The prom dress that you never wore
That certain boy you didn’t date
The phone call that came nevermore
All shaped the turns that made your fate
Looking back along your wake
Old disappointments linger still
Yet all those things that made you ache
Were ground within life’s turning mill
Yet there stands reality
Where perseverance, dreams were made
Through them you clearly came to see
Your finest choices have been played
The glittered dreams of youth and truth
You once wore proudly on your sleeve
Have ripened into lasting proof
Of all the things you did achieve.
Deciduous trees shed withered leaves.
Amazing Autumn firmly believes
in glossy glittered charming luster.
on awesome Autumn in classy cluster
Camellia starting in late Summer
flourish in glory gay glamour
dazzling dancing in Autumn Colour
on. vibrant brilliant splendid armour.
Yellow-bronze curly chrysanthemum,
Longer blooming sparkling spectrum
Apples look dark dense deep intense red.
Maple leaves show fire-glow in shiny shade.
Wonderful Autumn exhibits fire-flier.
blazing brightening Autumn's behaviour.
Autumn leaves, Autumn flowers claim
to glaze in reddish fire like flame
Autumn Joy possessing flat heads,
Rose-pink flowers turning bronze-red
blazing brightening Autumn's behavior.
Autumn breathes in fervent fervour.
There was a very young man...
He looked down,
He saw flowers
He appreciated them,
There was nothing wrong with that.
He loved things that glittered,
The science was exciting,
Crystals were beautiful too,
How awesome to be interested in reflections of light...
There was everything right with that.
He enjoyed waiting quietly,
A small animal or insect near by,
With his hand out...
So gentle, with a hoping heart.
Seeking friendship, all was right with that.
A young boy,
With a warm heart...
An open mind and kindness as his baseline.
Not bitter, nor a bully...
There wasn't much better than that.
He could be brave and strong
... And soft and kind... And above all, he only told the Truth.
The Truth found him and followed him too.
The End
Watching for thrushes that grow moist
from dusky soil, my heels trek along
deepened clay. As I lay on the porch listening
to tress rustling, inky moon sinks its riddled face
through veil of midnight. Somehow, I feel restless...
abandoned like jagged refrains of this heart
which seems to fall into an unsettling interlude
of time. Yes, this golden chapter drifts,
as a baptism of new beginnings swells.
on this barren field…
a solitary twig cracks
from one glittered tree
The nightfall drools looking for the yellow
among clouds. For a while, the hazy outlines
of strangers--native women and children ---
disturb my revelries of younger moments
lingering through the dipping sway from moonglow.
Through calm intervals of laughter, I sway
with mid life's flow; fire to air, salt to honey.
Much as I need to inhabit youth's space,
it no longer belongs to me.
But twilight comes brimming with all
the glistened jewels of my own half- time of a world.
between two lifetimes
is a haunting melody…
like an unsung note
Pink the sunset which filtered through the leaves
to burnish your skin on one afternoon,
when fireflies glittered like radiant weaves,
Vanishing in the grass. We knew that soon
those ebony clouds gathering would force
us to flee the glade through a birdsong’s tune:
Enticed then to stay, stay madly on course,
dare the oncoming rainfall ...and a smile
enlivened your face with such insolent force.
Till lightning crackled as we wait a while,
you gasped, and oh we fondled everywhere;
while a conniving star reeled to beguile.
A wildcat rushed out and paused low to stare,
While we huddled tightly ... too close to care!
First Place
Dusk fell velvety maroon
when blue thrush whistled sharply,
at cool death of afternoon,
when teal stars glittered starkly.
In silk moon rays, green grass stirred;
and the red world turned darkly.
Natural beauty observed.:
Glittered across glassy dome above
Slight lights sprinkled
Conductors of
Sweet sounds
A first lullaby
Hummed from the lips of a new mother
Just before a bedtime kiss
It drifts, floats
The gentlest of notes
Glide down from dust-lit sky slides
Into the ears
Of those who will hear,
Pause In awe
Then listen... listen
Wait some more
And the newborn babies softly snore
Early gold elevates the Taj Mahal Restaurant.
Sun-rinsed beams bedeck its frontage.
The low strip mall is not yet awake,
yet it basks; it glows golden
through every light-enthroned window,
bejeweled signage floats
above a light laundered concrete
and new-washed litter.
For a few clear moments
the shop-worn facades glittered
in vivid auric rays
I saw it all through a windshield,
I saw a kind of heaven
take a selfie through a once tacky lens.
When I returned later,
the litter was just litter,
shopping carts dripped above cloudy puddles.
The Taj Mahal was open, and already
sinking into a lunch-time special.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The pixie lept on sweet air,
laughter spun from golden thread.
Moon winked, and she tossed her hair.
Said, "together let's abed!
I took pixie's beguiling hands in mine,
her wings aglow like crimson twilight wine.
She laughed and spun me through fairy dust air~
romance and starlight tangled in my hair.
Oh, pixie, you glittered bright (fey delight),
your allure was so wild, so brief~
bewitching me all night
portentous thief!
bye!
Written: January 18, 2026, for Line Gauthier Contest
***********
A vest
of velveteen,
silver wings wavering,
whirling in glittered drift below—
the moon
Festive firs are tumbling
bare of coloured glory.
Needles and fronds carpet
halls grey with silence;
carolling a distant joy.
Gifts rest in hibernation;
wingèd figurines lie swathed
beneath a glittered duvet
of prized iridescent tissues
adorning a winter casket
keeper of twelve days
festooned in priceless reverie.
The shimmering rill stones
The clear babbling waters
The yellow meadow flowers
Dancing in the breezy dawn
He passed this way, he passed away
As thus, the bearded years pass on
The buried bones
The grieving daughters
Passing years fade like hours
On the grassy knoll, a memorial stone
Wreathed with yellow flowers
Below the hill
Lay his daughters still
In everlasting silent repose
The passing years fade like hours
Upon their graves, each; a yellow rose
None to hear them sing
None to marvel their glittered wing
As they’d lay midst, the meadow flowers
The passing years fade like hours
But they still remember
The morning dove, flying
And mortal love, undying
They walked barefoot on the wet sand.
The hot sun had dipped beyond the horizon.
The brine and fresh air intertwined,
How pleasant to walk hand in hand!
Occasionally she would stoop,
Her wedding ring glinting in the dying sun.
She would search for lovely decorated shells,
Whilst he tried throwing flat stones
Across the calm stretch of the waveless sea.
Finally, they had to turn back to their inn.
The access to the beach stopped their tracks.
Large rocks hindered further progress.
They did not mind really. It was dark now.
Their previous footprints were almost obliterated.
Above the dark sky like sequins glittered stars.
They arrived at the inn, finely prepared.
They found champagne and sipping all
Until they fell into a deep restful sleep.
"The days are jewels, keep them with care". Jackie Kennedy
Aquamarine were summers with siblings
beneath skies of blue riding bikes or swimming.
Days of emerald too were times we spent outside -
barefoot on our lawn, badminton rackets in hand.
We’d stroll past Grandpa’s cornfield down the country lane
searching for raspberries to pluck.
Such awesome times of jade were games we played outside.
Rose quartz I collected as romantic daydreams.
Stories I read in books (depending on their plot)
glittered like gems of amethyst or citrine.
Pearls were winter weekends spent sledding or skating
but diamonds were holidays with family.
Opal’s shifting colors were my school days.
Slumber parties glistened an iridescent pink.
With my sisters I'd talk into black onyx nights
and chase summer’s fireflies that shimmered peridot.
Most fondly of all do I recall first love.
Red ruby’s passion set my heart aglow.
No other memories have shone more brightly than
the precious jewels of my youth.
The devil couldn’t reach me,
so he sent diversions in the form I desired most.
He wrapped lies in laughter,
gave them cute faces,
glittered them up like gold.
And I forgot, sometimes a wound wears jewels,
sometimes danger looks like everything you ever prayed for.
So I fell for it.
I wasn’t the sun in their day, nor the star in their night.
Even the moon could’ve shone better than me
but I wasn’t that either.
Is it any wonder
that the mark once adorned in gems
started bleeding on the one who never cut it?
And guess who walked away with the scar?
But what if scars aren’t shame
but signs?
Badges of strength,
proof that I broke, bled, and still rose.
I couldn’t dodge the pain,
but I gained the wisdom.
And if he couldn’t stop me from reaching everything except him,
then truly,he is powerless.
Now I know where I belong
with the One who loved me
when I couldn’t love myself.
I may stumble, fear, fall, stutter, break
but I now know whose I am.
And from this day forward,
I shall happen to life
not the other way around.
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