So you have to accept someone else’s concerns
If you still care to go abroad
Are you corrupt, do you get the returns
Do you hide them as an experienced fraud
What they call a survey is an interrogation
There is no presumption of innocence
You are pledged guilty because your nation
Is all badly spoken which shortens the chance
To get anywhere you would want to fly
Because you, and not somebody else, just you
Must stop the war, so they'll decide
If you’re worthy to taste their national stew
Isn’t it quieter to take a bus ride
At home, with no worries about bank statements
About who are your parents, dead or alive
The driver won’t bother about their status
None of that humiliation is guaranteed
But isn’t it too clever that people get stressed
For intention to travel abroad, when they need
Just a fortnight break for a much deserved rest?
Butterfly, fly away.
little lost.
A lot of lost,
either way you spin it I'm spun.
Alarm bell ringing, nervous twitch persists.
Deliriously strange encounters in the mirrors, seeing thoughts obscured in furrows and crypts.
A terrible person with good intentions,
forever flawed intermixing such a hopeless hallelujah.
As a kid, wishing for the world, not realizing the weight it carried
hunchback
Replaying tracks, favorite songs begin to scare me.
To emit no evil is to live on time.
A sojourner journaling to his past and future sublime
existing by the miracle that is God.
The unspoken pain that lingers in the soul.
Regret stews like a pot in the kitchen,
simmering with drug-filled decisions.
The tallest towers
are stacks of unwashed dishes
in a sink of despair.
Cobwebs in the corners of the ceiling
catch flies buzzing against the wall.
The timer on the oven
blinks at me often,
yet refuses to be used at all.
The faucet drips
in unison with the tears that fall.
Magnets on the refrigerator
hold the lyrics of a forgotten song.
The aroma of fresh coffee
from an old pot
dances through a broken nose.
A table stained with memories
stands where the chairs
can no longer bear the weight.
Cracks in the flooring
run all the way through.
Blue paint drips
where the floor
no longer meets the wall.
Everything in life holds meaning.
Words hold weight, like pennies on a scale.
“A penny for your thoughts,”
or “throw in your two cents.”
A copper shower leaves welts,
the weight of another’s opinion
pressed into my skin.
The nickels are pelted
while my back is turned.
Standing in the spotlight,
they drop dimes on me.
This can’t be the right change.
Flipping quarters—
heads or tails—
my legs give out
as I hold onto the rail.
A half dollar richer,
I made another on a dime.
The nickels start to make sense,
and somehow those pennies…
they still shine.
You think you’re pretty clever
I didn’t fall off the truck yesterday
No, not your average turnip
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
You gave the perfect alibi
Swept your dirty laundry under the mat
Fooled everyone ~ everyone but me
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
Bugs Bunny loves his carrot snack,
He tricks his foes and never looks back.
“Eh, what’s up, doc?”—his teasing cue,
A clever rabbit who’s quick and shrewd too.
Poet’s Note:
Inspired by Bugs Bunny’s famous 1940 line, “Eh, what’s up, doc?”.
(\(\
(-.-)
o_(")(") Eh, what’s up, doc?
On a summer day, sat a clever crow
Being too thirsty, it began to caw
Looking from a tree far
Saw water in a jar
Water lying low, it drank with a straw
When cooking something hot,
The oven mitts you grab.
Pulling them on, you think,
“Am I a wanna-be crab?”
Why did the teeny, tiny mouse,
With the gigantic size cheese,
Grow as big as a house
And the cheese, smaller than bees?
Have you ever met my boy Jesus?
He's cool, He's clever and He's smart
He does all things for the good
He's forever in my heart
He restored the blind
He healed the lame
He called me out
Just by my name
Daughter oh daughter come close to Me
Yes I do know you by name
And all the countless others I watch
I draw them to Me just the same
Twist on Grimms’ Fairy Tale ‘Cat and Mouse in Partenership’
Clever cat in guise of a friend
seduced a timid mouse ,
inviting her to live in his house
pretending to be her spouse
with aim to kill her at end.
Cat gave her assurance
‘ Good food I have managed
It is my skill and challenge.
Have dinner as I have arranged.
Mouse smelt no bad essence.
At nook of church in outskirt
mouse came to stay with cat.
From church cat stole a pot of fat.
Fat was full of energy : instant.
Cat offered mouse to eat first.
Mouse started to take fat in joy
Cat was getting ready to attack
He was lifting paw from back.
By mistake he hit the pot to crack.
Mouse finished full fat to enjoy.
What a wonder ! Magic to play.
Mini mouse growing big and bigger
turning to Macro mouse with vigour.
casting cruel scary glances in rigour.
Cat comparable as Mini, fled away.
Time has its back to me
I've never ever seen its face
So since it won't acknowledge me
I won't give it the time of day
Hiddfens inside
Clever invworteds
Incite chaos
Inside confusdadated
Confusminds
Cunning cuckoo, craftily creeping,
Cackling, cawing, constantly cheating!
Clocks keep clanging, chiming, churning,
Cuckoo’s call--chaotic, concerning!
Cranky critters, clueless, confused,
Chased the cheater--cleverly bruised!
Cuckoo, chuckling, cheekily flew,
Claiming nests like cuckoos do!
Wouldn’t trust that cuckoo chap--
Crafty con artist with a claptrap trap!
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