Contest: THE SIMPLE POETRY
Sponsor: Sotto Poet
Date: September 4th 2026
A warning signals
at the daylights dim.
An inconspicuous drop or two
tap my cheek -
An impulsively deep inhalation
as I glare at the clouds.
A more rhythmically consistent
offering of droplets touch down!
More excitable water follows
trampolining on the ground.
Puddles beat like drums
in a heavy rock band.
Soggy wet through
where I stand...
The brolly blew the wrong way out.
My waterproofs a flapper.
I grumble a sigh and shrug
at my failure to stay dry
as I'm caught out in the rain.
Neutral
Which side do you stand on when someone declares family is absolute?
Are you the loyalist who believes family is cardinal
With their belief that their law stands above the rest
They mock those who don’t agree with their beliefs
Or are you the broken, who believes family is just a lie
They refused any contact with them. Pretending they didn’t exist
They have nobody else to turn to besides themselves, and that’s okay
But did you know there is an inconspicuous side that nobody ever mentions
They are gray; they are neutral
They neither hate their kin nor do they love them
Why bother wasting energy on hatred? It’s meaningless
They don’t have to pretend to have any warmth in anything
Instead of having family as an anchor, they have something else
They have friends and a partner as their anchor
Yet if that family is in trouble, they run without haste
Duty may exist, but their devotion is dead
Family will always be put on the sidelines and placed last
No amount of pleading, judging, or mocking will persuade them otherwise
Their minds have already been made up
Retract at once
This damning
Interpolation
Being treated
Like any other
Disrupting behavior
Embrace authenticity
Self compassion
Prevents progress
Put an end to your
Observable impulsive
Apathetic material
Discombobulated magnificence
Wallow in the muck with them
Untouching perfection
Hauntingly beautiful
Undubbed contextual
Insufferably overbearing
Incontextual differences.
Environmental disasters
Supercilious villains
That find meddling best
As focus turns elsewhere
Hiding in plain sight
Inconspicuous idiot
It's never their artistic.
Endeavor
Art is simple
Untouched raw
As good is the enemy of perfect.
And the perfect enemy of good
The discombobulated magnificence of this buried song creation that remains Elliott Smith’s “Abused”
Retract at once
This damning
Interpolation
Being treated
Like any other
Disrupting behavior
Embrace authenticity
Self compassion
Prevents progress
Put an end to your
Observable impulsive
Apathetic material
Discombobulated magnificence
Wallow in the muck with them
Untouching perfection
Hauntingly beautiful
Undubbed contextual
Insufferably overbearing
Incontextual differences.
Environmental disasters
Supercilious villains
That find meddling best
As focus turns elsewhere
Hiding in plain sight
Inconspicuous idiot
It's never their artistic.
Endeavor
Art is simple
Untouched raw
As good is the enemy of perfect.
And the perfect enemy of good
The discombobulated magnificence of this buried song creation that remains Elliott Smith’s “Abused”
A young crow carries them-
selves meticulously, screening
their surroundings. Too wary
to engage with others, but
always so observant.
A golden jewel shines in a
parking lot corner. Tempting
the young crow’s eyes. Their
bill clutches on, fragile by
nature, it breaks.
Glass shards pierces their
tongue, blood cascades on-
to the concrete as the jewel
dismantles. Remnants of a
once pretty rock remain.
Lackluster caws transcends to
inconspicuous woes through
menacing thunder circulating
the floaters, ignoring their
cries.
Drizzles of rain deafening
continuous yelp, a dash of
salt soaking their insides,
their shadow scatters
far away.
Lord knows the Devil
I encountered. Hidden
hypocrisy swayed naivety I
exuded. Smiling with grace but
crossing betrayal behind your
back while holding my hand with
the other. Delicate melodies of grace strumming
along inconspicuous quos while feeding
me with Eden’s fruit hung in God’s hand.
Mirages of desolated oases surrounded you,
A pity fool I became at your wits playing
me instead. Awakened clarity
in one bite-filled rage,
thank you bold face
snake. Now, I live
my life in
gratitude.
A shadowed twin
A whispering echo beneath my skin
In silent moments you softly creep
Disturbing the solace of my sleep
A phantom presence unseen yet near
Feeding doubt and nurturing fear
Through daylight hours you cloud my sight
Turning clear skies into an endless night
An inconspicuous burden heavy to bear
An unseen tether always there
Guiding my thoughts down dark pathways
Where comfort is fleeting and sanity strays
No refuge found or safe retreat
From the ceaseless sound of your beat
In crowded rooms I'm still alone
Haunted by my phantom clone
Attempts to flee are all in vain
You’re always residing in my brain
A lifelong bond I can't bend
My hidden foe and closest friend
White Supercilium, black face mask,
White collar,
Dark buff head with Black central stripe,
Dark gray stout bill,
Gray eye-ring with white awake – eyeliner,
Buff crowned,
Glossy blue, dark green, Turquoise-Blue,
Shocking white wing-coverts,
Thin black trace, garish scarlet Underbelly,
Black blue-tipped tail,
Toned, endless, enviable strong pins
pink
Divine ensemble apt for
Wallpapers, earrings, motifs, art, stamps and study
They sit shy, inconspicuous, in
Leftover dense forest
Mad for being naive in
Sartorial world, they keep
Picking up worms under leaf-litter
On forest floor, autumn always
Secretive Monomorphics
Complain to Sun
Once at dawn, once at dusk,
risks
To migrate preferably at night
Opulent pair dances to mate
Nests to breed, care their chicks,
Teach their fledglings to hide and play
Along predators’ plenty,
Teach their fledglings along
Stressful achromatic life,
to fly away
Where has the grass gone, juicy,
Green, shiny as if covered with a transparent varnish.
Where did I go,
Chained to the coolness of the life-giving carpet,
Sprinkled with the glare of the sun, straight from the blue sky.
Where is the flower?
In which I lived like something winged and inconspicuous.
Located in the perfect place
Filed in transparent drawer
Unruly impediments erased
Facets interact free of flaw
Seamless system clockwork
Methods remain meticulous
Design drawn up by a doctor
Considered, inconspicuous
Routine guides a room's tidy
Itemising verbatim shelves
Briefcase organised abiding
Data struck upon first delve
Packed in precise patterns
Utility is readily predicted
Shipshape sailing on satin
Scurvy sufferers evicted
Fold exposes name brand
Recognised categorically
Regular overhauls planned
Excess viewed as slovenly
Upkeep travels compact
In zipped compartments
Disarray tends to detract
Regimented requirements
8th of **** April
The bonus layer of filth
Coating the experiential asphalt
Native to this smitten land
Where you either
Accelerate or exacerbate
For the bulls run hard here
In clever, desperate ways
When stacked two or six to a room Hoodies line the highways and runways Because bad hair days
Attempts to stay warm
And inconspicuous strutting
Make sense for this first dew
After a Christmas sunset
Humanity yawning
Some obligated to grind
As the sun turns again
To wonder
Where wander is the most
That many can afford.
(12/26/17)
Darkness and radiance
frolicsome purport
and access of
visible world and
inconspicuous world
heart to grace
spawn the shades of truth
redeemer
between
contest of awareness
and the depth of the ocean
concealed
beneath the shackles
of humankind
Written: September 30, 2022
Written in tones
When Voices pass by
Inconspicuous sounds
Pass by
. The End
That Diaspora represent a piece of my identity,
Strewed my views on the squires of taciturnity,
Inconspicuous lines and depictions,
And then there's the pencil wizard,
Follow my body's rhythms, that I used to bury,
A meandering deer in the tangle of conscience,
I interred it in the depths of my gentle soul,
He was doused in letter ink,
I interfered with him in some proper link,
The beater is nipped by a beehive,
Following the poke scores another shove,
Silence and no ardour, to mitigate brain's fury,
An ink would be dainty, to soothe mind's rage,
The gap was scared, so he squeezed a sunrise,
Swollen and grown, with that slammer,
Reluctantly urge her to endow what she's realized,
I swore an oath of ultimate devotion.
Her moral sins were washed by the Lord.
You didn't hook sight of her fastening orbs.
Twilight's deeper level starts eagerly with a rally.
Written: February 20, 2022
Music to my ears, so mellifluous
is the nightingale's song, ambiguous,
Give ear to her notes, they float on the breeze,
swirling through the air, they're tuned to appease;
I dance to her song, so mellifluous,
She's sitting somewhere, inconspicuous,
Her aria drifts down and I’m entranced,
In the stillness, her whistling sounds enhanced;
I hear her melody, mellifluous,
and I forget all my cares, strenuous,
Lost in her lilt, feeling romantical,
All I needed was Nature's canticle;
Such mellifluous strains, simply classic,
I hear the voice of God in her music.
09.18.2021
For Constance La France's ""M" contest, new poems only"
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