Never deflect your truth for
Borrowed eyes
Every choice you make is
Paid in life-wise
Voices' conversation is loud but never
Lived your grind
Expect no chorus when you
Discipline your own mind
Root your steps in what feels
Justified
Justify nothing- your spirit is
Enough
Under your skin lives the
Tangible tough stuff
Silence is power when the
World wants evidence
Trust your path even when it
Feels standoffish
Inside your calm sits the
Truest truism
Fear evaporates when you
Stand uncuffed
Your choices don't need a
Magistrate
Anger is boundaries finally
Speaking
No weakening to keep
The peace in
Growth hits harder when you
Stop tweaking
Energy saved is energy boosting
Respect your fire without
Deteriorating
Defend nothing- your life ain't a
Trial
Every lesson earned came with
Its own distance
Faith in yourself stays flexible
Open only to those who understand
Ignore the pressure to defend
Carry your calm like a trusted
Companion
Every step you take soars
Stay aligned with divinity's will
Even in a dark world, you think there is light.
Every time I open my eyes, there's nothing but pain in my sight.
People are hurting, bodies deteriorating, minds going crazy.
Every morning, I wake up and ask God why this has to be?
Babies are getting kidnapped, taken from their homes;
Women jumping out of cars because they're being beaten on.
Families are losing their houses because of wildfires;
The government is making plans, taking food out of our mouths.
The African race is trying to go back to slavery days;
Now they want to end all black everything, taking away our pay.
Freedom is getting hard for illegal immigrants,
Being deported and rounded up by ICE back to their homeland.
It's a pain every day to watch social media or the news.
Every day, someone is getting shot and murdered for public views.
Young kids are getting lazier by the minute;
They just want to be on any platform, shaking their asses for pennies.
melancholic tidings—
optimism asystolic, now
fool’s paradise.
laconism stentorian
saline fluid agglomerating
“malignant” obfuscates,
formulates black stars.
fluttering, clouting
against ghostly pale tile.
aesculapian screams
circumnavigate weak cerebrum,
foxtrotting endlessly,
cold-blooded mockery.
serene bedrest
sinking linen counterpane.
morphing, suffocating
anaemic stature,
tasting like metal.
thrashing abnormal growth
actuate tunnels unending
i feel it.
i feel everything.
head encumbrance,
vessels strangulated,
blue skin a horror.
needle-punctured, scanned.
inhuman study. a specimen,
neglected medical non-priority.
fragile. no mind.
deteriorating. weaker.
sick. morningly.
please. help. ignored.
stained. vomit. pale.
monitor accelerating.
oxygen. chemotherapy.
please. help. me.
i. am. human.
bottom. medical. food. chain.
neglect. oxygen. oxygen.
oxygen. oxygen.
need. medicine.
nurses.
loud.
sonorous.
ringing.
light.
hunger. thirst. taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
taste. smell. vision. touch. hearing.
vision. touch. hearing.
touch. hearing.
dont. go.
hearing.
loud.
asystole.
I'm sorry it had to end this way
It just wasn't working
Slowly deteriorating on the bathroom floor
My fear in the shadows are lurking
Crying myself to sleep
Covering my mouth to not make a peep
I'm sorry I'm a disappointment
My anger I cannot control
That's when I realized I'll never amount to anything
My compassion he stole
Dying inside
All alone
But I can't tell a soul
My emotions I don't understand
Always reaching for success
My mind is a foreign land
Yet nobody noticed I was depressed
My poems say it all
My struggles
It feels like I've been muzzled
This is where I fall
And where I might end it all
#The_Sea_is_empty
They said there were plenty of fishes in the sea, maybe I'm in the wrong sea.
In this sea, fishes swims nomore,
life has ravished them,
choices have left them gushed into mince of unstable emotions,
their health in deteriorating state.
Something gigantic has left its permanent mark here,
not only on them but the generation,
they are yet to breed.
Their scars festers so deep,
haunts one mind in just one stare.
Choices have amputated dreams
Cut short even some life, in this sea.
In this sea, plenty remains a far fetched wild dream
In this sea no hope can survive
Life has taken its fair share
Left empty shells
Shells whom silence, deafens the soul
In this sea, the only plenty I see, is death
In this sea, life fates before my eyes
Souls are roaming,
it's a death trap
Its survival of the fittest,
if not of the beast
In this sea nothing is plenty
#Poetic_Ink
Mesmerized by you
Your sway is okay all the way, I’m left to pray
I appreciate you too
Your day is slay and now, you want me away…
There’s a distance between
You and I in the evergreen
My longing heart can’t take any more of this predicament
My longing heart can’t shake off the silly and scary things you say
My longing heart can’t handle this stress and enigmatic discouragement
My longing heart shouldn’t be feeling this tension from night to day
Deteriorating at a fast pace
I’m a drowning mess and a blanket of useless space
Embrace the disgracefulness I feel inside
I am bound to feel this broken pride…
I don’t know where to hide
These tears inside, I’ve cried
Longing for your adoration by my side
Glory and nobility like ours is loyalty so wide
Don’t seek me, I’m not wise
It’s about time I meet my demise
Set your eyes on the prize
Everything I touch surely dies
I can’t stand the abominable lies
And I can’t handle your horrid goodbyes
My sanity is out the window
I am a lover and a loner, I know
The doors of opportunity has closed down
I drown in my tears of tranquil sadness and wearing a down and about frown
she plays scenarios in her head
till she can’t distinguish
shades from fact or fiction
it started out all innocent
at first she didn’t sense the danger
she let her thoughts play drift
and skip ahead of herself
like an untended garden
the weeds soon taking over
she spirals down a private rabbit hole and
plays such games not meant for children
the type with hidden consequences
like mental variations of russian roulette
she’s gone offtrack
caught in a cycle
she’s really lost her way
it’s gone too far
i see her deteriorating
and i can’t save her
it breaks my heart to see her fear and mental anguish
that's sadly now her cross to bear
AP: 3rd place 2025, Honorable Mention 2025
LOST AND UNRECOGNIZABLE, LOOKING LIKE THE WORST ABSTRACT ART, THROWN TOGETHER ACCIDENTALLY
THROWN ASIDE LIKE AN OLD CAR TAKEN TO A JUNKYARD TO BE CRUSHED AND SHREDDED
DETERIORATING LIKE AN OLD HOLLOW TREE ROTTING AWAY IN A DEEP FOREST
ISOLATED LIKE A THOUSAND-YEAR-OLD GLACIER IN THE ARCTIC. FROZEN SOLID BY LAYERS AND LAYERS OF DISAPPOINTMENT, AGONY, AND SELF-DESTRUCTIVE BEHAVIOR
EMOTIONALLY STRANDED IN A REMOTE PART OF THE WORLD ALONE AND LIVING IN DARKNESS FOR 21 HOURS A DAY
Even in a dark world, you'll think their is light.
Every time I open my eyes, nothing but pain in my sight!
People are hurting, bodies are deteriorating, minds going crazy.
Every morning, I wake up and ask God, "why does this have to be?"
Babies are being kidnapped, and taken from their homes
Women are losing their lives because they're getting beat on.
Families losing their love ones, and houses every day because of fires
Government making plans, and taking food out of our mouth.
The black race is getting taken back to the slavery days
Now they want to end all black everything, and take away our pay
Freedom is getting hard for all the illegal immigrants
Being rounded up and deported by "ICE" back to their homeland.
It's a pain every day to even look at social media or the news
Every day, someone is getting shot and murder for public views!
Young kids are getting lazier every day by the minute
They just want to be on any platform shaking their ass for pennies.
and the garbage piles up.
Nose-blind by now,
the public doesn’t even
smell the increasing stench.
Inured to the political slush,
minds grind to a halt,
gravitating to one or
another single topic,
ignoring other issues.
Women’s rights, tariffs,
Ukraine, deteriorating
and threatening climate
change, nuclear war,
presidential ability, character,
in one ear and out an eye.
It’s the price of gas, they say,
the cost of groceries,
often controlled by world supply,
and other economies.
Real and threatening issues
bear down on us,
but we blindly accept
the panaceas of
political sound-bites as truth.
Is this really an election,
with a divided populace
so many of whom see nothing,
hear nothing, and know nothing
but the lies they are fed?
I liked her better when she was old
and on her own.
She hated company, and no one called.
She wasn’t the mother I remembered;
she was better and worse,
as I was.
After her surgery,
she stayed in a nursing home
deteriorating.
Her apartment was sold to pay for her care.
When she died we emptied the place,
there was not much to keep,
no photographs or mementos.
One kitchen cabinet was full of unopened
blood pressure tablets,
hundreds.
She preferred to drink.
If she had confided in me
I would have told her
that despite the warnings,
she could have done both,
like I do,
but we were never that close.
I find myself lost in thought
Reminiscing back to when we were kids
And damn how I miss the old days
But I know this life
will never be that way again
Crawling in and out of bedroom windows
Not daring to even try one of the doors
I remember that time we passed out
And your mom caught us
cuddled up on your bedroom floor
Sneaking around to smoke a cigarette
Because at the time,
we thought it was cool
Our A's and B's deteriorating
Because we were always
skipping school
And oh how we could take something so beautiful
And turn it into such a complete mess
But now that I am here and you are not
This mess is all that's left
-JadaClesha.
Through muddied lens, I see a child's hand,
Holding on to his mother in a nice small home,
She carries him inside and a sweet smell evolves,
As a fog envelopes and the dream ends,
Too determined to relive those days,
To escape from this tiring reality,
I unveiled my 20 years of patience and toil,
A Machine, that will give me a second life,
Of innocence, of purity and of unrusted joy,
I sat in my machine, pulled the lever,
Bade farewell to this old deteriorating self,
As I opened my eyes, I saw the same garden,
Now the mud was gone, there I saw a house,
But....my hands wore the same wrinkles
The pain in my back was no more less but...
I saw the child, his mother in the sweet home,
I smelt the sweet smell of the trees,
I remained a mere spectator,
Forced to feel, denied the touch.
If you are into time wasting,
Sooner or later you will find yourself flicking,
Although in the in the early days of TV there were reasons for stopping,
As there were programs that were quite exciting,
Enough, to quell the urge to take up flicking,
As a means of time wasting,
Then the number of channels started increasing,
With their content becoming more and more boring,
And flicking carrying on into the morning.
Then we got to learn computing,
Which meant more time wasting,
And more choices and places to enjoy flicking.
But it was not until someone started blogging,
And people could make a living,
Out of bragging about their following,
That flicking,
Won the the ultimate prize for time wasting,
And our intelligence really started deteriorating,
As we are now texting,
Messages about TV Programs, on computers, we have been watching,
And blogs we have been streaming,
All without an ending,
Because we have resorted to flicking,
The ultimate form of time wasting,
That I only see increasing.
Crumbling skin and swollen eyes
Make me carry the darkest lies
The walls i built to feel no pain
Were now starting to suffocate
Every mirror shows a different side
I wonder if i ever was right
Getting confused between death and life
Deterioration had taken quite a time
Everything in me wanted to let go
But Maybe pain still had its love to show
As i smiled crumbling with broken needles
My breath no longer asked for air
And there came an end
To each inch of the space i had.
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