Honors pursued him
awards and recognition
Unable to move him
He clung to his mission
Writing generates
much self-satisfaction
especially when artfully done
Still we look for validation
Seeking recognition
From sources outside
Gold silver or bronze
Winning is that pat on the back
Somebody is listening and gets you
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
Show me that another lifetime
Little prospect in the book
Sure it can work out fine
But I need a closer look
For it’s obvious to many
That the prophesized disaster
Keeps returning like bad penny
Winds of change are blowing faster
Than they blew in all those years
When we were a bit too young
To make sense of pastime fears
Well described in every tongue
That another lifetime prospect
Looks a bit abstract to me
Need to reconcile the subject
With my personality
For without this recognition
It’s a play on words, my friend
Where “another” means petition
And a “lifetime” means the end.
None of us are worthy of who we think we need to be, in that daunting moment
But all of us are capable of what we need to be, if we but rise to the occasion
When we first confront that rise which cowers inside us is when we rise to overcome
And, only when we overcome the temptation to hide behind that rising mountain of concern
Can we see beyond the crest of our uncertainty, and see ourselves on the other side
Safely or not, but having taken the side of what we can do, what we should do, and what will will do
TOKENS OF RECOGNITION
in
delicate
persuasive
discussion
give
negligible
differentials
momentum
remains
juxtaposed
in
genuine
radiance
expounded
dimension
interpreted
in
gestures
with
focussed
recipient
iconic
quotations
to
experience
&enable
isolate
ambitious
individuality
My father is a hard working man
He will offer anyone a hand, do you understand?
My father is a man who makes end meet when it looks like a place of defeat.
My father is a man who works tirelessly on his feet so diligently with no complaints where others may have faint.
My father is a man who takes accountability
who handles responsibilities
his encouraging loving words make me realize there’s so many possibilities
My father is a man who demonstrates love , courage, kindness, compassion, and strength
He’s the type of man who will go the full distance and length!
The emphysema of night presses into our lungs
and I walk towards you like a thought I should not keep
no glow - only the purple bruise of air between us
your silence is jagged, honed as a blade
somehow, this view left me ... dismantled, piece by unseen piece
fear feels domestic here, like folded linen in a locked room
I dissolve before I can speak out loud
and still, I step closer because trust is the only light we are allowed
and when we finally reach for one another, it is not sight that holds us -
but the quiet certainty that neither of us will let go
(“Original Mind”, 2017, original encaustic mixed media)
In a dream I wander,
Doing some assigned task
Dutifully
Somehow I’m face to face
With a Buddha
Who tells me my past life name
Of Pema So and So
Which inexplicably fills me with joy
Then I’m with a small group of fellows
Preparing to receive empowerment
With three full prostrations
And my old lama
As clear as day,
Confronts me face to face
Asking what I am doing there
To which I simply say
I ended up here
After doing my chores
Removing ice and snow
And in that moment filled
To overflowing
With recognition of my true identity
I beam
As he simply shrugs and nods
And I awake.
(5/5/26)
Snatched away by a mock role.
Despair not.
Discard innocence — a troublesome memory disassociates.
Time recursively scrolls the memory:
Trying / Failing.
When was it lost?
In the combined turbulence
of the intersecting visual produced by
the mind’s perception of reality and self through eyes.
Caught thinking, dreaming:
“What is sleep?"
"I can’t know sleep — who is she?"
"I know she sounds ugly."
"I love sleep, but she doesn’t love me for real.”
Being seen through by another,
yet receiving recognition.
Redemption is still always possible.
Humanity doesn’t have to be some chimerical tragedy.
Alchemic deals made in belligerence,
producing mercurial blood.
Heaven's prospect comforts.
In the meantime
What's felt of it, guides me here
As leads me there
Has such been, angel-handed
As Fate branded.
If through this link, tingles with
Love's mortal fire.
Man to woman's day to day's
Firm clasp relays.
Cools not down in both these chills:
Weather's. Life's ills.
we are being breathed by God
yet we turn our back on Him
distanced thus from divine light
no wonder our sight is dim
deluded by ego
we have lost our way
yet if we choose to be still
we will see the light clear as day
save thought cessation
nothing need be done
wisdom dawns within
when we come undone
save love and light and bliss
there is nothing else here
we are a God-spark in life’s dream
so banish every fear
While standing on the shoulders of giants
If quoting them becomes our reliance
These presents of mind
Can leave a soul blind
Leaving presence of mind to defy us
Renouncing conditioned belief,
gives our heart much needed relief,
in moments when we’re free from thought,
when ego drops like a dead leaf.
Nothing sought, no longer fear fraught,
in staid silence we are self-taught,
reclaiming the light of our soul,
truth divine bliss magnetism brought.
As Holy Spirit makes us whole,
with God search being our sole goal,
each new breath inhaled in surprise,
in vibrance we play our life role.
Ceasing to weigh, measure and size,
influx of grace opens our eyes,
whence we clearly see our true form,
knowing scriptures had fed us lies.
We are living light, a bliss storm,
drenched in currents both cool and warm,
as spark of God, made as is He,
oozing love, touch that does transform.
Oh hermit, do nothing, just be
and through eyes of innocence see,
that were spirit, not body-mind,
child of God, blissful and carefree.
Mahakasyapa is famous for answering
Buddha’s silent sermon of an upheld flower
With a simple smile.
And in this flower-smile exchange
The transmission of the recognition
Of suchness was complete.
Such suchness is no different today
A flower and smile are timeless after all
Accessible to us all.
But how do you tell a buddha
From a charlatan?
A buddha is able to answer with silence.
(1/3/26)
The tales you uphold have woven themselves across the thread of breath
Flowing through us as a guiding light underneath a new moon
Rays of the earth painting you in it’s image
Holding truth in the slumber of your hippocampus
Segmented before me—you’ve caught my attention
Sorrow arises as the sincerity had always stood bare
You’re evidence of an unspoken gospel
Rising beyond the insanity I dance in
Mapping the secrets of our lineage—you stand
Storing energy from the steps imprinted through resilience
You didn’t ask to bear witness—or did you?
The sole survivor of us
An anchor against the shadows of escapism
Sub Categories
Looking for the formal definition, structure, and history of this poetry form? Visit the Poetry Dictionary entry below. Then return to explore how PoetrySoup members bring the form to life through their own poems.