Dear Barbara.
Before Fed Ex or UPS delivered rapidly,
There was USPS with Special Delivery.
Before them all, God delivered freely.
There are two treasured gifts most heavenly.
God blessed me with a wife and a family.
There's no one else with whom I'd rather be
Than the one that God clearly gave to me.
All that came before you
Lit a flame that quickly vanished from view.
For 54 years, there's been 'Just Us'.
It will be this way until one of us bites the dust.
Steeped deep within my memory,
I'll always remember the start of our story.
In a college town,
In a church pew,
You turned both my head and heart around.
From that moment on, everything became new.
In very short order,
I knew you were a gift from my heavenly Father.
Theories of killers fall from blonde to grey rivers
A man with a face controlled by a robot
Rolls a kart with forgotten songs of Eagles and Hawks
I fought a cry seeing our friends goodbye
I heard a ringing I could not breathe
Somewhere there was the missing voice of make-believe
An acoustic drink ,a punch of a swing off a tree
The peeling worn out shade
Lifts the suade off a Saturday moon
Rebellious fires burn holiday seeds of pumpkins and carrots
I tried to be different everyone left but were never here
I tried to be cool but the string of limousines got tied up in a tree of lies
I tried to fall in love
But ended up a 3rd party fool
"The moon is an honest Manipulator,"
last night you showed off with your total eclipse.
Your enormous bright light did,
"Tie me to your Tongue."
"I learned how to live unkissed,
until" last night.
Now "I filled the night's chalice with knots of desire,"
needing to wait for the next full moon.
"If time turns, will scars stain the sky?"
Will I live to see you next month in all your glory?
Oh look at the dark clouds for,
"It's raining roses and love riots."
Tonight was very special,
I am so glad I could join the full moon for our visit.
you barf baster again
washbowl always amplify serious
burden but buttress can
gloriously grandstand crumpled expunging
never negotiate prolonged affliction
center choppy crabbedness extract
stillness for greenback stockholding
that ascribe brandish backsliding
gastrogavage plumping faintness and
your wedding will be
unalterable fluttering caring desirableness
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • August 24–30, 2026)
Contest: Lento Soup Poetry
Sponsored by Charles Messina
There's a special place being built for me,
Where my house will last for all eternity.
No more needs for mortgages or hotels.
Collateral not required, nor will show and tell.
On a forever property of my very own.
Long has been the wait for my new home.
Say goodbye to town to town, state to state.
A private mansion is where I'll lay my stake.
I have so much love to give
But ho one to give it to
It can't just be anyone
Because only one person is special
Some people don't deserve my love
I want to care for someone
Give them my ideas and thoughts
Someone to share a laugh with
Someone to share my life with
I thought I found that special person
But now I'm rethinking it
She's not liking me the way I'm liking her
But I don't think I can ever stop
It's killing me
Every day I some hoe steer my thoughts in her direction
Then I realize
It won't happen
It never will
Pacing in the church porch
my heart tastes everything
surrounded yet so separate, in the name of a ring
I start to hear the organ, my body’s frozen stiff
as they pull me to the aisle, it all comes down to this
spectators are just faces absent of my recognition
I’m a buffering engine running on forced ignition
flash backs of months of turmoil assessing the who, the where the what
echo through me now with no means to stop
but then this stunning silence, like he’d planned it a perfect science
fell over me, his eyes the only diamonds that I could truly see
really, I had seen a different glisten
stood opposite, I had tried to listen
to the sound of the organ, beckoning the real life bride
they’d closed the doors and started filming but I’d assumed myself inside
this day was special, sacred and safe
this day defined new time
this day was everything
this day just wasn’t mine
Rip went to ‘Magicians School’
learned tons of tricks
But where was the magic
Not one made me flip
A school can only teach so much
Magic takes a special touch
Maybe you're born with it
Maybe you acquired it
Even 'Magic School' can't require it
we are a great team
that has each other's backs
no one's left behind
Maybe one day, everyone will walk on water
Or turn water into wine
Heal the sick. Turn back time
Live in a world without war or fear
Maybe one day, everyone will turn the other cheek
Or wear each other's sandals, year after year
Love one another. Help the weak
Be the light in candles
Maybe one day, everyone will know peace of mind
Or make origami of the sublime
All skins are kin, everyone wins!
Can I hear an "Amen"? Or at the very least
Can we all just try to get along
And maybe be friends?
Maybe one day, everyone will feel the holy spirit
Or fill in the holes in the fabric of time
Take a quantum leap of faith
There's nothing better than the Kind
The One who saves us from all the lying
Your birthday is a special time
to give thanks to God for you!
I’m thankful you’re a friend of mine —
your birthday is a special time
to give thanks for you friend so kind,
and to pray you’re blessed
the whole year through!
Your birthday is a special time
to give thanks to God for you!
Tater's and beer
In another privileged day of excitement
Look at me, friend, a belch has the sense to appear
Like a spit in a tube, with a reason to rube, I know a foolish hickey to relent
Like a child of the stars, the poise of uncertainty
Has become ours, to let a swallow of many and might
Become the secret of misery no one is saying, publicly...?
What the hell rhymes with muscles and care, if I do it myself up right?
A mouse wanders by, daring us to catch itself in a trap
Wow, it says, the misery I notice and due, is a little vague...
Suppose the danger of me and reality is for any and all, a hosting crap
That seems to be taters and beers, having a good time at my imagination's rage?
A rose is still just a rose.
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
O, darling, send me an artificial flower
dangling from a plastic bower
accompanied by words of elegance
culled from artificial intelligence
Be patient, please. I heard you call.
I'm in the kitchen getting lunch.
To please you, Dear, I will not stall.
I know it's been a while since brunch.
I've turned on Garfield for you, Hon.
I know you love it; I do too.
This afternoon we'll have such fun,
but first I have this feast for you.
You loved each morsel, I can see.
Let's have a nap; then we'll go play.
I'll watch you run and climb a tree.
We'll have a bright and lovely day.
To thank me, you meow and purr,
unlike the other friends I've had.
To all your wishes, I defer.
I say, is that a flea? Egad!
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