What ruse is so effective
that someone blatantly perverse
can succeed all so easily
to convince one after the other
to give it all up
to trade in their integrity
to renege on their values
to turn their back on any moral compass
to literally sell their soul to the devil
And… have the gall to walk among us
still with their head held high ?
Seems like we’ve entered an alternate reality
beyond the stretch of imagination
where nightmares are the new norm.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
From ground to high sky
birds fill break of day with song
feathered hymns rejoice—
dawn chorus of wing and will
call all to join nature's voice
Magpie's carolling
ignites dawn with fluted bells
welcoming chorale
in day-break's cathedral dome
joyous songs of devotion
Willie Wagtail struts
tail flicks like a metronome
swagger in each step—
black-and-white little soldier
stakes claim to place of its own
Grey Fantail arc skits
with tail flits like restless fan
chaos ensemble—
air itself shakes in the dance
with its frantic flight patterns
Superb Fairy-wren
courageous, blatantly bold
blazes bright in blue—
outlandish flare on green leaves
with its beauty turned to dare
Eastern Whip-bird cracks
the lash to rouse sleepy heads
who missed the alarm
stumbled wobbly out of bed—
hoping no one would notice
The Welcome Swallow
adept aerial maestro—
dazzles watching throngs
with its acrobatic stunts
snatching at insects mid-flight
I wandered through the forest felled.
Its stumps arrayed as scars.
Its bird song larks forever quelled,
to axed-silent memoirs.
Remnants of trees are now a maze,
traced by entrails of mists.
Curling up as veils between leaves,
that once held memories.
The moon's face shunned, shamed.
The wind scurried all around,
the graves of trees blatantly maimed,
along paths no feet had ground.
The forest of trees, lost its leaves.
Lost its old trunks of dreams.
Lost all its shade and shadows cast,
to vast bright white clearings.
I saw the ancient remnant dells,
spared of incumbent trees,
get crowded out by death-neath spells,
of clearings, felled down to knees.
Conversation With Relatives
Today, I feel an intense resolve. About two years ago, family members frequently shared news of someone's passing—whether it was from the village or someone I had once known. During those conversations, I would tense up and firmly request that they refrain from calling with bad news.
Death is a constant reminder, glaring at us from our calendars.
I recall a time when my neighbor had called to inform me that someone was outside my door, dressed in black, was banging on it.
My immediate thought was that the Angel of Death was seeking me out. In these pandemic days, he is everywhere, like an Amazon Prime van overshadowing UPS trucks.
While the world faces shutdowns, some individuals refuse to take it seriously.
They blatantly reject the vaccines, either out of selfishness or fear of death. It's essential to acknowledge that death will claim us all; poets write about it because they express truths that other forms of communication often miss.
As Lao Tzu stated, "A man with outward courage dares to die; a man with inner courage dares to live."
My mantra today is to seize each moment and live every day as if it's my last.
Burning bridges
That tired metaphor
Often still seems so apt
But you missed one important point
When you tried to light that fire
The fact is that we
Like any modern bridge
Were never made of wood
You tried to ignite
Concrete and steel
Under an ocean gasoline
Threw the match
Watched the flames
And walked away
Thinking you had done
A necessary evil
For us both to survive
But as the flames died away
The heat began to dwindle
It became blatantly obvious
The structure is still there
This was no matchstick trestle
No tinder span we crossed
Those flames that were so impressive
Left no destruction in their wake
Now I'm left to sit and stare
At that empty overpass
I know chasing across it
Would be wrong
So I stand here quietly waiting
For you to realize the truth
That while the metaphor may tired
The bridge is still intact
Most hyenas are not predictable but Squirrely was the weirdest of all
So strange, he was thrown out of the pack when he was a cub
He’s just so unusually and blatantly odd, said his sister, Maul
Squirrely is beyond the realm of fantasy said his brother Chub
They did not like his smile and his laugh bordered on the insane.
He gallops around like a goat, a donkey, a llama and a horse
He had hair so messy, it was brushy too like a lion’s mane
His family did not like him, but his grandma took him in of course.
Squirrely had a marvelous life with his loving Gran.
Until she died and went to the promised land.
Severing of ties with our allies.
Court orders blatantly defied.
Plans to privatize, those federal
agencies now downsized..
Green card holders traumatized..
A thousand cuts.
A thousand bleeds.
Our wounded democracy falls
to it's knees,,
Lawyers and judges receive death threats.
Freedom of speech being suppressed.
Deportation with out due process.
Defunding colleges and PBS..
A thousand cuts.
A thousand bleeds.
Our democracy hemorrhages.
Our rights recede, as we
sleep walk into Autocracy...
The politics of reality
A leading Norwegian newspaper takes the view that it is the Alawites and the Christians who are the problem in Syria, which is blatantly untrue. The Brussels Mafia have decided that the former henchman is the right person, which suits Israel too for the time being
What is disturbing is that Europe’s leaders do not understand that globalism is over and that we will see new security zones that will leave Europe a quaint place for Russian or Chinese tourists. For a small country like Norway, the new system is a bonus as it no longer has to rely on the continent
Walking,
Strolling through,
Rolling hills,
Cliffs Keep Arising.
Diving in,
Climbing In the end,
To be better than my will.
A higher mentality,
Hiding in side of me.
So I can see the Truth,
Surrounding Duality.
Abiding within society,
Driving the Crazy,
Becoming Lazy,
The path Growing hazy.
Complacency has blatantly,
Robbed us of Energy.
The will to be,
As we Endlessly,
Repeat our history.
Can you See?
The Patterns,
Fallacies,
Created,
Keeping us Happy,
Entertained,
And Distracted.
Our youth being trained,
Framed forms,
Flowing to a Norm,
Attracted like a swarm,
To all the Usual STUFF.
Things cluttering The Place,
Crowding Personal space.
Erasing the Connection,
To Your Grace and Affection.
The Role you play,
When they have your attention.
Chasing away all who seek change,
So things remain the same,
To repeat this Game.
Let's Redirect our intellect,
And walk into change.
As a people we Americans are so naïve.
We've been snookered by a con man
who has blatantly deceived..
Each new day our freedoms and institutions
are under attack as Musk and his D.O.G.E.
crew hammer and whack.
Many of our elected representatives too
fearful to even push back..
The Declaration of Independence states
"In God we trust".
We are a government by and for the people,
not Donald Trump, nor Elon Musk..
With out the rule of law the power grabbers
will keep on seizing.
Donald Trump and Elon Musk are comitting treason..
The curvature with the bumps seen well carved,
My innate restraints were blatantly starved.
Her faint silhouette, my lust suddenly craved,
With the entrance to her paradise paved.
She swayed like shadows of an hourglass cast,
My hands, drawn to her fullness, held steadfast.
With nature’s finest art upon her chest,
Sensuous sweats soaked through my thin white vest.
Suddenly, the sky grumbled and turned grey,
Lightning sent sudden glimmers down my way.
I was tricked by the deceit of darkness;
'Twas the rain that showed my mental starkness.
The rain poured down torrents of its own tears,
While my own tears remained unseen by peers.
Who would have believed that darkness fooled me?
Seeking the cure to such cravings, my plea
.
i kept mine
duke's digits
unto mineself
mine eyne
i had no control
mine poetic think'd
yesss
and again
i rush'd home
tuh pictate whut mine
beheld
she wore thuh soft
camisole top
with
spaghetti stringz
loose
blatantly loose
and over hern
bent
front mine see
tap
This decision that I'm making makes me want to cry,
I honestly believe it's the biggest and hardest decision of my life,
You sacrifice everything until there's no more left to give,
Watching you die every day, choosing addiction over the will to live,
I beg and plead, and stood by your side, I cannot count how many times,
In and out of facilities, I forcefully pushed you to save your life,
Now you blatantly refuse, you want me to sit back and watch,
I cannot bring myself to watch you drink yourself to death...I love you way too much,
Love is never what it seems sometimes, it means you must walk away,
It means taking the chance that the other person may believe you never loved them anyway,
Which is just the opposite, because it always is..it's appearance is deceiving,
It's a test of faith, do we live for this life? Or do we sacrifice for personal healing?
I've been here before on different levels with different people... it's never the same,
But with each one I gave and gave until I had to walk away
Bustling brainwaves bring it to life
better when both eyes are blanketed;
Hyperactive insomnia’s strife;
Gears inside feel like a hamster’s wheel,
it keeps going and going won’t stop;
Blinking and scanning I have to deal;
Bedrest blatantly bombed before dawn,
I need sleep but I need to stay up;
Marred by my mind the moonlight is gone;
Listless I sway through the night and day
I’m always a step above the clouds;
Words burst so fast much to my dismay;
Stars out, on queue my pen misbehaves;
I succumb to me and don’t backtrack,
branded and bombarded by brainwaves.
My Own Undoing
Coursing through an unknown milky way ???. Well, that's my fate. Were we not born to succeed?
This and many more should be answered, blatantly, if not unequivocally.
I am me, and you, should be you.
How far do we go to establish a point of un-duress? We should be cunning, as well as kind with our "Knowing" (Knowledge).
So let's be fortunate in radically Undoing our own
Thank you.
By Asangalisah Akantere Isaiah
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