those were the days
before flying cars
and trips to Mars
before digital moneys
and digital honeys
before erections
lasting longer than four hours
and elections
lasting longer than four days
those were the days
Did my phone finish charging yet?
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2783885-Picture-Prompt
If an enemy's enemies are friends,
and perfect the enemy of good,
is bad its friend?
so many perfectly bad poems
Author notes: wc 21 https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784662-22-words-or-less---PERFECT-GOOD---John-Stei-noguest
the chirping cicadas remind her
of that awful day seventeen years go
we can rebuild you, they told her
better than new, stronger
years later, it’s a natural extension
of her body, obeying without pause
whether she’s playing the piano,
or slicing an enemy just as she was sliced
cyborg, they call her now
and she sees more and more
of her kind, those that are
accident victims, or like her, killers
it’s truly a marvel of modern engineering
this hand that feels and touches
even better than the real thing.
It can even feel his ever so slight,
suppressed revulsion,
when she touches him softly
Author notes: wc 106 https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784674-Artwork-Inspired-Prompt
When the cop approached the car
all the pleading about Orson Welles
and wanting to see Rosebud
did not save him
from an indecency ticket
Author notes: "If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story". Orson Welles https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784678-Happy-Endings
desperate to describe the surreal image he saw
he frantically searched for a rhyme to Quetzalcoatl
his failure was total
Author notes: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/40884309107185433/
upon coming home
and seeing the cute new kitten
in the box next to the croissant
her dog loving husband complained:
but I wanted a beagle!
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784651-Funny-photo-prompts-52
to do or not to do is rarely the question,
though not as rarely as its rarified cousin.
But no one can top Yoda on the subject
Author notes: wc 27 image from eBay https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784663-27-words-or-less---do-noguest
the gods light campfires in the sky
arranging them in constellations
as if to signal, we're here,
come rescue us
from our forgotten temples
but city lights and satellites
dim the gods' messages
relegating them
to horoscope pages
Bots brought change to war
we fight by remote control
still die in person
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784562-Sci-Fi-Image-Haiku-Welcome-Contest-
Never mind the misses and the stumbles
Just you mind the Mrs. and her grumbles
it's one thing to tumble and to fumble
quite another with your marriage gamble
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2783927-Never-Mind-the-Misses-and-the-Stumbles
What perfect form the sonnet did achieve!
The syllables perform their sacred dance
Reread, out loud, accentuate, believe
The stresses must accommodate their stance
Compare to summer days or restless nights
Infuse the words with lyrical panache
And then you might just reach desired heights
(if good and lucky, you might make a splash!)
The critics? Let them ramble in free verse
Let’s see if someone imitates their art
If centuries from now, kids will rehearse
Or find a single line to touch the heart
The sonnet’s safe, as safe as it can be
A touch of Shakespeare sings for you and me
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2783492-Shakespearean-or-Petrarchan-Sonnets-
I swear you are making me curse
with this here pedestrian verse
It's not such a crime
occasionally -- rhyme!
Your poems will be non the worse
Author notes: https://allpoetry.com/contest/2784530-Limericks-