All writing

the say it is the war to end all wars,
Mom
do you believe it

I crawl the trenches on all fours,
Mom
I hope to see it

I’m cold and hungry all the time,
Mom
I got your letter

My eyes are red from all the grime,
Mom
Hope it gets better

The Germans sing songs in their trench,
Mom
When there’s no cannon

In France but no time to learn French,
Mom
How’s Frank and Shannon

I love you Mom, no, it’s not tears,
Mom
It will end, surely

I dreamt of the parade, and cheers,
Mom
It will end, surely

I Love You

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784032-War-Letter-Home

space is a giant light sail
torn apart by the pressure
of photons streaming out of novae
accelerating, they send their messages
catch me if you can
laughing at our helplessness

Author notes: image from Phys.org https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784806-and-this-is-the-wonder-thats-keeping-the-st

and then the day came
when the eye of the hurricane
was no longer a metaphor

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784810-Surreal-images-56

My ode today is to our even friends
To every other integer a pair
Providing odds with sorely missing ends
When split in half, results are clean and fair
Oh, even numbers, let me count the ways
In which you double the expected gain
I wouldn't deign to damn you with faint praise
You are for every oddity its bane
It may be even that the subject's odd
Still, don't you tell me that this is for naught

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2782498-2021-Form-Poetry-Rounds---July-

when your name is a pun
it so happens with Twain
mark my words, it will stun
the conceited and vain

I do shudder to think
What he would do with me
Dunk me into the drink
Mississippi runs free

Would it be Camelot
Where I could roam as squire
And occasionally spot
A fair maiden’s desire

Perhaps Tom, Jim and Huck
I’ll be painting the fence
Anything for a buck
I got plenty expense

Might he send me abroad
Boy, would that be a ball
To be fair – I’d be awed
If he noticed at all

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784820-Fantasy-1033 for those who are not familiar with all his works https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Innocents_Abroad

due to circumstances
beyond our control
all your second chances
to obtain parole
have been exhausted

as the year advances
we will take a poll
please provide finances
they do play a role
it has been costed

whether it enhances
our eventual goal
don’t plan any dances
or to take a stroll
or to be roasted

but, marshalling phalanxes
not just any troll
using sharper lances
they’ll write nothing droll
and it’ll be hosted

meantime furtive glances
don’t work on the whole
guards eschew romances
damage to their soul
or so they boasted

Author notes: wc 93 https://allpoetry.com/contest/2783701-Start-or-finish-your-poem-with-Due-to-circu

no better testament
to our age of impermanence
than tattoo stickers

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2783625-Written-on-the-Body

our vampire, his name nosferatu
the rumor says truly forgot to
suck blood on occasion
his new persuasion
suggests that he really ought not to

and now he is just skin and bones
he’s selling whatever he owns
and looks for a portal
to make him a mortal
stopped charging top interest on loans

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784720-A-Dark-Double-Limerick

the evil screen, it glares at me
its face utter contempt
its emptiness won't let me be
denies every attempt
to click away, divert my eyes
its dark mood is still bright
far from benevolent, but wise
torturing me to write

I do confess, it's love and hate
oh Lord, I'm going to be late
here, here -- here's one more sentence
please! it is my repentance

Author notes: lc 12 image from Webopedia https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784779-Bring-It-to-Life

some lives are expertly arranged mosaics
some hastily sawn together quilts

some are puzzle pieces
with no pictures on them

assemble at your own risk

Author notes: wc 25

another day, another drake
the warriors grumble but go on
chimeric spawn of bat and snake,
we’ll hunt you till the break of dawn
your days of butchering our sheep
are at an end, we do not sleep

oh mighty warrior, don’t kill!
the last descendants of our breed
deny yourself this sordid thrill
for when you cut us, don’t we bleed?
endangered species act, rejoice!
and now it seems, you have no choice

Author notes: lc 12 https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784239-Picture-Prompt-Poetry-Contest---English-Ses-noguest

the veterans of psychic wars
are terrified of bending spoons
the memories of deadly tours
the strumming of familiar tunes

the mysteries unlocked by brains
so wholly focused on the id
and interlocked, their bulging veins
the universe doing their bid

but not without a price, alas
and now the veterans do pay
mind energy converts to mass
unconscious nightmares have their way

the veteran’s staring at the spoon
as if it is a poisonous snake
and suddenly, it starts to swoon
his hands, unbound, begin to shake

not without price, those psychic wars
mind weapons, refuge of old fools
and if you listen, then of course
the end result is, the mob rules

Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784758-Veteran-of-the-psychic-wars--song-prompt image from youtube https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heavy_Metal_(film) The song... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jGKNaIXtBZQ Mob Rules from same soundtrack https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oO6uBQJ35N0