There was this old fellow from Princeton
Whose Dodge Ram did throw a piston
With the engine bloc shot
He ran home at a trot
And switched to a Chevy in an instant
We walked and talked of promising dreams,
envisioning life fulfilled and fair;
designing grand, elaborate schemes.
We danced and romanced throughout the night.
Silent stillness among curtained air,
patient, waiting morn's revealing light.
We kissed and wished that love forever
rely on our unspoken prayer
that grief or strife can never sever.
We knew and grew bold, unhesitant
secured by Gestalt's context, aware
in our steadfast, eternal instant.
I’ll hide, you seek out the destination;
maybe we’ll both find a little something.
Exhale slow to see what we’re becoming
relish in this complete transformation.
Allow yourself to be filled with passion,
feel free to run wild and keep on jumping.
I’ll hide, you seek;
don’t be tempted by instant distraction.
Opposites may just end up connecting,
I sit quiet as my heartbeat’s thumping.
Waiting here in a lotus position
I’ll hide, you seek.
To be loved, wanted and needed, we are all the same,
to get instant gratifications, some will play their game.
When we want, what we want, and we want it now,
it weakens the soul, I’ll show you how.
Good thing’s come to them that wait,
as we learn how not to hesitate.
A heart that is filled with heart aches and pain,
makes instant gratification so easy to obtain.
It doesn’t last long, but you don’t have to wait,
as it fills your heart with regrets and hate.
Instant gratification, lies at the door,
as it leaves you empty and wanting more.
The things it will cause a person to do and be,
brings out the darkness for all to see.
Out in the open, the more webs are weaved,
with instant gratification, your being deceived.
always left empty, with only self to blame,
when we play instant gratifications, little game.
In an instant
I burst forth again
Like some sort of exotic flower that only blooms once every 5 or 10 years
Born of volcanic balsalt
Bursting upward in a splash of ash
that rains down
Can you hear the tiny bits hitting the rock around me
It's a swoosh sound and then tiny rain
And suddenly here I am again
My stalk is stronger than in the past
My hues are no longer blues
There is light slipping between the veins of me
This is a cosmic born again
Little remains of the girl that I once was
She was so small where I now feel tall
She was so insecure. We're now a mountain stands
Her steps were never sure. Now I stride
I stand upon the peak of that black black mountain that I had to climb
Surveying the valley of glorious color and light below
The battles have made a Titan of me
And a Titan. I'm damn well glad to be
She gave me material life
walked slippery shadows to prison
to deliver a sad weekly parcel
fear was ingrained into dna
almost forever did I serve these embeds
until she called in envious siblings
Light would not submit to a wall of war
I stopped being minute maid in an instant
___________________________
Bronze Placement : All Poetry Contest
(Theme : Shadows into Light : March 26)
The present
eternal
though time
would belie
The moment
what’s precious
enduring
all lies
Before
and then after
the future
and past
The instant
upon us
the first
— and the last
(Dreamsleep: March, 2026)
Sitting on a park bench.
True, we didn't have much to say.
But the connection was strong.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
In young Victor Frankensteins' dreams,
he'd create a man by scientific means.
Since those days, we've come so far
in the wake of Frank Junior's shining star.
Senior's ambitious plan to make a mate
didn't really turn out so great.
The bride looked the monster down and up,
hissed, then gagged, and then threw up.
Junior would, this method, greatly refine,
turning out monsters by assembly line.
Sitting by the sunny sea
by a sweet posh vacation dream hut
suddenly heaven is within reach
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
I’ve never learned the art of a reliable recipe,
only the art of guessing who might eat it.
I will learn what you love,
the way you take your coffee,
that you’d rather have mustard on your sandwich,
that you prefer your toothpaste tastes like fruit instead of mint.
You see, I try too hard.
My food can’t be one flavor—
that would be boring.
I stir,
and stir,
and stir,
adding more until the dish is heavy, uneven.
And when you eat it,
you’ll taste the coffee grounds,
the mustard,
the toothpaste.
It’s not because I think it belongs—
I couldn't stop myself
kept reaching for anything with your name on it,
hoping the thought of the meal would soften the sour taste.
I serve the same dish to everyone,
each batch a strange new mix
of flavors I don’t even like—
and I wonder what keeps them here:
do they hunger for filling,
or for something truly mine?
I’m not sure I’ll ever know.
So I will watch you chew,
watch the fork sink to the side of your plate,
waiting for the scrape of truth—
for you to push the dish away.
I’ve left the recipe wrong on purpose,
hoping you’ll taste the absence,
and ask what I might make
if I cooked with my own hands.
IN A GILDED INSTANT
The monarch’s wings opened as a picture book, fluttering by. It glided, uncertain but undeterred, through a gentle haze of gold and shadow, the garden’s hush punctuated by the faint murmur of leaves. Sunlight filtered in rare skeins, dappling the monarch’s patterned wings as it hovered, hesitated, and then pressed onward—a flicker stitched between petal and air. The world, for one gilded instant, seemed spun from elegant silk.
Painted in oranges, kissed with black lace,
the monarch glides through the air and
pirouettes in a ballet of grace.
Oh, to witness her beauty, a fleeting affair
a living poem, a jeweled muse~
a moment suspended in delicate air.
(Poem written for USPS Stamp Poetry Contest, Robert James Liguori, sponsor)
not senses but the witness
likewise for joy and pain
unchanging screen of awareness
eternal Self free from stain
beyond waking, dreaming and deep sleep
turiya, the constant fourth state
we take therein a consciousness leap
fulfilling our ordained fate
after ego is exhumed
we attain direct recognition
concepts held deplumed
of truth that has no definition
our true being is living light
renewing itself in itself
dwelling in unbound delight
this is our luminous Self
the question remains: how may we see
the answer: shift into silence, then wait
unshackle presence from our mind tree
know the seeker vanishes at heaven’s gate
Instant Society
Everyone is in a hurry.
Instant society.
Always demanding.
Never appreciate.
Instant everything.
Instant Whining.
Instant complaining.
Always needing something.
Greed needs more money.
Instant controlling.
Someone is always barking.
Angry world, never subside the pain.
Bird songs instead of beeping machines
My body free from tubes and attachments
Goodbye to ICU , welcome home in comfort
As peace surrounds me and pets love on me
Slowly I walk, one step at a time
Slowly I do things, one moment at a time
I am thankful I lived, my mind is still whirling
Everything suddenly happened so fast
I am grateful for friends, kind nurses and doctors
I cherish each moment, things can change in an instant
Heidi Sands
6/9/25
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