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

The Mountain

hare hare

Krishna 
hare hare 
send me downriver 
 
where I was born
whence I roam
floating in
a falling star

celestial rituals
creeds I cast in stone 
with those I came to love
let every second in time come and go
Registration photo of Mary Allen for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Not Bored

Why
would
I be
bored when I
can pluck from my bookshelf
the key to exploring a whole new world?

Category
Poem

Coming Back to Life

I’m going to visit my trans sisters up north.

I’m hoping the trip will bring me back to life

and reignite a feminine spark.

 

It’s already June and

I’ve hardly gone out in girl mode all year.

I haven’t been giving myself quality time.

I’m becoming more closeted.

 

So I’m looking forward to good meals,

dance parties,

laughter,

community,

shopping,

seeing old friends,

and wearing whatever I want.

 

But I’m also looking forward

to the aftereffects,

to the hunger for more

gender euphoria,

to the fire that will burn through

my barriers and excuses.

 

I am hoping that

time in my own skin

will resurrect me.

Category
Poem

Breathing Fresh Air

Will I die alone?
Solitary hikes      lush trails
Single      yet worthy

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

Truth

Truth or Dare?

Truth

Truth is

I dare you to tell the 

Truth

Truth is

I dare not tell the

Truth

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

she even recycled the dryer lint

the robin moved in
while I was away
each door creak
she barks
at my coming
and going
Registration photo of Darlene Rose DeMaria for the LexPoMo 2026 Writing Challenge.
Category
Poem

Picasso’s Prodigy

a five year old paints his first canvas today . . .
                    
a female police officer raises her hand to stop traffic
as three quacking neon yellow ducks make their way across the road
a friendly monster sits at his desk holding an apology note  . . .

                 three trees dance in the middle   ~   one with a GREAT BIG HEART!!!

Category
Poem

Cruise Ship Imprecatory

On Friday, June 19, a cruise ship arrived at the dock in Seward, Alaska, with a dead 61-foot, adult female fin whale on top of the ship’s bulbous bow. A local company towed the whale to a nearby beach for a necropsy (animal autopsy). — National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration

According to the autopsy I was pregnant,
freshly dead, in good nutritional condition, with plenty
of blubber and muscle.

Cause of death: blunt force trauma to the jaw,
spine, and ribs. The ship slid
onto the rocky shore, not knowing

my limp body was speared to the sharp bow.
I must have been pushed so far away
from my pod.

They say plans are underway for my carcass—
carcass not body—to be towed out to sea
where I am expected to sink like a stone

and nourish a wide variety of deep sea life.
I suppose it’s a solace for you to imagine me
serving a greater purpose in death,

but hear this—write this in the report—
every time your skin touches salt water
may you think of me,

not peaceful in death as I was in life,
but raging in my watery grave.
I swear with all my 61 feet

that I will follow you. All your life,
when a rib catches,
when your jaw suddenly throbs for no reason,

when a chill runs up your aching spine,
may you recall exactly what broke mine.

Category
Poem

18th birthday

You are away again this year
on your special day,

No awkward side hug
or DQ ice cream cake,

those will await your return.
Home a short time, then college.

Maybe I kept you too busy-
Scouts and 4H for summers

Plus band and sports during school
I wanted you to have choices,

but think you may have just wanted
more time to yourself.

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

Insistence to Hope

I was once told by a man
that he could not wait
until I was disillusioned
with the U.S. governement

I never once said
I liked what I saw
I only dreamt of
what could someday be

I walk around my little world
and I see so many people
People who care for one another
Who long for the same thing
as me

I see people who think
they want for the best
but secretly hope for
their own well-being

Maybe some day
we will have the wherewithal 
to always hope for one another
relentlessly, unfailing

I may not like
what it is that I see
but I will not make it through
without hope for what can be