The moon above Ukraine might as well be a wreath, newlyweds’ crown—fall-blossom blooming, briding-and-grooming, fresh future looming, blushing bed-rooming…
The wreath above Ukraine might as well be the sun, solar-flaring, disturbing—connections, reflections, affections, rejections, communications…
The sun above Ukraine might as well be a Russian god’s powerless lightning—brightening, frightening, leftning-and-rightning, enlightening…
The lightning above Ukraine might as well be a bomb or a rocket—wandering, blundering, plundering, sundering, thundering…
Caught up in the sticky gears
of this greed and grime machine.
Greased by our doubt and division,
fueled by fears and confusion.
No doubt it is a blood machine
carving and taking-never caring
trampling and raping-
never planting or repairing.
It's a Petroleum machine
looking far ahead but eyeless
never glancing behind at the destruction.
Sniffing out the next victim
never sated, always breeding,
Plundering and pillaging, the soul of
we
the people.
The machine nibbles away at our right to bloom
our right to own, to defend, to speak
to manifest the dream into reality.
The machine can only be beaten down
by the unity of the we.
He dwelt, he pondered, he thought for a while,
A smiling elder, older than his youth’s own smile.
Those pictures reminded him of his younger stockpile,
His dreams were bigger — hunger was his style.
But regret drained him, pain washed him thin,
Laundering his will, plundering within,
And now his unsung tone revealed just one note —
“If only I could reclaim the time I never bought.”
He closed away this very text, and looked upon it —
“Time I have,” he thought.
But once, even Time remarked —
“I am the destroyer of all dreams sought.
Nothing is lost, but nothing is what it seems,
He who wastes me becomes my theme.”
Listening to my intuition,
Learning to condition an urge,
To Overindulge and splurge,
My emotions surge,
I search for courage,
The bulge getting bigger,
One thought pulls the trigger,
Digging another hole,
Rolling along whole,
Trolling my self worth,
Magnificent at birth,
I was pushed in the dirt,
All of life seemed to hurt,
Now I'm burnt to a crisp,
Whispers of a better day,
Try to brighten my day,
I listen to what they say,
Playing along the best I can,
Patterns take the stand,
Stranded in the loop,
Swimming in comfort soup,
Stooping down a level,
Visiting my Devil,
Reveling in the wonders,
The pleasure brings thunder,
It's a spell I'm under,
Plundering wisdom for my soul,
It was taking a toll,
Had full control,
So I roll along knowing I'm whole,
The orders were clear and for unknown reasons I was in charge given a loaded pistol and commanded to send everyone to a central area 5 kilometers away the enemy with overwhelming strength was already on the outskirts of our city pillaging plundering and taking prisoners within my designated area schools homes and businesses were were open and occupied schools were easy to evacuate students quickly complied homes were more challenging as some refused to leave orders were to let them stay if resisting as time was not forgiving force only to be used as defense if physical safety was compromised animals were allowed those unable to evacuate were to be left behind services were promised to be available at the gathering location transport vehicles were random and uncomfortable alerts were communicated through various media my dream ended when I woke up I noticed towards the end of my dream I was in stocking feet and regretted not putting my boots on I wanted it to go away to be like before I didn't like being mean to people
Not my jamm
looter marauder
a freebooting buccaneer
plundering pirate
pish posh thievery
pillaging provoking
sought by females
The point of no return comes suddenly,
and without a whit of subtlety,
saying: I told you at the start
that blaggard has a darkened heart,
and no amount of rosy coloring
will stop his faithless plundering;
and still you go running back for more!
Now this species known as modern mankind
Goes after selfish aims to feed its mind
Its actions all focus upon self gain
And so it must pursue its greedy game
Its every effort is aimed on profit
And in this pursuit it wrecks the planet
It's happy when it's grabbing all in haste
But we must not mention its filthy waste
It exploits for it's always on the make
Plundering and polluting for its own sake
It fails to see there may be some comeback
When Mother Nature starts to give it flack
Maybe this species that's known as mankind
Will open its eyes and then change its mind
Fragile, delicate, beautiful thus rare
Three thousand meters above sea
In marked territory, listening to
Gurgling downward flow of
Waters of the sacred hill
A precious bloom stays
in the shades of tall trees.
A three feet high plant
Shy of sunlight,
Shy of plundering human hands
Shirui Lily, a pale pink bell-shaped
Flower that carries many tales
Shows rainbow colors
Through Microscopic lens.
Snubbed for being
So very mild, a lily
Not seen elsewhere
Bows gently to tell
Mother earth –
If I ever live
I live only here.
Scientists say we have neanderthal genes,
and that set me to wondering
what all this interbreeding really means -
was it the result of rape and plundering?
The homosapiens made rocks into tools
and were smarter than neanderthals by half,
but neanderthals were willing to play the fools,
and she said, "he makes me laugh".
Can we not show some love for Planet Earth
For it is suffering from our brutal way?
From it we plunder everything of worth
As our numbers grow more and more each day.
We turn resources to polluting waste
That poisons the air, oceans and the land
As we blunder forth with increasing haste.
The truth we do not want to understand
For this would show that we must curb our greed
That would put at risk our self-cherishing.
But we just let our precious planet bleed
As we’re addicts of reckless consuming.
Can we not show some love for Planet Earth
And stop plundering it for all its worth?
The mellow western sky darkened,
The sea was calm that night,
Yachts tacking across the bay
Towards their appointed piers.
Luminous moon rays shimmer
Over wavelets that bathed
The coloured pebbles
Strewn all over the long shore.
As night slowly fell
I began my walk along the promenade.
A soft breeze was a welcome to all
Especially to the sailors that plied the bay
In their sleek sailing boats
Now tinged in red by the dying sun.
Along the promenade, I met with friends
A few words of salutation
But I hurried on toward an ancient tower
That once stood guard against pirates
That invades the surroundings.
Plundering and taking slaves with them.
The Tower was now a restaurant,
And there sat my love waiting for me.
The breeze-blown brightness of her hair
Seem to invite me to our destined tryst.
She stood up and we embraced,
A soft kiss on her wet lips.
It was a promising beginning
Of our night of love.
She lived in a castle, isolated,
Time flew slow, gruelling and full of hatred,
The crown lay broken on the floor,
Shattered, scattered, one piece no more.
Royal duties thrown away, Pirates life, plundering, stealing,
But not knowing the tight, suppressed feeling,
Of hatred to themselves,
Sadness, madness hidden on the shelves.
As they drown there worries in the sea,
Emotions revealed after tremendous tragedies,
Ship sunk at sea, forgotten princess lost again,
Unstable, betrayal, no strong knight to save them.
They drown in their guilt,
Mistakes from their pasts rebuilt,
No army to pull her out of the water,
Unknown memories sown; their love slaughtered.
They are witches on the beach
laughing at their menfolk
finding them wanting
but who is the dark now ?
with gilded wings they flock
like a midnight minotaur
dim of sight
They make their way
through the miers
plundering both Silesian winters
and Sumerian summers
only wanting to drown
the tulip of hope
From my domain of desiccated wasteland,
the dust soared on the wings of plundering wind,
wafted across the burnt canopy
of the lone magnolia tree,
I nurtured with love for many years.
The storm scraping the sands of the listless time,
rose from the dusky horizon of distress,
swept away the dislodged leaves.
In their rustle I heard them whisper …
“catch us before we disappear”.
Through the dust of despair drifting nowhere,
the last rays of the setting sun filtered,
swathed the vestiges of the broken dreams,
enveloped within the migrating mirage,
that morphed into the leaves flying away.
Across the melting shadow of the cloud adrift,
through the golden glow of sunset,
I trailed the course of the blowing wind
to catch the fleeting leaves
that took away all my dreams.
Beneath the defoliated magnolia tree,
at the fringe of my dried-up bare garden,
as I stood with my dwindling present,
I heard the rippling wind whisper to me…
“you’ll catch them in the twilight terrain”.
_______________
April 23. 2023
Word chosen : Whisper
Contest : Writing Challenge - "W" Word
Sponsored by : Constance La France
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