"In the mists of your eyes"
I see your pain.
My heart will wait patiently
For you to love again.
In the heat of the heartbeat,
In your numbness, I'll remain
"Leashed to your dusk"
Standing with you in the rain.
I assure you "I will find you
Beyond the stars"
How ever unreachable
You think you are.
In the palm of depression
And the grip of grief
My love is with you in the process
And in the time of your relief.
It may be that for now
You feel you can't reciprocate.
But I know who you are
And my love for yours can wait.
And should you feel far flung
To "where the sky drifts into the sea"
In the heat of every heartbeat
You know that's where I'll be.
Soft hands find their way,
Hearts whisper beneath the dusk
Love outlives the night.
Revealing strength
Ready to face storms
Without fear.
Unwavering
Refuses to bend
Before injustice
Enduring odds
Chooses to rise
After a fall.
Yielding not
Voices the truth
Until the very end.
I praise God always for His life I share,
I praise Him more often when I am down;
In joyful tears even when I don't care-
Either to learn of why I smile or frown.
I praise God always for His kind I am,
For He understands me than I thought well
Of Him to be, when circumstance did slam...
Neither knowledge nor wisdom could save hell.
I praise God always for His rot I miss,
I praise Him more than I could heal my wrongs...
But His grace gives chance to mercy amiss-
How else can I, unworthy; peace belongs!
I praise God for His kindness makes me shine;
Been a Sinner yet He finds me divine.
It seemed to me that time stood still,
the moment that we met.
I stumbled over words to say,
I never will forget.
You took my breath away that night,
you still do even now,
and every memory that we’ve made
seems new to me somehow.
I guess it’s because since that night
my life has been a dream,
where every day you take my breath
away and so, it seems
that although many years have passed
all I can ever do…
is fall in love with you again
like when our love was new.
If time had been a
Magic Clock.
That could have been
turned back
those many years.
When directions had
been sure,
and futures set.
Stepping off that path,
just once,
changing all those
things
that should have been
ment to be.
Being given that chance
later on,
Setting those things right.
Proving to us that
Love will be;
Enduring.
Laying down wondering
where did you go after
visiting my dreams
from time to time?
A regular guest you became,
Now I see you less and
less leaving my memories
in such an emotional
distraught,
as you left a feeling
I thought I would never have,
a desire unknown,
a burning sensation leaving
me trembling whenever
I fall asleep
dreaming hoping
to see you but terrified
to awake in our gardens with-
out you,
your lasting impression heightens
this tension made by your
breath,
voice,
smile,
and eyes,
a reflection in every flower
I pass by,
as I get closer to the end
of this path,
I slowly step off
this carousel,
despite your absence in our
short lived encounters,
I await your return breathing
in the last gift you left,
silently I yearn on my own
behalf..
I am ensnared in a web,
shackled to the weight of limerence.
I rattle my chains of connection,
Ironically I fear the escape.
The disappointment of freedom…
My caged paradise of fantasy and lies,
intimacy and delusion,
Romance and limerence,
a false home…
a false hope…
Freedom is necessary to true salvation,
but am I elected to be saved?
What is the virtue of these boundless open lands,
When there’s no-one to share these deep waters with.
The waters of love are too wild for me to tame,
no matter how much I endure,
I am going to drown in this so called freedom.
Is Echo anything beyond a voice?
Narcissus is a very handsome man.
Is love an obligation, or a choice?
It hasn’t varied since the world began.
Narcissus is a very handsome man.
He sees his own reflexion, and he knows:
it hasn’t varied since the world began.
To love an egotist engenders woes.
He sees his own reflexion, and he knows
he is his own enduring fantasy.
To love an egotist engenders woes –
one thing will always block you: that thing’s “he”.
He is his own enduring fantasy:
he seeks no other: he’s both hook and bait.
One thing will always block you: that thing’s “he”.
Thus gorgeousness becomes an ugly trait!
He seeks no other. He’s both hook and bait.
He’s empty. As we say, he’s lost the plot:
thus gorgeousness becomes an ugly trait.
But sound, like memory, can mark the spot.
We think love lasts for ever. Clearly not.
Abandoning a partner now seems rife.
The axioms we’ve lived by are forgot.
What are the privileges of a wife?
Abandoning a partner now seems rife.
Is love an obligation, or a choice?
What are the privileges of a wife?
Is Echo anything beyond a voice?
happiness is F—R—E—E
when shared
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
loving h~e~a~r~t~s~~
a gift with no
e—n—d
love then f~~l~~o~~w~~s
t
h
r
o
u
g
h
s*u*n*b*u*r*s*t and rain F°A°L°L~
w~a~r~m, e
n
d
u•r•i•n•g,
p_u_r_e
Contest: YOUR CHOICE x
Contest Judged: June 12th, 2025 8:47:00 AM
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Placement: First
IT WAS THE STAGE TO LET GO
From deep eye contact to digital chats,
Trading hugs for calls of solace!
Happy and heartbreaking distance.
The beginning of her new journey leaves me restless,
Torn between supporting and struggling,
Longing to see her flawless & accomplished.
My pride would never fall!
I relinquished but never the love,
Walking beside her hand in hand,
Enduring it all for a better future!!!
enduring memory
It was in New York
on the pavement
outside
Radio City Music Hall
I saw Jack Dempsey
and Alan Ladd
I had not seen a famous
people before
Jack wore brown pants
a loud sports jacket
Alan was in a tan suit
It was a warm evening
in 1957
As I approached the political poll,
a fellow countryman spoke a word
of wisdom to my soul. He told me that
I should consider 'voting' as a task that never
grows old. He related this short story to me:
"For 55 years, I have exercised this right to have my say.
Sometimes in tears, I have cast my ballot on very cloudy days
in many of those years. There were times when I could not clearly
see my way. Every step seemed to unveil the colors of grey.
There were times that I did not know who to vote for and just like you,
I didn't know what to do. But I learned early on that 'doing nothing'
was not an option.
As I look back over time
and space, I notice a pattern imprinted in the sands of time on the
human race. I see people of many opinions and persuasions coming
and going, but what appears most clearly and revealing is not 'great
people' but rather 'great and eternal principles."
After he departed, I was left with such a pleasing reality staring at me.
I was determined to be embraced with a mindset that casts a ballot
so much bigger than one enameled with a personality, but rather
with one rooted with great and enduring principles.
Sometimes I think about the past,
The life we knew would never last,
And all the men we used to kill,
And that great void they used to fill,
And that great spell we used to cast.
Under the sun and in the heat,
Our enemies dead at our feet,
I thought I’d die there in the sand,
And for the future never planned.
But still, those memories are sweet.
We bravely answered battle’s call,
Brothers, sisters, family all
Who know when I say sacrifice
I speak of those who gave their lives
And with their deaths our own would stall.
Those to whom that life appeals,
The ones whose fractures souls war steals
Will never after be the same,
For some win glory, some win shame,
And yet each shattered soul still feels.
I still feel it to the bone,
The shame of taking lives unknown.
Unnamed and faceless men were they,
Their crime was getting in my way;
For their deaths I can’t atone.
I visit graves of brothers still,
Those who died by war and will
As well as those I loved and lost
And those who paid the greatest cost,
And all the men we used to kill.
Burning,
a furnace in my chest,
a fire for life,
a relentless quest.
Craving,
the taste of truth,
the sting of the real,
a soul in motion,
a spirit unsealed.
Raging,
against the lies,
the whispers that deceive,
a warrior's heart,
a spirit that won't grieve.
Shattered,
by broken vows,
by dreams that turn to dust,
but still, I rise,
a soul I must trust.
Yearning,
for a true love,
a passion that burns bright,
an untamed love,
a love that takes flight.
Searching,
for meaning, for grace,
a yet unknown path,
a purpose to embrace,
a heart made of stone.
Fighting,
against the darkness,
the shadows that creep in,
a warrior's spirit,
a fire that will win.
Embracing,
the pain, the loss, the fear,
the echoes of what was,
a heart that's held dear,
a soul that will not pause.
Living,
with every breath,
every beat of my heart,
a force of nature,
a work of art.
Energy,
for life, love, pain,
a soul that will not break,
a spirit that will reign.
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