It was a stepping-stone,
ten and half years, but a stepping-stone
A woodstove burning on the hill
Distant mountains seen through bare trees
A place of laughter and many tears
Accidents, achievements, love and loss
Flowers and wildlife so wild, but tame
Quietness that settled the soul
Bird songs that brought a yearning to dance
Sunrises and sunsets seen through the windows
A timeframe in life, that will live in my heart
A stepping-stone to here, with pieces from there
Now, a new illuminating place, filled with grace
Heidi Sands
4/8/25
(C)opyright
Preparing The Lips for repeated groans
And The Heart for as many moans,
Left long in it one’s contacting phone:
“To whom it concerns I’m pitiably alone!”
Suffering never was a stepping stone
To our Remote-Controlled Throne,
For all its merits steadily overblown
And at Non-sufferers readily thrown …
Some bit Suffering releases in The Grown
With the doggedness he’d sown:
The often insupportable lighter,
The Rather Darker, Much Brighter
Tasked legs that no longer totter
A furnace now cooler that was hotter.
Still, The Never Ceasing Suffering
Keeps Singular Pain Offering
And as a spring board
The Regionally Broad.
Faster advancing The Dish-Washing American
Than A Nigerian Mover of filled Jerry can.
FAILURES
Failing in your efforts to achieve your cherished dream
Are just the keys to the possible success supreme;
If your steps to reach the peak in the dark hard seem,
Lift up your spirit, leap forward in its guiding beam;
Unless unswervingly you move to face trials extreme
Reaching success is best forgotten - a daydream;
Embrace your failures and on you move and gleam,
See yourself shine as do the skies in the sunbeam;
Date: 09/06/2021
Message In An Acrostic 2 Poetry Contest
Sponsor: Kim Rodrigues
The walls break
My heart is a stepping stone
It's swallowing the rain
Nightmare's obstacles
Faith's accident
See through clouds
at the other side of river
are the stolen roots of healing-moon-giving trees
left by wayward wind.
my skin whispers—
wind is traversing to reach the corn field of druid
for another robbery;
that it’s a good chance for me to be
a thief and rejuvenate my lacerations-covered heart.
without blinking,
i jump from bank to stepping stone to stepping stone
to stepping stone.
[if i leave a stone unturned, stone wouldn’t
wait to haunt me like guilty for( long/ ever) ]
another jump—
my right foot on the old
stepping stone and i am
river’s sensuality.
i am wet,
wet as mad hen,
wet as mad hen.
wetness adds to the weight. i am heavy. my body
is a loaded chariot without horses and charioteer.
/* blindfolded blindfaith */
M-ake a stepping stone,
A-iming towards success;
R-ising above the crowd
I-s not without a mess.
E-arly twenty-fifth of August, just learn from your error;
L-et your life correct the wrong, use the failure to your favor.
S-tepping stone to triumph
I-s truly hard and rough;
L-earn to reach your goal,
A-s the going gets tough.
G-et up when you fall down,
A-llow not your heart to moan;
N-ever ignore your mistake being a stepping stone.
The day fast fades
the end draws near
our time is fleeting
so brief and so dear
Over and over
I longed for you so
the longing unanswered
and so I must go
I gave you my life
you gave me my death
in very small portions
between every breath
You ravaged my heart
and invaded my mind
an addiction so sweet
a torment unkind
The truth is masked
where your comforts abound
and rigor sets in
when your pleasures are found
So now I must flee
for my very life
lest you kill me with kindness
that cuts like a knife
I pray for the darkness
for fear I'll be trapped
in the lingering glimmer
of your charms enrapt
My sudden departure
is not without tears
our dysfunctional union
did last many years
I'm leaving your world
I shall not be back
I head for the brightness
as you fade to black
You once used me
and now I'll use you
as a hard stepping stone
to a life brand new
There is a journey out there; it can’t be taken alone
I am happy to help you, and be your stepping stone
Of course you will pass me, but please show respect
Leave some space for the one; who passes you next
This weary stone worn down; from over all the years
From given a helping hand; wishing you good cheers
Impregnated with a history; of all those that passed
On their journey of enlightenment; lessons amassed
Each leaving their experiences on my stepping stone
Each one acknowledging; one can never stand alone
I’ve been robbed of perfection
Then starved for attention
When I though I’d found love
She gave up, without mention
I’ve endured pain for my wisdom
Then lost my mind thinking
When I thought I’d found love
She gave up without blinking
I’ve put my madness in ink
Then burned it onto paper
When I thought I’d found love
She gave up without failure
I’ve gathered that I was wrong all along
She wasn’t my love and she wasn’t strong
Although she helped me along the way
Her words were the lies that her eyes portrayed
Now that it’s over, I look back and see
She was a stepping stone on my path to be free
D.R.L.
What wondrous goal makes tiny planet Earth
a stepping stone in life's eternal sea?
What spectral promise gives its journey worth
as it conforms to cosmic destiny?
What tireless pulse gives rhythm to its flight
beyond the steady rule of moon and sun?
What answer to the never-ending plight
of why and where and how it was begun?
Alive within my beating human heart
there dwells solution that can end the quest,
for born of God, I know the truth in part...
He lodged it there with grace within my breast.
From earth-life end, I step to hallowed lands,
where my Creator waits with outstretched hands.
Sandra M. Haight
~1st Place~
Premiere Contest: Contest No. 231
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Judged: 11/01/2016
~2nd Place~
Contest: Where To You Think You Will Spend Eternity?
Sponsor: Laura Leiser
Judged: 09/15/2015
Perseverance
(no more, no less)
The first stepping-stone
To success.
---------------------------
Third & Final Itty Bitty Contest
Sponsor: Andrea Dietrich
Placing: 6th
Our frozen bones,
have drifted far from home,
most of our days,
were paved with stepping stones,
set in our ways,
we left it all long ago,
buried alive,
under those stepping stones.
We can’t go back,
no matter how much pain,
there’s no escape,
just days and nights of rain,
long distance calls,
unanswered telephones,
the hidden cost of
lives built with stepping stones.
You can't take it back, but don’t be afraid,
we’ll build something good with your broken remains.
Stepping stone soldiers, lay down your bones,
we’ll scatter what’s left in those fields that you made.
Stepping stone soldiers, cold and alone,
soon you'll be buried in a stepping stone grave.
Just a stepping stone
That starts us on our path
Through this journey filled with hope
Of success in which to grasp
Also along the way
There are many ups and downs
But in each of our lives
A purpose can be found
Knowing for our selves
In order to remain strong
Our trust must be in God
And Him we should lean on
We should always remember
That together we're never alone
Cause this is only the beginning
For it's just a stepping stone.
You know that all you have to do is shout
And I'll be there;
At anytime you find yourself in doubt,
I'd be near.
I'm always the one you come to,
When you're feeling alone.
I'd do anything for you,
But I'm just a stepping stone.
You don't love me
And probabaly never have.
Vegetables now ready
Peeled and so fresh
It's potato and Welsh leek
Mm, stepping stone soup
Delicious in taste
Expressive
Wow!
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