Autumn Highlights
the
blooms
silvering
shimmering
in
patches
of sunlight
daubs
of colour
midst
the frigid
frost
of
fall:
cursory
change
shapes
all
our
lives
Twas a portrait, puddles painted.
No face of ours, am I acquainted.
And yet wait still, for quite the visage,
Something new, in someone's image.
It wasn't quite, no frown nor fright.
Though waters spill, from strokes of skill.
Simple paints or mercury,
The subject's hand was cursory.
And so it melted, so it cried.
Lines blurred heavy, and the viewer died.
Written: September 06, 2025, for contest sponsored by: Constance La France
Quote: "On a day when the wind is perfect, the sail just needs to open, and the world is full of beauty". By Rumi
*********
Listen—not with ears, but with aching skin,
where whispers meander extreme within.
The zephyr is not a cursory breeze,
But divination along with the trees.
It jiggled enigmatically from the stone
and carved its ideology into this bone.
It speaks in whispers and traumatized song,
of where we're accurate, and what went wrong.
Jaw-dropping stories in stillness and hum,
of battles bewildered and those to come.
It hurdles through periods, grief, and grace,
leaving outward fingerprints on the face.
It wears no enthrone, yet huddles the kings;
It severs the tresses on buried things.
So listen in not for roaring decree—
But toward the breath underneath the plea.
The wind will not delay, solicit, or steam,
It is bombastic and allows you to stream.
Zephyr adorns twigs and allows grass to gleam.
Inordinate
Construction terminology limits interaction and
Obstinate theory considered heating
Cursory exam investigates
Finance
While article confides in history
Another letters still
Placement of interaction causes excess time?
Employees are not in a large building
Only resolved in exposure to smaller liens
Stocks and Bonds are Complexity
Wet or dry,
a swift shift.
I may fall.
Cursory
blows cut me
to the bone.
Making love
a monsoon
enticing.
.
"hi little birdie"
i heard thuh slight
uv neighbor
mine
yesss
front window
mine
bed
i peek'd out the
diaphanous
'twere kneez
hern
up
fundament fast 'pon
uh stump back mine cabin
enjoy'n this morn'z early
creek's cool cursory
"pissst
i'm.....
You know how a cat is? The way it awakes,
how its eyes open, for a moment
not seeing anything,
how it blinks slowly
eyelids washing a mind
of anything but satisfaction.
Legs stiffen, stretching out,
paws opening and closing
as it arches its back.
Lithe sinews ripple under a velvet pelt,
its whole body a rubber band of pleasure.
I used to wake like that - almost.
This sleek, self-absorbed feline
who owes me at least
some cursory acknowledgment,
just slinks away without a glance
as I struggle to disentangle
my creaking form from jumbled bed covers.
It has prowled through the cat flap
probably stalking garden sparrows by now.
I make coffee
once more vowing to get myself a dog -
an old one.
A lot of it happened when not looking,
they are captured as photo-images
still arriving
undeveloped.
Beneath the skin of a retro-vison
dark scenes of rain
slicing through confused clouds
forever caught as an opaque film
over half-closed eyes.
There are visible gestalts –
shadow dances of passing daydreams.
A mélange of cursory detachments
once mistaken for a life.
More small bundles of lost moments
left discarded
on the side of narrowing roads,
nevertheless, the time-ravaged
push on
to stake their claim on this day.
This morning or the next,
you vow to leave your camera at home
even knowing
that there are still empty spaces
in your ever-growing album.
TODDLER CLUB
Higgledy Piggledy, here we sit
All are fidgeting just a little bit
And a giggle, however cursory
We are all here at the nursery
Look around, to left and right
Try smiling, and they just might
Waving your hand to say hello
It isn’t so long now until we go
Then all of us can say goodbye
Until tomorrow, but me oh my
If left here alone, I’ll be in a fix
To sit alone among these bricks
i get you,
your obscure words
meaning the world to me.
your innocence
very dear to me.
yes i get you…
meanwhile,
my cursory mind
rests at the feet of forbearance
misfit to feel your longing.
i hold back
for my strictures are strong.
but i feel it,
the intense you.
-gurumali
You're facing a gun complete with barrels
And of all things with firm holder quarrels!
Chairman Mao would have laughed at you
And kept repeating "No... No it's not true!"
I guess, definitely, in their Chinese,
Even if you had been a Taiwanese,
"Why don't you reserve games of Squirrel!"
If you were English and your name Darrell...
I have a cursory look given Mao
And the result - no schemed insult - but "Waow"
A long braving of the unpopular,
For it finding pillars; new formula:
One might fully own one's shirts and trousers,
For private accounts there shall be browsers,
One's country first but not like Kennedy's
Often voiced by takers of Cannabis...
For their foes communism the hammer!
I knew he'd said so not a slight stammer
To Tito on the same ideas feeder
Chairman was China's outstanding leaders
Mao's last words: take your time don't be anxious
A good advice but not for something vicious.
What I'm about to write
May be offensive to some people
But I am absolutely appalled
By what's happened at the Olympics
Men playing on women's teams
Concealed by their national dress
Not being discovered
While undergoing a cursory examination
As incredulous as this may seem
It is happening the true spirit of the Olympics
Has long been destroyed by this
“Win at any cost” or “by any means” attitude
Once a big fan who took pride
When my country achieved success
The true spirit of the games
Has become shrouded in controversy
Oh how times have changed
True story
Can you name the President of Guatemala
How 'bout the islands off the coast of Sahara
Would you happen to know the currency of Iceland
And what about the most popular beverage in Spiceland
I myself have forgotten last year's Super Bowl Winner
Not to mention what I ate last night for dinner
As for my wife's birthday and our anniversary
I quickly mumble something far too cursory
So now that I've been relocated from the frying pan to the fire
My odds of living 'til sundown ~ two notches below dire
I know
this is not the world of my dreams,
But now that I am here
I'll hang around for a while.
I was just passing through
and thought I'll drop in
and say hello.
I cast
a cursory glance at the world,
found no soulmate
found no kindred spirit…
So I toss
a shroud over me
and I go!
~03/17/23
~Contest: Now that we are here
~Sponsor: Unseeking Seeker.
Custodian of nostalgic memories,
I cannot help but glance at it everyday,
for it holds in its fold nearly forgotten stories,
that in the distant past used to make my heart sway,
now awaiting the urge within my soul to recreate
and so relive the charm of mystical echoes,
that here and now I may again celebrate
highs of yesteryears as also the lows.
What at first grips my fickle attention,
are not books or photo albums stored therein
but rather thick layers of dust that cause tension
and so the trusty bookshelf welcomes my break-in,
hoping that I may learn from error of my neglect,
reforming lethargic habits and pick up a book
and by doing so, at least offer some respect,
even if it ends up as but a cursory look.
Oh worthy storehouse of knowledge,
I applaud your ability to serve with verve,
judging me not irrespective if I acknowledge
the comfort you provide, which I doubt I deserve
for although many a friend has come and gone
your stoic presence in my life is reassuring,
to elevate my mood if I become forlorn
and so your presence is my mooring.
23-February-2023
Write an Ode Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Jeff Kyser
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