The faithful love of God has no end
His Great Love covers a multitude of sins
His Love stands firm forever
Because He cares and prepares the hearts of many
Do not fear
Yahweh is faithful until the bitter end
He sent forth His Son, Jesus who
Won the battle over death
Through Him the breath of our existence glorifies Him
So we know that Yahweh is faithful until the bitter end
Yahweh will finish His task and we will know that
Yahweh was faithful until the bitter end
Mark Frank
Copyright 2024
Breath of life in a forlorn one,
uplifted face to brace the wind,
called His name with prayer to send.
Forgive me! I have come undone.
I lost my way, now moribund,
and all I’d hoped was to ascend.
*Other - Sextilla: A Sp. stanza form of six octosyllabic or shorter lines. In the classic period, the usual rhyme schemes were abbaab,...oxfordreference.com
I wanted me by your side,
You chained my soul.
I scattered you,
You made me whole.
You were everything,
I knew I could never be.
We were so opposite,
Right down to our personality.
You ran away, snuck
Out the back door.
You could not face me,
All is fair in love and war.
I liked my world,
Dark and cool inside.
I often get out of bed
On the wrong side.
You liked your world open,
Let in the sun.
Smiling, You're in it
For the fun.
I have so much I want,
Need to say.
Every ass likes to hear
Himself, Bray.
You are so quiet, not
A care in the world.
Just your average American
Working girl.
You have no clue of the
Energy you released.
My whole world ceased,
By the love of a beast.
My mistake, I thought,
I would always be a friend.
For you A means to
A bitter end.
Turbo1904?
With the Darkness from within your own heart's a wry,
You're going to die without anyone to love you and no one to cry.
Just alone by yourself on the bed of your death,
With the stench of regret emanating from your last dying breath,
For you have chosen the path of a bitterly selfish man,
With the blood of your wife and children on your hands.
For the penance you'll pay for the way you've behaved,
Will be written in plain as the name of your grave.
In the fiery pits of hell will your soul perish in agony and horror,
For the consequences of murder is harsh punishments with fervor.
No amount of pleading will cease your unending suffering,
For the aftermath of those deaths is misery and agony unrelenting and neverending.
For the shadows of ghosts of the happenings that will be,
Or maybe those happenings are by made by you for you only.
For you can't buy your way to repent on the deaths you've erased,
The ever-so-clear punishment of infinite torment in death will serve those souls well repaid.
I'm very sure you won't think twice of me,
Before you take your flight and quickly flee.
I have loved you with all my aching heart
So sad to feel your wrath before we part.
You took your time to load your frappin' truck
Cared not a whit you ran us all amuck.
I thought you might consider coming back
I was once more way off the beaten track.
I gave my best to make our marriage work
But you behaved so much the crazy jerk.
Goodbye and good riddance I'll only say
Perhaps I'll try again some other day.
Please don't look back and think I'll still be here
I've shut the door and locked it tight, my dear.
SECOND PLACE WINNER
Written 4/23/2021
For "Rhyming Couplets" Contest
Sponsored by Janice Cannerdy
It’s my deathbed piano sonata
Fond farewell I say to a lotta
Note: At door there’s a fist--
A bouncer with the list
Of any persona non grata
Author's Note: This was inspired by my neighbor Lillian. We were talking the other day about dying and the fact that certain relatives would not be welcome at the party--the ones who have been nothing but trouble in life. Can't we at least enjoy our own demise?
A young man once told me
On a wintry and colourful day
“We should do that together,
Yes, one day we will”
The days and the weeks and the months
Passed quietly hoping.
The snow turned to rain,
The ice to roaring rivers.
Then on a warm night he took me aside,
Looking at me with his brown eyes.
His hand held my cheek as he said;
“Time has run out. There are no more days”
The days and the weeks and the months passed
All was solemn and still.
Only his words stung like nettles,
In the darkness of this realm.
I'm drifting on white winds of winter
with tears that are cold and bitter.
My pain is deep
and I'm losing sleep,
but you let me slip away
the day you decided to stray.
You've left me jaded from your broken promises,
I'm full of wasted tears and compromises.
Now I'm unanchored in a storm
without your arms to keep me warm.
Our last kiss, did you feel my pain?
Did my suffering keep you entertained?
Our love extinguished like a flame in the wind
and our romance has come to its bitter end.
ALesiach © 9/25/2015
I once had a best friend
Sisters, for so many years,
Our friendship met, its bitter-end
For me, full of tears.
The Bitter End of the Road
Travelers coalesce as if from as dense fog
about the grounds of the retreat.
The lodge shimmers silver-gray
amongst the changing autumn woods.
The gravel way diminishes in rearview mirrors
with the pinging sound of pebbles against
the metal horses of the day.
Civilization, ever trampling,
encroaches upon what ages ago
had been a pristine forest, now swarms
to the Lodge’s gates:
ants to the picnic
late comers in search of the scraps,
the leavings,
of much abused nature.
Slamming car doors, buzzing cell phones,
endless chatter accosts the forest’s skirt.
Beaten paths awaited those stalwart enough
to venture in, rushing ever forward
and upward
through the crunch of fallen leaves,
the snap of branch,
the distant warble of unseen birds.
Water, when near, adds
its own rush, and babble.
But, the smaller critters seem to have vanished
tracks and spoor, trampled
whether in reverence or disregard;
it matters not.
In our ever onward rush to enjoy,
the sounds of cricket,
cicada, the squirrels chitter,
the owls call;
we by our mere presence
destroy.
First Published by Poetry Quaterly
You'll find her in the dark
Her white flag in the ground
Everything close to her heart
Is nowhere to be found
She saw it helpless from the start
Her cry for help had no sound
The bitter end isnt far
Just tell her to turn around.
In the arms of a monster
Clutched tightly by despair
This is where you'll find her
Who said life was fair
Any sense of honor
Is found nowhere
The bitter end is upon her
The end is drawing near
Perception is reality
I can tell she thinks she's alone
But she cant convince me
Thats all she'll ever know
Though even her maternal sanctuary
Does not care for this story told
In the bitter end she'll see me
Just because it's what I live for
That awful word love that I once spat you,
So tiresome to hear worn out and over-used
Just another one of our repetitive lies,
And a part of our dreary everyday lives.
And the thought that I shared your bed,
Planted kisses upon your lips,
Felt every inch of your sweaty body,
Ugh these things I shall not miss!
Oh and how I do shudder when I recall,
The times we awkwardly made "love"
With a need to be submissive and dutiful,
Lacking passion as well as my libido
You captured my dreams and aspirations,
With your domineering self,
Stole my vibrancy and as well as my youth!
Left me disheveled beyond help.
Dedicated to all my ex-boyfriends