Mother Nature does scowl
At greedier leaders howl
As our planet we do foul
Seedier media on the prowl
Don’t throw in the towel
We now live cheek by jowl
Don’t be a plastic freak
Like Simon Cowell
Or return to bombastic peak
Of Enoch Powell
At the meek did growl
A rebuild we all seek
Let’s get out the trowel
He stays up all night, sleeps all day
lives life the wise old owl’s way
Graveyard shift ~
nets him 15% more pay
I was a free bird like any other kid.
Spoke my heart,
24/7, smiled with a spark.
Danced on a random spot,
wore anything,
imagining no one gave a thought.
Posed any way when my dad said, "Smile."
A sense of pride when it was posted online.
Seeing my friends in the mall,
a memory I can never forget.
The joy of seeing them,
a thanks to God for letting us meet.
Years passed, people changed.
Jokes about my fashion were made.
My mom said I looked marvelous.
My happy face is acting like a curse.
My dance moves were questioned.
Ain't I embarrassed?
They wanna learn.
My anxiety shoots up
when I see someone in the mall.
What have I worn?
How's my hair?
That's what my brain recalls.
When my mom posts,
my first instinct is to check
that my friends can't see.
My blood boils when they know my nickname.
I feel judged.
Yeah, that's a shame.
I don't wanna be this wise.
I wanna be silly like my little old self,
who felt pride in loving Lily.
He's a whiz of a wiz
and what a whiz he is,
when he gets, sets right down,
and puts his mind to it,
with a trick or two up his sleeve,
he won't hesitate or dissimulate, he'll just do it,
and your eyes you really won't believe.
When his magic hat and he
had a holiday in Hawaii,
where, as he sat beach-side,
a Mai Tai to drink,
asked a local moke,
“Is it all mirrors and smoke?”
He reproachfully replied,
'Now, what do you think?
Have no illusions,
I'm not a prestidigitator,
with sleight of hand,
intended to obfuscate,
I've taken the oath,
my secrets never to reveal,
however, I can say this,
you may speculate.'
Contest: 1493
Sponsor: Brian Strand
Poem written and posted on 080126
The first 3 letter of 'Yesterday' spell 'Yes'.
But beware and be wise about saying 'Yes'
To your yesterdays. Many of them could
Be very dangerous to your 'Today'.
The idea of such can be very appealing,
But it can also be most deceptive and
Leave one with the need for much healing.
Experience often teaches us to chart our
Yesterdays as we would a minefield. One
Unwise or inadvertant move could be
Explosive and destructive.
So, let us beware, be wise, be prayerful,
and handle our yesterdays with care.
It was no ordinary cloud,
Seeming wrongly to move
Opposite direction of all the
Other –
No cooperative morning, in general;
Sun seeming less inclined to dawn --
Lighting for him appearing not worth
His bother.
Got to thinking, perhaps nature has a mind
All its own, independent of my outing
Need? – should have replayed her all knowing
Tape on past proven feminine intuitive lead --
Fore-and-aft my nervous glances,
Masculine optimism beginning to fail --
Wind now developing a serious gale
(The main mast tearing a sail)
She surveyed me coldly and pale:
Though in your new Walmart cap, you
Look quite the sailor’ dashing, if you value
Your life, don’t ever again wake me early
To go fishing!
wise women of the western moon
your incantations are powerful tonight
the sun is gone, the fey are aswoon
you bring to the forest an unearthly light
wise women of the fearsome fire
your wishes for the greater good
are heard by the ancients by way of lyre
you are enhancing the oaks in the wood
wise women of the inner circle of star
your wisdom is traveling beyond the meadow dew
hopefully your dreams are traveling far
to the ears of those who can grant them for you
enwrap wholesomeness wisely
compromise can contradict inerrant blitheness
(Weekly Magnetic Poetry Challenge • July 6–12, 2026)
"What I have Learned about Broken Promises is Priceless." By Poet
As a young child,
friends would make a promise.
They would break their word,
followed by hurt.
The dating world was famous for this trick,
as boys loved to break their promise.
Did it make them feel powerful?
Maybe!
My dad was a very wise person,
he never made many promises.
Guess he knew the pain hiding behind words,
words that were unkept are friends with lies.
He would say,
we will see or maybe.
I knew if he had made me a promise,
it was guaranteed to be done.
So glad this lesson was learned as a child,
thanks dad.
(“Citadel of Light Merit Badge”, 2016, original pen and ink)
Have you noticed
How it’s become a thing
To expect others to be as stupid as you
And then when they aren’t
Label them with whatever moniker
Of hatred their unvirtue deserves,
Like “racist”, “fascist”, “whateveraphobe”?
The virtue of fools
Is that whatever they think and say and do
Must be virtuous
Because of course, they are virtuous
Simply by being,
Which is, of course, simply
Why they are fools.
The stupid, like the dead, have two things in common
Neither know they are,
And neither know what they are missing.
What is virtue you say?
Whatever it is that fulfills your purpose
The fulfillment of which
Separates the foolish from the wise.
(6/30/26)
WISE AVIAN
Nested in wisdom,
She contemplates her guidance:
Waiting to navigate.
Her large eyes, surveying life,
Visioning the divine course.
My cat Mimi, cunning and so wise,
Will wait quiet, then bounce by surprise
Make a rat its prey
Hold it in its sway
With it to play in triumphant guise.
My son, my love, my dear,
Be aware of your father's words;
Uni is not the universe—do not confuse
A place where you can float without a fall,
Or where you play Romeo and Juliet.
My son, be aware of your father's words;
Do not drag your future into the flames.
Your father is old, but his words are young.
Uni is a place for knowledge, not games;
Where you go to acknowledge, not to blame.
To open doors to the right universal truth,
And take a pen to write a new verse in faith.
So, do not confuse uni and universe.
Fool laughs at people often, but tomorrow he will cry bitterly.
But the real wise man laughs with people and shall laughs best tomorrow.
President John Kennedy,
A very wise man was he,
He spoke about the moon
And won the election soon.
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