Mummy, which one do you love more,
Who’s your favourite one?
I think you’re fishing for compliments,
You know I love you all.
Yes, but who’s the best?
Well now, let me think …
Jemima’s best on the violin
And George excels on the piano.
Harry is good at poetry
But Fiona is better at prose.
Nobody catches Edward
When he runs the hundred metres
But when it comes to long jump,
Marys far ahead.
Petra got top marks for maths
And John is good at science.
Barbara’s great at cooking.
Theresa’s needlework’s fine.
There, I think I’ve covered everyone,
They’re all good in their way.
So I don’t have a favourite.
Er… Mummy, you’ve forgotten one,
You haven’t mentioned me.
Ah well, that’s an easy one.
You ask all the best questions!
He served as a catalyst
for my poetic mood
and experimental dimensions
in silent rendering,
with an itch for art forms
be it the appetite
the nectar of a poet
My endeavor to articulate excels
far beyond my perceived horizons
alas jump-starting my muses
heretofore dormant a bit,
stirring me to excavate
a font of ideas
and accelerate with eagerness
to burst forth
from mind onto page
unfurling with words
hidden beneath my tongue
that once alluded me,
I stitch the unsaid into form
before our intuitive tryst,
a better mentor I could not
have hoped for;
British, artist, wordsmith, & troubadour
of empirical and
nostalgic emphasis
With pleasure I dive deep
into linguistic lure,
definitions and display
composing in a harmonious dance
lyrics into wordplay
I breathe life into symbols
older than memory
If ever there was a lauded semantic
who rises like a sentient sign
in a moments demand
stark sensationalist,
quiet, yet quite quizzical
It’s Brian Strand
8/4/2025
Countless individuals
have become self willed.
Seems each day that passes
innocent people are killed.
Shootings and stabbings
have become the norm.
To society’s prescript,
many loath to to conform.
Perpetrators all receive
what we call “due Process.”
So they’re given a lawyer
who excels at aggress.
Because oft times the penalty
doesn’t fit the crime.
Some are granted pardons
precluding doing their time.
Many times the perpetrators
upon return to the street.
Unwilling to seek a job
and with others compete.
They return to the same life
they failed to escape.
They were given second chances
to slash, shoot, loot and rape.
From the words of my beloved partner---He spoke I inked
She’s a clutch player who excels under pressure
She’s Johnny on the spot with tenacious resolve,
one who is extremely creative
An innovative marvel
For example...
Surprisingly adept to any endeavors
in which she partakes and is quite vivacious,
A zany sense of humor...
with a touch of sassy and with a tangy edge
She’s a multifaceted dynamo...
with an energetic verve, tenacious
and at times pugnacious
She can be a little too verbose
At times the hostess with the mostes
"You are just like your father."
These words ring in my head constantly,
Haunting me as I stare into the mirror.
I cannot bring myself to love the reflection I see—
The image of the man who excels only
At inflicting pain.
I ask myself: Am I bound to the same fate as him?
To hurt the ones I love? To drive everyone away
With my own foolish attitude?
I long for a world where I can look into that reflective glass surface
And say that I am just like my father with confidence,
Not with dread.
I am not a coward man de facto
Who has lots of curiosity courageous
With full of consciences in mind
Having to retreat from girl strangers
Who's looking for the Like-minded friends
Being young and pretty excels diamonds
They're attractive to distinct genres of men
And making them pride while being faint
I understand these be so-called romantic
But I must decline with responsible reasons
They may feel being treated ruthlessly
By me, en facto, being valued and respected
With conscientious rooting in consciences
The platypus excels at evolution
And displays a super cool solution
For making his way amidst the muck,
He don't run aground. He don't get stuck.
Of this, the platypus would never dream
As a self-respecting monotreme.
Indeed, a platypus of station
Will employ electrolocation.
A neglected letter is the 'z'
not as popular as a 'p'
nor as romantic as the 'r's'
In the panoply of letters, 'z' gets zero stars
Ah, but when it comes to animals
Why, 'Z' excels!
Next to 'Z' even Piggy smells
~ Give old 'Z' as in 'Zoo' five cowbells
Excels the stare the of sun
exceeds the moon scintillation
transcendent universal love
A woman we simply call Queen.
A singer loved by millions.
The Queen of Rock.
The Queen of Soul.
Yet, overshadowed by jealousy,
Of her beloved.
Thru many years of abuse,
She was forced to endure,
She hid the tears and bruises,
Of every day of every year.
Then one day, she said no more.
He will never raise a hand to me.
She ran, and one man alone saved her.
She survived.
She endured.
She lived.
As the decades go by, she excels,
winning Grammy's, Awards, and honors,
Including starring in movies.
Yet she is still called Queen.
Idolized by millions.
On this day of her passing, we look to the clouds,
Hearing "On Silent Wings."
Knowing she is in the arms of the heavens.
"On Silent Wings"
I will never be the same again.
I feel the whisper of the wind,
On silent wings.
Thanks for your music and the memories.
Wandering in wasteland of doubt,
I search for a green vale carved out,
where with my dreams I want to be.
O God, be merciful to me.
The mirage I trace in desert,
want to cross craving dunes of heart,
reach oasis of reverie.
O God, be merciful to me.
I traverse life’s contours of dream,
tinged by the sunrise golden beam,
let me soak shine of ecstasy.
O God, be merciful to me.
The vision of my entranced eyes
finds the garden of paradise,
I live future of fantasy.
O God, be merciful to me.
My life excels in joyful gleam
of trustful beauty of my dream,
until my time ends, let me see.
O God, be merciful to me.
Believing
Miracle Man
5/26/2023
Start with doable goals and in faith believe,
for greatest knowledge we can ever achieve.
If rooted in choices from everyday living,
taking risks isn’t bad; most are forgiving.
One only excels when right conditions prevail,
so know your target and pay attention to detail.
If something isn’t working be bold and retry,
we’re relegated to failure when we cease to try.
The loftier the goal, the greater the price tag,
Losing your focus is like raising a white flag.
We’re assured of failing when effort is lacking,
So focus is vital if you think you’re slacking.
Focusing on goals helps make them forthcoming,
Believing is mile one on the road to becoming.
The gray sky is exaggerating the darkness in my mind
I see faces laughing at me, all day and all night
Maybe I overthink or maybe I am right
Both instances haunt me, hunt me and hurt me
It's always an atrocious sight
You tell to perform
But I don't know what to do
I am just a girl
Not a clown in the circus, not a lion in the zoo
It's been done before you say
A legacy of the ages
We were also tortured, so we do the same
Hunters like to kill, for long we served as bait
Now it's our chance and we deserve to shout a shrill melody wrapped up in mind numbing grace
Your voice excels my song
Your moves ruin my dance
And you say you also bothered with this all
And you are just a human
The another person I know
Suffered the same
But she smiles when she talks to me
Her voice is sweet like the summer rain
What happened to me was wrong and I will never do the same
I understand as a human
Playing with people's heart is not a game
Both leave me pondering
One is truly a human
And one is just a human
The Peace of God
Peace! You're blissful, we want you
In our hearts, on the planet
Truly, you will make humanity free.
Inasmuch as there is peace true,
This wide world encumbered with torment
Positively will always know upbeat glee.
The Peace of God is due
Primal, and excels all conventions, steadfast
It will flourish in us copiously.
©Lukman Nurudeen Adeniyi
Finer than the finest components of nature
Embracing the earth, water, air, and the ether
Par excels among sacrificial elements
Could this fire, yet, equal, Spirit's elegance...?
While fire mundane burns off the physical world
The fire of the spirit burns within curled, furled
Purifying all internal iniquities
Curing all Physicho-psychic infirmities...!
Love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, and gentleness
The fire of the Spirit leads to faithfulness...!
Wisdom, understanding, counsel, and fortitude
The Spirit's fire makes one grow in gratitude...!
Bathing into the worldly fire leads to grave
Doesn't the Spirit's fire, the human souls, save?
Mist each blind faith of fire that's born of a lie
Will, the true yearning for the Spirit's fire, die...???
14 February 2023
Which fire is eternal Poetry Contest
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