When I take a scenic photo, it brings me directly into the moment
Everything else slips away like a cleaning rush of water arrived
No worries, no other thoughts, just stunning beauty in front of me
All with gratitude that I captured this momentary view to see
Heidi Sands
6/5/26
(C)opyright
be careful what you say
and who you say it to
because the power of the tongue
is serious business.
Understand this,
when your thoughts are verbalized,
here's what happens.
Whether consciously or unconsciously,
your words are captured
in another person's mind,
and sometimes,
your thoughts become
their thoughts.
Now when those thoughts
are spoken elsewhere,
somewhere down the line,
they're transferred
to another person's mind,
Intermingled with other thoughts
that person heard
at some point in time,
so on and so forth.
In other words,
sometimes,
it all starts with you
So be careful
not to be talking loud and saying
nothing,
because somebody's listening
to what you say.
So think before you speak
and be careful what you say,
and who you say it to.
Form: The Vesper Step
The teapot pours out the sky,
The beetles hum us a tune,
We watch the clouds float on by,
And dine upon the pale moon.
I take your hand, the porcelain is smooth,
With every step, there is an ache you soothe.
We waltz above the moss and vi'let beds,
No other thoughts are living in our heads.
But when you lean to kiss my blushing cheek,
I see the metal 'neath your shirt,
I hear your hinges squeak,
It starts to hurt—
Click.
I
Since I left you I found the world so new
‘Left’ meaning that as I got older and grew
I realized every apology you ever construed
was a strand in an intricate web of your lies
where is the full explanation?
A spiraling maze of emotional abuse under the guise
of a man living the American dream
so, it seemed you were an idea more than a person
I almost wish you weren’t there at all
because every time we see each other thoughts resurface
from somewhere deep within my subconscious mind perhaps?
traumatic memories spring like the flowers in April
contrasting imagery in the last line of text I’m certain
but confusion is what it feels like
I’m trapped in your dark world like it’s Tim Burton
He found the journal on the train
Of a young little girl with no name
He sat there reading through her thoughts
Of dragons and Lions in their mighty roars
Or the golden apple that was caught
Each page filled with dreams
Some fairytales with glorious queens
While other thoughts circled around the naive plots
Then he found her wish of becoming an astronaut
The space and the aliens
And the unknown universe and battalions
The growing thought until he dropped the journal
The last page now jingled
Leaving him with a curios mind
Just like a child and the memories that bind
Your dress today looked beautiful
So beautiful on you
I saw it when you first walked in
What others said was true
You wear your clothing oh so well
I love to see your choice
And something else I love as much
Is the sound of your sweet voice
The things that make me notice
Are what things set you apart
But the person who you are inside
Is what captivates my heart
I'll keep these things close to my cuff
Unless they should be sought
For I always liked it when you'd ask,
If I'd any other thoughts?
Intrusive thoughts are bothersome at night
when I’m in bed, prepared to go to sleep.
My mind keeps racing, and it’s hard to fight
those ear worms which into my brain may creep.
I’ll hear the chorus of some new hit song
unceasingly repeat, repeat, repeat,
or maybe there’s a thing that I’ve done wrong -
like something I’d said that day indiscreet.
I’ll lie there thinking why I was so dumb.
Then other thoughts kick in out of nowhere,
persisting like the beats heard on a drum.
It gets to be almost too much to bear.
Enough! There’s one sure way these thoughts will scram.
I down two capsules of Temazepam.
Foggy Express
Preening For A Distant Gaze
Other Thoughts Entangle Charm;
Ends-Without-The-Means, Indeed!
Trust In Troubled Torrent Tribes...
Raid The Chambers, Raise All Voices!
Yours Is But A Word Away.
I've Got Your Number,
Seen Your Thoughts...
Passions' Preference, Prejudiced Still;
Ran Around The Racetracks, Cheering!
Off! You Feral Cockerel Sewer-Rats!
Onward Ho! Ye Her0es Of Re-Cen'cy!
Find Our Un-Common Empowered Empathy!
Ten Stations Later - Stations Closed.
Hats Off! Conductors And Cabin-Boys...
All The Better, All The Madder:
Tender Butter, On A Platter.
Worlds' Benefits, Cruise The List
Old Globby's Globe Just...
Reeks With Similarities!
Damned If We Don't Know What We Mean.
Syllable Counts, Uhhhh...
Can I Say "Indeed" Again, Down Here?
After All, It's Just Convenient.
Nothing Here Is Useful, Splotches...
'
Taste The Stain Left By Those Lips.
-Gray Squirrel
06-09-2025
At a loss for words
Well not exactly
Words are plentiful
Thoughts a lesser commodity
Dust covered, wall flowers
Resigned to their fate
Thoughtless
Well not exactly
Thoughts think
About what other thoughts
Are thinking
Thoughts are like a masquerade ball
Concealing themselves
In duplicitous deception
Masked mayhem
Dancing alone
Words are like a barn dance
Swirling syllables
Changing partners
To a called cadence
Words and thoughts
Lethargic lovers
Longing for the other
To ask
May I have this dance.
Did you speak a word for Jesus
As you lived your life today?
Or were you full of earthly things
That cluttered up the way?
Were you so engaged in chatter
That the lovely name of Jesus
In your lips was not once found?
When you talk with all the people
That you see from day to day,
Do you think about the Saviour
What he wants you to say?
Or do other thoughts and topics
Fill the time you cannot spare
Just to say a word for Jesus
To the other person there?
Talk of church and of religion
Talk of morals, right and wrong,
Talk of politics and parties,
Talk of anything as long
As we don’t get all embarrassed
All self-conscious and ashamed
By telling them of Jesus
And his glorious saving name.
My thoughts
scattered
chasing other thoughts
head is cloudy
becomes dark
the walls of my mind
are closing in
configuring into a confined space
too small to hold
everything I say or think
In the distance lies
My love so true
A perfect girl
That my heart pursued
Her eyes, my harbor
A safe embrace
A world of warmth
A boundless space
Though miles apart our hearts entwine
Her love like a star
That refuses to not shine
Through skies of blue
And nights of gray,
Her presence glows
Though far away
With each day's dawn
I yearn and pine
To touch her hand and trace her lines
Yet in the whispers of the breeze
Her gentle voice brings
Sweet release
Her laughter dances in my dreams,
A symphony of joy, it seems?
Though oceans stretch
And mountains stand,
Our love persists
Hand in hand.
In my dreams we meet
Beneath moon's glow
And love's embrace begins to grow
Distance a challenge, yet we find
In each other, thoughts so kind.
So, until the day we embrace
I'll hold her close
In thoughts each night
For in her eyes
My soul finds grace
My perfect girl
My distant place.
Sometimes my brain deludes me into believing that I am utterly unlovable.
Like a dog who has been in the shelter for far too long, being prepared for his final meal.
My throat closes up,
My lungs shut down,
And there are no other thoughts to be had.
I often convince myself that I do not deserve good things,
Like I am destined to live and die in a world of hurt.
As if something I have done in a past life created this monster of a brain,
As if I earned it in a way.
I know my brain tricks me,
It is conditioned to make things harder than they have to be–
I, ultimately, made it that way.
It is kind of beautiful though, that self-hatred and trauma can actively alter your brain in a physical sense–constructing neural pathways.
Sometimes it helps me to discover the trace of beauty within hideous things.
The best of this life is being fully seen
Value which few have authentically mined
Failed conception of what real desires mean;
Hearts roaming with each other, thoughts undefined
I wished with new penny; an investment keen
Represents the best showing of humankind
Beguiling two fish swimming in coyest fountain
Fed by water deep inside a loves mountain
I can't concentrate,
There's too much to contemplate
These other thoughts dominate,
Oh what an infectious state,
Must be a common trait
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.