Shakespeare toiled over double trouble the steam rose from the water in the marsh as the cauldron bubbled, shreds of spirit bound steam tickled ruddy cheeks and sought interminable refuge in the heat, the night rolled over us the stream went silent, the palaver in the morning is of the bead steam-driven and compiled.
If you boil water - you get steam.
Boil my life - you get a dream.
So it is, when I look up
from an empty cup,
at a softly winding curl,
I think I see a girl.
autopoiesis
utilize the ambient
contextual eyes
There is steam on the teacup.
The storm is gone.
"The Steam Train I Never Rode"
It waits upon the platform still,
a beast of brass and sighing steel,
its breath a ghost of what was planned,
its whistle cutting through what’s real.
Your mother bought the tickets two,
a birthday gift, a kind of dream,
to ride the rails through hills and blue,
our laughter trailing with the steam.
But time derailed what love had made,
and silence filled the engine’s hum.
The journey left, the plans decayed,
and I stood still you did not come.
Now every echo down the track
reminds me of that fleeting chance
the smoke, the heart that won’t come back,
the ticket folded in my hands.
Perhaps it’s better that it stayed,
a journey written, never known
for some trains go, and some remain,
and some are meant to leave alone.
I resent having to be patient when
that’s not a virtue I much value
Why can’t I enjoy being in love
oh yeah, because you’re not ready to
be that guy I long to please.
I resent that in the love department
part of you is a clumsy teenager
and you expect me to teach you
what you’ve never bothered learning.
I resent that you have trouble understanding
when all I do is clarify expectations
and I leave the rest to you.
I’m buying into the bull and promises
that you do want this to work ~
Bull because from this angle I see
a hot air balloon that is having
a hard time getting off the ground.
Lineku: 3 stanzas of 5-7-5 lines each line having 5 or 7 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Hot Breath
excited crowd waits impatiently
earthquakes shake the ground
lava heated boiling water
pushes towards the surface
hot steam spews from the vent
anticipation grows, ready for the eruption
a mighty whoosh and the vented steam
reaches for the blue sky
for a duration of ninety seconds
the crowd is awed by natures power
with a gurgle the steam cloud
settles back into the earth to await
another cycle
Wade in the Water
While you can
Afore it steams away
Like the whistle of
A boiling kettle
Please always be my bluebird
My love for you is true
A door inside me opened
Into the room you flew
The door then closed forever
It's only me and you
I'm sure that we'll find something
That we both like to do
The whistle blows, the chugging starts -
A steam train ride in France -
For those who like to try things
From the past, this is your chance.
Since when it’s time to turn around,
The leading car’s unlatched
And driven to a turntable
Before it’s reattached.
The locomotive then gets cranked,
By hand! one circle ‘round.
The engineer next drives to where
The once-caboose is found.
The train is reconnected
And goes back the way it came,
Passing trees and giant rock formations,
Looking all the same.
An aqueduct appears and there’s
An eagle in the sky,
But what impresses most on board
As we go zipping by
Is a trio by the river,
Down below and quickly viewed,
Being very French, relaxing
Near the water, in the nude.
It's imperative to alter the narrative,
so get out a round of ream.
There's a knot in the plot,
a lost theme with out a seam..
You pause and you pivot.
The script leaves you livid,
falling short of your dream.
Stopped, stalled between acts,
little time to retrack,
as your pen is running out of steam.
From time to time, some people bath on steam of ignorance, trying to nose and bark on things that their empty minds have no capacity to understand.
January 23, 2024, PST, SPC
Wisps of steam float up
when evening heat kisses cold -
today’s air, a ghost.
"Toot Toot" says the choo choo train.
I think I can, I think I can,
but then again,
perchance it's much too soon
to be going far too fast
for the downhill lane.
"Toot Toot" here I come,
whatsoever!
Sweetening is the morning due
sheets of mist enveloping two
Shower curtain our naked view
balmy gazes, we see right through
Sight to behold, her beauty true
saturated, midst honey dew
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