Written: June 10th, 2026, for a contest sponsored by Nette Onclaud
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Do I feel empty?
Or am I becoming a void?
Or am I amassing light to be thick?
Shimmering hourglass embosoms paradoxes—
emptiness and fullness, darkness and light.
A sandy spot with winter asperity cinders,
a vestige of the iterative nature of life,
each grain of time trickling a wave,
ebbing and flowing,
forever shifting, undulating.
Whatever twist, whatever spin,
I sustain you in the din,
anchored on the ledge of chiming.
In all scopes, the sand-clock is versatile,
grain by grain, a vertical choir—counts—
flux, looms as a flash of fearlessness,
from ash, arises a phoenix, pristine slate.
Pushing the envelope,
I envelope my world,
Moving toward a future,
I'm looking forward too,
My sword of truth,
Cuts right through,
Slicing my being in two,
Duality a new tool to use,
Fusing with my personality,
Immersed within reality,
I am really all I see,
This projection is me,
My eyes allow it to be,
A responsibility to be held,
Expelled from my inner being,
Agreeing to help whose needing,
Seeing if i can be of service,
Sewing seeds of purpose,
I purchased a timeline,
One that's mine to refine,
I am divinely intertwined,
My mind unwinding the reel,
I feel it deep inside my brain,
A chain of events taking place,
Erasing a past of mistakes,
Making a list to pass on,
Amassing only hope,
I push the envelope.
"Disobey the orders of Trump. Obey the orders of humanity.”
— Gustavo Petro
..........................................
That order to kill
is just to assuage an ego,
Palestine deserve to live too,
Just like the Israelis,
So, oh soldiers of fortune,
Disobey that his orders.
Blood suppose to flow in veins,
not into the soil,
Peace needs to reign in Palestine
not only in Israel,
Children in Palestine need
their parents alive as in Israel.
Donald donates war to the poor,
yet accuse Hamas of amassing weapons,
to destroy a once beautiful country.
Now that Sinwar has seen the war,
Has Trump been able to trump
his remnants out of Gaza,
Instead rains of bullets form their bazaar.
If their brains are blocked
Are yours too blocked?
Oh soldiers of fortune.
The corrupt officer schemed throughout his years,
Amassing great wealth beyond his peers.
But once retired, his heart did stir,
He dreamed to be known as patriot and social worker.
The social worker preached to keep things clean
Yet dumped the trash where it should not be seen-
By roadside or river the rubbish he threw
A bitter irony the people knew.
The patriots and reformers proud and tall,
As they liked to be addressed by all,
Encroached upon the public land,
Taking more than they had planned.
They speak out against corruption's blight,
Yet ask their children to thrive in its night.
The social activist, with care and knack,
Got government contracts through the backtrack,
Jobs for his kin, all neatly aligned,
Through hidden doors, deals well designed.
The society nods, though it may shove
The life one chooses to live and love,
Need not align with words they say,
Actions and truths may drift away.
-----------------------------------------
The drone of birds in war offensive
hear the drone of war
pity the birds, amassing
way out there someplace,
they'll be back in droves to drone
the piteous drum of war
Kyrielle Sonnet
They search, phones held tightly, spellbound
moments parting in the background
phone screens, maybe the newest pill
Time won’t stand still, is this God’s will?
They’re seeking this life’s cutting-edge
is it their hearts and souls they’ll pledge?
from where they stand, life’s all downhill
Time won’t stand still, is this God’s will?
They know that life moves by, passing
finger on the screen, amassing
dreams lost, is life at a standstill?
Time won’t stand still, is this God’s will?
They search, phones held tightly, spellbound
Time won’t stand still, is this God’s will?
Gold for worship
Only for self
Is vain worship.
Amassing gold
Is ludicrous
If personal.
Gold is for God's
Holy purpose
Solely God's work.
Having too much
Gold for oneself
Inviting curse.
Splashes levels drains cerulean aquifer
Azure axioms encapsulation in crystalline shimmer
Ping tumultuous sapphire in a thunderously storm
Lightning in sand castle amassing the goblet
Chalice of oasis with a puff of condensation
Rivulets fuse in mass of mercury river
Flows in forks down cheeks to waterfall
Ripple on the petal of a black rose
To bend and lachrymose below
There exists a space between us
that has widened since the passing,
which slowly fills with more distrust
as faint demons start trespassing.
The closeness of a touch still there;
but eyes that once stared into mine
now focus elsewhere, in despair;
beyond, and to that baleful shrine.
Words attempt to bridge the distance;
depart to fade, arrive unheard.
We live in ghostly coexistence,
you, deep in bitter loss, interred.
And so we spend our long days thus;
love parting, contempt amassing.
There exists a space between us,
that has widened since the passing.
He said he was Herbert Buttery
Born and bred in Woodley Edge
And was owner of a little business
Repurposing outdated artificial legs.
They were a family of collectors.
His brother lived in Haywards Heath
And his speciality was amassing
Pre owned sets of artificial teeth.
They were here on neutral ground
To consider a joint venture
Outside their specific fields
Of either Prosthetic or denture.
He made no further comment
Of the content of their proposal
Other to confirm they had
Sufficient funds at their disposal.
Such strange folk i thought
As I bid him a fond adieu
To continue with my project
Of harvesting Equinoxal dew.
This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth. Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure and have washed my hands in innocence ~ Psalm 73:12-13
A wise man long ago bemoaned the thought
that those who seek the paths of righteousness
so often struggle mightily. Their lot
seems only to be wreathed in hopelessness.
Meanwhile, the wicked reap rich dividends
while disregarding others' poverty -
they'll use whatever means may suit their ends,
neglecting justice, love, humility.
Believers know "these three remain" to guide
up peaks appearing insurmountable:
Faith is that trust in Him who walks beside;
Hope is that blessed wealth uncountable;
and Love, which guides us to eternity -
For "God is love", the greatest of the three.
We're worlds apart
It seems to me
Unknown before
So blissfully
Unaware
That friendship
Stalked
This earthly plane
Until we talked
Once
And then again,
Again, again
We chitter-chattered
Just present
Spirits
Catching up lost
Time
Was all that mattered
Maybe mixed in
With much time
Passing
Some healing-love
Perhaps amassing
Not quite
Romantic
A different kind..
The sort that souls
Do rarely find
But when that
Rare
And precious heart
Beats in time
With words that
Rhyme
Right from the start
On this one view
We altercate
You say it's
Luck
I call it
Fate
I wrote these words with all in mind and hope they plant some seeds behind.
A message that will touch each heart to let all know we're not apart; we all belong to one great force, a consciousness that some call source; there is no separation here, for all to connect both far and near.
Life's not about amassing wealth; that won't supply the soul with health; only caring feeds the soul and keeps it strong and always whole.
So cast out hate and fear within and replace thoughts with love to win. Share what you can, extend a hand, and raise awareness; that's the plan.
His was a lifetime
spent grabbing
storing
stashing
garnering
stealing
collecting
depositing
amassing...
try-try-trying to fill
his soul hole carved deep
from a youth
from a poverty
of having nothing.
But all was but a sinkhole
each stash
more greedy-desperate
and heavier
than the last.
In the end
all was as nothing
An aggradation,
too heavy
for the man
to carry forward,
Sinking down with him
now buried
and forgotten.
‘Tis said,
A man is remembered
for what he gives,
Not for what he takes.
Luminous
lights appear
in my long dreams,
as my soul, so it seems, holds high
a periscope
for my heart and mind to see
every surrounding scene
beyond the heavy, seamed quilt of history
laid over my long sleep,
my long night — as deeply
black as the pupils of my eyes
mirroring a moonless, starless mid-night;
yet my soul floats
within this ever-amassing eternity —
wherein gleams an airglow for some sight
of the softly glistening atmosphere’s heights…
arising
heavenward
and shimmering
~ while here within me
longings emanate
(for a communion with God
and a complete life)
appearing luminous and divinely embossed
— comprising my long, impassioned prayers
— all into making
the long necklace
of gold-linked
wishes and psalmed gratitdes
I kneel to sing
on these long nights
before my long sleeping…
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