The Resolute Man
For the New Year I resolve -
Not to swim with Humpbacked whales
Or ride an alpaca on the Inca Trail
Or skipper a ship with three masts and ten sails
I’d rather be lashed with a cat of nine tails.
The Northern Lights shall remain darkness to me
There will be no Amazon trips to see all the trees
If you dropped me on Everest attached to skis
I’d say “no thanks”, not “yes please”.
You w...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 8:49 pm
Also by R A Porter:
The Resolute Man | Christmas at Terminal Three | The Nearly Published Poet | A Discovery on Everest |A New Year
A New Year
As we enter 2025
Will we prosper and survive?
Shall we find new goals and new ambitions?
And embark upon new special missions?
Will it be year to be strong?
And to put right what once was wrong?
Will it be a year full of success?
And one in which we try out best?
Shall we be great? Shall we be bold?
Shall we find new stories to unfold?
Shall we find new roads and new di...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 8:45 pm
Caged
Locked again in the prison cell,
Gaolers buzz and wish us well!
But freedom's song within me swells,
And hope, a beacon, bravely tells
Of breaking free, of soaring high,
Beyond these walls, beneath the sky.
Tuesday 31st December 2024 7:33 pm
Sail
Happy New Year to all at WOL!
I Sailed across a stormy sea
I wonder what became of me?
Perhaps I settled in a far off land
Where palm trees grow through golden sand?
Or, do I still sail the many seas:
A ghost ship wearing the ghost of me?
Or, maybe, Atlantis dragged me to shore
And there I wander in untold awe?
In time, we build this ship ourselves,
as the wind...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 5:38 pm
Also by Stephen W Atkinson:
The Last Noël | A Fleeting Heart | A Christmas Bauble | Gaia's Lament |A Year on the Edge of Tomorrow
The year drew on, a big wheel in the flow,
Marking the moments where change began to show.
Machines grew louder, their thoughts took flight,
Shaping a future both shadowed and bright.
On lunar plains, where footprints are few,
A woman stood, gazing at Earth’s vibrant hue.
The stars bore witness to progress and dreams,
While fusion ignited impossible schemes.
The skies roared ...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 3:03 pm
Also by Rolph David:
The Year That Ticked Too Loud: 2024 | The EU's Two Main Parasites | The Gilded Fist of Greed | The Last Letter (Continued) | The Last Letter | The Girl Who Sold The Stars | Merry Grinchmas To Y'All. | A King's Born | The Year of the “Dead“ - Gloomy end-of-year thoughts |A tale of two places
And now another Christmas is over
And glad tidings are hidden amongst
Tinsel and mirrors
The smoke and choke of dust filled lives
Falling away into the in between days
Of hangovers too much pudding and turkey
Soon to be thrust into layers
Of left over mountains of mince pies and cheese
Whilst in other parts of the world
Little birds cry out for warmth and food
The cl...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 12:19 pm
Also by Martin Elder:
Mary with child | Resigned |third wheel
That proverbial “third wheel” syndrome
a companion in solitude
haunts the poet’s heart
- a feeling that clings like shadows
…never quite shaken off.
In crowded spaces, they feel distant
a shaman stepping back from the scene
a witness to love’s tender embrace
while longing stirs like the wind.
With each verse penned, they mark the ache
attempting to erase the ...
Tuesday 31st December 2024 6:42 am
Also by Red Brick Keshner:
stellarguable | fluid mosaic | These are the days | Haiku 2025 | she rides the wind | Christmas Glow | Feasting | 21-12-24 | opposable truths | observance | through the eyes of a stranger | where is home? | Glimmer | The Quiet Conqueror | in starlit sky twinkles |Sodom & Gomorrah
Her thoughts are a bulwark of hedonism and pain,
who will dare storm it with hate and vain.
Princess oh princess their voices shout,
whipped by carmine thorns in a lethal clout.
Your words speak of heroes but your actions sew malice,
life is no fairytale and you arent alice.
So bring forth another herold on his steed,
may hybris put an end to his ignorant deed.
Pale skinned and cri...
Monday 30th December 2024 11:44 pm
Roses aflame
I can feel fire in my veins
Red roses set aflame
Burning embers
Passionate rage
A suffocating feeling I can't escape
I feel like running away
To some faraway place
Where even the stars
Wont remember my name
I might lose myself
In a faraway world
Hiding away
In my secret escape
Time is an illusion
And I'm caught up in the confusi...
Monday 30th December 2024 9:36 pm
Dear Blackbird.
Dear blackbird
Let me have a feather from your wing
It will become my quill
In exchange I will sit silently
And listen to you sing
Take my wickedness
In your little yellow beak
Hold it as a stone
Before dropping it into the lake
At the break of dawn
Soar in circles
Tracing the ripples
Until you become weak
Then return to me
So together we can sleep.
Clare Kinnaird, 2024.
Monday 30th December 2024 9:13 pm
Also by Clare:
Let’s Fly to the Moon. | The Poets are Lying. | Winter Bride. | Botticelli’s Dreams | Botticelli’s Dreams | Glue. | Christmas Nonet. (Reversed). | Sinners and Saints. | Dozy Moon. |Haiku for 2025 [No 2]
Monday 30th December 2024 9:04 pm
Also by Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh:
Haiku For 2025 [No 1 Capall na beatha an grá] | Help- Slow Wol Site! | Mowing the Lawn with Larkin | The War on the West | The Word Made Flesh | A Boat! A Boat! |intent
Life is lived moving forward
but we only understand looking back
If I looked back from the future, I know what I'd see: your love surrounding me with a fierce light of protection
a soft blanket of gentle cushioning balance of support and admiration
It held me up in my darkening despair and led me through
to the other side, where I made it
It does me no good
to deny the br...
Monday 30th December 2024 8:18 pm
Also by MKMK:
Hills | Only Wolves |Aisle
I'll chew my words
Mince them into a soft sponge
Cleanse the red rage of pique
Return them eclair
I'll find my feet
Rotate along the axes
Slice through the ladder of fatigue
Meet at the Summit where the points meet
I'll get my spark
Learn to sharpen my bow
Steer the ship with my intuition
Brainstorm ideas for my arrow
I'll locate my voice
Journal the sea of musings in lead
Tak...
Monday 30th December 2024 7:53 pm
Also by Pinnochio:
Exphoria | Palm Tree | Shoot... |New Year
As the new year is approaching…
Time to get the drinks and party going…
Not forgetting to reflect on this year…
Some teary moments, others with a cheer…
Treasuring every experience, good or bad…
Learning from each one, without feeling sad…
Before walking into the beautiful new year…
Making plans and resolutions, without fear…
Letting go of the things that cannot be reversed...
Monday 30th December 2024 6:52 pm
Also by Aisha Suleman:
Christmas | Fun Friday | Be Confident | Wonderful Wednesday | You Are Doing Great | Be Proud |SMALL THINGS LIKE THESE
Small things like these-
Staring out the window,
Feeling the warmth of the sun on the face,
Eyes gleaming, twinkling with quiet excitement.
Goosebumps rise on the skin,
Aflame with forgotten vigor.
Small things like these-
The cold touch of water,
Toes twitching in the bath,
Awakening to the gentle brush of hands,
Blood rushing to the face,
C...
Monday 30th December 2024 2:45 pm
Also by Naomi:
THE PRAYER OF THE LOST | CHRISTMAS BUSTLES | FACES | THE TASTE OF APPLES | A QUIET WISH | BIRD WATCHING | OPEN EYES | BENEATH THE WEIGHT OF THE STORM | FROM THE SINK | A SATURDAY | INVERSE |Not yet set in stone
He's a young man being beat down by society,
Plagued with misfortune and unspeakable atrocities,
Survived cold nights despite the abject poverty,
No place to hide a dark mind with pure integrity,
He looks down to the ground with the up most intensity,
Whispered to himself "They will never take the best of me".
Forcibly made to be the man of the flat,
From the flat of his...
Monday 30th December 2024 1:42 pm
Happy Thoughts For The Coming New Year
My dear friends,
Happy New Upcoming Year! I wish you all the best.
Regards,
Larisa
Please, read my poem in the comments
Monday 30th December 2024 1:16 pm
Also by Larisa Rzhepishevska:
Emptiness Is In My Soul Today, | Sixty Is Not The Age To Worry | I Pray For All My Friends Around The World | Take Off Your Shoes Before Entering The Temple | I Am One Of Those ... | Take Care Of Your Soul | The Heart Of Kindness | My Grandma Used To Say |Troubadour (with audio recording)
‘If there is a troubadour washing, it is he
If there is a man about town., it is he …’
It’s the liminal hour, neither night nor day,
2am is when troubadours come out to play
Urban street savages roam around the pitch black
Most people fast asleep but not in next door’s flat
where two male cubs through the walls, I hear growling
It’s not just the foxes outside that ar...
Monday 30th December 2024 11:52 am
Also by Lee Campbell:
Footprint | Fat Boy Slim | The Heart is A Muscle (with audio recording) | The Realisation (with audio recording) | The Realisation | Reclamation | Midnight Feast | CHRISTMAS CRUCIFIX (TIE ME UP TIGHT) | Tongue Tied | My Two Eyeballs (Light as Violence) |Pinpoint
In sleep I see the nail
Pass through the yielding flesh;
Jesus knew about that.
But we are skin and bone,
Already. No reserves
Of fat or of muscle.
Bare bones. No resistance.
Every strike and rumble
A nail, hammered, pinpoint,
Into the joints and cracks.
The torment forcing us
Towards strange submission.
Soon we could be up there,
On the cross, con...
Sunday 29th December 2024 9:05 am
Also by Stephen Gospage:
Moon over Ukraine | Edifice | Degradations | No One's Fault | Life Blood |Twenty Twenty Five
An unknown journey
As I walk toward the New Year
With fear... hope... and joy!
Saturday 28th December 2024 8:47 pm
Also by Marla Joy:
Vagabond | Where Your Soul Resides | Like A Heartbeat | Believe | Back To Nature | Child In The Bramble | I Am Paint |Love Expired
Like driftwood on a deserted beach
Our love’s abandoned, far from reach
The past, engulfed by fires of liberties took
Reciting hollow words from half-read books
Fearlessly we had wandered love’s convoluted path
Arriving sooner than most, unaware we wouldn’t last
Through unclenched fingers, love slipped away
Togetherness uprooted, lost and gone astray
No consideration nor ...
Saturday 28th December 2024 8:38 pm
Also by JD Russell:
Memory’s fading with time |An eye-opener
A policeman investigating a spate of burglaries passed me by.
He said ,"I'm looking for a man with one eye."
His comment made my sense of humour flicker.
I said,"Why don't you use both eyes,it will be quicker."
Saturday 28th December 2024 6:31 pm
Also by hugh:
A Christmas card delivers a sealing advice to a stamp | Coincidence? | Using my experience as a car dealer I do an ownership check | Rhyme doesn’t pay !! | Making things up |Will you MARRY me?
What happens when that sparks dies?
Are we ready? Am I ready?
Forgiving the trust we lost hoping it'll all be worth it.
Dreaming is alot and hoping is just disappointing willing to love you forever.
Forever, forever, forever until death do us part,
corpse to soul, death will bless our marriage for no one else can own.
Together always, the vows to take.....is this a mistake...
Saturday 28th December 2024 2:03 am
COUNTY LINES
County lines spread evil
across all the living and the dead
their line is our time
we need them, dead.
Or fled to
a spring day in late fall,
when she can no longer cope:
be tall or not be crumpled or be a spuperfluity
of hope.
She has lost the lines that link
her to her family tree
so now the link is broken
and she is free.
Road, rail, phone,
needle, plunger, sink
in an...
Friday 27th December 2024 10:02 pm
Also by John E Marks:
Schrödinger's cat - Entanglement (Verschränkung) | ICELIGHT | TORN | Italy | DNA | Freezing fog - Charles Dickens called London his 'magic lantern' - | VIBRATIONS in the MEMORY | THE SNOT GREEN SEA | Shadows on a broken vessel | POLICING THE LANGUAGE | To the Ghost-dancers of the Sioux |THE BLACK SHADOW
As if any more proof were needed of the threat I pose to the existing world order, I received, by e-mail on Christmas Eve, a death threat. Honestly. No joke.
It came from The Black Shadow, a hired assassin who had been paid an “enormous sum of money” to expedite my demise. This surprised me as anyone could nudge me off my pushbike for nothing. They said that they had been following my every mov...
Friday 27th December 2024 2:34 pm
Also by John Coopey:
SHE | WISDEN BLOODY ALMANACK | I FEAR IT WON’T END WELL | GARDEN OF LOVE | HANA REINER, WHO WERE YOU? | I CAN'T CARE FUCKING LESS | THE WORLD'S MOST TRAVELLED RAFFLE PRIZE |Some Girls
Some were like shooting stars,
crashing into me for a brief time
leaving stardust or debris.
Sometimes I just wasn't sure.
It was difficult to hold on to things
constantly in motion while they were moving on.
Friday 27th December 2024 5:33 am
Also by Mike McPeek:
Morning Covenant | Father | Cold Wet Noses | Light-Up Santa | Reading the Room (again) |Fairy Floss
Image source: Pinterest/@Arnab
Sweet floss brings happiness,
With tender finesse,
It greets,
As joy spreads in fleeting beats.
Floss compound with fairy,
Is magic within a combination of sweet, tender, and airy.
Fairies spin with rhythmic gait,
Blending sugar’s gleam with air in interplait.
Their wings flutter, gathering air,
A tinkling ...
Friday 27th December 2024 5:11 am
Also by Yanma Hidayah:
She Who Is Called A Monster | I Know | Under the City Light | Me and Mrs. Mosquito | A Woman's Inner Dialogue: More Than Just Butterflies |Colors
Chestnut floors we picked over pine.
Hazel almonds enveloped in your eyes.
Coffee beans to feel a rise.
Dark Chocolates are uncovered for surprise.
Amber streaks within your hair.
Lavender fills around the air.
Sky blue like the memories we share.
White noise for all of these moments we stare.
Ruby regal on your lips.
Inside all of these burgundy bricks.
Cri...
Friday 27th December 2024 5:00 am
Also by DG:
Other People | Simplify | Lock & Chain |the snake
Can you love me without consumption?
Simply leave me the way you found me
Without swallowing me whole,
Jaw unhinged like a snake
Delighting in their afternoon meal.
Instead can you put me back into my box
So no one would ever know the difference?
Dust off my clothes, wipe my face
Fix my hair and shine my shoes
Ready again, as good as new.
I have wasted too...
Friday 27th December 2024 12:05 am
The Spirit of Christmas Yet to Come
The bones of Christmas, ragged torn,
carved, discarded, bin-bound waste.
In the farmyard cruelly born
raised for purpose, culled in haste.
The ribboned knot of cast-off wrap,
stuffed in plastics killer sack.
An offering up of deadly crap
to fill a void that can't grow back.
The joy of peace in frugal life,
of roots in earth as rich as Kings.
Reward born...
Thursday 26th December 2024 12:15 pm
Also by David RL Moore:
Between two Worlds | Larkin and Me | Tree | The last laureates | Mothers of Sons (Twenty years wasted to abandonment) |The next
The next
As we move into the next
we’re completely perplexed
as the past can’t help us
understand anything
our primitive tools
make us look like fools
all logic escapes
in this vacuum
those children with matches
those martyrs of darkness
all get consumed
as the future chews on us
I hold your hand
I’ve got a plan
to enjoy ourselves
where we stand
as I kiss...
Wednesday 25th December 2024 1:10 pm
Also by Robert C Gaulke:
Uh-huh | Lavation | Your budding awareness | Space + Age | Situations | Swirls of Smoke |The Evo’s Gift - Forgiven Sin
The resounding sins, of
many echo through
their etheric karma
manifesting the
good intentions, of
Personal Truth
at the end of the day the air waves:
find their way back home,
when the sun goes down, and
the lights go out at night
lightning never strikes the same place twice
however, once in a while you wonder…How?
In the world we live in —
Th...
Wednesday 25th December 2024 10:20 am
Palms
Thickets
twisted
branches
blades of grass
Florida palms
fan in the wind
thick as thieves
and feathers
Gold or green blades
sun scorched
or left untouched
to be loved
Either way
they have seen beauty
they are not want
for more
© Candice Reineke 2024
Tuesday 24th December 2024 7:55 pm
IT'S EASY TO GET ANNOYED
It's easy to get annoyed
when age is never on your side
but watches your every move
with stern disapproval.
Easy to fall out of proportion
such as is left to you
never quite enough to muster forces
easy then to get annoyed.
And when that happens
bits of you flake off like old skin
when smiling is a foreign land
you hesitate to visit
taking ...
Tuesday 24th December 2024 1:34 pm
This Place of Light
Stepping into the density,
I lose myself,
I become as a boat drifting in a lake, unattended, floating still, but lackluster, without guidance,
clouded by a touch of sadness.
But then, breath returns,
deep, rich with the promise of renewal.
Deep, slow breath,
breath hums a tune of awakening,
breath sings a song of remembering.
Remembering compassion,
remembering frien...
Tuesday 24th December 2024 12:04 pm
Also by Hélène:
Always Love | Words Like Rain | Happy Holidays to All Poets and Readers! | Like Stardust | Breathing | Choices |Thank You
And in their deepest, darkest hour
the community came together
A time filled with fear, sadness and grief
that will be remembered forever
To the volunteer firefighters
we salute your steadfast bravery
Your selfless and courageous actions
will be observed in our history
For all the lives protected and saved
just how many will remain unknown
Your work will never be forgotten
o...
Tuesday 24th December 2024 5:31 am
Someone Else's Dream
Towards the far corner,
An alluring kaleidoscopic spark
Catches my attention, and
Besides the growing tension,
I hear a known voice.
An out-of-the-world precipise
Presents a familiar figure
Who could overwhelm my heart.
Her unsurprised, unmoved eyes
Jesture that I was expected.
A gluesome lump in my throat
Lets the feeling float in silence
As she ...
Monday 23rd December 2024 3:53 pm
Also by Manish:
Yellow Stripes | Bad at Goodbyes |Christmas For One
Christmas for one
A time of celebration
Peace and love abounds
All across the nation
Christmas for one
Christmas for one
That's the way it's going to be
But I am not alone
Because you are watching over me
Christmas for one
Christmas for one
Believers for the lord they wait
But our planet is so unequal
A time for reflection of others fate
Christmas for one
Christmas for one
...
Monday 23rd December 2024 3:34 pm
Also by Tom Doolan:
Christmas Rocks 🎅 🎄☃️ | Christmas Make My Day | Festive Glow | Christmas Star | Christmas Makes Me Cry | If Only | Stoic Man |OUT OF PHASE, DOUBLED
I am in waves,
clapping hands,
art in/art out
of phase, the distinct
ghostshipshapeliness
of abstract lines,
appealing, revealing,
reviling, unveiling.
So much for rhyme.
Whatever comes next
came next-to-last,
whipping up wirestorms
of fountainhood,
revelling in the tines
of forking pathways,
expectantly gravid
or barren, the void
wherein, without which
we all surmount
the itchy...
Monday 23rd December 2024 8:29 am
Christmas Tree
W
We
had
a tree
that lived
in our garden
for most of the
year. And when it
was time, my Dad dug
it up carefully, so as not
to damage the fragile roots.
He ceremoniously set it in a big
clay pot, ballasted with stones and
packed round with soil, and placed it in
a sort of giant terracotta saucer, to catch the
water, he said, so it would stay alive for ne...
Sunday 22nd December 2024 3:12 pm
Also by Trevor Alexander:
What Is Christmas | Peace | Anger | Her Dark Green Eyes. | I Will Not Wear The Baggy Trousers Of Old Age. | Plunge |When You Want Me To Be Happy
Lying with Lego is like:
typing poems on a keyboard
and hearing music in your head.
Lying with music is like:
waking up in the morning
and you're still alive.
Lying with life is like:
that one kite on a string
against the metro pole
and somehow makes it lie.
Lying with you is like:
making poems with the wind.
When you want me to belong (be ...
Sunday 22nd December 2024 10:12 am
Also by Auracle:
When They Say It Began In Youth | So Make A Goodie-Bag And Live! | My Eternal Christmas Village Has Come True | So We Make The Best Of Life | May All Poets Thrive | For A Christmas Gathering (Flawed Like A Human) | Still Beating For Human Touch | From The Great State Of Denial | This Year I'm Thankful | Here Is Where I Live | Set Alight, Like Candles On A Starry Starry Night | Like You I Have Given My All | Brainwashing, Propaganda, Indoctrination | Fear And Paranoia Got The Best Of Me | The Presence Of Sinterklaas Has Just Begun | This Is An Ode To Reason |Atlas.
What once held sway
Has perished without
Any genuine warning,
Yet those antique dreams
With the tenacious seams
Haven't ceased to pester,
And a world-weary Atlas,
Ready to drop the ball,
Wonders why
Should it him befall
To be tethered thus
To the ends of Earth,
Having to buttress
A world half-conscious
Only half the time...
But then again,
...Saturday 21st December 2024 4:21 pm
Also by Holden Moncrieff:
Destined... | Rosary. |A Knotty Ash Christmas Wonderland 2024
Please come with me… hold my gloved hand.
Let’s stroll through a Knotty Ash Wonderland!
Knotty Ash is magical every month of the year.
But even more so now, as Christmas is near!
The Happiness Train has arrived on platform 4.
Colin and Vera arrive for their Wonderland Tour!
Then we follow the frosty Knotty Ash Signs.
That lead us to the famous Jam Butty Mines!
We turn left at Sir Ken W...
Saturday 21st December 2024 11:13 am
Also by Mike Bartram:
Doddy Deserves The Honour!! | Storm Darragh...County Road Liverpool (6/12/24) | I'm Sixty Six Today! (5/12/24) | UK Winter Has Arrived (1/12/24) |Vulnerable
Naked-It’s the most vulnerable state to be.
So I undressed myself
The bed Is the most comforting place to be when you have nowhere else to go
So I pulled back the covers and wept
I wept for all the art I hadn’t made
I wept for the brokenness inside
For my brother
For the waste that has been my twenties
And all the things I may never get to do
I wept because I was numb and because I...
Saturday 21st December 2024 1:01 am
Do not stand at my grave and wee
(Inspired by a typo)
Do not stand at my grave and wee.
I'm damp enough. Just let me be.
You said you'd pour the finest wine
In tribute to these bones of mine;
So was it some stupendous thirst
That prompted you to drink it first?
Please note my epitaph (it's final!)
Does not contain the word "urinal".
Do not stand at my grave and wee.
I'll haunt your ass, I guarantee.
Saturday 21st December 2024 12:46 am
Fools Love a Fool
Put that shit on Pinterest
A show for the internet
I feel he's losing interest
I'll put you both to the test
Let the truth destroy the rest
Friday 20th December 2024 5:42 pm
Also by joanna player:
The Feigning |Warm Bones
When the tick is tocking
and time calls louder
I have to choose -
this path
that desire.
So, I ask myself
'what is it that I truly want
from this life?'
I have wanted so much, and yet so little…
I invoke gratitude,
for kind hearts
strong hands
cool heads.
My own saints and saviours
in the pit stops of my travels.
Standing toe to toe with ...
Friday 20th December 2024 3:59 pm
Winter 2024, December
Mid month
as a good a time as any other
to write of howling winds that smother
Every hint
of comfort and the daily norms
to replace them all with Darragh's storms
Which break
the trees which crash and fall upon
wires, and thus: the village power has gone
And then
in every room in every country cottage
is darkness from the lack of wattage
No h...
Friday 20th December 2024 2:45 pm
Unique camaraderie
Like fine friends whose company I crave,
I cherish the seasons, each one a wave;
Their unique characters, in colors they dress,
They shape my moods, some joy, some distress.
In winter's warm hug, the sun sets me free,
With hiking through dreams, wild as can be;
The heart, an enthusiast, reaching for light,
Wrapped in the comfort of long, cozy nights.
Oh, for summer morni...
Friday 20th December 2024 4:28 am
Also by Ghazala lari:
Interpretation of dreams |Pursue Transparency
PURSUE TRANSPARENCY
In veils of secrecy the captured states
Obscure the havens of the ultra-rich,
Who claim to hover in their global cloud;
Untouched, untaxable and out of reach.
They slip through loopholes spun, in legal webs,
By spider lawyers, lobbyists, - with bribes.
They loot our assets; dodge, evade and hide;
And multiply their influence round the globe.
...Thursday 19th December 2024 5:26 pm
Also by Freda Davis:
The Affair |What’s Wrong with Me?
WHATS WRONG WITH ME?
By the Urban Poet
What’s wrong with me?
If only I could see what others can see
Does it matter that over beer
I sometimes choose tea?
You see I thought I was free
But in everything I seem to do
That doesn’t appear to be the case
we’re all in a race
to be the perfect face
Obsessed by the need for information
With a determination
to succeed...
Thursday 19th December 2024 3:05 pm
Also by Rick Varden:
Transcendental | Everything’s Going to be Alright | The Dentists Chair | How Are You? | Darkness and Light | Age Is Only A Number |Flowers in You
In your eyes, I see the sun, serene and rare,
Where light, in its colors, becomes a garden bright,
And in your gestures, clear enchantments flare,
Like a thousand flowers dancing in the light.
Ah, you are the flower the heavens gave to earth,
Growing in pure grace, in shape and hue,
Like the lily deep in fields of endless worth,
Spreading the fragrance of an eternal view.
In your smile...
Thursday 19th December 2024 3:57 am
The missing shorts
Putting the flash into flash fiction for this festive poem!
Boxing day
A day of cheer
Till his lucky boxers
Disappear
A desperate search
Both high and low
He can't back down
Nowhere to go
The fight draws near
The crowd awaits
Without his shorts
It's left to fate
He's fearing failure
Doubt creeps in
Without his shorts
How can he win?
B...
Wednesday 18th December 2024 11:49 pm
Return to OZ
In the haze of booze and heated words,
We said things that still echo.
The truth got twisted and wielded in our fight.
And love took cover, out of sight.
Now in the light the battle scars are many, wounds quarterised, but still fresh.
hearts still yearn,
For the warmth, the laughter, the sweet return.
I’m ready now to change my ways,
No more snarky comments or “oops, b...
Wednesday 18th December 2024 3:01 pm
Mary and Joseph
Mary
She pulled her shawl tighter around her
A mother should never have to outlive her child
There at the beginning and the end
She thought about her ex
A gentle man, good with his hands
Who never questioned her unexpected pregnancy
There’s nothing more working class, he’d laughed
Than giving birth in a barn
She pulled her shawl tighter around her
And remembered the starlight
The ...
Wednesday 18th December 2024 7:50 am
Also by Steve White:
The Man Who Built The Burning House | Henry's Tractor |A Fat Ass Caught My Attention(inspired by Nas)
I’ll admit, at first, it was the curves I saw,
A fat ass, a glance, a moment that caught.
But love, I found, wasn't built on that—
It’s not the surface, not the trap.
A pretty face, so sweet and bright,
Made me commit, held me tight,
But deep inside, I stayed the same,
Unchanged, still playing the game.
Then came the girl with the soul so pure,
Her laughter, her heart—so sweet, so sur...
Wednesday 18th December 2024 5:03 am
unknown
serpent track the path
along this tattooed skin
greasy fingers flare to touch
dirty hands that reach within
blackened verdant earth to call
the cry of silenced swan
a million silent hours spent
to choke the dying song
There are reports that say there have been 320 thousand children who have crossed the US southern border and have been released without fa...
Wednesday 18th December 2024 2:50 am
Also by Landi Cruz:
overclock--songs for children |When in Rome
I flew to Rome and landed among pints of stout at O'Mahoney's Bar, along with a posse of British tourists.
Jamie, a Scotsman resplendent in a kilt, beamed with delight when the band played Whisky in the Jar.
But a stern-faced man of Kent commented, 'The Irish didn't help us in the war,' and the landlord looked furious.
Then a white-haired Italian stood by a fading photograph, featuring a ...
Tuesday 17th December 2024 5:41 pm
autumn chofu
Under the golden boughs of ancient trees, autumn sighs,
As leaves descend in a swirling, endless ballet,
The earth receives them with a gentle embrace,
withering compost pile.
Tuesday 17th December 2024 12:39 pm
Also by Wimpole Street Devils:
where I couldn’t go home |A prayer to let go
My father, who art in heaven
And filleth my life
Hallowed be thy name,
Thy kingdom come
Thy will be done on earth as it is in Heaven
May it take precedence over my heart’s desires
Give me this day my daily bread
And Take that that no longer serves me
Forgive me my sins as I forgive those who sin against me
Lead me not into temptation
Temptation to revenge
Temptat...
Tuesday 17th December 2024 7:39 am
If.........
If poetry were a love song
rhythmic passion would bleed through every verse
The evening light gracing on her skin
Timeless beauty of love unbroken
In the stillness
With my arm firmly around her waist
And a gentle caress of my nose along her ear
If poetry were suffering
The clanking of every track
The distruction by every missle
The hum of every drone
The...
Tuesday 17th December 2024 5:37 am
BOGOF
Bogof
I have not been to Earth for nigh on three decades now,
out here only the renegades prosper while I am
nothing but a toy for curiosity’s sake,
inter-stellar has always been there but,
too long I took to understand the dopple -
and double trouble and their persistent game of psychology.
I am so tired now, even the self soothin...
Sunday 15th December 2024 2:55 pm
Sunset Over Lupset [song version]
Sunset Over Lupset (August 1968)
Lupset sunsets smelled of bonfires,
undercut with new mown grass,
wild mint by the kitchen window,
treasures in the strawberry patch.
Father sat with pint of shandy,
The mower cooling in the shade,
the rake stowed by the garden shed,
the kids with sparkling lemonade.
Sunset over Lupset
August nineteen sixty eight
Sunset ov...
Sunday 15th December 2024 11:01 am
Also by Ian Whiteley:
The White Rose Pretender (song version) | The Westgate Run (Re-run) [song version] | The Ballad Of Robert Hode (song version] |When a promise is made
When a promise is made but those words vanish in the embers, your cries echo from the deceit.
Friday 13th December 2024 3:41 pm
Also by Cassandra Louise:
If life is a battlefield | Infectious disease | Follow your fate | Up and away | Intimacy | Placebo effect | Breath of fresh air |Phone's away
An exciting toy is handed down
With the joy of connection, not a scowl
A toy to tinker through the bordem
To call and text in the doldrums
Time stands still in the classroom
Not learning or thinking as you'd assume
But waiting for that buzz
The vibrate of a 'like' to discuss
Parents reaching out because they can
Speaking fluently through this tin-can
Knowing...
Friday 13th December 2024 11:38 am
Also by Rich Brewer:
Festive fog | The Christmas feeling | Southern Lights | The Maple of Alesund |December 2024 Collage Poem: Play the Odds
What happens if Terry the giant does
not touch wood what would Sally say…
but still he drinks his ever so nice tea.
What would happen if Father Christmas didn’t
stop drinking Jack Daniels throughout the rest
of the year?
Drunken Santa is crashing through the snow
You’re all on the naughty list
Pensioners too cold to take a stand
munch a million bags of Mo...
Friday 13th December 2024 9:52 am
The Wedding Guest
She flew in from America
To be with us that day,
We'd no idea who she was
But didn't like to say.
Friday 13th December 2024 2:49 am
Also by branwell kent:
The Separation |Kippered
Inhaled, indelible
40-a-day road-trips,
in a 3-door lagoon-blue
Mark II Hillman Imp.
Backseat passive passengers
tapped and shuffle packed.
Oblivious to the slow burn,
no open windows, not even a crack.
Upfront, ritual smokes,
their bond of small pleasure.
Love over Embassy Gold
compact and ash-covered.
Dad’s heart said give up.
...Thursday 12th December 2024 7:15 pm
Conscientious Rejector
How does one merely object to corruption?
When all that would amount to is an exhalation
A statue is made to crumble
But a statement is eternal
I’m alone again
I didn’t know loneliness like this could exist
In my “home country”
Where I hide from even myself
The insidious sensationalist ethos
Entwined with noxious entitlements
Layered in chemical chaos
Wra...
Thursday 12th December 2024 5:01 pm
Fairy ants
I feel special
Every time is see
An ant with wings
And you should too
Cause they only have
A few days to live
And they’re spending
them with you
Thursday 12th December 2024 2:21 am
Also by Cryptid:
Live the life you want | I’m not bothered |By Pessall Brook
The remnants of a myth
torn like sodden paper
A worker in the world of words
now where are your opus lines
where does your gilded poetry reside
A hooded figure
cloaked by Pessall Brook
looking for lighthouses
searching for the sea
O, how did you go
this far wrong?
Show me your pages
blackened with rhymes
your songs of tides
and ships to far away islands
Thunder clapping above
r...
Wednesday 11th December 2024 1:45 pm
Also by Tom:
I Hear Nothing |Girl in Gray
after all these years spent
a statue waiting for a lover
eroding under the rains
and made dark by cloud cover
time would have succeeded at destroying me
I was built only to wither away
but fate changed in an instant
when I was found by the girl in gray
she came and cleared off the ivy leaves
she looked at me like I was her own
like I was somehow beautiful
despite m...
Tuesday 10th December 2024 9:25 am
"If stressed "
Dance openly, if stressed
Record yourself speaking nonsense, gibberish and pointless
Take rest, relax, and unwind
Cry out loud, let emotions shine
Don't hesitate, let shouts resound
Don't overthink, let feelings abound
Make yourself weep, then sleep peacefully
Don't put yourself down, just be wild and free
Be your own clown, with heart aglow
Embrace...
Sunday 8th December 2024 5:25 pm
Also by Pragya Pal:
"The Rain" | "Why lose your being" |When all else is gone
I wait at the same old places
Expecting you to be there
A continuum of time
From the last time we met
But the physical is gone
And just a memory remains
Wind blows straight through me
As does the light
But my heart is still beating
Pumping blood and emotions
That linger though you’re gone
I am but shadows and hopes
Of distant moments
That yearn for your ...
Sunday 8th December 2024 5:23 pm
Shadow Blind
Shadow Blind
Blindly I fumbled searching for you. Hoping to uncover a despicable ghoul. Confident my endeavor a profound spiritual journey.
A fearless, deviant, defiant, authority usurper, a warrior in a distopian reality, selflessly fighting ageless expressions of duality for all humanity. An evolved, out of the box thinker, unwilling to participate in a...
Sunday 8th December 2024 3:50 am
evolution of the kill
old souls polish glistened bones,
offering gifts to the rapture.
weary prayers fall on heavy feet.
the clouds crash like waves
revealing the cracks of heaven,
and in this moment
I am still
to let the dust settle.
Saturday 7th December 2024 10:18 pm
The Pages of Time
Through the pages of time,
here or elsewhere,
with enlightened peace,
announces that man
will now live with a smile,
merging with all beings
like the tides of the sea
I long for the light of happiness,
to remove impiety
and find a new man
who smilingly brings happiness to others
Through the pages of time
let a flag be unfurled
and let it be for...
Saturday 7th December 2024 6:06 pm
Also by Noris Roberts:
Laws | Enigma | Weaving a new world |Jack in a box
Jack was a boy who struggled in school
Getting suspended ...for breaking the rules
He would wonder the streets and rob out the shops
Take milk from the doorsteps and lead from roof tops
His mum was an addict his dad wasn't there
Troubled young Jack got put in to care
Stuck in the system.. Jack's just a number
From pillar to post now split from his brother
He's mixing...
Saturday 7th December 2024 1:37 pm
A moment, lost
This is who I was
Facing different challenges
Not who I am now
(Lots more writing on https://andynartist.substack.com/ - free to subscribe)
Saturday 7th December 2024 8:08 am
rich richer,poor poorer
a rich is a richer conversation, a
poor is a poorer controversy
the speak of a conversation is,
the speak of a controversy
poor is a poor conversation
rich is a poor conversation
a poor conversation is a rich conversation
fame is a poor conversation
fame is a rich controversy
a rich fame is a poor fame
a walk of fame is a walk of a controversy
fame is a walk of fame
fame is a walk of...
Friday 6th December 2024 7:35 pm
You give me a peace of mind
Still, as sounds flow through me like ripples,
Her metronome voice glows as she talks, leaving a euphoric feeling.
Melancholy breathing hones focus to my heart beating,
Dissipating my worldly ruminations.
Lucid is how I felt after her rhythmic voice receded,
The ripples still imbued in me lingered.
Friday 6th December 2024 7:33 pm
The Rumour Mill...
Listen to them talking their sharing inane nonsense overheard but not by intention
Spreading gossip, rumour and hearsay told as solid facts getting other’s attention
“Did you hear about Gemma? She’s brazenly seeing Guy behind Steve’s back!”
“Well I heard she’s pregnant, a friend of a friend told me it’s a totally true fact!”
And so it continues sharing stories of acquaintances and supp...
Friday 6th December 2024 5:32 pm
A letter to the heart
Easier said than done, my dear,
like catching stars with trembling hands.
But still, I insist—
don’t mourn what’s lost,
for this life
is but a bridge to what lies beyond,
a fleeting test, shimmering in the dark.
I’ve tasted pain,
swallowed burning amber,
each agony a comet
slashing through my soul’s sky.
Listen, I tell you,
patience—a resolute anchor
ami...
Friday 6th December 2024 2:16 pm
Also by Sunshine:
A Knight's Resilience | Whispers of joy |The Illusion of Tomorrow
You pace the corridors of unlit tomorrows,
A thief of dreams and an heir to sorrows.
Yet the present, a whisper cloaked in gold,
Holds truths too radiant, too sharp to be told.
Let go of the chase, embrace what's near,
The present is all you need to hear.
Wednesday 4th December 2024 6:10 pm
Cat
I don't know much
But I do know that
There's nothing quite like
The love of a cat
People think they're indifferent
And assume that means cold
But there's a warmth in being seen
From behind a blindfold
They don't care about
What makes you feel small
To them you're still
Just as tall
If you come home from work
Not wanting to be tough
Well, they don't expect you to be
You're al...
Wednesday 4th December 2024 3:01 am
Shards
Look through the glass
The other side , a thin membrane away
I can see but not hear
What if I break it to reach out to the silent world beyond
Push my hand through
Will it be freedom
Or blood soaked shards that rain down
Shredding the flesh and mind
Scattering mortal remains
On a cold floor
Perhaps I can hold your hand
Together we can leap
With your prot...
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 9:44 pm
Almost utopia
Today we all have equal opportunities
children don't starve
there's no waste of food and resources
we are conscious consumers.
There is no war.
Nuclear deterrents are no longer necessary
Artificial Intelligence has created a society of leasure and prosperity.
Today we are not possessed by idealogy.
Subscribing our souls to any kind of 'ism' does not equate to intellectual ...
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 9:39 pm
Duty
I can’t see it’s hard to be a stoic
when you’ve never cooked a meal
or paid a bill.
Still
I’ll allow it was rather heroic
to share a bed all them years
with Prince Phil.
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 11:13 am
Also by Ray:
Dusty |A scary bunch
This morning I was having a conversation
a slightly uncomfortable conversation .
I thought about a world without men
and my boyfriend seemed upset.
"Even without me?" he asked
and that was a though one to answer.
I thought about a world with no fear
no fear for my body, no fear for me.
But honestly a world without him,
that is even more scary to think about.
"I wo...
Tuesday 3rd December 2024 7:17 am
Heat of the Invisible Fire
I look for new light
in old flames
the quietest crackling embers
searching for that mad spark that
will set alight my time-dried mind
but the fire has always been but one
sometimes seen, sometimes not
that runs right through the Earth
immanent, infinite
in thunder and star, love and hurt
it's not the light I seek
but the heat of the invisible fire
Monday 2nd December 2024 6:42 pm
Storm Petrel
The black death, you troubadour, songwriter
Writing to verse, cauterising your heart
Sit in bars, watching the optics pour
Harbingers of bad weather.
Monday 2nd December 2024 2:11 pm
Barn owls
Barn owls are unearthly.
On moonlit nights they coast
above the fields in silence,
floating white as ghosts.
They bring me out in goosebumps
and were I mouse or vole,
when barn owls came along the street
and knocked on doors for "trick or treat"
I wouldn't pamper them with sweets,
I'd scurry down my hole!
Monday 2nd December 2024 10:02 am
Nothing
I can remember the day
That I saw a picture of you
And didn't react at all
No rage
No sneers
No tears
Nothing.
I've never been happier to feel nothing
Monday 2nd December 2024 4:31 am
Also by Catherine Burnes:
Fight, Flight, Or |Mother the Mother
A series of haiku poems inspired by the wonderful nurturing, supportive mothers in my life - thank you for *planting the forest* :
I am a splinter
What I need is a forest
Mother the Mother
****************
Tender and swollen
Every inch of my being
Mother the Mother
****************
Sitting in silence
Musing, panicking, drowning
Mother the Mother
***...
Sunday 1st December 2024 10:18 pm
Also by Ruth Freestone:
I wish I had permission to - a poem about motherhood |So Many Things
So many things I'll never say.
So many miles I'll run away.
So many ships I've stowed away on.
So many lives I've passed away.
So many screams I've swallowed down.
So many smiles turned into frowns.
So many tears I've wiped away.
So many things I'll never say.
Sunday 1st December 2024 5:52 pm
Also by Apollo Jameson:
If I Had Everything | There Are No Puzzle Pieces | If Every Day is Pain | Wanting's for Bad Kids |Earth
I am the earth what humans
I am what humans call me home
if you split me in half I am shaped like a dome
but most of you just stare at your phones
but don't appreciate how the sun has shone!
Sunday 1st December 2024 1:45 pm
Also by Samuel Lo:
Emotions |the world is BLIND
I was forced,
to keep my eyes shut.
While all the crimes were infront of me,
I chose to stay blind.
Stranded on a deserted island
With nowhere to escape.
I let my dreams fly away,
While I let my soul,
live in that hell.
I was a part of it,
Cruel and nasty doings.
Committing sins,
I never wanted to.
But what could I possible do?
Because in the end,
All that pain, was my closest frien...
Sunday 1st December 2024 7:09 am
Also by illie:
APOCALYPSE | power? | Remove the veil | blue! | कमबख़्त दिल! |
Recent Comments
Nigel Astell on June 2025 Collage Poem: You Watched the Trains Come, You Watched the Trains Go
3 hours ago
Tom Doolan on Poetry Is Pain
8 hours ago
David RL Moore on Too late too late
23 hours ago
Rolph David on Love The Light, Embrace The Rain
1 day ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on The roads taken
1 day ago
Red Brick Keshner on still, the Earth breathes
1 day ago
Marnanel Thurman on The roads taken
1 day ago
Red Brick Keshner on where shadows do not drown
1 day ago
Uilleam Ó Ceallaigh on The Empty Streets of Ego’s March
1 day ago
Larisa Rzhepishevska on The Policemen Arrest The Men.
1 day ago