My childhood was both sour and sweet,
Sour because I lived with two mothers who were immiscible liquids,
Sour because of sibling conflict and strife,
Sweet because my brother and I enjoyed the company of communal friends.
Growing up on Apple Avenue was a memorable experience,
There was a large field at one end,
It housed a public school,
There were vendors on the field who sold indigenous confections,
My brother and I were their loyal customers,
There was a tree on the field that barely had leaves even during the rainy season,
We were told different mystical tales about the tree.
The highlight of one of the evenings was a bicycle race,
Chopper versus BMX,
The race was about which bike was faster,
In the maiden race, my brother was a few metres ahead,
The Chopper rider committed a foul,
He collided with the rear wheel of my brother’s bicycle,
My brother’s bicycle tumbled and he sustained injuries,
It resulted in a fight between rival groups.
The bicycle race was on hold for a long time.
September 25, 2026.
youth's lust is a fire that can't be sustained
time and growth are the fuel
to best rekindle love
A culture is sustained by its traditions
And its quality is known by the fruits
Of those traditions.
We live in a time of change
When tradition is challenged and discarded
Simply for being traditional.
We don’t know what will replace it
We just want “hope and change”
With blind faith it’ll be better.
But that’s not the way civilizations are built
That is how they are destroyed.
When the bottom falls out
Morals are abandoned
Values are reversed
The baby is thrown out
And the old dirty bathwater consumed
As if nectar.
Then drunk on delusion
The revelers cry
When in the morning
The large, shiny Trojan Horse is empty
And it’s clear their life will never be the same.
(8/30/26)
I welcome Autumn with a fond embrace,
Feeling Autumn's breath upon my face.
From high upon my Smoky Mountain stand,
I pause to behold Autumn's artistic hand.
Mist lifts slowly from the valley floor below,
As if a curtain rising on a long awaited show.
A majestic painting unfolds before my awestruck eyes,
Highlighted by the golden rays of a bright sunrise.
An endless carpet of trees, wet with morning dew,
Blazes with candy-colored leaves of nearly every hue.
My mind fails to recall a more stirring sight,
As unbidden tears upon my cheeks alight.
The sweet smell of ripened apples, littered on the ground,
Mingles with the earthy scent of mushrooms that abound.
Life is sustained by the season's bountiful fare;
Wild berries, fruits and nuts grow carelessly everywhere.
To eat hand to mouth is my childish heart's desire,
So, Autumn is the season that I most admire.
Reawakened at last but the strings not finely tuned
For the long haul requires a healthy rebirth
Now I search for new sources of fulfillment
I cannot return to the past of sheer coping
The birth of sustained happiness requires unrest
Like an addict breaking old habits I grit to endure
He has given me another chance but a tougher course
If I make it and the instrument of my life can be sound
Then I will truly be worthy the gift I was given, mercy
I puff my chest and put on my imaginary helmet
Life is growing pains but like a seed I must start somewhere
From the shadows I'm finding my way, learning to love the person I strayed, The scars remain but they tell a tail, Of strength and courage and the hope I'd never fail,Lost in the the haze of someone else's game, I have come to realise I'm not the one to blame, The pieces of my soul once shattered and worn, Now a reassembled like a puzzle reborn, I'm proud of me and the strength I have gained, Of all the scars that's healing and the lessons I have sustained
who isn’t you
wise readers
will know the difference
I want a narrator
more unsettling
than Nabokov created
for ‘Lolita’
I want a narrator
to cringe at
while sympathizing with
I need “milk plus”
from ‘Clockwork Orange’
while I learn the dialect
of Anthony Burgess
before I ruin Beethoven
It takes sustained energy
to hate a character
while never forgetting them
“My vanity
was the cause
of it”
I still wink at you,
Moll Flanders
a woman too clever
for shallow understanding
My “androgynous mind”
will have to be enough
for adequate love,
Virginia Woolf
I have all the worst intentions:
devious dialog
with peppered,
cutting
fashion statements
to make phantom readers
laugh and scowl
Cruella Deville
taught me everything
one late afternoon
in August
while we hunted swans
over toast points
and caviar
Mysterious circumstance
Mature birth
Near Death
Number 7
Doctors had given up hope
Prayer saved the day
From Heaven being the way
The Lord himself
Clear and simple
No question about it
Thee himself
Doctors were misinformed
Thinking their own understanding
Life sustained
Fulfilling future that remained
Passing storm
Fruitful life.
The statue of a man is blatantly stand
Posture is evident
Oh what a man
~
Vertical virtue substance sustained
Spiritually ratified his vessel hooked on game
~
Fluently the world suggests stands a man, abreast
And yet man stands his tallest in his truest spiritural sense
~
More than I am just flesh a mere man flawed
In the truest essence, he is of himself, the image and righteousness of God
My spirit, My truest self stands strong and eternally tall
7/6/26
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2026
Doctors stated
Death was imminent
The number 7 was going to be my finale
Family thoughts in the moments were uncertainty
Doctors suggested in advance to prepare for a Funeral, and not get attached to me
Sadness fell on the faces of my family
My Grandmother being a praying warrior, and true woman of Faith wasn’t going to listen what the Doctors Theory, but have a talk with the Holy One
My Grandmother didn’t want to lose a Grandson that she wanted to have life
She saw greatness in my soul
The Heavenly Father spoke immediately upon my Grandmother’s prayers with sincerity
The Lord stated that he is the one that giveth life, and the Doctors were mistaken with their own thinking with no understanding
The Lord also stated that through my testimony, people will begin to understand and connect to the Holy One
My foundation perfectly created and sustained with a promise and purpose
I am now a Senior Citizen, and will be 70 next year 2027, God’s willing
The light shines, and beacons for all to see
The continuation what the Lord wants it to be.
Enriching value into his Grand Son
Preparing him to become a commodity
Component of striving integrity
Education mode
Sustained episode
Grand pa’s teaching being attention in every lesson
Taking his wisdom for all its worth
To the highest in the ultimate
My Grand Father prepared me for college
Showing the protocols of lectures and usage of the Thesaurus intellect
His teachings didn’t stop there, it was a preserver
4 hours every day in typing perfection
Technique and skill Fundamental
Up the keyboard letter being
Concentrating on accuracy and not speed
My Grand Father wanted me to have office skills to excel
Grand pa knew best
In his last words to me he said, “You are going to remember this old man”
It’s hard to forget someone who had interest at heart and love for his Grand Son
I miss my Grand Father and his caring ways
My mind runs on him every day
I think often, and will never forget
Sorry he is not still here being my regret.
My fever dream involved Praise to My King.
Jesus/Yeshua my best friend thank you so much for being my true savior.
On you alone may I depend. Your hands hold me in safety.
Your Light brightens my heart. You Lord Guide me to safety.
You Lord give me Love that always strengthens me.
Trust in you sustains me.
Juniper roses for your sweet day Anna.
I know that life, my life is sustained by Lord Yeshua.
Open eyes to Jesus as God The Man who died and rose again.
A juniper rose that lives forever now. Every knee will indeed bow and every tongue will Confess that Jesus Is Lord Almighty.
Nature hedges its bets with candles and suns.
Some lives flash briefly in fecund swarms.
Fireflies, mice, lice and mayflies—
scatter their bright fireworks shoals of living sparks
with a fanfare of hope into the wilderness.
Others linger slowly through centuries:
whales, tortoises, redwoods, sloths, and—us—
cherishing and nurturing a precious handful of progeny.
Evolution never chose one way to survive and bargain with time.
Scatter a hundred thousand seeds—or guard a precious handful of few?
It's either careful maintenance, patiently sustained and nurtured—
Or throwaway spam replacements with no warranties.
Yet nothing blooms forever here—not even the daisies.
Even the white stars in the sky above age to orange giants.
Collapse to dull red dwarfs,
then fade further, and implode into dark black holes,
where even time itself forgets what day it is.
So make hay while the sun shines.
Count not the days you're left—
count what makes days glow, and linger long in memory.
Deep within
Stagnation Soul
Chaotic Thoughts
Suppressed Mind
Confused Endless
Tomorrow’s moment
Uncertain voice
Family showing no concern
Reality Check 101
How do I understand?
Resolution status
Cure to come
Survival wit
The Mind being the kit
Pause session
Precise interpretation
Critical thinking
By and By
During while
Understanding sustained.
Need every romance be passionate
for it to resonate
Must professions of love grandiloquent
adorn the lace of verses intimate
Need lovers risk life and limb
to reel their marriage in
Must they stride ‘cross the world’s stage
worshiped by the idlers of the age
Cannot affairs of the heart
glow in candle’s quietude
Sustained by shared faith
and moral rectitude
Alas, lightning and fireworks are preferred
by those who hold the strings of the purse
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