Underdogs are today’s true heroes
defeating impossible odds they surpass wild expectations
~ proof dreams do come true
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
Fascinated, Gainfully Harnessed, Impishly Joyful
Again, a contest I can't deny.
There's someone though, who makes me grateful
While I sit and ponder, knowing my.
Kind, Loyal, Muse, Nicely Observes
My constant request for her inspiration.
By finding words this poem deserves
Through her obliging communication.
Perusing Quests Requires Studious Time
To edit, correct, some lines rearrange.
Ensuring then my end words all rhyme
Therefore, deliberate lines to exchange.
Unquestioned Victory, With Xenial Yes!
Together my muse and I agree.
These words are ours, but now confess
My secret muse is really like me!
When winning seems beyond hope
~ keep on trying with all you’ve got.
Double down. Don’t give up!
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 2nd place 2025
Be you ~
I'm not going to tell you what to do.
You're on your own ~ be creative
to care enough to find ways to please me,
to care enough to be...
to care...
yes...
I think that's the key word.
I want you to care.
About me.
About us.
I want you to
be in the moment,
be in the relationship,
be in the driver's seat.
Contribute
not just sit back and wait for cues.
You're not just along for the ride.
Be...
Care...
Be on top of your game.
Act like you care.
Give it all you've got
without holding back.
Like this is the real thing.
Like you want this to work.
Like you want this to be special.
Be consistent.
Consistently caring loving attentive.
Don't deviate from the script.
Love me like you mean it.
AP: 1st place 2025
I show up ready
Like it’s nothing, no big deal.
But calm is just a front I put on,
No one sees the ache
They say thanks, but don’t see the work,
Only the finished things I do.
They don’t know how many times
I’ve held it together when it got hard.
They see the results, not the fight,
Like it all came easy overnight.
They say, “You always have it figured out,”
But they don’t know the truth.
I check my work twice or more,
Late at night when no one cares.
I clean and fix before they ask,
But effort’s never what they see
It’s just expected of me.
I hide these tired eyes
And they love it when it’s done,
But not the work behind it all.
Waves in my brain
to your cliche songs they entrain
Background music in the store
It takes me over to my core
Others keep looking for merchandise
Or converse with each other to break the ice
But I sing along with nothing to prove
Just taken over by a nonlinear groove.
(chorus)
Waves in my brain like a tidal refrain,
When you can't think, the vacuum's the pain
I sing other people's words, can't think alone
cobwebs grow on a stalling stone
My cortex resonates to the rhythmic beat
I start dancing in the aisles, pounding my feet
It's like I'm under a spell by a witch
As my brainstem resonates to a higher pitch
The people with the white coats come for me
My shrink is puzzled, he just can't see
When your brain is one big empty hall
Music rules it, better than nothing at all.
They were right, I'm just an empty suit
So don't play that piano, guitar or flute
Thinking is hard, But I'm going to be brave
I'll find a way to make my own wave.
All was lost after the effort
Now tired, for he fought
Like a god's son, perhaps Zeus'
And the struggles despite no vows.
All he ever wanted was to be a son,
Respected by all—now, respected by none.
For his parents to boast with pride aloud,
Saying, "He’s worth every struggle allowed."
He longed to raise a daughter someday,
To make her proud in every way—
To show her love from a father's hand,
To be her shield, her steadfast stand.
He dreamed of speaking justice clear,
A lawyer solving case by year—
To free the pure, condemn the vile,
To stand for truth, mile after mile.
He wished for moments just his own,
Some quiet time to be alone—
To run and laugh and simply be,
But now he's chained, he’s not quite free.
He once dreamt of reaching high,
For ranks—but instead, he got high.
Drowned in sorrow, beyond repair—
Even his mother no longer cares.
He gave his all to be the best,
Yet failed again—another test.
He sought redemption in a glass,
Now, a shadow in his class.
All was lost after the effort
Now tired, for he fought
Like a god's son, perhaps Zeus'
And the struggles despite no vows
Final, strained breath drawn,
Hope's faint ember starts to glow,
One last push to rise.
©bfa050825
If God is hateful
explain where love comes from.
If God is your equal,
define the body
and how each piece flows as one,
and recreate it.
If God is betrayal
convince me your life is done,
that you're not just undone,
but unfinished.
If God is pure punishment
explain replenishment,
recuperation
and recovery.
Your discovery of God is not set in stone
and neither is mine.
So give Him some time to show you these rhymes
are more than mere poetry,
not solely words on a page.
Go on and gauge what the 'h' this means for yourself
Like Moses in the desert, I have wandered.
My destination nowhere in my sight.
I’m searching for the joy I have been promised
But hampered by the seeming lack of light.
Like Icarus of old, I am a pris’ner.
I’m chained here to the ground by gravity,
And haunted by the things I can’t accomplish,
The dreams of places I will never be.
Like Samson, I’ve felt utterly defeated.
It’s hard to trust that there’s a higher plan.
I fear giving in to mediocrity.
That where I’ll always be is where I am.
Like Hercules, I’ve had my many labors.
I’ve known my share of failure and success.
So many tests still waiting in my future,
And many miles to go before I rest.
Like everybody else, I have been wounded,
But deep down I am proud of every scar.
For each one tells me I am making progress
Although it seems I haven’t traveled far…
But there’s nothing else to do but move forward, step by step.
So, hand over hand I will climb.
I know it’s true that I may never reach my horizon
But I can leave where I am behind.
All it takes is effort and some time.
This is different
Eerie
The winds have changed.
The colors fade into
a lifeless, chalky form,
and all life disappears
in a uniform fashion,
as I stand at its edge,
too scared to move.
Even the sun plays
hide and seek.
And I've volunteered to play seeker.
Who would have thought the sun
was so gifted at playing,
after all these years of
willingly showing his face.
And now I face off
between the darkness
and what's left of me.
There's no rest
for the rest of me.
I lay resting in pieces.
Rest In Peace
One piece left -
it stumbles in the dark.
One piece,
one part to play.
It knows it's still
in the game.
It knows -
To live in darkness
among darkness
requires little of us.
But to seek the light,
to create light
among the darkness
demands effort.
So
much
effort
These winds are changing,
and the darkness encloses me
as I watch the flowers,
disposing of each petal,
fade from my view.
The sun wants to play hide and seek
I can tell this one's going to hurt
as I listen to the drum of my
heart beat grow louder.
I call out
Ready or not, here I come!
you're attentive and say the right things
when you're good, you're very good
i wish i knew what needs to be said
what to say to set you ablaze
in order for you to light my fire
i don't want to tell you what i like
or worse tell you what i need
truth be be told, i'm not really sure and
i refuse to be responsible for putting words to it
in fact i want you to make the effort
to figure out what will please me
is that too much to ask?
i am reaching for the stars?
please make the effort to figure it out
it's in your best interest, that's no doubt
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
She used to think she could fly, she would jump off the couch and it seemed so high. She lost sense of the air but her childhood could not compare.
She went to Saturn instead where she had freedom that was self-led, so more worries no more excuses, no more waiting for a savior to tell her reality is gone.
She took the world into her own hands, she used to think she could fly, she figured out soon it was all planned out so to Saturn she wondered about, she skated from one ring to the other.
Better than the life she knew, but frankly she didn’t have a clue, didn't know wrong from right all she knew is that her life was taking flight.
She felt as if everything she was used to had been washed away and she couldn’t have been in more of a mixture of disbelief and array, a satisfaction that blew her away.
She pondered the stars and this was her newest adventure by far.
Maxim Effort
Miracle Man
1-13-2025
We become failures
only when quitting a task
that God has given
It took guts for him to choose it
The society made him pursue it
Under the high pressure of sunset
Without been assured that he would make it
He took the step to maintain his outfit
Obi will never remain a boy
Travelling down the road
He met her
He took her hands and paid the price
They came together and gave a rise
In the shade of his hustle, there she lies
Making meals with the things he earns
The boy is now a man
While the little called him "papa"
He worked extra to provide for two
The burden was much
But he never complained
He moves along with his dear beloveds
Just to push their fates to climb the hills
He motivates even when he is down
He provides even when it’s dawn
He deserves to wear the crown
The crown of a hero
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