Reckoned Poems

LISTEN to the Wind

Listen to the wind as it sings to you
Chiming out its natural, melodious tune.
Listen to the feelings that the wind conveys
Alternating tone and pitch with its displays. 
Listen to the wind thundering its rage.
In the aftermath, the wind sighs in the haze.
Listen to the wind whispering a breeze.
You can almost see it dance as it swirls with ease.
Listen to the wind duet with the sea's roar.
Hear the wind rejoice as it helps birds soar.
A force to be reckoned with with all its might.
It engages our senses and excites our sight.
Super versatility has the wind
More convincingly its power's underpinned.
The wind may cause destruction. It may bring relief. 
Listen as it makes trees bow and shakes each leaf.
Like everything else, the wind has purpose and place. 
The wind can break the silence in an awkward space.
Appreciate its value. Listen to the wind.

Desert

Lamentations alone cannot stop
the bleeding of the land at the ankles,
nor stop the tears of Deluge

Grief matters little in a prophesied
pogrom, for a general death is
not reckoned with evil —

And prophecies shall remain with rain
forty days and forty nights;

And the empty trenches of Desert
shall be filled, her sands mired
upon the gluey spittle of the rains;

Even oases shall puke their water
upon broken rocks —Desert treasures.

When the sun lies in witness to this
history, with ancestral brown drums
saluting yonder,
lamentations shall be futile.

Dad

Even though fathers might all seem similar in some ways
They are actually all different as are cats and bears
Or even pirates and trees regardless of hidden fees

When working in the woods
Dad was a bear and a force to be reckoned with
But like a famous man, “he preferred it nice and peaceful”

 He liked to be on the go as the winds did blow 
On some Father’s Days I would say 
“Yo ho Yo ho” we shall go wherever we go
                                                         
 My thought eventually became
I do not want to relocate any more 
But Dad, the good man that he was
Kept us on the go until the end
                                                              
 I eventually got my wish 
Like a fish eventually gets a hook
And every Father’s Day, I think of Dad

Be Me, I Dare You

A warning to possession.

To the demons chancing claim of skin: I dare you to take this body, and dare you to take this mind.

Better yet, I beg of you, to claim each for a ride.

Would you like to suffer reason? 
Suffer sound of self each second?
Or rather suffer thoughtless sense, 
Even you could not have reckoned? 

I bare your sense to be.
Aware to some degree. 
While others often fail to see, 
There's more to their own glee.

Which host would you endure?
A former or a latter?
If not of thought you would prefer,
Ignore me and my matter.

When our joy became a weapon for them

Our pleasure is political
Our presence anarchy
Our smile a rebellion 
Our hair A revolution 
Our blood our fire 
Our blackness A force to be reckoned with 

Our joy to them is a declaration of war
Our resilience an act of political warfare
Our resilience a threat to the system of oppression they built
They don't like when we take back control
Then turn it into freedom 

Their existence is threatened 
By how we embrace our blackness
They can't handle when we love  
Being black
Because its something they can't 
Have
Be 
Or steal
No matter how hard they try
Their envy betrays them 
Every time they oppress us 
Kill us 
Target us
When they discriminate us
They know the only way they can feel superior 
Is by trying to make us feel inferior
That's Our power 
Joy and laughter

22

22 ( 26 Years Ago)
 Stay hungry even if you're not ready.
 It’s you vs you everyday.
 Keep pushing for stronger results.
 Moving forward to reach your goals.
 The drive started when I was 22.
 Back then I had a lot to prove.
 One compliment changed my life.
 I wasn't expecting it, what a surprise.
 With no self doubt or nonsense.
 Stay upbeat and positive.
 Just put your foot in the door.
 Be a role model for others.
 All the hard work is worth the suffering.
 Wake up early and drink some coffee.
 Picking up the weights is worth your time.
 We could workout side by side.
 Leave all of the frustration behind.
 Let go of all the anxiety.
 You are a force to be reckoned with.
 In the mirror you are totally focused.
 Music takes you to another place.
 Go beyond your means and embrace.
 You’ve always had the fire in you.
 You inspire me to push on through.

Hide of Tyke in Hold

Heartthrob in damsel drag
Belief of human bile
Completely instilling cascading dregs of mechanical flesh, bones and spit
64th avenue 
And coiling deft doom
Winged balls of bulging blood and speckled steel
Merry wails and flutters of moths unsealed 
Fitted upon falling kneel
And reckoned release of rotten roadkill-
Rats and babes and brats
Congealed candy and sickeningly sweet brandy
And hailed light of epiphany to choke, swallow and spit
And strangle without a hand nor handle but grit
Of groil and crevices of menaces heralding honed notes
And a lone liver in fathered infirmary 
Black backed in breachers 
Potted a bulge to indulge the fickle maggots of dissociation 
Emulsification and hearty sniff of 
Whitened slice and slithers of snow
Dregs to drag and hone and throw
Up upon bedded saline laden road
Of rows and rows and pounds 
That drag rotten flesh afresh from the hound
Sutured from spine to fluttered wing
The hide
Plucked apart from rat to brat
And collared collier stepped afresh with new hide and throw 
And stubborn stubbled child with a new mind in tow

5//5//2025

Grandma's Stories

Alright everyone, quiet please!
May I tell a tale, I have the perfect story!
 Well then sit....cause I'm going to....
 Pull up a chair, or on the floor, that will do. 
I'm elderly now as things are reckoned, 
and I may just forget in the next second. 
So hurry up! Find a seat. Be quiet and listen…
I'll begin when I have your full attention. 
Bring me some water to wet my whistle.
I sure do get dry when I say a mouth full. 
Thank you, my boy! Hey, are you my grandson? 
Well, quickly, sit down since I haven't begun. 
Where is the girl who made these treats?
 I'll just have one while you settle your seats.
 A cup of tea would not go a miss…
the bitter with sweet is hard to resist. 
Now as I was saying…what was that my dear? 
Let me turn up this aide so I can hear. 
Tell you a story? 
That's why your all sittin’ round me? 
Well I'll have to think of one…now, let me see…”

IF AT FIRST

Five times I asked Jenny
If we ought to wed.
Five times she rejected me,
Said she’d rather be dead.
A little harsh I reckoned

And so I propositioned Dawn.
She answered no as well.
As did Anne and Madelaine
And Millie, Sue and Nell.
Life as a bachelor beckoned

But finally you said yes
And ended all those fears.
So today we are celebrating
The passing of fifty years.
I have savoured every second

The Bardot Myth

rebel dancer model with a dulcet voice
and penchant for theatrics
Brigitte took Paris by storm
the bombshell exuded more than beauty
she was a force to be reckoned with



AP: Honorable Mention 2025

My Voice

If I could talk, what would I say
Would I use my words in a major way
Will the world listen to my aggressive voice
Or would they walk away and leave me with remorse 

Don't tell me the answer, just leave me lonely 
My heart can't take another person being phony
So just leave me out here on the ocean shore
To talk to the only person who loves me more

It's not the air but the shadow of my mind
That blocks the sun when it's trying to shine
So I'm going to speak my words from negative to positive 
Influencing myself to think clearly more often

I'm going from a doubt of fear to believing in myself
Start talking with aggression to everyone else
No more being self-conscious and talking in silence
My voice is now going to be heard no more being quite

I know when I speak, I'm going to be a force to be reckoned with
No more being in the background. I'm making an emotional shift
I'm taking over the world until death silence me
So everyone be aware my voice is going to be a masterpiece!!!

Description of the Black Woman

Different luminosities don't characterize her. She's 

A force to be reckoned with, Let's count the ways:

Brainy, Brilliant 

Loveable, Lover

Adept, Artful

Classy, Competent

Keen, Knowledgeable 

Whimsical, Witty 

Observant, Out of the World 

Magical, Mystic

Artistic, Always 

Noble, Nurturable

Innocence

Innocence

Once,
Met with an image
Masked in modernity
Walked in purity
Smiled in serenity.
I stopped and reckoned,
There was a river
Flow like giver
Soul and body
Amalgamation of Chastity.
I acknowledge
There was simplicity
Wrapped into somberness
Dignity
Packed into Seriousness
Vanity
Dressed into richness.

On Being Strong

On being strong,  She is a wrecking ball a force to
reckoned with. On being Strong

She has encountered many battles in this field
called life. Detours,  dead ends, and Rollercoaster 
rides She has been acquainted with. On being Strong 

She has memoirs also life accounts.  Once upon a time she expired, and she was revived  by
God's grace and mercy. On being Strong 

She is rich in spirit, she is a survivor, She explores,
She embraces,  She enlightens, She elevates,  she
Inspires. On being Strong

Fair Trade

I’ve been to the auction house, I go there once a week
But still no luck, I cannot find the rarity I seek
The Chinese urn to one side of my fireplace stands there
Looking kinda lonely as it’s meant to be a pair

My wife is always moaning that it looks so out of place
It dominates the left hand side, but on the right is space
It’s worth a lot of money but an antique dealer reckoned
That they’d be almost priceless if I were to find a second

I thought I’d never find one, it’s been quite a lengthy wait
I can’t believe that I’m about to get my urn a mate
I’ve passed this shop a hundred times; it seems today’s the day
This shop sells pre-loved items and they’ve got one on display

Okay, so they knew their stuff and wouldn’t drop their price
I had to pay them fifty quid but it’ll look real nice
Scooping up a bargain I find well and truly thrilling
And frankly even fifty quid means I just made a killing

I was on cloud nine for urns like these fetch more in pairs
I drove home and I rushed inside, to hear my wife upstairs
Excitedly, I yelled, “You’ll never guess what I just did.”
She said, “Me first… the junk shop bought your urn for seven quid.”

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