It’s all boiled up and caked up
Lands weep and rivers cry out loud,
Puking withered currents that rather hide
Than run
Cornstalks, excoriated and wounded,
Are scolded by thunder at night,
And lightning brandishes the whiplash of its
Whitish tongue, chiding the frightened rocks nearby.
It has not rained in seasons.
It has not dropped.
Not one drop.
But standards keep falling —
And dropping.
Visage
like a frightened owl
she gazes
into the looking glass
frozen foreboding
her lonely companion.
Shadows coil
viridescent and haunting
in the snowy canopy
of sardonic mist
where a bygone lover
moans his blood elegy
before a cuckolded liege
who brandishes
his razored lance.
October sunrise brandishes its most colourful hello
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Giorgio rode his red Ducati to climb a mountain
without a helmet to protect the fragile brain
from damage, then all sirens started wailing
as if an earthquake or a hurricane were coming!
" They won't catch me because cars
can't ride mountains or steep hills,
they get stuck in between rocks."
A large crowd gathered below, they yelled,
" Don't crash into big trees and break your neck like Bill did;
your dad is furious about the terrifying news and brandishes
a leather belt. Cops get out of patrol cars but soon realize,
climbing will give them a heart attack and called it quits!
Riding without a helmet may cost a precious life anytime,
use your noodle: motorcycles are more dangerous than cars;
I've seen dead bodies across highways to be replaced by crosses,
don't be the next victim and be listed in the obituary of the Enquire.
Giorgio found his hiding place in a small cave,
where fat, chittering rats roamed and snakes chased them for food;
he shivered and called his mom, she never came
to rescue him: his fear was worse than wrestling an enemy in a feud!
Stephen Edwin King
Horror writer, this novelist supreme
Supernatural fiction, his theme for 50 years
“The Shining” of light on evil, can quell our unknown fears.
Here comes that writer from Maine
Since the accident he's not quite the same
He writes ‘bout Good an’ Evil,
And Now that he's kind of feeble,
They'll have a reason to say he's lame.
King's wife, Tabitha, and his famous son, Joe Hill.
The whole family brandishes that elusive quill.
Scary stories of supernatural or depraved human beings,
But a regard for goodness and light can be seen.
Cosmic Consciousness
Within immense universe
Human is a desert mirage
Ancient being in search of
His veiled mysterious past
Brandishes worthless gold
As wisdom opens the path
To enlightenment that last
Penned: 1/15/2022
3:20 a.m.
Lake Worth
Florida USA
In the bleakness of disparity, the opaque of the darkness shrouds the frailty of life, however the power of a stealth heart and a nimble mind now commands the preverbial stage
As this grotesque form of ugliness dances in the shadows as to have its will with ones own self , such fowlness doesn’t deter the bruan and steadfast wielding of the soult that quickly turns the page
It plays a rancid game as it cowereds in the black abyss of contemp , iron will falters it’s play and conquers it ever so swift and ease
The stain of disparity lingers and tries to confiscate the dignity with in , protected with a coat of arms of immaculate design, with this the day is now ceased
Cold and adbrubt it calculates its next move to release its stench of vulgarity, in turn a stout spirit brandishes total valiance of tremendous certainty to noch yet another victory
In the backdoor it try’s to slither it’s repulsive polluted essence, reaching deep in absolution brings forth a the truth of inner peace from this day til the end of history
Lance-Lot
by Michael R. Burch
Preposterous bird!
Inelegant! Absurd!
Until the great & mighty heron
brandishes his fearsome sword.
Keywords/Tags: Nature, Animal, Bird, Birds, Heron, Herons, Fish, Fishing, River, Ocean, Ardeidae, Egret, Egrets, Bittern, Bitterns, Great Blue Heron, Goliath Heron, Gray Heron, Great Egret, Crane, Stork, Ibis, Spoonbill, Beak, Bill, Sword, Lance, Spear, Inelegant, Gawky, Awkward, Ungainly, Gangly, Preposterous
My love crèche refreshes the niche
Where stacks of bliss
Vie to dish
Out the kind of love fleece
That my love nourishes and brandishes
Clear avenues
Where sorrow finishes
Blues disseminated in news and views
Expected to chart the way forward
In matters of the heart
That reward
The start
To an enriched setting
Enmeshed in prisms of happiness
Waiting
To displace an episode featuring unhappiness
Which sometimes creeps
Into nooks and crannies
In a berth that keeps
No faith in pennies
Counted once in a lifetime
In need of a dose of affection
Genuine to bless a life for all the time
When attention
Needed to bless a union
Is never in short supply
But given a standing ovation
To dry
Unshed tears
To grace a salutary coupling
Bereft of beers
With no inkling
To derange the range
In which love lubricates
Gears to arrange
Happiness states
In which bliss thrives
Heartbeats breathe well
Sweet love derives
Love feelings that swell and spell a love scale.
Fruits of my womb shall come faster
Than evil tongues and their snag wag
Because the hand of God, my master
Brandishes the royal flag
Hoisted higher, flown higher
Than any dissenting demonstration on Earth
In any contrary spire
Which under no circumstance can block the birth
God decreed in his infinite wisdom
Because God’s hands never short
Supplies bounties for the children in his kingdom
To creatures both great and small to whom God renders maximum support
At all times including mine
As long as God’s name I place above every other name
To strengthen my spine and kindred spines by dint of God’s divine
Power not only to cleanse every blemish, every blame, every unclean claim
Restoring the priceless dream
Including fruits of my womb
For my husband, me and my children as a team
Forever to live happily before the descent into my tomb.
Smash of a broken lock
Whispering, they talk
Time, it seems to stop
They’re in my house,
They’re inside.
Searching for some loot
A tried and tested crew
What damage they may do
When they find us,
They'll find us.
Footfalls of the stairs
They think I’m unaware
That I would never dare
Come out there,
Go out there.
Doors smash, they see my wife
He brandishes a knife
My shotgun roars to life
He falls down,
He’s bleeding.
The others turn and fly
The ringleader he lies
Looks confused as he dies…
He made his choice
...So be it.
A Waltz with Thomas Jefferson
He is waiting the moment I open my eyes
So erect he stands with an air of elegance
I’m quick to notice his handsome face and tall size
The Declaration’s author seems poised for romance
A foot taller than I, he intimidates me
Curiously, he brandishes a violin
The polished instrument is but one of his three
He eyes me, pulls the violin’s scroll from his chin
He lays the violin down and extends his hand
Tom’s smile reveals his lady’s man reputation
He winks coyly, quite pleased to retire from the band
I'm thrilled to waltz with a founder of our nation
We step gaily about the colonial hall
As Benjamin Franklin and John Adams look on
Tom’s gentle hands lead me at the first Congress ball
Envious are the expressions of Ben and John
Tom sniffs the sweet yellow rose I placed in my hair
Sadly, I release him when the band’s music ends
You say I was dreaming, but I swear I was there
Our thrilling, romantic waltz all logic transcends
February 3, 2017
I've met someone I think I could love;
she brandishes what joy is made of-
I lose myself in thoughts about her,
And how I would love to surround her;
The way she talks is hypnotizing,
The way she walks is mesmerizing-
but how do I know the love is true,
or if she just reminds me of you?
I cannot help but vainly wonder,
If, toward you, I still will plunder;
because even in my lovers trance,
The thoughts of you still scantily dance.
Loving her leaves impressions of sin,
When your shadow walks upon her skin.
Amidst saffron robes nail-bit hand reveals
mobile
phone
Laughing-robed companion brandishes
ice cream
cone
Shaved-headed naughty boys practice
chanting
tones
Humble golden temple gates peeling paint
stone on
stone
V. Anderson-Throop 22 May 2015
Fairies rejoice and dance ballet
Scarlet brandishes the Pimpernel Palais
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