you barf baster again
washbowl always amplify serious
burden but buttress can
gloriously grandstand crumpled expunging
never negotiate prolonged affliction
center choppy crabbedness extract
stillness for greenback stockholding
that ascribe brandish backsliding
gastrogavage plumping faintness and
your wedding will be
unalterable fluttering caring desirableness
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • August 24–30, 2026)
Say Something ...
Don’t juxtapose pretty words
because you think
they sound good together
Say Something ...
(James River Writer’s Conference: October, 2016)
Good counsel guards where love alone may fail,
It trims the winds that swell a reckless sail;
A mother's womb gives life, wise words give sight,
And guide young feet from darkness into light.
The breast gives milk to make the body strong,
Good counsel keeps the wandering heart from wrong.
A child is born by one, but raised by two:
A mother's love, and wisdom firm and true.
The hand that warns is kinder than the rod,
It turns young feet from dangerous roads to God.
The womb gives life; wise counsel shapes the soul,
For truth, not time alone, can make one whole.
Blessed are ears that welcome wisdom's call,
For humble hearts are slow to slip and fall;
The child who treasures counsel while still young
Will leave behind a life well-lived and sung.
Dearest writer,
Use me for a just and right cause,
Let the ink in me never pause,
I am here to help you fight,
With peaceful force and our might,
To see that issues are brought to the light,
So that chaos and corruption are set right.
Yes, reading what I help you write,
Will cause panic and fright,
And for some, extreme delight,
Because together we bring insight!
Your Sincere Friend
Pen
Copyright © by Crystal David John
I regret that our land has lost its joy.
People live in misery,
Working without reward.
They receive lies as if they were food,
And survive on tears alone.
Power rests in the hands of rulers,
While the people remain blind and unheard.
Leaders speak of love,
Yet they write stories of pain.
They lead citizens toward suffering.
People dream of salvation
To end their difficult situation.
Truth is buried in silence,
And no one dares to comment.
Like oil that boils over,
Anger rises among the people.
Yet those in power seem heartless.
Rulers act like angels,
Always wanting to be first.
They rarely seek advice,
Though their speeches are full of mistakes.
People need warriors to confront the lions;
They seek saviors for the jungle.
Who will defend them from these troubles?
best advice i've heard
don't piss in the wind
not a great rainstorm
If from a shrink,
You shrink,
And would rather spend time betting on the horses,
Than attend any self-improvement courses.
Then it may be time to consider staying in for the night,
To watch at least one full episode OF married at first sight,
To give you better insight
On how to adjust your sight,
To truly see for the first time,
The person you are currently with.
The person who desperately needs you to throw them a lifeline,
Before they disappear for all time.
(as happened with my someone or rather I disappeared)
Someone as fragile as you,
Who would willingly start anew,
If the real you,
Is open for their behavior to review.
I would say off with their heads
the queen’s evil cousin said
Lawanda, the queen kept mum
sometimes her cuz could speak rather dumb
you should have edicts, make them eat cake
said her brother, whose marriage did not take
the queen mother had oodles of advice too
give them the raspberry, throw them a shoe
the queen had no idea the trouble she would see
when she was in power and could write a decree
Be kind to each other, be generous and fair.
She wrote it out and waved her wand in the air
What about power? Don’t you want to be in charge?
This idiotic idea was issued to her by her Aunt Marge.
I want to have a kingdom that is full of people who care.
So saying, the queen twirled her sceptre in the air
my mother's words echoing endlessly
My dear old wombat friend is near.
He says to me, don’t worry.
You’ll look back another time
when you can find it funny.
Go to extremes? It’s not for us.
We like our days quite peaceful.
‘Most every day, do it this way
and we will have a life full -
of Proper Days, done in our way -
ones that we can cherish.
And when we want, can also add
a little bit of relish.
Charging around? Race here and there?
That is not our style.
Did the race feel right to you?
Sit here for a while.
My guess is that, what we both need,
has been here all along.
WE know deep down in our hearts
what it is makes us strong.
Dramatic changes aren’t for us.
We’d rather ponder time.
Then you’ll get it in your soul
that we are going fine.
(Goldilocks)
One bear - two bears- baby makes three,
Mommy making hot berry tea and brie.
Soup is way too hot,
No sleep on a soft cot.
New home and not needing to flee.
(Little Red Riding hood)
Mommy gave me good advice,
maybe I should have listened twice.
A wolf I did find,
lost my love and mind
Now pregnant paying the price.
(The Three Little Pigs)
We are three of a family kind,
except one got caught in the wind.
One got caught by the fire,
he was in a house fryer.
Wanting new homes space aged designed.
zombie with a big orange balloon
you sometimes act like a buffoon
silliest yet on your honeymoon
filling your bride with angry gloom
zombie you must make amends
follow her to the earth’s shady ends
beg her to come back and try again
you have to bend, my little friend.
I hear “lots of people” say don’t get married young.
It will never last.
I know six couples who have been married fifty years or longer
They all got married at eighteen or nineteen.
Fifty-four years, fifty-one years
sixty-one years, sixty-three years
seventy years married.
Who are these “lots of people”
most of them have either never been married or are divorced
or they do not know anybody who has been married for over years
watch out from whom you take marital advice
Just saying…..
It's shade not of night,
It's a rest from the flight
A poem more holy than any from page
A play with more grace than what makes the stage
More reverence there than buttress can bring
From the ground to the arch, apart from the wing
More grandeur than even more lofty a spire
More solid in nature than we can conspire
Giving shade through the day and rest through the night
For all who have need to retire from flight
It's a loss, there's no doubt
Whether storm, ice, or drought
Cellular, cellulose, wearing a crown
Grown all the way up… to only come down
When it's time to leave the sky to the wind
The leaves and the branches no longer to bend
Thence came the life that gave life to the lyre
That would raise up a canopy meant to inspire
More than a point, or a joint, or an arch
The oak and the elm, the maple and larch
Are reduced, as all things which sprang from the dust
To the fruit we produce to provide what we must
When it's time to be borne on the shoulder it's best
To have taken a stand between restless and rest
What we leave's what we're made of, leaf, branch, or tome
Make the most of your time, for we all join the loam
They wait for us in the dark,
lurking in the light of the moon.
We tremble when we're cornered,
no hope to escape any time soon.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
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