warm cup in hand i take stock
as the cool air caresses my face
the smells of dawn comingle
the lake ever so still with
sounds of nature waking up
there's nothing more precious
than this moment and
the sense of awe i feel
i am undeniably blessed
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Pride it is said goes before a fall
A fall may not be fatal
One good fall could be a blessing in disguise
For It could signal a new beginning
It could portend a second chance
It could also be a learning phase
When you skip and fall
As mortals sometimes do
Take stock of the pitfalls
Get right up on your feet
And be on the march again!
Outside, by my front door,
I count twelve things. Can you count more?
When I go out to take the air,
a snail and butterfly greet me there,
and I always see someone -
a lizard out in the sun.
A spider plucks his silvery strings
which he also uses to catch flies and things.
Uhoh, the snail is going somewhere,
but a caterpillar beats him there.
In the soil, where up spring plants,
I see a regiment of ants.
They march along in formation,
members of the six-legged nation.
In the tree a robin sings.
Hey, what's that - a hummingbird with rotary wings!
Let's not forget to take stock
of all the things under the rock.
A rolly polly rolls up cuz he's shy.
A centipede with a hundred legs strolls by.
When you go outside, what can you count?
Can you find a higher amount?
I'm scared of too many things outside.
I'm going back into my house to hide.
~ 2024 ... 2025 ~
A time to take stock
to delve deep
One glance in the mirror
does not suffice
The old year wanes
the new one waxes
Time to bury axes
time to rack your brains
Where have I been
Where am I going
Am I shrinking; am I growing
Do I deign to sin...
A time to take stock
fast beats the clock
Pave the way this day
~ should you like a say
Reset.
Still, holding on to vocals
borne on fresh sheets-
feint and margin carry-all
bookkeeps repeats...
Blue veins run straight across,
underpin where I melt
my heart in cold fear's loss,
dip slips of tongue dealt
in chock - a - block
female thoughts - my fondue's
hothead take stock-
be mindful to subdue.
New thoughts come to her
playful - bell jar
film noir stirs up, burns up, blurs
life's old memoirs.
Aqua Marine. 30/12/2024
Close your eyes.
Know that you are strong.
You are here on earth to be tested
and how you react to your challenges
is the true measure of a man.
You don't let obstacles crush you.
You deal with them as they come at you.
You are the captain of your life
and your ship is sailing through
turbulent seas these days.
Stay focused. Ride the storm.
Know that this too shall pass.
The sun is around the corner.
If not around the next bend,
it is definitely out there
beyond this squall
that cannot last forever.
And when the storm calms down
you'll take stock of the damage
and deal with it on the spot.
You'll make things better.
You'll make them right again.
Envision the life you want
and you'll find a way to get there.
You are captain of your journey
and the milestones along the way
are but the measure of a man.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
Sometimes we need to take stock and prioritise
Remind ourselves of what is truly of value and worth
Have awareness and gratitude for life’s positives
Give the trivial and petty a wide berth
Humans are suffering absolute devastation
War, natural disasters, or just in daily life
Unjust …. without reason
Complete loss, despair and sorrow runs rife
We need to remember our blessings
Blow the insignificant into the wind and let it fly
Stop stressing over the unimportant small stuff
We need to take stock and prioritise!
Tick Tock
Miracle Man
10/12/2024
We live our lives each day on the clock,
one eye on the future the other the past.
Our past we can’t alter but we take stock,
our future we find our vision is glassed.
So we learn to live each day as it arrives,
leaving earlier paths we’ve tread behind.
Content with burial in memories archives,
for now, in today, we’re presently confined.
A gust of wind
Blew through my door
Placing gently on the floor
A gift from Mother Nature’s store
Such beauty, such delicacy
Woven by the burly tree
Made me stop.
Made me ponder
Then take stock
To see such wonder
A perfect master of design
From base to apex, so divine
And yet this tiny, feathered blade
Has toiled through life
Its one-year age
To serve its host with basic needs
For mighty trees depend on leaves
And now its labour is all done
At the cooling of the sun
It’s discarded easily
Yet still yields its energy
The endless cycle spirals on
Because its work is not yet done
As worms begin their arduous toil
Turning leaves to rich, moist soil
The tree takes strength and so it weaves
Perfectly recycled leaves.
Freeze Frame is a part of the game,
When your running life’s great test.
When you take stock you gotta learn to rock,
You’ll be rolling with the best.
Life is just a movie film and your the star of the screen,
It’ll take you to the places where the glitters never seen.
The camera rolls and the lights are bright.
You try to look your best,
But as life goes on the lights go dim,
Do you think you pass the test.
Life is just a movie film and your the star of the screen,
It’ll take you to the places where the glitters never seen.
You got your name in lights, but you had to fight,
But you always did your best,
The stage doors closed and it’s time to go,
But you stood out from the rest.
Life is just a movie film and your the star of the screen,
It’ll take you to the places where the glitters never seen.
The make up slips and the hair goes thin,
You still try to look your best,
Your an old man now and you’ve seen it all,
You’ve given life your best.
Now the credits run and your time is done,
You’ve finished life’s great test,
The screen goes black, there’s no looking back.
It’s time for you to rest.
There were some blue patches down below, swimming pools,
of course, I should have guessed, where the white man rules;
so dropping into nirvana - someone threw me a banana,
from the South Afirican jungle, that was Jo'burg not Ghana.
They wanted my expertise - how many times disputed,
invasion, theft, but maybe was before bias was rooted;
I know, things have changed but maybe for the worse,
and it might have been better if left with a wet nurse.
Progressed, armed with so-called understanding, landing,
in other 'plastic' places, all races but still misunderstanding;
I settled for usual where the backpackers panned and stand,
or rather bend under their load with invisible grains of sand.
A word of advice - deviate your position from men and mice,
take stock - about your plans because Blackpool may be nice.
No sailor of seas on a long journey,
Nor gold coffers, just words of poetry,
Yet, precious nuggets from the depths of sea.
Gone to explore as a graying old man,
O rudderless with no more than a pen,
And ready to return with empty can.
Ye have explored single minded till now,
And find it fruitless to take stock of wow
Bare of brickbats—a rule somehow to bow.
Shallow praises, if not hollow, of pen,
On a dunghill as if crackles stray hen,
Shrill, vague voices that few care to listen.
Cheer up, ye chase no goal-pointed measure,
Passing an idle time, nor tame leisure,
Let your pen toil for spirit’s sole pleasure.
_____________________________________
Tercet |01.05.2024| poet, introspection
Poet’s note: In an age when scores of things vie for people’s attention, when nothing succeeds unless promoted and marketed well, a pen ponders. The poem is classified as ‘Other’, but it should be called a ‘Tercet’.
Its only 4-2
and with nothing else to do
I pen you a poem from my new temporary home
I am in Grants Pass Oregon for 5 days a week
And it's the temp home of which I speak
I put up a Facebook friends looking to hang
but ran into a bunch of dudes who wanted to bang... ah yeah
So I modified my post, made it clear it's karaoke or a meal
and not a come on for sexual appeal
lets be friends hey, well opened it up to ladies too
and bam, I got a slew of... women wanting to date ( and a few who want a sugar mamma...
So ... My days have been spent reading mostly
And a bit of naps, this radiation is frightening
And I hung out with a local friend for a day
and I am watching webinars to educate my ways
And I am working out to get fit
and I am eating well, home made
last night was salad and shrimp.. scampi (yeah)
And I am only 10 more days in the bug zapper YAHOO
and then its recover my mojo a bit and take stock too
And life begins again in 10. - Artimus (C) Susan Manley 4/2/2024
You must get back up on your feet after you
slip & take a fall
Much can be learned while on the ground that
helps the soul to evolve
Search for the meaning of the fall to help
avoid another slip
Take stock of the acts along the way & then
proceed to flip the script
Internalize the little things that help you grow as
you can turn pain into power
Eat whatever life serves to you on a platter
even if it's meant to devour
Learn to do better if you can as knowledge is
the way to steady growth
Sometimes we have to fall to see we're slipping
but you can learn from them both
I've never been married but I'm a spouse as I'm
partnered with the spirit
These false marriages are underhanded so pay
close attention to discern it
Some things attach because they're desperate to live
through you & what you have
If you look closely it's not adding up but yet & still
it's about the math
Sadly this is where we're at after all the places we could
& should have been
We're engaged in battles without our knowledge but
the truth always fights to win
These soul ties are bound to happen & sometimes the
binds expose their flaws
Before you know it you're caught in the current being
swept away by natural law
Sometimes contracts are signed with disregard to what's
best for you & your inner self
Always take stock before you invest as it will affect your
inner wealth
They move with stealth to throw you off but keep your
balance & walk the line
Beware of false marriages as they cross boundaries as
well as spiritual & legal lines
Some bear false witness telling lies but this was always
how it would go
Eventually the masks will slip to expose the face that
was always meant to show
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