter)

Recent Comments

Mike McPeek on Running With Dogs
3 hours ago

David RL Moore on Aubade-esque
4 hours ago

Graham Sherwood on Aubade-esque
4 hours ago

David RL Moore on Aubade-esque
4 hours ago

David RL Moore on liberty
4 hours ago

Landi Cruz on liberty
4 hours ago

David RL Moore on Aubade-esque
9 hours ago

David RL Moore on liberty
10 hours ago

AirlogRigsMaria on Psycho
13 hours ago

Simon Zonenblick on Snail Shells - Similes
19 hours ago

Patience

Night falls, slowly, over the asphalt
and time, that invisible thread
ties us to the ground
We wait, motionless
while the world spins
and silence becomes a voice
echoing off the walls of emptiness

Patience, they say
is the art of waiting without despair
but how to hold the moment
that slips through our fingers?
How not to feel the weight of hours
when love fades
and loneliness settl...

Read and leave comments (0)

🌷(4) 

night   spins   voice   breathe   loneliness

The Silence That Remains

There is a silence that is not silence
It is the air that refuses to enter
It is the footsteps that echo in empty corridors
the time that drags, heavy
like a body that no longer feels

Fascism does not come with noise
It comes with the absence of song
with the hand that closes around the throat
and says, "This is not pain. This is order."

But there is a light that insists
A tiny light...

Read and leave comments (4)

🌷(7) 

silence   fascism   body   longer   tiny   storm   tremor   gesture   air   voice   drags   absence

The history of rock

And so, in the vastness of the ether, it rises
From the primordial silence, a resonant sound
Like thunder that splits the distant skies
The voice of the Infinite is born, unbound!
No longer the void, nor the endless shadow
But the living flame, the fire burning bright
In the dawn of the cosmos, a mighty song
Where life and death in dance unite

In the womb of the earth, the first cry
Mad...

Read and leave comments (2)

🌷(5) 

sound   thunder   voice   infinite   born   dance   life   power   hearts   force   song   chord   note   hammer   rhythm   time   divine   creation   forever

Voice

Your voice can make a difference 

Your voice could change the world

Can my voice be someone else's

Cause I don't want to be heard

Can my voice be a text post

On a site that none reads

I can write the poem

But I won't stand up and speak

Can my voice be a gesture 

Can a murmur change the world 

Cause I wish for none

To hear me say words

I could change my voice

...

Read and leave comments (1)

🌷(7) 

LGBTQ   voice   Change

This is not a draft

 

I don’t want to mask my poetry

I want you to understand me

Curse your perfect rhythms, rhymes, haikus

Your lyricism, your literary

When I try to adopt it, I turn mute.

Something channels through me

(I’ve never really found the root)

A demanding stream of consciousness

That cannot stop to breathe, let alone

Wait, conceptualise, draft, redraft

I can’t!

...

Read and leave comments (3)

🌷(10) 

poetic   style   form   format   literary   technique   stanza   rhythm   rhyme   haiku   lyricism   stream of conciousness   freedom   free   talent   craft   draft   perfect   proof   edit   rules   confines   art   metaphors   debate   beauty   imagery   subjective   voice   understand   connect   emotion   feelings   motifs   wordsmith   transparent   loud   bold   unfiltered   accessible   truth   mask

My Truth

The saying "speak your truth"
Doesn't apply to me.

My truth is the nail in my hand
It's a crown of thorns, mocking
Everything I believe.

Maybe I won't speak unless spoken to
Like a child. 

My truth is nothing compared to
The universe You created, but 
Somehow you still care.

My truth is being swept up in
Your love for me.

Maybe I will speak my truth. 

 

Read and leave comments (0)

🌷(1) 

truth   faith   voice

Putting Out the Lamp

Putting Out the Lamp

 

In the dusk of early evening one day

I awakened from a belated nap,

And came to find nobody back home yet,

Only the wall lamp flickering away.

 

I, the child, quickly getting quailed,

Started running away from the dark haunted place,

But soon stopped for looking backward

For some reasons I couldn't quite grasp.

 

Probably it was the left-a...

Read and leave comments (3)

🌷(4) 

burning   darkness   dusk   evening   flame   lamp   mind   picture   voice

A Perfect Afternoon

Leisurely and alone,

I was wandering in the museum garden.

​

Flowers were completely gone,

But deep green summer leaves fully grown,

And on each branch

Small birds all the way chirping:

​

Certainly for me a perfect afternoon

To be seated still and calm,

To be lost in poem-reciting!

​

But suddenly a wind arose

When a human voice caught my ear,

Saying low ye...

Read and leave comments (0)

🌷(2) 

afternoon   bird   ear   end   eye   heart   leaf   poem   voice   wandering   wind

Out Loud

 

 

Let your voice be heard 
Surely you earn and win
Let ideas more cleared 
For all women and men 

 

Tell me what do you think 
How did you see yourself? 
Freely talk, no blink 
Why to keep it on shelf 

 

Open mind and heart 
Nobody is remaining fool
Surely you're smart 
To become happy and cool 

Read and leave comments (0)

benazouz   blink   cleared   cool   earn   fool   free   happy   heard   heart   ideas   keep   men   mind   nobody   open   Out Loud   remain   see   shelf   smart   talk   tell   think   voice   win   women

My father's gift

I remember hearing my father's voice

      from beyond the grave.

      No dreamβ€”a single, scratchy vinyl

      had captured his characteristic

      lilting, homiletic style,

      that seemed,

       in and of itself,

       to be the messageβ€”

       no surprises there,

       nor flights,

       yet a resonance

       that touched

       and stays with me

...

Read and leave comments (0)

death   father   son   voice   vinyl   old   grief

Humankind

 

 

 

I want to speak one more Language

That everybody can easily speak

Same as our food or as beverage

If not, it means, we are weak

 

I wish I could deal with people

In everywhere, whatever they are

I hope I can once be able

To become a friend to those are aware

 

Serious or peaceful situations

Should not affect our hearts

The poverty or lux...

Read and leave comments (1)

humankind   image   poem   sample   voice

You're Welcome

 

You're Welcome

 

Lovely smiles at early morning, 
Poetic voice says: β€œHello” 
Shiny eyes yearning look.
 Asking happily β€œHow are you?” 

 

When did we met and where! 
Few years ago, may be more 
It was crowded party there 
When she shines out of the door 

 

We had a table, but no talk 
Merrily smile, she looks shy 
Asked timidly can we walk? 
I shook hands, then walk...

Read and leave comments (0)

🌷(1) 

ask   asking   away.   crowded   door   early   eyes   few   hands   happily   hello   hold   look   lovely   merrily   met   morning   party   poetic   sat   says   shake   shines   shiny   shy   smile   table   talk   timidly   voice   walk   welcome   yearning   years

MATES

 

Glad to hear your voice 
Happy to be with you 
Always, you're very nice 
Whatever you say or do 

 

Lucky, to be your friend 
To share you fact and fun 
Forever together no end 
Shining heart as the sun 

 

Among thousand fans 
We're the mates in reality 
Sharing act and talks
Hearts believe in Honesty

Read and leave comments (0)

act   always   among   believe   benazouz   do   end   fact   fans   forever   friend   fun   glad   happy   hear   heart   honesty   lucky   mates   nice   poem   poetry   reality   say   share   sharing   shining   sun   talks   thousand   together   voice   whatever   with

HEART's KEY

Two waves in the sea 
Two branches of the tree 
Two wings of the bee 
These are you and me 
  
In everywhere I go 
I keep your love to grow 
All over my heart's show 
Your eyelashes and brow   

Certainly, I can see 
One heart not a three 
Follow me, or feel free 
I got your heart's Key

Read and leave comments (0)

Heart   Love   relationship   key   locked   opened   friendship   yearning   poetry   poem   poet   poetess   poetic   song   voice

The Little Voice

Shhh!  Sit quietly and you will hear,

That little voice inside your head.

Whispering advice into your inner ear,

Giving voice to things you should have said.

 

And patiently this master of hindsight works,

The perfect retort 10 minutes too late,

Or another perspective to someone you’ve hurt.

A decisive point to put to bed the debate.

 

And yet he holds back, preferrin...

Read and leave comments (7)

voice   in your head   talking to yourself   hindsight

How do I say it?

20 years to see
The world encompass all.
Its' messiness unbearable,
Intolerable,
Difficult.
But when I caught your voice,
Its' sweetness a dulling touch.
The world and its' massive wildness,
Disappeared all to dust.

Read and leave comments (0)

love   voice   life   difficulty   unbearable   soul   heart   From the heart

This site uses only functional cookies that are essential to the operation of the site. We do not use cookies related to advertising or tracking. By continuing to browse, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

Find out more Hide this message