I know
you're wondering
who's really
pulling the strings
Puppeting things
unbeknownst
to you
The lines between
the lies & truth
are blurry
They hide what's true
in a hurry
to blind you to
the weight of the storm
You're beneath
a bevy of flurries
that weigh more
than imagined
The reality is heavy
& I imagine you're
looking for answers in
all the wrong places
Empty spaces
where clean mirrors
used to be
You can no longer
glean a clear reflection
due to all the
dirty projections
Harsh lessons
being taught in
the dead of winter
classes
No one passes
in the thick of it all
unless you're shoveling
your fastest
Watch as snowballs
metastasize into the size
of glaciers & roll before
you've had a chance
There's no running from
this avalanche no matter
where you go or
what angle you take
I suppose
they want you to
just accept your fate
& make a snow angel
The blowing wind is softer 'neath the boughs
Yet strong enough to take him from his home
It whips the fields and like the farmer ploughs
Against his mighty tree's yet verdant dome
His neighbors sway away with each new gust
And leave him hanging in her feral aims
His branch, and tree, and root he'll yet entrust
Yet with one final sweep; the leaf, she claims
And I, like taken leaf, have strayed from thee
And would I could to blame it on the breeze
Still more to me than that life-giving tree
A single tear from you, my heart would freeze
I vow this now that you shall never know
Though it may make me worst among the low
Why do the leaves fall?
Broken and brown they tumble
to the cold, hard ground.
We are the embers
of a brighter flame...
neither fallen nor ascended,
neither silence nor song.
I met a fallen angel on a bus ride to L.A.
At first he demurred, having little to say
After a while he loosened up a bit
spinning tales full of heavenly wit
I was bold to inquire, “Do angels play the lyre?”
“Oh no,” came the reply. “We don’t even fib, sire.”
I made the fall,
Answered the call,
Climbed the walls,
Still i feel small,
Crawling forward,
Toward the unseen,
Inbetween thoughts,
Weaning from an onslaught,
Always being distraught,
Taught to endure,
My intentions remain pure,
Sure of who I am,
Scrambling steep slopes,
In hopes to reach the top,
Make the pain stop,
Propping myself back up,
Until my cup is full,
Pulling up the forgotten,
It has gotten out of hand,
Demanding more then I can stand,
Destroying such beautiful land,
I don't understand what to do,
And can't see the way through,
I've fallen just for you,
My view now askew,
Due to the fear in me.
Am I here to fight an enemy,
Or find right in every entity?
Lighting a way they all can see,
Or fighting my way into eternity,
Finally free to be me.
I’ll sing a song that’s heaven sent,
after the roses have fallen.
As Jacob’s ladder again descends,
I’ll sing a song that’s heaven sent
of our closer than a brother friend,
who fulfilled his promised calling.
I’ll sing a song that’s heaven sent,
after the roses have fallen.
Newfangled technology's not for her.
Does it have more than one button?
Yes... she won't want it!
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
I like her, but I don't know if she likes me
It's hard to tell honestly
She talked and texted me platonically
Then she ghosted me for a while
She's like a projectile
Soars through the air then slowly falls
Loses interest, doesn't answer my calls
But now it's different, it's like I've picked up the arrow
And she's been waiting alot
She's more talkative, less narrow
I think it's time for me to pick up my bow and shoot my shot
In the cool, damp breeze of early dawn,
the courtyard lay silent, as if asleep.
Suddenly, the fallen jasmine blossoms smiled softly and said—
“Why have you left me lying on the ground like this?”
The courtyard breathed in silence and replied—
“You were once a star of the sky,
a dream that spread fragrance in the darkness of night.
I am only your final shelter.”
The blossoms said in a shy tone—
“Final?
Does everything that ends still carry such sweet fragrance?”
The courtyard smiled faintly,
as the morning light fell gently along the walls—
“Fallen flowers are the most beloved.
When they are on the tree, people only look at them,
but when they fall to the ground, the heart feels them.”
A soft, moist breeze arrived
and made the jasmine petals tremble.
They asked again—
“Then am I lost?”
The courtyard replied with tenderness—
“No, you are memory.
The childhood hidden in a mother’s lap,
the morning of prayers,
and the fragrance of someone’s silent love.”
Then both fell into silence.
Only the morning sun
gently kissed the fallen jasmine blossoms,
and the courtyard opened its heart
to embrace that lingering fragrance.
storm surged fallen trees
once lively in their prime
now turned to firewood
Everyone has a place they are coming from
Don't goad the horse when it won't run.
I detect sorrow in your eyes
Because there were no alibis.
(chorus)
All the reasons why
You gave it your last try
The only way to forgive yourself
is to take the past off the shelf
It's worthwhile when you pause
Trace the roots, trace the cause
Find a peace under God's sky:
When you know the reasons why.
Our mind is a spectator, but we're also on the stage
We adlib the lines, when we can't find the page.
There's a gap between who we are and who we wish to be.
Who we are is how we deal with that discrepancy.
Some blame others for that gap
Some blame it on fortunes mishap
Some say they meant it all along
Convince themselves there's nothing wrong.
You can replay the movie in your mind
Facing facts can feel unkind
Still, tracing causes breaks the chain,
So you won't show that side again.
All the reasons why,
The thoughts we hide, the truths we deny.
And if your heart can heal again,
It starts with seeing where it’s been.
We’re all just travelers on our own
Kicking ourselves for what we should have known.
At least we have to try.
To find out the reasons why.
You were laughter in the morning sun,
A gentle warmth when the day begun.
Your hands gave comfort, your heart gave grace,
A light of love no one could replace.
Through storms and shadows, you held me near,
A voice of calm, a soul sincere.
You forgave the faults of those who strayed,
And showed the lost the gentlest way.
The world grew dim when you were gone,
Yet in my heart, your spirit shone.
A fallen angel, yet still you gleam,
Guiding my steps through every dream.
Though I cannot touch your face,
I feel your love in every space.
The brightest star, my heart’s refrain,
Your memory turns my grief to gain.
You gave me wings, though you took flight,
A guardian angel in endless night.
Fallen you are, but rise you still,
Forever in my heart, your light will fill.
Unnerves, whose feeling current
With all voices mute.
More troublingly shook
And so deeper torn
Deprives, which surrounding fear
What does constitute
As God's offspring, Heaven's peace
Soul. Since birth forlorn.
Kicking through the fallen leaves of a lifetime's memories
'live large' comes to mind and to quote the same old lines
seize the day and make hay while the sun still shines
tho' only the good die young
don't think the bad survive
when on high the end is nigh truth be told young and old
no one gets out of here alive
watching the wake I left behind through calm and stormy seas
'live wide' occurs to me not to choose the same old lot
carpe diem and then strike while the iron is yet hot
for when our time has come
let's hope we made the most
then bingo it's time to go our number's called
the rug is pulled no one escapes yes we're all toast
and wherever on this earth we roam
to the place of our birth we'll return
make no mistake you'll learn
we all take the Low Road home
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