When time immortal has passed me by,
and under the ground I shall lie,
who will remember me?
What faithful person shall it be?
I lived a life of little note.
A few mediocre poems I wrote.
Oh life wasn't always kind.
I left precious little to remind.
Yet I feel from here to eternity,
I left room for thought, to some degree.
Some deed done with a contrite heart,
some valiant gesture in which I played a part.
I fear that my time will not be forgotten yet,
by folk I loved or even some I just met.
Will the presence of my smile, linger a while?
I set no fashion trends, never one for style.
I have always told stories, ever since my youth.
Quite often been known to embellish the truth.
I never liked to be beholden to anyone.
I was quite partial to the way I got things done.
I guess a one never really knows how much,
depth of feeling to those whose lives you touch.
Will anyone lay fresh flowers on my grave?
Is there any one in life I had the chance to save?
My body will slowly disappear.
There will be less of me from year to year.
Will my soul be here from now to eternity?
Will it linger endlessly? Will it still be me?
How can I be mistaken
Eaten as a mis guile piglet
When I embellish bacon
8/21/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026© Tercet
I brush my pen to hone,
Knowing the time I spent for you would never be alone.
For him I cherish, not the bond we embellish,
Where my sin once found it sweet,
Let my poem heal for you to repeat.
Suffering the wrath of my walls,
Shielding me in your arms,
Holding me tight as you poured out your soul,
Shrinking the sand that slips through your palms.
Avoiding the love that you once found,
Thankful for this day as time goes by,
Waving to the love I lost, we say our goodbyes.
Nothing left to change, no excuses to turn the page.
Earth’s soil births an amazing range of plants
whose blooms enhance environments and lives
with colors, shapes, and fragrance. Just a glance
at flowers makes us smile on Sunday drives.
Two special beauties I have long enjoyed,
tulips and honeysuckle, bloom in spring.
The climbing honeysuckle fills a void
and lightly scents the air each place it clings.
The tulips compensate for being free
of scent. Their unique shape and hardy blooms
of varied colors, a delight to see,
embellish many gardens, yards, and rooms.
Relentless yearning colors unrestrained
the spectral edge of the halcyon horizon,
where the nascent scarlet sun unveils
the fervent facade of the decorous dawn,
bringing to me across the million miles
the seraphic sparkle of the sapphire sea,
shining with the tinge of azure allure.
I stand whelmed at the finite fringe
of the primal vastness of the aquatic vista
as its timeless vigor tosses ceaseless
on the crests of the swelling waves,
adorning the beach with pearly garlands.
The silent spread of the silver sheet
wraps your faint footprints in fluid embrace.
As the melancholic waves intone incessant
in the moonbeam ballet of the blue night,
I search in cobalt obscurity for my mermaid,
floating away along the stardust trail,
setting sail on the serenading winds
to where my heart hovers on the sea shore.
As a rolling pebble flinging lonesome
with the rhythm of the tides of time,
I’m submerged in the sea of sanguinity
of the rapturous immensity of reverie.
Through the ardent frame of my fingers
I don’t let the golden sands of longing slip,
I turn them into topaz on mystique beach,
design a dainty diadem to embellish you.
On dawn’s crystal face
mauve clouds frame tinged horizon,
etched with hued hill curves.
Silver streams mirror sapphire sky,
emerald trees embellish their jade banks.
Nature’s splendor charms me.
I witness the camouflage of leaves.
I hear the soft sighing of the breeze.
I touch and feel the golden wheat sheaves.
I cherish the buzzing of the bees.
Trees strip themselves with tentative ache.
They weave novel, flamboyant garments.
Singing autumn songs, robins awake.
Meadows put on fresh floral ornaments.
Blue topaz shades embellish the sky.
Birds and flies and bees play hide-and-seek.
Summer seems to say a mute goodbye.
The sun slowly comes down from its peak.
Signs in nature are seen far and wide.
Are these keepsakes of my eventide?
The sparkling dawn veneers my heart’s horizon with hues,
spreads the sunburst tinges of my timeless yearning,
paints a golden garden blooming with luster of my love,
unfurls the facsimile of your astral floral face, I adore.
The patina of radiant rose flushes your cherubic cheeks,
glitters with the grandeur of resplendent pearls of dew,
rhapsody ripples in the mesmeric meadow of my mind,
my heart feels your allure, in the ether of euphoria I float.
In vivacious vale of mind contoured by your charm,
as I carve an ardent conduit of longing to reach you,
the fervent cloud of my craving melts in a torrent,
makes my love for you a cascading stream, I swim.
Pulled by the current of your charismatic magnetism,
my possessed passion sails to the moonlit bay of bliss,
where your love weaves the lattice of stars in my sky,
with their sequins you embellish my life to complete me.
sun falling slowly through veils of yellow, orange, reds
slowly descending, the sun in twilight
slowly careening toward the beach
the tan on the beach just out of reach
sands slipping through fingers of time
sifting the beachcomber’s untroubled mindset
then lapses of waves, washing, erasing the canvas
over and over, a redo, a new generation
troubles come and go; the dawn returns
pinks, purples, blues embellish highs and lows
tidings of the sea; setting of our brief lives
just you wait until heaven’s reveal
Under the seamless sky sparkling with satin sheen
the reflection of the mesmeric moon holds you
afloat on the fervent waves of the stardust surge.
I’m silently drawn by the patina of your charisma.
That’s how my dormant desire awakens enticed
by your shimmering radiance of the moonshine
as my vision is enwrapped by the tapestry of dream
weaved with the spectral strings of your longing.
Like the crown of the pearly dew you embellish
the beguiled blades of grass of my flushing meadow
I call my yearning sanguinely spread to where you are
on the new turquoise trail traced out only for me.
Like the silver streaks on the waltzing waves of the sea
I see you dance on the crests of ebullient euphoria.
In the mystique night drenched by moondust drizzle
you sparkle like the diadem of bejeweled cobalt sky.
The true essence of love I then perceive entranced
in the aria of your tinsels gleaming within me,
while the enchanting luster of your celestial shine
pulls me toward you to glow forever as a star.
the moon takes its place
the stars embellish the sky
a radiant night
the wisdom of the unseen
the mystery of stillness
the queen of the night
arises from the chamber
the glow of the night
the pageantry of the sky
creation of many years
tales of the night
the wisdom of the aged
wonders of twilight
the moon struts about the sky
around are tiny twinkles
August 31, 2025.
Every time I turn my radio on
I hear the same old song
and I await good news from abroad today
especially a change is on the way
but I don't believe all they say
as how can they see eye-to-eye
or meet face-to-face
when east looks east and west looks west
in this so-called human race
putting power in the hands
of people who don't give a damn
will only go so far only last so long
the genie's out of the bottle
there's no going back
where did we go wrong
to be so far off track
embellish or embroider
you can't improve on truth
anything less is second best
for which I have no use
and when it sounds
like chaos all around
it seems no one cares or shares
look to your morals ethics values scruples
and take the higher ground
June blooms embellish my world,
beauty abounds in all its vibrant hues
~ happiness does grow in gardens
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Children will always remember the void,
They will always recall the hands that couldn’t embrace them.
They will always remember the troubles that nightfall brings,
And the darkness that invades their slumber.
They will always remember the stranger who masqueraded as a helper.
Yet, children can sometimes bloom out of the gloom,
They may open a door to a new day,
With a slate wiped clean,
Finding a meadow free of shadows,
Children can sometimes start fresh on new pages.
Children will still be the seeds of tomorrow,
The stars that embellish the night sky,
The glow of a summer field,
The gateway to continuity;
Children will still be the voices we teach them to express.
Children can sometimes unearth the past,
Piecing together fragments to demystify the strange.
Their minds explore the vast field of existence,
Searching for goodly pearls.
Children will always desire to play,
And the onus is ours to teach them how to balance the day.
August 1, 2025.
Feel like being alone today
Needed the loneliness and emptiness
Just moments to let sway
To feel broken… lifeless and soulless
I wanted the feeling of innocence
I wanted to be naive and incomplete
The knowing of what to do in absence
To feel vulnerable and weak
I needed a break from…
All that I know and all that I wish
I don’t want to feel belong
As well of anything embellish
I am tired of life
Weary of how it’s being sold
Never enough to just survive
And only do as told
Felt like being alone tonight
To break away from everything
I needed to run and hide
To just feel perhaps of nothing
……………
Song: Remember by Noh Hyung Woo
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