breeze of fate blows, sometimes hot, sometimes cold
where as witness we watch destiny unfold
free from want, we are nonchalant
for ego on us has now loosened its hold
as we thus self-appraise ups and downs of fate
we count our blessings in that bliss beats do not abate
Night descends slowly in all its glory.
Colours lighting up the sky.
Entranced... two of us appraise the performance.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
I pawn my prayers for a handful of hunger and the clerk calls it salvation.
One's halo's on hire purchase cracked chrome still sticking on the devil's desk.
I trade mercy by the minute marked down,moth eaten!,mislabeled as hope.
My heartbeat haggles with hell drumming debt into my desperate dawns.
My tears come with interest,each drop a receipt stamped *Final Hell.*
The Spirit goes AWOL on paydays,replaced by plastic faith and payday psalms.
Heaven's door has a coin slot but my pockets cough only dust.
I'm a ghost on consignment groaning in gospel tones for one more breath of grace.
Angels appraise my agony and cry,"too used,too human,too late."
I sing in chains proud and penniless,a prophet of pawned redemption, my soul on layaway.
Listen to the sea's waves:
Stability is unusual, it moves...
Up and down; forth and back,
At its own pace when need be.
See what billowing wind craves,
Eventually excite many like grooves.
It renews at every glance of its attack;
Its dancing hands set rolling... to flea.
Watch the chirping birds out of cage,
See how enhanced the voices echo...
Soothing the ears' warm feelings, gaze
At- in mind to healing pondered sounds.
Laughter don't worry about frowning rage,
Set to take over pleasure in its acapulco,
After mouth spreads to diving joy, lips appraise
Away from the tears...frowning gaze sorrounds.
Appreciate once more, the troubling care,
Love staged and will stage to startle you...
When hopeful darkened cloud appears cold,
And rumbling thunder couldn't set lighting on.
Patiently wait beside the Sun's light's flair,
Wandering around the adventurous moon's view...
To redeem what darkened cloud can't long hold
Before its light glow freely beyond dark's run...
Gleaming diamonds that dot the skies
Peering through the night with trillions of eyes
Behind crescent smiles, you wink a distant threat
Oh, faceless gaze, how I wonder what you're looking at
You come with shrouds that cloak our sun
As hellfire burn behind the black you've spun
You weave the constellations like gossamer webs
While in wide-eyed wonder, we meander into your nets
Travelers crossing the night have leaned on you so
For your twinkling fingers point which way to go
But as your blinking orbs appraise their every move
You chart our world—every corner, every groove
Trillions of eyes cut across the darkness deep
Tendrils of light rain upon us while we sleep
While crescent grimace whisper into our dreams
Oh, twinkle, twinkle, draw us closer into your seams
You can't hold it both ways, In meaning.' You
Are either direct.' Or directionless..And thus
In a mess.' No less-en-ing, yet less kenning will ensue.' Though
You deny..Its more obvious..Showing through'
True.' Reality denying.? I find it at best tedious'
Not to mention trying.! And now cov-idiocy is
Really dying.' Symtoms seen, idio-tantric bouts
And much de-crying..Tantrum-atic antic's its
Virtuless incandesacnt-cy liquid spleen venting, venting' yet never airing.' Instead there
Is resenting and vitriol..And severe dis-connect, much fruit less conversation, born.? that really
Cripples the formerly upright soul; struggle of noble
Nations...How do I quantify.? Highlight the prints of such scorn.!
Sometimes, people are missing some dignity here
Of being good and unclean is two different things
Have we lost some honor to become dishonor then
Can we sometimes be good men than being barbaric
Two days ago, when I woke up, nice scenario here
I saw the scenery of rice field, lush and green
Today, I woke up and saw the scenery of garbage
It feels like a dream, but it's real to appraise
Between rice field and garbage affecting our life
It's unfair to good people for one act of vagrancy
Let everyone act according to the precept of law
Let government execute and solve this without flaw.
How often do I think of you?
Let's try to quantify:
1. If always was a number
I couldn't count that high,
2. If always was a distance
Try measuring the sky,
3. If always was a volume
The ocean would run dry,
4. If always was a lifetime
From birth through 1-0-5,
(And if I live beyond that,
as long as I'm alive)
The point of this is not to count,
Determine, or appraise
I'm telling you so that you know...
I think of you always
My alarm hit me like a ton of bricks.
I had to play life's game of pick-up sticks.
I leapt up to put on my working clothes.
There was no time to doze.
Dashing about, I did, like a bat from Hell
to arrive on time to my cubicle cell,
wondering if I might get very far.
I left my brain inside a jar.
My boss looked at me somewhat askance,
my underwear misplaced outside my pants,
"Today, as my performance you appraise,
I think it's time for a raise'".
On a bench in the sun,
With the river close by,
I can get something done
(Or at least I can try).
For out here I unwind
As I soak up the rays
And I’m likely to find
Something I can appraise.
With my pencil in hand
And a notebook page, blank,
I fulfill the command,
With the river to thank,
That I jot down a poem
(Which is almost complete).
Now it’s time to head home;
There’s some popcorn to eat.
The heart of my eyes, an endless sea,
Where hopes and fears dance fervently.
I watch as tides weave their sacred dance,
An ever-changing, entrancing trance.
The waves, a mirror of life's grand scope,
Reflecting, guiding, offering hope.
In their rhythm, a brave melody,
Enchanting souls and setting them free.
So hear the verses of my soul's embrace,
As I appraise the waves with poet's grace.
For in those depths, a world resides,
Where hearts find peace in endless tides.
I'm a diamond in the rough a bit rough
around the edges
Many jewels may go unnoticed buried deep
until found to be a blessing
I just mine within my mind to bring forth
what I have found
It's like I'm an ocean full of buried treasures
you can call me a liquid noun
I make noise without a sound but make waves
with lucid thoughts
What I possess is worth the world if you appraise
it but something that can't be bought
From an early age I was taught to speak my mind
though it may be unorthodox
I am a flaming light that grew from darkness so
I guess I'm a paradox
Time fast flies
Soul deals with lies
Humans easily snap ties
To love, none tries
Under the blue skies
God remains ever wise
And He makes mood nice
God takes when one dies
He is unseen by our eyes
Nothing can match His size
He cares not if we praise
Or very strongly criticize
If we kindly try to sacrifice
By using mercy as a device
His support, God will apprise
As, our heart, He will appraise
From Sun-set to Sun-rise
If pure love, our soul applies
Surely, the Lord somehow replies
And enough peace, He supplies
His presence, He ever implies
He will stop all our cries
Our troubles then melt like ice.
Thirteen is a baker’s dozen,
Or a scary Friday night.
Missing in an elevator,
Or a 12-year-old’s delight.
Rite of passage from a tweener,
Cooler in so many ways.
Does it bring a new demeanor?
That’s for others to appraise.
An impish grin and razor wit
Make it hard to guess the years.
Daddy’s girl still loves to snuggle;
Raging, crying, full of tears.
Thirteen is an awkward age, yes,
Not a child, but not yet grown.
A scant few years, she’ll spring the cage;
My oh my, the years have flown!
So here is our birthday prayer:
May your year abound in glee.
Careful to avoid the pitfalls;
led by Christ, our precious Ree.
----------
(a birthday card inscription on the occasion of Ree’s 13th birthday, so, a few years ago)
Soul learning goes on,
until ego’s shorn,
desires negated
and fears sedated.
Since we're now alive,
it means desires thrive,
suppressed but not dead,
still by our heart fed.
Let's not self-appraise
pastures where fears graze
within our body,
filled with thoughts shoddy.
Make mindful our eye,
lest later we sigh,
on life's gift wasted,
bliss never tasted.
28-October-2022
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