A beauty that charmed every eye,
Made passers-by pause and then sigh;
With grace she did bloom,
Dispelling all gloom,
Yet she slipped and fell from so nigh.
Summer slipped out the back
Packed up the heat so fast
Didn’t even say goodbye
Just left sand in my shoes
Folded the bright short sleeves
Boxed up the ocean blue
Now every hanger’s heavy
With thicker
Darker hues
I hope we have a mild winter
Let the cold come soft
Come slow
I’m pulling on my long johns
Flannel on my shoulders
Watching one more season go
I hope we have a mild winter
Give me one more gentle day
I’ll walk that same old block
Then sit at my computer
Do a little work for God and stayTop of my long johns on
Flannel shirt buttoned high
Bottom half hugging my legs
As that gray rolls over the sky
Round and round the block
Same cracks in the same old street
Breath like a faded cloud
Keys waiting back on my seat
Quick bite at the kitchen counter
Crumbs on a chipped white plate
Living room light like a little altar
Cursor blinking
Asking me to wait
Screen glows on my tired face
Hands on the keys like I’m in prayer
Small quiet tasks in a quiet place
Believing someone’s with me there
autumn wept as leaves fell and like memory slipped soundlessly away
On love’s straightforward way I slipped,
When careless, gone astray, I slipped.
When taking a shortcut in life,
Walking on feet of clay I slipped.
Spoiled a spotless pure persona,
When on a one night’s stay I slipped.
She’s not the same person since then,
Forgotten I’ve today, I’d slipped.
And still, courage the least I have
To confess it and say I’d slipped.
_________________________
Ghazal | 14.09.2025 | life, love,
Time was not far we would get into bed,
Put head on to pillow and fall asleep
Under the grace and by Morpheus aided,
Unto another world in one smooth leap
Embraced by Hypnos, in a state higher.
Why O sleep, hast thou slipped away from life,
In bed, eyes shut, my mind when fights false fire—
In digital orchestra gone too rife,
And too stimulated, under-rested,
Mind in buzz long after the curtain falls,
Not wind down slowly, getting crash-landed,
Wake in doubt, nap in guilt the day as calls.
O carry no loads in mind, night might say,
In heeding not, dear price we seem to pay.
------------------------------------------
Sonnet |01.07.2025| sleep
I think I suffered an accidental,
maybe physical, maybe mental.
Was there something that I missed?
Perhaps, my brain has slipped a disc.
On a banana peeling he slipped
That caused him to have a large dipped
On the side of his leg
So, he had to beg
But it seemed like a movie scripted
He walked on a path,
Wearing his green hat
Called an old lady ugly,
And a man fat
Slipped on a yellow peel,
There fell his hat!
Revealing a smooth egg
And time slipped by
Not giving a warning.
When I look back at those photos,
At those memories and moments;
And they slipped by
Not giving a warning.
I could have clicked those photos or
I could have been in those
Memories and moments.
I can’t remember if we held hands or talked for hours,
If we spent hours staring at the roof rumbling about
Boys and life and crushes and love failures.
I can’t remember you ringing me or
I you for no reason at all but
Just to whine about our mundane jobs and daily chores.
And time slipped by
Not giving a warning.
Oh, li’l sister, I know you not.
Do you want to go back and do things differently?
Do you think, we would have had the same hearts?
Beating at the same pace and rhythm,
Dancing to the symphonies of melancholy,
Gifting flying kisses to each other every time we hang up calls.
Will I call you when I am in trouble or
Would you call me when you feel blue?
Oh, li’l sister, I know you not.
And time slipped by
Not giving a warning.
I watched love cross a bridge, never to return;
and lamented its loss the moment it did.
Lies set that bridge on fire, as I watched it burn
and cried inside, though those tears I quickly hid.
What was meant to last forever slipped away
and left me only memories of that day.
Happiness proved itself fickle and fleeting,
while the one I trusted most was caught cheating.
She slipped Inside my pillow and began to massage my temples,
I was a tad hungover, so a female ghost
from the distant past was most welcome.
Her fingertips felt as soft and as attentive as ever,
but when the sun came up
and the cold light shattered my eyes,
I forced myself to get out of bed
just to get away from her constant nagging.
....
Nota bene: I sent the pillow back
to Mike Lindell, the ‘My Pillow’ guy.
I see the dying rays of a setting sun
Knowing they are reflections in your eyes
I see you put joy and happiness on the run
With your slowly-released tempered sighs.
I see your struggle to speak words aloud
For spoken words, time has slipped away.
I see your trembling hands reaching out
Grasping your last ounce of courage left.
I see your lips have lost their lovely pout
Soon you will leave all who love you bereft.
I see your struggle to speak words aloud
For spoken words, time has slipped away.
Some things you feel are important to say
I see grimaces of pain furrow your brow
If only there was more time, another way
I see time to say our last goodbye is now.
I see your struggle to speak words aloud
For spoken words, time has slipped away.
FIRST PLACE WINNER
written August 8, 2021
submitted to "Your Favorite August 2021 Poem" Contest
sponsored by Constance La France
I took a step
My feet got wet
Just a drop of spit on my lip
I wink my eye
As then I’d cried
Because I’d slipped and fell on a rusty nail
6/27/21
Written words by James Edward Lee Sr. 2021©
I'll always remember that humid July day when you, my best friend, almost slipped away. The shock of finding you so cold and stiff. It took four paramedics your body to lift. When I saw you on that stretcher being rushed away, all I could do was to sob and pray. I knew that you had been feeling depressed but I never could have guessed the rest. Unaware of the turmoil you felt with in, I had made morning plans to go to the gym. My inner voice which I frequently doubt made me take a different route. God chose me as a timely alarm, to halt your intentions of doing self-harm. It's now been five years since that horrible day. I'm so grateful to God for not taking you away.
Too soon the table turned,
This comfort is swept away.
and the blessings withered,
I smart under the gall,
my cloak is torn from me,
harassed by owners of this earth,
I am plunged into dirt just for a pry,
and now I quip under the lash,
snapped in the stock,
my limb are cut away,
lured through a whorish deceit.
To vanities of a few days.
this does not do for me,
and now like a prodigal,
I cease from this voyage.
I would rather be in a cottage with like minds,
in the company of Jesus,
than be cloaked in this stocking horse of a mere phantom.
I am a stranger here,
His cross ever my rest and stay
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