Deceitful
Conniving
Malevolent
Just a wicked witch
with a putrid rotten heart
AP: 2nd place 2026
Romance revered in classy nightclubs
Harmonics in bluesy melodies & lyrics
Youth, the feeling kept alive in dreams
Teasing hearts with enchanting notes
Heaven most surely did inspire
Magic spells cast across steamy starry nights
Artists and musicians gather inspiration
Never tiring of the game
Distorting truths convoluted as they may be
Bands play way past easy midnight hours
Lessons woven into spicy lyrics
Untangling emotions from wanton machinations
Elated once the music works its wizardry
Seduction melting away unbidden blues
AP: 3rd place 2026
They are trampoline heroes
Battling unknown and unseen demons
Twirling in mock flight
Feigning a fierceness not felt
Children of a lesser fraud
Molded by changing winds
Guided by often unsure hands
Learning to trust in themselves
Lessons from multiple mentors
The necessity of strength
The guidance of gentleness
Softening the voice of anger
They will learn from the building of Magna-tile castles
The basics of perseverance and character
The machinations of a forming mind
Changing with each decision made
They seek without seeking
Think without “thinking”
Trust that the trampoline is safe
Knowing that we are there
You will soon be facing March 2026..' Which as far as I am aware? Will be in
Many places.' Not offering local elections)
We often hear that 'all the power is held way beyond, the grasp of the general
Populace.' So maybe an apathy is grown
I wonder who that might benefit?
However why not ? As a whole nation
Refuse to vote altogther.' It looks as if
That may be a strong action..Against
All the machinations of a rouge system.?
That would negate any planned funneling
Of voters, any misinforming of people, in
Fact it would let the system filter through why it exists at all.? And whether elected
Mp's on the whole, work for the country or
Among themselves.? Or for G M O'S outside of the country.'
Some receivers, see some in claim
To know Peace Nobel’s dubious fame.
Grateful seems Gandhi’s soul
To miss this dodgy dole,
To fate, to spare his pristine name.
_______________________
Happenings | 12.10. 2025 | fame, peace, prize, political
Note: To say, Peace Nobel has lost its reputation is to say the obvious. But off late it has become a laughingstock. Look at the machinations around it-- Trump getting the cake. He has done to it more damage than Kissinger, Obama, and others before him. But if he (the stopper of seven wars!!) gets the prize, it would I think be the last straw on Nobel’s camel. I think the guy should get the Ig Nobel Prize.
Political satire turned obsolete
When Kissinger’s name on Nobel was lit. -- Tom Lehrer
Can someone guess
What if Trump’s name too adds to it?
Been eye banging you for a while now
I got this burning infatuation (and chemistry)
And I’m ruminating on this fantasy
That releases in me the dopamine
Just like an animal in heat
My machinations are charming you
You give me the validation I seek (I seek)
Feeling your touch promotes a pulsing elation
That releases in me the oxytocin
Just like an animal in heat
Chorus
Girl, give me another kiss
A hit of dopamine to feel the bliss (the bliss)
‘Cuz when it comes to you
I’m an animal in heat
Your hex put me in a state of euphoria
A high reward to enhance intense pleasure
I’m gonna ride this wave of excitement
That releases in me the serotonin
Just like an animal in heat
You’re a vixen, meeting all my desires
We attach as our skin makes the connection
We spark in the sheets with rhythmic urges
That releases in me the vasopressin
Just like an animal in heat
Chorus
Girl, give me another kiss
A hit of dopamine to feel the bliss
‘Cuz when it comes to you
I’m an animal in heat
I paint a whimsy in my mind,
A quiet place and pretty,
Where I can simply dream
Child-like without the nitty-gritty
Of the city's less then kind imagination.
In reverie, the gurus say, the mind
Will try visualization, the machinations
Of the Universe, or so it may seem,
But in truth it's just an aberration
Of Reality's unending hallucination!
Obtuse abuse..rude platitudes shout..
About alternative attitudes..generations..
Scream at different altitudes & latitudes..
Venerate mandarins sins..
Generate pernicious vicissitudes
Vicious avaricious machinations..
Celebrate nations chagrin…
Pander to propaganda spin..
AI garlanded reputations..
Cohorts in suits cavort in cahoots..
Kiss or diss..the abyss
Hiss of mis-information bliss..
Arrests..capitalist corporate conquests...detests protest..
Well got egregious prior & previous..
SO
Whatever your hue or world view..
We know what's wrong..doesn't belong
Deliriously daring to dream of derring do..
The meme..prime time you probably knew..
The Force..of course..
Is also seriously strong in you..
she whispers to the bluebird
early every afternoon
whispers in its ear and
it listens as if it understands
she dreams of peace
and they talk for hours
probably devising machinations
to make this world a better place
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
A single dream is worth
a thousand realities.
J.R R. Tolkien
When the world
closes in and presses all ill
to squeeze what space
you have into a tiny ball -
there are always
places where you can go,
be it a quiet wood
or beside a pebbly stream
or any other refuge
your soul can dream.
Such places are beyond
the machinations
of the State, safe provinces
of the creative mind,
chaos and tariff free -
the real estate
of the Sublime.
his name's been on every child's lips
in whirls of fantasy, whimsy, slips and trips
synonymous with awe and wonder
we all grew up with the machinations
of Disney's wild and vivid imagination
a man with the grandest of vision
beautifully executed with precision
AP: 3rd place 2025
sleep god
Somnus
wave your wings like wands
take me
to the magic great beyond
make for my head an earthen pillow
i'll snooze
in the shade of a willow
and when nighttime's silver stars
twinkle
i'll channel my inner Rip Van Winkle
in crystalline canyons
i will take
a trip
in dreamland's mystic mosaic
all surrounded by feathery fluff
i could doze forever in that stuff
replace my machinations
and schemes
with a cornucopia
of fruity dreams
of an angel's warm and loving charms
as I slumber
soundly in her arms
blarrrrrng!
an angry alarm clock
blast
wakes me
tells me
heaven
doesn't last
So now it's official:
there is a trade war
between the U.S. and Canada.
Do we really know what for?
The POTUS claims it's about fentanyl
coming over the border,
but that dangerous chemical ain't exactly plentiful
coming out of my country, a land of law and order.
It's just a flimsy excuse;
a way to heap abuse and utter untruths
about a country that will not bow down
to the whims of a pathetic clown.
Sadly, in this situation
between traditionally friendly nations
there will only be tit-for-tat retaliation,
and the economic devastation
will in no way bring validation
to the asinine machinations
of the current U.S. administration.
The Pumpkinfuhrer only wants to sow devastation.
He is truly an abomination
and is now being confronted without hesitation.
His actions have certainly set a serious tone.
"America First" is about to become "America Alone".
Alas! You dark, grotesque, vile servant of Lucifer, the antithesis of the morning star.
Once again, you have sought me out and endeavored to siphon my light at the end of my tunnel.
In the past, you may have thwarted my desires, cast me into purgatory,
and whispered sophistry in the crevices of my mind.
But NOW your machinations are no threat to me. What once was a callow mind has turned into growth over time.
I have learned to see where there is no light, how to climb where there is no ladder.
So do your best, you nocturnal fiend. Your reign is over; you no longer have influence over me.
Now I know, good times and bad times are like tides that ebb and flow.
So traverse the realms to shroud my days in night.
I will say to thee, “Hello, my old friend. Do your worst, because God has bestowed upon me my own personal light, and I walk by it habitually every day and night.”
Trapped in a bowl to live
On display to be picked apart
Every move watched and discussed
Judged by their own reflection in the mirror
Disconnect from the mind hive
Ignoring and avoiding a good start
Their word farts making me disgusted
The way of their thinking is sheer horror
Trapped in this bowl their vice
Control and manipulation impart
The are trapped in what they constructed
In time their machinations will become their terror
By Cathrin Stuart
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