I wondered if all these stars;
would ever fall to the ground;
walking away, wandering around;
painfully hoping for magic to be found;
my curiosity was blissfully piqued;
when I heard that melancholic sound;
pitter patter pitter patter;
my heart was served on a platter;
out for the mindless demons to devour;
the ones who roamed on droplets left to scatter;
I looked up and saw the sign;
the absence of light;
and the gray cloudy skies;
it was my cue to leave I thought;
my brain walked but body stopped;
oh, it falls so cool, so calm;
the bead of water on my palm;
my dark orbs match the floating mystery;
letting the tears out of misery;
I look at my torn sleeve;
wounds so deep, I never had seen;
my soul cries for the time lost;
regret finds it’s solace in anger;
it overflows in me and slips away;
the stars stayed in place and didn't fall down;
but my sorrows did;
down with the rain and into the ground.
-v.s
A white tear bled from the foil seam,
a cold, lactic rot sliding down her woven leather heel,
drawing a pale, sour map across her instep.
I watched the porcelain skin of her shoe drink the milk,
and in that quiet curdling, my entire small frame snapped.
A choir of jagged iron shrieked beneath my skull,
tearing through the bone and behind my eyes:
a ruined child deserves no sun.
I did not wait for any reflex.
I dragged myself by the throat,
spat curses into my own ears,
and ran.
I bolted past the garden gate,
past the tall, unbothered grass,
my bare feet slapping the dirt in a rhythm of
self - contempt and fault.
In the damp dark behind the compost heap,
I pressed my face into the stinging nettles,
scraping my knees against the jagged limestone,
offering my own raw, bleeding shins to the air
to pay the debt for what I had done
praying the earth would swallow the wretched thing I was.
WIN AND WIN NO WAY
MORE LIKE LOSE AND LOSE EACH DAY
TRUMP BOILING AWAY
Pain
It explodes through my knee
as I fall to the ground
hoping I didn't do it again.
Everyone surrounds me
Asking me questions
making sure I'm okay.
I'm not.
But they don't know that
Other's keep telling me
everything is fine,
nothing happened.
We were all wrong.
Again.
My world turned upside down
for the second time.
The hurdles put up once again
ready for me to knock them back down.
The minutes tick by slowly
as I wait to hear my name.
They say count back from
10
9
8
7
6
5
blackness
Pain is infinite.
In my knee
In my head
In my stomach
everywhere
All I want to do is sleep.
But the pain is too extreme
and the nurses won't let me.
Pain
As I jump over
hurdle after hurdle
waiting patiently
until it is my turn to be happy again
9 months they said
9 months until I can play again
That's 273 days
That's 6552 hours
That's 393,120 minutes
That's 23,587,200 seconds
Until it is over
Every step
every second of
every day, working,
hoping ill be better
by the time we start again.
Free from pain.
If his name’s not on the building,
No one gets to go inside,
For to have someone else honored,
Causes damage to his pride.
He attempts to rule the country
Like a bully from the block
And the fact that some enable him
Leaves normal folk in shock.
I am tired of his tweeting
And I’m sick of all his lies.
He’ll be listed in the books as one
Most voters did despise.
But to end this on an upbeat note,
A U-turn from obscene,
It’s a special day for Henry,
As my grandson turns 13!
I’m not kind not humble not soft
I don’t need you to like me
I don’t need you to talk to me
I dont need you to smile
I don’t need you to cry either
Stay alert stay alert stay alert
You wont know who’s in front of you
Until the day comes
you think that I’ll forget everything?
VERY FUNNY
you think that i wont care ?
HAHAHA
You think that I’ll never notice?
STUPID
you think that i’ll stay blind forever ?
COMPLETE BULL
you think that I’ll leave before get to taste you back ? ??
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
STAY ALERT STAY ALERT
That's on me
By Dustin Branum
9/14/26
And they will never know the lengths I go
No fault of mine, they respectfully declined
And they will never know the pain I know
No fault of mine, they're lost and blind
And they will never know the love I show
No fault of mine, my love is strong and divine
And they will never know the things I know
No fault of mine, my knowledge grows like a vine
And they will never know the hate that grows
No fault of mine, my anger is mine
They must never know the things I know
How far I'll go to keep from show
This pain I know, this terrible glow
That burns my soul, the hatred I have for you all
The love I have to give, I gave it all
The terrible tragedy that they all saw
No fault of mine, I really tried to save you all from me
But you just wouldn't leave me be
My demons, my misery, my hate, I'd hide
Yet you begged of me to conquer and divide
To take my knowledge of power and just let it devour
The hatred you caused me to spill along with my blood you see
It's not about you, it's not about me
It's about Destiny
Why can't you see?
The Mosquito Squad has been zapped, swatted,
And completely obliterated.
Because they learned the hard way
That they can dish it, but they sure can't take it.
They've planned numerous strategies
And tried every trick in the book;
But everything has backfired
And their goose was already cooked.
Every summer was the same mission:
Find a sexy body and eat it.
It didn't matter if it was a booty, an arm, or a leg:
Alas, the Mosquito Squad has been defeated.
"That's the last straw!" the Squad Leader yelled,
With steam coming out of his ears.
"You've failed me one too many times!
I don't want to see your crocodile tears!
You can't even follow a direct order
And always fall flat on the floor.
Now get out of my sight, you knuckleheads!
The Mosquito Squad is no more!"
The crowd began singing
As the mosquitoes disappear in the sky,
"NA NA NA NA, NA NA NA NA,
HEY HEY HEY! GOOD-BYE!"
You never were
that kind of father
So I could never be
that kind of son
You saw what you
wanted in others
But with us it was
all zero sum
I reacted to what
you were doing
And not to the bombast
you spread
As the rift ever widened
between us
Into canyons of anger
— and dread
(Dreamsleep: September, 2026)
ALEX FORMENTON
BRIDGE TOO FAR MAYBE THIS ONE
SOME FANS SAY ARE DONE
A DEDICATION TO MY GODSON CARLETON
What can I say, when I received news that you
had gone to be with our Lord.
I called you, but you didn’t respond.
I asked our Lord many times to make a change
in your life, but I didn’t expect this.
My only hope was that I was a good influence
in your life, and that you felt you could depend on me.
I hate to see you go this way, but it seems
to have been the only
choice, if you can call it a choice.
I will miss you terribly.
So long, my dear Carleton.
I will always love you.
The clouds hide what is coming.
The skies loom in the darkness,
The fear it brings.
My heart races with evil thoughts,
Sensing the hidden messages,
Underneath thinking I cant feel them.
Trickery will not be tolerated.
He started this war and,
I will finish it,
With a vengeance.
Tried it all
Parents scared of my thoughts
Have a lot of lives
A past say; not exactly
At the end all come to a point
Wouldn't say talent or hidden either
A curse to me, didn't like the things.
Was not exactly a beginner
Never thought I had it in me
The freer the verse the deeper the cuts
Good for nothing; Yeah I was
Why care about people did they cry with you
Too much stress too little time
I want some, at least one to hear.
Stay dangerous
Even when you are in pain
Stay sharp
Never retreat into darkness
Stay alert
Dont be caught off guard
Stay disciplined
Don’t succumb to weakness
Stay mysterious
Until time is right
Then fall like lighting
It’s All About Perspective
How would you feel,
If you went home today
To find a strange creature
Had entered your cave
While you were away?
You would you feel,
If you looked in your bed
To find sleeping there soundly
A wee human head?
Would you be angry?
Would you see red?
How would you feel,
If some golden-haired brat
Had gobbled your supper
And shattered the chair where you always sat?
What would you do?
How would you handle that?
How would you feel,
If the door to your cave
Had been kicked in by a kid
Who just could not behave?
Would you rumble and roar
Or just rant and rave?
No one would blame you,
If you got really mad
With a dimpled-faced terror who destroyed all that you had.
That’s how many would feel, but
Isn’t it sad
That no one had taught her
How not to be bad?
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