By our village home perched on a green plateau low
a sparkling brook meandered like a garland to flow.
On its waters paper boats I at five sailed with glee
to distant dreamland configured in my infant fantasy.
At fifteen and in teens to study seriously I was told,
for that shaped what the future for me would hold.
Between study and play I carefully divided time spell.
My strategy worked for in the exams I did fairly well.
At thirty to curve the tough career course I was busy,
in the competitive world that for me was not easy.
The onus of raising the family I also needed to face.
I felt happy that this I could do well by God’s grace.
At fifty when I was scaling career’s challenging height
the coming retirement days loomed large in my sight.
With the children settled and gone on their own ways
I planned well for me and my wife to meet those days.
At seventy I felt I was walking on the last mile track,
but with the life spent I was contended looking back.
I thanked God for gifting me new days’ sunrise to see,
pondered when the fated end would come to take me.
It'd taken root in desert sands
a cactus that never bloomed
for in its past a secret loomed...
struck down as justice demands
Left to blow about in the wind,
detached from what was real
no guilt or remorse did it feel...
just a vagabond who had sinned
Whispers Peaches & Claire
saw a monster that hung in the air
It arrived in the latest of nights
under covers they hovered in fright
It loomed o’er the bed high above them
with red eyes and black wings flapping wild
And fixed its dark gaze right upon them
deciding which one was its child
But as the sun’s rays broached the window
and shadows no longer appeared
The demon became but a memory
— to live deep inside of their fears
(Rhymes From The Nursery: May, 2026)
In the noisy forest
that loomed dark, dense and dreary
a python, like a dead log
lay without sound.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
With acorns stashed and tail afluff,
he climbed the ramp—enough’s enough!
The coaster loomed, a metal beast,
yet rodents crave adventure’s feast.
The harness snapped (a nervous squeak),
the tracks began their groaning creak.
Up, up, up—then WHOOOSH! he fell,
his tiny paws gripping the carousel.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Paul the squirrel tucked acorns 'neath his chin,
dreamt of tides and boarding in~
a tail for rope, a nut for gold,
his oak ship creaked, both brave and bold.
So Paul climbed the mast so vast~
Oak tree rigging, held on fast.
Acorn doubloons filled his chest,
With whiskey in paw,
Whispered, Aye, the West is best!
But storm clouds loomed—his tail went slack~
when oak-leaves turned his raft aback.
Yet home he scampered, safe and spry,
to stash his loot in his piebald tie.
Real-Life Demogorgons
Life felt like Hawkins—
quiet streets hiding screaming sirens.
Mind Flayers weren’t fiction anymore;
they learned my name.
I was lost like Will,
vanished between breaths,
woke up shivering
in an Upside Down crib—
air thin, walls breathing fear.
I walked on jagged glass,
barefoot in my own thoughts.
Locked inside my skull,
my body spasmed with truths unsaid.
My mind—flayed
not by monsters,
but by my own sins.
Arggh!
I wanted out.
The Demogorgon loomed—
faceless, black, relentless.
Should I speak this pain aloud,
or bury my life
in a pit of silence?
No—
I heard footsteps of the other me,
the one who survived.
Friends became flickering lights,
stringing hope through the dark,
showing me a path I couldn’t see alone.
I was found—
not dead,
but drowning
in endless shadows,
Eaten by real-life Demogorgons
with familiar faces:
fear, shame, loneliness.
Yet here I stand—
scarred, shaking, breathing—
proof that monsters are real,
but so is salvation.
Recovering from a bridge that's been burned
depends on who lit the match that started the fire."
~ by poet
I stood alone, watching as our bridge was burning
His words were flames growing higher and higher
Ashes fell as if they were dust from dying stars
I was completely lost and disenchanted
mesmerized by the fire's golden glow
Darkness loomed over me in mourning's hour
as dawn was slowly waking beyond the hills
I was seized with the chill of being in pain
Thinking never again would I trust in love
Why should I when it ended like this?
Years spent together would belong to the past
and memories dim like the last breath of twilight
but come unbidden when I'd least expect them
Unwanted intrusions in reveries and dreams
of scars and wounds scorched across my heart
Each breath I took became a struggle
One I wasn't sure I could continue taking
I wondered if this sorrow would ever end
and if there was no tomorrow, would I care
since the bridge between us no longer existed
Enchanting garden grounds
Jasmine, flora, and avion exotica
Zeal unbounds
Budding blooms loomed
graphic epiphanous mecca
Gifts groomed
Frond blades
Palmed Areca
shades
Enchanting garden grounds
graphic epiphanous mecca
shades
It was a Christmas Eve.
Wearing my casual winter outfit
I set out for my granny’s home,
a mile away from my dwelling.
The moon rising from the horizon
spread its soft glow all around.
Under my feet, on the snow-clad ground,
the silhouettes of the snow laden trees,
appeared to me as the spirits of the dead.
The dilapidated houses with icicles under their roofs,
loomed up to me like the ghosts with mouths open wide.
Silence everywhere, and not a soul nearby,
I felt that I was haunted by them at every step.
My heart pounded out of my chest
and my teeth chattered beyond my control.
This unusual jugalbandi made me unconscious.
When I awoke, I was in a hospital bed,
cold to the bone and wet through with the sweat.
Colonel loomed large with his lieutenant
solid chunk of life kisses death intimately
blue aura of woody smoke rise
flashing across mental screens wise
Solid chunk of life kisses death intimately
an instant adjusting lens and memory
flashing across mental screens wise
meeting with Ministers of State dies
An instant adjusting lens and memory
arriving long before appointed time
meeting with Ministers of State dies
waiting equals patience eating pies
The catching up began steady
tiny portals of Light descended
beams directed heavy bags ready
cigarettes and gaffes lit discomfort
Tiny portals of Light descended
blue aura of woody smoke rise
cigarettes and gaffes lit discomfort
Colonel loomed large with his lieutenant
It was one of those days, oh it was!
When the clouds had decided to escape from sun's claws.
And loomed over the city in a cloak of grey,
Letting escape rare streaks of ray.
Time had all but stopped, waiting with bated breath,
For the rain to come pouring down in a heavy sheath.
Children stopped playing; birds nestled deeper in their nests,
While the clouds gathered over horizon for their quests.
The winds decided to play along picking up speed,
Making the trees bow down in heed.
Finally the sun won this long battle of will,
Breaking through the bondage in a quest of kill.
Breeze sighed through the lands one last time,
Before the afternoon broke through, sweet and sublime.
Like a dark shadow i loomed over a yin and their yang,
Once together, once separated, now finally restitched together again,
The sun sent its pillows to throw hard diamonds at the souls, without clear intention,
whether to celebrate,
whether to scare them away,
It was too late,
My hand reached and clenched the two,
Squirm, scream, squish, until only ooze was in my grip,
My gift,
Two, now one.
That summer night air forgot to
breathe, I forgot something too.
Not sure what, but I remember:
a star landed in the curved moon
—I saw it in the reflection
of my steaming apple tea
I remember wanting to
tell you, I witnessed a celestial love:
A lone star found her place
rested in the crescent’s embrace
I thought you’d love the story, a love
defying geography. I wondered
if you were seeing what I was, if
our gazes collided
above the thin cotton clouds. I giggled
thinking perhaps it’d count
as a date. I remember
I heard you, in the barely
flowing air, your voice a hushed ghost
I tried to keep you, so
I put light between my fingers
In the wispy gray, you sounded
a little more present, defying
our past and our future—
The stale smoke
smelt nothing like you, but I
remember how it loomed around me
that night, and we watched
In the reflection,
moon and star, until
ripples swallow them into dark auburn
You were T
^ h ^
A e R
N O
C H
v
When reality was unmoored and adrift
When life’s harshest winds ripped a rift
When ominous clouds loomed overhead
When anger leashed gloom tinged red
You were a ( ( (( VOICE )) ) ) of reason
When kindness and healing was sparse
When probable friendships were a farce
You gave me hope, you kept me grounded
When rebound of love’s alarms sounded
You are a J
E W E
L of the sea
A whirling tsunami washed you ashore
A precious rock, I’d come to adore
Like colorful sea glass, I’m eased by you
A gem of a gift gallant and true
A treasured heart about to unfurl
I’m destined to be your pearl of a girl
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