O fall, let this lore of love be the last...
as your tight, chaotic grip holds me hostage.
Don't count against me my downfalls,
but the endeavors that have stitched the fabric of my days.
Still, this mask of anguish shapes its heavy cry,
wrapped tightly against the core of myself—
absent of mercy, mocking that pure moment in time
that allows us mortals to be human.
Yet, neither dusk nor dawn can delude me.
They try to imprison me, and hate may fill me with sorrow,
but the flame carried within shall never be dismissed—
a hunger not easily satisfied, refusing to die.
Discarded, a silent alchemy works in the dark.
I am the fire the shadows could not smother;
I turn the leaf, rewriting every page,
rising far above the ashes of my pain.
Last standing—strong,
amidst the dust and foliage of farewell!
Note: AI-image generated to visually reflect my poem's themes. Written for the "Leaves of Life" poetry contest sponsored by poet Hiya Sharma.
Night settles in a pale blue hush,
and the glass seed in my palm
carries a faint shimmer
as if remembering its own beginning.
Ice loosens along the edges of things~
a quiet alchemy I feel in my ribs.
I hold the seed to the light,
and something inside it softens.
I open my hand,
and the seed brightens just enough
to suggest a direction.
Not a command~
just a small, soft defiance
against the cold.
Written August 27, 2026, For Poetry Wheel Weekly Challenge
Verified by HMS.COM / 8 - 8 - 5 - 5 - 8
Theme: Memory
Emotion: Wonder
Color: Gold
Season: Summer
Form: Limerick
Object: Lego
Verb: Whisper
*******************
The sun in its annual glow,
Turns plastic to citrine below;
A whispered refrain
Of joy and of pain,
Brings childhood wonders to bestow.
Alchemy
Pain
Happiness
Deep
Feelings
Thoughts
Introspection
Gems
~ kcm
Pour it slowly
Cannot cup overfill
Combination deliberate
Dissolves into the dough
Takes on new form
It was not the cruelty that shattered me;
it was the slow, treacherous alchemy of the heart -
how each wound you dealt seeped deeper into my bones
and, against all reason, taught me to love you more fiercely,
as if your abuse were proof of my inadequacy
and loving you harder might finally make me worthy.
I am an equinox of repentance
glinting base metal
upon arrival
already disappearing into time
reacting at my core
when exposed
to your mere existence
what am I?
surely changed
most definitely longing
distilled upon entanglement
willing to destabilise
whenever you wish
foremost ~
addicted to your alchemy
orbiting
until * *
I'm too fragile to reform *
s c a t t e r i n g into stardust *
to gaze upon you * *
from a billion vantage points *
for a trillion years *
until I once again settle
in your domain
willing for completion
The air stirred
Just enough to hold my attention
An eerie warning
A subtle summons
No hint of witch or wizard
The subtlety of a sensuous
Mortar and pestle
Drifting through the room
Crushing my resistance
Seeking the presence
Of unknown feelings
The air swirled
Easing my resistance
Succumbing to her wiles
Captured within her aura
I rose to greet her
Somehow
I had become
Addicted to your alchemy
You keep me in a bottle
I watch you as you pass
Waiting to he used again
I lean upon the glass
Addicted to your alchemy
I turn from green to gold
You warm me to sublimination
You freeze me still and cold
I want to breathe your ether
Your toxins i don't need
Cannot move my eyes from you
A book I should not read
I swim within your mercury
Sweet poison in my veins
And you will leave, evaporate
My love in leaden chains
This Limerance just chemistry
You'll never know my heart
So I'll stay in Sulphur mists
And we will remain apart
Fan in close proximity to my breast
Large and tinted pink
You drink in my dance of squirming
You love how I wear my abash
My heartbeat upon my face
You see it…you feel it
You’re in the shadows
I’m haunted by your presence
yet, I’m “addicted to your alchemy”
the outcome of which frightens me
I can’t see your face but I know
that you’re more handsome than anyone
has a right to be…confident that you are
painted upon the pages of history
Nameless…faceless entity
You slay me
I faint under your thumb that snaps me
as I pose on the love seat
Why can’t I run
Why don’t I
Are you a phantom…I fathom
you’re wrapped in black silk
from head to toe
I’ll grab my cross, you must know
Snatched away by a mock role.
Despair not.
Discard innocence — a troublesome memory disassociates.
Time recursively scrolls the memory:
Trying / Failing.
When was it lost?
In the combined turbulence
of the intersecting visual produced by
the mind’s perception of reality and self through eyes.
Caught thinking, dreaming:
“What is sleep?"
"I can’t know sleep — who is she?"
"I know she sounds ugly."
"I love sleep, but she doesn’t love me for real.”
Being seen through by another,
yet receiving recognition.
Redemption is still always possible.
Humanity doesn’t have to be some chimerical tragedy.
Alchemic deals made in belligerence,
producing mercurial blood.
Life is transformation -
An ongoing lesson;
From failure, to wisdom.. towards enlightenment.
The midpoint is the sharpest -
It sticks out like a thorn;
Yet, towards the end, finds tranquility, and calm.
It ebbs and flows.. rises and falls -
Moving ever onwards;
It curves so beautifully, before it circles back.
This process.. these cycles.. my own evolution -
Balancing of the dark and light;
The gold we all aspire to become.
* 'Word Prism' Poetry Contest
* Sponsored by: John Anderson
* Entered/Written on: 1/20/2026
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The moon spills silver
into hollows
where shadows sleep~
a slow,
luminous transfusion.
She whispers
in the language
of
unlocked doors,
turning bones
to quartz,
thoughts
to mercury.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The year is
cumbersome now~
an awkward
breath held
between
the dark
and
what comes
next.
Trees' black silhouettes
stand out
against the
sky as it
fades.
The sun,
low
and exhausted,
touches
everything
but warms
nothing.
This is the turning~
a gentle hinge
of light,
the world
tilting back
toward
possibility.
does the dawn fall in love with
the receding night?
does the sun long to merge with
the silvery beams of the moon?
does the blue sky ever attempt to kiss
the earth in a tight embrace?
do the mountains strive to touch
the stars of the firmament?
is it not the red tint of the morn
that colours the cheeks of the dusk?
is it not the smile of the moon
that lessens the wrath of the sun?
is not the sky sharing the earth’s pain
as it sheds tear drops in sweltering heat?
aren’t the twinkling stars covering the darkness
lending a radiant sparkle to the black granite?
thus through mutual love, the world prospers.
love turns the world around,
enriching the donor and the receiver
it gives more than the soul can aspire
it lights up more than darkness can hide
it fills the void, makes us whole
a lighthouse to the sailors at sea
the greatest gift, a treasure of measureless worth
so love as never before, love till you die!
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