In a world where love has forgotten its place, lost all meaning, left floundering in the mud—courage has found its nirvanic horizon, its ruby flames rise up in the end~ Poetess
Destroyed, slain,
smashed and driven to the ground~
a brutal odyssey of dispiritedness
of rude awakenings endured
around this, fire kept burning within
intoxicating every vein in my body
when welled up eyes, pools of tears fallen
I was the ocean, the lone firebird that flies over
a lone star ablaze, weightless, free-spirited
and alas, rising from the ashes
in glorious splendor for all to observe and marvel
born outside rose walls, from wind, at night,
from red clay, the flowers and the mud,
weeds and roots they know my name
its not attention I seek, its resonance
smashed and driven to the ground~
ignored, displaced, and all but forgotten
and from this despair, I am the phoenix rising
f r o m t h e a s h e s are the gauze wings,
refined in sapphire gossamer velveteen
walls turn to rubble, no rose-stone left unturned,
left unseen is what most is valued, light sifts thru
I’ve won life’s prize—contentment's invaluable gifts
a societal façade to please the outside
no true emotion
seeking pleasure from others
getting sucked dry by leeches
accommodating others' moods
acting according to how they act
striving to please them
finding little comfort in them
totally free in solitude
maximum expression
cortisol nonexistent
consistently complacent
TRIPTYCH EXPERIENCES
portrayed
surrounded
now
repotoire
recited
recalls
questioning
the formulae
to
stimulate
subjectivity
delicious
luminous
dialogue
in
bizarre
graduated
contrasts
with unbridled
shades
predominantly
prevailing
afresh
in sensitive
hesitant
scenarios
passionate
unreachable
role-play
studies
of
facial
splendour
in
lavish
concept
a
formulated
process
to
conveys
a
quiet relaxed
series
carefully
fronted
emphasis
balanced
precise
awareness
with
vital
counterparts
in
closely
occasioned
devices
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I.
granite spine unbent
by monsoon's slick persuasion—
roots grip deeper stone.
II.
the ledger lies bare
in lamplight's honest circle—
no shadow between.
III.
silence keeps its vow
when whispers bloom like poison
in the king's own ear.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
roots drink midnight's spilled ink—
oak becomes a scribe.
maple bleeds October
into the river's cupped hands.
bare birch bones etch winter's
breath on the sky's parchment.
slowly we evolve
blinking within universes
moving forward solve
facing ourselves in mirrors
knowingness sees then stands deep
nothing becomes time
matter meaningless messy
we sing songs as chime
when awakening to truth
egos escape shiver shake
let go forgiving
untangle own threads and dread
climb green trees to see
eclipses giving clarity
on the path with sanity
Tanka Triptych Poetry Contest // Sponsored by: John Andersen
Contest Judged: 8/31/2025 7:00:00 PM
( 1st Place )
Written: August 26, 2025
the waiting
beside the old chair
my guitar waits in stillness
strings asleep in dust
the moment my fingers reach
the silence bends into sound
the voice
a low trembling voice
rises from its wooden chest
shaping all my hours
midnight sorrow braided through
with the thread of restless hope
the afterglow
when the song drifts off
its breath remains inside me
soft as ember-glow
guiding me to start again
with a heart that learns to heal
though Mom's memory
is slow she smiles at photo
taken many years
ago when life was simple
with no confusion chaos
Mom's hospice nurses
are thorough even small things
are giant matters
as life's boundaries implode:
sleep, dress, eat, nap, sleep, repeat
long term memories~
through it all she still recalls
her little girl (that's me)
(her jewel) I'm by her side
as she finds eternity
In the garden's hush,
Flowers bloom in whispered sighs,
Nature's soft embrace.
Beneath the moon's glow,
Planets dance in cosmic spin,
Time's eternal flow.
Mysteries of life,
Echoes of the universe,
Answers softly solve.
Hydraulic system, heart made of pistons
Every co-ordinated mechanical manoeuvre
My heart served to you on a platter, your hors d'oeuvre
I look into your eyes, a deplorable disguise
Retinas of glass, I see right through your lies
Figments of my imagination
Don't come and cause me more vexation
Circling my mind
Tormenting, suffering, sempiternal gyration
My nerve endings started with you
Now unaware to whom
Now that you're gone
I can finally take off this costume
Now isn't the time for salvation
I re-evaluate our amalgamation
Not even an antisocial personality disorder
Could sum up a source of order
Wander your favourite forest
Walk past me and get hit with my poignant odour
Uncover my carcass, I don't need a hearse
Just dump me in the Oder
Dismember me piece by piece
Put me back together however you'd like
The puzzle wont be beautiful
Something incomparable to Vandyke
A LINGERING indecision laid bare
and morning sighed with me beside
internal debates fleeing
asylum with turmoil between
fret and fear
so i decide...
a narrow splinter jiggles my mind
like how someone treated me --
a wreck;
love, like us, a barren and somber alter
without her triptych
and questions remain.
:: ~ ::
Moonrise,
wolf cries.
Owl glides.
mouse hides.
Black masks
raid trash.
08-18-2014
Piet's
early
abstraction-
did it leave him
blue ?
Piet Mondrian's Evolution c 1910/11
http://www.abcgallery.com/M/mondrian/mondrian24.html
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