There’s a kind of power in my failure.
Like a bell that always rings inside me.
Not too loud, but at the same time,
its echo feels like a song teaching me
that failure is but a phase.
It makes the world unpredictable.
It rings when I fall,
as if it's a sign I will rise.
It rings when I cry.
Yet when I hold a pen and paper
and write my pain out,
it barely makes a sound ,
like a bell too shy to ring.
So, I let it ring in its own time,
like it always gives me a chance to be me.
Yet on those days it rang,
it showed me that I was here,
and made me turn failure into a song,
a melody that lingers, uninvited yet welcomed.
Why do we sometimes stare
into the eyes of oncoming cars?
Is it merely for the thrill of it?
Or are we testing ourselves?
Do we pretend
as they do in stories and on TV
that the good hero darts away
just in time, to save himself
while the evil villain is crushed
beneath the vehicle, blood on his lips?
Do we wait in anticipation
until the last possible moment,
pulling back to understand
which role we play?
Testing Ourselves was originally published in Impspired Magazine, 2026 all rights reserved.
They expect too much from me,
Yet I can’t afford what they need.
My dad believes I will make him proud,
But he doesn’t know the battles inside me—
The war between courage and confidence.
I once thought the most painful thing
Was watching a son fail in life,
Yet he still holds faith
That one day I will rise.
But I don’t know what I should do.
Everyone wins in their passion or profession,
While I walk among them
With shyness and guilt,
Not knowing who I am becoming.
My mother says, “One day, it will be your day.”
But their expectations create dissipation,
And that dissipation leads me into hesitation.
They expect too much from me,
Yet I can’t afford what they need.
My dad believes I will make him proud,
But he doesn’t know the battles inside me—
The war between courage and confidence.
I once thought the most painful thing
Was watching a son fail in life,
Yet he still holds faith
That one day I will rise.
But I don’t know what I should do.
Everyone wins in their passion or profession,
While I walk among them
With shyness and guilt,
Not knowing who I am becoming.
My mother says, “One day, it will be your day.”
But their expectations create dissipation,
And that dissipation leads me into hesitation.
Loose noose
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Ditsy blonde mother of Red Riding Hood
Sent her little girl alone to the wood…
Once upon a present time
That would be a heinous crime,
Mom and grandma for neglect would be sued.
Cinderella story, of poor and rich,
Used and abused by stepmother, a witch!
The orphan’s mere breakthrough -
Lost and found crystal shoe,
Another parable of system glitch!
It gets better with a Snow White story,
Her dear stepmom’s nothing short of gory.
Epitome of chill -
To kill or not to kill.
A horror or a fairytale glory?!
And last not least, Hansel and Gretel grief,
Against good natured humankind belief,
Parents, biological -
Utterly illogical,
Kids saved by their own wit! What a relief!
It's lonely on a pedestal.
It's hard when failure is no option.
Everyone deserves a guardian angel.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
OFFRAMP IS NOW CLOSED
BLOCKADE THE STRAIT TRUMP COMPOSED
WILL END THIS TRUMP POSED
She saw me
I looked away
She kept staring
I could not face her
Scorn was in her eyes
I had failed her
When I look at all the times I failed but see how much I've grown
Asking for encouragement from you.
It would mean the world to me.
Sometimes feel pushed to fail.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Being in the shelter is not planned by anyone who enters it's doors. Lost opportunities,drugs and alcoholism,gambling bad choices. Open your eyes to the road ahead,you are at a crossroads, make the right decision for a better tomorrow, create your destiny at this road as to ensure its a smooth road when leaving. Find yourself and take the right steps to your dreams. Don't be entrapped by complicity and comfort of shelter live. Chose the road of advancement of your live on this path. Be mindful that tomorrow your destiny will be decided by today's choices.Use the resources at your disposal for it will not always embrace you walk tall and proud when you leaveDo not approve yesterday's choices that brought you here. Fight with yourself and rise out of your addictions and bad choices
A podium medal now pending,
honourable mention of sorts,
or another NA in a contest,
NA-DIR of a writer’s naive expectation
Dark Horse run.
Truth can stun
Please don't shun.
Father's son.
Foes surround
Mists confound
One last sound
Black Hawk down.
Soul on fire
Quench desire
Won't pay your price
Soul on ice.
Smear my name
crying shame
cleanse the stain
off track train.
Scandal loose
Can't have truce
Grab at Spruce
jump caboose.
No eagles’ nest,
No place to rest.
Gave my best—
Failed the test.
Atlas shrugged
World unplugged
Blood red sun
Dark Horse run.
WHAT IMPRISONMENT MEANS TO ME
Imprisonment means restrictions and prohibitions
It means mean, mean men whose luck ran out
or who never really had much in the first place.
It’s the worst place if you let it be but it could be liberating
where else are people like us gonna find people like ourselves?
You gotta delve into the depths of who you are and who you could be
And who you should be
and the why of all three.
You have the freedom to beat em at their own game not be the same as you came in when you go out
And even if you’re leavin through the
back door you have more than a chance to glance the truth that works for you.
Jail is failure beyond the pale stale bread and being fed dinner at
Four, boredom galore, four walls, one with
Bars
A part of you thinks about
Gnawing your arms off and trying
To slip through
blue feelings, wheeling
And dealing and contemplating who you remain are
far and away what it really
Means to stay here is you’re always near to peers and fears
For years
And years
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