When I began the journey, fifty odd years ago
to become a parent
There were no books or journals then
to guide this experiment
It's mostly based on mentorship
each of us has gained
Often full of potholes
mistakes we have obtained
So when I look in hindsight
not having skills required
Had parenting been my full time job
I would surely have been fired
But life provides us
with a chance to make amends
To bless with love my children
and treat them as my friends
There is no doubt challenges
existing on the way
Some families face adversity
every single day
Sometimes it seems
that life is back to front
The wisdom that we need when young
arrives when ageing fills our wont
To be a grandparent prior to parenting
would elicit a necessary skill
To raise five children, share more prudence
to a loving life, which they can then fulfil
origami skills
much in demand
~ artful paper folds
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
As I gaze upward at the sky so blue,
I hope you’re resting well,
So that you can feel renewed.
The orange sky presents an extraordinary hue
When the snow blankets the mountainside,
And I wish for that mountain to rest peacefully.
You have an incredibly open heart,
A fine citizen and a romantic hero,
As the snow sparkles among the trees, it creates a work of art.
Snowballs are hurled from my dreams,
Quickly landing in the heart of nature and wildlife
In this unpredictable world.
Free-flying thoughts take their flight
From your creative mind,
Venturing into the beauty of nature and the comfort of the fireside.
Use your hands and eyes to solve problems;
Your talent has often been on display,
Imbuing various shades of color
To convey such meaningful news.
Naturally, I think of you
And all that you do,
High up on the mountainside where you tread so skillfully.
Always kept her hands busy ~
Mastered quilting embroidery crochet so many crafts
Now arthritis claims the day
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
art
skill
mastery
technique
seeking clues
gathering hints
reading subtle signs
interpreting the stars
keenly observing
wily expertise
listening
wisdom
flair
art
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
You applause the actor
Her harmonious tone
Her play of words
Her triumphs heard
But do you love the stage after the song
The leftover footprints from where it sang along
Atoning for every step that was missed
Retrieving the dust from her accomplishments
The dust from the skill she used to win
The dirt from the shoes that store talent within
She takes a bow and stifles her breath
For love won’t come if she shows weakness next
But no one applauds the stage after the show
For being there, for laying low
For setting a platform all but their own
The cleaners perceive them as one last chore
The light flicks off, and what is love?
The stage hadn’t known, from being alone
And it will never know, until the lights flick on
And the cleaner applauds it for all it has done
How do these women cut with their bare hands- their surrounding net?
Well, I refer to- Jane, Margaret, Aphra, Virginia and Charlotte,
Who are well known even without their surnames,
And who were well-versed in the field of Literature; to play all kind of games!
The female embodiment of grace,
In the field of writing in which they all were Ace,
Yet none can even now erase,
Their Glorious and Wonderful writing's days.
Austen, Cavendish, Behn, Woolf and Bronte,
Their surnames are enough for knowing the glory to the field of English -
-Literature they had brought,
They too were one of a kind,
And also The Priceless Gems, we may yet never find!
Learning new skill
Is like learning new game
You might stuck from the beginning
But the more you play
The better chances you perfect the skill
Plus constant training everyday
Makes life more fruitful and invincible
Learning is gaining and profitable in the end.
There's a huge difference
In skill and age
One person has multiple jobs
Faster than young people
The curved body is caused
By the profession
Feeling so much concerned
As you age, the physical distress
Caused by many occupations
Follows step by step
There's always price to lose.
To hear is natural, to listen is an art.
To hear is instinctive, to listen is a skill.
To hear is automatic, to listen is intentional.
To hear is effortless; to listen demands mindfulness.
To hear is to sense; to listen is to understand.
Hearing happens by chance; listening happens by choice.
Hearing is passive; listening is active.
Hearing is surface-level; listening is profound.
Hearing fills the ears; listening fills the mind.
Hearing catches sounds; listening catches meaning.
The space between stars is not empty,
So the chance to be great is plenty,
That's by finding emptiness a space
And making yourself shine in that place.
So far, your head isn't in the cloud,
Strive hard to stand out in any crowd,
Though, stars glow less bright for a stranger,
But sunshine sweat can be the changer.
You have to find that space to twinkle,
You have to shine out of a crinkle.
That's the surest way to break the jinx,
And to welcome success when it winks.
Though, the space is full of obstacles,
And chance of success in particles.
You must form that emptiness to fill,
So finding the space must be your skill.
25th October, 2024
Every pugilist knows
Fists in balls
sends sour message.
Then again, who
Insists a fight
should carefully choose.
As commonly known,
Energy plus might
fathers a knockout.
The resolute mind indomitable,
the feisty surfer on the waves of life
of curled crests with strewn fractured moon
and dark troughs of sunken stars,
recedes with the ebb of time,
looks out for the shore of the past.
The rolling sands etch seaward footprints,
contoured as the crumbling pattern of decay.
Time arrow finds the destined course
to the topography beyond the shore,
away from the eroded wilderness abandoned
where emptiness absorbs the hues of hope.
In the weed-webbed terrain deep within
piles up the wreckage of life unlived,
turning the flushing garden to wasteland.
The corridor paved outside its delicate fence,
waits to be walked spellbound
to the sanguine meadow of tomorrow.
The innovative memory invents
the arcane skill of alchemy,
glistens gold in the rusted crust of ruins.
Marigold blooms in the junkyard
on the scrap stack of desolate being,
with the touch of the Midas mind.
If you want clarity of thought,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you want to increase your chances of becoming rich,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you want a tidy house,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you want to move up the ladder at work,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you have a problem that needs solving,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you are having a relationship that is in crisis,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you have money problems,
Then sorting is a skill you should give some thought.
If you are a farmer,
Chances are you will not need me to tell you,
How important it is to sort the wheat from the chaff.
We are extremely trained
in our failures
and tremendously incompetent
in our successes...
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