"immortality intimated"

electric dawn still trembles with thunder
when childhood eyes first learned to wonder

then star-bright motes on vaulted halls
sang hidden hymns within those ancient walls

then screens became our shifting skies
notifications steal the breeze’s sighs

we chase each chime like crafted rhymes
yet miss the chorus of simpler times

we once believed in murmurings of truth
shadowed in morning light when souls were youth

"gravity did the deed"

gravity’s tidy promise
never spoke of falling—
only that we’d rise
on sky-swirl hopes

heights never killed anyone but
Gravity—
did the deed, indeed

we’d chase the jacaranda dusk,
bare feet skimming red earth,
wind-rush in our lungs—
heart-echoes drum the void

“hold fast!” one voice cries—
another laughs, mid-fall—
pluck a curlicue of cloud
from the blue and finger its edge

Earthlings being deported from Mars
go back to the stench of your wars...
you've no place soaring among the stars!

The vote is final, never come back
your numbered ilk, there is no lack
so go pick up your garbage and pack,

Watched from afar, in a front row seat
your "race for space" in a dead heat
used to being first, without defeat.

We want none of you, let it be clear,
frightened folk, who sob in their beer,
running from their shadow in mirrors!

She asked me what size belt Orion wore
up there among the stars.

I wasn’t certain,
but three stars seemed about right.

But their light is old
so, he may have put on some weight.

We laughed at that
as we sat on our porch,

looking up again at the travels
of the ancient lights.

I disclosed because my silence
could not survive.
The page blurred.
My words, swallowed whole.

You corrected it
for others to come.
I became the necessary failure,
the first to fall through your intention.

You asked how I see.
I said,
like navigating broken mirrors,
dodging injury you never imagined.

You thanked me for my patience.
But what you mistook for grace
was exhaustion.

Did you mean well?
Perhaps.
But kindness delayed does not arrive
as kindness.

“Ode to the Unnamed Bell”

Awakened by a toll that has no name,
Your brazen voice unfolds the dawn’s regret.
You summon every ghost to ink its claim,
And mark our hours in shadows unforget.

Through hollow bronze your ancient longing rings,
Reminding us of footsteps never walked.
Each peal a rite that trembles on its wings
To seal the vow in which our grief is locked.

Smokey eyes sunken in,
against a colorless face,
coal-black hair masking
life's cruelty without a trace.

The bruises had healed,
but the wounds stayed fresh.
the memories, they wouldn't let her rest.
And so, she tore through the mesh.

Piece by piece, she took him apart,
tied to a chair, he began to rot.
The very last thing was the heart,
did he have one or not?

Scribes and bards of Neopoet
not flocking to our new banner,
they are not coming in packed droves.

Surely change is never easy
for some it is hard to dive in
to something untried and brand new.

Those who have tested the waters
bravely exploring the terrain
finding rewards in the new space.

They will sample and discover
challenges which stimulate minds,
with poems to set sail in the stream.

No doubt more poets will arrive
in time overcoming their fear.
we will greet them with giving hearts.

Poetry is a way one can see
Feelings, emotions,and one’s self
In terms mastered through closed eyes
Marriage children and friends
Seen in light of day
And dark of night
Always there
In mind
Now

I hate that i’m happy
I hate that i’m well
I hate that my dad is finally acting like a father
Well, it’s too late
Now it just feels fake

I hate the pity in my mom’s eyes
Like she sees through all my lies
I hate when my brother cries
All cause of me
And I hate that their love won’t let me be

I hate that they love me
I wish they would stop
But they wouldn’t dare
I hate myself
I hate how I act, how I look, how I feel
This monster I’ve turned into never feels real