What came first the chicken or the egg?
The jury is still out on this one. Wait....
Have we found a referee to settle this dispute?
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
My nephew is tolerant and fair
Not impressed with a sea of dyed hair
His high school teachers think he's a gem
But he's dismayed by kids wanting to be called they/them.
My niece had a problem with the school bathroom
Other girls vaping marijuana, can't stop, I assume.
I myself don't think it nice
To tell kids to go out and protest ICE.
(chorus)
It's past time we leave the kids alone
Let their worldview start at home
Don't try to reshape them by degrees.
Concentrate on teaching ABC's.
The NEA says teachers must push "gender, class and race."
Seems to me that they are talking out of place.
We spend over 20,000 per student nationwide.
But with those math scores, teachers should hide.
(bridge)
Kids learn slogans, learn what to say,
But can’t explain how loans accrue each day.
Teach them how to think, not what to think,
Then let the cause pushers into the rink.
(final chorus)
It's past time we leave the kids alone
Let their worldview start at home
Let their spirit be carefree
Replace those gender posters with ABC.
The game I’m stuck playing
Is not like the rest
My score gets higher
the lower the number gets
I lose every time
I step on the scale
My mind just tells my body
that we’re playing a game
Self care isn’t something I’m lacking
Everyone says it’s what i need
But no matter how much I try
I just don’t feel fulfilled
The game I keep playing
Is one I can’t win
My score keeps getting higher
as I continue to disappear.
My uncle the world traveler.
Wise and eccentric as he may be.
Always a story to tell.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
All I am is inked in scores,
each mark a wound that silently pours.
Expectations sit tall and heavy walls,
blocking the light and my own fall.
I am just a little child,
trembling under the weight of your hopes,
yet you call me worthless
as if my soul could fit on a page, tied to your ropes.
I am beyond the walls of your charts,
beyond the digits you cling to.
And yet, here I am,
tied to my grades,
while the world of me bleeds unseen.
Still bounded by my grades,
while the universe inside me quietly fades.
Hallow's Eve here upon us
A specially eerie full moon spooky night
Not for faint of heart
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Day after day the tally
good or bad ~ doing what we can
strike a balance for peace
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Deafening the score for spring break,
set off by the harp’s gentle voice.
That pas de deux of give and take,
a fever pitch played with such poise.
There are so many twisted toys
that masquerade as gentlemen.
Soft banter that clamors a choice:
do you want cheap or a bargain?
You win the game
You hit the score
But then again
You want some more
What you achieved
Soon gone to past
You can’t retrieve
It wouldn’t last
Another time
Has come again
You’re not in line
You’re not the same
You’re out for lunch
You’ve had it all
You’ve come to crunch
Its not your fault
Your day is done
Its overdue
And when it comes
You know it should
That winning lot
Was it the goal
But you forgot
Forgot it all
Dementia came
And brought release
You play no game
And what was this
Is just absurd
That has no name
Your life’s reward
Was it a game?
Why not forever
And for more
Never for never
Score for the score
And this is it
No more excuse
Now its complete
You’re proud to lose..
The bartender strolls from one
end of the counter to the other.
She makes small talk with regulars
who watch NFL games on screens
and a college basketball game
plays on another.
For each touchdown scored
mugs are raised.
Fans analyze every run and play
and the day unfolds.
while the bartender pours beers.
She says her boyfriend and dog
are at home.
A man at the end of the bar
pays his tab.
A woman from public housing
pushes her walker and sits
in their midst.
She’s come in to watch Cubs games
and she’s here again
although baseball season is over.
Life is like score
After the jotting is done
There is next to come.
Nowadays people keep track of all the wrongs so they can hold it over your head
robust lyrics
winged-voices blest without angst
no pressers
pleasure and glory of God
winged-voices soar without war
a morning score
no bombs, no television
unflappable peace
no reporters in trees
paparazzi unheard of
joy of joining
in the singalong-chirping
with lovely weather
no choppers to ruin tweets
the twilight birds asleep
Score Brings us Too;
Feat's Jesus Move;
Loud, Loud, Now, Now's The Sky!
Score Brings Us Too,
Feats Jesus Move;
Loud, loud's, an S.K.Y.!
His miser boss
Went out for a toss
When the MD knocked his door.
He plummeted down
To save his crown
When his senior asked for more.
His hair had grown
on his chest
On his back as well down south.
Where nested in peace
There hung two bees
His tongue got stuck in his mouth.
The doc came up
Once or twice
To run his regular tests.
His BP down,
His wife in town
He lost his killer jests.
He crossed himself
and prayed to God
His taste for wine was lost.
The honey bees
made merry cheer,
His company bore his cost.
Then one fine day
they stopped his pay,
No wife no son no home.
He saw a man
without a shawl,
All hurled and curled in snow.
With nothing to lose,
the bees long gone.
He poured his drink once more.
The only coat,
he gave in zest
To the man and settled his score.
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