Crime of a memory isn’t remembrance
But the impossibility of erasing
The amount I don’t need, to get extra space
To save some memories from effacing
I’d remember our letters, lost and forgotten
I’d recognize what I am living for
Forever grateful for the gift I’ve gotten
I’d recall every word we have said, and more
Of those words that were kept unsaid till tomorrow
That came too late with its morning dew
I’d remember then all the time I borrowed
Some little time to get close to you..
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The city doesn't rest~
it pulses with life 24/7.
Overworked streetlights flicker
waiting until sunrise.
Run down sidewalks
crack and bend,
releasing steam from below.
Subway trains softly sing
to rats and rust.
Windows mirror windows~
a thousand lives stacked like plates,
never touching, always full.
Somewhere, a siren stitches the night shut.
We are all borrowed space here,
leaning against each other
without ever touching.
The city doesn't rest~
it waits.
Poem written for “Urbanity Poetry Contest,” Ultramarine Literary Review, sponsor, February 20, 2026.
Shift in place,
Move still while keeping silent.
Deafening screams locked behind teeth
Some profound rage kept from an
Ineffable target.
Held In place,
By un-moving days.
Simmering at the surface.
Hidden by the stoic face.
Waiting for the instance,
When the world will cease the snail's pace.
Primed for even a sliver of movement.
So it may strike a hand into the stream.
As time rushes by, finding its mark.
An object to direct that malice towards.
Expelling the poison that has accumulated.
Worsening with every breakfast and dinner.
Despite the mania it brings,
And injuries I inflict.
It is cathartic.
A moment of motion
Is better than a life of stillness.
Spaced Out
Inner Space
Astro projected, in the seventies, travelled into the Universe at the speed of light,
Into my memories hoard, exploring the essence of every solar system.
Experiences come to life, memories created, permeate histories moments.
Memories flash by at lightening speeds, lightening scorches the essence of life,
changing its molecular structures, its psychic abilities, forever altering reality
from what once was, to what is, to what will become a new reality.
A surrealistic vision, once harbouring the colours of rainbows seen through prisms.
All colours of the spectrum, life’s experiences, fading from view, only shades of gray
covering this universe, memories hoard, life’s experiences with, one day soon, a death mask.
B. J. “A” 2
February 6th, 2024
Emptiness seems paler,
Within the wind and the movements,
Echoes begin to creep in,
Without a beat, beyond the warnings,
The effervescence that once fueled my tools now sears my lungs,
Collecting old shadows I left to rest from once upon a time,
Colors are only a delicacy for monsters,
And the taints in my spine are drained by dementors,
Fallen for the light that seeps through the wooden blinds,
Convinced, maybe this time!
It’s only right,
The stars can be kind,
At times the sky speaks in tears,
While the storm strikes the pillars of my heart with fears,
Visions creating instruments out of casualties in my storms,
I wonder sometimes, how much combat is left in my bones,
Resist to insist for joy,
Yet every step feels like a bridge I destroy,
I’ve shown my skin and strengthened my pride,
My words have lost their loom through the valley of my tribe,
One day I hope I doze off and find some ease,
For I know, no limbs of mine can do what love can please.
Lost places
Are filled with dread
Most houses build on top of land
Undecided undeniable fixated sensation
Compromise all I see in the rain is dread
The Elohim terrain space is ablaze red
8/4/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. ©2023
Bursting,
parting
rising
submit
covenant gathering universe
planet stars families’ trisections
7/30/23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. •
energies spaced all creations are one-
So I look upon
soul indebts my embraces
I see the tree so
it embraces me so free
we hug in love we are same
6/24//23
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. ?2023
The rainy season arrives
Today we have a gloomy and surly weather
It makes me feel heavy and depressed
Spaced out
Fed up
Finally retreat to a confinement
To avoid being wet out
The bustle and hustle of the outside
Being blocked out
An inner self is left
I feel somewhat alone and lost
Am l really alone
Of course not
I then think of my loved ones
I then think of God
Who is ever ready to attend to us
I am blessed in this space and in Heavenly places I so deem
9/5/22
Written by James Edward Lee Sr 2022
landscape the blackness
that covers skies polka dots
white burst of stars glistens
~
these are those brights sparks
sparkling planets so far out
these are the lights space
3/7/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
I was at a critical stage.
Where I was not feeling sage.
I felt like I was in outer space.
But really, I was just moving at a lightning pace.
As the clouds went still.
I had the feeling that it would not be until.
My hands were unstrapped.
In this space, I am trapped.
I had lost my sense of connection.
As they gave me an injection.
I had almost been catatonic.
Which was ironic.
What is seen will eventually be forgotten.
As my false universe would go rotten.
If space is an area untoil;
I can't space separate words;
If all 3 dimensional voids;
Intertwine collage with gravity's hole;
Blank or empty consecrating unavailable area ;
Or solid barriers;
Accommodation blanketed spot;
Reach vacancies infinite area. perspective peace;
Place
Space
1/16/21
For Contest Musing on Space Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Unseeking Seeker
CATCH 22
a window shatters
nobody makes a home run
Using words
turn the phrase
or is it just a phase
errs
on stun
the sci-fi nerd has just begun
predatory alien
try to follow please
i am macaroni allergic to cheese
i am
legend
Logans final run
The thing you need to comprehend
I am the fly in the ointment
beneath my feet the earth is still
on this day
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.