still stands on solid ribs
My love once looked at me
that way
I call you home
even where crooked angles
fight for space
against contesting cobwebs
The neighbors walk
golden retrievers,
but I do not know their names
There is love in one of the rooms
one room away from me
where pictures escape their frames
and jump at new opportunity
I cannot
hold onto anything
that will anchor in mud
These stairs are sinking
There is blue and green
and skylight
one room away
I hear the mockingbirds
chittering for joy
where colors mate for life
The unsentimental earth
holds it all down
closer than kissing
and a shared bed
That love knew such
continuity
when the weight of it
mattered most
The world is all askew.
We have been treading daily on eggshells.
The stress level is tangible.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 3rd place 2026
The pot is melting...
The 'great melting pot'
This elaborately constructed pot holds a motley of colors and flavors
Once strong and pleasing to the eye, bustling with all of its aromatic juices, flavors, and textures
The great pot of RED, WHITE, and BLUE draws so many, and the few
Indigenous peoples and many others from great and small distances assimilate in this great pot
For a while, the cooking and eating were good, I mean pretty good
So good that still more ingredients desire to be added to this melting pot to bolster the flavor even more
But now, this great pot is disintegrating
Too hot now, is this pot
Too hot with deleterious elements that threaten the constitution of this great amalgamation
The pot is melting
The 'great melting pot'...
It is melting
Written: July 7, 2026 for a contest sponsored by Tania Kitchin
Checked by HMS.COM ( 9/9/6/6/9)
******************
A flamingo turned pink in the sun
Said, "This blistering summer is done
I am baking like bread
From my toes to my head
So I'll wade where the cool currents run
You came from dark hibernation of cold
with sun-starved chilled memory shadows old.
To melt your gelid gloom
I fired hearth of my room,
livened by warmth you perked up in my fold.
The air was thick with things unsaid,
I watched your lips, a silent prayer.
The push and pull within my head
was more than I could easily bear.
Watching and waiting, I held my breath,
tracing the shape of what I wanted.
The evening came to a quiet end,
as we stood together at the door.
I felt the magnetic current bend
as you reached out to ask for more.
Your hands slid along my jawline's trace,
holding me steady, face to face.
I was so shy when you asked to kiss
but you felt the fire and took control.
Your fingers in my curls brought sudden bliss
as a deep, new hunger claimed my soul.
Our lips found a rhythm, gentle and hungry
and I melted against you, forgetting my name.
It was a beautiful, long-lasting kiss.
Tender and lost in the dark night.
We clung to the depth of a moment like this,
breathless and chasing a new delight.
Until the neighbour's motion sensor light
blasted us both with a stadium spotlight.
IN AND OF MELTING AWARENESS
(Apropos Of A Messaging Snowman)
That frosty Snowman,
Stood there, messaging winter’s
Warm paradox:
His carrot nose had fallen;
Likewise, his two marble eyes:-
Melting clocks on branches of thought, dripping seconds into the ocean,
My consciousness—a whirl of shadows and lights dancing chaotically,
Seeking the truth hidden behind the wax masks of reality.
Words collapse like autumn leaves, leaving silence behind,
Stripping away layers of artificial knowledge, illusory certainties,
Until I stand naked before the boundless mirror of existence.
I discover that truth is not a treasure to be found, but a veil to be lifted,
From the eyes of a mind weary from so much futile searching outward,
When all that was needed was to look inward, into the void full of whispers.
I unfold like a lotus flower under the moonlight,
Petal by petal, I let go of false identities, of roles played,
Until only the pure essence remains, unaltered by time and thought.
In this profound silence, I hear for the first time the melody of truth,
A song without notes, a symphony of the creative void,
And I understand that awakening is not a journey, but a return home.
Of Melting And Solidifying
Solid ice
is very cold,
but easily
melts away,
even in cool
temperatures:-
Oh, if only
we could
ice bigotry’s
cold oppression,
in these heated days
of radical inequalities:-
In doing so,
we need
only
to deep freeze
injustice:-
In doing so,
we may
just melt
away fear,
and solidify hope.
Summer Joy Hiku
a sweet cold treat
melting softly in the mouth~
summer joy in hand.
e
r ~ ~ a
a s -w -e -e -t c o l d t ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ t
m ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ y in the m ~o ~ u ~t ~h~
e ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ l
l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~t
t ~ ~ ~ ~ f
l ~ ~ ~o
n ~ s
g
s ~u ~m ~m ~e ~r j -o -Y in h ~ a ~n ~d.
Written: June 20, 2025, for contest sponsored by Brian Strand
****************************
claustrophobic h e a r t
pounds beneath a
l
a
b
a
s
t
e
r~
no escape from l
o v
e
**************
alabaster w a l l s
melt b e n e a t h your whispered n
a
m
e~
l
o v
e breaks every lock
This morning’s slush is melting
From last night’s dust of snow
Which, since it wasn’t pelting,
Left little trace, although…
Some little mounds keep clinging
To surfaces of grass,
Enough for snowball flinging
Before the urge might pass.
This weather’s awfully fickle –
It almost feels like spring,
But it’s more like a tickle,
Awaiting winter’s zing.
Still, I’m out by the river,
Just soaking up the sun
Which the heavens did deliver
To get all the melting done.
One look at the years
The shock of floating glaciers
Melting fast my soul.
The melting point of married life:
Stay together but not talking
No hug, no smell, no story to tell
No sweet moment, everyone is on the phone
Sleeping in opposite direction
Preparing clothes independently
Busy friendship with others
Forgetful to important family event
No friction, less feeling, no meeting
Lastly, break up!
And by the pristine fallen snow
That shimmers like stars in the night
My heart emits a fervent glow
Brought on by this crystalline sight
For I've witnessed long Winters past
From my childhood unto this day
Like life, I knew it'd never last
Watching it slowly melt away
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