I gaze up at night.
A million stars look back at me.
I am profoundly at peace.
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: Honorable Mention 2026
I have never heard of such a thing I told my brother.
Don’t tease her any more warned my sainted mother.
Dad jumped on her side and said, oh yes Halloween ducks do exist.
This did not surprise me, he is always the side of my little sis.
Where is this Halloween duck? I asked. Will I find him on the pond?
The liars looked at each other and nodded. They have a total bond.
I ran down there and looked over at something weird looking at me.
It was a Halloween duck, swimming wild and free.
There I was enjoying life
in my mid-20s, job was good
loving my girlfriend now engaged
parents happy, puts me in good mood
Learning much about God's love
so I could put my trust in Him
reading the Bible always every day
feel God's joy up to the brim
Then, out of the blue, life changed
my dear Mum, whom I loved so dear
took a turn seemingly for the worse
her heart felt pain, now I'm in fear
I just thought, 'anything, but not this'
my Mum was taken to the hospital
the next 24 hours would be crucial
think now her life ebbs away little by little
At work next day came the sad news
my dear Mum has now passed away
words hard to find, surely can't be my Mum
but reality set in, tongue felt like clay
Well, we are all mortal
in reality, we are just here on loan
so my Mum has now gone
she adopted me as her own
My shadow was getting tired of same-oh, same-oh
Don’t you have any other ambitions? Dreams? Hobbies?
I listened with half an ear, and no mind, not caring really.
I wanted to do what I wanted to do.
By noon that persistent voice was getting snarly and gnarly.
I was sick of hearing her; and she was sick of me.
Was she still following me around? I turned and saw her on the walk.
Tried to outrun her, and she laughed.
She followed me uphill into my garden.
We should prune that bush, she said, in a persnickety way.
Since when had she turned into my mother?
I was getting worn out by her demands.
Has she always been this needy? Or have I never stopped to hear her?
I marvel that she is bothering me for the first time now.
Surely this is the same shadow I have always worn.
Right?
One day, you will surely live reality;
Wake up to the glimpse of actuality-
Cool, staring at the blessings...
Worries made up for dressings*
You always dream about in anxiety!
As a Smith and Wesson:
Weaponry;
Corralled and shooting out,
Every word to be;
She’s endowed,
With a round butt, and balcony;
So, harkens to hotness:
Her Summer eave;
Her beauty, to me, existentially,
Is like nature,
Or a green gable,
Canopy –
Ghosts do sing too—
only their mouths
open too wide,
as if no commissure binds them,
like gates unlatched by silence.
They sing at the wake of each night,
while dreaming birds forget the sky;
when moonlight burns its brightest,
and the awoken owls can only howl.
Though they sing in graves of clay,
their melodies rise beyond the day;
they are melodious on heaven’s rim,
then blend with silence when the wind rolls on wheels.
Their songs are celestial fire—
angels their ecclesiastics, their choirmasters.
The notes are sonorous,
yet only danced to by
the flapping of their wings—
not by wriggling waists
nor kicking limbs;
for their legs no longer walk but float,
and motion keeps no memory—
a breath dissolved in thin air.
Their song—once mortal, once mundane—
now a chorus divinely condoned;
for they were composed
and filled with praise for the King of Glory—
the One who holds the crown alone,
who shares His glory with no one.
~ A Story You'll Surely Adore ~
('Suicide's a Pain')
As I was about to enter the store
I was smacked by a malfunctioning door
Without so much as the slightest warning
or a perfunctory good morning
Astonished more than stunned
I took off at a brisk run
to inform the manager-on-duty
of the door that had greeted me so rudely…
When I’d finished my story, to my utter surprise
the manager muttered: “Lies, lies, nothing but lies”
My jaw dropped and I exclaimed, “Why? Why? Why?”
the manager replied, “We’ve an epidemic of spies”
“Spies from our competitors,” he continued
“that’s why we smacked you upside your head”
In disbelief and rage, I said, “Well, I never” –
pivoted right back into that door ~
and keeled over dead
surely, she was not the new boss
our heads swiveled almost in unison
this woman was way too polished for this place
chic in her sophisticated oversized green hat with pink polka dots
Who wore something like that in the sixties?
Her suit was a combination of stripes and dots.
Also a big no no in the sixties.
a BIG no No.
Oh, my gosh, was she smoking a CIGAR?
Cigars are for men.
I turned my head to look at my friend.
Her mouth was hanging open like mine.
Is that a diamond earring? I wondered.
And on only one ear!
Who is this fabulous creature?
I could not wait to find out!
No strength is so sure
Yet fleeting, as noble men
Who, cloaked in valor
Do the things righteous
Without anyone watching
Unseen by the crowds
YOU WHOM I SURELY LOVE
Colors are the parade
Different shades, of gray
Coal silken blacken wool
Hair that glistens in the moon
Such is as does
You whom I surely love
Moisten eyes tears you shed
Lofty pearls shines in crimson dark
Such a melody salvage lark
My heart and soul bled
Such is as does
You whom I surely love
Purposeful the façade
Music that’s made
I sing to you
Jubilee, I swoon
Can’t hear for the shouts
Bleeding of mine ears
All is abundantly now clear
Colors are the parade
Different shades, of gray
Coal silken blacken wool
Hair that glistens in the moon
Such is as does
It’s you whom I surely love
2/19/25
Written words & arranged music by James Edward Lee Sr. 2025©
I surely Love you are
My mind is combine so bliss
So just visions viewed in your chest
O’ how we caress hearts touching
Beating, lungs inhaling and exhaling
Love
~
Heartbeats explicit
Surely smoothing Illicit
Holy purest kisses
O’ how we caress hearts touching
Love
I surely Love you are
12/18/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
Is being fit for each other is love?
Love as far as I see
Is gradual and lackadaisical
It is accumulated day by day
It grows slowly but surely
It's not a rapid move
But a slow process
I guess I can't completely define it
Before I look back at the end of my life.
She speaks to me bout her past and problem
Attentively I listen arrantly division ears and heart
My body coherent ever reverence numb
She calls to me beloved daughter of God seed plot
Humans come forth from heaven through mothers
Attentively I listen arrantly division ears and heart
Humans come forth from heaven through mothers
She calls to me beloved daughter of God seed plot
My body coherent ever reverence numb
Humans come forth from heaven through mothers
My body coherent ever reverence numb
Humans come forth from heaven through mothers
She speaks to me bout her past and problem
6/14/24
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2024©
God my Lord cares
He awakens us every new day dawn
My Lord my God cares
My Father, my guide always by my side
This is every day got
He got ne always
Always here ever present
Even in my slumber
As I Lay horizontal
He alive in me
In Him I'm free
He's Within Me
God my Lord cares
He awakens us every new day dawn
God my Lord cares
He awakens us every new day dawn
God my Lord cares
He awakens us every new day dawn
Hallelujah Hallelujah
My God is with me always
6/13/24
Written words & arranged music by James Edward Lee Sr 2924
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