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 2322° 
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 urgency,
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.
 1330° 
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
 741° 
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
 730° 
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€ïžâ€ïž

https://hellopoetry.com/poem/4736547/children-of-the-quakies/
xo
 663° 
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
 637° 
nvinn fonia
fcking back  stabbers /.,
 634° 
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

❀
 631° 
guy scutellaro
you are the moonflower,
and the sweet fragrance
of night blooming jasmine.

the mysterious, magical beauty
of a single night.

It is the passionate night that holds you.

nothing lives forever,
not the stars scattered in the skies
nor the sadness reflected in your eyes.

hold my hand, blue flower.
hold my wistful heart
tangled and intimate
in our distant romance.

the oak trees rustling in the wind.
there is something cold in the air...
the fleeting bloom of the night's flower.

oh, flower of the night,
the night will never release you.

a solitary tear falls. I draw the shades.
 407° 
Marc Morais
We manage
as best
we can—
for us and others.

One day—
my hands
will stop reaching
to help others.

And I wonder—
which failing
will be at fault—
my body or
my heart.

If it is to be my heart
then let it be
both.
 336° 
Clay Micallef
The sky is a stormy
kind of strange indigo
daffodils are reaching
out for attention
the mountains
crumble with a
matter of urgency
my dreams are a
puddle of mud and
sullen reflection
tears spill into an open
field of wild orchids
the gods are drunk
with the thunder  
of excitement
I drift in and out of
dark dreaming I am
just a passenger in this
strange and awful place
sometimes when the
lights are low I often
wonder why do colours
fade away when you
need them the most 

Clay.M
 335° 
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.
 217° 
Michael
A red breasted bird
Perched on a wall
Absorbed in its world
Not worried at all.
Unconcerned by the height
And unaware of its weight
it nimbly takes flight
As I ponder life’s fate.
I envy the bird,
That can lift on a breeze,
Tied down by my mind
As a roof to its eaves.
Like the red breasted bird
I too perch on my wall
Absorbed in my world,
But worried I’ll fall.
 208° 
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.
 207° 
Alfred de Musset
Que j'aime à voir, dans la vallée
Désolée,
Se lever comme un mausolée
Les quatre ailes d'un noir moutier !
Que j'aime Ă  voir, prĂšs de l'austĂšre
MonastĂšre,
Au seuil du baron feudataire,
La croix blanche et le bénitier !

Vous, des antiques Pyrénées
Les aßnées,
Vieilles églises décharnées,
Maigres et tristes monuments,
Vous que le temps n'a pu dissoudre,
Ni la foudre,
De quelques grands monts mis en poudre
N'ĂȘtes-vous pas les ossements ?

J'aime vos tours Ă  tĂȘte grise,
OĂč se brise
L'Ă©clair qui passe avec la brise,
J'aime vos profonds escaliers
Qui, tournoyant dans les entrailles
Des murailles,
À l'hymne Ă©clatant des ouailles
Font répondre tous les piliers !

Oh ! lorsque l'ouragan qui gagne
La campagne,
Prend par les cheveux la montagne,
Que le temps d'automne jaunit,
Que j'aime, dans le bois qui crie
Et se plie,
Les vieux clochers de l'abbaye,
Comme deux arbres de granit !

Que j'aime à voir, dans les vesprées
Empourprées,
Jaillir en veines diaprées
Les rosaces d'or des couvents !
Oh ! que j'aime, aux voûtes gothiques
Des portiques,
Les vieux saints de pierre athlétiques
Priant tout bas pour les vivants !
 183° 
Fleeting Ink
She
I know her
She has long black hair with soft waves
I know she loves her face now
it looks healthier.

She is smiling
More sincerely than yesterday
The weight has lifted
Because she finally let go of what she once held too tight.

I know her
The woman in my mirror
Has committed to living in peace
Happiness will be the bonus
And I love her more than yesterday
Even more so tomorrow than today.
 176° 
Ruhani
It has been so long
Since I put my cloak on
To hide behind the closet
to look within and forget.
For the times when you want to shut down the world
 168° 
Malia
Knit you a sweater
Knit us together
Together by dawn
Together by dusk
Dusk and cicadas
Dusk is a blanket
Blanket in blue
Blanket in music
Music hums soft
Music for nights
Nights like this
Nights in spring
Spring with rain
Spring with flowers
Flowers by porch
Porch well-loved
Porch with wood
Wood swing and chairs
Wood swing sways
Sways like dancers
Sways like strands
Strands of hair
Strands that curl
Curl your fingers
Curl ‘round mine
Mine for now
Mine to keep
Keep you close
Keep me safe
Safe to touch
Safe in here
Here we lay
Here we breathe
Breathe in sync
Breathe out words
Words like poems
Words like rivers
Rivers running
Rivers rushing
Rushing forward
Rushing out
Out my lips
Out to yours
Yours for years
Yours always
Always you
Always me
Me

You.
My first blitz poem!
 148° 
Zywa
Waking up, lightly

balancing between repose --


and my brand new day.
Composition "Fragile Balance" (2014, JĂŒrg Frey), for ensemble and piano, performed on four saxophones by the Amstel Quartet in the Organpark on March 8th, 2025

Collection "org anp ARK" #99
 143° 
Peter Gerstenmaier
The weeds in our garden
Grew as fast as the pile
Of your unreplied letters
Such a sad race to behold...
REPOST. Written in sep/24.
 142° 
Sarayu
I tried to erase your file
But the system hesitated
An error thrown
"Too large to delete"
Yet the process had already begun Recursive loop had started
Unearthing forgotten unformatted data
Memory overflowed
Buffers shattered
System crashed
Only corrupted data remained
 142° 
Eme
Abuse

It’s not black or white
No one will understand
I went through something
I’m still processing
I am sad but I don’t understand why
I am loved and I am in pain
Why can’t they stop hurting me
I’m too young to protect myself
I need to protect them
I need it to stop
Why can’t they see I’m hurt
It’s all a blur
Memories are a blur
The feelings remain
I’m ashamed
I’m angry
I cry for my family
I cry for me
It’s just an old heart I forgot was there anymore
A heart I stopped looking for
A heart I didn’t know i care about anymore
Old heart rediscovered
Once judged by its cover
An old me, an old heart, new again
—Timothy Charles Carter
 140° 
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
 120° 
Archer
So you’ll yell at a tree
But simply complain about the forest?
 120° 
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.
 119° 
Kate
I can’t do everything in one lifetime.
I want to be a writer— a poet, and yet I’d like to explore the stars, discover planets.
I’d like to act in every big-name movie, but I’d also love to sing my heart out in meaningless songs that others can’t quite comprehend.
I’d like to move countries, change my name, forget my old self— but I also want to embrace who I truly am, at my core.
Time.
There never seems to be enough of it.
If only we were given several lifetimes to figure ourselves out, to breathe life at its purest form, and see our souls in the way we know is right.
If only we could glimpse the countless endings hidden in every small beginning.
 117° 
PhantomDreamer
I should have known
I was left of left
                    &
            called up as typical

    widespread panic metered
            your forearm.

    I was left with my ebbs
                     &
              in admiration

    of your gentle smile; kind as
               you **** me.
So little has passed in so much time.
 102° 
Julie
"Can someone please give me anesthesia?
I would like to fall into an eternal sleep,
but just for a while,
until all my struggles expire.
And someone up there,
will remember
that he once created a girl,
with the mind of a lost bubble."
Thanks
 94° 
Titus E Gray
I was light for a moment
I was dark for longer
I was full sometimes
I was empty more often

I’ve been the sunrise
I am the sunset
I’ve been the sun
I am the moon

As much as I am
I’m also not
The ups seem more distant
When the downs getting deeper

But I’ll keep chasing the waves
Even when they pull back
Because the tide always rises
Even after it falls
 94° 
MywordorMyworld
Was it a day?
Or had the years collapsed in a fleeting decay?

The nights grew heavy, crushed my chest,
My eyes wept secrets I never confessed.

Tears turned bitter, cold, and dry,
Hate and regret took their place in my eyes.

"Mumma..."—I whispered, lost in the night,
She laughed it away, My hands reached out, but no one was there,
Just shadows and silence and empty air.

Was it the night? Or was it me?
Building walls too dark to see?

Trapped inside, no way to tell,
Was this the day I truly fell?
The days when you were at your lowest, no one you could reach out to. The days when you felt comfort in death perhaps! The lowest of low.
 89° 
Shang
with every passing moment,
I find it more and more
difficult to determine
who is human &
what human is?
© Shang
 88° 
Shaun Yee
It’s so simple to live happily,
To enjoy life, avoid misery,
Just follow the simple ways of life,
With understanding and empathy.
It’s not really very difficult,
Just leave your egoism behind.
too simple??
 87° 
Selma
I am not hard to love.
I am not unreasonable.
And I don’t distribute headaches,
Like candy,
When I wish to express my emotions.
I simply express -
I am allowed to voice
My thoughts,
My opinions.
If it is a concept you cannot grasp,
Take the problem off my back
And dig deep within yourself.
 81° 
Aoang
The sun laments your radiance,
the moon your tenderness.
Stars sputter in night's nonchalance,
I your easy forgiveness.

Crickets sing their last song,
Unti their souls rot.
I promise my last wrong,
know that it is not.
 70° 
Dom
For ages as your aegis
Ageless as years fly by,
Boundless beauty,
It never left you
Even as the golden sun
Fills the cracks of your wrinkles,
Steadfast into the morrow
I will love you, Endlessly.
Wrote this observing an elderly couple in a painting, made me think of that story-book forever love, and this is what came out. let me know what you think.
 70° 
tender flame
the rise and fall of stars both reside in me, cosmic rifts searing through the skin. each one bleeds a tale to be told, only i can hold—to ache, to remember.

they form constellations to chart—a map of wander and wounds, a framework of a galaxy. but with your slightest, tender touch stellar lifetimes collapse again into light—bright, breathless—blooming into a supernova.
i don’t want to hide when i’m with you.
 65° 
David
Pull this thread
and I unravel
My eloquence
becomes a frantic search
Scars and sinue
This cold hand of reality
That digs my grave
I wane in the wind
My breathe I reclaim
Fragile games we play
Fragility melds in this solemn gray
 64° 
Zack Ripley
We always search for meaning.
We always ask for reasons why things happen.
But we can never seem to agree.
What if that's because meaning is an extension of our perspective?
They say beauty is In the eye of the beholder. What if we considered meaning the same way?
 64° 
Caddyboy
Sitting idly on the bench
A plume of smoke was in the air
Everythin' was feeling near
Concealing my fear

â™Ș

I was cold enough to feel
Yeah my buzz was wearin off
Was our love ever real?
Course it was I'll go and scoff

â™Ș

Can we go and crack the sky?
Yeah these birds were always real
Feel your tail coiled round my thigh
I guess we share a common zeal

â™Ș

I'll hold you tight my only friend
I'll always love you till the end
I'll light your blunts forevermore
I'll always share im not a bore.
This is a song about my imaginary friend, Morgan Farrel. Pretty sad to think about honestly
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