Rot
Blood
Warm husk
Crushed rib cage
Pustule burst of light
Searing through the heavy black lung
Trapped in a breathless, weeping shroud of the stagnant air
We watch the ruined summer spark, drowning inside of a glass chamber where the dead things scream against the cold, tearing our bleeding hearts apart
Burning the skin away to feed the starving shadows deep in the hollow night, we watch the final frantic flutter char to ash, reduced to nothing underneath indifferent stars, forgotten by the cold, silent universe.
Starlight
Gleams bright
Deep space
Dark place
Black hole
Eats whole
Dwarf star
So far
Cosmos
Not close
Night skies
Moonrise
Stellar
Dweller
Spaceship
Long trip
Hot sun
Fire spun
Blue moon
Mates swoon
Sand dunes
On moons
Pulsar
Quick star
Eclipse
Sun slips
Red mars
Fight spars
Gas rings
Weird things
Pluto
No show
IO
Moon glow
Dead star
Burned char
Aries
Pisces
Destroyer, discrepancies.
How to sort them out?
Dismantle, then fire post-freeze.
River, run rue rout.
Destrier, to break mid-stride.
Sacrifice a pawn.
Midnight train, buy ticket, ride.
That will mow the lawn.
Priceless? Quite a prize? Surmise.
In passing? En prise.
Ring? Alchemy. Arcane? Rise.
Stifled cries? No lies.
Falconer, thy widening gyre.
Second coming? Now.
Come and see? Fine funeral pyre.
Live wire, take a bow!
Broil and char? From near to far.
Muskellunge and gar.
Peacocks pretty, poison par.
Dream, seem. Lead. Red star.
Serenity? Stable, sage.
Madness, mycophage.
Roundabout, rill. Rusty cage.
Symptoms mad, thy age.
Ark electric, how you burn.
Tones, burst sonic flame.
Mind cartoons? Ashes in urn.
Same game? Claim the name.
Armies, mechanize and wail.
Never end, our tale.
Weak resistance stale, you fail.
Blaspheme, boil and bail.
Silver, sickles. Red regrets.
Automaton, glean:
He who risks it all once bets.
Wind and wintergreen...
Do not ask me for an opinion Char said
I don’t have them
This amazes me
I follow her around for days, listening to her talk
She has opinions on everything
the sky, the moon, the sidewalk, the streetlights,
the neighbors, her friends, her relatives,
Her opinions come out with every breath she takes
She is actually more opinionated than most
Which also proves
she is disillusioned or a liar
Slow- fire gleams across the horizon
as I gather words from twig-like strips
adding creamy broth to stir the brew
under a moonlight of summer’s heat …
The mellow breeze warms my thoughts
where hands pour lemon mint, in a campfire
kindling essence of lines for Poetry Soup:
then to grasp fireflies brightly adorned
until cheeks flush with tales spun nightlong.
The purée explodes to drink the light
of my muse, her delicacy soaked in potion
with a dash of tangy sage to flame verse
or rhyme Oh the meal is simple
but rich, delicious, releasing a flavour
uncommon even to me… a concoction
different each time , when a tribe's mix
of language , time zone, and blogs heal,
excite, and char each sip of soup
blended from the heart’s campfire.
POTD and 1st prize premier glory
Gainesville Four went missing on Halloween Night 1974
Three friends and a mother of the youngest one, Fee Fore
Fee’s real name was Fiona, and she was a delight
As were her friends Char and Lynne who went missing that night
Though this was fifty-one years back, there has never been a trace
Whatever happened to these four, must have been erased.
Not a neck bone or a leg bone, a tooth or any DNA
Nothing has shown up of the women who went away
Their purses were found in the house, next to the front door
It is as if they were marched out, maybe by more than four
The parents of two of the girls left this earth without knowing
What happened to their daughters on Halloween that was snowing
There were no prints, because the snow melted by morning time
Their cars were in the driveway – red, black, blue and lime.
Gainesville Four have been missing for fifty-one years I’m afraid.
I wonder if they were taken by aliens out of this Everglade?
Through Smoke and Laughter, Thanksgiving Holds
By Alan J Winters
The oven groans, the timer fails,
the turkey smolders, smoke prevails.
Children cough, the dog runs wild,
chaos reigns, yet spirits smile.
The table wobbles, a leg gives way,
gravy spills in a tidal spray.
Uncle trips on the welcome mat,
still insists, “It’s perfect imagine that!”
Through burned pies and forgotten rolls,
we stitch together fractured wholes.
Candles flicker, power dies,
yet stories rise where silence lies.
Grandma hums an old refrain,
her voice a lantern through the rain.
We pass the plates, we share the bread,
tradition lives in what is said.
For every mishap, every fall,
the feast is not the food at all.
It’s hands that reach, it’s hearts that mend,
it’s gathering close when troubles bend.
So let the turkey char and crack,
we’ll laugh, we’ll love, we’ll circle back.
Through smoke and laughter, tears and song,
Thanksgiving keeps us holds us strong.
He seems to be the pompous sort;
looks down his nose at us and snorts~
"your poems are subpar
and only fit as char" ~
in the judgement of his self-made court!
Postscript: If the shoe don't fit don't try to put it on.
Amid the fire of twilight sun
I wish I knew my way
horizon’s char and moonlight’s shun
has ashed my hope I pray
for dark cloud constellation to free
a cosmic steed for me to flee gunshot streets
for primrose to steal my yellow jaundice
and burn the itch in incense of roadside stars
for me to follow scent and sight
and find forsaken door
to open with my key contrite
a waif who’s lost no more
but gods of dirt and sky refuse
this pessimist with optimist dreams
side-of-road primrose mowed— as needle holes
grow my nebulae-scars of blown-vein bruises
a morphine horse runs dirty track
while stars in alley air
just stare and offer not but black
expanse —my nowhere lair
June 21, 2025
For the Beatles 'Lay it to Me' song Contest by Charles Messina
The old iron curtain came down
But soon a clown reclaimed the crown
Ruthless and hollow-souled he rose
Now a foul Soviet wind blows
From the east it battered Ukraine
Spreading such cruel and endless pain
The past returns in blackened char
“Back in the U.S.S.R.”
HOH TELL NO VEMBER GOLF
al fah
row me oh
you nee form
eck oh
ecks ray
in dee ah
see airrah
wiss key
yang key
zoo loo
foks trot
mike
tang oh
oss cah
jew lee ett
pah pah
vik tah
char lee
keh beck
lee mah
dell tah
bra voh !
well said
Chaos reigns, oh, such a sight,
Kids are screaming, parents feuding fight.
Turkey is spoiled, oven's on strike,
Lightning struck, there's no light.
The Bliss is so forlorn
The Bliss is so forlorn
The dog pissed on the presents
One of many such awful events
The cat's stuck to the star
Its fur has begun to char
The night of hell is born
The night of hell is born
Tommy was chased, the table felled
All the food scattered expelled
The entrees landed in Granny's lap
Just when she was taking a nap.
Silent Night is torn to scorn!
Silent Night is torn to scorn!
Still the tree lights twinkle
A glitter of joy a sprinkle
Despite the wrinkle and crinkle,
I hear Kris Kringle's tinkle
Frantic Night, Chaotic Night!
Frantic Night, Chaotic Night!
Char, his new wife
was a deadringer for his old wife
a woman he divorced when he met Char
she would not be accepted by his children
or his friends
or his parents
he and Char had one fine year together
and five horrible ones
before he discovered a younger deadringer named Maisy.
I will try and hide the
mushroom cloud and restore
the skinless bodies, I will
un-char the charred, reassemble
the dead children, I will then
un-vitrify the rocks and the sand and
rebuild cities and cafes and hope;
undoing your atrocities is high
on my list, just
leave me enough milk
for morning
Your intelligence, as good as driving amazing cars,
You dole out goodness, generously to all your pals,
Your wisdom, unassailably perches on the highest bar,
While foolish people, buried their's in a maar.
Your smiles burn sadness to a char,
Your beauty invites love to a chair,
Your kindness takes friendship a distance far,
The love you share is without a fear.
Your greatness, noone can ever dare,
In your heart, God's love is already there,
In the eyes of your enemies are rains of tears,
Meanwhile, to your prayers, God has his listening ears.
To your successes, God is always giving you cheers,
In divine blessings, God gave you the largest shares,
The toga of celestial favours, God made you a nice one to wear,
Heavenly salvation, God turns it into your special ware.
Sub Categories
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