A gentle giant, is our handsome St. Bernard dog
He is a rescuer who often appears in the night fog
During World War II he brought supplies to the troops
marching up those steep mountains with nary an oops
St. Bernard named Barry saved a record number of people
Forty to one hundred, shouted a monk from a church steeple
young St Bernard dogs are trained by their older kin
So please stand back, let the rescuing and helping begin.
Here we go again,
Give it another shot.
Let's get to know each other
Is she real or is she not?
Take the mask off,
Expose your true self,
But not all the way,
Wall off for mental health.
Here we go again,
Hoping it isn't fake.
Am I a fool, just a tool,
With pie thrown in my face?
She knows what she's doing,
But I have to figure it out.
It's my mind that she's screwing,
I just can't keep her out.
She seems so perfect,
Pure beauty the clout.
So worth it,
A gentle soul within, without.
Let go of the doubt, it clouds
So you may not see – you have the victory
I refuse to follow the crowds
Knowing that His love is always with me
When the fears haunt, revealing my anxiety
I listen to the Savior’s gentle voice
He tells me I have a friend of the best variety
He is here beside me, offering a choice
Let go of the fear, it wearies
Hear the joy in His quiet love, His love
He is there with me in all my queries
Reminding that I’m His, who’s from above
When the tears fall softly, I sense His grace
Writing hope into my heart, forever sincere
Never have I felt such love as when I’m in His embrace
He speaks life into my soul – it’s all so clear…
So long as I know this love that comes from the King
I never have to worry that there’s a dark end
When I think of Him, I know joy that causes me to sing
Softly murmuring of the One who is my forever friend.
It is a song of hope that silences my darkest night
Beyond the tears and worries, I see the love that abides
If I never know another day, I’ve found the true light
It is a light that awakens faith in me, faith that never misguides.
Sun rises cresting over the trees tickling blades and leaves of green,
Late Spring's chill gently blowing bringing sweet scents of dewy pollen,
Birds and bugs sing and chirp their songs in unison the sounds of untamed life,
Today is the day He will bestow her gentle beauty unto myself and in my sight.
One gentle word from you
My heart's aflutter and I feel peaceful
I might finally be home
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
There is a place hidden,
In shadows it lay untouched.
Across time no one has found,
And in their minds have not known.
Within its chambers a sweet fragrance,
Along its paths flowers adorn.
Despite its depth in the deep,
A soft warm light radiates in me.
Through the lattice with vines and fruit,
The sounds of water gently creep.
Mossy green drape walls of stone,
That protect this place I call home.
A wooden bench and wooden beams,
Overlook the lake where I find peace.
Surrounded by trees of pinks and greens,
A place where I can just be me.
A delicate retreat where in am I,
Most vulnerable there do I reside.
Reserved for only one who's wise,
To her with whom I confide.
Can she find it I do not know,
Will she seek it I surely hope.
What will she do once there in,
I pray she join me in gentle mend.
Within this shelter I give most,
To whom with I dine and host.
Where all that's done I give parden,
Within me lives this hidden garden.
raw unbridled zeal
harnessed strength with beauty
~ great gentle spirit
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Death Bed Poetry: Dylan Thomas
Alcohol and co-dependence make poor conspirators
Delivering more a life driven by inquisitors
Dylan Thomas poet and drinker
Part time lover and full-time thinker
In fading health and across the sea
He gathered himself for one last spree
The White Horse Tavern welcomed the man
And there he started his final stand
"I've had eighteen straight whiskies. I think that's the record!"
Alcohol, pneumonia, and Doctor Feltenstein were more than he could afford
Caitlin flew in to remark, "Is the bloody man dead yet?"
Comatose and failing, the bard was not quite there yet.
Still and silent, and lying abed
A few hours later and Dylan was dead
having gone "Gentle into that good night"
with no further words and such little fight.
Thus, the end of our Welsh poet Dylan
a bit of a rogue but not such a villain
who now learns Death does have dominion
in spite of the bard's differing opinion.
Illusku: Illustrated Haiku Challenge 2
Sponsored by: JCB Brul
Contest Judged: 11/4/2025 12:47:00 AM
(Honorable Mention)
Written: October 10, 2025
tiny lantern sways
in the quiet evening breeze
shadows dance gently
gentle giant coon
hybrid between cat and dog
best of both worlds
AP: 1st place 2025
THE POWER OF KINDNESS
Sponsored by: Mystic Rose Rose
Contest Judged: 10/8/2025 3:41:00 AM
( 3rd Place )
Written: October 1, 2025
A kind word can slip in quietly,
like sunlight through a dusty window,
softly touching a corner of the heart
you thought no one noticed.
A smile shared in passing
a hand held for a moment,
"thanks for being exactly you"
these are the sparks
that can set a heavy day aglow.
Kindness isn’t loud or grand;
it doesn’t need applause.
It’s in the gentle pause;
the patient ear,
the courage to care
when no one is watching.
And sometimes
one word—just one…
can turn someone’s world
from gray to bright,
from lonely to known,
from weary to whole.
So speak gently.
Act kindly.
For each small ripple
can reach farther than
you’ll ever know,
and the love you send out
always comes back around.
Like a gentle dove flying through veils of clouds, I lose myself in the heavy silence,
Words fade, yet I remain, eternal as a melody in the thin air,
Ageless stars shine above you, silent witnesses of the dream world,
Soft as a kiss that has lost its voice, I am the angel that was yours.
Between the celestial vaults lies the truth of what we once were,
A semi-liquid love, unspoken, hungry for the embrace that was,
Patient light holds me steady, like the breeze that touches souls,
As I place a silent kiss on his cheek, like a distant dream.
I will slip into his dreams like a shimmering vision, dressed in white,
Like a spectral apparition, a paradox of presence and absence,
An echo from a world where love and silence entwine in an eternal dance,
Like an angel lost among the stars, keeping the memory of a silent kiss.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
September's warm glow
illuminating all life
autumn's gentle grace
When happiness settles in my chest like a gentle sunbeam,
I become a circle rolling lazily on the green field of grass,
I hit a tree standing in my way, then turn back from its shadow,
Seeking the light, rolling away from the shadow and leaves.
When sadness wraps my skin like a veil of cold, dense fog,
I transform into an ellipse, my thoughts stretching far from the center,
I struggle to return completely, to constrict myself into a circle again,
In perfect balance, where my desires meet once more.
Then self-doubt sets its throne in my soul like a heavy cloud,
And I become a triangle, a Bermuda Triangle,
Attracting every ship of optimism, lost in my mystery,
A tangled labyrinth of my worth, an endless and ancient enigma.
Then the greed for perfection unleashes from my depths,
Shaping me into a square, symmetrical, each corner carefully aligned,
I carry myself upright, at perfect angles, seeking that ideal form,
I am less a changing human and more pleasing shapes to the eye.
I am a story of lines and curves, a dance of shapes and shadows,
Always searching to find myself between eternal corners and rounds.
Be gentle with your self
you’ve been strong and courageous through drama
your troubled heart’s deserving harmony
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 2nd place 2025
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