She stepped lightly
Amid the golden reeds
Glowing, this nymph of
Riparian leisure --
Barefoot and scantily
Covered breasts, whose
Jutting pavilions twice
Blessed swayed and
Swelled as the marsh
Tried breathe, exhaled even
Deeper saturating its own boggy
Savors, fixated then
Upon her naked thighs
Exposed for the silk
Curtain had parted revealed
Luscious droplets clinging, slipping,
Slippery sliding my heart a slush
Of primitive desire --
He Stepped Up
In the quiet after heartbreak,
When the echoes of the past still stung,
You arrived not demanding,
Not to conquer, but to heal.
You saw the tender places in me,
The parts I didn’t trust,
Wounds carved by another’s hand,
And you stepped up when you didn’t have to.
My children, my loves,
They came with my scars, my fears
Yet you wrapped them in your kindness,
Taught them laughter,
Held them close when I was weary.
I watched you take it all:
The jagged pieces of my past,
The weight of my worries,
The never ending what ifs
That kept me awake in the dark.
You never flinched.
You carried them with me,
Turned burden into belonging,
Showed me how love can rebuild
From the rubble of what came before.
You gave me everything I’d ever wanted
A home not just in bricks,
But in the comfort of your arms,
A love that listens, that steadies,
That stays.
In you, I found the softest place to fall,
The truest heart to trust,
And though the scars still remain,
They are no longer mine alone.
For you stepped up,
When you didn’t have to,
And in doing so,
You became everything I ever needed.
I can’t remember who I was,
before voices other than mine stepped in.
I think I wanted to be
a movie director, a script I read in kindergarten—
a line or two still hums when I dream.
I think I wanted to be
a fashion designer, my first sketches—
heels like daggers, dresses stitched with thunder.
I think I wanted to be
a writer, during math class in middle school—
a girl with powers, betrayed by her lover.
Now I tell people I want to be
a marketing executive, a product manager—
since when, I can’t remember.
Before voices other than mine stepped in,
I think, I think—
I wanted to be
the hand behind moving dreams.
______________
Note: Inspired by a line I saw on Pinterest 'Can you remember who you were, before the world told you who you should be?'
Brutish bison stepped on my left foot today
Making me less merry, forcing me to delay
It weighed a ton, so what could I do?
I yelled “Get off of my tennis shoe!”
Skittish bison got startled and galloped away
My toe is broken, bleeding, its nail is turning gray.
So, I cannot come over for my play date today.
Maybe you should invite my cousin Jay.
You stepped into the garden
arrived the Bougainvillea of the spring
stanzas of poetry
You're putting on the big eyeglasses
lips on bouquet get concealed behind
the maze of metaphor
In the nest of deep green leaves
the bud is in a swell
waves of poems rhythmic
In the flute, the serotonin circuit
igniting the flames of an orange
the flavour of a sonnet
The chiselled shadow of your face
on the light brown tea
my lips for the poetry
____________________________
25 January 2023
The heroes ran in as others were booking out.
Those of us who are not selfless do not understand.
We watch in disbelief.
Who would run in there?
The building seemed to implode.
It was like there was a bomb placed in the middle.
Not like it had only been hit by a plane.
People jumped to their deaths. Did they die before they hit the ground?
We had our TVs on, because we were terrified.
And fascinated. But why? What is fascinating about death and sorrow?
What is fascinating about murder and suicide?
We still have many questions and not so many answers.
The twin towers. New York City, September 11th, 2001
Many heroes stepped up that day. Heroes in New York and in the sky.
Heroes took US Airline Flight 93 down,
so it could not kill more Americans.
Those who are not selfless cannot understand
Walking across the yard I fell I fall
And on my pants I saw fresh manure
But at the park I sat on the bench
And when I got up
On the bottom of my foot
Sculpted I saw and looked a mound of manure
Oh! Man I just stepped in
Someone's doggy- doo
Ahh! Man I just gotten these new Air Jordan ™shoes
1/24/22
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr © 2022
I STAND I STEPPED IN AN AQUATIC SPILLWAY OF A DREAM LAKE
Dream lake head waters
Thing of lacquer
Engaging lacquering
Full of shallows
Silent lac
I stand I stepped in an aquatic spillway of a dream lake
Out by the thought of lakes
Of my dreams, rivers streams
A body of waters
Cumulating waters gathering together,
All those rivers streams
I stand I stepped in an aquatic spillway of a dream lake
They which are perfumed from unseen scoter
In there within themselves lakeshores
Warming were those ground waters
Some sandy beaches pearl aqua clear blue
The soft shoreline shallowing
I stand I stepped in an aquatic spillway of a dream lake
Demersal, demersal ponding
In fact that it was swishing
A landlocked loch lacquering
So there I stand stepped in an aquatic spillway
Dream lake head waters
I stand I stepped in an aquatic spillway of a dream lake
7/21/21
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2021©
I stepped back onto the back of the chair, not the seat.
Began screaming when I realized I was going down hard.
My foot landed in six different directions.
I yelled “Get the boss! Get co-workers! Get everybody!”
Ambulance came to get me. EMTs were very nice.
Gave me medication that kept me from going into shock.
I had torn my meniscus, and my ACL and I had bruised a leg bone.
Valium and morphine got me through it; I was singing songs now.
And gazed a hump shaped cloud
afront a winking moon
I saw her first on windswept plain
Her gold hair shone like sunlit grain
Her skin as fair as cloud above
A form that spoke to me of love...
She dainty stepped; I held my breath
My heart did gasp, a gasp of death
For she was lame, as lame could be
Would love still fain join her with me?
December 29, 2019
LAY It On Me - 8 x 8 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Charles Messina
+ STRAND SELECT 5 Contest, any theme any form
Sponsor: Brian Strand
He stepped on my finger,
So I bit off his toe.
He screamed and threw fits
And told everyone I know.
He tripped on my knee,
So I gave him a welt
He was shocked beyond shock
That I used a big belt
He hushed me but once
For the repercussions were not pretty
We married one night
In the bright town of New York City
He knows what he’s got
For I have hid nothing from him
He rarely touches me,
Knowing I will not take it as any kind of a whim
He stays in his place,
On his side of the bed,
He barely breathes sometime,
Full knowing my stead
He once raised his hand
As if to give me a slap
But then he remembered
And pretended to clap
I stepped on a bee
That I didn't see
Screamed in pain like I'd been shot
Holding my foot that's fire hot
And this shouldn't be any news
But its a good idea to always wear shoes
People are poking me with tools in their fingers
Trying to dig out that bloody stinger
You would have thought that someone died
With all the noise and the tears I cried
But what I have failed to see
Is the fate of that poor honey bee
In Russia there lived a white cow,
A rare albino female sow.
She stepped in some poo,
And let out a big moo---
Modesty's turned her bright red now.
When she stepped into my life
Wished always to have a sweet little sis,
I could taste heavens in her tender kiss.
My tiny heart throbbed for her love,
as I saw my friends live in that treasure trove.
God must have answered my prayers,
soon she was running up my thought stairs.
Her bubbly being and chubby cheeks,
She would teach me love and all Greek,
Her friends getting onto my nerves,
soon she was young with perfect curves,
Her wedding brought her still closer to me,
Evenings were cozy as we roamed in glee,
She migrated far and I was happy for her,
yet in memories of past, vision is blurred,
Staying afar, wish she achieves her goal,
deeper to my heart she is my twin soul .
For contest "When older or younger siblings step in"
Sponsor- Eve roper
Dedicated to my younger sis Jyoti who is now staying in Australia.
God as if has bestowed His blessings upon me by sending her into my life.
Awarded 1st place win
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