Today the kids go back to school;
Employees head to work.
The new year’s not the greatest time
For anyone to shirk.
Vacation days are over;
Just the memories remain
And from procrastination,
Everybody must refrain.
A span of weeks needs filling up
With classes, chores and such,
Appointments, meetings, homework, tests;
It sometimes seems too much.
Yet right around the bend, there’ll be
A holiday or stretch
Of days when school is closed, so now
It doesn’t pay to kvetch.
Just buckle down and dive right in
To join this brand-new mix
Of all that you have planned to do
In 2026!
“Mind Fist”
by Positive Mark
Protection from a demon or protection from the chaos?
You’re smudging for a cleansing or you prepping for a seance?
We don’t purchase insurance after we done wrecked our car,
so why wait for calamity to unmask who we are?
I always harp on shadow work, ‘cause that’s what gets me through it.
No progress will be made unless I buckle down and do it.
Traversing through the underworld, to sort through buried trauma.
Relationships,
The times I quit,
My issues with my Momma.
What waits for me in shadows that I need to understand
before my spirit finds the light to be a better man?
And when the magic spells work, and I find that brighter day,
should I dip my quill and lead the way,
or bag my goods and go away?
Mind Fist
sitting in front of the toilet throwing up
everything is spinning
everything is throbbing
when i get up, i feel like my body has bricks instead of bones
i go to lay down, but the pain, the nausea, and the dizziness has me all messed up
i begin to convulse again
i then jump up and zoom back to the bathroom
i made it just in time
this time the contents are all clear
this too is not good
i buckle down and drive to the emergency room
i find out that i have some type of contagious stomach bug
it all has me wanting to swallow a flyswatter
instead i head home and follow the doctor's orders
it is a good thing that i am off for the next three days
my bed is gonna be my bestest friend
my phone will be resting right along with me
all curtains will be closed
all knocks on my door will be intentionally ignored
i am determined to get my rest to wellness
If you want the big check,
Got to be willing to put in the work.
Lift those weights strive to be great,
All you need is apply a little faith.
Keep pushing around the clock,
Without taking numerous days off.
Organize, plan and then attack,
Go and do it without looking back.
Hard work always pays off,
Like when the mortgage is paid off.
The feeling of freedom never leaves;
Unlike leaves that fall off the trees.
It takes money to make money,
No matter your point of view.
Buckle down and stay focused,
That’s all you really need to do.
Honest
Be honest with your feelings
They should not be neglected
If you deny truth to yourself
Won’t your spirit be affected?
Be real, do not put up a front
Pride should not be a factor
Neither should shame, not even fear
Let virtue be your inspector
Find out what’s keeping you awake
Confront that what is haunting
Intimidation gains more strength
When things are viewed as daunting
Find strength within, don’t buckle down
The war is in your head
Why listen to what tears you down?
Think positive instead!
The things that make us strong and bold
Should be self-cultivated
Why do you still allow yourself
To be underestimated?
Be kind, be patient, show more love
To the person that you are
A little understanding
Will get you very far
Be honest therefore, to yourself
Not just to everyone else
Don’t listen to your inner self
When only lies it tells
The way you feel, the way you think
The things you say and do
View them as recognition of
The person that is you.
Wendy Nipas
Hurricane by any name is a dreaded beast
Monster winds guide every turn and twist
Clouds cluster in enormous darker shapes
Heated moisture dominates form they take
Dressed in cloudy eye-wall winds rotate
High gusting speeds foretell its arrival date
As eye of the storm approaches a landfall
Communities begin making evacuation calls
Stocking food and water families buckle down
Gas lines form as people begin to leave town
Death and destruction mount as storm lands
Streets and homes quickly become wetlands
Emergency shelters crowd beyond capacity
FEMA takes charge with speed and tenacity
Congress passes legislation to grant funding
Affected folks are unsure of their standing
Trash piles up burying childhood memories
Cleanup begins without hope of recoveries
Donations flow to charities like Red Cross
Insurance may recoup some of storm loss
They arrive sequentially in alphabet names
Leaving untold shattered lives in their wake
Placed 1st
September 9, 2017
Hurricanes
Sponsor: Julie Rodeheaver
dressed
in
chiffon
hair a bun
with couple loose strands
solitaire around her slim neck
for Anniversary dinner at their seafood place
lost in a concoction of his adoring gaze, music, Merlot and blackened salmon
knock
on
the door
she answers
her knees buckle down
mascara runs down in rivers
dressed in black, holding lilies, head hung low—there stands mom
darling,lets visit his grave before dark—mom says to flooded eyes in an ashen face
Written on:07/21/2016
Contest:'Two Stanzas-Two Only' by Broken Wings
She has her eye on the prize....
Now all she has to do is wait!!!
She has her heart set on the goal....
Now all she has to do is make a stand!!!
She has her mind on the future....
Now all she has to do is buckle down!!!
She has her soul in limbo....
Now all she has to do is see what happens!!!
Its amazing how weeks fly by
When your doing nothing worth while
and all there is to do is sit around and think
Yet it seems like I am forever stuck on the brink
Of a epiphany? Or maybe its madness
My youth is fleeting its time I buckle down
But I never wanted to be a dog
to those who wear crowns
I wish life was simple to where I could
Realize my talents buy spinning a wheel and
find out all I need to do at the press of a button.
Clouds of darkness, roar of fear -
Would we be able to stand its might?
Let's prepare. It's coming near.
What happened to the sky so clear?
Gone away is our precious light,
Clouds of darkness, roar of fear -
What will we do when it gets here?
Stack the pillows while our lights are bright.
Let's prepare. It's coming near.
Rolling clouds, hail and wind so sheer,
Trees bend, as this rage they fight.
Clouds of darkness, roar of fear -
History said that this would be the year,
So buckle down and hold on tight.
Let's prepare. It's coming near.
The enveloping rush deafens our ears;
Funnel smashes to the ground, I shake in fright.
Clouds of darkness, roar of fear -
Let's prepare. It's coming near.
To whom does he smile at
With a tip-top approbation of doggedness
Neglecting the pleasure of the period?
To whom does he cheer
With a reverberating extant sound?
Nobody but he who buckles down
BOUND
We’re bound from birth, our path too clear
Conformity reigns, we dare to veer
Play it straight and fall in place
Buckle down, you’ll win the race
Need for expression, no need for that
Everyone needs to wear the same hat
Wander off course or stray from path
You’re ostracized, beware the wrath
Creative types, you know the ones
Their unkempt hair and lack of funds
The artsy crowd without a care
Berets worn black, causeless flair
Yet abstract form and deviceful eye
Radiate light on gray streaked sky
Without free thought we play the fools
We must transcend archaic rules
Linear thinking it has its place
In modern times it makes a case
But if one dares to lose one’s face
I just might love this human race
subtle scare tactic of
western capitalism,
the slip of paper in the mail,
the email directed at you & you
alone,
the collection agency phone call---
it all comes down to frightening &
keeping one at bay,
drilling it into your head that
debt is the path you’ve chosen &
that it has all been your fault
that you were born where you were
born &
that you were raised how you were
raised,
so now, the hope is that
with ensuing debt, you’ll
buckle down &
shut the **** up,
so that one more mouth will be
silent &
one more bank account will be
yearning for a chance to
beg
beg
beg
for a way out of financial
catastrophe,
as if a painful physical death
was somehow
preferable---
this taunting way of threatening
people into submission
does little to provide a calm bit of
sanity for the whole,
rather it leaves the suffering to
wonder,
just what exactly is keeping them
from walking into said collection
agency, said bill collector’s, said
insurance company, etc. &
putting a gun to the head of anyone &
everyone in charge?
hmmm.
better hope the people keep on
blaming the game & not the players
there,
bucko.
Enter the Arena
Buckle down
Ready?
Set?
KILL!
A gong sounds
We're off
The Hunger Games have begun!
Blades of swords crashing
Arrows whizzing
Run,run,run
Away from the cornacopia
Blood splatters,staining the earth
Bodies splayed on the ground
Some survive
Other die right off hand
Only ONE left to be the victor
Welcome to the Hunger Games...
MAY THE ODDS BE EVER IN YOUR FAVOR!!!!
when the surroundings of the will
begin to suffocate it &
the hands grasping for some kind of
deus ex machina
slip
slip
slip
like butta’ melting & dripping off the
nooks & crannies,
the temptation to hang up them shoes
(those beautifully unique qualities of the self) &
just buckle down n’ accept the
conditions of the prison cell
may be so great that the
acceptance of all the horror to come
might appear tolerable---
because the “promise” of something better
looms in the air like a fog that never ever goes away &
there are always a good amount of sheep baaaaaaaaa-ing
at the door
hoping & of course, praying
(squinting eyes closed tight, on their little knees),
that all will do the same---
all for a bigger piece of the pie
all for a chance to wrap those lips round the barrel &
just be fine with whatever outcome arises,
to be a great mantelpiece when the prayer group comes over
for cookies
to be a totalitarian wet dream
to be a prison rape in the making
all
hip
to
the
slaughter.
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