Epiphany Poetry Contest, Sponsor - Constance La France. Date written: 08/27/2026
manacled...
by gnawing self-doubt;
a life-long affliction
voices in her head
incessantly spewed
lies and half-truths
that grew like watered seeds
planted by naysayers;
she internalized all the nonsense
she lacks self-belief,
but she miraculously turned a corner;
all she needed
was a little nudge
by a caring new friend
to confront the moment of truth,
a reassurance of...
"Trust your gut; you can do anything!"
she listened,
she prayed,
she fought,
v e h e m e n t l y,
against those voices of defeatism,
against negative forces
telling her...
"Not so fast! Think twice!"
she found
the inner strength
she never knew she had
to bravely walk into God's radiant light,
silence the echoes of trepidation
and seize the power
that was always hers.
with every breath
of her newfound freedom,
she finally realized
that she's infinitely greater...
than her circumstances.
In this time of revolution
All that really matters is the turning
Until what remains is just a spinning
Wheel of a hamster with no sense
Of goal or hope of end.
The revolution itself become the end
Turning over any sense of order
Changing for the sake of change
Keeping US all off balance
‘Till in our dizziness anything can come and go.
For when revolution is internalized
It can never really end
Until the destruction is complete
With nothing left to live for
And nothing left to gain.
(11/9/25)
Release him from unnecessary lust
So he remains the man I fully trust.
Relieve him of worry, show him I am just,
So our love shall always remain robust.
Release him from his helplessness,
So he awakens to his own divine greatness.
Relieve him from his hopelessness,
So he attains a life filled with our happiness.
Release him from his ego's frustration,
So he sees my soul is his own's reflection.
Relieve him from his internalized damnation,
So he can hold close our shared salvation.
Release him from his hidden pain,
So he can truly feel happy once again.
Relieve him from what left his heart slain,
So he knows I am all his, even in life's rain.
Without a head
There is no rudder
Worth turning,
And this is the age of headlessness.
Not so much from the guillotine
As from lobotomies
By schools and doctors, TV and social media,
Started when young from outside
But ultimately internalized
Into self-lobotomization.
This is the path of maturation today
Growing up to do what is required
To further the Greater Good
No need to even pretend to keep your head down
And eyes averted
When you have no head.
(9/11/25)
Insidious is internalized inception
What's real with all these questions?
Feels like I missed my alarm and slept in
Broken legs but I still chase affection
These walls are my blank expression
My mind is the home I'm trapped in
It's lonely inside an unfinished mansion
The sharp truth most people gaslight themselves and don't even realize it...
Have I detached so far from reality that my inner voice doesn't trust me?
Days go by while paralyzed in self-reflection
Empty walls don't reflect growth they echo stagnation...
If my mind is a prison am I both the inmate and the warden?
Isn't an unfinished house just a finished ruin?
Perhaps I should pick up a hammer?
And stop admiring the scaffolding as architecture.
Before every line, I've written is a eulogy for a life never lived...
For so many years now
There are so many things
I've been longing for
A yearning desire
Very unquenchable
Salivating for liberation
Steadily craving for absolute freedom.
I've been aching
For unconditional love
Eagerly and restlessly
Pining and suffering
For absolute happiness
Hopefully attainable someday.
Hope realized leads
To peace internalized
I'm longing for the impossible
I want to do whatever none had
Things beyond the imagination of men
A fantasy of ecstasy in the struggle
I am longing for heaven here on earth.
Drink, drink enough water
To flush or to cleanse the liver
Drink, drink, and drink
Something pink
Sometimes to unwind
The convoluted mind.
Drink from the full water pitcher
To make the voice clearer or fresher
Powerful words must be hypostatized
They ought not to be internalized
The truth shall continue to set us free
Respect, dignity, pride, death or liberty.
Ultimately, drink a glass of wine
To relax and strengthen the spine
Drink, drink, and think
About something red and pink.
Copyright © September 2024, Hébert Logerie, All rights reserved.
Hébert Logerie is the author of numerous books of poetry.
Betrothed to your hollow headlines written in the speech bubbles on my phone screen
Enough is enough when I discover that I want a hologram of you, laying next to me
The build up breaks me down like crumbling bricks turned to dust at your feet
The reason I stay is only connected to the reason I came in the first place
Written with jets in the sky over America for every wandering eye to see
Or engraved in secret code, purely meant just for you and me
I’m torn between the alternate option of you only loving me for a piece
The life I chose to lead, running after the uncertain aftermath of you reaching for me
Words hold either all my thoughts, or have no meaning at all
How you chose to perceive my actions, is what controls the fall
And when it ends, with time as the main contributor to our lives
A longing script inside my mind that goes internalized
Everything dies by our sides
Everything fades in our graves
All of the life goes back to the soil
For death is the finish line
My narrow hands made minarets
Of castles in the sky
The phantom figures that I traced
Were but for just my eyes
I did not draw upon the sand
For fear the rising tide
Would devastate the effort
And then – what left – have I?
I did not sketch in quarters
The public would review
For fear their introspection
Would taint my simple view
And what my slender finger drew
Upon the canvas blank
With such utmost authority
Took just my breath away –
Alone I viewed my handiwork
Took stock of every line
Internalized the ephemeral
Nature of the rhyme
Which set the spirit of the thought
Which grasped the shades of earth
And shaped my castles in the air
In minarets of verse –
Reflecting in my minds defining silence;
It's amazing how loud it can be without violence;
There are so many clever agents; sentient's within
Conducting their works; influencing original sin
Isolating thoughts with precise belligerence
Stifling consciousness; destroying all innocence
Un; and conscious thoughts confound
Is this a nightmare; so profound?
When this internalized backscattering redemption for my soul begins;
I'm more than just a little bit curious; about how to make a true amends;
These angelic thoughts; I feel the halo slipping down to this tightening noose;
The alarm clock tones; a dream lost; I come around, still deeply a recluse
Atop each other, these books rest.
For years tried being into only one interest.
Then I began remembering memories I like the best.
Slowly losing my personas I acted as in jest.
On the edge of the cliff of indifference.
Maybe even if I willingly tossed myself over the fence,
I would still have an internalized panic so tense.
But this is all just in my head, no offence.
Higher love comes with higher prices.
Such as leaving behind prejudices and vices.
Sometimes though, we must give into what most entices.
Sometimes I wish I remained as one of your choices.
Still, our fated moments weighed the most on my mind.
You're one of the few I still adore, I find.
I hope through all those years I was just as kind
As all of the times (for me) your soul shined.
There is a bang to our
Personality.
We have accepted our
sexuality.
We are full of
Nervous energy.
No confusion with
Our Identity.
We are of sound mind
And Conscience.
Feel the intensity,
The time is upon us.
We stuff down
Our feelings.
With us there is no
Concealing.
Ready to snap and full
Of anger.
It spreads through us like
Cancer.
Confused about
Being alive.
It's a miracle any of
Us survive.
Feeling guilty, inadequate, and
Shameful.
It makes it difficult to remain
Stable.
Drug and alcohol abuse is a
Common occurrence.
We can go the distance,
We have endurance.
Discrimination is openly
Expected.
We are treated like
Were infected.
So much internalized
Homophobia.
It's not all rainbows and
Utopia.
You're not always going
To be accepted.
The looks, comments,
You feel disconnected.
When you're told that
Your evil.
It makes it hard to
Be civil.
Turbo1904 ?
Bravely fought in experiment
curious pain brings forth a scent
it smells red like pain
it feels right as rain
so another and another flood the gates
is it that face that you hate?
sudden like a snap
resonates another smack
more force makes curiousity
an immovable object with such verocity
a little less is never enough
you cant even say you have it rough
so when it gets old and white is red
then dont worry your little head
no bruise will call
on your assistance against this wall
so will you reach for the slice
the scraping vice
that rends flesh like fish in sea
glittering and shimmering among your plea
oh may this end but no
you want it so
you do dont you though
this isnt sorrow
its pain that starts the wheels
no matter how your voice squeals
drowned out in the fog
of your mind
She was afflicted in her tears;
Waiting upon her prince for many years;
She dreamed of solice schemes;
Being embraced by her prince charming;
Someone who she could call darling;
Coveted and yet internalized by her dreams;
And yet it would really seem;
She would be on abase;
And yet she took case;
She realized it was a dream and she was asleep;
But as she awakened in front of her was a face;
Of her darling mate, it was her man, her prince;
He winks, she smiles, they kiss;
Together they unite, ahh!
3/9/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
Spiritual ways personified gladly
Choices given to her easily in her dreams
Her relaxed soul hears her spirit guides
Her power animals snort and hiss.
She hears Grandmother Sky, who is persistent.
Sage wisdom oozes into her mind state
Internalized as she slumbers, unaware
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