One is named “Another Unfortunately Not to Contact”,
Still with the mugshot at which we giggled.
I try to see what he had as a passing joke,
But he respected that I seriously don’t want to smoke.
He’ll always suit jackets that jingle.
Another’s named “Hurts to Contact”.
We met at a drawing group.
On first word, we clicked.
Their artwork is lit.
We’ve shared our final packet of Hula Hoops.
Another is just a number.
Together, we sang “Hey Jude”.
We watched “Gavin and Stacey”.
He made perfect pastry.
We’ll always love music and food.
As for you,
“Everything Will Be Alright”
Is how your sibling’s number is saved,
Whose buzzcut I used to shave –
Hair that won’t outgrow my memory’s sight.
Your contact is still Luka ??!
With a smiley and exclamation mark.
We are still in touch,
But I think of you too much –
Our conversations heart wrenching to park.
Glitches of A Broken System
Ongoing support fiber with the Universe.
Ticket #001: Common Sense
Status: Depreciated since 1999
User: Common Sense won't boot up in group settings.
Tech: We replaced that feature with " Comment Section "
Workaround: Nod slowly and back away
Ðo? not feed the trolls. Ticket Closed
Ticket #404 The Middle Class I submitted a ticket to the Universe last Tuesday.
Subject line: Existence.exe keeps crashing at rent.
Tech: " Have you tried being born to different parents?".
Clear your cache of dreams and restart your bootstrap, upgrade to Premium Reality.
Note" Premium not available in Zipcode 12345
Ticket#503: Healthcare
User: " I clicked "see doctor" and got an error " Insurance not found.
Tech: " That's a feature, not a bug. Please
Sacrifice 3 chickens and 1 deductible to continue.
Estimated wait time: Your whole life
Ticket #006: Climate
User: Planet. Earth is overheating. Urgent!!!
Tech: Did you try turning it off and on again?
We recommend recycling. Have a nice day.
Auto-closed due to inactivity.
I saw her in the marathon
She was limber and lithe and slim
Between mallards like a swan
I had the urge to show off, to win
She glided over the London route
Like water flowing around a stone
Like an ethereal tune from a flute
I passed her, and I ran alone.
I got to the ending tape
There was a man waiting with a kid
He hugged her out of shape
Because of the time she did
Then I realized I'd run the best
Even if I felt like a dupe
Chasing that wisp, I'd beaten the rest
Of the motley crew in my age group.
Around my neck, a medal for the course
The cameras clicked, people cheered
Newspapers said I was a dark horse
Out of nowhere, I had appeared.
I saw her walking toward the park
Her husband carrying her gear
She didn't know she’d been my spark
And suddenly my head was clear.
Oh, I saw her in the marathon
A silver stream for the duration
And now that breathless day is gone
I'll take the motivation.
She was a phantom in the crowd
A beautiful, fleeting sign
She made me run till I was proud
Until I crossed that finish line.
Knicks ~ clicked
Spurs ~ licked
Brunson ~ top gun
Wemby ~ all done
You’re mine but I’m not yours.
An unwavering line between us,
invisible but solid. Strong like vine
in brick. It grows thicker. It spools and
twists across road, over pavement,
under bridge. To you. You’re mine, but
I am not yours. Conjuring emotions in
each person that I meet. A holiday
researched, clicked and booked with
him in the supermarket queue. A wedding
planner called about him sitting two rows
behind. Inventing love where there is
none. Seeing hearts in bodies anywhere,
everywhere. To beat mine to back life.
There once was a tiny squirrel named Tim
who practiced Tai Chi with great Zen.
He gathered a troupe~
a pint-sized nutty group~
three fluff-tailed apprentices and then…
They donned little leaf-green attire,
stitched snug with twig-threaded fire;
each jacketlet swayed
as their movements displayed
a woodland-born martial desire.
With belts made of braided vine-twine,
they cinched their small uniforms fine;
each buckle was crowned
with an acorn they’d found~
a medallion of mastery’s sign.
They circled in synchronized flow,
soft paws in a forest bungalow;
their medals clicked light
as they moved through the rite~
a jade-tinted tai-chi tableau.
Gus the parrot blasted into the treetops
like a feathered firecracker
with zero impulse control,
one eyebrow-feather lifted
with a you-have-got-to-be-kidding attitude.
He clicked his beak in judgment,
ruffled plumage with a flair,
then leaned in like a critic
who’s unimpressed with the air.
A twig snapped.
“!Dios mio… SAY WHAT?!”
A cloud moved.
“!Dios mio… SAY WHAT?!”
His eyes bulged, his crest shot up,
his whole body vibrating
like a tiny, outraged disco ball.
No one knew what he was reacting to.
Possibly nothing.
Possibly everything.
But there he was~
a neon blur of disbelief
shouting “!Dios mio… SAY WHAT?!”
at the entire universe.
It lay cool against my wrist,
a gold chain with tiny stories.
Each charm was a miniature world
of special moments~
a birthday,
a summer,
a secret wish.
When I moved, they chimed softly,
a music only I could hear,
reminding me that even small things
can hold whole chapters of a life.
The little heart clicked softly
when I moved,
as if remembering
something for me.
I’d lift the bracelet to the light,
watching memories glint and sway~
small keepsakes of a girl
who believed
magic could be worn.
an accompanying memoir vignette can be read at: poetrysoup.com/short_stories/simply_charming_13718
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Winter arrived with frostbite flair,
A blizzard here, a sniffle there.
I checked the forecast—what a fright!
clicked CTRL + ALT + DELETE in spite
Snowflakes vanished mid-descent.
Icicles? Gone—no argument.
The polar winds? Just hit Command-Z,
And poof! They fled to Sicily.
How does one
Restore a soul
That believes
Suffering her lot
How does one
Bring trust home
To one who knows
The beauty of alone
How does one
Touch the bottom
Of a broken well
Run dry
How does one
Hold the essence
Of unshakable faith
In fleeting presence
LOVE ZIPS THE LINE
With every failure
Each disappointment
The teeth are
Reunited and secured
He invites with peace
She provides the flow
Every morsel used
To bring joy to the whole
Such a huge gap
A long way running
Never getting done
From bottom to top
In an instant
The last one is zipped
The journey is over
Trust, finally clicked
My GOD LOVES me
Written by Trudy Schrader on 01-19-2026
I wasn’t up for a snowball fight
So my grandson took his screen
And clicked on an activity
That I had never seen.
Although, in truth, it wasn’t far
From Venus Paradise,
A version done with colored pencils
Using no device.
Both Venus and Zen Color start
With scenes in white and black
Divided into numbers
For the colors that they lack.
On paper, we’d use pencils;
On the screen, a tap would do
And if you’d need help, a different tap
Would then provide a clue.
The Zen pic came out perfect
But I like the old-time kind,
Which allowed for mixing colors up,
If that was in your mind.
Also, Zen had background music
Which was meant to help relax,
But instead, as time went by
It just annoyed me to the max.
I must have lost my friends,
I should not have clicked "send",
I meant to email you instead
My mind was half asleep,
I called them lazy sheep,
now they cut me dead.
I don’t know what it was,
Maybe just because
The mailing list starts with "A"
Now I'm so uptight
I stared at that screen all night
The screen that led me astray
(chorus)
There is no hack
That can take it back,
No magic “undo” key.
Friends may be sheep,
But the cost was steep,
When the truth-teller was me.
(bridge)
Next time I’ll pause and breathe,
Count to ten before bytes leave.
Read it twice before I click.
Because now I feel sick,
I jumped backwards off the crag,
The cats escaped out of the bag.
In social effigy I hang
No sense of humor in that gang
I've become a hermit living in caves
A wild eyed maniac who rants and raves
I still feel the hurt, still feel the pang.
When I hit that key, and the first phone rang.
Nothing can ever erase the history we have build together
Through ups and downs we promised friendship forever
We understood each others weapons of emotion and pain
Years have gone by and our friendship remains the same
Our circumstances and problems never got in the way
We're cultivating what we have with few words to say
There was a time when I thought I'll find another you
You're my twin emotionally so that's impossible to do
We're always fighting for one another just like family
I still remember when we met and you were new to me
I still don't understand what made us clicked so fast
We have watched each other grow as time has passed
There's no one with your heart, personality or views
You're a precious gem and I would never find another you
A Love Story 2
Huelva and the Gulf of Cadiz, and it was August, and in the town
There was loud music and rockets in the air. I had met a gypsy girl
She wore a white blouse and a long red skirt. She wore no shoes, her feet brown and dusty.
Back then, I smoked cigarettes- Chesterfield-
They were supposed to be upmarket compared to Camel cigarettes.
Even then, I wanted to be different, a cook who could read
She admired my Ronson lighter; it was expensive, and no one on
The ship had a lighter that classy.
She clicked the lighter a few times, how she coveted it, but I was
surprised when she suddenly ran away. I thought she ran for fun.
She would come back: she didn´t. Later, I saw her; she was with two
gypsy boys, and I dared not say anything. I walked back on board,
borrowed a box of matches, sat in my cabin smoking and dreaming
of her beautiful eyes.
A lonely, cold gecko unstuck itself, unsteady,
from the cliff-face, bedroom wall.
A certain, short leap onto my pillow, then to calmly
move up over my sleeping form to my open face,
and there to kiss my closed
eyelids with rasping lips and sticky tongue.
"Lickety Split !"
"Spittle & Slick !"
It clicked and twitched this little tune as it did its rough work
on my quiet eyes. A slow massage,
moving orbits in their boney optical universe,
rolling, rotating, revolving behind the blue-veined lids
of my galaxy.
You didn't spot the camouflage,
didn't see the gecko,
just thought I was dreaming
with my eyes open
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