“Tingly skies full of surprise oh how I love when with surmise,
the little rascal aims his dart as if it were, poetic art”
Sneakin’ up like a thief in the night, no warning, no clue
he’s playin’ hearts like a game just what he must do
Laughter spills, eyes lock, ain’t no subtle moves
love’s wild dance got you caught in the grooves
A quick shot, a sharp hit, no time to rehearse
he’s messin’ with your mind and it’s only getting worse
No armor, no defense, no chance to undo
“When cupid’s arrow aims for you, there isn’t much that you can do”
8/10/25
Contest: Gotcha
Sponsor: Mystic Rose Rose
It's when I feel you
I let you be.
Swift, twirling sound in air,
You come like a thief in the night.
Your days of coming are unknown.
When will you whisper
Whisper the words of victory
To punch hills, notch, and porch,
Go north, east, south, and west,
And make Everest my home?
Oh, whisper the swift, twirling sound
'Cause it's when I feel you,
I let you be.
You flew beside me, small and brave,
From west coast skies to the ocean wave.
Tucked in close, not a sound you made,
Just calm little heartbeats, never afraid.
I gave you a friend, a buddy to share,
Skipperely wheeked, and you both were a pair.
In cozy corners, you’d nuzzle tight,
Two little souls curled safe each night.
But illness came like a thief in the night,
And you, sweet Gizmo, began to lose your spark.
We trusted a hand that wasn’t so kind
He never looked close, never gave time.
He chose the needle when there was still fight,
Never tried gas, never made it right.
Didn’t give you what might’ve healed,
Just rushed the end, a fate sealed.
And I was left with a heart torn wide,
Empty space where you once lied.
No more your squeaks, your gentle stare,
Just silence and Skipperely waiting there.
But you were more than fur and paws
You were love without a single flaw.
You knew my voice, you knew my scent,
And in this world, that means so much.
So rest, my boy Gizmo, my sweet little friend,
This isn’t goodbye, love doesn’t end.
I’ll see you again, where skies are wide,
And you’ll hop to greet me, just by my side.
I carry a war inside me —
no guns, no blood, no trenches —
just the heavy silence that screams,
that crawls under my ribs
and digs like a thief in the night.
They see me smiling,
a painted mask, a borrowed script,
never the wild, tangled mess beneath —
the dark roots of despair twisting
around my broken bones.
I am the woman who wakes up twice a day,
once in sleep’s soft arms,
once in the cold battlefield of my mind,
where memories explode like landmines,
where joy is a stranger and pain,
a relentless lover who never leaves.
You ask me what’s wrong?
As if you could hold this hurricane
in your gentle hands,
as if your words could stop the bleeding.
But there is no bleeding to be seen,
only the invisible wounds —
the weight of hollow mornings,
the breath held too long,
the echo of a scream
trapped in a locked cage.
I want to scream.
I want to burn down this house
that holds me prisoner.
But I smile.
I live.
I survive.
Because in this war —
the invisible war —
my soul is the battlefield
and hope, the only weapon.
Not sure how to carry on
Everything I love is now gone
Did not see the end in sight
Took you like a thief in the night
I know it was God's will
Doesn't make it easy still
On my knees I have knelt
While my heart starts to melt
Thought together we would grow old
Now your body is lifeless and cold
Not real sure how to act
Still trying to wrap my head around the facts
Nothing more I can really do
100% lost with out you
So many ways that this could end
Yet no idea where to begin
Bodies drained I have nothing more
Just laid out on the floor
Hoping this is the end for us both
I thank the Father, Son, and Holly Ghost.
An Uncle Charlie Original
Spring and summer, those seasons went by.
The best thing in the world always falls from the sky.
No matter the situation, the love was theirs.
The price was no luxury for the poor boys and girls.
To sit up and prosper with such delight,
It grew up so fast, like a thief in the night.
Many more came from just that one person;
The first one that came made things a little worse.
Then things got better to the lucky number six,
Because the best number of all was three from the mix.
It grew up so beautifully with no time to wonder,
Intertwined with the opposite, then here came November.
With no time to spare, the poor thing grew,
Then out of the blue, one became two.
Wasted no time at all; it just happened to be
The best part about it came, happy number three.
To move out of the way and stay the course,
It was time to add one more, and that soon made four.
The number was up, and everything was complete,
And that was how it started, my Great Family Tree!
I come with the indomitable intent to beguile
Upon your face, I place an ephemeral smile
When I come, I don't stay very long
I have you up early but by the time I leave, I'll have you singing a sad song
Gone! Gone like a thief in the night
Sometimes I make you blackout, but when you return, you notice something's not quite right
Maybe it's the headache, tummy ache, or the fact that you're bent and hungover
So you pray. You pray to the porcelain god about things you don't remember
But I remember. Because I am the deceiver they call 'Al-Kuhl.'
The body-eating spirit that beguiles and pulls
I love to pull you to a low vibrational state
In your drunken stupor, your cares and troubles you no longer contemplate
But when reality awakens you to a sober mind
Real eyes see that the pull of Al-Kuhl is dark and unkind
When night has come like a thief in the night
blowing winds of fierce by a blinding light
When the moon's nightdress is a billowed glance
in the same dark sky where the stars have danced
When your broken sleep is far too steep
and your much too tired for arms to keep
When the only glow flows through a lamp
and your sheets are damp as a soggy stamp,
It is time to raise your eyes and pray
and hope He meets you, in mid-way !
Death always keeps looking for me
Hiding in the shadows like a thief in the night
If I am not here I will be somewhere else
When I am drowning a life jacket is thrown
Death curses his failure there’s always another day
Sometimes death feels right sometime feels wrong
heaven knows why life is confusing at the best of times
but here I am
If I am not here I will be somewhere else
Don’t wait up
Frank Black Blacharczyk
Like a thief in the night
academia
wears enlightenment
as a mask
hiding its true agenda
— a stranglehold on the truth
(Dreamsleep: January, 2024)
Sugar, you temptress, you hide everywhere
In many a form you never play fair
You sneak in my life like a thief in the night
Stealing my breath with every sweet bite
Making me long for your taste everyday
From the moment I wake, I’m your gullible prey
A ‘dangerous substance’ is what you should be
With red and bold letters, for innocents to see
There is not a food where your charms are not found
Queen of addictions, you should have been crowned
More forms than a demon, you use to deceive
You change your appearance, to make me believe
Liquids and solids, and all in between
Your arrogant invasion, at the least, very keen
In every known texture, you’ve come to exist
Creamy or hard, too many to list
At breakfast, lunch, dinner, you always control
Little by little, you’re taking a toll
No matter the food, you always are there
You’ve caught me at times in your devilish snare
I’ve seen you appear on some labels, three times
In a court you’d be guilty of three separate crimes
Sugar, you temptress, I’m watching for you
And the very next time when you make your debut
Apathy creeps in like a thief in the night
Stealing our passions, leaving us without sight
We become numb to the world, and all it holds
Our emotions and dreams slowly grow cold
We watch as life passes us by
Without a single tear or sigh
No joy or sorrow, love or hate
Just an emptiness that we can't escape
We see the suffering and pain
But we feel nothing, and it's all in vain
Our hearts are locked behind a wall
And we refuse to answer their call
We exist, but we don't truly live
Our souls withered and our spirits passive
We need to break free from this state
Before it's too late, before it's too late
Contest title: pick a title vol 36
Sponsor: Edward Ibeh
Date: 05/01/2023
When you see I look just fine,
looking like im having fun,
it's that Trelegy ellipta, all mine,
my life saving,
horribly hard-core,
expensive friend.
Improves quality of life
but hastens that final end.
It's that daringly dubious
double edged sword.
There's no purpose in intubation.
But I beat him back
as best I can,
armed with Z-packs
and other medication,
his staph advances once again.
I am armed and ready.
I stand at the gate,
watching closely,
I know his plan
to hit me harder
to extract that fee,
but I know just when to strike,
the moment to open that Z.
I have to laugh,
going home has never been so much fun,
i'm certainly not suffering.
But he will come
like a thief in the night
to take me home
suddenly.
I know not when.
"And magnificently we will flow...
into the mystic..." (Van Morrison)
Ghastly sights on the day of the dead frighten me,
Zombie ghouls from the grave will arise from afar
With a howl and a scream sodden ghost running free
Come the fear of dying ‘neath the moon and the star.
On a cold October autumn night keeping watch,
Lest the hand of the witch grab my leg, drag me down
From the rags of my shirt, a demon takes a swatch
I do fear nasty grins of the mime-painted clown.
Vicious haunts of the dead still doth lurk in shadows
Like the pall of one corpse from the hole ever near,
The poor soul freely hangs from old wooden gallows
While I flee like a thief in the night out of fear.
From the depth of my grief here on earth, you hear it,
The deep sighs of my past are still here in spirit.
Written October 17, 2022
[an English-style Sonnet
14 lines of 12 syllables each]
Submitted to "All Hallows' Evening" Poetry Contest
Sponsored by Craig Cornish
POEM OF THE DAY
Poetry Soup
October 19, 2022
THE THIEF IN THE NIGHT
When the desert sun melted away
The armour I wore for protection,
Leaving me free to find my oasis
Of unalloyed pleasure, offered
Without stultifying conditions,
I no longer looked back, anxious
Of retaliatory strike on my spirit,
And in that momentary flash, knew
There would be no comeback
From any hypocritical source
Of self-righteousness.
Needing no filter through which to view
What's plain in sight, I stripped away
The false image of a broken promise
And clothing myself with the clear vibrancy
Of unadulterated love,
Found that peace, like a thief in the night,
Had entered the inner core of who I was.
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