characters and symbols written in forms
fonts and cases stroked and scrolled
in the chamber of gold
I do not know how or when it happened.
One day I was by myself.
Then you swept me away.
Sponsor Nette Onclaud
Contest Name THE NUMBERS GAME
Date 8/30/2026
CARNEY HAS BIG LEAD
TRUMP NUMBERS HAVE GONE TO SEED
PIERRE NUMBERS BLEED
POLL NUMBERS ARE LIES
NUMBERS THAT TRUMP DOES DESPISE
CAN YOU HEAR HIS CRIES?
#1
nine red-violet
idols intervened to
deliver an enliveningly
violent diversion for
our toney tender loins
#2
no fewer than
four woeful felon were-
wolf loungers re-
newed growling aboard their
newly tainted yellow-green and
grunge-splattered gurneys
#3
for blue-mean burgeoning
golf states the
best way to retool blonder
hair shaft maintenance is
through nebulous
globalization combined with
the further whirled onset of
bald faced lies
Two new stoves off-
set fifty woven ivy
nests of seven even
fewer snotty soft wet
toes than any iffy
stiff event could ever
hold a torch to
touch the blight that
grits into your
ayes and
all-enclosing rap-
id vapid wire
minds.
He's not the boy she used to know
wherever in the world did he go
nor the man we once knew
but it only goes to show
time and tide took its toll
for all that he's become
and just one look will soon tell
if he'll maintain or succumb
as overwhelmed by numbers
and totally surrounded
through all weather can he ever
remain steadfast or grounded
One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine
Pencil in hand, eraser handy, Folger’s in my stein -
doing eighty-one U-turns; nine digits in line.
Niching nine numbers in their nests nets a homerun.
Sudoku books provide a steady diet of puzzle “fun”;
wits, nerves, logic, patience, sheer grit gets her done.
Crack such puzzles and prove your brains really rate;
with no repeats (box, column and row) - Sudoku checkmate!
Turn about face, do your one-eighty and celebrate…
There is a story within the journeÿ;
And there is a journey within the story.
Let the numbers both show and tell.
A 17 year old high school graduate
Went some 600 miles North
And stayed for 7 years.
6 jobs, 4 years of college,
2 years of marriage,
And 1 child born.
Returned to the South
And stayed for 4 years.
4 jobs and 1 child born.
Went 2000 miles West
And stayed for 43 years.
4 jobs, and 1 child born.
Returned to the South
4 years ago to retire
With his bride and
54 years of marriage.
When you add it all up,
The numbers are intertwined
With the journey and the story.
So far, by the numbers,
The totals come to 2751.
This number is history, and
The present numbers are yet
Unfolding. Mystery awaits.
But for now,
The story is not finished.
So the journey continues.
SEPARATION BLUES
POLLING NUMBERS NOT GOOD NEWS
SEPARATISTS BLOW FUSE
Sometimes,
Being there to make up the numbers,
To keep the club alive,
Until others have the time,
A task though hard to define,
Can be a good way to spend one's time,
As a club that thrives,
Can change many lives,
Reward enough,
For those with time on their hands,
To witness what might not have been.
One and one is eleven.
Really, what else can it possibly be?
You're sending me to school?
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
one is a spark,
two is a clash,
three's a crowd bash
four twines the braid
squares up the sides
tradeoff abides
light the candle,
enjoy shared roles,
four conjoint souls
triad anguish
seeks a fourth goal
mandala whole
Time keeps going
My love keeps ticking
My hands keep revolving
Over the numbers shared
With you
For a moment
My little hand
Stopped and stood still
On a 9
Imagining a cloud beneath me
I’m floating
This is how you
Make me feel
I looked up
Met you at 11:11
We reset
Time begins again….
In these systems so broken,
where no truth can be spoken
fighting to keep it alive
no one on your side.
Every hour, we’re waiting to feel not so suffocated
leaving our lives behind; it’s just expired time.
Weekends are no end now, months just become years
you start to miss having feelings
what was it like to have tears?
Of course, you never win, in this game you’re in
it’s always the fault of your own, your fault and yours alone.
That party that you didn’t attend
the family Christmas that you spent
picking up each piece, they had you on your knees.
So void and so empty but outside there’s plenty of people just like you,
just pushing through.
No one ever told you that this was the point
everything you’ve ever dreamed, is really not what it seemed.
This race is years long, the road ahead stays unchanging
all of us are just numbers that they can count twice.
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