You're the artist with the pen,
the painter with the brush,
the designer with the colour swatches.
You interpret your dreams,
give rise to your ambition,
create your ideal future.
Your vision crystallizes at will,
draws upon your imagination
to materialize your surroundings.
There may be times of ugliness
when the world seems dark and
intent on dragging you down.
Remember this too shall pass,
renew your closeness with nature
and replenish that innate beauty and joy.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
I doubt that you have heard of me.
God saw that I was very ambitious,
And essentially said to me, 'forget it'.
The life lesson that I would prescribe
For you is one that I was forced to learn.
It is this: Be willing for God to write the
Script of your life.
The script I wrote for my life was voided.
My plan in life did not materialize.
I was displeased with the direction
That God allowed my life to go.
Forced against my will, I ended up
In a country I never would have gone.
My prize from God was my life. I was
A writer for the prophet Jeremiah.
My story can be found in his book.
My name was Baruch.
I speak to the skylights
of your tender soul
in formless forms
in eccentric accents
aching in aloneness...
when tragedies of footprints
remain a sculptured secret ~
like an untitled nightfall
dressed in denied definitions
avoiding the touch
of perception
for mindfulness mirrors
memories I hoard
within titanium trays
of masked melancholy…
but I long for you to wear
chronicles carved within
my cold conscience ~
a universe layered
with moulded memoirs
tell me how it feels
to be a beautiful burden
to the jinxed jewels
feasting upon
scrutinized skin of silence
skeletons of psyche ~
too complex
for concave light...
let me stay ~ stretched
in the still solitary sketch
of surrealism ...
I am not a vision
of gold and glitter
that wicked weavers
can materialize
but an unnamed sight ~
a breathing mystery
the eyes of unfelt dusk
fail to stroll through…
intoxicated on pain
~ an ecstasy etched through angst ~
to never be tamed
to never be told
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The fluorescent buzz hums
like a choir of tired angels.
I hold a plastic-wrapped loaf of bread
and think about miracles~
how mine don’t quite materialize.
My hands, soft from keyboards,
have never split a sea
or pressed into a wound
without recoiling.
I flinch at the sight of blood and
the weight of my own shadow.
The clerk sighs,
counting pennies like regrets.
I want to tell her that
the Kingdom is hers,
but my voice cracks
into something small
and human.
At home, my love
is measured in teaspoons~
just enough to sweeten,
never overflowing.
I keep my rage
neatly folded,
my mercy rationed
like discount wine.
God must get so tired
of my arithmetic.
Watch existence burn; see vermilion flames flicker in my eyes
Whilst you stand amongst the ashes and bones of what was never meant to be.
Inhale the murky smoke of contempt,
Choke on particles formed from your contrition.
Feel the accelerating heat scorch distressed flesh.
Quiet—lest my demons hear you scream.
Perched, waiting to devour
A soul so frigid, frostbite seeps from your stagnant veins.
Mercy is nowhere to be found.
Hysterical laughter escapes from my broken lips
As you writhe in pain, trying to escape.
Vines of razor-wire belladonna barricade;
The hunter is now wholly ensnared.
Visions of the past materialize like static,
Disrupting the penultimate bits of your sanity.
Microscopic questions flow rapidly:
Is this version of reality just a delusion,
Disrupting the very fabric of time?
Or are you suffering for your incompetence?
The smell of sulphur grows stronger with each thought.
Through melting breezes, the Pied Piper plays
Such sweet music—wrath’s revenge.
The Devil’s Inferno is calling you home.
Something very transcending about art --
my poison, Poetry! I think of the pen
or keyboard as a wand. I wave and the
images of my mind appear, mystically
in the framework of a composition --
they do, sort of, materialize out of nowhere;
often not intending to write. Then, possessed
a spirit substance gushes from depths of fertile
consciousness! A place I fain where demons
and angels are at constant Chess. I merely
a receptacle for their vehement rivalry. The grace
of God, my goblet shape – they pour in and
out of me...when my session done, a rinse...and
ready to go again.
Looking into the sky and beyond,
does not bring comfort nor fear-
All the different prisms of light,
materialize no matter day or night-
Brings the imagination into a place,
that is far from being clear-
This place that all must venture,
to find true meaning in life-
My two eyes view the prize,
As atoms materialize,
Wise to my emotions,
They perform the chosen perspective.
Respective of my beliefs,
They achieve their directive,
Working with the collective,
Erecting a reality.
Gravity the force,
Keeping us on course,
We share it all with the source.
Intercourse with energy,
Is building the entity,
Created to be felt physically,
Viscerally experiencing what you see.
Learning about eternity,
And infinite possibilities,
Feeling everything intensely,
We start creating memories,
Imprinting them in galaxies,
And parallel realities.
The legacy of a timeline,
Intertwines with the Divine,
Yours mixes with mine.
All eyes shining on the prize,
We're seeing a new life rise,
The surprise on the horizon,
A rising son,
Shining light on another one,
Open your eyes and have some fun,
Because the journey is never done,
This prize is for everyone.
Is it so great to hear them everyday
Singing hosannas, playing harps for you?
And you’re not tired of sorting out their prayers
Not bored to see them trying to pursue?
And the concept of paradise, was it enough
Elaborated, or it could have been concealed
To an extent, because the plot seems rough
At least from what so far has been revealed
Is there the smell of summer breeze at morning,
Are there dewdrops on the leaves of apple tree?
A scent of coffee when my darling says I'm coming,
And there she is, holding a tray for her and me?..
My dear Lord, I guess you’ve been endowed
With a sufficient amount of love and labour
To materialize among the clouds
Please let us live again, do us a favor
Don’t take away this little hope, my Lord
It’s in your power, though you could disclaim
Cause nowadays your world is rumbling with wars
Some of the victims may divulge your name.
To be a fool is too difficult
You can't always think unwise
It comes to little sense when you think only stupid.
You can't simply reject when a Lass smiles
If a fool, you shun. If wise, you smile.
(May the vice versa – fool may smile at the lovely Lass.)
Then comes a thousand trouble
You were wise when you smiled back
You are now a fool while in love.
Your senses tell you; you are a fool to be in love.
Tells your heart you are fair at heart.
Decide you are a fool or wise?
It takes a lot to be a fool--- a full-fledged fool.
It makes sense to be a fool sometime
That sense makes you a wise person
As it needs much wit to be wise
For both live in dreams.
Fool dreams and dreams to dream
The wise dreams and works to materialize the dream
So that the fool can eat the fruits of his wisdom.
Have you decided to be a fool or wise?
Don't be too wise to be a fool.
wonder alicorn Alister flew into my garden on a Thursday night
I had been lonesome, so seeing her was a terrific sight.
In jewel tones of purples, lavenders and turquoise too.
Hey! She said to me, let’s be great friends, if it’s okay with you.
Where did you get your name, I asked Alister, as she landed on a rock.
It was the name of a truly wonderful fiancé’ of my favorite Uncle Brock.
He drove my mother to the alicorn hospital because my daddy was away.
She immediately named me Alister, to honor his lost sweetheart that day.
I have always felt that his love, Alister has been watching me from heaven.
Have seen her materialize a few times since I was six or seven.
She taught that I need to be kind and spread the world with love every day.
And that is what I intend to do to you, in every single alicorn-like way.
That is the day I began to believe in myself and gathered confidence galore.
Alister, the alicorn stayed around and guided me until I was twenty-four.
Then she had to fly back to Imagination Land to help another child.
She was empathetic and wonderful, kind and never very wild.
Breath in, breath out
the tide ebbs in, and surges out,
flows and pauses.
Swings and seesaws rock, bounce and rebound,
up and down, in tick-tock metronome time.
Memories tug, get hugged,
then unclasp, withdraw and let go to fade.
Dreams materialize, then dissolve.
Laughter spits, splits, spills, gushes out,
echoes then wanes to abstain in a chuckle.
Hope flits and flickers like a candle flame
blown to quiver by a shaky breath expelled
while trying to blow
the flame of a birthday candle out.
For the cadence of existence
is a hymn tuned by a conductor's baton
a metric dance, set in a tango two-time step,
a soft-shoe tap rap
in between yesterday and tomorrow,
in between blinks, breath holds.
Nestled momentarily on-hold to pause,
in between the tugs and shoves
of feelings, emotions,
hopes, inspiration
faith and desire.
Hold your breath,
for a brief moment.
Take time to take in
all the ins and outs,
and the roundabout twirls,
that surround you,
while you go
with the flow.
Within the first slivers of platinum moonlight, fireflies flicker.
Diamond dust from a bygone comet streaks by, piercing electric skies,
whilst a balmy August twilight enwraps an aging porch.
The gleam of a single candelabra casts light upon
harlequin-green ivy that tangles around worn banisters,
while primroses grow through cracks in the weathered stairs.
Creaking tones of oaken rocking chairs serenade hushed crickets.
Silhouettes of frolicking barn owls coruscate,
as the aroma of fresh peach pie floats along, synchronizing with the zephyrs.
Nostalgia-infused memories materialize, then vaporize like morning dew.
Your resounding laughter gets swept away,
like a swift current pulling transient sands of time with it.
Ephemeral remembrances are all I have of you now—
momentary glimpses through the Wheel of Time's mirror,
for it’s just the summer breeze rocking your vacant chair to and fro.
Watching material,
Materialize,
Before my very eyes.
Invisible molecules,
Ancient and wise,
Form and fit into their disguise.
Your prize,
Look deep inside,
They're hitching a ride.
Going where you decide,
In the direction you tried,
Exactly how you designed.
Once refined,
Set your goal in sight,
Plan it just right.
Believe in your might,
It's not worth the fight,
Take out some paper and write.
Scribble your hearts desire,
Throw it into your fire,
Requiring just an instant.
Let its imprint,
Burn in the firmament,
Feeling the enjoyment.
Be patient,
Believe in every moment,
Ancient molecules,
Are following their guide.
Loneliness
Loneliness can materialize when you are not alone.
When relationships are strained,
The connection can be lost.
Some of the loneliest moments,
Occur when lying next to someone you love.
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