Ashes
“It bursts into flame,
And extinguishes its life,
Leaving behind nothing but ashes,
Only for life to be reignited,
Like a cold candle.
This is the story,
And great irony,
Of the beautiful phoenix and life.”
24 Poems ~ 24 Hours
“It bursts into flame,
And extinguishes its life,
Leaving behind nothing but ashes,
Only for life to be reignited,
Like a cold candle.
This is the story,
And great irony,
Of the beautiful phoenix and life.”
Mission Complete
Three heroes unique and determined
stand at the opening gate
washed with blue light
Hour 17
@varenyas


Oh, what’s this?
Visitors beneath the mountain?
Through still waters, they approach
Don’t they know whose territory they encroach?
Hm, bipedal, but no matter,
They will crawl in time. What alien creatures
They may be, I will make them mine.
The scientist had warned them, the door was locked with purpose
But did militants listen? No, they broke the surface.
They tore open a dormant seal, and drilled through ancient rock
In search of precious gems they dug, despite the local’s shock.
The scans showed metals, diamonds, gems, luxuries previously afforded them
Before they destroyed our own homeland with greed and blood condemned.
It took centuries to reach a planet
That suited the last mankind. And here they planned to ruin it
Those lessons left behind. The scientists had warned them,
And locals fought them off. The military released it
The great and mighty Geoff
Yes, a god is what they called me
In times of old I had a title
But now the humans come
And at my face do bridle
So I’ll win their favor, appeal to baser things
They can have the jewels, some can live like kings
But with their lust, a price is paid
As they live within my domain
They become crawling ones
Worms and snakes again
The fools can flee, but it’s too late
Their military sealed their fate
If only someone had warned man
Not to open up my gate.
Narcissist
Manipulative,Victim
Mimicking,Probing,Tackling
Always win the fight
Monster

Many faces of Envy
What form do you come in today Envy?
Your grass is greener than mine.
I bet you didn’t have to work hard for that.
everything just falls in your lap.
Envy which mask do you wear today?
I don the pretentious mask this time round.
I act like I care but I really don’t give a fuck bout you.
Envy, what form have you taken today?
Motivation – I will be a force that drives you.
Empowered you can do so much.
Envy what face do you wear today?
Toxic mask featuring social media.
Inspiring frustration, depression and resentment.
Envy what dangerous mask do you wear today?
Wishing I had what you have?
While forgetting to acknowledge
what you have been through to get to where you are.
Envy -natural, spontaneous human emotion.
The capacity to burrow into your soul.
Drive you to the ends of insanity.
Infiltrate your thoughts, words and actions.
Empower yourself not your envious thoughts.
It’s not often
not ever
that you see a BMW
with a fishing pole
on the roof rack
but there it was
in line at the Jack-in-the-Box drive-thru
It had a modest fishing hook dangling
tied to the tip of the rod by nylon line
a short piece that did not extend
to the reel
The car was not old/not new
the vapor clouding out the driver’s window
messing with my stereotype
Who was he trying to kid?
Not my question to ask
Each person on Maui
each car
each fishing pole
engaged in reinvention
with a pile of used-to-be’s
crowding the rear-view mirror
this included me
I was not immune to the view
My dragon is a loving pet
perched atop my castle, yet
he needs not a largish cave
just three-feet-tall
with wings a-wave.
His flames, they warm my hearth of old
and next to me, he heats bed cold
when hunger comes, he does a trick
catch, then kill, and braise it quick.
If criminals should come to call
they’d laugh at him, but then soon fall
his razor claws around their ears
and flee they would, with smoking rears.
My friends all love this purple guy
they travel far to meet and fly
and anytime we want to see
our most favorite country
France, we swiftly soar to thee.
Reality, I’d trade ye any day
to own this wee dragon, and stay
happily flapping in the sky
content to live and play with Fire.
– Sandra Johnson, June 26, 2022
Darkness All Around
Darkness all around.
All around me is blackness,
rich compacted soil.
Kindness in the burrow,
nowhere in the darkness.
Even leave room for another
so tomorrow we may die,
so tomorrow we shall die.
All around us blackness and grayness.
Look for the swarm at first light
look to the east to the mulch pile in the corner.
All is dark and quiet and all is calm
Round up the troops and let’s hum a song.
Our day is upon us, and
unto the course we will rush.
Next to the strawberry patch,
down in the dirt, there it will end.
Hour seventeen, 1am
Darkness All Around
(form Acrostic/ found verse)
Charlie the Mayfly.
v.j.calone

Source: A Blackout culled from Page 63, Chapter 9, Where The Crawdads Sing