My soul yearns to wander
the thoughts of beauty
where my dreams drift endlessly
on winds of wishes
when I read the words
forming in my mind
as metaphors scatter cold
and sentences run wild
and I'm drawn toward
mystic meadows of wordy mists
where illusions are scribed
in wondrous wonder
to become crumbled pages
of poems that could have been
Tonight I'll cry for my unwritten words
as I sit before the fire
and toast to my heart
beating like a drum
calling out the poems in my mind
that vanished, leaving me empty
drowning in darkness
When in darkness your voice is the light to my soul
I sat all alone in darkness as if tethered to this chair.
Light enough to see shadows. My fear was hard to bear.
They were trying to be daunting, their haunting profound
as they kept taunting me. Their faint whispers the only sound.
I begged them for silence, the specters without faces.
Constantly circling, creatures who wore black carapaces.
They frigidly nudged me, chilling the marrow in my bones.
Never before had I been more frightened than I was here alone.
In the hush of darkness, I trembled trying to speak.
A tear has escaped my lashes and rested upon my cheek.
Thoughts from my past were regrets my mind tried to chase,
searching for the wounded part of me my heart wanted to embrace.
I broke the silence of the night and set myself free
by rippling like a wave that found its way across the sea.
I chased the beastly shadows, trying to feast upon my soul
and illuminated the night when I found the courage to take control.
I know my flaws are multitudinous
so I pray my best efforts are illuminous
so that underneath you cannot really see
the broken fragments that once made me.
The darkness that lives inside my chest,
clings to me like a safety vest.
Don’t want you to know that from my very core, I’m chasing someone who isn’t here anymore.
The time has passed and the years have flown
yet nothing seems to have grown,
since when I turned about eighteen
when everything had not yet been seen.
Each day feels heavy and set in stone,
each day I feel more alone.
If you had told me all those years ago,
that still today I have nothing to show for my torture, blood, sweat and tears
I’d simply shake my head and jeer
because there’s no way I’d have placed me here
drowning alone, drowning in fear.
in the darkness of the night
as I flee from sleepless bed
traveling unseen by eyes
careful footsteps not heard by ears
spirits of darkness chilled my skin
slipping by with mournful cries
yet I can hear the pain within
of souls tormented in the night
darkness may hide their tears
and clutched pillows muffled cries
still although the pain escapes
slipping out into the night
quickly I would flee away
close my ears into the cries
lock my feelings within my heart
still darken my soul from within
look not to the light of day
when the dark shadows will flee away
for once again in dark of night
they forever will always be
*Pilgrimage in Darkness*
I walked through countless paths
Worn down by memories
Each footprint is a spiritual guide
Like a fleeting ray of light
Disappearing with moment's grace
In search of the enlightened mind
Through the darkest of nights
Stumbling upon the various folds of the Earth
To be enveloped in the dark
Victory— a distant thought
Covered by the path of failure
And the thousand needles of destiny
I felt upon nimble feet
I am starved and parched
Deprived of the feeling of hope
Illusion plagued my mind
But only a holy light restored it
Like an endless dream
I wander on
Through thick and thin
'Til my feet are torn
At last we are here!
At the peak of human life!
The nectar of peace upon my throat
As the seed of wisdom took root.
In the night where shadows play,
Silver whispers steal the day.
Moonlight drips on streets of stone,
Turning cold to something known.
Fear may rise and twist your chest,
But even fright can be a guest.
Cracks in walls hold secret gleam,
Darkness wears a quiet dream.
Stars peek out through velvet skies,
Jewels that hide from prying eyes.
Even in the blackest night,
Something blooms in hidden light.
So lean into the shadowed hue,
The dark has wonders meant for you.
Not all is lost when sun departs
The night holds beauty in its heart.
More Than A Soft Toy Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Natasha L Scragg
Contest Judged: 9/25/2025 12:40:00 PM
( 2nd Place )
Your fur is worn thin now,
patches where love pressed too hard,
but to me you were never just a toy -
you were the voice of courage
when the dark grew too loud.
I held you like a secret shield,
breathing into your sewed ear
the worries I dared not share with my mother.
You guarded them in silence,
never speaking a word
but somehow - I always slept easier.
In daylight you became a friend
sailing ships across blankets,
chasing clouds across the plaster sky,
celebrating every victory
in make-believe wars you alone could prove
Even now,
you linger on my shelf,
a gentle witness that love
is stitched to last
beyond the years.
A heart grown weary in silent rain,
No roof to shelter, no meal to gain.
No gentle voice, no hand to hold—
Just aching silence, damp and cold.
I left behind what broke my soul,
A job that crushed what once was whole.
Now I drift with nowhere near,
And all I know is ache and fear.
I do not seek to shame my name,
Nor beg with pride consumed by flame.
I only ask—if one heart sees—
A little help to bring me peace.
Not for always, just for now,
Until I rise again somehow.
A small kind gift to help me leave
This room of silence where I grieve.
I ask with trembling, not with blame,
And pray no one will cast me shame.
Just light enough to cross this night—
And walk once more toward morning's light.
If you can’t give, a prayer will do—
That mercy finds its way back through.
May God still move through hearts unknown,
And guide the lost ones safely home.
In the dead of night, her prince reveals his true form,
A wolf in sheep's clothing, his heart as cold as ice,
She's trapped in a nightmare, no fairy godmother in sight,
Her glass slippers shattered, her dreams left to freeze
Her heart, once on her sleeve, now lies frozen and alone,
Shattered like the glass that once adorned her feet,
She's a prisoner to his lies, a puppet on a string,
Her fairytale is over, her story incomplete.
The clock strikes midnight, her carriage turns to ash,
The ballroom's lights now dim, the music fades away,
She's left with nothing but a broken heart and tears,
A fairytale gone wrong, her happy ending astray..
And so she vanishes, a shadow in the night,
A phantom of her former self, her dreams now out of sight,
No prince, no love, no happy ever after,
Just a shattered heart and a fairytale's disastrous disaster..
In the cold and lonely silence, Cinderella weeps for a love that never was,
And as her tears fall, the darkness consumes her, a heartbroken soul lost in the shadows."
"Dreams Dissolve in darkness"
I don't see anything in darkness
But when I close my eyes
I see everything.
I've known that even in darkness
The seed sprout
Life is a miracle.
I can appreciate light
When I'm in darkness
It's the meaning of success.
I can't see what's beyond the sky
The ocean and the human heart
But I have peace of mind.
We court darkness to see the light
& every room
has a bit of both
We're the sum of wombs in many
ways giving birth to things
in route to growth
Every little step we take is toward
a cliff & one day
we'll all exceed the edge
The roads we take are hit or miss
& every single path
has a bit of dread
Tread lightly in a dark world for
heavy steps bring
wear afoot
We wear each other's skin like we're
all the same so eventually
shoes fit the other foot
We couldn't see a thing inside the
womb but still looked
forward to a brighter life
The divine darkness in which we're
groomed only gives
birth to growing light
Don't fight the darkness inside of
you but see the light
within the shadows
I feel all the struggles the same
as you but the duality
is half the battle
darkness that once I befriended
is pulling its strings and laid down it’s plans
the tales I recited following the shadows
of his and her, my and their life
are being used as a canon
to shatter decomposed walls
who plead me to say “yes”
with every single breeze,
with every single breathe,
i refuse to kneel before defeat
in my cold barren land,
every season feels colder
but I’m looking at horizon
waiting for that summer
to let the dear readers know
“i’m trying not to dissolve in the darkness,
that eternal excruciating peace”
Can your prayers not take flight,
Try the darkness in absence of light,
Pitch so dark you can only see thought,
Now begins what needs to be taught,
Resonance of the pitch you need to replicate,
Variables of emotion will flow from love to hate,
Focus on the presence filling your lung,
A slight presence will sound as though a bell rung,
Worldly troubles will begin to dissipate,
A conversation with God you can now create,
He is your Father so just talk with Him,
It doesn't have to be prepared just on a whim,
The closer you get the better it'll be,
Goal in this relationship is harmony,
Sit with God and enjoy this time,
Worship in darkness can be sublime.
Can't find our way out
this thick darkness suffocates
holding us hostage
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