My book, "Recycled Paper: A Safe Place To Hide" is available for sale on Amazon! Thank you all for your encouragement and support!
A toilet is my peaceful place,
Where I can just sit and hide my face,
I can sit and relax and read my news paper,
Sit and read about the recent news capers.
Then when I finished my business I realize there is only one sheet,
So I sit there thinking on that cold hard seat,
Then finally it comes to me, I'll use the sports page from my daily news sheet!!
On some days
I want to tell you everything
Where I was
What I did
What I felt
I like you seeing me
And the resonance
On other days
I want to hide in the bathroom for hours
And ignore you
When you call my name.
I am caught in a loop:
starving for your validation,
yet terrified of being know.
When I open up, you minimize the hurt,
driving me to explain myself further.
But exposure is a threat -
I don't want you to see me.
So I hide.
Waiting for the day
the fear wins,
and I run again.
my mind and i
are at a game of hide and seek
only
i think i've gotten the rules wrong
i am both
the hider
and the seeker
forever searching for her
but terrified of being seen
Where the mountain and field breezes gather,
Whispering and singing in clusters closely by my ear,
I stumble upon a quiet, weathered cabin
And watch a kitten savoring a sweet afternoon nap.
Like a singing goddess of the grass,
To the sweet, gentle rhythm of the wind,
I, too, try to summon sleep for a moment, just like you.
But before I know it, curiosity sparks within me,
And I peek through the narrow cracks to steal a glance at the cat.
Oh? You had already read my mind, staring right back at me.
Not backing down, I try once more.
As if borrowing the secret of a kitten's pink paw-pad dreams,
Like a predator stealthily closing in on its prey,
Carefully, just like you, I peer through the right side to catch you off guard.
Oh? You were already locked onto me, watching me yet again.
“GG (Good Game, I lose).”
Like a cat popping its head through a tiny cardboard box hole,
Flashing a playful, teasing smile,
I, too, declare my defeat,
Proudly sticking my face out with a bright, surrendered grin.
Then, the cat stretches leisurely, letting out a long, slow yawn,
And tosses a casual remark right at me:
“Dull animal!”
If we be empty,
nothing should be taboo,
whence poised in stillness,
bliss magnetism we woo.
The inner sound current
hums in the background,
being the veil though which
the noumena is found.
The void of no-thingness
or life here manifest,
coordinate any,
our presence is at rest.
Bliss mirrors our heartbeat,
shape shifting as peace,
when our eye is single
and thought forms we release.
Sages of old caution,
save by bilocation,
we would always fall short
of true liberation.
Omnipresence is still,
having nowhere to go,
yet feels each sensation
of every heart’s glow.
Lost in dream worlds conjured,
though there are no chains,
cessation enables
cleansing of heart’s stains.
We are the magician,
who has caged light innate
and now on earth strive,
to walk through heaven’s gate.
I see you there alone.
You're very shy and keep to yourself.
The world needs your smile.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2026
The Train of Darkness
The train of darkness barrels down, I hear the railroad clack.
Shakes the baghouse now, standing next to the tracks.
The ground beneath my feet comes alive, with a pulsing, steady vibe.
My first intuition is to hide.
I see the train coming in, a monstrous, breathing beast.
Eating up the track, invited to a feast.
Out of the darkness he rolls, alone,
A king of iron, on a bed of stone.
Rattling in the night, pulsing through my fear,
He rumbles into view, then boldly disappears.
The ground beneath my work boots quakes, as a pulsing rhythm makes,
Leaving behind a cloud of dust, that the iron monster wakes.
Dragging the crew, to the emptiness of hell,
A story they have told before, a story they know well.
I wave goodbye, a wish for luck, aboard that tyrant, roaring fear.
Into the dark it drags its prey, upon the turning gear.
A whispered promise, sweet as
wine,
Crossed a fatal, hidden line.
A deadly game of hearts betrayed,
In the quiet traps the shadows laid.
Sweet deception spun the thread,
Where trust was broken, love bled
red.
A honeyed word, a venomous bite,
Swallowed by the endless night.
The mask slips down, the truth is
bare,
A fatal, cold, and dark affair.
For every lie that serpent breath,
Brings the swift, embracing death.
I fear people for two main reasons:
the damage they are capable of inflicting,
and the damage they are capable of exposing.
There is not
A single soul among the trees
And I
Don’t know where I’ve Gone
—Octavia Paz
Hide and Seek—Paz
I play hide and seek
Looking for you
Perhaps you are
That single soul
I don’t know
And I
Scan the canopy
To look
For bashful eyes
Tag you’re it
A fellow named Bob, rather prim,
Found his chances extremely slim.
He’d hide from the light,
Both morning and night,
Where sunshine could not ever skim.
Look at me
even if its not with ur eyes
turn ur body to me
even if its not genuine
make me think you care
caress my hair
even if its tightly wrapped around ur fingers
promise to keep holding me
and ill hide my feelings
like the marks i secretly tell u to leave
feel me
while i move through the regret
of telling u to come back
pay attention and
ill say i love it
because its the only way u notice
why don't u just look
i just want to be seen
The flowers you hide deep inside.
You say they’re ugly,
I only see the beauty you hide.
Flowers should be shown on the outside,
Never hidden within.
They shouldn’t be kept where they could die,
The flowers you hide deep inside.
With every stem you cut off, a flower dies inside
With every break
And every dead flower,
Comes a new, and brighter flower.
The flowers you hide deep inside.
The flowers you hide deep inside.
Grown to have mistakes,
made just for you.
listen to your flowers inside you,
They’re grown to be you.
They’re grown to be shown and loved just as you were too.
The flowers you hide deep inside.
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.