Written: August 27, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Robert James Liguori
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They showed without trumpets,
but with teeth—
Four shadows galloping through
the marrow of time.
One wore famine such as a crown,
another cloaked in fire’s deceit.
The third preached war
in the brother’s tongue,
and the fourth laughed
as the stars forgot their names.
The wheel spun—
not to teach,
but to tremble,
Dharma cracked beneath the weight
of poisoned promises
We raised shrines from
the threads of logic,
We offered them our views
and named it veridically raw.
Yet in some distant spot,
A silver surfer glides through
the endless expanse
carrying no blade,
Just a memory— a soft whisper
of who we once were,
Here the shadows fell
laid claim to our light.
This is my dying wish
Give my babies one last kiss
Tell them life isn't fair
But their daddy's always there
Don't bury me in the ground
Spread my ashes where they can't be found
Have a party if you will
Tell others that you love me still
Life was more then I could take
This was the only choice I could make
Couldn't be like the rest
But I tried my very best
Believe that I love you dear
Listen to the wind and you will hear
I love you like I've always said
Even though now I am dead !??
A young crow carries them-
selves meticulously, screening
their surroundings. Too wary
to engage with others, but
always so observant.
A golden jewel shines in a
parking lot corner. Tempting
the young crow’s eyes. Their
bill clutches on, fragile by
nature, it breaks.
Glass shards pierces their
tongue, blood cascades on-
to the concrete as the jewel
dismantles. Remnants of a
once pretty rock remain.
Lackluster caws transcends to
inconspicuous woes through
menacing thunder circulating
the floaters, ignoring their
cries.
Drizzles of rain deafening
continuous yelp, a dash of
salt soaking their insides,
their shadow scatters
far away.
I spoke tonight to a dying star,
A flicker frail in endless skies.
It burned with all it ever was,
A lantern trembling as it dies.
I spoke to fire that once was flame,
To ancient light now burning thin.
I spoke to hours that bore no name,
To distant worlds I’ll never win.
I asked it how it kept its glow,
I asked it why it shone so bright.
I asked it what it means to go,
To fade into the velvet night.
It whispered through the silver air,
It whispered with a voice of gold.
It whispered though it was not there,
It whispered stories never told.
It said to burn until you break,
It said to shine despite the fall.
It said to give more than you take,
To risk the heart, to give it all.
I watched it flicker, soft and far,
I watched it vanish without sound.
I watched the dark replace the star,
Yet somehow light still lingered round.
And now I burn because it burned,
And now I shine because it shone.
And now I rise though I have learned
That even dying stars live on.
I lay in the dust turned to mud by the blood of innocents,
my name i heard whispered on the sighing breeze of night
flahes of somrthing bright illuminated a ruined city.
broken buildings like jagged teeth seemed to laugh,
screams like banshees filled the sky dropping death
down upon the heads of those already dead.
What hate must be brewing in peoples hearts,
that no one lifts a finger to help.
They say that God gives them the right,
however no one knows what God they serve.
Little children some still babes lay beside me,
blank eyes looking up,as if pleading for help.
My tears are spent and as dry as the sand beneath me,
My time has come to travel a new path now,
Following the trail of those gone before,
A trail of tears no,as no tears are left to shed.
Meeting fellow travellers of all nations,
murdered ,is all they say.
Andrew Provan McIntyre. 01/07/2025.
in snail-pace schizoid Land of the Dying
they sometimes bake schnapps biscuits
then throw them to black cat eyeing
angels appear asking “what about fiscus ?”
they reply “we care not, passings near
roof leaks, grass not so glitter green
new shoots will bloom, Shangri-La we hear!”
“all acts account to day of goodbyes, clean
fix broken loo and cement those cracks
fill empty birdbath, then plant carnations
give your dues, do not frack
we account credit and debit, our obligations.”
dying embrace living Earth to very end
dimensions shake when you do not mend
______—_____—_____________________——
These stairs have wept a million tears
walking from parking lot to hospital room
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
Through shadows and shame, past years
Blessed by the memoires who consume
These stairs have wept a million tears
With the music of a soul ringing in my ears
There’s more love and grace than gloom
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
Families, friends, echoing their cheers
There’s more to this story than doom
These stairs have wept a million tears
The room grows silent when the dust clears
Soon the dream’s soundless spring will bloom
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
In seas of wonder, my gentle volunteers
Remembering, He once rose from a tomb
These stairs have wept a million tears
Hearts travel them, to meet their worst fears
A Dying Plant
Feeding everyone lies
The drama never dies
Running away from the root of the problem
Too many excuses with no water
Always playing the victim under the sun
Falling away into a sinkhole
You had plenty of chances
To make good choices
You choose to rebel in dirt
A stubborn generation
You never listened
A dying plant
A heart full of regret
An ungrateful flower
Just freeloaders
A dying plant
I gave you guidance
You did everything your way
Flowers are fading
Bondege is braking
Blaming someone else is never ending
The root of the problem is burning
Death and Dying Horn Haiku
Getting to the point
where there is hardly any
left hanging around.
should be pretty soon
none no longer will be here
who can call the role
heaven will be best
by God who to we confessed
were all put to rest
I reach for you in crowded rooms, yet find only air,
Your absence lingers like a ghost that refuses to spare.
Once, your laughter filled the silence between my words,
Now, even echoes refuse to be heard.
I whisper your name in the dark, but only shadows reply,
The stars used to dance for us, now they just sigh.
My heart still waits where you left it behind,
Stuck between memories and the passing of time.
Your touch—once fire, now colder than stone,
Your voice—once home, now a dial tone.
I wonder if you ever feel the ache in your chest,
Or if I’m the only one lost in what’s left.
They say time heals, but the clock seems still,
The past plays on repeat against my will.
I wish I could unlove, forget, erase,
But love doesn’t die—it just changes its face.
I see you in strangers, in songs, in the rain,
But none of them hold me the way you did in pain.
You left, but I never learned how to leave,
So here I remain—with love, and grief.
If there’s no sense in dying
Than what’s the sense in living
If both conditions are
The same, than it makes sense
For lovers life is special
It’s based on recognition
That’s where I belong, love says
This is my soul I see
Forever after it goes on
In its eternal spin
The real love is never gone
It always there within
We never die, and never live
It’s something inbetween
We do exist, we take and give
Together, out and in.
What hurts more than the fact
I didn’t get to say goodbye
Is the fact
They’ll never see what I become.
Living and dying,
juxtaposed realities;
life's cradles and graves:-
God below us now
With each as all there is
And miracle, a sudden word,
Flooding thoughts
We cannot faster spill,
Until a fear of drowning
In the merging all could be;
Til we become as one;
One and done and free.
While none can say the name
Of two or twenty, not of fame
The greatest gift is love bestowed
To those whose candle bears no flame.
Only life is immortal,
Dancing once with each of us
Then moving on;
Leaving us to grieve
For all that’s gone.
The virtues, sacrificed
By muscling vices,
Lay dying
Across the dusty crusts of Earth.
The sky, once admirably azure,
Now bleeds dark streams of gray
Above the sight of flying vultures
Flapping, circling in wait.
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