24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
They are from the same generation:
all the females have long hair,
wearing the same as they did when they
were seven years old.
They hate authority and older people.
They never want to get old,
but as they do, the refuse to accept it.
The males have more variation, but much
of the same, only they are weak men.
Trapped
Trapped inside the
Health care maze.
Spinning, confused,
Stumbling, dazed.
Biopsy ordered-
Labwork sent,
Referals, Appointments,
Specialist went.
I feel hopeless,
Helpless, fazed,
Pinned down, trapped,
Angry! Crazed!
Out of network?
Not Covered? Copays?
Coinsurance? Deductibles?
Will my insurance pay?
Bette Low 2020
I collect dead things
Dried leaves, dead moths
Butterfly wings and twigs
I place them all, safe on a shelf
I’d like to give you some space there too.
I decided to go back to an old chapter of my book,
One that has too many crossed-out names,
So that I could dot the I’s and cross the t’s.
Re-read the one chapter that made me who I am through,
Tear stains and constant new additions.
The one gift that never showed me happiness for long,
Managed to lose it during two months of arguments and two weeks of star signs,
Kept me awake when the whole world had gone to sleep.
Up late planning a future with you,
When I should have prepared myself for a future without you.
As I dust off the cover and open Pandora’s box,
The gift that introduced me to heartbreak.
Dear past flames,
I guess since I never blew out the last dancing flame,
Our story went on longer than it should have been.
Made itself the light at the end of the tunnel,
Neither one of us thought they would travel down.
I never thought I would write about you,
But since your flame, and your beauty was not hot enough to burn,
Burn these pages out of my mind I decided to reignite our flame.
And slowly write as it destroyed all the remnants of us.
And set fire to the home we once sheltered under.
Given I still do miss the moments we created,
But I can never enable myself to miss you.
Because you were a far cry from what we intended,
A late realization of truth,
A bouquet of thorns growing out each other’s hearts as we,
Lied to each other that we were the right people but the timing was off.
Yet there is no time where we, this, us could have worked.
Rather let me acknowledge that your love left when I said we should be friends.
I guess it was my fault for overstepping boundaries we had not created,
As we were merely acquaintances
I hope you are happy,
With an individual that cares for you and loves you the way you deserve.
You deserve the best and nothing below that.
So I apologize for not holding on to the gift you gave me,
But instead giving it back to you.
So you found someone who deserved it because I did not.
So as the flamed devour the thoughts of you,
I did think of you,
About how we could have been and how you were now.
And I remembered never to compare bedtime stories to true events
~Baker
Prompt 24 : A gift, real or imagined (For my Mom)
Her recipe book is unique
her flavors, true delight
Her cooking is an alchemy
transports with every bite
A tinge of heat, then something sweet
her balance is just right
And were that not enough
her smile is sunshine bright
Her heart shows in all she does
her talents are outstanding
But the greatest gifts she gave me
were her love and understanding
Ye Olde Farte
It was like opening a bag of potato chips
clenched between buttcheeks
with a pungent bubble slowly rolling
out from the top of my crack-
a blinding fog of stink.
Remember
You vowed never to forget
Tuesday, September 11, 2001,
a business morning, workers rushing
to beat time clocks, when the first plane hit
between floors 93-99 of the 110-story
North Tower; it’s 8:46am, do you remember?
At 9:03am, a second plane hits floors 77-85
of the South Tower of the World Trade Center.
Nineteen terrorists on suicide attacks, hijacking
planes, a third hits the pentagon at 9:37am
and a fourth crashes into a field at 10:03am
in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. At 9:59am,
the South Tower collapses, followed at 10:28
by the North Tower. Do you remember where
you were, what you were doing when you heard
the news? I am sure you remember the grief,
disbelief, anger, distrust, misery, heart-shredding
pain these attacks caused.
Do you remember the chaos, falling steel and
concrete debris, fires, and dust everywhere.
Horror of human cinders, cries for help, and
do you remember the uniforms rushing in to
help, to do their duty to shield their community
from terrorists?
Firefighters trained to control flames,
ambulance workers trained to save lives,
and police officers sworn to protect and serve.
One minute after the first plane hit the North Tower,
police were dispatched to the scene, along with fire-
fighters and emergency service personnel. One minute.
Do you remember the photos of police covered in dust,
carrying survivors, mourning victims, their tears real?
I wonder if you remember how proud you were of them,
how proud of our city, state, and country.
Try to envision the pride you displayed in seeing in flags
flown everywhere, our red white and blue; bloodshed
from innocent victims, protected by blue uniforms.
Remember?
“The mission of the NYC Police Department
is to enhance the quality of life in NYC by working
in partnership with the community to enforce the law,
preserve peace, protect the people, reduce fear, and
maintain order.”
Do you remember last week when you were captured
by the press marching in protest, flinging profanities
and middle finger threats at police officers there,
doing their job to keep the peace, to keep you safe
by controlling non-peaceful protestors?
Do you remember 9/11, Patriot Day, 2,996 victims,
25,000 injured, memorials of flowers and pictures
on street corners and billboards, the missing, the agony,
the loyalty of a united nation.
Do you remember how you said
you’d never forget…
~ J R Turek
June 28, 2020
Hour 24
He gave me a present,
Not bought,
Not pretty and gift wrapped in silvery paper,
Not shoved in a box with a card on top,
He will give me an idea.
Gift wrapped in words,
Only thought of, not thought through
I can make it my own.
Take my gift and make it something special, he said,
take that idea and make it something magical,
Then wrap it in words and re-gift it,
I won’t mind,
Spread the ideas and watch as they blossom,he said.
A gift can be more than a material object.
It can be creativity that changes the world…
…one idea at a time.
Night knows when to happen.
It creeps slowly at dusk
making it harder to see.
And when it allows the sun to set,
it breathes heavily like an old man.
It is still and steady.
So many times we give a gift
wanting something in return.
But there is a gift I have received
I wonder if you’ve heard.
It is the gift one size fits all
and guess what it is free.
It’s given to the entire world
it’s given to you and me.
It’s the gift of eternal salvation
that wipes our sins away.
The gift of eternal salvation
with the price already paid.
It’s the gift of God’s Son, Jesus
for all to be set free.
The gift of God’s Son, Jesus
for all eternity.
He asks that you would want Him
and ask Him to come in.
Then He will live inside of you
and let a cleansing begin.
Just ask Him for forgiveness
for the sins of your past.
And He will erase as you confess
and give you peace at last.
So why not take a minute
and ask Him in your heart.
Where you’ll receive the greatest gift
and my friend, a brand new start! 💌
by Del Bates