foundation started
around us life emerges
growing constantly
A handful of people welcome us into this world
and hopefully,
a quite different handful will see us out.
What happens in between is called life.
Flakes of ashes brushed off,
From a face that aches of dust caught,
The departed days go unnoticed from the keyhole it peeks,
The "authority" goes by to sleep, if only it could speak,
Petrified by them, they say,
The ones who doze off through these, hurled with dismay,
Pillars in construction dropped off for hostile strikes to take place,
Harsh bombs, an arm extended in support from the gaze,
But to whom? the offenders who blitzes raids with no sign of ceasing,
To quickly exterminate the problem known as "citizens",
Citizens, the people flourishing in the land, with jobs, future and family,
They have hopes and dreams too, a bright tomorrow that they could relish,
All they wished for was to stay, not to partake in this misery play,
The lost and afraid, the scene unwraps to a brutal display,
I hope the gaze moves onto the ones in fray,
Despicable us, all we can do is pray.
Where oh where can you be now?
Dreaming and waiting for you,
till I met you I will wait.
Baby has arrived.
Sailing far beyond the fading shore,
Dusk till dawn, laboring at the oar,
Ears acquainted with the ropes and cleats,
While the mind races where the ocean meets.
Wounds of the heart evade the brush,
Loneliness weeping in the evening hush,
Smiles are buried deep and out of sight,
As hands grow frozen in the dead of night.
Dream the restless waters bloom in rows,
Where ocean winds wrap like a warm embrace,
Drift on the vessel, letting worries go,
And find your harbor in this quiet place.
...ignored because it’s not dollars and cents,
not status…beyond such things he is blind.”
His wife just shrugged, “But what can you do, Ron?
As people say, there are all kinds of kinds.”
Ron just sighed, and walked up to his front porch,
he grabbed the rocker and watched his kids play,
It hurt to think his brother a stranger,
but guessed sometimes things just worked out that way.
Occasionally, I hear the whispers of yesterday
and my heart yearns for when my children
were small and I was younger
but there is a layer of wisdom that you
earn in your older years that helps your heart
to understand that things are different now,
but yearning will happen
I yearn for my son in heaven and my parents
and many other friends and family that are there
I yearn for physical and emotional closeness
with my other son and pray and seek to close
the distance between us
I relish the creativity of being able to put my
thoughts and emotions into words that I have
recently discovered and the ability to be creative
artistically without stressing over what it looks like
I love the closeness that I have developed with
my creator, through the trials that I have faced
I understand more about the world as a whole and
the people in it, than I did when I was younger
I cherish the wisdom I have gained and pray that
will continue to build
But, I still hear the whispers of yesterday and
I yearn.......................
hair porcupine quills glow
white hot needles sow
I watch roaches breed with
gecko crap pasted on walls
black confetti malls do not stock
rock steady my vacant dock
graves float gaping gasps
sister screamed a wall they
will erect !
lips rubescent glance
packing, clacking, hacking
cups singing neurotic with
chaucer saucers doomed
gossip eating fish with chips
I observe shadowed eyes
kohl pen did not snore
shattering nerves like flies
east winds carry me
blustering mission
profile glistening white
aura black magnetic
authentic not synthetic
marshmallow lips raspberry
rouged, black cat may not
grasp an inch of caboose
I will return afresh
karma is a vixen witch
clicking switch
when signals hitch ~
©GhairoDanielsPoetry
HONOURABLE WINNER
IMAGE POEM, Allpoetry.com
June’26
Assessor: “The chaos of darkness brings a cracked smile, the quizzical design of words has the reader wanting to pull up a chair, and stay awhile - whimsical and quirky…”
You've never known how much your life saved mine
growing up I never felt the love of a real family,
not even one time
depression consumed my mind
and then the day came that changed my entire existence
I found out I was going to be a mother
and in that instant
the darkness disappeared
and the world became so much brighter
scared but so damn excited
I knew I'd finally had a purpose..
a reason to not give up
n become a fighter
like for the first ever
the universe threw me some luck
I fell in love with you as you grew
feeling you wiggle and move in my belly
I felt a connection I'd never felt before
and when I held you in my arms,
it was like I saw the reason for the beauty of every galaxy & star
it was the most eye opening moment in my life by far
you are so amazingly perfect
in everything and every way that you are
creating you was my sole purpose in this dimension
having the honor of you being my son
is the definition of a blessing
On the day we met
Our hearts fell
In love with each other
And that has never changed
I want to grow old with you
You became my heart and soul
And I became yours
We fought, we denied, we cried
But nothing changed how we felt
I want to grow old with you
Over the years,
Life has past
Children were born,
We’ve drifted apart
Then found each other again
I want to grow old with you
As silver covers our head
Eyes may become cloudy and blurry
Hearing may not be as sharp
Our bodies may not be the same
Our love has never faltered
I want to grow old with you
Original poem by
Linda L Franklin
05/16/2026
She gathers lilies all day long
so men from the city can romance
their graceful pretty ladies ~
meanwhile she'll go home
to cook dinner and she'll be
quite satisfied with her simple life.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Wolfs are like dogs, they move in packs and look for their kind.
Wolfs are furry, they have all they need, they have their pack, and move like the wind.
Wolfs are cute they have their ways, they are like a family that has all they need.
Wolfs are described as wild, they live outside and built their own life.
Wolfs are remembered in history, we can relate to them because they act like us sometimes.
Wolfs are part of the animal and natural world, they have for years moved in a pack.
Wolfs are part of our world, they love, they live, they eat and move with their kind.
Wolfs have fun and run and play, they love and they live, they can make us see ourself in many ways.
We all have some wolf ways, we can relate to them in many ways, they howl, they play, they fight and make up and live for more days.
We all may have some wolf in us and we ponder that some days.
Lifting prayers to God, today and always.
I heard a voice,
a static laugh, playing on a cassette tape
A muffled cry, looped into a comedy show.
Buzzing, ringing, echoing...
It keeps repeating—
Piercing through to bone,
Gripping my chest as if
My fingers might crush it—
Opening my mouth to
Spit out my heart.
A vast cage called home,
A bleak stage called family...
"Can’t this relationship go beyond rights and duties?"
No matter how desperate,
Or how much I beg—
There is no return,
Neither safe escape
Nor a crossroads...
Acceptance would never come.
My life has been a big storm
thunder
lightning
crashing of arguments
raising teenagers and
men who still need comforted
The past comes back to haunt you if you don't listen to it to begin with
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