I'm a hollow soul with a needle, no matter if it's herion ice or crack...I don't have a little monkey, I have king Kong hangin on my back... Where's my wife and kids these days, what happened to my job...I haven't brushed my teeth or showered in a week, when did I become a slob....I'm a hollow soul with a needle, my own family will I lie to cheat and steal.... Cause all I care about is getting high, just to change the way I feel...So off to the methadone clinic again, can't shoot herion anymore... cause I can't find anymore veins to hit, and my arms are getting sore...I'm a hollow soul with a needle as I lay here feeling so sick... with restless legs and upset stomach, just craving that hollow little prick...Man that's messed up about Brandon and Randy, both of them dying this year....If I didn't catch hepatitis c shooting up, ide probably drink a little beer....So a hollow soul with a needle kids, is this what you really want to be.... Cause it will take your lives to the darkest hell you're eyes will ever see....
Header note:
Pattern Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Sara Kendrick
Submission: July 14, 2026
Title: The Pattern of Hope
THE PATTERN OF HOPE
With needle and hope she sewed one piece of wool,
And from the bunting, star and stripe were born.
Red, white, cut by candlelight and careful pull,
A circle of thirteen, each by one snip worn.
Betsy, widow of courage, turned cloth to free,
Fed her family with hands that would not tire.
She made a nation’s pattern from nothing — see?
A flag of love stitched out of need and fire.
Now Sara cuts for daughters, just the same,
With very little money, but a heart of light.
Two women, different years, but one true name:
Courage that stitches darkness into bright.
From Betsy’s flag to Sara’s hem to me —
One needle, one pattern, sets our spirits free.
Time may heal wounds,
but you heal life.
No medicine, no exercise—
just your words, your love.
Like a needle leading thread
through the skin,
your love pains me,
yet defines my life.
My eyes may bleed,
my mouth run dry,
but your love and touch
satisfy my heart,
filling my world with dreams.
Every moment of tears, pain, and sacrifice
brings my broken pieces together.
After you bow to say sorry—
eyes on me, arms around my waist—
I cannot avoid the pain of having you,
because it comes with living hope.
My body is ready, skin to heart,
for your heartbreaks.
I need them for my soul
to mend, to heal,
to stitch your heart to mine.
Twilight tiptoes through curtained clover leaves
Spotless starlings flighty thank mighty Lord
spindly legs shake spritely on light breeze
chirping remind us day is just a chord
achievements complete marked confirming hours
manifesting with both hands and clear head
paper and pencil danced in neat bower
patterned sensations twirled needle and thread
silent hymn I await bright sickle moon
Spirit dissolves wanton wispy wishes
lotus blossoms, liberating mind a boon
intentions flowing with flimsy swishes
Moment to moment tasks tangent complete
every twilight heralds a morrow sweet !
____________________________________
[howmanysyllables.com : 140]
Two hearts lost to love
Our dreams writ across the skies,
A flight of Sun and Moon,
Bringing opportunity, not obstacles
Beguiling reality, so vivd
Yet unreal simultaneously
Are we caught in mirror's gaze
Movement from the corner of an eye
Senses prickling with realisation
Have we truly waited this long
To find and be found
Did fate flinch for us
Navigating by the same stars
Our compass points are true
The destination is unknown
Yet we yearn for the journey
We reach through that mercury
Proving no obstacles bind us
Summit mountains where others fell
Threading the needle of our dreams
wri
ting is
knitting
your life
thro ugh
a nee dle
and if
you sew
emotion
secret
you’ll
get
nu
dg
ed
a
w
e
e
n
s
y
Writing is knitting through the needle if you sew emotion, secret, you'll get nudged a weensy
Man weds cockroach in church ceremony
Guests munch on freshly grilled abalone
Pastor upholds his sworn duty
Lectures bride and groom on infidelity
Barely two months into marriage
Tiny baby cockroach appears in a carriage
Headlines shout out the bad news
Seems Mrs. Cockroach was groped and abused
Minister contacted Planned Parenthood
Lacking precedent, post-full-term abortion approved
Step all over your footsteps of past
throw away your tear wet napkin
slowly cut your wrists than touch your lips
as if death can't come soon enough
call all your selfish ideas, pick one
hopefully one will end you forever.
Stand still sudden feel of needle thrill
high and free you live the dream
that smell won't leave my clothes
in this afterworld I'm awake and cold
now I know I will never grow old.
on hidden tracks
silence -
“listen closer”
rebuke paradise
wealth and good deeds aside ~
eye of the needle
Before the dawning of this world age
My Father spoke, exchanging premise I was in Him needle to tread
In the grace, His space
A line define energies graft through the tunnel in womb needle to tread
~
I come, I came through too needle to tread, I bled
Awaken fully physically dead yet I live eternal needle to tread
8/30/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
I whispered goodbye with my forehead pressed against the pane.
My breath fogged my words as I watched you walk from my thoughts.
The loneliness is longer this time.
My side seems so bare now that the threads are undone.
I should find my sewing box.
Put a nickel on the needle
Hold me down so I won't skip
Spin the red top round and round
Catch me before I hit the ground
You sunk my battleship
You knocked my block off
You catch me quite off guard
Should you ever breathe my way
You'll wreck my house of cards.
©SamHarty
There once was a noble man, a tailor,
A great soul disguised in a routine role,
In sea of humdrum life, a skilled sailor
In search of a hallowed path of plain goal.
A king when came to him, homage to pay,
Gifted a pair of scissors made of gold
That left the sage ponder, if somewhat cold,
Declining the award, no more to say.
What else may I O Great Sage, asked the king,
Give if ye must, give a needle that stitch,
Scissors tend to diminish, dividing,
Needles bond, strive togetherness so rich,
Bring broken hearts back as ere to abide,
Not scissors, let needles be a man’s guide.
__________________________________________
Sonnet (Reflections | 03.05.2008, revised Jan 2024|
Drop the Needle on the Record
And that sweet soul music blast
" Baby "
Sorry
" Grandad "
A relic now from a previous age
And when you do and it begins
Listen very carefully to whence it starts
To that beautiful cracking sound it makes
And just sit back relax
As it slowly takes and makes you
drift further back and back in time
And in doing so triggers fresh new
memories you though you lost and
who you had left behind
And makes you feel both happy and
youthful once again
Maybe reminding you of your first love
very first dance
Who they were and where you met them
And what it felt like once upon a time
to be young and fall in love for the very
first time
You choose as the song to dance with
your wife at your wedding
The very same cracking noise that
enters and plays out in your head
Which you are left with on repeat and
tenders your mouth dry and speechless
When you are truly dumbstruck in
the presence of someone you not
only just like
But probably have already fallen head
over heels and deeply in love with
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