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.”

Mission Complete

Mission Complete

Three heroes unique and determined
stand at the opening gate
washed with blue light

Hour 17

@varenyas

Hour 17 – Geoff the Great – Image Prompt

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.

Hour 17 #Personal Prompt

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.

What Is Left Behind–Hour 17

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

If I had a Dragon (hour 17)

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

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

Aliens in Nightmare

Too much strength for them, those monsters.
I am too little to be broken into shards.
I’m in the kitchen, sharpening the knife
meant for vegetables and fish,
in preparation for what could be my last attempt
to stay alive if not properly handled.
As much as I love hard copies, I won’t hold
a poetry book. Both hands would be occupied.
I’ll go for the neck, left hand around the neck,
then the right holding the knife to the neck
And before the count of one, one of us must be down.
Imagine it’s me, I must slit the throat, blood dripping
down the neck. No! Don’t think of a reversed occurrence.
Have you seen a mythical monster before?
In your dream like my first after my mother’s demise?
Tell me about your long night, of screams and sweat.