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Neopoet Weekly 09/01/24 to 09/07/24

This Week’s Winner is Trail

 

Echoes

 

Once there was a man
Who wrote beautiful music
He wrote the music because he was sad
He was sad because he was all alone

But he was noticed for his music
He ended up being loved for it
And in being loved
He lost his sadness
And his music soon after

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

Autumn Arrival Image Prompt Contest

 

 

 

Read the finalists for the Autumn Arrival Image Prompt Contest and vote for your favorite poem. Voting will end September 19th, 2024. Best of luck to our finalists

 

Image Link

 

 

Autumn Rain

By Punkyfrewster

Drops pelt the
fallen leaves
bringing to mind
tears falling
over beauty
and lost love.

Rain bounces
off the
confetti on the
ground like
the damaged end
of a party.

 

 

Autumn's Cusp

By scribbler

Mid October a cool day
with a northern cooling breeze.
All hints of summer gone away.
The few green leaves are just a tease.

Tomorrow will bring the first frost
so this day finds me 'neath the trees
absorbing warmth before its lost
and limbering up titanium knees.

For I'm not what I once was.
Time has seen that I am not,
So I sit on a stump to take a pause
and breathe autumn's scent which I'd forgot.

Then turn my face up to the sky
as cool front winds begin to blow.
I watch the clouds as they race by.
They leave like friends I used to know.

My eyes water from sun's glare
so I drop my head down to my chest
letting my chin settle there
while I count the ways that I am blessed.

I'm blessed with our cabin in the trees
I'm blessed with seeing one more fall.
I'm blessed with grandchildren to tease.
I'm blessed with being here at all.

I watch a squirrel climb to its nest
for now the sun is getting low
so ere' it reaches ridge's crest
I arise then turn and go.

 

                                                                                               Vote Here

August 2024 Contest Winners

The Winner of the Peace Versus War is Lavender  with the following poem

To Those Who Walked, Peace Versus War

 

I hope you have a quiet day,
a kissing breeze,
sweet hours at ease
planting flowers, if you please,
and nothing there to rip it all away.
I hope you have that day.

I pray you have a gentle night,
under stars so deep
they soothe and keep
your soft breath flowing as you sleep
beneath the crescent moon and her earthlight.
I pray you have that night.

And may your memories be amended
to blissful skies and green earth, so splendid
that they embrace you when you close your eyes.
May this be the rich life you come to realize.

To those who walked through the blood of yesternight,
I hope for you this day. I pray for you this night.

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The Winner of the 08/24 Too Good to be True  is Punkyfrewster with the following poem

Too Good to be True

 

In my mind, it was bliss
day in and day out
until the day it ended.

In the rearview mirror,
I saw signs:
far-off gazes to nowhere
as we ate dinner
and stalled conversations
about your day.

All the bliss aside,
our love was just
too good to be true.

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The Winner of the 08/24 I Lost The Instructions is Candlewitch   with the following poem

 

I Lost The Instructions (to being a woman)

 

I Lost The Instructions
(to being a woman)

You beat "Her" out of me
leaving my soul tattered.
In the beginning you were kind
warm and jovial, it mattered.

Gradually you began to change
taking me away from all I knew,
from Minnesota to the east coast
an easy ride we drove straight through.

I discovered your evil temper
on our trip, it left me in fear,
knocking me down, kicking me
you bellowed, shouting, making it clear.

You were the boss, and me your slave
seeing the cruel glint in your eye
was an omen of what was soon to come
you would test me in ways to make me cry...

Each new day was a promise of terror
you invented head-games to play.
In fear, I trembled trying to hide
tried not to anticipate the rue of the day.

nights were bad too, I cowered under covers
You brutalized me sexually to hear me scream
threatening to blow my head off my shoulders
losing connection with my idea of a woman's dream!

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The Winner of the 08/24 Broken Air Condition is Kristen H. with the following poem

Broken Air Condition

 

We never had much more than each other
in the summer of 2016

Adventures on Saturday nights
Two wheels
Two helmets
Two hearts

Lazy Sunday mornings
Two cups of coffee
Two cigarettes burned
Two hands together

There wasn’t much to it
Just you and I,
and our broken air conditioner

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The Winner of the 08/24 Beach Day is  paleoray with the following poem

 

Shore Watch

 

Splashing, crashing sound the waves
On the surf and then retrieve;
As the foam spreads on the sand,
While the pipers dash and weave.

High above the seagulls glide,
Circling 'round a sea of teal;
Others swooping close to pier,
Looking for an easy meal.

In the distance dolphins dive,
With their synchronizing breaks;
Dorsal fins shine at each peak,
Then they submerge in their wakes.

Sand crabs scurry back and forth,
Seeking food along the shore;
After catching fish with claws,
Quick they vanish as they bore.

Soon the sun sets in the west,
As the moon brings mirrored light;
Ocean tides smooth out the sand,
While the waves gleam through the night.

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The Winner of the Neopoet Weekly 08/25/24 to 08/31/24 is Twizzle48 with the following poem

 

WINTER COMETH

 

Do you hear winter, I hear it coming
That distant growl, there in the wind
Stronger now, than an autumn breeze
With the merest hint of an early freeze
And with no sweet taste like tamarind
But a biting cold that can be numbing

For some, it is a season for celebration
But its hidden scowl suggests otherwise
Hearing threats under its frozen breath
Of ice and snow, laying so still in death
Pretty snowflakes offering cute disguise
As so much of Nature is in hibernation

At least this is true in Northern climes
Just bleak with not much give and take
And still, some try to understand why
As the end of the calendar year is nigh
But there is hope following in its wake
Anticipating the Spring’s warmer times

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

 

 

 

 

Neopoet Weekly 08/18/24 to 08/24/24 Winner!

This Week’s Winner is  Sen99

 

Venus Tree

Standing here for decades
On one wooden leg
A native English species,
An old grey oak.
Its naked bark bleached,
Ashen white like alabaster.

A nameless uncarved block
Unyielding and proud,
Exposed to the elements.
Wind and weather beaten
An organic body of life
Its beauty gaunt and raw.

Striking to an admirer’s eye,
Picture perfect from a distance
A resilient stone sculpture,
Its arms cut down to stumps.

Like some replica of a classical statue
From some ancient age,
Nature’s beauty,
A timeless art.

 

 

 

 

To leave an additional comment on the contest page click here

 

The stream (all workshops)

This is the stream - you can see all poems on Neopoet, live, as they are created.

 

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve

Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve
Written by Kelly Ann Wilson

I would’ve worn the white dress
I had it right there in my closet,
The one I used to play pretend in
As a child.

I could’ve had a daughter
But her dad couldn’t stay sober.
Now, the only place we see him
Is our dreams.

I should’ve been a teacher.
I’ve always been the most curious creature.
Maybe I’d’ve done something that meant something
With my days.

made fibrous threads...constituting heavy blanket
(crocheted by the missus)
on a cool Autumn like morning...

to stave off experiencing getting
chilblains, goosebumps,
or subjected to the blast of cold air
wafting thru the opened bedroom window
on a frosty early August morning
about a month before official start of Autumn.

Viking with a car seat, in a broke down Ford F250

All is quiet on this western
Front -- because my bank account is dry
Otherwise, I’d face east
I’d cheat, I’d steal, I’d lie
To make you happy, my perfect little beast
To make you safe
At least

You really are mine,
Finally.
And now I know exactly why
People take up arms and die
Of course,
All they want is peace
So much, it’s worth killing for.
And, oh, how the burden is to know
The enemy is sailing
Across the open shore
Pilling up more and more
While my wasted bones are so sore

SILENCED! – a deadly cycle

Ssshhh! they hissed…Keep quiet!
But why? I asked
Only to be frowned upon.
Do as you are told! Don’t talk back
But I want…
Shut up!
You’re cut off!

To your own little world, you retreat
Confused over the matter
Buts and Whys flood your mind
Tears triggered to trickle down from incorruptibility
Heart pierced by double edged swords
Scarred and ruined for life
Shutting down is what you decide

SILENCED! – a deadly cycle

Ssshhh! they hissed…Keep quiet!
But why? I asked
Only to be frowned upon.
Do as you are told! Don’t talk back
But I want…
Shut up!
You’re cut off!

To your own little world, you retreat
Confused over the matter
Buts and Whys flood your mind
Tears triggered to trickle down from incorruptibility
Heart pierced by double edged swords
Scarred and ruined for life
Shutting down is what you decide

Priceless

Did you just say
You’re not worth
A price tag?

If these words
Could turn into
First-class tickets,
I’d send them
To light the dark
Corners of your room.

I know you feel
Like an expired
Boarding pass,
But remember—
You’re on a flight
To a terminal,
Not just another
Layover.

So if doubt asks
For your worth,
Tell him the register
Can’t count that high.

The Grifter (a story poem)

The Grifter

Having no idea of how deep she was in, she became careless.
Falling under his spell, wanting more of his smoldering charm.
As her guard relaxed, she loosened up, casting caution aside
feeling her confidence grow, she felt would come to her no harm.

Agreeing to see him again the next night, he smiled to himself
she was falling in love with the dark-eyed stranger of her dreams.
The prospect of marriage was presented a few months later in time
presenting a mock ring of engagement, she knew not of his schemes.

Normal People

My father is much older now
and not in the best of health.
He’s still with us, but I’ve been grieving
his loss for decades in different ways.

I tossed an old photograph of him today.
Damage comes and goes as it pleases.

I don’t mean to denigrate him.
He’s not looking for forgiveness.
Maybe he has no idea he might benefit from it
in ways he is incapable of imagining.

It’s hard to admit, but I’m worried
after all these years I won’t be able
to feel grief for him like normal people.

Going, Going, Gone

One day,
she became "Was"

found and filled
her cause

put her ego-self
on pause

gave the world
its due applause

grit her teeth through
menopause

laughed at all
her flaws

had great sex...
just because

then

rode the
Rainbow Ride
to Oz

Beachside Bliss

With the sun's golden illumination, you find yourself wandering,
Your hair is glowing
The warm breeze kissing your cheek,
You run barefoot in the soft sand
Every step is a dance toward the divine depths
You wade into the waves
it's so peaceful you forget the noise,
You are lost as you hear the peaceful sounds of the expanse
You swim and everything seems to slow down,
Where the colors of the sea, ranging from turquoise to aquamarine, don't move or change.
The colorful fish
a beautiful rainbow beneath you,

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