are you brainwashed ? or is she sociopath ghost !
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • September 21–27, 2026)
Contest: In The Stars
Sponsor: Robert James Liguori
For all we try to be and do;
For all we try to say or not say;
For all the time given in life to us;
For all our choices to go or stay.
Indeed, it matters much about us;
About all we contribute to the journey;
About all our sucesses and failures.
But there's far more to it than us alone.
Call it the Stars, Fate, or Happenstance.
Call it the Universe if we so choose.
Credit ourselves when we win;
And blame others when we lose.
The Stars said, "Neither strolls,voices,
Nor visions dwell with me".
Fate said, "When in time you come
My way, remember that I have neither
Say nor influence".
Happenstance said, "I have neither
Consciousness, control, nor creativity".
And lastly, Universe said, "Although I
Appear to be an ever seeing eye, an
Overseer I am not".
From where will the final answer come?
To whom then may we turn for appeals?
Who will be the ultimate judge of us all?
Stars? Fate? Happenstance? Or Universe?
Or, will we hear the voice of God saying,
"Come unto me"?
where is the answer? I asked
and it was provided
beheld in a sunset, given in a sunrise
lost in a bird's song sitting on a park bench
whispering in the limbs of trees swaying
the metronome in wheat fields
answers filling the night within the universe
beheld in the shadows of the moon
the oxytocin in a touch
the sweet taste of a bee's labour
a butterfly duty-bound lost in gathering nectar
deer grazing in a meadow
where the cougar will soon feed her young
it is in this essence I find it lives in me
a plethora of Kant's reasoning
my beloved lives in thee
the self I constructed has dissolved
now water seeking its true course
the oceans abiding in thee
Oregon 8/15/26
The Question Is
By Frank Daub
How could I have doubted
in that sky-colored look of yours
any
words spilled in the air between us.
With the melting honey fragrance of
your hair
and the litany of intentions filling
the pale luster of your face.
How could I have questioned anything.
Or would it have been less fruitful
if I had not said
that I was not certain.
To give you stronger opportunity to speak
assurance.
It is a young game
that keeps us young and close --
the question is.
And the answer comes from the sky-color
of your eyes –
in a soothing torrent of yes.
They beckon beyond the blue
voices mellow with warmth
leaving us lighthearted
and longing to glide
through the starry heavens
celebrating our freedom
and our inherent right to
express ourselves in
the graceful and poetic
language of love
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
As parents,
we never know what a child will ask.
All we can do is,
be prepared.
Out of the blue I was asked,
"which one do you love more?"
That was an easy question and answer.
When I give out cookies,
each of you get the same number.
Because I love you each equally.
Act one had just begun
the day we first met
I didn't know the die was cast
and the stage was set
act two what was I to do
you stole my heart and soul
couldn't guess the part was mine
I would play the leading role
act three I'm on cloud nine
I was there walking on air
it was beyond my wildest dreams
an answer to a prayer
act four who could ask for more
on my marks didn't miss a cue
before the fall of the final curtain call
it was a fairy tale come true
but now there's rain on the window
or tears in my eyes
don't know if it's due
to all those cloudy skies
between the two I can't tell
since you said goodbye
can't unring that bell
but who's holding the handbasket handle
now my whole world has gone to hell
the genie is out of the bottle life is so humdrum
and I don't really care for the man I have become
If the world is a poem,
then each line contains a sky,
and each stanza is a breath
that refuses to be final.
We are the echo and the echoer,
the question and the quiet answer,
a constellation of colors
born of a single seed of light.
On the edge of the forest,
the tall trees stand in silence.
I watch as a new day breaks forth,
asking am I like the trees?
Only a body and mind here,
my soul has also left.
What has the world done to me?
What has the world done to us?
Only the trees know for sure,
they hold the answers.
Just to keep up with a new style, while the Sand man sticks to a plan to hence understand the sentence one tense to be rinsed as the Grinch defends his tent in a pinch despite its foul rotten odor of a stench mouthed one voter who was NOT that dense in past present and future tense hence the bench warrant quarantine latrine screaming beanie baby trading card retarded jarred smarties party past time hardly hardy bartering shotgun runtime bubble covered in Nick at night slime time grime crockery stole bike spike Lymes disease treaty spiked seizer sky high geyser lightning bolt jolt soda colt cold shouldered boulder scolded holding smoldering diamond ring rugged bug-eyed smuggler tug of war tare of a care bare share holder folder to be both bad and bolder like gold oil and drugs with extra hugs and butt plugs underneath the rugs for the fuzz buzzing love jugs whatever that was or wasn’t but not my cousin nuzzling the guzzled puzzling Charlie Sheen screaming ice cream machine that feeds a team and the b team both green beans and brings the fiends back to their gene’s roots and boot scooting things... Let us see what else life brings. The Time is NOW! POW!!!
The hornet swooped, I froze,
with speed it dove,
my fear did rise,
not long, I realized,
the safety of my window!
I wonder
I remember
I had so many questions
Yet I stayed silent
Especially when I was
The only one with red hair.
All my life pictures
Only after I was 6 years old.
No birth records
Just born abroad
One piece of paper with
My birthdate and
Secretary of state seal.
My great grandmother called
Me jeanie, yet that was not my name.
So suspicious
Last time I saw her
She whispered in my ear
GO FIND YOUR REAL FAMILY.
That was the only answer I needed.
Now I knew the truth.
I heard the ravings of a fool
as his yarn flew off his spool,
but did I need to hear that stuff
from a brain thus turned to fluff?
The answer, my friend, is there,
blowing in the air.
I know who is my forever person
Kindness is important
Love is the answer for all problems
Jesus I love Kamca forever she is my best friend
I know that in this life she might never love me back
I accept that she might never love me back
Jesus thank you for keeping me with you forever
I trust in myself to surrender to God over all things.
Trust in Love always is my core self
Also root beer is my favorite drink
and I love myself enough to Surrender to my heart.
The loneliness of night cloaks a desolate sky.
Drizzling rain clings to devitalized windowpanes.
Staring, longing for an escape from reality.
Ruminating thoughts keep sleep at bay.
The flicker of the television hums in the other room.
Dragging myself, I sink into the doldrums of a discarded sofa.
Turning up the volume, the weatherman describes a tempest coming from the northeast.
Burnt out, silhouettes of notions run rampant.
Even the soft glow of the TV has become too much.
The wind is starting to howl now.
I can feel it whip around the boards of this old house,
Like ancient bones rattling through the ages.
The porch blinds suddenly, violently thrash.
Getting up, I close them before slipping into my pajamas.
Preparing for something just out of reach,
Always a centimeter from my grasp.
I lay in a desperate bed.
Ever-expanding darkness shrouds me.
Yet no relief arrives.
Swollen eyes no longer produce tears.
Vocal cords no longer produce sound.
Just silent screams going unheard into the mattress,
As sanity finally slips through the threads of unyielding fabric.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.