shimmering days leave
sun’s cozy warmth and bright shine
fade tiptoeing soft
recollections tucked in heart
pining for amber grandeur
As surrounded by
To find comfort in
Most splendid of artefacts
An era's, bygone
He's turned it into
While is placed therein
His mind, such, a museum.
Web-free. Nor dim-lit.
One this oft toured does befit.
Daily; and night-long.
Trauma,
loiters and lurks,
terror of scarred recall,
that primal bug I yearn to squash,
volcanic magma, spewing ruptured bile,
past life nemesis a stern plight,
I shudder, weep and pine,
at graves filled by,
trauma
Sorry
restless itching
As a fist in the face
it scrolls replay on the canvas
Reflect on the value of memories
divided emotional thoughts
Complexity of life
pollute the air
sorry
Contest : Rolling With The Rs
Sponsor : Nette Onclaud
Date : August 4, 2025
Stray mind
glides on stalled time.
Wave surfer on rough life
grabs mute mementos of split moon,
floating on dim trough of dismal essence.
Memory invents alchemy,
remembrance rust turns gold
in Midas touched
stray mind.
Woeful,
my painful past,
that leaves me woebegone
for my loved ones now gone above.
Full of melancholy and grief-stricken
and lost in sad recollections.
I have been crushed forlorn
in thoughts and left,
woeful.
the serendipitous lobster
bib
tied
‘round big kahuna’s neck
kuene stumble over*
him
dab
his chin
monkeys
gaze at him
from
behind glass
pearl
city
memories
that shine
e
l
s
e
w
h
e
r
e
is the diner
two
scoop
choice
served with
teriyaki
steak
or
shrimp
tempura
out of towners
paying
money
to find out
the size
of a single
pearl
near
Hanauma Bay
p a s t
is
present
in
wet seas
aloha the day
e
v
e
r
y
fragrant lei
ebbing, flowing
precious
Oahu recollections
Like
wisps of
soft white spores -
those vague remnants -
are recollections wafting through my mind -
sun-gold heads of spring I no longer hold,
Yet I can glimpse
when they turned
into
fluff.
I
recall
my young self
blowing off the
fluff of seeds . . . wishing time would pass quickly.
It was October, the leaves fell,
I reveled in my youth.
But what happened in sixty-two
took the fun and
innocence out of autumn;
There were missiles in Cuba.
Missiles,with more on the way.
Warnings were given,
demands and threats made.
At thirteen I learned
the meaning of a naval blockade.
Grown-ups spoke in hushed tones
over hastily brewed coffee,
eyes and ears glued
to the television for the latest news.
We went to bed and slept uneasily,
not knowing what kind of world
we would wake up to,
if we woke up at all.
Two giants, swords drawn,
faced each other
in a battle of wills.
The great bear blinked
and we stepped back
from the abyss
that nearly swallowed
an anxious world.
It was October, the leaves fell,
somehow I felt much older.
RECOLLECTIONS
exquisite
vignettes
a
reportoire
relished
approach
an
opportunity
encapsulated
in
cultural
cornerstones
with
luscious
touches
with
hybrid
conformity
phrased
&
hallmarked
in
the
mundane
convuluted
&entangled
recall first school day
I stood weeping, scared to move
we held hands at five
she vowed to look after me
we were close, with a deep bond
we had sweet-sad thoughts
dispute with football or dolls
taking both shows care
saddened by her lengthy trip
she cupped my cheeks and we kissed
she flushed when I grinned
felt proud and had butterflies
I soothed her last fall
I hugged her and wiped her tears
we took the shield out chatting
hopes ostracise fears
Brooke faded at age twenty-four
I love her thoughts view
her tomb shares highs and lows
for now, she'll stand as best friend
1st Place Contest Winner
Written: August 10, 2022
Syllables checked by HMS.com
Inspired by “Childhood Nostalgia” Poetry Contest
Sponsor: JCB Brul
Visions swim in my mind that I wish I could not see. I fear to drown in the rush of their rapids, lapping at my face. Each tear I cry leaves a trace of tragedy that cannot be erased, nor regrets that threaten to pull me into a whirlpool of memories. Such thought provoking moments trigger sorrowful refrains of song.
waves rush to the shore
withered leaves in a current ~
caught in undertow
Cheerier recollections calm me as gentle musings on a tranquil lake, where I float contentedly, beneath a cloudless canopy. There are no ripples to blur my happiness; nor sadness to furrow my brow. Mirrored reflections in these Elysian interludes gentle the beat of my heart, and I am at peace with life.
sunshine and blue skies
serenity in nature ~
placid innocence
April 16, 2021
Moments of Reflection Contest
Sponsored by Malabika Ray Choudhury
We're breathing
In the same world, same air
We always think about us
Boosting all our doser recollections
Those should be ample to make us grin
It has to be plentiful at least for now
A plethora of fond memories forms
the foundation for time to build upon.
But dementia is a mental decay:
and those precious moments are all but gone.
Your unique persona has dwindled to
a few fragments of the person you were.
And time keeps shuffling the missing pieces
as your reality begins to blur.
Your identity, stolen by old age,
has left you feeling confused and afraid.
And you can't recognize the ones you love:
friends that you count on for comfort and aid.
It's sad when the mind begins to falter,
severing a lifetime of connections.
And there is no escaping Alzheimer's
prison of incomplete recollections.
Memories
form nostalgic dreams
tethered to
family
and innocence lost to time:
when I was a child.
Bogeymen
back then; were pretend:
all summer,
I'd stay out
playing till it was too dark
to see anything.
Marbles and
bubblegum cards, were
like money:
oft gamble
in games of skill after school,
hoping to win more.
I would take
long walks in the woods
by myself:
surrounded
by the presence of nature;
in hushed solitude.
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