we need a truck I tell my man
dumpster, shovel, and garbage can
to haul what? he asks suspiciously
proof positive that he knows me
I like to haul, it is what I do
tossing debris like one old left shoe
annually throwing away mood stamps out my brain
better bring a huge dump truck and maybe a crane
It’s a heartbroken person
Permanently sad
The dark thoughts worsen
They’ll drive you mad
It’s a million different colors
They blend together as one
You can’t explain to the others
So you give up and run
It’s nowhere and everywhere
You can’t ever break free
The world you saw once was rare
Now you’re waiting for the right time to flee
It’s complex and never ending
Leaving you broken and damaged
honest and real but always pretending
Taking in more, but it can manage
It’s a knife to your throat
An unspoken but ever present danger
Drowning in sorrows, trying to stay afloat
Someone pushing you in, an eerie stranger
It’s an everlasting promise
A whisper in the dark
Staying up late watching for comets
By yourself at the park
It’s suffocating claustrophobia
Locking you up and throwing away the key
The deep and hollow melancholia
Is all you’ll ever be
i'm still at the same place
sitting by the same old lamp
where we penned
a tale, a poem, a song for the ages
while listening to same old music
in void of your voice
and the letters you used to fly
from your place
i'm wishing on every star
for a force to come by and tell me
is it over or is it an illusion?
my mind is my graveyard
a death place of my happiness
that keep stabbing daggers
by bringing back memories
i looked up your name
not once, twice or thrice
but thousands of time
with my each cry
i see you're doing good
by locking me in a cage
and throwing away in the sea with the key
leaving me to drown and die
crisscrossing parallel universes
by some freak of nature
teeter tottering tumbling
to one side then to the other
in one world her home
Julia is unbearably lonely
a devastated grieving widow
inconsolable since her tragic loss
one day she crosses over to the other side
walking into a parallel world where
all is the same but for the accident
and her marriage never cut short
like a curious puzzle she puts pieces together
understanding that in this new world
she is squandering her treasure
taking for granted the man of her life
throwing away in one world the same prize
desperately grieved in the other
how will she balance the two worlds ~
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
(inspired by 1988 movie 'Julia and Julia' starring Kathleen Turner)
Edna lived with three cats and four dogs
In hovel that would disgust rats
Both her children moved away forty years ago
They did not visit; glad to escape a hoarder house.
She and her pets lived among piles upon piles of junk.
Their paths uneven, on cracker boxes and caps of milk jugs.
They gingerly walked over the rubble to get to their cozy corners.
Edna had a tv, at the end of one of the alleys, across from a couch.
She and the dogs sat on the couch; the cats sat everywhere else.
Edna had stopped throwing away trash years ago, adding it to her piles.
The smell of this home would be unbearable to most.
To her and her pets, it was the scent of home.
They were comfortable here.
I am not sure where to go first
I have not taken much
just what I could fit into two backpacks
One of them gets heavy
I sit down on a park bench and sort them out
throwing away ten things I thought I needed
because this is day three
and I am tired of carrying two backpacks
I have not asked anyone for help
because I do not know how to do that
and it would feel awful
so far I have just raided dumpsters at night
after regular people are asleep
I become active
searching for half eaten sandwiches
hoping the bugs have not gotten in them yet
Every year on Valentine's Day
I never conform to the pressure
of throwing away hundreds of dollars
like a drunken master
on boxes of coconut chocolates
dozens of red roses
white stuffed bears
carbonated heart balloons
and chicken in the bag snacks
with glass bottles of blue Mist
instead I would rather
sit at home and craft poems
a surprise gift from the bottom
of my heart of Leprechauns gold
embodying the authentic love
I possess for everyone in my life
like the words and verses
in the Songs of Solomon
and cannot be solicited
by currency of any shape or form
Written: December 17, 2023
__________________________________________
With progression of time
rebirth of a fresh leaf
It's time to ponder.
among all forthcoming
In oblivion
Filling nefarious blanks
with lyrical creation
of paradox and myth.
Setting aside the years.
setting aside the fears.
throwing away melancholy
plethora of lonesome nights.
Spreading luminescent wings
as a newly-emerged butterfly
It burst out of a faint, sanguine cocoon.
boarding their final trip of a lifetime
between dream-scapes.
Writing her secrets on her computer thinking of everything in her mind. Reminding her hidden truth in her soul; wishing no one knew them. Throwing away her notebooks in the trash. All her hidden life just lying there. She lights a match to make it all go away. So they won't hurt her anymore. As the black smoke goes into the air all there is left are burning secrets.
I’m dreaming with my eyes of faith,
Godly dreams hope you’ll see.
My dreams backed with God’s promises,
‘New Earth’ … for you and me.
New when God’s will, “on earth is done,”
for years heard people pray.?
On beautiful earth we call home,
God’s Kingdom … will hold sway.
Christ is King of God’s Kingdom, all
authority received.
In heaven, and right here below,
on earth … no one will grieve.
Dream of throwing away wheelchairs,
our walkers, our canes too.
Isaiah wrote that we’ll leap about,
just as we’ve seen …deer do
.
Our friends who’ve lost their sight, observe
at last see me and you.
Show them, won’t need try explain
the pretty color … blue.
Years dreamed of God’s promised blessings,
God’s Paradise soon here.
Hope you’ll dream through your eyes of faith,
God’s will on earth … is near.
going back forwards
step up to sit down
laughing with a frown
being lost to be found
outsmarting em by being dumb
wishing for wishes but never wishing one
playing the lottery for a retirement plan
spend all your life working for the man
smile while you cry
using the truth as a lie
wanting more but doing less
always hoping for the best
banging on the door to get outside
rolling on the floor trying to fly
throwing away the lottery ticket before you scratch
bury your money to grow quick cash
Pill junkie was born in the closet in May
He popped out yelling “Hi neighbor” the very first day.
We did not know how to respond or what to say.
What do you eat? I asked him, socializing away.
I eat up all the pills you were throwing away.
This was easy cooking for me, so I said, “please stay”.
He has consumed all the old pills of Jeff, Johnny and Jay.
He tells me he loves naps in the closet, sleeping away.
We wonder what will happen next Saturday.
By then pill junkie might not have any reason to say.
Because he is now devouring the pills of sweet Grandma May.
But if we cannot find any more pills, will he have a reason to stay?
He took five times his limit of free provisions from the food bank.
Many of us watched without comment, because we know him.
He must have a lot of children! Someone said. There were snickers.
The old lady behind the counter gave them her eating snake face.
This guy was a giant, super huge. I know him too. He has a big heart.
He selflessly gives his talents and energies to those in need.
Many of us could have defended him.
But these people were heartless.
They might have become worse bullies, so we kept quiet.
Choosing to live with less drama, losing a bit of our own humanity.
By not speaking up, throwing away a bit of our integrity.
I felt torn later, wishing I had said something.
Nothing happens by chance
We thrive in God’s appointed
Times and seasons
All we are and do
Fit perfectly into
His divine calendar
There is time to be born
And time to die
Time for planting
And time for harvesting
Time for killing
And time for healing
Time for tearing down
And time for building
Time for sorrow
And time for joy
Time for mourning
And time for dancing
Time for making love
And time for not making love
Time for kissing
And time for not kissing
Time for finding
And the time for losing
Time for saving
And time for throwing away
Time for tearing
And time for mending
Time for silence
And time for talk
There is time for love
And time for hate
Time for war
And time for peace
Wait therefore for His time
For you cannot hurry the sunshine
At God’s time everything is beautiful
God’s time is the best
Forgive me mother for throwing away my life
Anxiety kidnapped my state of mind
Killed every brain cell that kept me sane
Exaltation for using drugs is a great danger
Glorification by friends trapped me in danjen
Like a ruthless criminal I destroyed my future
Oh! I fell of the wagon to oasis because of using
Rolling with friends left me feeling worthless
Young minds are dangerous when misguided
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