Shared with Poets and Storytellers United #194 – 14 words for love
Instead – 14th September 2025
Tag: poem
I don’t want
Faster Than Snakes – 13th September 2025
more than halfway now
all my dreams are of the past
there’s less time each day
A haiku reflection on being on the other side of fifty years old and maybe the idea that 100 is the goal. The title is taken from Cardiacs.
Dig Up – 12th September 2025
Dig up, they said,
all the digging down is done;
don’t disturb the bones
discarded to dry in the sun.
Dig up, they keep saying,
the dead all wished to live;
the thieves of time
forget but don’t forgive.
Dig up and keep going,
the soul awaits relief;
step out of the dark
into the rainbow of belief.
A second entry for dVerse – Tolstoy’s birthday, this time using the quote:
“Rummaging in our souls, we often dig up something that ought to have lain there unnoticed.”
From Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
Admission – 11th September 2025
Shared with dVerse – Tolstoy’s birthday and using this quote as inspiration
“Can it be that I have not lived as one ought?” suddenly came into his head. “But how not so, when I’ve done everything as it should be done?”
The Death of Ivan Ilych by Leo Tolstoy
The round pegs fall right through.
I wanted to be like that, too.
Step right into the queue
where I got to be just like you.
But not enjoying it,
this square peg didn’t really fit,
and so alone I sit,
out of step,
out of whack,
preferring my way, I admit.
A Little Too Much – 10th September 2025
When does so much become so little?
Believing it’s always your turn
Your debt to yourself is catching up
Your life is empty (as such)
Left with no thing:
Just sand slipping through your fingers
Tell me
When does too little become too much?
This quadrille is a reworking of my poem Taking Stock, a cascading poem itself based on the lyrics (italicised) from the Nomeansno song Stocktaking. Shared with dVerse Quadrille #231 – much
New Hurricanes – 9th September 2025
You stop crying and they call you strong.
The dead assemble to mourn your breathing.
A new hell found to which you don’t belong:
Four walls surround without any way of leaving.
You stop asking and they call it growth,
Answers never satisfied with real meaning.
Every new facade demands an oath
As a reward to calm the screaming.
You stop speaking and they call it peace,
Yet their ever-present chatter remains.
New, fresh faces mean they will never cease
To encircle you with their hurricanes.
They don’t want you whole,
Best conquered and divided;
They want you manageable
In the maze they have provided;
And that starts with getting quiet.
This is inspired by and uses text from the author’s note of Shain’s post Quiet Enough To Keep
Maniacs – 8th September 2025
Inspired by this piece by Caitlin Johnstone
Shared with dVerse OLN this week as not many eyes made it to this poem.
Hamas, Hezbollah and the Houthis
said to be crazy lunatics
They are no longer ‘our’ terrorists
providing cover for our dirty tricks
Those madman megalomaniacs
are a danger when being pressed
slaughtering their own people
when asked to, at ‘our’ behest
Weapons so securely hidden
there’s no chance of being found
the insane are suddenly so smart
their evil intentions are now profound
Hand in hand with the maniacs
Gaddafi, Assad and Hussein
eliminated once the spoils are divided
between the maniacs that remain
A Boy, A Girl And Three Cinquains – 7th September 2025
she was
playfully smart
knowing when to be dumb
and when to smile, revealing who
she was
he was
a cowardly
bully, even his friends
didn’t care for him very much
either
and so
she tried to tame
him, not understanding
that deep down, he could not change who
he was
Shared with dVerse MTB – cinquain and based on a situation between a couple of my students
Foundation Myth – 6th September 2025
Shared with W3 #175 – imagery.
Hopefully, the idea behind this poem will end up completely lost in time.
1994ever 