Tick tick tock ….. watch that eerie clock,
with buddha shaped tuscan stain shroud,
intruding the silver-blue eyed fog waker,
me, the gem treasure hunter hovering,
oe’r sunshine focussed raspberry trellis,
that sturdy bamboo shoot prop “ripener,”
I sabre rattle squishy mango downpours,
in my nirvana of forest green subconscious,
now jolted by the red rose tint second hand,
into mortal transit’s dwindling time-lapse
The doctor smiled,
holding up the
ultrasound of my
healthy, growing
baby.
My relief shattered
when the screen
showed it whispering
inside my womb.
It told me the exact
date and hour it
planned to consume
me.
Tonight, the labor
pains began three
months ahead of
schedule.
I can feel multiple
tiny, razor-sharp
teeth biting their
their way out.
Six ravens, black as pitch -
at the signal, all will switch.
One bird flies leaving five.
While one man's soul is still alive,
his body's in a ditch.
Five monks in an abbey, cloiste'd
with five cats 'neith ceilings, joisted.
One forgot to say his prayers.
His body's at the bottom of the stairs,
while his soul is hoisted.
Four candles, all aflame -
don't you think it is a shame
that nobody heard the shout,
as one of them was snuffed out,
while no one knew his name.
Three little maids from school -
one forgot the golden rule
leaving not a jot or clue.
Now there are but two.
Don't play her for a fool.
Two paths vanished in the wood.
Only one did as she should,
taking the path less travelled...well, not quite,
and returned on that frightful night.
The other is gone for good.
The devil said, "You have one chance -
that is to say, 'May I have this dance?'"
And now my story's done,
because, alas, there are none.
Should I have warned you in advance?
Once there was a Christmas shopping countdown
Shoppers storming malls, and Macy’s downtown
Those days seem so long ago
Even little children know
(to) Order online ~ last-minute playground
The crew waved their goodbyes
assumed their positions
their space-ship was cleared to go
the countdown reached zero
there could be a new hero ~
Would the media let people know
Our world erased in the blink of an eye,
every song and our periwinkle sky gone.
Fixated on the past our future is lost
left to rot in the void of deleted files.
Every song and our periwinkle sky gone,
it is imperative we take the power back.
The implications cannot be ignored.
Fixated on the past our future is lost,
involuntary chittering a sneak preview.
Drowned and bitter within our humanity.
Left to rot in the void of deleted files.
rage against the machine with a beat.
Can you hear the timer’s countdown?
You can say the sky has many hues
You can say the stars are all your friends
You can say the sun has paid its dues
And that this love affair won’t ever end
There’s so much there to hope for and invest in
And maybe even build up and describe
You can say it’s all an open question
But I’m counting down the days until I die
The man under the bridge awaits the signal
To greet the train that will decide his fate
He’s all done with the sellers in the middle
But can’t divorce them in his present state
But from his desk, he now retrieves the bottle
Takes off his boxer shorts and sheds his tie
He shoots his wife and tells a supermodel
That he’s counting down the days until he dies
Turn a page —
That calendar, that dream
In Limbo, do the shuffle
In thine eye find the beam
You can play ecarte on Riviera
You can watch the silver in the sky
You can disembark, but I can’t sail there
While I’m counting down the days until I die
8 billion people in the world, 8 billion people with a soul, and I want yours
7 months we had of pure love, 7 days a week, we were connected by the phone
6 times I tried to let you go, but my heart just couldn’t say no
5 minutes without you felt like an eternity
And I can’t count the days I cry before going to sleep
Maybe in another life we will be forever and ever
If it’s not in this world, I will find a way to be together
4 seasons passed, but my love remains
3 words I couldn’t say, and I won’t deny
2 hearts beating as one under the same light
1 love story written in the stars
Looking at us from the sky
0 regrets, just memories that shine
I’m another life, you will always be mine
Every moment with you felt so right
No distance can keep us apart
So in the stars we will be reunited
For Sir Brian Strand's 1403 Poetry Contest
5 August 2025
* * . *
* * * *
/ \
|==|
| |
| |
/___\
| | engines rumble low—
| || |
| || |
|_||_| the silence counts down to flame,
/ || \
/ || \
/ || \ a dream leaves the Earth.
/ || \
| || |
\___||___/
/||\
//||\\
// || \\
**
****
******
==========
* * * *
Gunpowder
was to ‘Little Boy’
as a whisper
to a shout
Forever changed
the world remains
enslaved
— unto its rout
(The New Room: February, 2025)
[b]5[/b]
The clock’s tick is a slow blade,
cutting through the silence,
fingers cold on metal chains—
it’s only minutes now,
my breath tearing through my chest.
[b]4[/b]
I can hear them—footsteps,
too close, too far,
scraping keys, rattling,
the air, thick—
I choke on it, wait.
[b]3[/b]
The light through the bars feels wrong,
like it’s burning me—
I can’t escape,
the walls closing in.
[b]2[/b]
The door cracks open,
a figure, a shadow,
they’re coming,
they’re coming for me.
[b]1[/b]
It’s time.
Ten unread messages and nine missed calls later
I finally texted eight friends to call you a lying traitor.
Please don’t leave me, I’m not strong enough to grieve
Our seven birthdays together or the six promises that you would never leave.
You bought your ticket with a five then took my heart away for free.
My watch struck four, but you had disappeared by three.
As the hours went on, I stared fixedly ahead at the sun
And slowly lost sight of you while two sets of footprints became one.
39 minutes to draw a line
For asymmetrical life of mine.
Against logic and common sense laws
My life’s odds graphed empirical flaws.
It spread out in many shapes and slopes,
Varied ‘twixt melancholy and hopes.
Yet the ratio of joy trumps the rest
In the course of life’s composite test.
I count on that for the greatest good
My path for the greatest number stood.
My constant values were absolute,
So were the angles, right or acute.
I figured life’s factors more or less,
In patterns, congruent with success.
Formula for Happy - highest stake,
Played in proportions of give and take.
Around Love my destiny revolved,
The algorithm of my life - solved!
I bid adieu, sentiments apart,
My palate’s last wish from a la carte:
Steak dinner with a glass of fine wine
In finite timeline of 39!
Just like the countdown before Christmas
I’ve experienced these things a hundred times
15, 14, 13, 12, 11,
Giddy bubbles rise through my stomach
at the thought of a movie I’ve seen twice before.
My legs tremble as I walk
the same path I take to school each morning.
10, 9, 8, 7, 6,
Always counting down to moments of bliss.
A thousand flavours in the market,
but all I want to taste is you.
5, 4, 3, 2, 1, 0
And then it starts all over again.
Ten, nine, eight, seven,
six, five, four, three, two, one, and
where are we going?
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