Aah Beloved Moon ! Into a river of ferns you
make me swoon —
too soon I drop into mossy depths where
silvery you follow my deepest breaths
slippery is this solitary embankment
with turquoise Venus Love Fragments
radiating nature’s arty essence in
Presence ~
_______________________
Honorable Winner : Allpoetry
Short Verse Image Poem : April 26
The gurgling stream, sparkling in the sun,
had so much to say
Oh, so much to say
Rolling over rocks,
while curling, rippling, pooling
always moving forward
to places unseen from before the bend
Eyes and ears on the embankment
All watching, waiting, listening
The gurgling stream, with so many words
would never be expected to reach its destination
Only to be engulfed by waves in absolute silence
- memories never told. -
Heidi Sands
11/4/25
(C)opyright
In the toffee-brown shade of candle wax light
The stone cloistered walls moist and dark
Silent whispers from the past
Sealed beneath Villiers Street
The lonely watery veins of your eyes
Reflected the space between you and I
Between the hard **** of our desires
And the soft recitals of our measured poise
Your hand loose in the vaulted light
The moment missed and the chance released
Like curling smoke drifting onto the street
Dispersing amongst the Embankment crowd
Silently gone like the cold passing gargle
Of the brown-black Thames
On its way to the sea.
The evening comes, I recognize
The same old evening’s here
A blurry line across the skies
The sounds of cars I hear
Quite as distinguished as they were
From the embankment side
The motorbikes are also there
Their engines never die
They fade into the background soon
And silence chills the breeze
It fills the gap between my room
And crowns of the trees
And everything looks as before
In this old evening blue
Except I’m seeing you no more
To hear your I love you
Except that everything we are
Has turned to ash again
Except my dearest love's gone far
It’s all about the same.
The storm water pipe
gaped into open air
from an embankment
where it surfaced
from underground.
The opening was a little
smaller than my childhood height
and they said it stretched
a mile or more but nobody
knew for sure.
A danger sign warned
against entry saying
the pipe was subject to sudden
flooding - a protective grate
had a hole big enough
to crawl through.
I would pause
at its mouth and stare
into a claustrophobic dark.
Hunched, heart racing,
I monkey walked
my way in, listening out
for water, breathing in
the dank air. Deeper
and deeper I would go until
courage left me when
the light from the entrance
faded and all went black.
Hell was there.
It still is.
PINK SCALLOP SHELL
Along my road to Freedom stood
showy blue-green sentinels with
white cloud whiffs representing Sky
starling decorated bushes joined
Party of the Road to nowhere
this was where Freedom
danced naked, her shadowed body
awaiting with roasted chestnuts
she met us with a hug and drums
on I moved to dissolve into River
braincells becoming numinous atomic matter
smiling towards Void, ever deeper into
Dark for Light, a von Gogh sunflower watched
in longing as breasted hills embraced
my drowning, matrix fell away
stillness and sound merging as did
boundaries, embankment with Freedom herself
from River into Sea
I became a pink scallop shell on
undulating ocean floor
calm
Is the
nice feeling
that wraps our soul
just like a blanket
on embankment
river top
water
still
Heidi Sands
4/28/25
(C)opyright
On a sad day, on a bad day, sun was bright
I went out for a walk, round the block
Everything looked the same in the light
Not a single orange vest, no road work
Passed the houses and church down the street
Then I took a left turn to embankment
Passed the linden alley smelling so sweet
Up the hill to my home then I went
Was I feeling too bad, or too sad
On a sad day, on a bad day
No I felt pretty distant from that
To be honest with you, miles away.
I never consciously ever ever wanted to die
But one time during a car wreck I knew I was going to die
I was traveling eighty-six miles an hour on gravel.
Came to a t-road and knew there was no way to make the curve.
I yelled “thank you God for a great life!” right before my car slammed into an embankment.
I expected to look down and see my broken bleeding body.
But I was still in it.
I had the weirdest feeling ever.
I recognized it as this – I was disappointed that I had not died.
This shocked me.
It was a totally unexpected feeling.
When I ponder this feeling I know where it came from.
Part of my, the soul part, knows that whatever is waiting for me after death
Is much better than being here.
Feelings toward expectation of death were overwhelmingly curious
knew I was going to die that day, my car was going way too fast
on gravel, approaching a T in the road; there was no escape
I yelled a thank you to God for a good life
Deserving death, not welcoming it, but resigned
BAM!
We had hit the embankment
I expected to see my body from somewhere above
Instead, I was still here
I reached for my purse wondering if I could still walk
Was I still alive?
It seemed impossible.
Confusion walked up and down my spine.
My next feeling was absolute disappointment.
Disappointment that I had not died?
Yes.
A feeling I never expected
But have never forgotten
An assurance that whatever is next must be super wonderful
Here I stand.
Covered in mud.
Slouching about.
Momma told me not to come,
But the boys made it sound like fun.
We tied a rope to the tree.
Swung out over the stream.
I was the first to go in.
The water was cold and shallow.
The mud was deep.
How will I get home,
Without my Momma to see?
What an awful mess I made of me!
Foot by foot,
I lifted them out.
My shoes were gone,
Sunk in the ground.
Climbing up the stream embankment,
I blended right in.
Then I heard a shout!
"It's the stream monster,
Just coming out!"
I looked at my friends,
All laughing about.
Took hands full of mud,
Began to sling it about.
To this day,
None of the boys would say,
How everyone came home,
Covered in mud that day!
It was hefted upon a breeze -
As in a warm, flowing current
Through a sea of palo verdes -
To search for an embankment.
That seed of promise -
An implicit aster -
Was sent to broken gneiss
To become one with nature -
A golden bloom to come
To an expectant glen -
Not knowing how it found home
Except that it did.
Where the river runs cold, warmth can still be found
In the tranquility of the flow, is a peaceful gurgling sound
Snow and ice do not stop its move, as it crests in smiles
Cold air transforms the landscape, winter’s white is seen for miles
Invigorating, refreshing, sights pleasing to senses, across the land
An awakening occurs, I’m mesmerized by snow covered sand
On the embankment in stillness, I watch the dark water dance
Knowing around each bend, there will be another chance
Where snow-capped rocks peek out to see from the shore
I am an observer watching, I am whoever I want to be…and more
Heidi Sands
12/18/22
sandpaper savage today
buttermilk wavelength tomorrow
directions are like buffets in multidirectional earthquakes
yet and still i cherish the day
downward spiral clouded pepper today
scallops dipped in butter sauce tomorrow
arrows are like indecisive enthusiasts continuously banging their heads
yet and still i cherish the day
driving off of an embankment today
sucking nipples carelessly on a pillowtop mattress tomorrow
pathways are like emotional guessing games defiant to antiquated rules
yet and still i cherish the day
like a pesky nighttime bug,
or a wilting sunflower,
I am not alone on this drug
in my needful hour.
ravaging hornets carve in me;
break away the dried spirit.
eager wispy flames sprout free,
unsatisfied as they hear it.
echoing gloom rings
the esterary of frogs.
gore of marshy things,
see the loom of smog.
embankment of a creature,
hath bring forth a tomb of sighs.
wrath bring forth a doomed demise,
for fantasy isn’t enough to cure.
dreamy eclipse it may seem,
free me from lips that redeem.
to the needful things gone,
i am this very creature from then on.
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