Tough . . .
so rough!
Words must pop
please no AI slop
up to 25 words please
even fewer words, just no sleaze.
Tough . . .
and so rough!
Brevity
may arise as
a recognition
that wordy stories
seem to detract from
the simplicity of
the "message"~
There was a man named Chaplin,
early films he did make happen.
To the world it was just right
that his bum was black and white!
revenge in a pill
gossip needs skill
conversations kill
from a deceitful shill
her hateful thrill
conversations kill
reputations to fill
lies spin in a mill
conversations kill
Life drifts like morning mist on a quiet lake —
Soft, shimmering, hovering above still water,
Then vanishing with the sun’s first warmth,
Leaving ripples and quiet memory behind.
Life blooms like wildflowers on a windy hill —
Petals bright in dawn’s gentle hush,
Dancing in hope and fragile green,
Then wilt with the dusk’s slow sigh.
Life runs like a fleeting comet through a dark sky —
A bright, burning arc across the heavens,
Scattering stardust in hurried glory,
Then gone — leaving only a silent tail of longing.
Life pulses like the hush between two heartbeats —
A fragile pause neither young nor old can hold,
An instant of breath between past and future,
Where every sparkle, sorrow, and joy gathers.
So treasure each dawn like a rare unspoken promise,
Hold each breath as though it might be your last,
For life is but a fragile spark on the wind —
Brief, beautiful, and precious when embraced.
Japanese haiku brevity rewards economy
Mental image expressed in a few words
Read. Pause. Then follows clarity.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
branches bend in the wind
leaves flutter a frantic wave
petals curl into themselves
while the intricate web
holds it all together
woodlands wait by the edge
where sassafras' three-lobed foliage flares up
like mittens in striking papaya and gold
tiger butterflies, squirrels, and birds flock
beguiled by the pendulous clusters of berries
though long loftier are visited much
like space empty needed seeing some stars
your wisdom scales twice thrice at least as such
brings peace ends bloody loud proud wicked wars
less more deeply thought seals the sentence fought
upfront counting costs gains what matters most
asides any passions which wrath has wrought
humbly speaking what all others would boast
exceptions abound all you only one
heart once longing can no longer endure
when love finds disappears passion's deep fun
or holding true forever fixed and sure
falls victim arbitrary disease death
builds wall thick long tall none can ever climb
memory pain lingers each ev'ry breath
capacity drops words cease out of time
quiets all long-winded pseudo gravity
calms hears soothes sighs sees always brevity
If brevity is the soul of wit
levity the key to longevity
be the humour in it
and
tho' we may be one link
in the chain but a blink
in the big picture
the grand scheme of time
here today and gone tomorrow
on the brink I like to think
(whenever I can)
as the world's revolving
I am a wink in the never-ending
ever-unfolding evolving of man
so
as time flies
on a one-way ticket
never to return
I light my candle at both ends
while I have one to burn
Crumbling slowly,
Dilapidated walls,
Dimming glow,
Fading light.
Incoherent speeches,
Unarranged thoughts,
Cluttered path,
Cramped room.
Unread journal,
Unfinished pieces,
Weary bodies,
Deep slumber.
Gloomy day,
Veiled light,
Hidden colours,
Pervading darkness.
Unwritten story,
Masked glory.
June 7, 2025.
M-ind's
E-mphatic
L-ine
B-egins
O-pening
U-nknown
R-ealm's
N-ew
E-xample
©bfa041525
Monocrostic (Birthday of Melbourne V. Guadaña)
I've put the foil on my bedroom doorknob
and fastened rubber bands across the latch.
I've mixed Coca Cola with toothpaste and vaseline
then poured the rest of the coke in the toilet.
I've drunk warm water and a shot of olive oil.
I'm tired; the bananas will have to wait til morning.
Brevity is the Soul of Wit
(Hamlet Shakespeare)
Really?!
As the trees reach to the sky
A cool spring breeze whispers to each flickering leaf welcoming new green
Limbs swaying, rain lightly pelting the roof and the grass
The unabashed joy of birdsong,
Rumbling thunder, apple blossoms
This too is precious, fleeting, eternal, beautiful in its brevity
A piece of eternity passing without notice
Always before us if we quiet ourselves to look...
I find myself lost here, at peace with the simplicity
Drenched in the secret of love's spring rain
As it floods my heart with silence, hope, and newness
Then…
I emptied my soul into the landscape
That I could be filled with the presence of all things
Reaching as the limbs to the heavens,
Opening as the leaves to the rain
In one small tranquil moment we were one,
And I was everything…
And nothing
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