Inflection Point
Musicians
want to be poets
And poets
musicians
Jim Morrison
in Paris
Leonard Cohen
Montreal
The grass
shining greener
In shadows
elusive
The muses to
whisper
As temptress
— they call
*****
Birth Mother
Comfort
the enemy
of truth
Prescience
the nemesis
of time
Insight
the jailer
of denial
Freedom
the birth mother
— of dreams
*****
The Crossroad
An ounce
of freedom
Or a ton
of gold
The choice
is yours
Since times
of old
To sell
your soul
Or set
it free
A Frostian
crossroad
By choice
— decreed
*****
Love On View
Walking
through the park
Troubles
disembark
Watching
couples swoon
Picnicking
at noon
Every tree
a refuge
Rowboats
dot the sand
Joy unbridled
love on view
Cupid
— in command
*****
The First Cut
Never complain
never explain
I don’t care if you like it
I only care that you read
Stay undefined
the future unrhymed
The first cut the deepest
— forever to bleed
(The New Room: May, 2026)
The coach of age is moving forward
It doesn’t stop, not for a moment
With us inside, this trip is long
Or maybe not, it ends like song
We’ve been and done, laughed, felt and grieved
Pushed forward, aimed and believed
Sometimes won but often lost
And carry memories embossed
Spawned life, read books and places went
Earned what we could and spent spent spent
Gazed at night skies, imbibed the breeze
Made love and hugged the main squeeze
And while the train is moving on
Those places to which once were drawn
Revisit, not to have remorse
When motion stops and off we’re forced
Talk to thy friends, remember time
When younger were, in our prime
Don’t miss this chance, it will be gone
We disembark while time moves on
Do all the good you can while here
Just do what’s right and feel no fear
These ain’t my words, but wisdom is
And trust not me but your heart, please
Stand tall with nothing to regret
Be all you can and leave no debt
You’d never know what is unread
In book of yours before you’re dead
Lit all the candles while one can
For strangers and one’s own clan
We live, then leave without lore
So, let them burn just little more
January 26, 2026
Hefty lefty lever trademark arc
Bazball achiever didn't embark
Whooping hooping looping shark
Hark that howling hallmark bark
Whizzing tizzing fizzing spark
Disembark batters off the park
Stoking smoking poking lark
Scary lairy fairy benchmark
Another sarky snark remark
In-jagger ragger dagger stark
Mighty Blighty's lights gone dark
Stagger..swagger malarkey of STARC!
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
Look at body-mind as a car we drive,
from which upon death we will disembark,
so we renounce goals for which we did strive,
sailing in the void on an upward arc.
This world is a dream, so it’s unreal,
therefore to which object should we then cling?
Shifting to the heart, we being to feel,
throb of bliss magnetism that makes heart sing.
Divine aligned, mind fixated on God,
objects of the world holding no allure,
at our slow motion awakening awed,
our childlike presence is pure and demure.
We flow with ease, mode embrace and release ~
There are no demons we need to appease
For: when my life changed Poetry Contest Sponsor: Kai Michael Neumann August 13, 2025
*****
a Curtal Sonnet
My life changed when suddenly Mom grew old,
the years had passed I was aware, too soon
the sunny afternoon became the dark
shadow of impending coil's mortal cold
journey underworld to the banks of gloom~
the ferryman will bid you to his barque.
Dont go! I cannot bear to be alone,
precious time has slipped away, left me stark
and naked in the darkess of new moon,
how soon for selfish sins must I atone?
Momma, disembark!
A lost sheep wanders...
The shepherd once wonder;
In the jungle of silent Lion,
If not already fed upon
To satisfying hunger.
The shepherd ponders...
If his route wasn't a blunder-
To search or rather go to zion,
Where spirit over flesh won
When time is still younger.
A David; absent,
The day is now frank:
Gradually near to the dark,
To become more scary in search
Of unrest sheep, hope seek.
A Samson confront...
The nightmare, light prank
Seductively to disembark
From searching... to try church,
While strength isn't yet weak.
As far as it pains;
As much as its gains...
Of persistent tease, you pull,
Makes desirous victory be full
Vigorous try, daily attains.
SOUL MEMORY
Aligning core below to above
Sirius clapped in glee
urging group into Time out of Space
Pyramid, triangle of my refuge
and direction
Mercury watched soul circling Squinx
Dogons ancient guiding mission
bronze arms encircled axis
Africa cracked from Asia
Amma rejoicing
I knew not then
that in a Southern land I
were to disembark to
stand firm with fearlessness
time-split generational embeds
with carbon and consciousness
oxygen the catalyst
myrrh rained down
to cleanse
Last Supper was still to come
I jumped on the train, feeling bad.
It cost me all the money I had.
Is that seat empty, tell me bub?
I asked, clutching my ticket stub.
I knew not where it was going.
The man across from me looked knowing.
Will it take me to a safe haven?
Through the window, I saw a raven.
The man marked down one more tally
as the train bogged down in a valley.
The low sun cast a shadow dark
as I was forced to disembark.
The knowing man, he would not talk,
but I was going to have to walk.
I felt I would not be afraid,
as I looked to the sky and prayed -
and breathed my last earthly breath,
in the valley's shadow of death.
After a tired
labor of love day
got on the Trane
and after a few Miles
I reached Monk
later laying
back travelling
towards Sarah
and Nina
and after
getting Dizzy
headed West
boarded Bird
flying onto Art
leaving me
to ink
this poetic flow
I’m sharing with you
before my melatonin
MJQ disembark
to peacefully Cannonball
deeply into
poetic gigging…
Let us disembark,
Leaving Middle Passage holes,
Let us hit the road:-
God is our engine,
Motoring us up the way;
Hope and faith fueling:-
Time waits for no one,
We need to hit the pedal;
It’s time to speed up:-
With eyes on the prize,
Let us shift to overdrive;
Mountaintop ahead:-
The sun is rising,
Palm trees palisade the road
The dream arriving:-
She sails where the bayou kisses the tide,
a phantom queen with a mournful glide.
The paddle churns, though no hands steer,
and jazz floats faint on a breeze unclear.
Her lanterns burn with a ghostly hue,
casting gold on waters black and blue.
No passengers board, no voices ring--
just whispers soft as a violin string.
The captain’s hat is dust and bone,
his eyes like coals, his soul long gone.
He tips his brim to the moonlit shore,
forever sailing, seeking more.
Beneath her decks are cards and gin,
dice that roll where life wore thin.
The laughter echoes through the years--
a masquerade of silent cheers.
They say she sank in 'twenty-four,
but rose again with something more.
A curse, a pact, or prayer gone wrong--
now midnight is her siren song.
If you hear her horn on a still, dark night,
don’t follow the sound or seek the light.
For once aboard, you’ll never disembark--
your name etched in the ledger of the dark.
Alesia Leach © 4/2025
Welcome to The State of Dis Union.
Here are some “dis” words to describe The State of Dis Union.
Dismantle, disruptive, disagree, disrespectful, distract,
Disappointing, disable, discredit, disregard, disobey,
Dislike, disloyal, dislocate, disaffiliate, disrepute,
Disgrace, disaffirm, dishonest, disembark, disinfect
Disgusting, disturbing, dismiss, discontinue, disarm,
Disconnect, disorderly, disassociate, discreet,
Disapprove, dissent, dispute, disorientated,
Disorderly, discord, disadvantage, disbelief,
Displeased, dislodge, disclaim, dishonor, distant,
Disarray, disconcerted, disintegrate, disinform,
Dismal, disown, dispatch, disparity, disguise,
Discriminate, discard, dissolve, distort, distrust,
Discombobulated, disband, discountenance, disaster…
Yep, sounds about right.
the plane ascended.
i yelled it.
this straw in the wind; fly fly fly
i felt it was a necessary affectation
to ensure a safer flight
or rather a calmer form of passenger
bring out the java
i want to ride the bean
we soar, slope upward
i greet the turbulence
with grit
i summon over a flight-attendant and
offer to help up there with the pilot
she politely turns down my offer
and the choppiness subsides
but i still want a role
give me valiantness, worthiness, nobility
and astropolitics
we thank the crew as we disembark
i look into the flight attendant's helium-3 eyes
'when men are arrived at the goal, they should
not turn back.'
i was stopped at immigration for four hours
Seeking the light that lights all lights,
I see, in this world, soon to disembark,
for every place shrouded in the dark,
there's another, warm and bright.
Each twenty-four hours has a night,
but in the grand celestial ballet,
the earth spins to give us another day,
much as each wrong has a right.
How happy we are when in flight.
Other times, in sorrow, we all must drown,
or we found ourselves rooted on the ground,
'til we're soaring like a kite.
We may encounter a dark knight
whose heart is vicious and unearthly black,
and soon we're lost, off the beaten track,
when appears a knight, in white.
I've found that this poor heart of mine,
as it navigates the world's duality,
finds its own version of reality
gliding the dividing line.
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