Don’t Judge the Cover of My Book
Females
If I gain a little weight, I am too much or fat.
If I get too skinny, I am not enough.
If I wear makeup, you say, “Be natural.”
If I stay natural, you say, “Ugly.”
No matter what I do is wrong to someone.
Men
If I show emotions, I’m soft.
If I’m just nice, I’m trying too hard.
If I don’t, I’m dirty.
If I talk a lot, I’m annoying.
If I stay quiet, I’m weird.
If I focus on school, I’m boring.
If I don’t, I’m dumb.
If I trust people, I get played.
If I don’t, I’m hard to deal with.
No matter what I do is wrong to someone.
Society
The internet rules, judging us humans by the cover of our books,
but are not reading the chapters inside.
I mean, why?
Why do we judge our people by race,
our hair or face,
how we act
and how we don’t act?
You’re over here wondering why I can’t be myself,
because if I act like you, I am cool,
but if I act like me, I am weird.
Judge not the cat!
He’s not a bat --
Insects alone will not do.
Needing a plump mouse,
A song bird or two.
Admire his stealth,
From table to floor.
Admire his nap,
Angelic cute snore.
Entranced by his purr
Beguiled we pet --
Taps for the parakeet
He just e’t….
A perfect suit and a well-trimmed beard,
All decent he was, but only with no shoes.
All I could think about was, why’s he so weird?
A few streets away,
A rugged man walked with a pair he didn’t choose.
In an elegant and sophisticated restaurant
Was a clumsy man with more than a word to fail,
Oh! He shouldn’t be let in when he’s so arrogant,
What can he do, when he spent the last 25 years in jail.
A dusky evening and in a very dusty street,
Begging for food, was a young boy with a scar.
Uhh! Education would have made him decent and neat,
Little did they know that he was a remnant of the War.
So many Lives,
So many Stories,
So many People,
So many Judgments...
Don’t cast the first Stone, don’t look out for flaws.
Try to be that Rolling Stone, that gathers no Moss.
JD, A Stone now, but trying to Roll...
Let the gaze fold, softly shut,
a moment held—
a slow tide of breath that enters and leaves.
Within you, gently,
not demanding or rushed,
who is left there to judge?
For in this stillness the past can hold no claim.
Is it your imagination,
or the drift of fallen leaves
like papery whispers outside the door?
They gather, dry and scattered,
smelling of dust and worry—
magnetic forms of the lower mind.
You have been here before,
cloaked in yesterday’s echoes,
ruminating on the creases of time
carved like ancient riverbeds
onto an aging, fragile face.
Look out to the unveiled skies
and see the light moving across
without apology—
this endless flow where truth is found,
and the ego’s frantic season
is stripped away as illusion.
Screams in the daylight
No judge nor jury, bad sins
Archipelago
Life counts everything;
She is such a subtle judge;
There's no nepotism.
He boldly admits it publicly.
Wry humour is his weapon of choice.
Comedian ushered directly to jail.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
In the garden way back at the beginning
Mankind was in Adam, falling into sin
this is an awesome thought, just to think
but for God's love, we'd be left in the bin
When we spurn God's love so splendid
we mark ourselves for the judgment day
for then God says I've seen all you've done
from your birth till the last word you say
Think indeed very long and hard
ponder much on these solemn warnings
while you've got breath to turn around
before time's up on your eternal morning
Run into the arms of the Lord Jesus
for He seeks to save you from hell
wishing you to never to be lost
but to be rescued for heaven to dwell
All our works God will judge
whatever good will bring His reward
this God is fair and full of truth
the Lord is right, shows His sharp sword
(Ecclesiastes 12:14
English Standard Version
For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.)
female judge on TV
shows blatant honesty
inspires accountability
puts their feet to the fire
a trait I greatly admire
the obvious pointed out
sometimes making the wronged one shout
it is always enlightening
honesty not frightening
I am dumb.
Foolishness stays over me and coats my throat till I cant be me.
Tears threatening to leak.
I bite my tongue, only for the words to stop in my throat.. Because maybe no one cares..?
Maybe that "can" change..? Knowing well enough that it wont..
And never will.
Standing my ground ,hoping to be felt
But never is.
To stop from being me to being insecure to speak.
Spent so long being "okay" that I don't know if "am" okay or... not?
How foolish
Knowing it isn't
Only for me to "betray" them
Either way,
Am selfish.
And will "always" be.. in their eyes
For them to judge
And never to judge.
The one who edited the placement list days after the contest results were originally posted...
Was your ego bruised when you read a comment to me from a supportive poet?
Know this: I couldn't care less if you removed my name from your list. In fact, I prefer that you did because it clarifies your pettiness.
I am totally aware when you met me,
I was nothing like your mind envisioned
me to be,
or wanted me to be,
or desired me to be,
at least not visually.
But are you aware that the inner me,
the part of me that you haven't
taken time to see,
is the true essence of me.
Get to know me
before you judge me,
learn of me internally,
and you'll be
introduced to my spiritual integrity,
my heart's generosity,
my mental creativity,
and I guarantee in time
you'll recognize the value in me.
I am totally aware when you met me
I was not your cup of tea,
it showed in the way you looked
at me.
But get to know me
before you judge me,
I could be the one to maximize
your dreams
see
what you don't see
is the best part of me
get to know me
learn of me.
Once a judge, she stood like stone,
A pillar set against the storm,
Solid as a mountain’s bone,
Certain, patient, grave, and warm.
Her judgments were not made of steel
But of a careful, human light—
A balance taught by what we feel,
A lantern held against the night.
Now in a room of younger days
She plants her reasons like a seed,
And with a sun-bright, steady gaze
She warms each question into need.
Betray her not—she always knows
The hidden currents, undertow;
Behind her eyes, a clear sight grows
That reads the things we do not show.
In all I read, in all I write,
Her quiet work is still in view—
My daughter stands here in the light,
Only twenty-two, because of you.
Karma drives a cosmic law
It delivers fairness to an unfair world
Justice being the universal equalizer
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Critical thoughts not said out loud.
Rumbling sounds heard through the crowd.
“Who are we to judge him?”, one said.
Discerning thoughts all in my head.
Judging is not the task at hand.
He walks and talks and takes his stand.
My goal is not his words to critique,
But to understand how they’re unique.
It’s not the physical, the cause of his blinks,
But more the mental, the way that he thinks.
The trait that makes his thoughts one of a kind.
That triggers and opens, only his mind.
By nature, or nurture, we can’t really know.
But uniqueness in him, Creation did bestow.
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