Powerfully penned, Brenda. Excellent write my friend. Appreciate you.

Damian

Tremendous work. Gripping.

Love this! Also, great music taste!

Dark and dragged kicking, we love it Lady

An army of you?! The world isn’t ready! LOL
This is rockin! I like the edginess of it, too. It shows a side of you that doesn’t get aired much. The grit and the power-punch lines. I love it! That’s my girl! (Woman!)
Keep that fire baby, you’re going to need it soon! What!

Aww thank you but you are biased! lol
Self-righteous never, smug on rare occasions!
Hey I’m human not perfect lol

This is a rip up the road poem. A take no prisoners poem! A plasma TV for the ship’s deck matte poem! Walk the plank on roller skates poem. Eat a box of pop tarts in one sitting poem. A half-gallon of chocolate milk in one chug poem. lol Good one.

Powerfully penned, Adel. Love the vibe and attitude of this write my friend. Excellent work. Appreciate you.

Damian

Love the music vibes. Great ink.

Superb work.

Thanks for you efforts dear. 🤎

I love this place. So many sweet and fabulously talented folk!

Thanks for the update, Fia. Thank you for all that you do my friend. Appreciate you, cuz.

Damian

Thanks for including me in the loop too Fia .. and for the amount of work that you do on our behalf behind the screens .. Neville 😎🌻

You are doing a great job Fia. We know that you have other things to tend to as well, so taking the time to run things here is appreciated.

This is inspiring. Like the phoenix you will rise from the ashes. More resilient experience and wise. Love that stanza

How does that quote go? “To thy own self be true”? From Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”, I believe. As I was reading your poem Sappho, I thought, who else could we be, but ourselves. We may conform to social norm, but this would still be our choice to do so, still ourself, no one else. I think it is sometimes very hard to buck the system, to do the right thing. Someone or something may guide your thinking and or actions, but it is still you, yourself who decides to do this. In reading your poem, I arrived at Hamlet and thought, who else could I be but myself. And then I thought, even rising from the ashes has consequences and responsibilities. I think perhaps another question might be, are we willing to own up to those responsibilities and consequences?

I enjoyed reading your poem Sappho, it gave me a lot to consider. And it also made me appreciate who I am and want to be. Thank you for sharing.

Curt

Too few essay such thoughts, thank you for echoing truths we are forgetting 🌼

Being human is a poisoned chalice from which we all drink.It can give so much but demands a fee.
Your poem goes do a deeper problem about how mindlessly we wander through our precious days.
Well done Elke 🙏

Fun Fact: I burned my feet pretty bad in a fire when I was a kid. It sucked. LOL. It was just one of several shitty things I endured. Yet it did indeed make me a stronger person as I grew up. We choose our outlook. And that outlook finds the path.
Your write is an awesome testament to that. It could be printed and carried in one’s pocket before undertaking a particular task. This is a great example as to why we write. It builds our character, too.
Very inspiring write.

When the high waves of life try to drown you, you have only two options- to give up or to mobilize all your resources and swim! In the process of learning to swim and standing up for myself, I learned many great lessons about gratitude, forgiveness, and the importance of helping and loving one another.
Thank you so much for sharing a glimpse of your personal experience, and of course for your kind comment, dear Her!

Very motivating. The world will kick your butt if you let it. Great ink.

A truly magical and inspiring piece of poetry Elke. You have a gift when you write poetry. Nice work.

You are a fabulous writer Elke.
It’s always nice to fall into the cooling water.💚

It does take courage to go against the norm.
You don’t know what you’re made of until it turns messy.
But that feeling of getting burned is its own form of motivation.
To rise in spite of having the wind nocked out of you.
Righteous write!

Powerfully penned, Elke. Excellent write my friend very inspirational indeed. Appreciate you.

Damian

Nice set up. Can’t wait to read the rest

Powerfully penned, Benjamin. I concur with Fia, excellent write my friend. Appreciate you.

Damian

thunder, now passed,
praising rain on a lean-to…
this high & sky
full of mist & wist,

satisfied shine, rich
with daggered eyes in flight…
earth & alighted, poor
with cosmic delusion…

cockatrice glare
through fog & moon.

‘thunder, now passed,
praising rain on a lean-to…
this high & sky
full of mist & wist,

satisfied shine, rich
with daggered eyes in flight…
earth & alighted, poor
with cosmic delusion…

cockatrice glare
through fog & moon.’

Superbly but subtly visual, pensive yet explicit? Why not, sez I.