celadon ribbon from childhood days
unfolds its quiet memory,
tender thread of mid-autumn
morning light resting soft
against your soft palm,
venerable,
soft whispers
always
yours
a small locket
glows in the dust~
faint pulse
under its clasp,
the memory inside
trying to breathe again
a curled snapshot
shivers in the drawer~
its blank center
softly glowing,
as if the moment
it once captured
were trying
to return
Feather
autumn gold dust
bound under old papers
I never threw your things away
still here
Personal Challenge:
Theme: Relationships
Emotion: Grief
Color: Gold
Season: Autumn
Form: Cinquain
Object: Feather
Verb: Bound
If you try to leave,
Don't say you loved me.
It's hard for me to say,
I love you too.
If you smile
With tears in your eyes,
You leave me feeling conscience,
With guilt and foreboding in my heart.
If you walk away,
Don't look back.
You leave an impression,
To keep you holding then.
Try to keep memorable things in secret.
For you're in loneliness state,
You can try looking at it knowing
Hit back as your memory lane.
His wedding band: a lifespan archived
AP: 1st place 2025
When I leave,
don’t cling to my name like a treasure—
let it settle into the dust
where it truly belongs.
Feel the walls we built,
not to grieve
but to recall
that they once echoed with laughter,
that they kept the world outside,
and us within.
Walk the same shore,
but don’t picture my steps next to yours.
Carry me off like the last wave of the day,
making room for what’s yet to come.
What I cherished doesn’t need me,
and neither do you.
Carry only what feels light enough
to release.
KEEPSAKE
I still have that wallet you gave to me,
All those years ago in seventy-three.
I used it daily, till it fell apart,
In my inside pocket, close to my heart.
And the tiny photo you put in there,
With your gentle smile and your flowing hair,
Is still tucked inside, though it fades each day,
Like the hopes I had till you walked away.
I wonder if somewhere, hidden from view,
You still keep that locket I gave to you.
Tell me that you've felt a failure
In doing what was right
While pillows dampen, salty
Amidst the restlessness of night
A wonder, wonders bless the wicked
And the same thing in reverse
Ensure the gnarled vines of virtue
Aren't easily traversed
With what was once a gleaming moral compass
More a burden than a tool
Its rusting ends give rhyme to meaning well
A witty slogan of the fool
The firmest grasp fatigues to loosen
Slipping chains cut like a knife
In vain, try letting go completely
This blessed curse carried for life
As tainted blood drips from your calloused palm
And every orangy link
Try not to smirk upon the splashes
More rewarding than you'd think
A world without setting alarms;
Cliche clocks are my enemy,
way too good at ruining fun;
Castaway I’ll stay out at sea;
Island wake up suits me just fine ,
sand all over my toes at daybreak;
Hand on my lips enjoy silence,
brand this view into a keepsake.
When I am at the end of my days
Remembering in so many ways
If there is only one thing I could take
Of all memories, one special Keepsake
It will not be an item of the norm
Not even a picture to keep me warm
Instead, it will not be a "thing" at all
An emotion, at will I can recall
These feelings held within my heart and soul
Eternally, I wish to swallow me whole
For it's this moment, here and now
Shout to the world, making my vow
I now know exactly what it
means
His love now, forever, and betweens
His love I can finally accept
One moment, a memory forever kept
So peaceful, I cannot bear to wake
To show my love, he is my keepsake
3/10/23
Writing Prompt- "K" Words
Place 2nd
Sponsor- Constance LA France
Craft me a tiffany
that others may see
Cut out a matisse
for my mantle-piece
Throw me a pollock
to which others will flock
Abstract me a rothko
I can keep on show
Sculpt like epstein
this profile of mine
Draw like da vinci
a portrait of me
Hand make a keepsake for me
that is unique of thee
I sit at my family’s empty table
Life’s feast is almost gravely gone
I am the final guest left in this familial fable
All within my bloodline have somehow succumbed
I recall the time of the sweet, sour, bitter and salty with zeal
Each gathering shared with love for each other at every meal
November 13, 2022
Bitesize Poem Number 55
Sponsored by: Line Gauthier
doves lade the sky like stars
the snowy white peace
a starry night released
over San Xavier del Bac
the cactus fruit and prayer
alive in sanguine petals
the mission gold altar and pews
absolved en pleine air
i sip my keepsake coffee cup
2/11/2022
exhausted and sleepy elves, one last house on their lengthy list,
slided down the chimney to deliver a gift, hard to resist.
found fun Pokemon board wide open, left probably by mistake,
decided to gift that game to themselves, a pleasing keepsake.
December 22, 2021
"A Funny Christmas-themed 4-liner" Poetry Contest
Sponsor:Tania Kitchin
syllables checked by howmanysyllables.com
THIRD PLACE
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