Byproduct
By Dustin Branum
Have you no clue how hard i try
To keep positive alive and negative aside
Why must you insist, genocide
Why must you feel the need to lie
I don't remember the reasons why
I cater to your deceptive lifes
What makes you think I'd oblige
Why must you live this way of life
Have you no clue how hard I try
To not do the things I so despise
To keep a hard face and try not to cry
If I do so, shall it be my demise
And should it be, I give you my word
Destiny will be mine fulfilled in time
I'll show the world that's being disguised
Time to reveal this knowledge I hide
As everyone starts to wonder why
But it's little too late to rectify
Nothing you say can justify
Living such a demonic life
My deepest fears are coming true
Total darkness is bleeding through
Raging inferno that's within my soul
No longer desires to maintain control
Exposing this darkness for all to see
"Reveal your demons!" You beg of me
Social guillotine
By Dustin Branum
9/03/26
Acceptance is dire,
I let this be known.
My only desire
was to feel I belong.
The empty will devour
everything I own.
Knowledge acquired,
the tongue is unknown.
Interpreter required
to speak the untold.
Silence gets louder,
the darkness gets brighter.
My Destiny expired,
no longer headstrong.
All hope is gone,
decaying empire.
No king for the throne,
no skull for the crown,
no cheers from the crowd.
No acceptance required,
no longer desire
your approvable satire.
Chronicles of the revolving door
By Dustin Branum
When exactly does life begin? When will this
tragedy come to an end? It's like over, and over,
and over again... When will I ever find peace,
my friend? And nobody knows how far I've
been; Nobody cares about the pain
I'm in. This knowledge that
burns deep within, with
a withering soul,
reality will
bend.
The
light
turns dark
with a grayish
blend, begging for
mercy, it's demons they
send. The light is illusion I
can no longer depend—There's no
Destiny for me to defend. Yearning for
happy, acceptance, and Zen, Instead of this
anger and evil times ten. No kids, no wife, no
next of kin; Lonely and broken, this chapter will end...
Exactly where the it began.
Empathy
By Dustin Branum
So, keep up with me:
In order for one to give a f**k
one must have a f**k to give.
So, one must’ve got f**ked
to have a f**k to give.
Someone had to get f**ked
for the rest of us to give a f**k.
If it wasn’t for the first f**ker that got f**ked—
the one f**ker that actually gave enough f**k
to take a f**k, to have a f**k to give.
Everything we know of all existence
evolves around a f**k-show of empathy.
If it wasn’t for one that gave a f**k enough
to have empathy,
thus born: i-human.
Getting f**ked to have a f**k to give
so we can all give a f**k together
Instead of being f**king f**ked.
So the question is, if you don’t give a f**k,
and if they don’t give a f**k,
and you don’t even give a f**k if they give a f**k...
Then who the f**k gives a f**k?
Well, I do.
I can be a leader.
I do not need to follow the actions and behaviors of others.
What harm?
Oh, but what gain?
I am fierce
With a lot to say,
A lot of love
And a lot of passion.
Simple pleasures
And little disappointments.
Just be who I want to be,
Not what others see;
What others want me to be.
I am more than a perception.
I am loud and proud,
Bold and fearless.
I have a courage
And strength that is limitless.
I am learning to vocalize my boundaries;
Free from guilt and shame.
There is an ocean inside me that you cannot tame.
My waters run deep
You merely tread the surface.
I know who I am
And I will take up space.
Breathless and discouraged,
I will still run the race.
Dip your feet in the edge of my waters
And let me wash over you.
Familiarize yourself with the polarity
Of my sensations.
I will not let you down.
I will not let you drown
If you meet me without malice.
Dare.
Do.
Chase
sky-high,
nothing less.
No back up plan,
close your eyes and jump.
Here goes nothing.
The bold ones
flip that
switch.
Cuckoo's
Wild call at dawn,
Hiding in mango trees,
Stealing a nest that isn't hers,
Smart bird!
Copyright © 2026 by Crystal David John
there is a woodland fox on your swing outside
He is boldly brazen, with no attempt to hide
I ran to the window and saw him out there in the frost.
That poor baby, I said, I think he is lost.
You cannot go out there, my husband said.
The windchill is twenty below, you would quickly be dead.
I put on a mask, boots, snowsuit and other stuff that day.
By the time I got to the door, the fox was far far away.
Brave’s just a little bit bolder,
I am willing to take that risk.
It gets old and I get older,
brave’s just a little bit bolder.
Pep in that step set to smolder,
I’m polished as an odalisque.
Brave’s just a little bit bolder,
I am willing to take that risk.
There was an old man who didn't know he was old.
Offering to help ladies carry their load
He'd tinker with their car or buy them a drink at the bar
But if he got fresh, they'd get in distress and shut him down cold for being so bold
Ought bold words and brazen phrases
‘scape our bursting hearts
Magic mirrors of our minds
shared with our own kind
Or should we hold them hostage
fasten them to knives
Let them threat the denouement
of our swirling, spinning lies
That cup flooding me with sunshine
causes my eyes to promptly squint.
Skeptical of this bold misprint
it can’t be, the moods don’t align.
Out of control of what is mine,
just becomes a fight not to pout.
Anything bright? I chase with doubt.
I don’t trust the sky shining down,
it has a glow yet holds that frown.
I’m tossing that thought process out.
You open my heart with a knife and left me to bleed all night
The wound is so deep but you left me screaming on the street
Daylight found me on the street side and my heart was alive for a hundred
and ten seconds and I Felt destiny holding my hand
And the minstrel appears out of nowhere and parade through the street
and I could hear their spirit weep.
Bold is a word untamed.
While meek is silent and ashamed
Both quite diverse,
and yet create a universe
That lives in there, acclaimed.
Deal the cards of fate.
Game to play the hand I’m handed.
I’m ready come what may.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
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