Common sense, once common indeed,
Now seems a forgotten human need.
We hurry through life with reckless force,
Placing the cart before the horse.
We seek the harvest before the seed,
Demanding success without the deed.
Racing ahead without thought or care,
Then wondering why progress isn't there.
Education fills the mind with facts,
Yet often neglects life's deeper acts.
Not teaching how to reason and think,
But leaving many on worry's brink.
For wisdom grows when minds reflect,
When consequences earn respect.
Every choice we make today
Shapes the paths we walk someday.
A thoughtful person understands
That truth is not held in one pair of hands.
Each circumstance has another side,
A lesson often pushed aside.
To move ahead, we first must see
What is, what was, and what can be.
For genuine progress, clear and true,
Begins with understanding what we do.
So let wisdom lead and haste take pause,
Let reason guide through life's great cause.
For the surest way to move ahead
Is to think before the path is tread.
BREAKING POLITICAL MEDICAL NEWS
AND HORRIFYING CONSEQUENCES
It’s evident that
The POTUS requires urgent
Mind-dialysis:
Removing bigotry and
Political injustice!
Otherwise, justice
And democracy will die
From his bigotry:
Leaving behind a nation
Ruled by bloody oppression!
And this just came in!
Throughout the country today,
Gas stations closing:
Driverless electric cars,
Populating the highways!
``````Meanwhile``````
. .
. .
. .
Fleeting images haunt my life,
ghosts of my regrets,
memories referenced
by a long, deep sigh;
things not done, words left unsaid,
unresolved aspects of my life
are open-ended dots
upon the page.
Conversations for which I compromised
intelligence and wit
are exclamation points
within my mind;
regrets for which there is no cure,
no admonition given,
no recompense
for those mistakes once made.
Knowledge stands alone
within reversed quotation marks,
utterances of the mind
scrawled in the margins;
residue from lessons learned
that float within the mental mist,
ready-references
for situations yet unborn.
All those past regrets are footnotes
listed randomly, at best,
after which
a period is placed.
Thinking with my head instead of my heart
An unorthodox paradox on the dark side of the moon.
A rotating axle spinning the cogwheels of thought.
One pair of arms striking authority,
The other pair holding a cracked shield.
One fights for what they believe is right,
The other fights for what they want.
Belittling each other, pushing the boundaries,
beyond bodily limbs within constant orbit.
A sentinel of the galaxy shifts the four faces of judgment.
The warrior stands tall among their trial.
The decision does not come lightly.
Near the edge of the universe,
A chamber of observers, motionless and silent.
The Consequences of a Gemini.
With the shift of a cogwheel,
A slicing wind cuts down a leg of the warrior.
Forced to kneel,
Pledging allegiance to defiance.
hurdles
mountains to scale
confront with resolute
gratitude and growth with actions
glitches
we always have bumps in our road of life. working to resolve them teaches us different lessons about life, ourselves. This is how we can experience personal growth and satisfaction. And we are always pleased when things work out well.
I'm of two minds today.
I sit and do some soul searching.
Weighing decisions and their consequences.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 2nd place 2026
You’re in a fine mess.
Admit it and embrace it.
This is the result of your obsession.
It’s time to deal with the consequences.
You’ve been avoiding reality way too long.
Lying to everyone and especially to yourself.
Sure you managed to fool people temporarily.
You even bought yourself a little time.
But it’s all been a worthless illusion.
You lost more than you bargained for.
You came way close to losing everything.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
He was so very sorry.
Tried to justify but he fell short.
Here come the harsh consequences.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
War prowls not in nations ,
but along threads we cannot see,
stirred by men afraid of being small.
They hide behind heavy drapes…
Blind to the dust they leave behind.
Egos puff up and snap with each word,
sparks falling into fields,
that never asked for fire.
Voices puff themselves up like proud birds,
words flicker over dry tinder--
pauses yawning wide for disaster.
Ego, restless as a fidgeting child,
tugs at the world until it tips and leans, laughing,
chuckling as cities lose their balance,
holding on tighter
until Hope folds in on itself and retreats into shadow.
And still they feed it,
men who drape themselves in wrath like armor,
bowing to Force as if it held a crown.
Victory casts a faint , weary smile
while the World leans aside,
guarding its secrets in silence.
The Selfish Egos of War
Sponsored by: Craig Cornish
Contest Judged: 1/11/2026 6:54:00 AM
( 1st Place )
Written: 11/29/2025 (Don Mueang)
Lie down with dogs
everyone knows
and get up with fleas
so the story goes
or if falling from a dizzy height
the gravity of the siuation might
have you near in a tizzy
calling out in fear and fright
atho' wallow with pigs
below by the hollow
or in some such place
as a sty filled with crud
and if you shovel the stuff
for long enough
it will stick to your shoes
and on your face
you will have mud
but not only that
you'll have egg on it too
so keep it under your hat
whatever you do
Her nervous heart in jitters
her next decision would determine their future
~ Not to be taken lightly
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
"Drill, baby, drill" entreats Trump.
Fossil fuels burn.
Climate warms.
Parts of the world, near equator, become uninhabitable.
Populations, who can no longer survive, move north.
In US, UK & EU, where things are better, people complain of immigration.
Fascism thrives.
Inevitable consequences!
All because of that single decision
To grasp that grate and breathe in the ethereal skies above
Rather than
To let go of that grate and suffocate in the foul sewage below
Because of what he chose
This is what he is
Independent
Not
Incarcerated
Whole
Not
Wounded
Confident
Not
Confused
Slipping off of the rusted edge, on which side will he land?
Brilliant
Not
Bleak
Courageous
Not
Cowardly
Relieved
Not
Remorseful
This is what he is
Because of what he chose
To grasp that grate and breathe in the ethereal skies above
Rather than
To let go of that grate and suffocate in the foul sewage below
All because of that single decision
Now, what if he wasn’t resolved in his decision?
Simply read the poem in reverse.
Braving all odds she dares
step out into the rain sans umbrella
~ hair will surely pay dearly
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
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