You laughed too hard in 1996/
Thought I'd trip and stay down for kicks/
But I climbed back up, twice the size/
Now I shred, watch the sparks fly/
My drummer joked, said guitars are lame/
Left him roadside, questioning fame/
Why does a guitar need a case, he asked/
To contain its stringed up past/
Steel strings bend, the pick obeys/
My solos melt minds in dazzling rays/
You call it noise; I call it fate/
Crowds roar, my riffs attack/
Like a clown with a vengeance strapped to his back/
Why did the guitar cross the road/
To escape tuning abuse overload/
Strumming stainless, lyrics sharp/
Every chord bite, every note barks/
What's a guitarist least favorite job/
A fretting accountant, stuck in a fog/
Clowns don't cry, we shred and slay/
This guitar doesn't play, it dictates the day/
Why did the guitar get detention in class/
It couldn't stop playing tricks so crass/
Now I roll into your town, no disguise/
My solos make statues blink their eyes/
One last joke before I'm done/
Why don't guitars ever tell lies/
Because their strings keep them strung/
Ghosts glide on the highway to heaven in gay abandon
On Halloween’s starless night, in a limbo state they dance
From Purgatory they haunt with a vengeance in their eternity
In angst night terrors they cast to all for their eternity
Mortals beware the punishment with all hope abandoned
Enchanting their wispy shapes glow in oblivion’s dance
We listen to the song of lament, with spirits in mind we dance
Requiem from the dead chanting in the abyss for all eternity
Dia De Los Muertos, we celebrate the dead, with no abandon
In eternal abandon, a haunting melody, a soulful dance
Not easy following you,
picking up the pieces
my, how you
wreck with a vengeance.
Not talking just this life,
so many others, no choice
still as mine (the choice), take heed!
come back to me,
'cause, I still follow,
still care, still love.
And I may be the reason
you hate pickles
and mayonnaise..
mixed metaphors,
euwph!
But oh, I bequeathed you my best
the dance of clouds,
icicles..
twizzlers
come back to me,
by choice, all yours
as you release me now.
Been watching over
you,
for sometime..
like a lapdog
ever at your feet
by your side
as you winked.
Until we meet again
m'yeah, just so you know,
as you nod,
I always.., well..
your welcome.
Pellets of snow fall
covering the ground in total white
Frozen branches in tick tock fashion
move from side to side
whipped by invisible fierce winds;
The icy breath of winter
sits on his cold blue lips
long gone are the days when he taught
his children how to make snow angels.
An old rusted shovel digs deep
then resurrects itself, followed by a white shower
of flying ice snow,
Old man winter has returned with a vengeance
there is an old tea kettle whistling inside the house
but he can't hear a thing, only the sound
of a snow blower as it spurts out more and more
snow...
December 23, 2022
Sponsor Kim Rodrigues
Contest Name WINTER STORM
As the night arrives and darkness brings thoughts,
I think about all your deep suffering
I want to catch a breath that wipes it all away
So you can breathe again in peace, without fears
As you fight for your life, day after day
The illness attacks with a vengeance
Always making me ask why this happens to good people?
All your volunteer work, all your willing giving day to day
All your service for our country as a Navy Chief
The endless care for others, you showed so many ways
Here is the night we talked as best we could
I could hardly understand your words as you struggle to speak
With memories of fluent conversations we had in the past
Always patient, always listening, that was your being
The darkness hides the answers, but not the faith you always have
For God is with you, that I know, even with all that I don’t understand
Heidi Sands
11/26/22
fast and furious
winter comes with a vengeance...
a city snowed in
Date written: 11/20/2022
AN OLD SUN HAS SET
THE LIGHT HAS WENT OFF
A NEW DAWN IS YET TO COME
THE GIANT HAS FALLEN
THE BIG STAR HAS FALLEN
I HAVE FALLEN,I HAVE FALLEN TODAY TO RISE AGAIN TOMORROW
I VOW TO COME BACK AGAIN
I WILL RISE AGAIN TO MY FORMER GLORY AND SHINE
I WILL SHINE AGAIN LIKE THE BRIGHTEST STAR
I WILL IGNITE THE FIRE IN ME ONCE MORE
I WILL COME BACK WITH A VENGEANCE
I SHALL COME BACK IN A SPEED OF LIGHT,LIKE A RUNAWAY TRAIN WITH NO BRAKES
I WILL RETURN TO CLAIM MY PLACE,MY POSITION IN THE CORPORATE WORLD
THE LIGHT WILL SHINE UPON ME
I WILL BE SHOWERED WITH SO MUCH PRIDE
SONGS OF HAPPINESS AND JUBILATION WILL BE SUNG
ANCESTRAL ENTOURAGE WILL ULULATE BEYOND THE GROUND
CELEBRATING THEIR DAUGHTERS SUCCESS AND BRIGHT FUTURE
First thunderstorm
of the season
rolling through
with a vengeance,
Dark gray clouds
boiling over
booms of thunder
threatening,
Lightning
in the distance.
The trees
are trembling
with fear,
Birds are hiding
taking refuge,
protecting
their nests,
Any minute now
the deluge.
written April 11, 2022
“Prairie Storm”
The air turned
Deadly still,
The trees no
Longer swayed,
The horses neighed,
The church bells rang
Rabbits ran
For their caves.
Old men rushed
To close their doors.
Storm on the Rise!
Storm on the Rise!
Twister but a mile!
Be here in a while!
Hurry, grab the kids
To the cellar quick.
We haven’t the time
To worry.
It’s coming with a fury
The clouds grew deadly black
As deadly black can get.
Whipping and churning,
Rumbling and growling,
Twisting and swirling,
A tail was coming
With a vengeance it came:
Bolting and striking,
Snapping and crackling,
Exploding and blasting,
The tail kept churning.
The roof from the
Barn was thrown.
The windows in the
House were blown.
The trees ripped
From their roots.
The horses ran.
The rain
Came pounding.
The hail
Came battering.
The wheat field
Turned to straw.
Up from the cellar
The family rose.
The mother poured tears.
The father fell to his knees.
The little ones clung
To mother’s skirt.
There was little left.
His dreams disappeared.
The neighbors
Came calling.
The storm unkind.
He lost his mind.
The church bells rang.
Pomposity
Arrogance and ego are hazards that lead us astray.
Jealousy will tarnish your blessings when allowed to stay.
Center your pain, adapt and overcome for relief.
Passing judgement is deplorable, that’s just my belief.
A smug puritan will point their finger and berate.
We should never blame others for the reality we create.
Discretion is for all, understand and learn.
When frolicking in the flame, beware of the burn.
We can write whatever we choose, ramifications abound.
Sanctions, however, can be bequeathed when blasphemy is found.
Some will praise God, seeking attention for their glass shelves.
Unfortunately, the self-righteous just seek praise for themselves.
I think every poet on this site has talent with their words that glisten.
Insults and palsied stones are understood by many, just read and listen.
Embitterment will ensue when foul scents become thick.
Karma can strike with a vengeance, it’s time to put down the stick.
My first car was a twelve year old Pontiac and this was in 1971.
I bought it from a boy I worked with at the grocery store.
His name was Joe, and he sold it to me for a meager $75.
I was making $1.58 an hour, so that was a huge price.
It was the ugliest color of green, but I loved it.
Because it was mine, and it went fast.
I drove it to college and back with a vengeance.
We tore up and down the road at eighty to a hundred miles an hour.
This was in the day when the cops were not out much
Except at the end of the month, and we all knew what day.
I named her Sammy, and I adored her until her engine blew.
Ka—put. She simply quit working. Bam!
I went to Joe’s house. His mother answered the door.
I told her I needed to talk to him; she knew I was serious.
I demanded and got my seventy-five dollars back.
I had only had that car for eight months.
I ended up marrying him, and we still laugh about it.
I think he would have given me double my money back.
He thought I was cute,
and I was.
A walk through the meadows..
Reaps of serenity..
A picture perfect landscape..
Lush green as stillness resides
Teary eyed with regret..
In a pondering state of melancholia
The past suddenly appears with a vengeance
Battles fought accompanied by hardships..
Trials and tribulations through passages of time
A test for one's self surrounded by turbulence..
Teary eyed as one's journey continues..
Fearful moments..
Imperfections..
Failures..
A lonely heart cries with the absence of love..
Unspoken words
Silence with sadness..
Serenity heals
Pain of regret
Sorrow..
A life without love
A walk through the meadows where stillness resides..
Serenity thrives..
Spoken words..
A voice heard..
Ridged peaks, rolling foothills
reach over our region,
rest under snow blankets,
recover from roiling,
raging summer wildfires.
Reeling smoke will only
return with a vengeance.
Pleiades R contest
Sponsor: Kim Merryman
The women i love is so far away.
Covid you came with a vengeance
and took everything away.
The smell of her hair,
The softness of her touch.
Traditional Thailand woman
who i miss so very much.
Its been a year now since ive seen her
But thank God our hearts
can keep so many memories.
I remember leaving her the last time
and going up the escalator at the airport,
both with tears in our eyes
and i yell out at the top of my lungs
I LOVE YOU BENJI
I think the whole Bangkok Airport stopped to smile
as she blushed red and hid her tears.
Traditional Thailand woman with a heart full of gold,her love for me is something ive never really told.
Covid you came, you separated lives
and knocked alot of people down.
The stress you have caused would make anyone's head spin around.
But we will fight you,we will win,for i will see my love hopefully very soon again.
For those with loves so very far away,
Don't give up,keep your hearts strong
and we will get through this.
Day by Day
She saunters in unbidden
Burning hot as hell fire
Her water as pure as the driven snow
Her scent like a warm summer breeze
Men love her with a passion
Women loath her with a vengeance
Children whisper about her in dark corners
For she is deemed forbidden fruit
She is the shamed woman
A crown she wears unapologetically
Dare you not utter her name they say
Lest you fall prey to her charms
Slowly she rises to her feet
As she smiles to herself
Not in anger, but in endearment
Because only she knows
These people that shame her
She bore life to their multitudes
They are her children -
And she, their mother
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