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 1001° 
Anais Vionet
We’re in a young-love recession.
Gen Zers are slow to trust and averse to risk,
we have, it seems, a particular social nervousness
about interpersonal exchanges and the symbiosis of love.

So we resort to situationships (undefined relationships),
a stratagem for closeness, with zero commitment.

You can flirt; you can kiss; you can dance.
You can have a crush so big it blots out the stars
You can have transformative romantic encounters
you can care deeply and get hurt badly
you can, in fact, be absolutely wrecked by love
All without ever being in a relationship.

Thank God we’re only young once.
.
.
Songs for this:
Die With A Smile by Lady Gaga & Bruno Mars
Busy Woman by Sabrina Carpenter
BLT Merriam Webster word of the day challenge 03/15/25:
Stratagem =  a trick or plan for achieving a goal
 847° 
Megan E Hoffman
What draws me in, to this?

Is it love, or something twisted—
Said a mother to her daughter
It's so hard to tell the difference

                            But please;
                                     I need to know the difference

"
I didn't understand then
And I won't pretend to know much more now;
All I can do is try to not be angry
                          
                            And at that, I'll fail.
                                                           ­        But I'll learn

"
I used to believe in the world, with an innocent infatuation for its goodness

Now I believe, with a knowing compassion for its faults

...

I think things that are perfect are easy to love;

         We meet God in our love for that which is not
from my poetry book, 📖 Biting Thorns Off Roses
 779° 
alison
you cannot just walk in and out of my life.
I am not a door.
I am not a robot, so do not treat me as if my feelings don't matter, because I'm human, not anything else.
what else is new
 500° 
Kaiden
You're like a safety pin.
Holding onto life for me
When i no longer can.
To this one special person.
 499° 
Poet
breathe
do you feel your lungs expanding?
do you feel you chest rising?
open
open your eyes
do you see the sun?
the moon?
the stars?
the clouds?
all of them were made for you
you
wonderful
       beautiful
                lovely
                                ­           YOU
sincerely,
someone who cares
 494° 
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Harder to notice, things that aren’t important.
Such as me




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 456° 
Marc Morais
She is a good
girl—firm
as a rule

Waits her turn
steps light
knees tight
to the line
she's been given

But rules
have a way
of wearing thin—
like ropes
stretched too long
against want—
like doors
that we can't
keep shut

She is a good
girl
so good boys
always say yes
when she asks
nice
and proper
Songs To Get Railed To—Orgavsm

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dGKKsbFdp6M
 396° 
Lyle
you rip apart the seams of this family
you are a hurricane and we are the destruction in your wake
you are a wildfire and we are burned
you are an earthquake but you aren't the one rattled
you have caused mass destruction and singed everyone you touched
you hate us
you natural disaster
 338° 
Asuka
The flower needs rest,
so winter tucks it beneath the earth,
letting it sleep until spring.

The sun needs rest,
so the clouds and rain embrace it,
shielding its warmth for another day.
Take care, breathe easy, and give yourself the rest you deserve. Rest well, recharge, and remember, like the moon, even brilliance needs the night to shine again.

— A gentle reminder that even nature pauses to gather strength.
 334° 
Lawrence Hall
A     n acrostic
C     an be challenging
R     efining words into patterns
0      f different meanings
S     o we can see the world
T     o be open to new ways of seeing
I       f we've a mind to
C      onsider it so
Anais-approved!
 314° 
Eve
even after i lose my voice,
i will miss you in my bones.
even after my bones are ground to dust,
i will miss you in my flesh.
and when that flesh rots to feed the flowers
that grow above my skeleton,
and the child that will inhale the perfume
of my longing
will know that you are missed.
 305° 
Travis Green
I was enveloped in the dopeness
Of his striking good looks
His raw, glowing machismo
Treasuring the unparalleled appeal
Of his enamoring existence

He made my heart soar
With his alluringly glorious charmingness
Lifted me into a dreamlike state
As my gay world lingered
In his sensational embrace

He was a truly delightful adventure
To savor for eternity
His chiseled chest and abs
Were utterly breathtaking

I loved his sensual, commanding lips
His fresh ****** hair
His dark-honeyed eyes
His velvety, fresh-smelling hair

I meandered through the labyrinth
Of his enchanting dreaminess
Revering his sweetness and supremeness
Everything about him
From head to toe
 295° 
Poetato
I'm running
Trying to catch peace that never arrives
Hiding between shadows
So I don't have to remember

I'm running
Erasing footsteps in exhaustion
Convincing myself
That distance will make the pain smaller
But the farther I go
The more real it becomes

No one is chasing
Except the truth keeps waiting
That it wasn't you I left behind
It was me.

Then I stop
Let the heart hurt
Let the pain speak
I won't run anymore
 292° 
McKinley Flynt
Oh dark eyes
With skin sagging mounts
Feed me your love
If you would remain open.

Cherish your soul
It's tired and dark
I'll feed it my love
If I could bear witnessing it.

Curtains closed
In your bedroom
And I would knock
If you would answer.

You should open your eyes
Open your soul
Open your window.
Because I would give you a world's worth of love.
^_^
 252° 
Mari
The house with the terrible smell of cow's blood,
And their hot manure, which would stain the house of my childhood,
Where such things happened,
Horrifying colorful images.
And not the kind that comes from Doris Lessing's words,
This flesh is not for charity,
It’s livestock for sale at the market,
Impossible to regulate...
The dried pork my grandmother saved for me,
Which I never eat,
A bite of my lunch.
Wrapped in newspaper, a good piece,
Redirected to the neighbors,
Little young calves,
With eyes wide open,
Their meat cooked with herbs,
Their skins salted,
Their cries hide in my heart,
Death is coming,
You turn into a dead corpse,
But their eyes stare in vain,
And the feet of the calves hop involuntarily,
It's a sad morning, says my uncle,
And with peasant manners, he smokes a cigarette.
The corpse, loaded into the car,
Dragged for sale,
My uncle brings water from the well,
Drinks it like a pig, burping,
I feel nauseous,
And I wonder where the black birds are,
But my uncle doesn't die in an accident,
The days repeat,
The pear trees that cover the yard with their branches,
The window panes reflect their shadows,
Why doesn't my heart stop,
During the ball game?
Weighed down by someone else’s sin,
I approach the ******* stone,
While my uncle urinates under the tree.
This text is not well-structured; I just wanted to say that.
 252° 
Salmabanu Hatim
Is not easy,
You have to give in to your will.
41/3/2025
 219° 
Soul Searching
And then I sit on the branch of a tree, and things don't seem so bad.
 207° 
hsn
a circle,
              (closed).

arms reach,
stretch,
but never
quite
touch.

    infinity spins  
                round —  
      no end, no start,  
                  but always moving.  

everything and nothing,
twirl,
dance —
a waltz of wisp and weight.

light glows,  
              soft, gentle,  
                         (but distant).  

the edges blur —
you almost see it,
almost touch it—
                                  but then it's gone,
                                              slipping —

           through cracks.  

completion?
or is it
just a loop —

                   a never-ending spiral?

    your place is here,  
                                        (but not yet).  
                   not yet.  

  the world,  
                  the world —  
         is beyond,  
                       above,  
                   inside.  

in every step,
                       every breath —
is the world.

                   you can see it.  
                   (you almost touch it.)  
     but it’s already gone.  

(it was never there.)  

    but you are.  

      spinning.  
             forever
                   waiting.
 201° 
Anais Vionet
everything’s complicated
everything’s a struggle
have you noticed?
it’s a psychological horror
is this feeling the ‘adult disillusionment’ I keep hearing about?

I mean, things work, if you sit on them like an egg—
if your mother things along and helicopter a result.
I mean, what do people do who don't have
my resources and sunny disposition?

I get America’s increasing paranoia but I think that it's *** backwards. Even if someone's were out to ‘get’ you, no one actually cares about doing their job anymore. There's just so little competence around, that the dysfunction feels intentional. And because you need something and you’re helpless, you can't help but feel targeted.

But I think I figured it out, so let me elucidate—they aren't giving YOU bad service, it isn't personal—everyone is getting bad service, two pieces of chicken in the box when you ordered three, five day delivery when you’re clearly paying for two, failure’s become routine—endemic.

My go-to phrase has become, “What’ll it cost?” (the answer, usually: twice as much) “Make it so,” I say, swiping something with my Apple Watch, and suddenly, everything works!
.
.
A song for this:
decide to be happy by MisterWives
BLT Merriam Webster word of the day challenge 03/29/25:
Elucidate = to make something clear and easy to understand

My ex-navy stepfather always says, “Make it so,” it’s an old navy phrase that means, ‘proceed’
 193° 
junipercloud
Many of our cells
are not long-lived,
or lasting or permanent
in any way

(although some are there
for a lifetime)

Consequently, sometimes
cells self-destruct
and die
in a controlled and orderly way
preventing the spread
of damaged (or unwanted, or abnormal) cells

(this is a normal part
of an organism’s growth
or development)

It is essential, in fact
(this programmed cell death)
to an organism’s health

And it is natural
but it is not a complete
or total death
(which is also
a natural process)

This is called
apoptosis.
inspired by The Conjugation of the Paramecium by Muriel Rukeyser
 189° 
Eduardo Edmundo
With a sweep of the sword,
I cut through time, step in, and watch—
Your father sketching in the garden,
Your mother lifeless in the cellar.

To write, one must first think.
Thought cuts like a blade;
It, too, reshapes the world.

But it does not change mine.
 184° 
Juan45th
Life is so beautiful,
It's like a sun shining
to the leaves out of the forrest.

Peace as it is begin.

Calmnes as it is soaring.

Then you'll realized till
it reach the top.

The beauty,
Becomes ruthless.

Peace was gone, as if it is hiding.

Calmnes turned to madness.

You don't even want to face it,
You didn't even try to look at it.

Because its beauty becomes ruthless.

But don't be so worry,
It's not always angry.

Just wait a day,
and
Tommorrow you'll see.

The beauty of life will shine again.
Don't forget, theres always tommorrow for everything.
 183° 
Faith Cubitt
we were testing every limit we could get our hands on....
it was like we could not survive without chaos.
it was always us dancing in burning building,
threatening the lightning,
coasting that gray line between life and death.
you'd push and I'd pull....
we fought like cats and dogs.
we blamed the world for it's shallow trick's it played on us....
but we were already way off the deep end,
crashing through the surface of everything we wanted to be.
how can you save someone when you thought they were supposed to save you?....
 175° 
Joan Zaruba
Hello world
You may not recognize me
though now I finally recognize myself

I made a difficult choice
freedom over familiarity
I ran to a new beginning
Shedding all those who attempted to control
through lies and vitriol

I have found my voice
I will use my voice
to be a truth teller,
a mirror,
a fierce catalyst for wellness

I have found my voice,
so I sing out
with rebellious joy
Hello world
Hello
 155° 
Mark Bell
There was a
young girl
In my life
We grew up
And fell in love
Wow it was heaven
Wow it was tough.
Everyday was a tussle
But this love ran through
Our disabled muscles,
We grimaced we smiled
We were in for the ride
We handled our disabilities
With grace and pride.
 142° 
Sofia
so your gaze at my face,
i couldn't handle it,
because your dark eyes were to perfect for me,
they get me so high,
please, forget about everything,
forget about everyone,
just stay here,
and look at me.
 140° 
David P Carroll
In the dark shadows
Where evil whispers
And danger lurks in Iran and
A head of state making threats
But Iranian courage will take flight
And chase away the evil tonight
And no peace will be found and
A shadow falls a threat hangs in the air
Iranian anger grows a burden hard to bear.
The American government has
Threatened Iran 🇮🇷
With a nuclear strike.
Evil devils.
 136° 
Yonah Jeong
Faith
the power to not be
ruled by
everything
that shakes you

And the other thing
we have to live with it
correctly like him
for the people
looking up at us


- devote to Philippe Petit
 128° 
simmer
Your name brings me comfort
All these year later
I say it to myself when I feel most alone

For then another presence enters the desolate space between my ears
Warmth and familiarity replace lack there of
And just for a moment, in a time where I am lost
I am reminded of when every aspect of my being felt fully known
 126° 
Creux
...and when the world is quiet enough to breathe,
I'd have you, the dark, and something close to peace.
 124° 
nvinn fonia
bye bye mr american piee
 124° 
Berrin Yakar
Can't help but wonder,
How cards handed fairly?
While you're wrapped in your lover's arms,
Detached, laughing towards cheerful days.
When my ink still slithers—
Over sticky tears, bleeding onto my paper.
Feeling stuck in the past
 123° 
scarmaya nicole
it's been so long. you still write the kind that made me fell in love with you years ago. despite everything, you're still one of the best poets i've ever known.
there may be no saving for us but i hope you never regret a thing, 'cause i never did. you gave me the best summer possible, and the company for months after that.
 118° 
Nemesis
I live inside walls of breeze blocks,
Concrete and cinder halls.
My enemies live on the other side.
We meet sometimes—
to negotiate cease-fires
between cigarette breaks.

Still, while he offers peace,
he sets up artillery.
I ready my firearm.
She rings the bomb alarm.
The Luftwaffe ricochets—
while he prays...

He is more religion than a man.
She, more hurricane than a woman.
And I—something like a child.
Only the old and the unkind
keep count: forty-three, forty-four—
we are still at war.

After the cigarette burned out
The house burned down.
They say, "Child, take this to the grave."
If you made it out alive from the battle of Crete
Parents, I survived the friendly fire.
While you bombarded, I built the Roman Empire.
 117° 
Damiano
To be a piece of paper
Thrown at sea,
Crumpled—furiously
Unable to be.

To row against
Undaunted waves,
Tall as mountains,
Jagged as nails.

Oh, to wish
To greet the sand,
Just to meet
Some reader's hands.
The life of a poet lives on
through all their poems,
but the day I do depart,
I want to be cremated.

I will entrust family
and some fellow poets
to let my ashes sink
into some deep black ink.
And I'd want them to write
the stanzas I secretly saved
just for the occasion.

That way
they can say
that I put
all my heart
and my body
into poetry.
Literally.

My soul,
on the other hand,
would live on happily
as an eternal poet
having fun rhyming
while everyone's crying.
(and I'd wish they'd stop.)
I wouldn't want my loved ones to be saddened.  I'd want them to rejoice, knowing that my dream of becoming an eternal poet finally came true.
 113° 
Sherri Woodman
There's nothing left between you &I                                                                ­                                                    I don't know about you, but I tried                                                           You don't love anyone but yourself                                                         ­                                                You broke me & put me through hell                                                Our whole lives I gave you my all                                                              ­                                                  When I needed you , you let me fall                                                             ­                                                     I closed my eyes & forgave you still                                                            ­                                                      While you busy breaking my will                                                             ­                                                  
I bent until I was broken in two                                                              ­
I see it all now, it's in clear view                                                             ­                                                   As I walk away from you
After a lifetime of marriage, betrayal & lies, its's over.
 110° 
Decembre
You
Why is it
that whenever I pretend to love,
or try to think of
how it would look,
I see you?
 110° 
Lulu Sarmiento
En el silencio,
En la música,
En la luna en el cielo,
En la lluvia del día.
En el viento de verano.
En el sol de invierno.
Eres mi deseo,
Eres mi oración.
Eres mi fortaleza.
Eres mi esperanza.
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