a teeny breeze
white linen napkins
Grecian vineyard
welcoming patio
I write my poetry
in between bites of chicken
no one could be more content
Appears a pigeon at leisure
nonchalantly walking hopping from table to table
~ looking for attention and treats
AP: 1st place 2025
there’s something dreary
about a terrasse drenched in rain
can’t help but take it personally
like a missed invitation
to an afternoon drink with friends
or a cancelled party
a dull hush lacks warmth
too early or too late
no one at the rendez-vous
no welcoming sunshine
stood up by the host
a final rinse
the rain lets up
the earth on pause
before the sun breaks through
and sets everything on cue
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
patio tables pining for long awaited sunshine ~
Behind my building, there’s a spot,
A patio-like place,
With iron benches, tables, too -
A lovely outdoor space.
With flow’ring bushes all around,
It’s someplace nice to sit,
Although on sunny days, I’m sure
That I would sweat a bit.
It’s open to the tenants;
From the basement, there’s a door.
The strangest thing is that I haven’t
Been out here before.
I found it quite by accident,
But learned that it’s been here
For two-plus years and rarely used;
The reason why’s not clear.
It doesn’t have the river’s pull,
But I can sit outside
And read or write by taking
Just an elevator ride.
suite morning music
surrounds one deaf man
zephyrs trace my face
Chillin on the patio me and my Daddio
Jammin on the radio on my Bro's stereo
Then came a loco girl from Cocomo
She wore a thin muumuu doing quite a show
The music got too too loud oh don't you know
Then the Popo made a sudden cameo
They said oh no the radio had to go
Or it was bye bye for me and my Daddio
So it was bye bye radio on the patio
Then the muumuu went away very slow
Since there was just no no other place to go
The party on the low low on the kitchen flo
The heavens can’t admire themselves
The spotted clouds, and the opaque wavered clouds
Like a light glide of a brush.
Our Lord gifted us with round eyes
That reflect the heavens
And a mind to ponder all his leavened world
Those chutes of bark and bugs
Aren’t impressed by themselves;
Their flat or spiky leaves or truck wide trunk
That I need tools to fell.
The Almighty handed us fingers
To clench and sift and grip
And the air the flowers leaven
This concrete is flat and hard
I’m used to sitting here and becoming
Numb, in my rear,
While I spend my time like hard earned cash
To bask in what’s given free
In a checker board pattern of red and grey
make a small patio near a tree for shade
Enough for two chairs and a short walkway
feeling some pride for the stones you laid
Simple but solid you sit as dogs play
patio stones for a small rest area to relax away.
On the patio, I saw a vision,
it was of a black dog.
Swimming in the ocean
I got caught in the motion,
flowing, flowing, flowing away.
The avens weren't as lively
as I remembered on my patio.
Sick to the stomach,
I fought the worms in the can
that I closed.
Mumbling and hesitating,
I was on the patio of my life.
Eyes flashed close when
I saw my home.
It was a sombre lie of
happiness.
But Blackie got running,
he wasn't coming in anymore.
Life is a whole lot flare,
and my wooden house is
a cabin of despair.
Maybe this patio was good once,
but now all left is 'now'.
But all that matters is 'now'.
And all that I built
is just a broken house.
Patio Time
By: Miracle Man
December 6 2020
The dense fog scatters as sun rises,
Birds sing, and Fox Squirrels chatter.
Will today’s news bring dire surprises,
or additional fluff that doesn’t matter.
Patio wind chimes now start tinkling,
and northwest breeze causes coffee to cool.
what lies in store today, I’ve no inkling,
God holds the answers, I’m just His tool.
I sit and sip my cold iced tea;
And watch the ships go out to sea.
On the patio blooms crowd me,
While I'm lost in sweet memory.
In shafts of sunshine of my mind,
Go dancers of the phantom kind,
For now and then the past rewinds,
Much too precious to leave behind!
Sunset like one golden cherry,
And sea birds fly about carefree,
Salty breezes pass frequently,
And night comes slow and tenderly.
Written on July 15, 2020
For Strand Completely New (10) Contest
Sponsored by: Brian Strand
To go outside on the deck
Two doors must be opened
First the glass door to be unlocked
Then the screen door opens next
Two people working outside
One person inside the house
A person comes to the door
Opens the screen door to speak
"I need a bottle water please"
The person inside the gives the water
Person leaves the door sits on the grass
Now the person insde has a good laugh
On a Patio in Central Pennsylvania
Slowly patiently silently
a stink bug descends
toward my white-haired woman.
She is undeterred
by the imminent intrusion
of this small spot
of Nature’s alien creep.
From where?
Maybe Nature or the bug man
at the nearby college might know.
My wife knits on
Slowly patiently silently
making chemo caps
for women
seeking remission
from Nature’s alien creep.
From where?
Maybe a (loving?) god might know.
irresistible invitation to the avid weekend reader
AP: 2nd place 2026
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