Police cars block the side streets;
The avenue’s car-free
To make the strolling easy
For pedestrians like me.
The booths hold clothes and jewelry
And crafts of every type,
But front and center is the food,
Deserving of the hype.
Most every nationality
Is represented by
Whatever meals the chefs at hand
Can chop or stir or fry.
Aromas fill the neighborhood
As people buy and munch
A snack to tide them over
Or a more substantial lunch.
Distilleries display their wares
Near smoothies packed with fruit,
The locals and the visitors
In purchasing pursuit.
A lovely way to spend some time
On a fall-like afternoon,
Succumbing to the urge to buy,
To which I’m not immune.
Therapy is a nice breeze I paid for.
That smells a little bit like dead dust bunnies.
You can only jump as high as kettle corn.
And you’ll land on the ground most likely.
Get crushed.
But she wants a more substantial crunch.
An earth worm’s sentience.
Such a worm cannot go to therapy.
The therapist would crush him way too easily.
And she wants at least 13 bones.
Doesn’t all have to be from the same creature.
Spider legs don’t always count.
But might if it has spikes.
Therapy is a nice breeze I paid for.
And the breeze smells like lavender instead of dead dust bunnies.
Maybe because…
The dust bunnies got eaten.
translate love into food,
into money that matters,
into health that lasts,
into substantial living
not the charade of wealth
that floats away
on crimson wings
I am still here!
Alive is more
than a five-letter-word
I don’t know the birds
I don’t know the rocks
I didn’t know how hard
life would get
until I was in the middle of it
Multitudinous micro-
oscillations manifest
misleadingly,
Quarks quintessentially
quantify questionable
quantum- permanence,
Subatomic structures subtly
simulate substantial
superficies
Macroscopic mutability,
Fleeting fluctuations
fabricated from formless
frequency- fields,
Intricate interfaces interlock
intersecting illusory imagery,
Disintegrating dimensions
deceive dedicated density-
seekers,
Evanescent energies
effortlessly evade external
examination,
Architectural absolutes
automatically atomize along
apertures,
Vaporous voids vividly veil
vast vacuousness.
Fleeting matter masks
quantum voids.
Abject behemoths, conniving destructive existence... Fomenting
grave hazardous intent.. Jeopardising... Knowingly... Loathsome
manipulative numbing objectionable practices... Questionably
raising substantial theoretical unsustainable visions...Weird
xenobots yielding zootoxins
THE INCREDIBLE
substantial
hesitant
instinctively
aware
so easy
&
yet
enchanted
&quaint
ready
to
pacify
& compare
the
auspicious
&
yet accessible
to
magnify
& purify
plausible
&decisive
an imprint
breath
so
noiselessly
a connection
Falling, I am flying through time forever or fleeting,
Racing down, my death I dread,
Greatness- spite gravity! To the ground's last meeting.
To elements I am bared, bereaved of wings beating,
Heaven and earth, earth and heaven, howling fills my head,
Falling, am I flying through time forever or fleeting?
Reluctant, my eyes raise; Is this worth repeating?
To unlock a mind unsteady, understanding what's unsaid?
Greatness, despite gravity or to the ground's last meeting?
Castaway, cast away your care; Now cured, I'm competing,
Substantial or supposed, still these wings I spread.
Falling, now I am flying through time, forever fleeting.
Desperately I double down, my energy depleting,
I refuse that reality, my needle I re-thread
With greatness- spite gravity! To the ground's very last meeting.
Grow or die grateful; This gale I am greeting,
Leaving my loneliness, To freedom I am led
Falling, I am flying through time forever, fleeting
Greatness, despite gravity, till the ground's last meeting.
he never thinks fore he talks
but on rope, head high, he walks
there's nary a fear in mind
a stronger base you'll ne'er find
his voice a substantial weight
his promise looming and great
those below look up with awe
all too blind to spot a flaw
Heart of gold,
Compassion marked with streaks of bold
Strong yet gentle
Like the sea
Licking wounds and lapping shores
Soothing burns of violent force
Healing aiding with recourse
My deep well to draw from
Substantial source
My stoic knight in shining armor
My inspiration and reminder
That whatever will be,
Just let it be
I do this for you, my Son,
And by way of that,
Also me
snowy trail. paw prints;
freshly impressed, substantial-
cat territory.
* 'A Fall or Winter Nature Haiku' Poetry Contest
* Sponsored by: Tania Kitchin
* Entered on: 11/11/2025
The lighthouse
alone on the hill
just a tree at its side
its beacon
that light
It casts a long light
in a long blink
and then it's gone
in a spin
to mark the shore within
It sits on its own island
only accessible on low tide
the path a bridge
mercurial moat that hides it
The building is lit at night
as well as its beam
presenting an eerie glow
In the fog it seems
Almost haunted
romantic
so substantial
It's survived tsunamis
wrapped around its base
which left no trace
as they ravaged inland
A sight to see
A hike I intend to aspire
up those circular stairs
to peer out through that light tower
The lighthouse at Battery Point, Crescent City, CA
If I was any more relaxed, I would be melting
others are scrambling today
there are graduations all over the state
I am sitting in the shade with my two dogs
there is a bee overhead, she appears to be black
probably because I am staring into the sun
I keep seeing her fat shadow
In the distance I hear a twittering robin
If I felt like struggling, I could hear a truck or car
the guy next door just dropped something big
It must have been substantial, sounded like a two by four
This is the country
Our houses are three football fields apart
there is a whistle type whoop
another songbird
answering chirp
these fowl may be plotting my death
but I am too relaxed to care
R-ightly
U-nderstand
T-he
H-eart's
M-essage
A-s
Y-our
M-ind
A-ppreciates
R-eal
C-onnection
I-'ve
A-pplied
©bfa050925
Monocrostic (Birthday of Ruth May Marcia)
Who would sell that which they do not own?
Who kept quiet that truth not be known?
Who betrayed souls their faith now uncertain?
Who moved devils behind a secretive curtain?
Who empties His houses in the guise of renewal?
Who shattered its victims with lies and betrayal?
Who conveniently had loss of common sense?
Who eluded punishment expecting others to do penance?
Who dismays and dismantles the dwindling flock?
Who empties memories trading reverence for shock?
Who scoffs at laws specified in their own cannon?
Who pays their council with large sums of mammon?
Who has squirreled away substantial resources?
Who deems such is needed to fund other courses?
Who will litigate estates to take from rightful heirs?
Who does all they will yet maintain that they care?
She was hired to be a Girl Friday
I refuse to answer to that, she said
Not during the hour-long interview
But her first five minutes on the job
Her demands and preferences were many
She wanted top billing if she helped him edit his books
She expected a substantial raise after two weeks
She threatened to sue him twice in the first ninety days
The boss was a bit smitten with the woman
He had finally met a woman who was a match for his mother
Overbearing, dominating, demanding,
He wanted to woo her and wed her
Marriage to her would have been his mother’s thorn
The former Girl Friday sued him for sexual harassment
She took half his company and a lot of his money
Forty years later he still thinks of her fondly
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