Fascination and imagination let loose
unicorns and dragons whirl amidst the stars
dreams conjured in the night
Wordku: 5-7-5 words
AP: 1st place 2025
I
A dragon, platypus, and unicorn,
drank in a bar and soon locked horns.
The air was tense - would it come to blows?
The unicorn spoke, "Which one knows
a truth which he dares to conceal?
One of us is... disgracefully real."
II
"It's a sad state of affairs - is it not,"
said the dragon, "when one of us is caught".
Sweat broke out in little beads
on the platypus forehead of evil deeds.
In a fate worse than he had feared,
the platypus simply disappeared.
by Russ Dodson (c) 1968. 2025
I've never had a unicorn
because I couldn't catch one
and I know no virgin maid
whom I could send to fetch one
The beautiful baby newly born
Amazing enchanting Unicorn
giggles in Mom’s lap
Dad is giving clap
Baby is nodding its single horn.
Turquoise trees sway in my dreams
Unicorns fly high with white wings
Emerald dance of the music man
Singing with green guitar in hand
Dainty Donna an artist true blue
Always doing portraits so neon new
You are her subject at the poetry slam
Snapping fingers words sweet peach jam
Write me a white whimsical poem
With fairies unicorns and wizards
May all the men be kind and strong
And the grandmas never cook gizzards
And the children always play outside
Doors of the houses are never locked
Games aren’t on phones computerized
With joy playing ball and hopscotch
No war crimes and no school shooter
We all smile in the coolest clothes
Riding bikes skateboards or scooters
Happiness is what we all know
Looking back it was a fantasy
To live in a simpler time yesterday
Perhaps we can learn to be
As free if we dream and find a way
Hey Baby Unicorn, I long to see you, dear
Hey Baby Unicorn, I hope that you can hear
But I don’t want, don’t want to know
Excuse me sweetie, if I turn and go
Hey Baby Unicorn, tell me, how do you feel?
Hey Baby Unicorn, what’s fake and what is real?
But I don’t want, don’t want to know
Excuse me please, if I just turn and go
Hey Baby Unicorn, how did you sleep last night?
Hey Baby Unicorn, what’s wrong and what is right?
But I don’t want, don’t want to know
Excuse me darling, if I turn and go.
the ebony unicorn pranced into butterfly meadow with happy feet
clip clopping in a gorgeous way, her curly hair flowing in the wind
the butterflies surrounded her, glad to see the prophecy was true
fey came out of the woods to get a closer look- brownies and elves
the faeries arrived in seconds, and made a big deal about her
she left as abruptly as she had entered, enchanting even the elms
A unicorn travels through the wheat fields and lays its dreams on pillows of poppies,
In your fragrance of wind, as clover crowns itself in bloom,
Over the evening horizon, see, stars were falling,
And in a handkerchief, I knot the embroidery of the storm.
Under my feet, dust grows, and lightning passes through me,
The wind moves among the shadows, caressing itself.
My summer, you who were ephemeral and now delay yourself,
Septembers will come again just as butterflies arrive on flowers.
I don’t see how time flees if my eyes are blind,
Nor how amber flows through the clock, hidden beneath the rhubarb,
Under foreign rains, water suffocates in the abyss,
And crowded seconds walk their fingers through the fords.
From a clock falls a shadow trembling towards the horizon,
I no longer know if I have died or am a bird of salt,
The moment between butterflies sometimes seems a chasm wounding words,
Other times a field of mallows that is silent and deceives you.
On a child, time paints the dew of golden steps,
I gather the swallows from the grass, fleeing from summers that fly away.
Sundial numerals illuminate
Knowing noon narrow shadow arrow strikes
Flicks ‘round corners of maze elaborate
Heraldic daffodil, dormant out psychs
Lion, amber assured stride resolute
Teams beside mine, admires canter cloud bounce
Trembled meshing manes make brushstrokes astute
Abstract turns apparent, rewound amounts
Labyrinth lane secures our fears slumbering
Canary chortle performs audacious
Honey wine celebrates when Summer brings
Walls torched in lofty laughing blazes
Flung flaxen, fertile wheat fields’ wispy waltz
Scorched xanthe seeds multiply dream results
24th July
Yellow Leo
while others sleep I ride my unicorn Sally through the sky
they are drowsy, drifting, dreaming, but I am riding high
Others are getting their lazy crazy forty-winks.
But I am riding Sally, showing off our pinks.
We do not care about lying down or getting sleep.
Our ideas are racing, our penmanship is deep.
Adverbs and adjectives are keeping us both awake.
My muse is saying, “pick up a pen for goodness sakes!”
never share your unicorn
he has been with you since before you were born.
this creature comes for you and you alone
he cannot be captured, tamed, or owned.
never tell the masses about your unicorn so gay.
frankly they won’t believe you anyway.
others cannot see the unicorn, that you have found.
and if you share him, he will stop hanging around.
he willl go live with someone who can secret-keep.
And you will be stuck with a llama or a long-horned sheep.
a pink unicorn wandered past our house the other day
she had a fabulous tail and mane; I remarked on them
my husband looked out but saw nothing
I knew he wouldn’t
he does not believe in unicorns
my neighbor Princess Ann called me a few minutes later
What a gorgeous color she was! Princess Ann said.
She writes children’s books
seeing a unicorn is a daily event in her world too
prancing unicorn with a fancy hairdo
your horn is pretty, and you are too
I feel you are a male, about twenty-two
a princess is looking for the likes of you
oh maiden, fair, I fear what you say is true
But I am excited by the look of you
I want to be friends with you Little Lu.
You have a smile that warms me true.
look for your unicorn every day
let no one discourage your efforts
follow the path of the optimist
Seeking Don Quixote’s windmills
Keep your hopes high
travel among the prettiest flowers
greet people along the way
dance if you can
look for your unicorn every day!
Related Poems