Posts for June 28, 2026 (page 4)

Registration photo of Debra Glenn for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

beauty lies in the origin

anger does not suit me
sure, sure I am bothered
annoyed and most likely, yes, angry
but staying in such a state seems a waste
the world moves quickly, forcefully in fact
revolution in its purity is pristine
yet don’t most of us have an ulterior motive
an agenda
I, anyway, have found such to be the case
systems which exacerbate, difficult to dismantle
pitted against yet additional systems
reminding me why exhaustion and overwork brought me to the present
reality is often ugly until one digs deeper than many of us are willing
beauty lies in the origin
fields of dirt which yield, hard work which produces sustenance


Category
Poem

Fork in the Road

I hope you’ve changed

Really truly changed

I hope you’re so far from the person you used to be

As far as you are from your hometown

I hope you listen when other people talk now

Instead of saying empty words

I hope that your new friends hold you accountable

I hope you grew to be better

And that you don’t get away with treating people like you used to

I hope you never have kids

And that your new girl is sweet

But I also hope you never forget me

I wish you a life full of what you deserve

And I hope you stay far, far away from me


Category
Poem

Floaters

Watching the floaters in both eyes
is like mapping stars      
     
        close an eye to   
        slice the lemon in half  

some in the left                  
                              some in the right

all are on the surface of a sphere  
a world conceived by perception
 


Registration photo of Nancy Jentsch for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

My son’s morning glory phase

followed his mint craze just like a young Beethoven 
took up Mozart’s baton. Untended pink and purple
 chalices still polka-dot the stone wall they were meant 
to cloak. Striated blooms climb, wind with confidence— 
they neither reap nor sow—and with more gusto 
than my clouded mind can muster. Their wisdom 
for me: a moment beyond worries, a moment 
that wishes to root me even as winds whip my day. 


Registration photo of Linda Meg Frith for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Butterfly in My Pocket

I step into my closet, 

looking for a dream,
some remnant
of a shopping trip 
I’ve forgotten.
Perhaps a butterfly
slipped
from my shoulder
into the pocket 
of the shirt
I wear to rehab.
It hasn’t been that long 
since I was extra large.
Even now the waists 
hang loose,
pants slipping
if you don’t hold on. 
But it’s the sleeves
that overwhelm me, 
fabric pooling,
catching light,
turning to a kind 
of beacon,
casting shadow
into the forest
of my closet,
where once
I believed 
I could hide.
 
 

Registration photo of Louise for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Why and What

Why do we call the one who hoards newspapers, crazy
But the one who hoards money, genius

Why do we laud those who give away a tiny percent of their hoard
But ignore those who share half their sandwich every day

Blinded by money, suckered by fame
While real people suffer in shame

Look at the faces of those you reject
The unhoused, the addicted, the ones you suspect  

Of being too human, of being a mess
You can only be more if you make them less

What if instead of being reviled
You did something crazy, something so wild

As to look at the faces of all human kind
And see shining back the light of the divine  


Registration photo of Sylvia Purvis for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Friendships Bloom

Friendships bloom when no one is watching 

Like the dandelions that pop up in the yard
I cry when they get mowed down 
 

Category
Poem

Things That Would Have Made History More Fun (But Did Not Happen, Resulting in Less Fun) #27

I wish Emily Dickinson
had married Charles Dickens—
she could have been
Emily Dickinson-Dickens  

Perhaps they would have
had a son named Richard—
he could have been
Dick Dickinson-Dickens


Registration photo of Savanah Weakly for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Appalachian Trail

I wind through forests, hills, and streams.
A ribbon of nature where hikers dream.
Follow my path and you will find,
views and vistas
that expand your mind.
I stand where paths twist and wind,
with whispers of nature
and secrets to find.
From rocky peaks to shaded glades,
seek me where the sunlight fades.
What am I, in the woods so grand,
where trails and adventure go hand-in-hand?
I dwell in shadows, soft and damp,
with a cap that often takes the champ.
No leaves or flowers, yet I grow.
On the forest floor I often show.
What am I that springs from gloom,
with a spongy head and a stalk to bloom?
In twilights grasp, I softly gleam.
A fleeting light, a ghostly dream.
I dance on fog and marshy ground,
with eerie glow, I can confound.
What am I, a spectral flare,
that flickers and fades,
leaving no trace there?
In the woods I roam
with a growl and a snarl,
you’d better beware;
look closely,
my name’s hidden with ease.
Blackness.
Everywhere.
Appalachian beast.
Running in the forest strong and free.
Malevolent, restless, wandering at night,
lingering, just out of sight.
To keep me at bay, some seek a hue.
I quietly creep with a hunger so vast
it never sleeps.
A spirit of frost and chilling dread.
I haunt the path that lies ahead.
Holding a fearsome glow
that stirs the night
where no wind blows.


Registration photo of Winter Dawn Burns for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

The Morning Survey:

The Morning Survey:

 
At field’s edge, a blaze
of cherry color peeks through
the copse, flitting wings
bustle past the tall grasses
The Ruby-crowned Kinglet flares
 
©️Winter Dawn Burns