Written: September 11, 2025, for contest by Line Gauthier
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The moon once flourished in twilight’s tender grace,
a lover shrouded in a soft, enchanting embrace.
The stars, as promises, sparkled upon her skin—
each twinkle whispering of what might have been.
She swayed with the night, then chose to depart—
a fleeting brilliance at the dawn, gentle heart.
When I lift my eyes, the sky offers no stars,
only missiles parading with arrogance.
Before me, mountains of corpses rise,
my pupils dilated by human savagery.
Humanity has been consuming itself for millennia,
and I bear the guilt of all those cowards
who watch peoples fade away
behind screens, instructing the purveyors of war.
I arrived in this macabre dimension
like so many innocents cut down by bombs.
The Earth groans under the assaults of unbalanced men,
who plunder its entrails,
who sow hatred, death, and chaos
since time immemorial.
The oceans vomit waves of cadavers,
the hurricanes carry the scent of desolation and fear.
Nations crumble beneath the laughter of tyrants,
and children, bare-handed, learn to count
the bodies falling into the mud of oblivion.
I walk amidst these ruins,
listening to the groaning of stones,
a powerless witness to the unchained pride of men.
Crushed hearts weep for their torn roots,
death swallows secrets that no one tells,
and the sky has become nothing but a theater of fire and iron.
In this open-air junkyard,
the sparks of love persist, stubbornly burning,
like a breath even death cannot smother.
There once was a man named Rod Serling,
Whose tales were quite frightening and sterling.
Across the airwaves, strange futures he brings,
He'd show you odd truths of all different things.
A woman who was quite a brat,
Was shrunken down and sat on a mat.
By the window, a strange shadow grew,
She'd lost her whole world in a flash and flew.
A doll came to life, what a fright,
In the middle of the dark night.
From the toy box, she slowly did crawl,
She'd come to get revenge on them all.
A man who loved books more than life,
Lost his world and his terrible wife.
His glasses were broken, what a sad end,
He'd been given a life with no one to befriend.
What ruse is so effective
that someone blatantly perverse
can succeed all so easily
to convince one after the other
to give it all up
to trade in their integrity
to renege on their values
to turn their back on any moral compass
to literally sell their soul to the devil
And… have the gall to walk among us
still with their head held high ?
Seems like we’ve entered an alternate reality
beyond the stretch of imagination
where nightmares are the new norm.
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
When twilight comes,
be morn or eve,
a time when cares
and fears take leave,
when the sun arises,
when the sun does set,
when the trials of the world
have not come yet,
nor will they you beset,
when ferns and flowers
are tender with dew,
when dreams
that you've dreamt
become alive and new,
when the stir of a breeze
and a rustle in the trees
become as music
to the soul
and the landscape all about
is as a heroic Grecian frieze,
when Time knows no time,
when sorrow has no pain,
when grief is lost forever,
when joy is free to reign
when the heart
is filled beyond measure
when Love abounds 'til never
then will you see and feel
things more precious
than all the world's
golden store of treasure.
in twilight’s sky
sun touches sea of blue-green . . .
tangerine kisses
1404 Poetry Contest //Sponsored by: Brian Strand
Contest Judged: 8/20/2025 11:34:00 AM
( 2nd Place )
Written: August 14, 2025
lantern quivers dusk,
shadows twist like whispered secrets--
fireflies thread the sky.
. .
. | .
\|/
`--+--'
/|\
. | .
' '
The corn has ripened.
With it is the wizened laughter of a
Mirthless age, showing ashy teeth
Of dappled cowries.
A flavescence so bantered by the courage
Of wilting bloom!
Sadly, sea waves truss the feet of
Burning skies, loosening the tongues of beaches,
Which, with ague, recline on cold, cringing currents.
Old cats mourn the fall of strafed pillars
Burrowing through silt-buried kennels re-grassed for the
Salutation of new vistas.
The clouds once brushed against my skin,
I gathered the wind’s ascent within my breath.
Shadows lingered quietly inside me
then faded as the light drew near.
Silence spread like soft velvet
and light stepped in gently.
Twilight carried truth to me
quietly filling the hollow of lingering shadows.
ANGIE, that last slow dance in smoky haze—
you slipped UNDER MY THUMB like twilight’s ache.
The Rolling Stones crooned fate through tangled days;
I tried to PAINT IT BLACK for mercy’s sake.
But YOU CAN’T ALWAYS GET WHAT YOU WANT—truth stings—
just loaded TUMBLIN DICE in neon towns,
chasing HONKY TONK WOMEN on borrowed wings
while WILD HORSES dragged dreams to thorny grounds.
O RUBY TUESDAY, ghost in sequin sheen,
your laugh a roulette wheel’s bright, spinning sound.
The jukebox plays what might-have-been,
where every win was loss, and lost was found.
Stones still roll… but honey, in the end,
the house takes all. Even diamonds bend.
LOCUST'S LULLABY
just something light I wrote last night while sitting on our back porch. The sound of the locusts in the background was soothing....
twilight hush descends
soothing serenade begins
locust's lullaby
their tiny wings beat
rhythmic symphony quite sweet
one played just for you
© 2025 Sara Etgen-Baker
¥ ~ ~
¥ ¥
¥ ¥ ¥ twilight turns to grey
¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ ¥ old leaves falling one by one~
¥ \\ | | / ¥ ¥ bittersweet retreat
¥ \ | | /
|| | ¥
¥ ¥ / | \~ ¥
¥ ¥
Looking over my northern shoulder
at the changing shades of day
a weak winter sun turning twilight grey
teardrops of rain on the window
the gentle sigh of the wind
storm clouds in the evening sky
bring it all back again
poring over unwritten letters
in the solitude of night
a dim lit candle shining star white light
telephone silent unanswered
candlelight quietly dimmed
unwritten letters to no one
start it all over again
I don't want to be lonely
for the rest of my life
and if I love you only
will you stay by my side
Twilight was the time of day
as well they do concur
about the hour of crepuscular dusk
or evening if you prefer
there in the gloaming
altho' the light was slightly dimmer
I took a look at the situation
and saw more than quite a glimmer
of absolute absurdity the altercation confrontation
as if every nation were to follow the Law
of Exact Retaliation an eye for an eye
we'd all be sightless both you and I
or Reciprocal Justice a tooth for a tooth
for in truth me and you'd
have nothing at all with which to chew
and all done in the name of what
I'll only surmise
it's just for man to prove he can
if so it could be our demise
as we would find
unable to feed we'd go hungry
while the blind lead the blind
In twilights breath
I find warmth
I live
In twilights breath
I long
I burn
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