At last count Saturn had 293 moons
One is larger than Mercury, 128 solar system M & M's
But, if somehow we could mount his wings and fly there
We couldn't stand upon the surface and gaze at any
We would sink in the miasma of our own demise
Ingesting vapor rising up from far below
Choking off any aesthetics we might hold
For any goddess that we have imagined
Our ticket to this underworld held over
A head that's thinking we should capture Titan
Artemis, Diana, or Selene might pale before them
But wouldn't pale by what's reflected there
Artemis retaining her ire and her vengeance
Selene and Diana at the crossroads stand as well
Their color eclipsed the while they faded
And we, whose love it is to gaze up at their orbit
Would lose the inspiration of the ages
Aged without the grace of beauty's presence
That our small world o'er time has thus afforded
Size matters... but no more than our perspective
First person: "We are always like this... don't you find it boring?"
Second person: "We are what we are and we deserve everything here."
First person: "Haven't you received a bill lately?"
Second person: "There are no bills here -- only chills!"
I sat there for what seemed an eternity.
I lost myself in an ocean of orange and red.
How poignant, Staring off into the remnants of
yesterday. how beautiful to recall a sun that slowly
gives its life so that others may live. How inconsiderate
a solitary tear to acknowledge a sacrifice. A subtle shiver
as the shedding of my skin. The night draws near. I can
feel the cold winds of tomorrow as they began the cycle.
they ingulf me like vultures their circles dispelling any
rummers of warmth that might have lingered into the night.
My shadow longing my Id begging for totality through a proximity
of its soul. My vision turns grey then black no colors of the Spectrum
to be found. My life running in ribbons of silk marooned across the ground,
as my heart searches for blood in its emptying rivers of dying flesh.
She will find no resolve here, and still her search must continue, as
I journey into the underworld to a lonesome beat.
UnderWorld
A rainy night.
Under a black sky.
A mysterious figure from above.
She jumped down below.
Fangs with blood.
Always on the run.
With a black silk bodysuit.
With 2 guns firing on pursuit.
A vampire on the rise.
Take out victims by surprise.
Always lurking in the dark.
Hiding not far.
Looking for prie.
Can’t be seen in the day.
Just trying to survive.
Take out each lycan.
Looking for blood.
Running out of bullets.
A night prowler.
Someone to devour.
A warrior with no fear.
She fights strong as a leader.
She is a death dealer.
Storms through the night as the reaper
the underworld rumbles and summons
beckoning in groveled whispers
with undertones of shady pretenses
haunted by gods and demons
who brazenly wave their book of souls
tormentors do the dirty work in afterlife
meanwhile here kings and rulers
wealth in pocket pauper in heart
build their towers to climb to heaven
every last of these towers of babylon
will one day come apart at the seams
they’ll disintegrate and fall to dust
greed and hate and malice
feed self-fulfilling prophecies
of wars designed to never end
man’s self-destruction on auto-pilot
will one day rise their corpses from fetid ashes
and lead their crusade into eternal damnation
AP: Honorable Mention 2025
I dread that unseen day,
When mortal bounds will fade away,
And death's dark veil will lift to show
The secrets kept from living eyes.
My soul, unmoored, will wander slow.
Perhaps in realms of ethereal light,
It will drift, a leaf on cosmic winds,
Among wonders hidden from our sight,
Where spirits roam, or solitude entwines.
Free from flesh, my essence will take flight.
Will I join choirs of angelic song,
Learning harmonies that echo strong?
Or cling to wings that soar above,
And beat my own rhythmic, heavenly love?
Maybe in that realm, I'll find a place
To hide, or be remade anew,
Sent to heavens or the underworld's dark hue,
Or wait until the final summons sounds,
And the great bell tolls, sealing all bounds.
Euridice, Euridice
daughter of mortals, sworn to divine;
the bell tolls, the bell rings
“I’m sorry, I miss you”
Orpheus turns; Euridice.
the unmade sheets, dog-eared pages
stacked, dishes scattered in the sink
sunlight splashes
I close my eyes
I see the ghost of where you’ve been
how long has it been
since the summer of your smile,
the spring of your voice.
twenty years waiting, your Penelope;
a shroud unwoven by time
tick, tick, tick. the clock continually ticks.
it drags me by the hands,
grabs me by the heart.
every grain falling through the hourglass,
a lifetime I once spent with you.
every word I never said,
a pomegranate never split;
I called your name too late.
Melpomene, my very own muse,
hear the swan song of my heart
three words we never got to say
i love you i love you i love you
i turn to you to confess
(don’t look don’t look don’t look)
and there you are. you’re gone.
we were two sides of the same fate,
half of each other; star-crossed, but
snip. your shears split the weave and.
Fates themselves can’t force supernovas
to align / when they’ve already long died
Aeneid Book 6: The Descent into the Underworld
by Virgil
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
The Sibyl began to speak to Aeneas:
“God-blooded Trojan, son of Anchises,
descending into the Underworld’s easy
since Death’s dark door stands eternally unbarred.
But to retrace one’s steps and return to the surface:
that’s the conundrum, that’s the catch!
Godsons have done it, the chosen few
whom welcoming Jupiter favored
and whose virtue merited heaven.
However, even the Blessed find headway’s hard:
immense woods barricade boggy bottomland
where the Cocytus glides with its dark coils.
But if you insist on ferrying the Styx twice
and twice traversing Tartarus,
if Love demands you indulge in such madness,
listen closely to how you must proceed...”
Keywords/Tags: Virgil, Aeneid, descent, underworld, Aeneas, death, door, Jupiter, heaven, woods, Cocytus, River Styx, Stygian, Hades, Tartarus, voyage, journey, love, madness, god, gods
Oh, Lilith, circled by that vicious snake
and draped by owl wings as a feathered shawl;
hair crowned with spiraled horns for evil sake-
of which the snake itself seems to appall.
Oh, Lilith, your deep, luminous red eyes
instill cold fear while shooting fiery glow-
with a blank stare that quickly amplifies
cruel dangers brooding- waiting to bestow.
Oh, Lilith, your fake smile adorns your face
with plump lips looking sweet as rich, red wine;
yet void of love and altruistic grace-
stay coldly pursed- a threatening, grim sign.
Behind you- Hell's vast underworld now burns;
your lover waits for you- engulfed in flame.
His fiendish craving spins and wildly churns-
as you join Lucifer in depths of shame.
Gray,
Dismal
Rainy days.
Then leafless trees,
As it gets warmer,
All start to sprout new buds.
Migratory birds appear.
Abandoning the underworld,
And the ruler of the dead, Hades,
Persephone returns to Demeter.
WHERE THE GARDEN SHINES ABOVE
ABOVE GEMS AND GOLD
WHERE THE FIRST FAMILY LAUGHS
IN GROVES AND MEADOWS
WHERE CHRIST, THE WHITE LAMB, FROLICS
IN THE GRASS WITH THE FIRST MAN
Where the desert darkens below
Below rocks and dirt
Where the last army laments
In caves and wastelands
Where Satan, the black wolf, hunts
On bare earth with the last man
Anubis, his decision, who has admission
mummification array, slows rot and decay
Wearing nothing but rags
We laugh and sail on the seas of the netherworld
Without flags
With iron nails
The lamb laughed on the cross's world
Without wails
With gaffe
Against seas whirled
Laugh
Some souls laughed at their rags
Laughed when they entered heaven's world
Laugh
Contest: lets Minichu on laughter Poetry Contest
Contest sponsor: Mohan Chutani
I ran into the house and slammed the door.
The tiny stone people are in the garden again!
My husband rolled his eyes and headed to the store.
He is not fearful of them, he hears not their din.
They speak to me, and some of the words are mean.
I was horrified to see them in my garden green.
They are wicked and wild and they have sly ways.
Their eyes follow me, as their nasty banter plays.
Please go back to the otherworld I said to them.
They laughed at my discomfort, stuck tongues out on a whim.
I am being ostracized in my own garden I said to my man.
Just pick them up and throw them into that blue trash can.
It is that easy to get rid of stone people? I had no idea at all.
I took his advice and threw them all away that fall.
They crept back into my garden the very next year.
Now I was terrified, they had struck real fear.
within daisy roots
worms in their world
space exploration
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