With blistered hands we reach for the things that are sweet,
And gather the ashes that fall at our feet.
We barter for things that decay,
And cry when it all gets swept away.
We hide from the heat,
Believing every sting is our defeat.
Yet, these earthen vessels are broken before being filled,
The stone must be struck before the waters are spilled.
Our small comforts we guard and we run from the rod,
We mistake our wounds for the absence of God.
We forget that oil is pressed,
And the soul must be emptied before it finds rest.
The branch must be pruned before blossoms appear,
And joy that we seek is bought through the tear.
So open these hands that have clung to the clay,
And shatter the jar for the dawn of the day.
Almost Mistake
I'm alright, I'm okay,
I just made a mistake.
I think this is the end and I’ll never see you again.
It’s me, not you,
I am not for you.
I thought it could be something.
But it was just me, wanting to be something.
not hurt,
just sad.
This ending
came too fast.
A bit mad at me and you, maybe the good Lord too?
Too late, my fault.
I got lost in my thoughts.
Like I always do.
I need to be free and
run from this dream
before it completely traps me.
It’s too good, it's too wrong,
I don't want this to stop.
This mistake is the worst
I feel like I'm cursed.
What's wrong with me, I'm stuck in this dream.
I'm not okay, I'm burning away.
I know I’ll miss every part of this,
I was in bliss and all I needed was this.
Last straw...
last step...
I have some regrets.
Will you miss me?
Maybe think of me?
I guess I'm alright but I'm not okay
this...you...maybe we weren't a complete
Mistake
Don't sing in Singapore..Of freedom or you'll get it raw.' Basic humanity is not
A thing, you can't sing..Or it could mean
( sing sing') if you brimg.? Notice of hate
Crimes going on in action; or maybe in song.? There's no 'giver-ment' in there
Current regime, they live in a 1940s capure in latency.' If you get what i mean
No honour of the blood then spilled they
Are sold out..I see they just dish the swill
Given by a money lending land where
Usery is the god, and violence rules, a
Place where bio-warfare played, subjecting their own populace, no remorse have they, they stuck them like
Rats in a experiment, how long before
These people vent.? Unspeakabe things
Where put in thir bodies' i find it all
appalling, and much more than shoddy.'
Their epstein type rulers, take everyone
For fools, they cook up false
emergencys ignore human dignity, no decency there now
Rules.'
To just slip away,
the borderline miss, regret hits.
Anger at not trying a lil more,
just a few more cm,
I could have pushed.
To be a step before the threshold,
to end up second,
to be behind that last person to be chosen.
This hit to the core.
Fate and luck just threw me outta the throne.
This failure is worse than simply losing the game.
'Cause you could have been one,
you could have made it,
history could have changed.
It's all about that one step
that could have been taken,
the wheel could have been turned.
It's too late.
Nothing can be done.
Tripped over a tongue twister
AP: 1st place 2026
At the chime
of Father time
if you goof
with mind aloof
slave to fate
plans stalled late
Master will charge
like Madame Defarge.
I am the ruler of Vienna, Duke Vicentio.
As a friar, I have gone incognito.
In my absence, I have appointed my deputy, Angelo.
I hoped Angelo would rule efficiently.
However, incompetence is now all I see.
It behooves me to remove him immediately.
Based on the play "Measure for Measure", by William Shakespeare
Wrong exit taken
ma and pa restaurant food
countries hidden gem
I made a measly mistake today
the family communal text site blew up
I had typed in
you will have three presents today
all three daughters claimed they had received presents from me
with a note that said “you are my favorite”
It got wilder and crazier before I saw the sixteen texts
they had sent back and forth claiming favoritism for themselves
I typed this back “you are all knuckleheads. This text was
for my friend Marianne who has a birthday, not you goofballs”.
I included a farting elephant for good measure.
I do believe my mistake gave my daughters the
most fun they have had in a long time
Hi there, how's it going?
Oops, I thought you were my cousin.
Methinks my eyesight's getting worse.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2026
Women
Think
They
Are
Smarter
Than
Men
The universe's greatest mistake
It knoweth not how to replicate
It marvels at man in his wake
The beauty he sees
Peering o'er the glimmering lake
How his mind moves from state to state
Love, hate, dream, and curiosities that consume.
His dispairs and glooming
Far seer of chances looming
On horizons his mind's eye perceives
Supplanting there his own destinies
At play in a sandbox given thee
From, and of his own mind,
He creates reality
Where most do stumble, blind
-What marvel, humankind
Hey can do's..' How do we do.? Just your
Ruminent here' Kangeroo... Who Watched
Old Elon gettin carried away...Who's a different type of ' colonial yet of an ilk' from
Contact culture could be hey.? He bounded around..Note that..' Yet don't make fun of me.!! LOL))) Hyped on the election win and all that American humans could be..' And right then at that very (point.?) I felt a soberness hit.' Or appear somwhere that I
Call my gut i suppose.? And mars..
I observed just what was it.? He had a glow.? And certainty
A godlike type of aura.' Whats there to hate? And i'm not irate.) Yet I glimpsed maybe ( the road to hell ) And i've been in my past another maker..? Look on this I rather not dwell.' I'm sure I felt a sadness and it? Hmm?..Well I beleive it came from God...It was a feeling of..Or? Knowing His
Shoulder turned, as a parent who felt the
Rub..? Of that child in a crowd of others whom could all do it on their own..Against
The ( maw of a yawing eternity ) a chill came into my spiritual bones.. And in the
Realisation i really
Felt alone.)
WHAT’S MY MISTAKE?
I didn’t ask you for supplements,
yet you turned me into cuisine.
I didn’t ask you for a chamber,
yet you destroyed my residence.
I didn’t ask you for a cloak,
yet you tore my skin and wore my fur.
I didn’t ask you for anything—
does that give you the right to take my life too?
Did I ask you to hit us with vehicles?
Yet you walk free, without an FIR.
Did I ask you to break my legs?
Still, you drink me as soup.
Did I ask you to tie crackers around our necks
and laugh at our painful cries?
Did I ask you to kill my children
before my eyes—
while if I resist, it becomes an offence?
You ruthless demons commit every cruelty,
yet I—
born speaking a different language—
am called the mistake.
Or is being born
into this cruel human world
my only crime?
Give me space
in the womb of this world
to sleep—
and sleep eternally.
Betwixt where and whose
Swings the hit and miss of life,
To win and to lose.
He whose focus’s rife
On where the mistake was made
Goes way far in life
And he who dwells on
By whom was the mistake made
Nary far hast gone.
_________________________
Senryu | 15.12.2025 | error, failure, fault, life, loss, success
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.