Content at night, I whisper to the haloed moon
telling Luna how softly her silvery light glows.
I'm comforted listening to a nightingale's croon
while through my window, a gentle breeze blows.
It's quiet now, in this house he and I once shared.
Half the furniture is gone, the pieces that he took.
Missing photos from walls. He left them half bared
when he moved out like the chess game piece, Rook
I smiled the morning he finally walked out the door
and indulged myself with the echoes of emptiness.
Silence instead of his footsteps I had come to abhor.
I was savoring the absence of his childlike pettiness.
Basking in his vacancy, happy being in my own space
without reasons for feeling angst and being annoyed.
I danced and sang songs about being in a happy place,
peacefully alone. More than ready to embrace the void.
When I say I love you or I miss you;
Don’t echo me out of duty.
My heart is not a script;
You're not required to memorize it.
Let your heart speak when it chooses;
Not when mine cues it.
If you don’t feel it, you don’t have to pretend;
A soft lie cuts deeper than the silence of truth.
And if you do feel it;
Don’t wait for my words to unlock your own.
Affection is not a competition;
And also, I am not that petty.
The one who edited the placement list days after the contest results were originally posted...
Was your ego bruised when you read a comment to me from a supportive poet?
Know this: I couldn't care less if you removed my name from your list. In fact, I prefer that you did because it clarifies your pettiness.
She’s up at dawn binoculars raised
Surveying lawns like crimes unfazed
A rogue petunia out of line
She files a claim by 8:09
A car she doesn’t recognize
Becomes a case she must analyze
Stolen she mutters pacing slow
She’s texting the board before they know
If someone grills past quiet time
She drafts a message crisp and primed
Attachments timestamps photos too
Her self-proclaimed duty through and through
She’s judge and jury of the street
A self-appointed rules elite
No porch too cluttered hedge too tall
No harmless fun too small to stall
The neighbors begrudgingly grit their teeth
When she reports a wreath beneath
The approved specs for seasonal décor
They’ve learned to keep an eye on their door
Not a board member but eager to enforce
She guards the HOA’s covenant with a nosy force
A watchdog? Maybe A pest? Perhaps
Forever wasting her days setting petty traps
jealousy and pettiness
gossiping and blaming
incohesive with a satisfied life
shallowness, sneakiness and lying
anger and meanness
square corners that do not fit into a world of joy
live your truths
honor your dreams
be your best self
let God take care of the others
In these wintry days of cold winds wafting,
far too many wrinkled faces wear a frown.
With my attitude, I keep smiling and laughing
even though the world seems to be upside down.
I pretend I'm Holly Golightly, Audrey Hepburn,
whose blithe spirit is in my body and soul.
Worries and troubles, I do my best to spurn,
never allowing any issues to take full control.
I dance when upset instead of flying into a rage.
Usually, it's just finding the right song to sing.
I wear a feathered boa, but I'm not a bird in a cage,
so don't try to capture me when I'm on the wing.
I appreciate everyday mundane things,
snowflakes on my tongue, raindrops on my finger,
the simplest of joys that happiness brings,
and peacefulness that allows serenity to linger.
Pettiness is a burden I choose not to carry.
The weight of the world is not mine to shoulder.
I smell the roses in my garden and tarry
so, my free spirit will thrive as I grow older.
they come with offerings, various talents, and mirth
Congregating on holy ground, in middle earth
Their determinations is noted, their unity is keen
No room for pettiness, bullies or anything in the least mean.
They are a united front, seeking spirits from the magic tree
There is an agreed silence, that comforts and gives hope to me
I am a McCormick, from a long line of witches who never cease
Sighs come from my heart upon approach, I am at peace.
Every time I heard her cry
I would come barreling down the stairs
ready to square up to him,
both of us fuming on the edge of a fight.
As a child when you have yet to experience
the infinite pettiness of relationships,
right and wrong both have their pitfalls.
Parents had their cat and mouse games.
Father was a good man made weak,
worn out by doing the best he could.
Their battles were a joust,
their fighting had rules of engagement,
indistinct battle lines,
hard for a boy to figure out.
Boys and their mothers also have rules,
they agree to die for each other,
but how and when are never discussed.
Your color-bled cloth
Just rips at my stitches
I’m monotone; a moth
Calling out to you
With my heavy, little wishes
Fed a steady diet of tweed coat pockets
Bleached in forever stains
And tie dye kisses
In whole, I find a part of me
Your heart sorely misses
Amends for all the faint mistakes
Unearthed while I was bluffing
I perch upon your buttons now
Whispering sweet nothings
Your pettiness is soaking through
Neglected, I’m in love with you
In debt to all your gems
Ugly-headed beauty kills the demons
Yet you’re dressed in them
Another thread of fabric
Slipping from your hem
At least that’s where it seems to me
Your problems mostly stem
Floating and receding
Through the headwinds I’m receiving
Tossed into a better time
Where all your soapy bubbles
Stung my eyes and pierced my stubble
Left me weak and kneeling
Between the lines, my soul would cry
But moths were never known for feeling
I’d crawl to find a warmer spot
Deep inside your shell
Ferocious in its absence
There was solace in your smell
Now my hunger softens
If only for a spell
Who you wished for me to be
Oh, I could never tell
i wake up in the morning
on comes the news
same foolishness and bickering
same pettiness and insanity
same old sh*t different day
shake my head 'cause here we go again !
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Today will be good
No pettiness allowed in
Just a smile and hope
It is a relief to hear you speak...
Knowing my feelings got ahead of me,
Seeing now the differences in our mentality,
Breaking free to see reality,
I ask myself was it a mistake to care so intensely,
But then again sometimes God uses our hearts and prayers of empathy,
To feel for someone else yet also for our own clarity,
No longer do I feel intimidated to speak, or to question my intelligence and worth,
That my simple way and my heartfelt words are more than enough on this earth,
And how amazing it feels to be free,
Free to be me..the beautiful person God has made me to be,
Without judgemental analysis...or worries of what you might think,
I put you on a pedestal, because so many others did,
They rubbed off on my idea of you, and intimidated me to hold my tongue,
Now I see you as my equal, all of that pettiness is
Gone!
My hilly paths are full of pits, and my trails turn and twist.
My life and destiny have contracted clandestine tryst.
As there are dams blocking rivers that flow flawlessly
Unknown hurdles put pauses to life rather lawlessly.
Brick by brick how cautiously I construct my dream castle!
How a storm pulls it down as though it's a hut on the hill!
Exploring, inventing, and enlightening, I move on.
Towards absurd spells of death, my mortal being is drawn
Inner aches, like yokes, weigh me when I let go of my worries.
Pains and grieves, like traumas, bring in tumultuous flurries.
Soul passes through deserts of spiritual emptiness.
Pilgrimages of perfection become pride-filled pettiness.
With my descents and falls, I, a weakling, come to my Lord
He lifts me from dust and takes me to his heavenly abode.
As a vulture that gains its youthfulness, I take new birth.
Dark nights of my soul end and bright days lead to endless mirth.
The night moves so slowly in an undulating slither
When you’re waiting anxiously alone in the dark,
Wondering where he is tonight, as if it really matters.
Your sacred beliefs about love will never be the same.
You feel you’ll never know how to truly trust again.
It’s too frightening to leave, too painful to stay
When your deceived and broken heart leads you astray,
Waiting for the next soul wrenching sin.
In the season of silence when no answers can be heard
You cannot even tell yourself the truth.
You simply wait, believing your heart-numbing death is near.
It's another wretched love affair, dripping with lies and satire.
It’s not worth your time; not worth your tears.
The lesson lies so deep inside, where your illusions will not go.
Betrayal is an icon of mastery used to steel your soul.
See it for what it truly is and no longer blame yourself.
There is a purer love that rises above the pettiness of this world.
The lesson is Learn to First Love Yourself. It frees you to carry on.
Sacrifice
Today I sacrifice my martyrdom.
Today I cleanse my soul,
Release the past and reach for the new.
I'll look for the life I'm entitled to.
I rise above my delusions.
Pettiness and jealousy flee.
I banish the painful illusions that
For so long have imprisoned me.
I am now free and unencumbered.
Today I reach for the stars.
A life of joy encircles and uplifts me,
Erasing all the painful scars.
I will live this day.
Truly live it, as if it were my very last.
Though engulfed by meaningless fears
I'm no longer a prisoner of my past.
I now face my shrinking terror.
Today I step toward the light.
There's nothing left to run from and no more
Snarling, powerless demons left to fight.
I take my life into my hands.
Breathe deeply in Universal Breath.
Every thought, every person, place and thing
Now rings with Divine significance.
I know that Divinity dwells with my spirit.
Today God smiles behind my eyes.
And looks upon the new birthed world
With mirth, with pity, with joy, and expansive life.
Today, I will live.
Chula Fleming© 10/16/2012
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