Over fourteen years ago pop culture told us
We’d only have twelve years to survive
Due to the existential threat of climate change.
Today I see a new prediction
That within two years AI will go rogue
And humanity will be extinct within the decade.
And it reminds me again, people may be wrong,
But you never know, and yet can never go wrong,
To not worry, be happy and live for today.
(8/12/25)
Contest: vibrations from a verso
Sponsor: Nette Onclaud
Date: 24th July, 2025
Placement: third
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A dark cloak wraps the sky
Draped in deep gloom
Blind to starlight's bright glare
Fear grips each ghost
Running helter skelter
Their time of doom
Lies ahead in the night
Fear at each post!
Crumbling slowly,
Dilapidated walls,
Dimming glow,
Fading light.
Incoherent speeches,
Unarranged thoughts,
Cluttered path,
Cramped room.
Unread journal,
Unfinished pieces,
Weary bodies,
Deep slumber.
Gloomy day,
Veiled light,
Hidden colours,
Pervading darkness.
Unwritten story,
Masked glory.
June 7, 2025.
To that shadowed city round
Come those that are sorrow bound
In their multitudes alas
Through a Terminus so vast
For a city grim enabling
Their eternal laboring
From the parapets looking down
Cold and timid souls abound
To shed their tears in torment rife
That shed they not for all their life
And from the masses on the wall
Does that gentle misery fall
It stains the heights in colors woe
And settles heavily on those below
Who join the marchers in their toil
Redemption seekers one and all
They wail and walk an endless path
Divined here by no mortal wrath
Their tribute to a city sown
By their tears and ghastly moans
For they seek in the hereafter
What risk rewards and all its laughter
For they in life with trouble severe
Found not the will to persevere
And made a choice by many before
To embrace a simple life and ignore
The treasures offered and wisdom attained
That adversity's teaching hand ordained
The Space Between Hands
Always left alone in the corner of the room,
Often wondering if something’s missing in the gloom.
Head down, tears falling — can’t stop the flow,
Sobbing in silence, hoping no one will know.
Never reaching the end with someone in stride,
Letting go halfway, with no goodbye implied.
Then surrender comes, with the whisper, “Go ahead?”
But “why?” still circles, stuck in my head.
Never enough — maybe never meant to win,
Always the loser before things begin.
Still, even if it’s dark and uneven ground,
Someone will stay, and their silence is sound —
Not just a dream I made up to be found.
Priests of Doom and Gloom:
Fear, the seat of their feigned
power. We, meaning them, know
best: follow us and be saved
or risk eternal pain and suffering~
being forever graved! Yet some, as
I, choose the worship of one word,
Love! Avoiding Dogmatic Mercenaries,
Faux stand-ins, for the one, true,
God, all merciful, unlike the Above.
A misogynist wed his girlfriend – the irony wasn’t lost on me!
I walk this walk in winter’s fog
along the path to fill each day.
Each stranger I see barely nods,
they pass by without aught to say.
Against the cold I wrap my coat
while trying to ignore the sting
and thoughts of all the miles ahead
that passing through this season brings.
I still recall the trees in color.
It seems like just a day ago.
I dream of time in warmth of summer.
Let me tell you this - I know
that spring will yet again return
despite the cold that grips me now.
The sun again will someday burn,
and I will make it through somehow.
So, while I sojourn through this season,
I’ll pray for a better day
and smile knowing that there’s a reason
for passing through this gloom of grey.
In the depths of shadowed realms they dwell,
Two minds ensnared by illusion’s spell.
Both tread the same path, their goal in sight,
Wounded yet resolute, they journey through the night.
In despair, they find solace in each other’s embrace,
But will life grant them grace, or leave them to chase?
Together they stride, seeking truth’s light,
Guiding each other through the endless night.
Amidst the gloom, a flicker of hope ignites,
Can the extraordinary become routine in their sights?
Will they find what they seek, or be led astray,
In life’s capricious game of give and sway?
Love emerges from shadows, a crimson rose in bloom,
Its tendrils entwining their hearts, dispelling gloom.
Will they gamble on this fragile bloom’s chance,
Or watch it wither in life’s relentless dance?
Only the heavens know the answer to this tale,
As they wander, hearts entwined, love’s light frail.
But in love’s garden, fate undefined,
A rose still blooms, defying the tide.
May does not know happiness at all.
I leave her sitting there, clueless, angry and small.
I help others up and it makes me happy when I am down, I say.
She scoffs at this stupidity and tells me to get out, go away.
I am depressed, and I want to die she yells, her voice a boom.
I leave her wallowing in her self-imposed cloud of ugly gray gloom.
She is determined to not help anyone, including herself, I think.
If I could force her to do good, it might change her aura to pink.
A Synogogue in flames, and the hate..Whats all this in
Australia mates? Live and let flourish is what I know
The older generations taught me so.' Strong work
Ethics; and time for your brother, not this 'clockwork destructive'
Well..? That belongs to others.!! The jackboot crowd clad
In hugo boss, facades of order, thin veneer some gloss..
No doubt self-haters.) Devoid of love; acting with satan the
Hand in their glove..Yet things can be turned.' Things can
Be better, follow the spirit of Love, not the dark rules letter
You were told 2020 (and not my me!) there is no law just
Made up rules you see.!! Those born of the spirit, can break
All chains' in Christ is freedom ( its real simple and plain.)
Sisters and brothers if you wish 'truly to live' step away from all fear, reach for the stars now, His greater gifts are so near.!
In gardens where the gentle roses bloom,
The sun casts golden rays upon the land,
A gentle breeze dispels the twilight gloom,
And whispers secrets through the grainy sand.
The days of sorrow now begin to fade,
As morning's light reveals a brand-new day,
With hope reborn, and dreams no longer frayed,
The echoes of my heart find words to say.
In you I see the light that love has brought,
A beacon bright amidst the stormy seas,
A truth so pure, beyond what time has taught,
A love eternal, serving none but thee.
This thirsting land, parched by the sun
An autumn drought, that summer spun
Without the rain, no colors found
Fall foliage fizzled, green to brown
A cheated heart, now feels shortchanged
That natures brush, has been restrained
The trees are bare, north winds have blown
Like fleeting thoughts, how time has flown
Whilst winter waits, at fall's deathbed
To lift my heart, I look ahead
I see bright colors, of early spring
The awakening, of everything
Today the skies are clouded gray
The sun will soon be back to stay
Springs rains will come, Nature will bloom
Reviving hope, replacing gloom
Daniel Turner
It’s pretty easy to write hysterical headlines;
News flash; everyone is going to die!
And yet, it’s just as easy to spin it elseways;
News flash; everyone is alive!
But the known is not news
While the possible is, possibly
And the hysterical sells, definitely
Somewhere in our human nature
We are wired to project the worst
As we plan for the best
Flipping the two sided coin
Of hope and fear
Trying to beat the odds
As if we had a chance
As if we lived in a world defined by chance
As if the two sides of the coin
Weren’t always and only
Just the same old coin
(9/26/24)
she was purple and black with silver streaks of anger
we saw her rising above the crowd and felt her wrath
a cantankerous balloon, she is, she cannot be satisfied
This was stated by more than one person
I could not help but wonder if it was my Aunt Ann reincarnated
She was the grouchiest, meanest being I have ever met
And I have met several grumps and rumps in my day
I watched the balloon rise above the crowd
As she traveled over the woods, the timbers turned black
the crowd began to cheer, for we were all lighter now
optimism and joy returned the minute she lifted up over the trees
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