Busy and exhausted by our daily chores,
We take rest in each other's arms each night.
Though sometimes, rashly, we settle our scores,
Our shared bed makes our psychic burdens light.
Like a boat, we sail in this sea of ours;
Herein, we passionately conjugate.
We bathe in cool, collegial showers
And transcend the Hades of humdrum hate.
Our bed is our shrine wherein we are gods;
Here we balance between joy and sadness.
Here-from, we surmount maddening odds;
Cleaving all glooms, existence brings gladness.
Does this shared bed align our souls as one,
Or trap two strangers when the day is done?
There is this nun, with a shady pimple
She hides behind a reinforced wimple
When the Sister has none
Brother Val, gives her one
Not spotless, though relatively simple
By
David Kavanagh
When all you have in your head is negative thoughts...
the first thing to come to mind will always be the worst.
You'll interpret things rashly and in the wretchedest light
not seeing the beauty and kindness that surrounds you.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Gold Medal Marathoner, Susan Ashley
Never can be accused of acting rashly
Carefully crafts each word, line, and stanza
Wowing us with her prolific poetry bonanza!
Silver Medal Marathoner, Craig Cornish
We applaud your brilliant marathon flourish
Bespoke wit and singular vision ascend
Your distinct voice ran strong to the end
Bronze Medal Marathoner, Michael Coy
Whose wit and humor we all enjoy
A Spaniard, perhaps—yet a Welsh-British New Yorker?
Whose layered literary allusions prove he's a real corker
Lovely weather for Dunners' ducks (tongue in cheek peek at Dunedin's historic deluge)
"Stares upstairs..
Angels’ weeing above..
Be a good chap..
Show some love bruv..
Turn off the tap..
*****
No refuge from the subterfuge of the deluge..
Parched sandbag phalanxes..
Ranks marching in flanks..
Arching across busted banks..
Quaffing..scoffing..downpour spanks..
**********
Disbelief at the leisurely river Leith..
Despairing at it baring...glaring..teeth
Hurling....haring to unsheaf grief..
Mischief rashly unfurling…
Brashly whirling beneath.
Bawdry..tawdry thief...
******
Baffled..can't they see...squiffy South D in a jiffy downed..
Snaffled..drowned and raffled to the sea..
Don't they care...iffy white caps slaps..won't perhaps spare even sniffy..
Snooty..spiffy St Clair..
****
This rain ruckus.. pluvial palaver...
Whichever not whatever...
It totally sucks..
Planet forever in..
Fluvial flummoxed flux..
Tis rather lovely weather..
Though for Dunedin's ducks.."
The lonely shadow aside from the worldly poles
Wrenching like an unhidden find to hold
And the horrible ink of dreadful poison swiftly mold
Eyes were injurious red like a bleeding bed
Thoughts of frightful threads wrap
and rashly roll the clutching traps
Shadow envelopes like a black door
Tears were tip and tapped one after more
Shadow of shades deeply shallows
Only the gist of suffering and melting melodies
Are fluttering over the sleuth of emotion
God knows the happening in cores of motion
Sometimes, a burial bleed on the surface
Lips bewail like a snubbing scroll
And silence echoes in the cavernous hell
All Alone in the stiff stage of sicks to bell.
August rain: the best of the summer gone, and the new fall not yet born.
The odd uneven time—Sylvia Plath
End Of August
The end of August is oh so near
Yet, another day of golden sun scorches
Another day with ruby rays that sear
Wild brush burns like fiery torches
No not an exaggeration, a flambeau
Blistering heat blankets my tawny skin
Sweltering August, I bid you adieu
Foliage dry and brittle; sunken in
Squinting eyes, blinded bright
Awaiting shadows that stretch and deepen
Sun flowers once vivid, lost in a haze of light
Autumn creeps in imperceptibly subtle, sublimely
Ablaze are the arid western skies
The evening west's sun takes its time, rashly, untimely
Yellow aglow, settling sights of fires belies
Lingering sun setting its rouge rage lust
Harbinger of the season to come
Equinox heralds a sign,
in the end of August
In ivory towers, oblivious reigns,
Blind to the weight of scholarly chains,
Reports unread, insights ignored,
The fruits of labour, rashly scored.
Heads turn away from midnight oil,
Unseeing depths of earnest toil,
Quality dismissed with careless ease,
As if research grew on trees.
Passion exploited, dedication scorned,
Complexity of thought, summarily shorn,
"Just another paper," they decree,
Failing to grasp what they can't see.
Understanding falters at the gate,
Where ignorance sits in high estate,
Dismissing years of careful thought,
As if such work was dearly bought.
In halls of power, a tragic play,
Where value's judged by yesterday,
And those who push the bounds of knowing,
Find recognition never growing.
O, the irony of learned spaces,
Where wisdom often hides its traces,
And those entrusted with the helm,
Fail to fathom their realm.
The words don’t flow like they used to
and these poems go unfinished,
Normally what triggers my senses
To rashly type verse after verse….
Well its emotion; feelings, sentiments.
But now i've taken so much
That its killed something in me,
Still go numb once in a while
Yet no one believes me.
The words don’t flow like they used to;
Someone fix me
The core of basic freedoms
Is the freedom to transact
This underpins the other rights
In the Magna Carta pact
The crux is private property
To use, or hold, or trade
Our time, our land, our energy
Our work - our fortune made
King John was forced to sign it
Holding tyrants to account
So that we can all stand free
With our liberty paramount
Why, in all our nations dear
Have freedoms flown away?
Due process rashly flung aside
As prisoners, we must pay
Now Bitcoin rises to sustain
Our freedom to transact
A bastion of private property
No matter how oft attacked
So steady - up and onward
For our freedoms, stand exact
At the root of other freedoms
Lies the freedom to transact
Away in a cafe’
No menu to read
Despite my misgivings
I heartily plead
How am I to order
This borders abuse
Such abhorrent service
Bears no sound excuse
And yet I continue
At last, here to see
Is this a computer
Tossed rashly at me
Oh, how disappointing
An entree’s run out
And yet I can smell it
A fish dish, no doubt
But I shall not settle
I’ll leave this cafe’
McDonald’s just is not
Worth all this, I say!
Graffiti is an artful display of expressive imagination by a confused but creative mind, made especially to speak rashly for the voiceless.
April 15, 2023
Gold Medal Marathoner, Susan Ashley
Never can be accused of acting rashly
Carefully crafts each word, line, and stanza
Wowing us with her prolific free-verse poetry bonanza!
Silver Medal Marathoner, Lin Lane
Time to pop the proverbial ‘Pérignon champagne
Your podium pal called your `brilliant pen a daystar bright’
Your genius poesy, dark or light, is a poetry lover’s delight!
Bronze Medal Marathoner, Mark Massey
Sonneteer extraordinaire, smooth and classy
All of your poetry – no matter the form – are unique creations
Each is a masterclass greatly exceeding our expectations!
Laying brick by brick, with stickum in between.
A stone on top of another: dream quest and scene,
erected diligently, with a blueprint at the ready.
Each dot and line progression is sure and steady.
Despite storms, hurdles, and limited funding
With slow but steady aims, slanted rashly cunning,
with optimism, sharing in God's dream design.
Adversity shapes us to strive rather than repine.
God's will is a bunker, so every lesson is a brick
His word is final, and the walls of the friary are thick
Our foundation is the cornerstone of our existence
Lord God, the ruler of men, smooths the essence.
I savor being amazed; trust my full autonomy.
A heart full of hope gives way to honesty.
It's optimistic, soul-strengthening, and simple.
We stir up lies, and our ignorance is sinful.
Our love shrinks our hatred with each pulse.
It's tough to stay aside; must veins convulse?
I'm not sure what they'll do if we meet to shine.
Our passion for each other will be closer to fine.
Written: February 16, 2023
Closer To Fine Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Kai Michael Neumann
Sometimes, in speech we stray
With what we rashly say,
While attention ears pay
Our lips allowed their way...
Worse when our mood is gay
Or we forgot to pray,
Now to Free Mistakes 'prey'
Listener's bright face turns grey.
Speech don't make like you may;
Cigar stubbed out on tray;
Some shall like donkeys bray,
Some end up in sick bay...
To reckless speech 'say nay'
You'd be sent the sun's ray...
For you Amblessed Daniel:
This game catch like spaniel.
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