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 1114° 
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
 1025° 
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
 677° 
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
 427° 
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
 410° 
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
 396° 
Decembre
You
Why is it
that whenever I pretend to love,
or try to think of
how it would look,
I see you?
 346° 
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
 272° 
SCHEDAR
-I know underneath all that, she's a good person

I just need a hand getting there....


Warning:
(Long distance charges may apply)
 256° 
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.
 255° 
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.
 221° 
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’
 205° 
Lawrence Hall
A     n acrostic
C     can 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!
 201° 
Autisma
An opportunity tunes into
You
If you relay information intuitively
And go with the the flow

Indecision will be common
But as long as you
Listen to your conscience
Occasionally

Then the rivers of
Fortune will flow.
A moth ate my clothes
But I didn't really mind
'Cause he said he was a butterfly
 187° 
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.
 181° 
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Harder to notice, things that aren’t important.
Such as me




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 180° 
Salmabanu Hatim
Is not easy,
You have to give in to your will.
41/3/2025
 169° 
Ione
They say go with the flow-
but I'm just a stagnant water.
Not a beauty, nor a worth-
all the fishes have left the water.
 161° 
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.
 159° 
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.
 158° 
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.
 151° 
kohu
external bleeding
rage on the body
 131° 
Sia Harms
I stirred with tired arms,
Knowing my life would burn
If I dared leave it unattended.
I did not see the loving arm
Covering mine, ready
To take over so I could take
A break and enjoy all that
He had gifted me.
 123° 
Salvatore Ala
Blood-dark days and lilies in bloom,
the knife, the gun, the operatic end—
all goodfellas and grandfathers,
all godfathers and millionaires
at yet another Sicilian funeral.

I was young and arrogant,
I dared to walk behind a Mafia boss.
I could have taken the long way
around the circle of captains he sat among,
but I didn’t—he felt my presence.    
He turned, slow, deliberate.
The look he cast my way
haunts me to this very day.

It was as if the dead man’s eyes
opened in the boss’s stare,
and I was staring at a cold, dead soul,
staring back at me,
and at another funeral—my own.
 108° 
nvinn fonia
bye bye mr american piee
 105° 
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.
 100° 
Ewan
I once had a mind filled with gold
I know it was a tale so old
Words underneath your mind
Made me feel blind
I was struggling not to leave the tribe
I might have just brought the bride, underneath the moonless sky
Your heart is so old and grand
It made me feel like I could leave the band
Underneath your exquisite hand, I just want to place the band
 99° 
Agnes de Lods
Step by step,
bit by bit,
seen unseen
unknowing shape.

Concepts in rebuild
reconstruct what has fallen.

Come on,
let in some fresh air.
No need to be afraid
the same dark chants drift by.

Change resonance.
There is a chance
for a new beginning.
 95° 
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.
 91° 
Creux
...and when the world is quiet enough to breathe,
I'd have you, the dark, and something close to peace.
 91° 
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
 84° 
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
 83° 
Nat Lipstadt
this kids,
is how you do it

in the mid of the dark hours,
when two am is your new oldest friend
when sleep, your oldest old one,
left town on the midnight train,
taking your peace of mind

though she is far away
lost in dream-thoughts caught,
but only twelve inches close,
granting you an unasked permission,
you ok to stroke her hair,
undisturbing her, yet comforting yourself,
every voice in your temple'd altar praying,
one glorious chorus godly chant:

Oh Lord, what would I do without her?

and you stroke her hair and are saved.


2:51am

May 2014
 80° 
Rin
A vast and beautiful color of blue,
filled with puffy white clouds,
the warmth of the sun,
fills my heart with light.

looking at the sky,
pink and orange,
blue or black.
the sky is never alone.

take a look at it,
let it inspire you.
feel its beauty,
and rest under its hue.
came up with this idea out of the blue :0
hue is another word for beauty in old english (i searched it up) :))))
 77° 
Emma Kate Price
I want to be the sun to you
but I am simply a tornado to everyone
 76° 
Ivan
to escape the nightmares...
 74° 
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.
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