The Voice
Naming this voice in my head
Causes me to dig deep in a place
Where dreams slowly fade away, and hope has gone unfed
Frequent darkness and loneliness, I’m struggling in this chaotic space
Willfully traveling through this emotional state
I begin to realize, this may be my eternal fate
Allowing past failures control, my mind can’t carry this weight
Feels like I’m slowly falling, holding on by a strand
The mind plays certain tricks, hope you understand
Voice so intrusive, I know firsthand
Mara is your name, the one I’m trying to shed
You’re causing all these setbacks, these thoughts I must replace
With affirmations, my soul can relate
To joy of positivity, this voice now banned
August 7, 2021
Content: Writing Prompt - Fragmented Spaces Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Constance La France
Copyright © Ms Affection | Year Posted 2021
Go now! I shall stay amidst my woe,
My soft heart twitches with affliction.
Fleeing condemnation, I will go!
A cold man of science; is no show.
Obscene as he can be, he hounds.
Go now! I shall stay amidst my woe,
Within my veins, my blood deeply flows.
The toxicity of attraction
Fleeing condemnation, I will go!
Doll house omitting a haunted glow.
My innocence taken now bound.
Go now! I shall stay amidst my woe,
Freedom fighters tying a tight bow.
Living with your veiled distraction.
Fleeing condemnation, I will go!
Ghastly cold stare will not reach me, no!
Yes, I will be far away and found.
Go now! I shall stay amidst my woe,
Fleeing condemnation, I will go!
Copyright © Rukhsana Afridi | Year Posted 2024
WRITING
when other souls
are conceiving
in their dreams
my breath
gives birth
at midnight
my soul
only knows
to labour
to push
to birth
alone
~ Eshe Benson
Copyright © Eshe Benson | Year Posted 2021
This Country our home
We’ve been mocked and dethroned
Where once we could lean
Now to each to their own
Soldiers of World
We’re put to the test
Pushed to the front line
A domino effect
If you fail you’re replaced
The Earth still moves
But to look into their eyes
Your choice, you choose
A self destructive axis
Does this world tilt
More blood shed
More blood spilled
And so we keep building
Another nail in our Hell
We need not War
We’ve destroyed us ourselves..
Copyright © Kristin Birchfield | Year Posted 2023
I'm Drowning in my Sins
The Devil has me in a Spin.
It Never Seems Like I'm Going to Win
I Pray to God to Forgive Me, but my Sins seem to Repeat.
Lord, Don't let me Suffer in Defeat.
I'll kneel and Kiss your Feet, But in this battle, I'm Losing Me.
My Soul is Living Free
Knowing in the End Torture is Forever Bonded to me.
Keep Inhaling The Smoke and get Thrown in the Fire.
My Deepest Desires gets Me Thrown in the Fire.
So does that Mean My Mind is Messed Up?
My Spirit Messed Up?
Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.
Forgive Me For My Thoughts
Forgive Me For My Desires
Every Day I'm Sinning I Feel like I'm Getting Closer to The Day I Expire
Wash Me Clean
Make Me New
Bring Me To The Light and Let The World Hear My View
Copyright © Malcolm Brooks | Year Posted 2013
The valley was so green
To my love swept eyes,
And all that I now beheld,
Was so alive with life.
There seemed to be
Melodies of unknown
Origins, floating on
Air massaging my
Ears, pricking my heart.
And I would sit so full,
Knowing no pains of
Physical hunger, for my
Present state would not
Allow it to happen.
For my hunger was of
A different nature that
Could never be satisfied
But by the one who cast
Her spell on me.
For I would never again
Be satisfied, unless I
Became a part of the
Matrix of her heart.
I needed to taste of
the endless pleasures
Which I longed to explore
In the current timeshare,
That found my heart being
Cradled in her hands.
I could not move far
away from her side,
As the pleasures that
Her love brought to my
daydream, swept my
Love filled mind away.
And when I awakened,
My hunger was replaced
By a much stronger need...
To make her mine.
Copyright © Wendell Brown | Year Posted 2013
People treat me like dirt with
Judged envy, but I stand with
Confidence.
People called my beauty
Ugly of jealously, but I still
Stand with Confidence.
People whisper of my features,
But I still stand with confidence.
A parent tells the truth of my physicals.
She made I stand up.
Copyright © Riquetta Brown | Year Posted 2018
The Price of Freedom
When will it happen again?
Didn't he love me like when we began?
Black eyes and a heart that won’t heal
Holding my own to stop the ordeal.
I knew if I did better, the assaults would cease.
My behavior did nothing to maintain the peace.
Nowhere to run and hide
he will catch me in a stride
Each lesson learned
Left wounds that burned
Don’t talk back
Or everything will go black
Keep your eyes on me
There is nowhere else for you to be.
You are mine to do as I please,
You will put out when I tell you and not be a tease.
You are trapped with no way out
His betrayal and abuse confirmed I deserved it, without a doubt.
Found my inner strength and voice
With my spirit intact, I made the choice.
My freedom would not be easy
The road to get there was not breezy.
I thank the Lord for His divine intervention
I left the abuse behind hanging in suspension.
I’m free at last and my life is a blast.
Copyright © Rev. Catherine Cassell | Year Posted 2023
It’s just a tiny village, a wide place in the road
The pace where life is steady and it’s slow
You find your comfort zone, no matter what the load
Campbellsville is the place I know
Brighter lights can call me, and travel makes me smile
And city life can seem like such a thrill
But nothing feels so easy, just like a country mile
As coming to my home in Campbellsville
When you find you’ve lost your way, and don’t know what to do
When everything is headed straight downhill
Think about the place you love, where everything was true
And come on home again - to Campbellsville
A little town in Tennessee, with history through the years
The Campbell home, the Springs, and the hills
The high school that so many loved, the victories of the Bears
I’m going home again to Campbellsville
Copyright © Andy Chunn | Year Posted 2021
Before the hot torch of the heavens fades,
And short shadows lengthen into long shades,
Quick set all your seeds lest the fast Fall frost,
Will bite at your bones ‘til your fruits are tossed.
"Arbitrum Divisa" form
Taken from "Passiflora"
Submitted 11/18/19
Contest: "Fashion" sponsored by Julia Ward
Copyright © Eric Cohen | Year Posted 2019
once again
i find myself
on the edge
only this time
i’ve used
my last metaphor
Copyright © Richard Colbert | Year Posted 2021
THIN LINE BLUE
Sworn to serve and to protect, the dedicated few,
We are the ones who stand between, we are the thin line blue.
When towers fall and dust clouds pall and others flee and pray,
Among the first responders, we come the other way.
Standing tall we heed the call, do what we're sworn to do,
Placing others before selves, we are the thin line blue.
A shooter rampant in a school, most dreaded of all calls.
We dare not wait for backup, we have to walk the halls.
Death lurking 'round each corner, there instead of you.
To save our threatened children, we are the thin line blue .
We stand upon the front steps, clergy by our side,
To gently tell a mother that a child of hers has died.
Killed in a senseless auto wreck, like so many died before,
And we dread to bring the heartache to the mother at the door.
When we pass out the tickets, or give the cautions to
The speeders and the drinkers we are the thin line blue.
Doing all we can to stop the carnage and the pain,
To keep from standing on those steps again and then again.
Domestic strife, husband, wife, loathe to interfere,
We do our best to reason, ease the anger and the fear.
Danger ever present, never sure what each might do,
With no-one else to turn to, we are the thin line blue.
When would be tyrants dare defy the peoples' chosen will,
Mobs become our enemy, prepared to maim and kill.
Some may be called to give their all, so many facing few,
We may bend but dare not break, we are the thin line blue.
When we leave our homes each day, unknown tasks to face,
Our spouses know there is a chance that we may need God's grace
To come back to our loved ones, our spirits to renew,
And for a while to leave behind the fragile thin line blue.
Sometimes at night we cannot sleep, we cannot put away
The memories of what we saw or had to do that day.
You do not know, you cannot know just what it takes to do
All that is expected, to hold the thin line blue.
And when a comrade gives their all we come from far away,
Marching in our hundreds, sitting in our seats to pray.
Knowing there may come a time it may be our turn too,
To be honoured by our colleagues, who walk the thin line blue.
Then when our twenty years or more are mem'ries left behind,
Some spirits may be broken, others filled with pride.
Some will be those who gave the most, did then what we now do.
They rolled the dice and sacrificed, they were the thin line blue.
Sworn to serve and to protect, the dedicated few,
We are the ones who stand between, we are the thin line blue.
Ellis Pringle Craig, May, 2022
Copyright © Ellis Craig | Year Posted 2023
Listen to poem:
(select all), (delete)
that's sometimes the feeling of a reflection
the notion of who you are brought into
chaos or calm
is that me looking back?
sometimes it is
and I'm present enough
to linger with myself
when the light hits right
like the painter was found
and captures you after all
just when you thought you were lost
sometimes I'm not there
and some cobbled together
representation gazes at me
so empty of the essence of who I am
it causes offence
the magic of when eye meets eye
and souls intermingle
that is often reserved
only for those we love
they appear as light
their presence
between the mirror and I
and just for one moment
that harsh self view evaporates
to reveal the view of a kindred soul
gifted so generously
that little bursts of love
populate the universe
bouncing around
to send a cosmic thank you
across invisible realms
glimmers, the opposite of triggers
the gift of beauty
from one soul to another
of course I'll linger by the mirror
not in vanity
but in gratitude
for the relief of loving oneself
even for a second
heals the soul
so when the light bounces just right
know it's the good vibes from kindred souls
gifting love from afar
or from the past
light and love are complex things
intangible yet enveloping
to gaze beyond a mirror and feel
from a dream of a memory
you are perfectly
held in love
knowing you will be once again
Brian Strand Premiere 1st Place
Copyright © Di11y Da11y | Year Posted 2023
Sponsored by: Silent One
If this was the last
___________________
| If this was the last_goodbye |
But, what if this was the last time I cried,
Don't want to be hidden behind lying scrys.
The world forgotten on their prying device,
Humanity alone algorithmic thrice.
Heaven on you shoulder beckons you home,
Mirror-sucking marrow through soulless domes.
But, what if this is the last chance to thrive,
Society nullified blue tick uprise.
Locate my strength to become whole again,
Discharge into the torrent of play-pretend.
Am I willing to wonder the outdoors,
Bleak scepticism plaguing putrid drawbacks flaws
Pick up, put down, conscious cyber remorse,
No better a junky and their driving force.
But, what if this is the last time I lie,
Unsubscribe, double-click, shut device; goodbye.
Copyright © Ministryofdreams Daisy Silk | Year Posted 2023
Rational Thinking
Rational thinking,
Wise to choose.
It's a little bit harder,
Nothing more for me to lose.
-Broken dreams.
-Broken hearts.
-Broken wings.
-My broken parts.
Rational thinking,
Wise to choose.
It's a little bit harder now,
Nothing more for me to lose.
I'm struggling harder,
Just to stay alive.
I'm struggling harder now,
Just to say goodbye.
Rational thinking,
Wise to choose.
It's a little bit harder now,
Nothing more for me to lose.
-Please come, fix me.
-Please, fix me now.
Rational thinking,
Wise to choose.
I'm struggling harder now,
Nothing more for me to lose.
Copyright © William Darnell Sr. | Year Posted 2013
On These Plains I Lay
White fire and heat, blinding light, blinding bright.
Shot down on these plains,
My soldiers, My warriors,
Fading from my sight.
Battle lost? Battle won?
Battered men, moaning in the morning sun.
I believe I am dying,
Not too old, definitely too young.
Fading. Now floating.
Moving forward to the light.
A pull on my cloak.
My eyes closed, but open to this sight,
of a man in kilt,
Arm outstretched to mine.
I reach for his hand, battle scarred
for all time.
My eyes closed and still,
but I see his face clear.
I know this man. I fought this man.
Still he calls me near.
"James" he beckons.
"Its Charles of Culloden, the man you spared."
"In the moor,
on the field in Scotland".
Indeed I did,
this Jacobite I spared,
This wounded Fraser,
laid down in despair.
Cumberland's' order gave no dignity,
Gave no honour,
to this brave Scot.
He was not my fodder.
Why are you here,
my mind speaks in silence.
This "Fraser" replies,
Men of honour have earned this quietness.
Walk with me, to our God, to our Saviour.
Pay no heed to this battle.
You have fought. You have died,
with honour and with favour.
Come to heaven and stand with pride.
Your life distinguished, and now time to rest,
beside our saviour.
By His side.
I reach out to grasp,
this Jacobite Fraser.
He holds me, and comforts me,
on our way to heaven,
on our way to our Saviour.
And now I rest.
Graham Alexander Devenish
Copyright © Graham Devenish | Year Posted 2018