Written: May 27, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Miranda Hawley
****************
Colorful crayons, the dreams of my choice,
Chalk, white, and red allergens hurt my voice.
Young hearts overflow with pristine lifetime,
While learning about our gone past sublime.
Like a box that cradles bright, varied pens,
Transforming basic scenes with vivid stems.
Shades of jade, azure, lavender, and gold,
Turquoise whispers like oceans, calm and bold.
Purple colors absorbed me as a child,
Soft blue calmed all the troubles of my mind.
Yet I shun the red; the shadow it casts,
Recalls too well the echoes of the past.
Same as how crayons fit in their holder,
I give each dream its special space folder.
ALLERGIES
I’m tired of these rains of salty tears
Caused by allergens in my atmosphere.
Since allergies last the entire year,
Why they’re called “seasonal” isn’t clear.
The stinging spores are always near,
Welling and swelling and telling,
I fear, of my constant felling
From constant tears.
I can’t get my eye makeup to take,
Shake, bake, or stay
Because it bleeds and flakes
Due to the water my eyes always make.
So thanks for nothing, Allergies!
?How you piss off a priss like me!
You take great liberties but show no civility,
Increasing and releasing
Dark shadows doing battle
In all places and spaces on my face;?
Usually lovely but “seasonably” ugly
From the super-puffy, very stuffy
Watery, red, and watershed
Eyes I temporarily despise
Because of these constant cries
I can’t defy, deny, or hide,
No matter how hard I try.
I’m stuck with the leaks, peeps,
So if you care about skin, nails, and hair,
Beauty tips, bowed lips, and my clever quips,
Please say a prayer my face is spared,
Not too wizened and pared
Into a beady raisin
By these godforsaken
Allergies which constantly
And relentlessly torment me!
We sing your praises long before you’re due
and after you’ve departed—all year long!
You bring green grass and flowers into view—
plus bugs, torrential rains, and winds so strong.
You come with warmth to woo the Earth to life.
Sweet fragrances come wafting on the breeze.
With allergens, the springtime air is rife.
My faucet-nostrils drip; I wheeze and sneeze.
But allergies and rashes can’t negate
your glory. Nor can pollen steal the praise
you’ve earned. Now I’ll just take my meds and wait
till I can relish your more winning ways.
I’ve sneezed on this creation seven times.
My dripping nose baptized the latter rhymes.
February 11, 2023
written for the Spring Is Not All Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Michelle Faulkner
February 11, 2023
On the frigid wings of the northern breeze
waned winter with frayed feathers flies away,
clears the mist from shining sky out of freeze,
song of birds brings life in ambiance grey.
On silken leaves’ cradle blooming buds glow,
with cascade of color petals unfold,
zephyr ripples fragrance in fervent flow,
but spring also has its downside untold.
Insects crawl out after hibernation,
stinging bees build hives in unwanted place,
allergens spread as season’s creation,
from defrosted ground dust fills warm air space.
Though compared to winter it is tender,
spring is not all encompassing splendor.
_______________
February 6, 2023
Syllable count : 10 per line (HMS)
Rhyme checked with RhymeZone.com
Contest : Spring Is Not All
Sponsored by : Michelle Faulkner
Pollen is kicking my petootsie today
Allergens yelling “up and away!”
Spring time greenery is here to stay.
My nose is running in every way.
I am crying although not sad.
My scratchy throat is really bad.
Pollen is making me exceptionally mad.
When autumn arrives, I will be so glad!
Freedom flings out the summer breezes
In a park where allergens make sneezes.
Men gather to toss their plastic frisbees,
Taking off from work for sick day freebies.
written February 17, 2022
(Enjoying my lunch in a
Florida State roadside park)
Dust floats in the air like it belongs there,
and then accumulates on everything.
Dead skin and mites suspended in mid-air
adhere to practically anything;
sullying surfaces to which they cling.
Dust bunnies gather, morphing into balls;
that hide under beds and roll down the halls.
Dust spreads allergens, dander, and pet hair
that collects in corners and sticks to walls:
it's everywhere, yet no one seems to care.
Urination reigns rains flowing
Covering the firmaments grasses
Backing splashing on the oak tree
Nose to the grindstone Kentucky bluegrass
Sniffs out allergens striving to mark a path
Marking at territorial arenas grasp
A leg up Or just a squat
Relinquishing rains
Watch the green grasses
Now yellow patches
From yellow rain
Puring down tween a dog's leg
1/24/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
The Business of Autumn
David J Walker
1. The season of dry clouds and Canada Geese
Arrived over the weekend
2. The weatherman says the freeze was
too light last night to have been noticed
3. A frost is in the forecast but rescheduled
for some other tomorrow
4. The full moon demands homage
deserving its observations
5. before the sun sets
on another harvest
6. The farms have formed seas of
ripe corn and white cotton
7. bordering a thousand small towns
in every direction
8. allergens release in the winds the
invisible seeds of misery
9. The last days and nights of the whine of
cotton gins bailing good fortune
10. The business of autumn comes to an end
On the fairway of a county fair
11. The next rain will be cold and will
Hold its verdict … Ice or snow…
until after Thanksgiving
Her brilliant red veins can blind you
The shimmer of her leaves is deadly
Her allergens will find you
Thoughts of her vines weigh heavy
Ur mind will find no cure for her poison
Itching at ur desire
Memories burning with passion & fire
Thick vines climbing up the wall of ur dreamz
Robust leaves soaking up the sun beams
Longing for her touch consumes my every fiber
Her poison isn't fast like a viper
Beautiful to the eye shining like a jewel
Deadly to the touch of a fool
She'll leave u scarred and broken
Anaphylactic and chokin'
Her touch lingers under ur skin
The only relief is to touch her again
Lusting for her poison like a fiend
Searching the forest 4 her leaves of red & green
Poison Ivy climbes through my thoughts
a
smelly
cigarette
hurts my asthma
perfume even worse
labored breathing
suffocate
awful
breathe
Kills ocean spicies
Ecosystem under stress
Air full of allergens
Poeple bankrupts
Ocean of treasures
Boyous of wonder
Takes years to rebourne
Technology flaws
Without recovery plans
Never plan to save living beings
Should stop all off shores drilling
Triggering capital depression
Spicies like our people
Need immediate care
Look upon unfortunately
In play as the one clean its act
Dead dried leaves,
and i bleed for reasons unknown,
I'm the last breath your life receives.
No king will fill the high throne.
And once again my chromosomes make me gasp alone.
Only mortals seems to bleed..
Allergens leave me allergic to substance,
So i tread water 3 inches deep,
Condensation helps me breathe for energy in present tense.
But ankle deep health doesn't seem to seep.
Bandages don't seem to protect,
Just cover and help with a clean conscience,
Damages stay available to the weakness of death.
Life stays unchanging but never constant.
Dinky and fragile things seems needed,
But i wallop in double negatives, freely flowing,
Confused faces welcome me to the stage but I'm never greeted.
Not even a thousand breaths can detour my constant blowing.
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