Waiting
for the
audience
to come to him ...
He refused
to go to them
Shunning
those ears
that hide
from the truth ...
Like a rose
without its stem
Working
in concert
with Muses
above ...
What’s sacred
to remain
Each word
and its
treasure
a gift given once ...
Their measure
— to proclaim
(Dreamsleep: August, 2025)
Life is a one time offer
Use it well to your advantage
Be an example to do good to others
In doing business, act with fairness
Extend help in times of calamity
Never become rich in the usury of others
Give love with a compassionate heart
Help those who cannot help themselves
Never be enamored of things temporal
Seek things which leads you to eternal joy
Live life that is fulfilling to the soul.
Written By: D. Collins 6/18/24
We get a one-time visit through ups and downs of life.
Some of them are good, and some cut like a knife.
But we still go through it, and somehow outlive it.
Jotting down good notes during our one-time visit.
We get one journey, regardless of what you've heard.
Anyone who's come back, I wouldn't take their word.
There are no offramps or street detours.
The flaws we acquired cannot be cured.
We only get one chance to trek through life.
During the one-time visit hope that you lived right.
Even in passing, we can always hold dear.
The mere fact we left something to prove we were here.
You can take my advice for whatever it is worth.......
It's only a brief moment we tread upon this earth.......
One time when I was in nursey school, Miss Shanahan had everyone sit in a circle and one-by-one say what we wanted to be when we grow up.
It was what you’d expect…
Doctor
Firefighter
Astro naught
Truck driver
Race car driver
Veterinarian
Police officer
Movie star
Baseball player
Actress
Princess
Detective
Engineer…and the like
Then it was my turn:
“What do you want to be when you grow up Bobby?”
I thought about it a minute, and said
“God.”
That threw her for a loop.
There was no braggadocio.
No narcissism, no conceit, no misplaced pride
I didn’t think I had a shot at it or anything.
Just seemed to me it would be the top job.
Can’t blame me.
She arrived at 3pm on the dot
coming anywhere other than Greater Manchester
her northern accent was hard to decipher
She could recognise a meter oak
but had no time for Robinas
She enquired why guys were into figures
after i mentioned my SL120 record player
She was fiercely Red/ Green
believing in mandated proportional representation
She had a German Granny
and could understand, but not speak Deutsch
She could only thank me for a chat
not wishing for a relationship
my efforts thwarted
no green shoots
The second someone says ONE TIME OFFER
You know there is something fishy about it
Or that one time is a fabrication
Run from this as fast as you can
I have learned this over and over
The hard way
My heart beats
harder at the thought
of farewell
We are here
just to meet and part in life~
merely sojourners!
When I lie
dead in my coffin
pale and white
motionless,
you all will send me away
with a farewell kiss.
All I wish,
as you bid adieu
is to keep
me fondly
in your kind thoughts now and then
after laid to rest!
Placed Second
Feb.18.2022
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Sheila almost always lands on her feet
Except that one awful time
Her final day on earth
Why do we wake up smiling, I know, it's love
Each day is to be treasured coz each day's a plus
Love is the answer
It's a life's enhancer
To enjoy the one-time-only experience that lies before us
The night retreats in silence,
as daylight rules the fray
Darkness reigns the past goodbye
this moment not a dream
The present all we’re given
the future lies astray
Repeating truth inside itself
—one time forever means
(Villanova Pennsylvania: December, 2018)
One time above a little shop,
An old greengrocer climbed on top,
Despite himself he could not stop,
The world had changed forever.
The fruit of that old grocers loins,
Became obsessed with notes and coins,
She knew the club she had to join,
For she was very clever.
Yet not as clever as the man,
From council flat in Birmingham,
Bought her vision and now he can,
Not get help for his wife.
A wife he loves and yes adores,
Who gave him joy and did his chores,
And lives today in corridors,
The last days of her life.
She sleeps and so he sits a while,
And raises just a little smile,
As he begins to reconcile,
The error of his ways.
He sees a TV playing news,
A woman in expensive shoes,
Repeats the grocers daugthers views,
F*** off out loud he says.
I went to a nude beach one time
Where tanning was filling their needs
Ronald MacDonald in his prime
Showed his buns of sesame seeds
That's a crazy way to see a clown
But that wasn't the show stopper
Heads turned around and jaws fell down
When burger King showed his whopper!
The Dairy Queen's milk containers
Really caused most of the uproar
They looked the same, but twice the size
No one saw jugs that large before!
I had to crawl before I could walk
I had to babble before I could talk.
I drank milk before I could eat,
Bawled and cried myself to sleep.
I tried to walk, I fell down,
I tried to talk, sounded like a clown.
My teeth grew in I started to eat
Most of the food fell at my feet.
When I fell, I cried and stood back up;
My speech improved, no more sippy cup.
That's growing from infant to adulthood
Sometimes it's bad, other times it's good.
Life in recovery is much the same
It's life or death; it's not a game.
When you fall, get back on your feet.
Don't give up, never accept defeat.
Now when you walk, your steps seem all wrong
Someday you'll find they're steady and strong.
It's ok to fail, it happens to us all,
Just get up one time more than you fall.
Sept 12/17
D H Loewen
Day and night, together your body next to mine,
Your tender kiss to my lips,
At one time.
You are inside of my mind dreaming about you
Holding hands, happy times,
At one time.
Your face that shows charming gentle of you
Thinking over to bring back you and me,
At one time.
I feel you... holding you, touching me
Moments of love here in my side,
At one time.
We stay together this way, to love us both in life
Good reality, at one time my dear.
© Jocelyn Dunbar
14 April 2006
9:55 PM
she sits on my shoulders, wrapping, twining
long legs warm round my neck
so tight at times, I cannot
breath
she looks long in my eyes
deep and intent
past the glass as if to discover
everything
to pull it all up, to
study it
is truth a product of vanity, some kind of
futility
as is said
sometimes
I see nothing unless it sees me
and she is so much of my system
right now
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