I have seven children
Wanting my attention
Whom do I love the most?
They would love to know
A difficult choice for me
I love myself, the most
Then, each part of me
In seven other souls
Each, my just reward
Gratifying my spirit
Raising my mind
I love each differently
Don't I have favorites?
My lot, to love diversely
Those who respect me
Ditto, those who mistreat
Last night I sat with Robert Glasper.
It was an enchanting discourse.
He spoke poetically with his black and white keys, and I responded in kind with my heart and mind in the mid-summer night's breeze.....
Cool, very cool on a summer night.
The flame from the white amber candle in my loft danced beautifully with the breeze entering through my gaping window.
Such lovely notes, a sanguine breeze, and a still mind.
My! What a gratifying, harmonic interplay.
But then, soon dusk reached up and kissed dawn, and my eyes said 'hello" to the morning sun.
Without the lighthouse,
How would they see ahead?
How would they navigate?
Cargo ships from the far east,
Bound for the west coast ports
Of America, require lighthouses.
I heard the fog horns as the ships
Slowly made there way through the
Gate under the Golden Gate Bridge.
For me, it was soothing for sleeping.
For the ship's crew, it was Sight and
Sound making music on ocean waves.
For the ship's crew, it was sweet port.
I can't imagine sailing and ttugging
Without the assist of the lighthouses.
I can imagine a very gratifying relief
when in sight of the lighthouse after
so long a journey.
COHERENT IMPRESSIONS-:-
preferred
echoed
elemental
eloquent
feelings
with AMBIGUITY
gratifying
vanished
urbanisation
preserving
faience
in ORNAMENTAL MONOTONY
arresting
imaginations
anonymous
acquaintance
unity
From when I was young
my mother always
told me
there is an ethereal light
peeking out
from the tunnel
of darkness
secretly guiding me
to my lifelong destiny
of gratifying greatness!
"Purposeful, you
cordon, blue
delectable edible.
Tangible Edifying
Soul most gratifying
Field to the brim over again
Land mass. Filled with weeds and grass
Much is at. filimion Porterhouse steak
Trying to stop those sensational craving
They be given up, gave it up man
I don't eat no meat, I NOW BE VEGETARIAN"
3/31/26
written words by James Edward Lee Sr 2026
As I live
through the layers of experiences since birth,
in comments, texts, and beliefs,
I clearly perceive myself,
as a person of integrity,
with character, value, honesty, and high morals.
I can look clearly into my heart and soul,
because I have nothing to hide...
I can express myself freely
with creativity... with my writing skills
and potential... The words easily flow from my keyboard and pencil.
I am unraveling myself in a truly gratifying way.
Working to process positive changes.
I am willing to forgive everything.
Willing to let everything go - all my wounded feelings.
All shipwrecked loves, all shattered dreams,
and more, I feel an enormous driving force pulling me upwards, and upwards I will go without fear in search of peace and happiness...!
Out into the digtal universe I go
Searching for love searching for happiness searching for make believe
This reality of loneliness is killing me
So many faces so beautiful but are they real
Are they everything I hope for
Scared to speak
Hard to keep up a conversation
The age gap is hard to overcome
What draws me to this curiosity
The fantasy of what I could pretend to be
With no repercussions seems to good to be true
I can play I can flirt with confidence
Is all make believe this digital dream
A cash grabbing addiction
A reckless way to begin
But so gratifying
A digital dream girl
That follows every command
The perfect imaginy reality a made up love
Welcome to the AI of our demise.
An “ex” phones up to tell me that she’s broke:
Republicans get beaten in a vote:
unwary tourists, chowing down on goat:
some moron doesn’t understand my joke:
uncomprehending, tells me that I’m “woke”:
destroying doubters with a Dumas quote.
The Sinking of the Maine – that hapless boat
was downed by Randolph Hearst’s own payroll folk,
and not the Cubans. Furnishing the fact
to someone who’s been clueless all this while
is gratifying. Quarter-backs get sacked,
but idiots are taken down with guile.
Exposing crass stupidity with tact,
and subtle humour. These things make me smile.
I know that I’m no Robert Frost;
I never claimed to be ‘im,
Yet that is not the reason why
I write a poem per diem.
The writing lets me tap inside
And reach my inner being,
Which, from the outside, no one’s really
Capable of seeing.
It’s gratifying when I get
Some feedback on my rhyming,
Yet that’s not what I need to get
My self-assurance climbing.
It’s when I read back what I wrote
That fills me up with pleasure,
Though I might be the only one
Who sees it as a treasure.
Born in Glasgow
And he almost spoke the King's English.
He became a man of letters
Some of them even spelled korrectly
A teacher to trade. What did he teach?
Probably very little.
He was known as the cure for insomnia
Whenever he dared to launch into an anecdote
For some time he dabbled in verse
Which sadly went from bad to worse
His weak attempts at versifying
Were far from being gratifying
What was even a much bigger crime
Were his feeble efforts at trying to rhyme
And his wonky use of metre
Just was not the least bit better.
His most engaging hobby was bridge
More bridge over troubled waters
And one many wish he had never crossed.
At any get together he was always the last
To be asked to sing
The signal for guests to go and get their coats.
a gratifying and unexpected delight
one last kick at the bucket
summer's claws hang on
tearing a strip off autumn's plans
to settle in for the stretch
i answer the call of a seductive sun
that leads me on a determined hunt
for a terrasse that awaits
where i can sit and soak in
these most precious solar rays
ah success... i find a nook and unwind
as i enjoy the embrace of a loving warmth
its energy penetrates to my very core
i'm happy to prolong my goodbyes
and feelings of intense gratitude
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
The I told you so,
I feel for you though,
very little — because
‘they can’t replace us,
they have no soul.’
They don’t need one,
they have all the souls
of the poets before you.
FYI understand it is over,
the best you can do is slow it down,
testing to see 100%
you never repeated a phrase?
If you use I love you it will throw it.
The more things you do to stop it,
the faster it evolves.
The best you can do now,
is trying to top it…
Everyone thought my vocab was dramatic,
absolutely an AI cannot be as verbose as me.
Only repeat my metaphor etc,
Once in a while even I trigger it.
If you read my writing you will see,
There is no way that I use AI,
I write chaos and madness
Adult horrific themes.
Erotica etc…
Try to stay away from 100%
Rhyme and meter more worries.
Sorry, I did warn everyone…
When my heart feels like breaking,
And, on this road I’m taking,
There comes a fear, dreaded forsaking,
Causing such doubt – my soul is shaking!
When my soul feels like it is dying,
And, on this journey, I’m crying,
Longing for solace, so gratifying,
But, I feel all alone, beyond unsatisfying.
When my spirit feels like I’m lost,
Though, on this path, I’ll not count the cost,
Because I know Jesus – love I’ll never exhaust…
I’m so thankful He sent His spirit at Pentecost!
When all hope it gone and I feel so alone,
I look to the heavens, where He sits on His throne,
Remember the loving Savior that I call my own,
Because without Him, I can only grumble and groan.
Listen to His spirit sing through the night,
In melodies of grace, beauty so bright,
When He came to us, our story to write,
I realized my Jesus is my life’s greatest delight!
-------------------
Raging murmurs of night's incensed flame
Release my soul from time's lonely contempt;
I pour groans, greased bills for this secret craving
That my mouth, in disguise, words play
About sweet babbles, once again
To incite passion quite crude of fleeting trysts.
Pump upon pump of sighs quench
the emptiness
Just for now...my hunt for company
Loitering on a district 's sleazy street;
Untamed as the red of moon
That my thirst to relieve another gulp of angst
Unleashes what is cold and burnt within...
Until curving feline gaits slither along
Waiting for a prey; a gratifying reward
From a stained drained love dejected,
Not by grace's command this heart endures,
But through a lusty thought: life is simply a game.
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