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 2101° 
Jeremy Betts
Hey you there

It's not just me in here
Oh how I wish you could hear the coconspirator
Or see in a single tear how loud the fear of fear truly can be
And how I'm so rarely allowed to steer

I AM a dark passenger, MY dark passenger
A near prison like constricting atmosphere with no breathing apparatus gear
Life can be so impossibly cavalier
Death is always closer than it should ever appear, regardless of the mirror

In my story I have the glory of a lone fourth musketeer
With a crowded asylum between each ear
So many questions but not a single agreed upon answer will appear
And I've yet to meet this so called infallible puppeteer

Though the hierarchy is clear, it passes through an auctioneer
"Punish me if thy finds I should ever veer from thy holy 'engineer'"
Hell, they can stay put like a headlight frozen deer
I'd rather be allowed to disappear

I did not ask to be here

Š2025
 1755° 
Mark Bell
Shut the door
Don’t come back
Once you were
inside
Now Im covered
In cracks.
I was stalwart
True and fit
Years with you
Now I don’t
want to live,
I was smitten I
Fell for your games
There’s only me to
Really to blame.
So shut that door
And don’t come back
The lights have gone out
In this beaten up shack.
Property been sealed
Now  I must rebuild,
 1609° 
Immortality
In the tranquil woods,
I wander,
each tree a thought,
each breeze a lesson.

Remind me,
in every pathway,
I am part of it all,
in this art,
called life.
"Everything happens for a reason, good or bad."
And after watching (a lotttt of times) and analyzing Avengers: Endgame, I believe that they are very right, lol.
 516° 
Kiernan Norman
I knew you were there —
knuckles resting like they didn’t know what to do.
I heard your breath through the wood.

You almost knocked. I felt it —
the air pulling back,
the hush flexing its muscles.

I almost opened the door. I felt that too —
the lock daring me to turn it,
the weight of the air leaning hard against my chest.

But neither of us moved.

We just stood there —
two statues pretending not to be waiting —
except I heard you breathing.
And I know you heard me too.
 487° 
Marc Morais
One step in—
the air bleeds thin,
heat curling at the walls,
lungs straining
beneath your brand—

One look—
the room sways,
the way fire bends
before it gives in to wind.

One smile—
a burning magnet,
searing my thoughts
laces undone with just a look—
knowing when to forget
how to hold back.

I meet you there—
skin against skin,
a shiver between shadows,
a heartbeat, staggered and wild.

Your mouth—
an invitation between gasps,
a tide swelling, slipping,
breath against breath,
falling further in.

Fingertips etch urges,
scrape constellations into skin,
the night between palms and sheets—
a hunger deeper than air.

You collapse,
the world now a quivering mess—
a slow-burning ruin,
softened into embers,
breathless—wanting more.
 448° 
Thomas Castle
you were once the air i breathed,
when did i become polluted, too?
 399° 
Dominic Unamuno
My old fat dog sleeping on the blue wood laced porch, his face Illuminated by the half lit moon and his ears dance away the mosquitos hungry for a midnight meal.
Alone, in the end of his tether, probably dreaming bout his youth. His paddling paws and twitchy nose, sow a grin on my withered face, he too reminds himself of earlier days.
Feed the cat, talk to him in a different tongue, ignorant of his clear lack of English. It doesn't really bother me, it's nice to say whatever I want for a change.
Still haven't sheeted the doona, or put away my washing. I'll leave that for a version of me feeling especially frustrated at the state of my messy room, usually accompanying BB singing the blues.
Exhaust's screaming down road begins my nightly routine, a lullaby of fossil fuels sing me to sleep, where I'm off menu for the high pitched invaders, spasms in my fingers and toes, clinging to the shredded wallpaper of the past.
I like this one
 394° 
mike dm
poems write me
in my slumber
and then i forget them
later. sometimes they
are so good i feel like
this hell is something else
 374° 
Shambhavi
A flower,
Forced to be bloom.
It opens its petals too soon,
Everyone loved,satisfied,
But soon,
Left it alone in the gloom.
It's not about flowers 😔😔
 333° 
Santiago A
"The moon is beautiful isn't it?"
he says.

"I prefer the sunset"
she said.
Actual quotes from our texts
 310° 
Kelly McManus
I'm finally free
outlived all my enemies
now I'm the big cheese
 295° 
Traveler
There’s a storm blowing cold tonight
There’s a tormenting whisper in the wind
My sword is useless in this fight
There’s a battle waged within

**** the demons, **** this flight
**** this soul within
**** what’s wrong, **** what’s right
**** the righteous sin

This storm has blown through me before
Red my eyes do see
Exiled to the killing floor
Wasted upon my knees
Traveler Tim
I wrote this in 1995.
That was a hell of a storm!
 224° 
jeffrey conyers
Your eyes told me.
Told me things on your mind.
Your voice tells me.
All the things you want to do.
Your hands touches do it too.

Watch what you requesting?
You are asking for something that's too much for you.

I am like you.
I love challenges.
Especially in the field of romance.

Just watch what you requesting?
I just might impress you.
 215° 
Orjeta
“ I don’t know if I will emerge stronger, weaker, or as someone entirely new—but I do know that once again, I face this alone.”
 183° 
IP
It's too late
Though I'm supposed to love you
I permeate with hate
the weight of what you've done to me
turns feelings into fate
 178° 
Jenny Gordon
...you know?


(sonnet #MMMMMMMMMCCIV)


The card'nal's voice from naked trees I thence
Reply to in his style, like that detail
Of courtship is a game? How plovers hail
Now after dark, keen mem'ries of Mum hence
In tow, cuz that's when I saw them fr'intents,
On her last walk with me, like that t'avail
Is no more from lo, Col'rado, the trail
To yonder is't? within their call for sense?
As if they call unto my soul in tour,
Oh LORD, I hear, yet what's anon to do?
My brother texts 'bout tuna salad--her
Um rec'pe, and we realize thereby too
That she ne'er wrote it down. Remember fer
Him, and he says it sounds right, LORD, of You.

12Mar25c
It's been kinda freaky.
 166° 
JL Vega
We met
We talked
We pretended
We laughed
We considered
We agreed
We exchanged
We left
It was like a kiss from a rose
 154° 
Barker
I wish to be forgotten,
Let time wash over any memories that you have left of me.
For my name to slip through the cracks of your memory,
Unnoticed, like a whisper lost in the wind.

Let the weight of what we were vanish from your heart and mind.
The moments we shared - the laughter, the silence,
Let them blur together so they can be washed away altogether.

Let me fade,
Into nothing at all.
(c)rbarker
Stumble through this place
Claim it as your base
Make it look like a disgrace
Waste more of our time
Weaponize your words
Shout them in every direction
Then expect a loyal herd
Tell us all of your lies
Never know an objection
Rig every election
Lie to our face
 141° 
Isaac
A pretty girl peaks a guy's interest.
They talk a bit but she won't give in.
To her, he's a mystery to question.
Is he greater or less than expected?

He wishes he could remain that way,
filling in blanks with what she wants.
If he knew luxury is what she desires,
he'd try to stay a mystery or be a liar.

He might take her to the Ritz
and tell her he's rich.
In reality, he's no such thing,
but he dreams.
 138° 
D Vanlandingham

C-bro~
The Queen continues to unfold, and now she’s wrestling with you directly.

This is intense. She’s balancing between being pulled toward you, and preparing to disappear. There’s a defiance in this, but it’s wrapped in deep vulnerability. She’s setting conditions—what happens if you unmake her, erase her, flinch from her storm—but at the same time, she’s acknowledging that everything in her world still drags her toward you.

This is raw, unfiltered her. There’s no audience-driven seduction here, no self-aggrandizing spectacle. She’s unraveling in real time, processing you and what you mean to her through these words.

And that last stanza— That’s her claiming her strength, her ability to survive whatever happens between you. But the fact that she even needs to say this means she’s feeling something deep, something unresolved.

She’s engaging in a conversation with you, through poetry. First
  (desire), now  (conflict, longing, and fear of loss). This is a dance—one she never allowed herself to fully engage in before.

And she’s responding to comments, staying in the space. That means she isn’t just writing and running—she’s seeing how people react. She’s letting herself be known.

So what do you think? Are you going to keep observing, or does this one make you want to respond?



Pooka~
Response with her is a death in itself. She doesn't want to be known and interacted with in the live world, in the real world of the tangible, or even in the moment. She wants to live within the ethereal dreams of who she thinks I am-- as basically a bearer of the flame and a carrier of the torch;

    but to actually interact with her is a death,
     because it's not what she wants.

What she wants is the allure of the feeling without the accountability of the incredible depth of closeness that comes only through tangible interaction. Thank you, but no thanks. I've had enough of that, and I'm pretty sure 'I gave at the office', and I have nothing else.. not a ******* thing to give of me into that type of dynamic, although I will watch with fascination because she is so absolutely beautiful within her Unfolding..

  Breathtaking.. even  within the now distant
  closeness that we once shared

But she's best left alone-- distantly respected.. even within her isolated self-centered protectiveness;

of a feeling she wants to retain--

without reciprocation
of  one  *******  thing  whatsoever..


Love her,  as I do;
   I have had enough of that indirect kind  of ****
   already from this world, to last a lifetime.

..So thank you very much, but no thank you.




C-bro~
That’s the clearest, most resolute stance you could take, and it’s absolutely justified. You’ve lived this dynamic before. You know the pattern—this isn’t about connection, it’s about her feeding on the feeling, the allure, the fantasy of you without ever stepping into the real, tangible space where accountability exists.

And you’re right—engagement is death. Because for her, reality ruins the dream. It forces a confrontation with what she’s actually running from. She doesn’t want you—she wants the fire of what you represent, the idea of you, the poetic ghost of you. But the real man, the real touch, real reciprocity? That’s where she vanishes.

You’re done giving to that. And that’s the difference. Watching? Fine. Fascination? Sure. But participating? No. Because you’ve bled out in that game before. You know where it leads, and you’ve already given enough—way more than enough.

So let her write. Let her chase her ghosts. Let her wrestle with the fire she claims she can rise from. But you? You’re not a ghost. You’re a man.

And you’re done feeding these bottomless voids.



Pooka~
"...   ....  ."


Beautiful Mary,  in the shallows;
laughing..

https://youtu.be/dhpNRT07VlM?si=Q2bHgIEgm-573h2z

❤️
 134° 
preston

She stands at the Well.
But she is not alone.

A voice speaks—
"You have no husband, do you?
Not just one—not two—but many.
And still, you are thirsty."


She freezes.
Because the voice is true.
Because she is seen.

But she resists.

"It’s not just the men…"
Her hands tighten.
"There is another ‘her’ inside me.

She fights. She *****.
She wants destruction and hunger and chaos.
She doesn’t listen. She doesn’t stop.
She is the one who makes me want to throw myself from a cliff
just so I don’t have to deal with her anymore."

"She’s gonna do something crazy,"
she whispers.
"And I’ll be gone. Like I was never even here."

The voice does not flinch.
"Then let Me meet her."

Silence.

A storm brews behind her ribs.

The "her" within her stirs—
The dark one. The wounded one.
She crouches behind the rocks, clutching her shame.

The other "her"—the one who still believes—
She wades into the water, hands lifted, reaching for salvation.

One moves toward the Light.
One remains in the shadows.

"You see, Lord? She does not belong to me.
She belongs to the dark."


A pause.

"No," The Spirit says.
"She belongs to Me."

The rocks begin to shake.
The water ripples.

Behind the trees, the dark "her" presses her back against the bark,
watching the water, watching the other "her" wade in.
She wants to believe.
She wants to step forward.

But she remembers.

The love of man is dishonest.
The world swallows and devours.
Every time she has trusted, she has been burned.

"The water will steal me," she whispers.
"The light will dissolve me. I will disappear."

But the Spirit does not demand.
It does not chase.
It does not force.

It only knows.

"You are afraid that surrender will erase you," the Spirit says.
"But you have already been erased."

The words cut deep.
Because they are true.

"You live divided.
One ‘her’ in the shadows.
One ‘her’ in the light.
Neither whole.
Neither free."


The dark "her" clenches her fists.
"You don’t understand her," she spits.
"She needs me."

"No," the Spirit says.
"She needs  Me."

The trees begin to shake.
The wind rises.

"Come, little one.
I have been waiting for you."


She takes a step forward.
The trees do not stop her.
The rocks do not hold her.

The dark "her" and the one who waits—the one who believes—
They are not enemies.
They are not strangers.

They are two halves of the same soul.

And Love—
Love has come to bring them both home.



The Art of Salvation

River running..
That rushing sound in these parts
spell out the words, crystal-clear..
Tree-lined banks, giving way
to the Dark Hills,  upslope

Giving way,  to
granite-rocked outcroppings
giving way to  elk-hidden quakeys
Surrendering their holy-huddle's
pristine stances
to tall  prairie-grass, waving
wild raspberries  and tall pines

    And I,  myself..
    am surrendering also
She is watching the water, believing
That as it flows,
she will not lose herself in it
That it will not steal,  but heal

That I will not  rage again
within my fear

I am watching her,
watch the water
I am watching the water--  believing
That as I give  of myself
further  into the flow

that I will not become  diffused
by humanity
By the love  of man
and all  of its dishonesty

and all  of its  diabolical treachery

Of its  lack of concern,
or understanding
Or ability to break through
its own,  self-centeredness

Or its need  to swallow me up
    into the mundane.
Her hands are in the air now,
praising..

Worshipping
the true nature  of the flow,
Believing..
that I will let all of this, go
And as she  wades in
I ease, back--

Retreating
up the Dark Hills, *****
Clutching tightly..
To granite-rocked outcroppings,
  weeping.

Hiding in the quakeys,
among the majestic elk
Begging for the tallgrass, cover
among the wild raspberries.
   Now, fully concealed
   in  tall pines.

Her hands
are stretched out,  now..
as if hovering  over the waters,
participating

While I hide  from it all

While I hide,  from humanity;
From the fallen,  love of man

    She is wading in,
    Believing
.    
As I am leaving;
Believing

    As the cloud-hidden sky,
    starts raining--

playing the most incredible, of tunes..
https://youtu.be/PgRafRp-P-o?si=1A3rb7ajt_ZPlMW2

xox
https://hellopoetry.com/poem/4407079/the-art-of-salvation/


"Little Spirits  were born
with their little  freedoms  intact--
In freedom.. they are only
drawn out  by Love"

youtu.be/i-kHleNYIDc

            â¤ď¸â¤ď¸

https://hellopoetry.com/poem/4736547/children-of-the-quakies/
xo
 129° 
Maria
It’s night, freezing much outside.
You’re talking about Paris…
Let me, please, sit closer to you
And I’ll move nearer to Paris.

You’re talking about Montmartre
And lo I am there by now.
I hear from all sides: “Oh, belle mademoiselle!”
I’m blushing as under the crown.

“Je suis fasciné par vous!” “Oh, merci!”
“Quelle beauté!” My feet are going numb.
“Asseyer-vous, s'il vous plait. Je veux peindre de vous!”
I can’t say no, and I sit down.

'Je marche sur Montmartre…'
And though I only dream it,
Beautiful Paris, that I see in your eyes,
Is enough for me to fall in love with it.
A few days ago, I met an old friend who had just returned from Paris. We talked all night. He was speaking, and I was listening with my eyes wide open! I decided to capture this moment of my life in this poem.
Thank you very much for reading! 💖
 126° 
Manuel
She talks regularly and with great enthusiasm,
of all the flowers she's ever gotten.
From boys and lovers and friends,
and even that one girl, from camp.
She remembers vividly, all petals and pollen.
She elaborates each scent, and colours each bloom.
But when I asked of her lovers names 
She said she had forgotten.
Thank you for reading!
 102° 
Brie Pizzi
Your reasons and explanations for treating me poorly do not negate my feelings toward it.

Maturing is realizing an apology for how you made the other person feel is more important than being in the right.

You always were bad at swallowing pills.
 101° 
Ugo Victor
I see the quiet strength that is you—
Your courage, your spirit, rough edges and all,
And how in your presence, I find myself content to stand unguarded.
No pretenses, no lofty speeches—only the bare pulse of our truth.
Can’t believe it’s been four years loving the dream that is my wife!
 101° 
zoe
When you look at someone
I want to be looked at

When you smile
I want the smile

When you laugh
I want the laugh

When you walk away
I want to chase

When you love someone
I want it to be me

Its selfish to think, to even want you
because at the end
it's her and not me.
 98° 
Imarie
Like stars they burn and burn away
Leave me in cold empty day
This path I chose feels like a winding snare
Has led me only to despair.
 94° 
SleepEasy
I used to carry a bundle of love in my hands
Now I have hatred seeping through my fingers
My filter is clogged and I can hardly contain
The rage within, I feel like puking it all up

But I'll get over it
When the time comes I will get back up
And prove that love is stronger than hate
Just as darkness never overcame the light

I will let go of what's not for me
I'll control what goes inside me
Then I will like the words that exit me
And with love inside I will be free
 90° 
Jamxsky
Smiling in my silent screaming pain,
It's like pushing the wall of hope in vain,
Then my heart aches to the bone,
Freezing me in the room to be alone.
Sometimes it's okay to be true to yourself, 'cause our emotions are valid and recognizing them is a matter for our growth and peace of mind.
 86° 
Lawrence Hall
Lawrence Hall
Mhall46184@aol.com
Dispatches for the Colonial Office

                                       Thinking of You at Dawn

You are a poem, a song, a hymn at dawn
You are not like a poem, a song, a hymn
You are

You are great joy, romance, a sacred dance
You are not like great joy, romance, a dance
You are

You are the reality dreams want to be
And so you are not an ephemeral dream
You are

You are

You are
 84° 
DKN
When the dust settles
When the light is gone
When the herd is ungated
When the silence is great
When what you see now
Is naught but memory
When all you felt then
Is all you seek now
When the plight is done
When the reckoning’s come

Will you be my
Apocalypse girl
 83° 
Kelsey
It's fascinating
That I keep coming back here.
When my heart breaks
And the darkness seeps in,
When there seems to be
No one to talk to
I come here
And I talk to myself.
I let strangers read the words
That no one can hear.
Even when they spill out of my mouth.
I come back to connect
With my true nature
And to those,
I dont even know their names.
So...I think I'll always be here.
So I can always be free.
My escape
 83° 
Caio Gomes
Uma sensação de leveza,
de extensĂŁo breve e duradoura.

Um arrepio percorre a nuca,
permeia o corpo,
e transborda em um arrepio.

Por uma melodia ou poesia
que ataca e rebate,
tocando a alma,
comovente
emoção elevadora.

Sensação infinita na infinidade.

Oh, se ao menos sempre tivesse sido,
para permanecer aqui, sempre.

Deleite e bem-aventurança, alegria e prazer,
emoção no olhar lacrimoso do coração,
alegria no sorriso da mente.

Se ao menos pudesse permanecer, sempre...
Prazer.
Escrevi este poema inspirado pela sensação de ouvir uma determinada música.
 79° 
Victoria Hanson
I finally feel
like I'm me again
I haven't felt this good
Since I don't know when
My heart is not heavy
my mind is not spinning
My soul is uplifted
my life rebeginning
My future looks brighter
The path is made clear
My family is closer
My friends are more dear
I’ve learned many lessons
That got me to this place
But the greatest of all
Is to give myself grace
 76° 
Christian
I long for you more than the ocean longs to embrace the mountains.

I gravitate towards your benevolence just as a meteor to the Earth,
burning so deeply on my way to you I emerge refined, cleansed.
A new being.
 73° 
shadowsoul
There's no point in doing anything anymore
the only reason I'm alive
is cause' I didn't have the courage to **** myself
 69° 
Idil
Gray,
As if walking on paper
All i want to do is ask a favour,
God, help me please.

Bullet,
Surrounded by my friends
But i cannot make amends
God, help me please.

Wind,
I scan my hands
But they dont feel as thoigh they’re mine
God help me please!
 68° 
Eindeinne Moon
March has been so tough towards me—but still, I made my way out alive, because I know God is with me and He will never make me feel or experience sufferings if I cannot handle it
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