In the mere blink of a nightmare, I found myself rechained
and trapped where my peace of mind had once before
collapsed.
The die has been cast, an old challenge from the past, one
I thought long ago smashed, has incited another battle and
painfully thrashed my peace of mind like collateral damage
to aloofly leave behind.
It’s twenty-seven years later, and I’m altogether strength-wise
lesser for this matter. I’ve got mighty prayers but the sum-total
of tassels for the best in life have battered and frayed my energy.
It is retired and at rest, not lying in wait for another day or test.
Now, I’ve no choice but to fake it, declare it is just hiding and
there’s no abiding such when it's time for fighting.
I know I screamed denial, felt a heavy weight disintegrate all
to black. I remember holding him, sharing a crying jag while
watching my peace of mind pack.
My very heart, my special needs son, now full grown and still
at home, woke me in the night in a state of fright, “Mama, I
think I just had a seizure.” The next day came four more and
my peace of mind took its suitcase out the door.
beautiful red gushes through the exit
beautiful red drips down your forehead
beautiful red does not love you no more
but beautiful red hugs you for a little while longer
oh lady in red, oh lady in red
why wont you join us in the place we all desire?
dissociate your thoughts till it's no longer there
disintegrate your skin till it boils down all your sins
dream of what you'll see before you greet
disappointment fills you till you can't even breath
the tears that you weep will dry like concrete
hold it in not much longer
sadistic mind, hold me tight
catching one last memory before you drift back into immobilizing sleep
It’s too tiring.
Waking up, and the dust is making me blink.
Dust made of older dust.
I have lots of time to clean, but I choose to drive instead.
I have dreams of showering.
If I lived at home, I would have a shower now.
But I live in a car, and the car is depressed.
I could be too, but one of us needs to drive.
It was too tiring to play a sport.
Or carry that extra geometry book.
When I was young, tiredness was some easy thing.
I would take naps between naps.
It’s nice to drive, sometimes.
Glancing at the cost of gas.
And my car and I joke about it.
We will go farther next time.
We will go farther next time.
I hope the next town over is easier, somehow.
Is less expensive, and has lit parking lots.
I hope the next town doesn’t disintegrate under me.
I remember school wasn’t like this.
We sat in classrooms, and we were bored but we were fine.
They never told me about the endless towns.
And unlit parking lots.
It’s too tiring.
But the cost of gas in this town is three cents less.
So I bought a hot pizza.
And fell asleep before I could finish.
As Voltaire might have said,
“ And yet it all works”
Did you know, dear friends, that our galaxy
Dash through space,
at a speed of 2.3 million kilometres per hour,
How does it not disintegrate?
Why does the sun keep shining?
How the earth turns around sun
While it is also running at 2.3 million km/h?
I know, there is in this perfect mechanics
Something divine,
As Voltaire wrote,
“ I cannot think that this clock exists
And that it has no watchmaker.”
On our way, no obstacles,
Only a cluster of galaxies 150,000 light-years away
Ahead, nothing can stop our galaxy,
“ And yet it all works”
Could have written voltaire,
at 2.3 million km/h We can safely
Drinking our coffee, isn’t that fantastic?
The mission was simple;
To save the whole planet
From white clouds
Lies the troopers
The wind howled
As they fell down
A headfirst dive
At the speed of sound
Death is a friend of the Earth
They thought, as they fell across the sky
I am the savior of the Earth
But I know not how or why
Today they made a sacrifice
That little drop of rain
But it went over our heads
Life seems still and same
Thud
They disintegrate into the hungry plants
They watch their friends get absorbed
This perilous journey they undertook
For the good of our world
the underworld rumbles and summons
beckoning in groveled whispers
with undertones of shady pretenses
haunted by gods and demons
who brazenly wave their book of souls
tormentors do the dirty work in afterlife
meanwhile here kings and rulers
wealth in pocket pauper in heart
build their towers to climb to heaven
every last of these towers of babylon
will one day come apart at the seams
they’ll disintegrate and fall to dust
greed and hate and malice
feed self-fulfilling prophecies
of wars designed to never end
man’s self-destruction on auto-pilot
will one day rise their corpses from fetid ashes
and lead their crusade into eternal damnation
AP: Honorable Mention 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.
I could walk barefoot on the moon.
I could breathe easily,
In space,
On earth too.
I let my shoes disintegrate.
Holes all over my mind.
Relaxing in a lawn chair.
But the lawn is gone.
I could stand barefoot in my house.
I can’t stand it though.
I can’t, can’t stand it.
The person in the lawn chair.
I forgot it was me.
Touching a window.
As if it was glass.
It’s more than that.
It’s me.
I could walk barefoot on the beach.
And find seashells.
Falling from my hands.
More and more precious gems.
Falling from my hands.
I could do that.
Or lie on a beach chair.
Dying.
No beach to be found.
It’s just me in a crater on the moon.
I used to be able to breathe.
Don’t question those things.
It’s me.
I could hear static on the tv.
I could be a burden on everyone.
I could have made breakfast a little earlier.
I could have gotten that new toaster so I could have toast.
There is nothing better than,
Ice cream that melts then freezes and melts.
I wonder if outer space is cold.
Or maybe it’s me.
I dived into the cauldron of magic potion
And turned numb
Watching helplessly as my body
Transformed into glimmering stars
All set to twinkle in broad daylight!
Then I found myself in the air
And heard a child wail out
At how gorgeous is the cloud
That is passing above his head!
What has happened to me, I wondered
As I realized that I was the cloud he was talking about!
With a sense of dread settling over me
I tried to get back into the cauldron
So that I may try to get back into my former shape
But the winds blew me further and further away
Towards the open sea where the waves rage and roar!
I felt myself disintegrate further and further
As I fell into the water and told myself
That this must be the end of me:
From human to water,
Merged with the great ocean!
Greed leads one to his own destruction
The magic potion was intended to be
Used sensibly
And I, hankering after its potency
Could only now wander if it is
My tears which are drowning me in this vast ocean
Or if the ocean water is that which drowns my tears!
Three birds on the chimney
Bluethroat nightingale
Touch blue and your wish will come true
As a grasshoppers
develop insight and understanding
Reflection of a wave
that hits my thoughts
and old wishes
A penny in the left shoe
may sound a bit naive
My wish in the abyss of greed
was to find the way back
to humanity
and the true values
- before it was too late
Wishes often disintegrate
behind the clouds of our illusions
The total satisfaction
an endless spiral
- never give up
Darkness gives birth to Light
I was once a victim of Narcissist's spite
Blinded by love I desired to feel and see
Instead I saw truth and faced reality
Awakened, consciously A fool no more
My Name is Karma, I came to settle the score!
Peace and Purity my domain, and then you came
With comforting promises and sweet nothings you played your game
With a sincere heart for you adoration grew
Your Deceit well masked, your mendacious actions brew
Perfidious lover you shall be no more
My Name is Karma, I came to settle the score!
Like a phoenix out of the ashes I rise
My sacred flame will disintegrate your shady disguise
The same toxic dish you served on my plate
Will be fed to you, you will meet your fate
Imposter! To you I have shut my door
My name is Karma I came to settle the score!
I am an energy with a spark and flare
I am an energy with love to spare,
I was created with love, grace, and compassion
I was awaken to balance and let love do its action
Looking at the world that shifted quite a bit
Finding joy knowing HATE can no longer fit,
I hope it(HATE) doesn't find a place elsewhere;
It just need to disintegrate or disappear.
Rumors I've heard; it disrupt and destroy lives
Most people gifted to pulverize and alchemize,
Thanks to hidden helpers below, mid, and above
"There's no place like home", said with grace by LOVE.
Blue rivulets of vein on the inside of her wrist,
That shallow valley between her hip
And the bottom of her belly,
The inside of her knee
Where her calf met her thigh,
I remember this girl.
Like the fury of a thousand suns
I remember her.
This woman’s power
To point a finger, or wave a hand,
Disintegrate a life,
Or plot the course of futures.
A simple “yes” or “no”
To open the gates of paradise
Or expel you to the cavernous blackness
Of endless empty space
In place
Of where she stood.
beating the rain
splashing out some bling
as raindrops disintegrate
on hummingbird wing
By
David Kavanagh
Trucks hauling away defunct Malls.
One city has been transported to another,
until superimposed, only the name are different.
Freeways chase endless miles,
looking for more things to shift,
shlep and shoulder.
Ninety per cent of everything movable
is assembled by 100 percent of new renters.
Oil, cattle, and inflammable gaseous toxins,
are handled by cab radios, satellite commands,
and shredding rubber.
The main drags compete to be anonymous,
wear the same masks, many disintegrate
or morph into closed forever signage.
In the concrete encircled,
whittled-down woods,
lovers try to imagine a better place to live,
one that is not yet on the road.
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