A moment in time
A feeling sublime
A person you barely know
Takes on a lovely glow
The two of you embrace
You sense a state of grace
Nothing is withheld
The two of you just meld
Something you’ve never felt
Into each other you melt
Thoughts can not relate
Is this my soulmate
Is this hug too long
Could this be wrong
I have to let go
Will I ever know
Did they feel the same
Should I feel shame
It had to happen sometime
Are we the perfect rhyme
I sit silent to meditate
gather my thoughts breathe in and out
~ the world pauses for peace
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
A magic moment sonnet
The only tree left in the whole world
was opening its leaves to welcome
the day to the survivors
Among extinct animals
the Tasmanian tiger, beside the Hubro
They had been friends since 1936
There was no artificial light; the stars
had paled as night became day
Humanity was missing; it had not made
The transition to a planet at peace
dropped heavy bombs killing their own
a war cry, after us, there will be no one
A moment of love on the road
When I cross the road, the cars stop
I see the drivers. I feel them for friends
I wave a thank you to them. Feel them for friends
They wave back to me. Feel them for friends
This was a moment. It repeats. Always
We are people. Don’t be angry. Put smile
Take a smile
We are people
We do together
The Life
Waving to the bus driver
Coming on the bus. Door closing.
Journey. To my workplace. Get off.
I say thank you, and I wave to the driver
From the bottom of my heart
The driver waves back
The smile of driver is honest
Beautiful
This daily moment
A whimsical melody.
Or a ghostly one. It's always one.
On a hill. In the woodlands. Among
Oaks and birch trees wind
Twinkles in between layers of
The moment.
Moment - seems like something
Unequivocal
Yet the truth of it can never be fully
grasped. I get lost in the
Labirynths of understanding to find only
Misunderstandings. The rare clarity.
What makes a moment:
Colours, textures, scents, sounds
A world within or beyond
Me?
My mind. My past. My understanding of the past.
My sure
misunderstanding of the past. And the fact
That perhaps I just said 'I love you' or simply
'shall we grab a coffe'.
Or when I say nothing at all.
The Now
With infinite potentials.
Like a piece of clay I yet need to dare
To grasp. I think I need more courage.
Then I see that it comes to me
regardless.
30.08.25
At dawn,
you graze my face
tracing my jawline with your thumb to say:
“It’s nice to have someone here for once.”
I should know better than obsessing over men
whose attention doesn’t need begging
stitching myself into bedsheets
meant to be left half empty
but I guess you just get me.
If home is a body,
I already sense aftershocks
self-inflicted eviction setting in
slipping away half asleep
dreading the inevitability of leaving.
Dusting the floor,
my broom wrestles
with the cobwebs lingering
from yesterday's sales,
all around the ceramics
the threads poke
in all directions,
I kick the dustpan
and the dirt crystalizes
in midair,
for a moment, it was beautiful.
Sirius, bright as always but
Canopus, closely behind.
The vacant moment
stabilizes,
attuning gravity
for the slightest
second.
The image painted its portrait
onto the walls just as
Starry Night captured Van Gogh.
Unlike brilliant masterminds,
the stars fall as gravity remembers
its role.
The glittering dots flake
over my feet blending
back into the ground,
the straws weak grip lifts
the dirt kicking it back
outside, yet again it forms
high up in the skies blending
with nature as it hides,
slowly it vanishes
as its memory remains
within the dirt, stars form.
Joy comes in bitesize moments
hearts overflowing with gratitude are a blessing
~ the simplest recipe for happiness
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
I only need about $8 of gas
Enough to get home and get back to work the next day
I’m tired and don’t feel like waiting for the tank to fill up
Of course, I have to go inside because the card reader is being dumb
Usually, I would just leave but I’m too tired to care
I’m walking inside and see this guy
Immediately he made me smile
A smile that I had been saving for a special occasion
A smile that makes you question if you’re awake
A smile hidden for who know how long
Then he smiled back
This was the first time I felt a smile hold me just how I wanted to be held
We passed each other and kept about our respects
But the interaction froze
I was hoping to see him waiting when I walked out
So, we could hit play
Maybe in another lifetime
p.s. thank you for the smile…
Perched on the brink of a spring
We are sharing a handful of
Brown nuts
Just a few hours ago
The uniformed forces
Detained our friend
What was his crime?
He had voiced dissent
Against corruption
We are uncertain
Whether he is still alive or not
This moment is exquisite
We and this hill
__________
20 August 2025
A Leonine Moment (2003)
Yellow lion teeth like petals of love
I picked the green savannah grass,
It had just stopped raining and pearls,
as a glass bead around a cub's neck,
glinted in the sun that had been hiding
behind rain pregnant clouds, thunder
and lightning; far away, I heard
A lion's roar, inconsolable was its loss.
(Cabin Sunset, summer 2025)
The Heat of the Moment
Settling into our new mountain cabin,
Dogs and humans equally overheated
In the shadeless August afternoon,
The only way to be is naked.
Stuff strewn around
Bed to one side, kitchen the other,
Camp chairs with panting dogs
On an old Persian rug in-between.
Cabin with unfinished interior
Waits for insulation, paneling and flooring,
But in this moment nothing is missing
Except maybe a fan.
No water we haven’t brought,
Nor power not in some kind of rechargeable battery,
Yet we find a strong signal FM station
Playing one classic rock song after another.
And it takes me back to another time
Living as a 70’s teen in the suburbs when FM was king,
Then in the 80’s as a young man off grid in the hills
When a stack of cassettes was all we had or wanted.
Those youthful times, family and friends are long gone
And yet here I am in old age,
Living the good life again with new family and friends
Still rocking on, out of time, out mind.
(8/10/25)
Drenched in rains
The girl returns home
White and black
Sandals are wet too
Pushes back the
wooden shutters
of the closed window
From the box of oxygen
Releases a pink breath
Mild sound falls
on the leaves _
Smiling Gardenia
Leaving the photo
for the album
The time vanishes
into the inexplicable
grey mist
along life's journey
simple joys are the gems
to be stockpiled and amassed
opportunities are simply
bits of freedom to blossom
into time well savoured
AP: 3rd place 2025
Related Poems