“Day dreams lay dead in dreams, but when life is breathed into them, they soar beyond the boundaries of success.”
— Poet
My dream is to be great in life,
That all I touch shall turn to gold,
And melt like butter on hot knife.
Thus my reward shall be tenfold,
Full of thriving, less of strife,
Grow finer, like a wine brewed old~
That buds find its rhythm in fife,
A belief I hold in heart bold.
So surprising it becomes,
When I dreamt this dream in dreams,
And dance to its beats on drums,
Then its true essence truly gleams,
And its true purpose it sums.
Its starkness guided by beams,
As if life's dreams are like ripe plums,
That come as easy as they seem,
Such that to no loss it succumbs.
True dreams are fulfilled in sleeps,
And not drowned in dwams' dams,
Where doubt constantly creeps,
To make dreams appear as shams,
Yet my life-dream still peeps
Through this life's tangled jams,
To a place no one weeps,
And free from dreams' logjams.
Why are you back
Looking in the mirror and only seeing disdain
These things begin to taint my brain
Why are you back
Intrusive thoughts of severing skin
Again they begin
Why are you back
Inability to feel joy while surrounded by it
Numbness consuming me bit by bit
Why are you back
I told you to go
I knew you didn't want to; I felt the no
It reverberated through my bone
Leaving me feeling oh so hollow
But now you are back
And I feel everything that I lack
I feel it tenfold
And nothing can hold
Me together again
Sadness begins to pour
Over the edges of my soul
Drowning until I'm left in this blackhole
I'm scared. I'm scarred. My vision's gone black
All from the fear that you might be back.
Let's journey back to when time stalled, Side by side, amidst life’s sprawl. In that moment, a gentle pause.
No worries of hair or shoe’s applause.
Not bound by the physical, yet so sublime, A connection deeper than the hands of time. How do we rediscover that blissful grace? To learn, to cherish, to embrace.
Yearning for that shared reverie,
To understand, to truly see.
I crave it, with fervent plea,
A bond magnified, tenfold, you and me.
One of those castoff items that we shove
Promptly deemed ‘junk’ upon a second glance.
I hid you on the highest shelves above
With a slim ‘someday’ of a second chance.
In solitude you stoically withstood
The cruel confinement you were sentenced to.
With dogged demeanour of solid wood
You kept your composure as if you knew.
Oft butting heads over your checked acts,
My late dad and his dad battled so well.
Though I delved not in your strategic tracts,
My grandsons set you free from jail cell spell.
That chessboard - centrepiece I now hold dear,
Your pieces shine, each one is carved with love.
When boys butt heads I smile in silent cheer,
Imagine dads are smiling from above.
Artifacts may lose temporary trend,
Then triumph tenfold in the timely end.
Is this one of the sins of the twenty-first century, increased tenfold by social media affecting relationships?
Have you been uncouth or met one of the uncouth?
(Adjective: lacking in good manners, refinement, or grace.)
:
Infidelity
Well, I guess I'm uncouth
I lied
And didn't tell them
The truth
(C)
Copyright John Duffy
How does a person forgive in a world so cold?
Do they go on walk, once, thrice, or tenfold?
Or do they simply vanquish all the wrongs they recall?
For when meaning meant nothing yet everything of all
Forgiveness can be easy if the damage is sparse
Other times harder than diamond, rough, yet so loud
Of the few rare times, forgiveness is given without a doubt
For sometimes the pain is easy, something without a pout
There are some days we simply refuse to forgive
And some days we simply apologize without forgiveness
In a busy, fastpaced world with yes, refusals, and yes many doubts
Forgiveness can be the enemy as it can also be the only safe passage out
Slowly, I draw a deep breath before closing my eyes,
then picture I am floating on a white wispy cloud.
In my nebulous vision, I am not veiled in disguise,
for I've no need when riding high above the crowd.
Is there a touchstone on which my alignment is founded?
And is my mind too inundated with life's trivial details?
Sometimes I'm uncertain if my thoughts are grounded.
When traveling forward or backward, often serenity derails.
I debate myself over goals with serious contention,
and it's an ongoing battle, trying to decide... yes or no
to questions I don't want to answer. I need an intervention
about my dueling opinions. Neither of them will let it go.
Is it possible I can just continue gliding along above it all?
I'm not interested in chasing rainbows to find a pot of gold,
or losing what's important, if from this cloud I should fall.
If so, I'd enjoy blissful contentment every day, tenfold.
I clasp my hands upon the cheeks of a sinful man's cheeks defenestrate him as he flies in the sky away from the house he was cast out of only for me to feel dysentery my belly opens up. From the protruding from my belly, a tumor with an almost human face vomiting serpents coalesced with the head of iguanas and connected to my tumor. The man whom I threw came back tenfold a battle ending with one kingdom standing to bare witness to something older coming for us all.
There is a space still unknown
In the basement of my home
In the dirt there's gotta be treasure
Better go 'splorin' (for good measure)
A century ago, this house came to be
What I'll find, there's no guarantee
I can see old bottles, a coffee can or two
A light bulb, a glove and a very old shoe
Trying to get a smaller bottle wedged on the other side
A bit of history i did find, but bottle couldn't be pried
A penny, dating back one hundred forty years or more
Thirty of those years were before they even laid the floor!
In one hundred and ten years, no one cared to notice
This nice antiquity just lying right below us
It Gave me hope, to say the very least
Tenfold- my networth may have just increased!
Look as I may, even still... wish as I might
No treasures yet, so I'm calling it a night
All I found was extremely old plumbin'
Well, I guess
I shoulda' seen it comin' !
01-03-23
" I shoulda seen it comin' "
Contest entry submit
Sponsor: John Lawless
Two doves in white flying, feathers glow beneath the morning's rainbow colours
by Charles Messina
High above they soar through prism's that detect their silent flight
Through dazzling arcs of colour now appearing on their wings.
First fiery red like flames are spread across the sky,
Doused then by glowing orange streaks like scattered autumn leaves
Transcending time and motion colours changing covers pristine white.
Passing through the sunlit yellow orb that lights the earth below,
Their flight path then reflections of our oceans green and blue
These kaleidoscopes of nature's beauty, ever changing as they swoop and soar
Where spectacular swirls of indigo are splashed by violet hue.
This magnificent display of colours is magnified tenfold
By these two doves quite unaware, they've captured rainbow lights
That no artist could on canvas white, paint such colours caught in flight.
It’s difficult to imagine
The vast amount of secrets
That are kept in the forest
I strained my neck upwards
Staring up at the canopy of trees
So high that it would take fifteen of me
To reach the very top,
I pondered their immense height,
A feeling of insignificance rushing over me,
And I thought,
“What knowledge do you conceal
To justify the way you tower over me?
What do you hold back from the world?”
Rustling breaks my concentration,
And I snapped my eyes back
To the forest floor,
Where several specks of fuzzy orange
Appeared within my peripheral vision,
The little fox cubs noticed me
And stared curiously,
Making unwavering eye contact
That same feeling returns
As when I contemplated the trees
But this time,
It returned in tenfold,
Perhaps it was the sheer weight
Of all of the tiny black eyes staring at me,
Realizing my typical human unawareness
Of that unique experience of wilderness
Which separates all men from beasts
This was momentary, however,
As within a subtle movement of my hand,
They fled.
Bleeding through the most perplexing pain
No sure what the reward is to be gained
From suffering, though some do believe
[Yet they cannot adequately explain],
And I have often wondered about such
Without having myself suffered that much.
“No pain, … no gain” is that crafty cliché
Designed to enhance a gym membership
Keeping the overweight sufferer hanging
Even if most couldn’t give a royal flip,
Losing it today; then gaining it back tenfold
Obesity seems as inevitable as growing old.
Some perverted men want their women fat
Encouraging them to eat beyond their fill,
Displaying their extra layers of rolling flesh
Without regard to the physical disorders ‘til
It’s too late to do something positive, you see
I am just happy as a lark, this isn’t about me.
Written September 11, 2022
it felt as if the air was too thin to breathe
the ceiling and walls moving separately from each other.
the blood rushing in my veins reached a decibel louder than a thousand engines
my skin a cursed mix of fire and ice
every noise, thought, emotion, and urge magnified tenfold
the sound of the package crinkling
the needle hitting the bottle and the pulling of the liquid
my watery sweet escape.
the sharp piercing of needle hitting skin,
the dull ache, and burning sensation,
then silence.
no more pain, no more worry,
no more hoping for death to reach out and take you to a world far far away.
the silence is blissful.
the numbness is heaven-sent.
for a few hours, the world falls away and I don't have to remember who I am
or what led me to this point.
once the high wears away, reality crashes back in with a deafening quake.
I guess I need a higher dose next time...
listening to shades of blue
i realize how happy she makes me
i set her up with a full spa day
i book her a spot in a quiet place to simply relax
i order her favorite meal to be delivered at said quiet spot
i include a card with a feeble attempt at a poem expressing what she means to me
pleasantly surprised, she kisses me with a smile that always shines so brightly
a tear almost breaks free, and my heart becomes fully full
this woman saved me from myself by opening her heart to me
for this, i thank her tenfold
give respect, and respect is given in return
the love you give is the love you will earn
From my youth, I don’t remember much about friends.
At least, not until I got into Junior High.
Something happened that I swore wouldn’t happen again.
My one and only “best friend” left me high and dry.
I never knew what I did to make her angry,
But she decided that we were no longer friends.
I was left all alone with no one but family.
My social life had been centered around Jen.
I made a conscious decision at age thirteen
To increase my social circle at least tenfold.
If ever again I was hit by something unforeseen,
At least I would have lots of friends and someone to hold.
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