the dog or the wolf?
you are free to pick just one
who’s side are you on?
A haiku inspired by this article by Katy Keeleher
the dog or the wolf?
Steeped In Shadow – 16th February 2026
thrust from the summit
sharp peaks scrape towards the sun
carved statues of light
slumbering valley
steeped in afternoon shadows
reaching for her night
Shared with Senhai Saturday #39 picture prompt
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Don’t Make Things Harder Than They Need To Be
On edge, always prepared to escalate
Righteous indignation is a losing state
Manage your duty until it’s done
There are few battles that must be won
Shadows Hall – 15th February 2026
Shared with Sadje’s What Do You See #327 picture prompt
Within a wall
where it shouldn’t be –
at the end
of the hall
What waits beyond its history –
a mystery
of the many wronged?
The morning light
casts shadows long,
that don’t feel right.
The arches set at brighter angles,
that entangles
where memories forget.
An architecture
of concealed trust –
unveiled conjecture;
A debate around congealed dust –
what’s found
beyond
this barricade?
The Beauty Of Decay – 14th February 2026
The initial inspiration for this write was from another poet who took the first and last lines from someone else’s poem and then wrote their own words between. The bolded, first and final lines are from Matthew Maitland, but his poem is no longer available.
‘no crows circle the carcass’ is from Aaron Guile
‘Fate creates strange apologies’ from this post at Poetry Culture
Outside. You hear all sorts of things.
The future isn’t what it used to be.
Watching your beautiful suicide,
no crows circle the carcass,
the poison too pure;
the ignorance makes us feel a little prettier each day.
The axis of evil is us – a
blight on everything we touch.
The bag now empty of cats
– the dream too slippery to hold.
Smiles that held secrets;
pit the people against each other
as bullet-headed scorpions.
Fate creates strange apologies.
It’s a beautiful world you’ve forgotten
– you’re all monsters to me.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Think Before You Act
“What was I thinking?” you said
Well, you weren’t really, were you?
But reason is within your head
Do what you are supposed to!
The Crush – 13th February 2026
is it true that it’s a weakness?
– a tender trap that crushes;
a sweet anguish to be mad about,
– a cherished affliction;
ah! blissful misery, hopeful despair
– crushed under its own weight.
A sijo for Tanka Tuesday #48 – love and passion and also shared with Poets and Storytellers United #214
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Pleasure Can Become Punishment
Guard against getting carried away
On the waves of too much pleasure
Take a breath, think and say
Will this bring me further pressure?
Farewells – 12th February 2026
A poem using the memento form, inspired by That Wedding Day by Benjamin Tonkin
One last little look at the sun;
please don’t forget to say
goodbye.
It’s ok if you want to run;
please don’t forget to say
goodbye.
I knew it was over and done;
please don’t forget to say
goodbye.
When two divided becomes none,
please don’t forget to say
goodbye.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Protect Your Peace Of Mind
Keep guard over your perceptions
It’s not a small thing you’re protecting
Don’t sell out to simple deceptions
It’s your peace of mind you’re respecting
Fateful Feeling – 11th February 2026
parenthesis
spring approves wholly
lady, my flowers, blood kisses
will to wisdom, a life a fool pays
swear by syntax
this fate of paragraph
for my world pays
better never feeling the things
first is
blood kisses, my lady, flowers
death approves wholly
parenthesis
Shared with dVerse Quadrille #241 – flowers. A poem formed only using words from e.e. cummings ‘since feeling is first’.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Hero Or Nero?
The king attends to honour and health
While the tyrant overindulges their wealth
Can you counter the many temptations
That gather to trouble your foundations?
Trigger Warning – 10th February 2026
Everyone upset all the time
as words get minced and mashed;
Another revision to refine
or run the risk of being trashed.
Every reader, now faint of heart,
words launched must be landed soft;
Dangers highlighted at the start,
a moral duty held aloft.
Let’s coddle the kids in cotton
though there’s never been less to fear;
Let the grandma’s not be forgotten,
it’s a wonder they ever made it here!
How can the word be defended?
Let loose it’s power, unrestrained;
Must we always be offended
and finding others to be blamed?
This is not a world of roses;
When there’s no words left to teach,
so the ideal one supposes
suddenly becomes out of reach.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
Anger Is Bad Fuel
Around the angry fire, everyone is upset
Every bitter word is difficult to forget
But that habit is too great a burden to bear
Setting fire to yourself leads further to despair
The Accident Of Time – 9th February 2026
Trapped in a perpetuum mobile
of present moment stimulation,
not thinking about how to feel
outside of the ‘now’ situation.
Keep the babies quietly scrolling,
rehearsing their spectrum patterns;
boredom counter by constant extolling
of the anxiety that happens.
Swipe away any diagnosis,
all attentions have been diverted;
never quiet enough to notice
that society has been perverted.
Inspired by a David Elikwu newsletter discussing Paul Virilio’s ideas about dromology and how everyone is being diagnosed with ADHD now.
Today’s Daily Stoic poem:
You Don’t Have To Have An Opinion
There are whispers never heard,
mistakes that were never seen.
Must we always add our word?
Just imagine it had never been.
The Clinic’s Shore – 8th February 2026
The gale is not the danger, nor the weather.
We dare not be seen together.
This coast holds no time or place for ‘us’.
Grey storm billows round our skirts.
These rocks absorb our silent hurts.
The gale is not the danger, nor the weather.
We watched for them, their cold inspections,
Their tools to breach our skin’s reflections.
We dare not be seen together.
So let the surge take what it pleases,
Our love, lost to the salt-slick breezes.
This coast holds no time or place for ‘us’.
A cascading poem shared with dVerse MTB
1994ever 