Only yesterday
our world was whole, unbroken
now only echoes
mock laughter in hollow rooms
reeking of spent candle smoke
Memories don't die
they bloom in night's quietude
spiraling from dust
as petals sorrow-scented
you cannot see, smell or touch
The sweetest daydreams
stitch joy into rags of loss
undone, rewoven
they yearn for a tomorrow
built from shadows of the past
Yesterday haunts us
ghost-like in a gentle mask
it cannot discard
for time cannot be unwound
until we grieve its outcome
Nostalgia writes lines
for bitter songs cued to play
songs of deja vu
whether we like it or not
summoned from our broken past
Seems like yesterday,
the lantern was fluttering
echoes lingering
as dusk folded over us
to reset the clock's cold hands
Written: September 11, 2025, for contest Sponsored by: Constance La France
Quote: "I choose to hold you in my dreams, for in my dreams, you have no end" By Rumi
I woke up in a sparkling tide,
Where shades bloom and beliefs collide.
A pain left me sad at one time,
But they bawled in their glee, sublime.
Stars were interwoven with doubt,
Blinking: flip a trick inside out.
I chased a door that had no key,
It vanished when it looked at me.
A child I was, anile and wise,
My hands held smoke, my breath told lies.
I kissed the moon, it turned to sand,
Then slipped as silk from out my hand.
A clock unwound its silent scream,
Time is integrated with dream.
I saw my face in someone's eyes—
Stranger's grief, a lover's guise.
Sky was ink, the sea was glass,
I walked through fire — let me pass.
Steps I took, the last one was gone,
I ran, both firm and slow — was drawn.
A plume dropped — it fluttered away,
It told me things I couldn't say.
I pleaded night to let me wake,
But the daybreak itself was fake.
You were love specter in my dreams.
Wondrous stars inhabit our dreams
falling Earth-bound ablaze
to fill me with embers of you
rising in the beauty I see
like the breathless sunsets we'll find
that touches our eyes while in love
where our dreams begin to beckon
speaking quietly to our souls
Seeking the gems of wondrous stars
to light the journey of our dreams
So we may find wonder
and cross the universe
of our trembling warm hearts
where love's unwound thread is woven
into a tapestry
of serenity found
Where every kiss becomes a dream
that hungers forever
till the dawn of our horizon
shares our dreamer's dream of bonding
and a timeless rhapsody stays
in the restless nights of yearning
where we'll pluck the fruit of our dreams
When my heartbeat calls out to you
and our dreams of rapture are found
There was a lamp post, just one,
in the middle of a field at night—
no road leading to it,
no fence surrounding it,
just light standing there
like a question no one asked,
glowing for no one.
The ache in my chest opened wide
when I saw it—
a hollow, bottomless thing,
like longing without direction,
and I fell in.
I thought:
If that’s the light, then I must be lost
in the outer darkness,
and didn’t even try
to move toward it.
Sleep claimed me for nearly a week,
dragged under by a gravity
no one else could feel.
Until one day a song
on a distant radio broke through—
The Eggplant That Ate Chicago.
It was so ludicrous
I snort-laughed—once—
and the dark cracked slightly,
just enough for air.
Then I unwound my grave shroud
and breathed.
Without making a single sound,
a ball of yarn, my cat unwound.
Meanwhile, my dog had more to say,
whiling away the gray Tuesday.
Barking loudly, he buried a bone.
I whispered sadly on the phone.
We spoke in ways the soul would bleed,
no second guess, no hidden need.
You knew my silence, I knew your tears,
we stitched our hearts across the years.
But time, that thief, with silent hands,
unwound the ropes of where we stand.
The words grew cold, the nights grew long,
and we forgot our favorite song.
We didn’t fight, we didn’t scream,
we simply faded like a dream.
Still loving loud but speaking low,
still holding on, yet letting go.
You feel my breath across the miles,
I wear your memory in my smiles.
But somehow love was not enough,
sometimes even soulmates give up.
It hurts to know, it hurts to see,
how close we are, how far we be.
Two broken stars that used to shine,
now lost somewhere between the lines.
And though I’ll love you all my days,
it’s buried deep beneath the haze.
A bond untouched, but never whole —
two bodies close, two drifting souls.
Still, you’re my favorite, through every scar,
I’ll always love you — more than you'll ever know by far.
The winter stared at me, hollow-eyed and grim,
flakes of snow draped the earth in silence.
My lips quivered, teeth rattling their cold refrain,
and they danced—not with legs, but with their whole bodies.
Then my head went numb, my thoughts unwound,
consciousness slipped beyond the veil.
I soared like the angels—we all grew wings,
new arrivals, lost among strangers.
Before a great gate, we were set apart,
memory severed, the past a whisper.
The snow had risen~an unbroken white peak,
and the trees stood crowned in frost’s embrace.
My eyes grew misty, each tear frozen mid-fall,
my mind still locked in winter’s grasp.
Like thieves vaulting from shattered glass,
memories took flight, then scattered like dew on rooftops.
I searched for myself in pools of melted snow,
but my past had fled like a startled horse.
No trace remained~no pain, no triumphs,
only the wait to whine or wine and dine.
Yet even if a cup were placed in my hands,
the taste of good wine lay lost upon the wind.
deep in the woods where shadows creep
where tangled vines in silence sleep
a princess walks with weary tread
a crown of thorns upon her head
her name was whispered, then was gone
like morning mist at break of dawn
a cradle lost, a fate unwound
no kingdom left, no king was found
the stars once swore to guide her home
but silent now, they do not glow
the trees that hummed a lullaby
now whisper secrets, low and dry
a silver wraith with hollow grin
sings come, my dear, and step within
his voice is sweet, his hands are cold
his teeth like pearls, his eyes like gold
but princess knows—she does not fall
for fates are written, dark and small
she turns away, her path unknown
a princess lost, yet not alone
for in the night, the old ones stir
the woods still hum a song for her
a crown of thorns, a fate untold
a heart of fire, bright and bold
One first flight, Columbia’s name.
Seven souls aboard, bound for fame.
Six days, then ten, experiments thrive,
Eighty hearts of science, dreams alive.
Sixteen days, the Earth they skim,
Reentry calls—light fades dim.
Tick-tick, hiss-hiss, crack-crack—a sound,
A breach unseen, the heat unwound.
1.67 pounds, a foam unseen,
Pierced the wing, unstitched the dream.
40 miles high, the flames collide,
Mach eighteen, as heat did stride.
Mach fifteen—a fiery scream,
The air ignites, the fragile seams.
Seven names, carved deep in space,
Their sacrifice, a lasting grace.
At 9:00 a.m., a nation cried,
29 months, the fleet must bide.
Tick-tick, sigh-sigh, hush-hush—we wait.
Columbia’s legacy will navigate.
Eighty dreams and the minds they fed,
We honor the fallen, their voices not dead.
I took a visit inside my brain today
To check what was happening
It has been a little sluggish of late
Like a cloudy day not a clear day in spring!
It was dim on entering
So l turned on my lamp
It was really quite foggy
Felt a little damp
The memory section caught my eye
As there were countless empty spots
A bundle of wires nearby
All tied up in knots
The vision section was labelled
Though extremely hard to see
From a distance
I think it read:
h E L p M e
The emotional section was out of control
Eratic movements up and down
Huge highs , deep lows
Overstressed and unwound
My brain it seems is in great need
Of an overhaul and mending
Overwhelmed , l swiftly exited my brain
Service and repairs left pending
event horizon
revealing outer limit
of singular force
swirling cosmic dust
genesis of star’s being
clouds stellar ceiling
space lying between
all that can be felt or seen
formed that which has been
vivid human dream
makes further consciousness seem
outside nature’s scheme
reality found
vast universe comes unwound
ever outward bound
1. Refrain (Unwound)
Her song, it never played
Coal sack black stitching frayed
Lead the familiar thread
Lined coffin living dead
To the beat how we march
Funeral shirt ready starched
2. Hush now...
...never played, never played
Her song, a hollow stain
It haunts the silence
Whispers invade the rain
A constant ache, a constant pain
3. Essence dead
Her touch, I wish it upon my skin
How dust settles against the wind
Regret, too late to confess my sins
Bitter ale I swallow, help forget I prayed
A story untold, her song it never played
I'm afraid of my fate, so uncertain and vast,
A labyrinth of choices, a tempest that lasts.
In the depths of my soul, a tremor takes hold,
Whispering doubts and fears, a story untold.
Will I stumble in darkness, lost and alone?
Or find strength in my heart, a place to call home?
The threads of my destiny, woven in disguise,
Tangle and twist, as time swiftly flies.
Oh, what lies ahead, beyond the horizon's gaze?
A symphony of triumphs or a tragic malaise?
Will fortune favor me, with its gentle embrace?
Or cast me aside, a forgotten soul in this space?
I yearn for the answers, yet they dance out of sight,
Like elusive fireflies on a moonless night.
But I'll face my fears, with courage ablaze,
Embracing the unknown, in its mysterious ways.
For within my trembling heart, a flicker of hope,
A beacon that guides me, helps me to cope.
Though uncertainty lingers, like a shadow unkind,
I'll chart my own path, leaving fear far behind.
So, I'll embrace my fate, with courage unbowed,
For the future awaits, like a canvas unwound.
I'll write my own story, with each step I take,
Fear may tremble within, but it won't make me break.
I took a visit inside my brain today
To check what was happening
Its been a little sluggish of late
Like a cloudy day not a clear day in spring!
It was dim on entering
So l turned on my lamp
It was really quite foggy
Felt a little damp
The memory section caught my eye
As there were countless empty spots
A bundle of wires nearby
All tied up in knots
The vision section was labelled
Though extremely hard to see
From a distance
I think it read:
h E L p M e
The emotional section was out of control
Eratic movements up and down
Huge highs , deep lows
Overstressed and unwound
My brain it seems is in great need
Of an overhaul and mending
Overwhelmed , l swiftly exited my brain
Service and repairs left pending!
In the realm of emotions, where torment resides,
A man's head turns into a circus of sadness, it hides.
The carnival of thoughts, a chaotic parade,
Where reason and sanity begin to fade.
Within his mind's big top, madness takes the stage,
Emotional torment spins his thoughts in a rage.
Clowns of sorrow jest and jesters of despair,
Perform their tricks, leaving him gasping for air.
The tightrope of hope, stretched thin and frail,
He walks the line, trying to prevail.
But the weight of his sorrows pulls him down,
As he tumbles into the depths with a mournful sound.
The trapeze swings, a precarious dance,
Between love and loss, he takes a chance.
He leaps with faith, hoping to find solace,
But lands in a net of heartache, a cruel embrace.
The carousel of memories spins round and round,
A whirlwind of past hurts that can't be unwound.
He clings to the painted horses, a desperate ride,
Yet they only bring him back to the tears he can't hide.
The ringmaster, despair, cracks his whip,
Forcing him to perform, his soul in a grip.
The audience of doubt watches with cruel eyes,
As his spirit wanes, and his laughter dies.
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