I Am Empath.
I recall the day it happened.
I was no more than a child.
Standing by my mothers side,
my emotions running wild.
Overcome by sadness,
I would come to one day know.
This so called gift that I received
would one day start to grow.
Now I can feel the words you speak,
and hear the words you don’t.
I can sense the things you’ll do,
although you swear you won’t.
I can see your troubled soul
by looking in your eyes.
I can somehow find the truth
behind great walls of lies.
I can sense but not explain
this storm where you are hurled.
I can see by how you walk
you’re shouldering the world.
Not something that I asked for,
not some silly game I play.
Sometimes my heart is broken
a hundred times a day.
I’ll feel somewhere a broken mind.
We’ll talk for just awhile.
And I can see the things they hide
behind their broken smile.
So if someday sometime we meet
don’t fear what I might see.
The story told is yours to tell
and your secrets safe with me.
Edwin C Hofert
I Am Empath.
I recall the day it happened.
I was no more than a child.
Standing by my mothers side,
my emotions running wild.
Overcome by sadness,
I would come to one day know.
This so called gift that I received
would one day start to grow.
Now I can feel the words you speak,
and hear the words you don’t.
I can sense the things you’ll do,
although you swear you won’t.
I can see your troubled soul
by looking in your eyes.
I can somehow find the truth
behind great walls of lies.
I can sense but not explain
this storm where you are hurled.
I can see by how you walk
you’re shouldering the world.
Not something that I asked for,
not some silly game I play.
Sometimes my heart is broken
a hundred times a day.
I’ll feel somewhere a broken mind.
We’ll talk for just awhile.
And I can see the things they hide
behind their broken smile.
So if someday sometime we meet
don’t fear what I might see.
The story told is yours to tell
and your secrets safe with me.
Edwin C Hofert
I warned him a hundred times
I just can't take it anymore
I cry both day and night
Today's the day it's got to stop
I've got my one-way ticket out of here
I'm boarding a train that's westward bound
Don't know where I'll land and I don't care
I've got miles to go to hatch my plan
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
You can hurt me a hundred times, then a hundred more.
It's no matter to me because I won't keep score.
Beat away at me, break me down to the core.
There you will find some love, take it and roar!
Use it for strength, to help yourself soar.
To replenish and refill, that's what it's for.
It's okay, I have love to give and love in store.
Go ahead and use it to fix that beautiful heart they tore.
I want a great love affair
I want a love stolen off pages of romance books full of passion
And heat and delicious taboo
I want a love affair to shake me
To pang in my bones, my nerves stinging
We were playing pool
We lost the chalk and we were laughing
You were drunk and all loosened up
And I was licking my words as I spoke them
You watch me from the corner of your eye, cheeky smile, you lean forward
Just slightly, but you lean forward
We stand there mere inches from each other, absorbing each other’s heat
You were drunk
In my head I rewind and replay
Every time you looked at me on a loop
Clinging to the memory of praise
Leading your gaze towards me
Letting my body stretch
Become one with the pool cue
And I could fail a hundred times
Let the clicking get louder and louder
With pain shooting up my right shoulder
I keep lining the cue up
Just to hear you say that, this time, I was good
We were playing pool
Told you a hundred times.
Please... tie your shoelaces for heaven's sake!
You'll fall all over yourself !
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
I must have peace in my life and so I create it,
my home is tranquil and wraps me up in a warm hug.
Have loved a hundred times or more and have been loved,
though some have left this world they still visit me.
Understand that some people just stay a bit, some
fade away when needed, but some have deep roots and seeds
Without mercy and compassion to give to this world,
you are but an empty shell and will just wither away.
Cleaning the dust never ends,
There is always a girl in a wardrobe,
Who does not let go of your hand,
There is always a girl in a museum
who does not look at Matisse and Cézanne,
There is always a girl in a garden
Who steals apricots and oranges,
Cleaning the dust never ends,
There is always a cat on a pink chair
Who yawns seeing you happy,
There is always a blue cat in yellow sheets,
Who waits for someone to stroke him a hundred times,
A young cat in trouble who thinks
to the mango that you covet.
Cleaning the dust never ends,
A wild orchid asks for water and love,
A wild orchid is still waiting
May a poet change his life and color,
It is enough for Matisse to comb flowers
To remove the dust from the world, that
Grapes in the fruit basket.
Ten times they tried and failed
to ban him from the seed
with nets, with traps, with hose;
a hundred times they tried.
Later when,
amen, the
angry men,
then gave up;
Soon came zen.
songer.co/song/uoybps6svtfpdjvmsumcec1c
[Verse 1]
I thought I was fine
You weren’t really on my mind
That was until
You were gone
I got to town
I really liked the way you hung around
Turned my frown upside down
Then you were gone
I’m all alone
[Chorus]
Was it something I said
I’m sorry if I was wrong
But I don’t know
Why did you up and go
Was it that song
Could it be fear
Turned you into a ghost
Now you’re not here
[Verse 2]
I’m so confused
How you pulled away
Without even a whisper
We were talking yesterday
I’ve played it back
A hundred times
What note was missed
That ruined our rhymes
[Chorus]
Was it something I said
I’m sorry if I was wrong
But I don’t know
Why did you up and go
Was it that song
Could it be fear
Turned you into a ghost
Now you’re not here
[Bridge]
I thought I was fine
I can’t get you off my mind
All the times we had
Those days are gone
[Outro]
I thought I was fine
Those days are gone
Those days are gone
Fifth Element is a movie I've watched a hundred times
yet still each scene exudes an aura of fascination.
The perfect mix of action, mystery and fantasy,
its charm is in its innocence and humour.
The characters are lovable though quirky
and that's what makes them unforgettable.
Friends from another dimension, they need regular visits
because they instantly can warm the fibers of our heart.
AP: 2nd place 2025
Ride a bike a hundred times.
Continuous petaling noises.
Screeching centipedes.
Underground.
Ride a bike a hundred times.
Through the tunnel.
If I existed…
Wouldn’t I have made it though by now?
Eat pizza a hundred times.
Slices which are triangles.
Tired, tired slices.
The pizza delivery man is back.
Continuous.
Or maybe not.
Into the tunnel.
Existence.
A hundred times.
Then a hundred more.
Seems continuous enough.
Flying, and unstoppable.
I learned to count that day.
I counted wrong.
It was over.
So the centipedes creep in.
You are the whisper in my chaos, so soft yet so strong,
A melody in my silence, my heart’s favorite song.
With every glance, my heartbeat dares to race,
For in your eyes, I find my safest place.
Your voice—like honey, sweet and divine,
A sound so pure, it feels like mine.
Every word you say, I hold so tight,
Like stars that shimmer in the quiet night.
You’re the moon that I adore, glowing bright and true,
But I swear, dear love, the moon is obsessed with you.
It bends its light, it shifts its hue,
Trying so hard to shine like you.
Your smile? A spell that sets me free,
A warmth that melts the cold in me.
Your presence? A home where my soul belongs,
A place of love, where my heart stays strong.
They say love happens just once, I know that’s untrue,
Because every time I see you, I fall again for you.
A hundred times, a thousand more,
Each love deeper than before.
You are my answer when I lose my way,
My sun, my stars, my night, my day.
And if love was measured, let them see,
That mine for you is infinity.
Retracing our steps often helps the lost be found
But what if we have a poltergeist or a spiritual jokester in our home?
I know I have one or the other, and she/he hides things
I lost my husband’s extra car key six years ago
It was not a lone key
It was on a ring of sixteen other keys
A rather large ring; I had thrown it on the couch
I have turned that couch upside down and backwards
Taken the cushions off a hundred times
Moved it away from the wall
Shaken it
The last two times I heard spirit laughing
I’ve been to the auction house, I go there once a week
But still no luck, I cannot find the rarity I seek
The Chinese urn to one side of my fireplace stands there
Looking kinda lonely as it’s meant to be a pair
My wife is always moaning that it looks so out of place
It dominates the left hand side, but on the right is space
It’s worth a lot of money but an antique dealer reckoned
That they’d be almost priceless if I were to find a second
I thought I’d never find one, it’s been quite a lengthy wait
I can’t believe that I’m about to get my urn a mate
I’ve passed this shop a hundred times; it seems today’s the day
This shop sells pre-loved items and they’ve got one on display
Okay, so they knew their stuff and wouldn’t drop their price
I had to pay them fifty quid but it’ll look real nice
Scooping up a bargain I find well and truly thrilling
And frankly even fifty quid means I just made a killing
I was on cloud nine for urns like these fetch more in pairs
I drove home and I rushed inside, to hear my wife upstairs
Excitedly, I yelled, “You’ll never guess what I just did.”
She said, “Me first… the junk shop bought your urn for seven quid.”
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