trained his sights on those wanting a return to glory

                                                                                        Attribution: Potro

Image: Trump Hotel and Tower, Chicago [here]

the 12 given words:

thrust twist unfettered run train  family 

check page sing grill finish flower

thrust into the limelight by a twist of fate

unfettered freedom to talk an advantage of late

had designs of being the country’s chief executive

never given a chance initially to run for the top office

trained his sights on those wanting a return to glory

to make it back to be a great country

family values given a check found a few worried

of ‘undesired’ elements on issues of illegality or creed

took a page off on such a concern promising to build a wall

public opinion was divided if such measures could forestall

still he managed to ‘sing’ praises of how fired

up others were for the nomination that he so desired

grilled on his outlandish ideas but to him not a bother

could just finish with the coveted ‘flower’ come November

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl # 259 and
Kerry's at Real Toad's The Tuesday Platform

Where art thou, senses?

                                                                                     Attribution: Jim
Where art thou, senses?
How I dream of love at first sight
Don't give me sight without vision
How I dream of fair hearing
Not rumor-mongering that cause dissensions
How I dream of peace not sufferings and destruction
If only the perpetrators taste their own medicine
How I dream of the sweet smell of success
Not ostensibly friends that stab in the back
How I dream of the touch of class
Where all are winners in contention

Mindful though as a given
How I dread of being a modern day dinosaur
With big body mass but littlest brains
But most of all not to dream like a bird
Lest being referred to as bird-brained

For Sanaa's Prompt Nights  -  dreams and
Rosemary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #313

So much in so little space

Image: So much in so little space (fair use)

A classic example discerned from the writings
Opening with an assurance of being 'safe and sound'
Wishing the same for the recipients' well-being

Felt guilty of shortcomings of postcard writing
Being too brief promising to write a 'real' letter later
Fulfilling the idea then of just an initial alerting

Wishing well to everyone with 'lots of love'
Ending still apologetic with justification of being 'in haste'
Somewhat akin to a present day twitter message

It all goes to show that postcard writing
is an art by itself and demands prior thinking            

For Kerry's at Real Toad's
-  send a postcard 
Grace's at d'Verse's OLN # 176

Isn't a hammock an ideal customer?

                                                                                      Attribution: Joakim Berndes
Image: Relaxation (here)

Sunday's Whirligig's 11 of 12 given words:
chair wobbles grass spill sheep chilly 
waters worry enemies safe watch 

3WW given words
jitters lavish
icky (repulsive or distasteful, excessively sweet)

Poets United
acceptance

A chair wobbles on uneven grass

It gives jitters trying to avoid a spill

Even a sheep grazing might find reason to be careful

Desire is to be lavish with time in her hands

Happy in a way far from the icky youngsters

The chilly waters of the sea nearby  provides a balance

To dispel worry the outright enemies of idle minds

It is safe to perceive quiet as a right of the golden years

Just watch the diet and exercise to tone the tired muscles

Isn't a hammock an ideal customer?

Acceptance of privileges accruing to a special breed

Who had contributed to society in various ways before

It is now pay-back time!

MMT's Sunday's Whirligig #70
Thomg's 3WW #490 and
Sumana's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  acceptance

In the heat of the moment

                                                                                                    Attribution: Famartin

Image:Dried up Landscape (here)

Streaming down the cheeks
In the heat of the moment
Up to the nineties
Whatever little shades sought
Crying for torrential rain

Dried up water-beds
Tired melody of birds
Within shriveled leaves
Sun fiercely in tightened vice
Little creatures exhausted

Note: Tanka of 5-7-5-7-7 syllables

Walter's Tuesday's Poetics at 
d'Verse's - drought or deluge

Summer rains longed for - a Haibun

                                                                                        Author: Michael Graham
Image: Langden Brook The recent
summer rains have eroded its bank.(here)

Whining alone behind closed doors. Sitting rather restless 

he felt a let-down by the angry weather. A Summer sun 

imposing its will and hottest it seemed in recent memory. 

Curses would only worsen the impact he knew this for a 

fact. Past experience pointed to some semblance of truth. 

Better option was to go along and endure so the hurt would 

make itself bearable. A twisted smile dampened the sun's 

face a little but just a tad from its brightness. Earthlings 

might rant and jump but to the sun it was the least of its 

worry. Instead it unleashed its might.Even so not at its 

worst but the absence of tact and sympathy were apparent. 

Solace in the shadows or perhaps to down a few glasses 

of refreshing cool ice lemon tea would make it less life 

threatening. Summer rains longed for unquestionably

Yearning Summer's wet
Blue skies fiercely unfriendly
Chirping's out of tune

For Toni's at d'Verse's Haibun Monday #17

Fascination with waves lapping the sides

                                                      Attribution: John Oxley Library of Queensland
Image: Sailing boat Nina (a twelve footer skiff)
on the Brisbane River, 1935 (here)

the 10 of 12 given words:
skiff (boats small enough for sailing or rowing by one person.)
transmigration (the passage of a soul after death into another body)
anechdoche (in a conversation where everyone is talking but nobody is listening)
backlit (a light placed behind an actor to highlight the subject from the background)
resonance (abnormally large vibration produced in response to an external stimulus)
damselfly (non-stinging insect with wings folded back in line with the body when at rest).
careen damage bitter fidget

He never had it so good
Very adept finally at it
Fascination with waves lapping the sides
Made him to venture out to sea

A skiff voyager all to himself
Done with transmigration to a seasoned sailor-boy
Far from any anechdoche crowd
He was basking in the likes of  a successful actor
Backlit bright, shadowed by the sun's rays
He could react easily to the resonance 
of  the strong currents below

Far from shore no needling from any damselfly
To skillfully careen against walls of sea-water
How he loved it!

There was little damage to his person
Perhaps sun-burnt a little
But no bitter experience to fidget about
Aye aye sir! He made the grade in style.

For Amber's MLMM's Wordle #119
with the given words and
Marian's at Real Toad's - the tuesday platform

A call to be real to take a real look

                                                                                  Author:  Littlefoot01
Image: Very happy with life (here)

the 12 given words:
call look first dissolve smell spell 
give branch  spin tide trip vote

Call to be real to take a good look first

To dissolve the smell of things wrong, impacting on the self

Cast in a spell one is not ready to give in

Is your life a circus?

A searching question!

A branch of concern 

Life is great as it is

A spin to tide over trying times

A trip to vote in a dignified self

To be in firm control the contending stance

Life is not to be laughed at

There may be some clowning

But life is serious business

(90 words)

Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #258
Magaly's at Real Toad's   - “Is your life a circus?"
Mama Zen's -  word count not exceeding 90 words
Sherry's at PU's Poetry Pantry #312

Wretched in its belly to fend for itself

                                                                                Author: Jonathan Billinger
Image: Neglected cottage (here)

the 12 given words:
softening hummingbird hover
peony (shrubs having large pink, red, white, or yellow flowers)
burdock (broad-leaved weed that stick to the clothing)
dwindle weeds loss garden whirring stem patterns

3WW given words
fatal harmonious gaping

A softening of the backyard to the Autumn sun

Wretched in its belly to fend for itself

While a hummingbird hovered above

Lost in the thickening undergrowth below

Were little creatures scampering cautiously

Colorful peony dwindled unabashedly

Overtaken by burdock and other weeds

Such loss of desire of a disheartened garden

Where man was not seen anymore whirring with a lawn-mower

Stemmed largely by the crippling effects of arthritis

Fatal to a harmonious exhibition of greenery 

Such were the patterns of existence

Of many elderly couples left on their own

A gaping inconsistency of purpose of parental neglect 

For MMT's Sunday's Whirligig #69 and
Thomg's 3WW week 489

It opened up a whole new world

                                                                          Author: Snowyowls at Chinese Wikipedia
Image: A Loving Couple (here)

Hunger at its most blatant

There was enough to eat

There was companionship

There was the family

There were friends

But they were not the same

Hunger was to blame

Emotional hunger to be delicately satiated

Hunger to hold hands
For a belief thought justified
To cuddle and to share sacred moments
For better or for worse

 To tread in but gracefully by and large

It opened up a whole new world

There were kinks and hiccups

Yes, but they didn't matter much

The biggest change in Hank's life

Blissful for the past 45 years

Thank you my dearest!

For Gayle's at d 'Verse 5th Year Celebration
Part 5; Revisiting Anthony Desmond

a natural course of movements

                                                                                               Author : NASA
Image: The four gas giants in the solar system,
from top: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter (here)

Set in motion, in cool sentiments each
on its own orbit observed from afar.
Would one wonder how the beauty
of movements could be maintained?
(140 characters)

The Universe, a natural course of
placements devoid of unwanted collisions
Precision of immense proportions
Without the hand of Providence?
(140 characters)

For Bjorn's at d'Verse's 5th Anniversary celebration
Part 4, Catching up with Samuel Peralta - to write
a tweet message of 140 characters

Tugging feverishly at his conscience

                                                                                                  Attribution:  Evstafiev
Image: A Hungry Child (here)

“I am cold,
even though the heat of early summer is adequate.
I am cold because I cannot find my heart.”  - Sebastian Barry
-  to write a poem inspired by the above

Much to his dismay

Not wanting to reveal his weakness

He had been warned of the risks

of being too taken up with sympathy

But a sudden surge worked on him

Seeing the little girl barely nine

Following him with her baby brother

looking tired and hungry in her arms

He wanted to but he had been warned

If he succumbed to his feelings

by giving a dollar or two

the next minute the whole crowd would be trailing him

Wanting some of the same

The strategy of beggar street urchins

No, he must seek relief to alleviate his coldness

Tugging feverishly at his conscience

It went unheeded for a time through his system

He scrambled to find his heart

He was lost

He took the gamble and gave in

He shoved it into the hands

What a dollar could do

She beamed a big smile!

It made his day

He then whisked himself into the shadows

away into the crowd 

before word could get around

Happy for doing a favor to his deflated guilt!

For Walter's at d'Verse's 5th anniversary celebration
Part 3  - laurie kolp & a summer continuance

held in high esteem

                                                                                                     

                                                                                         Attribution: Jonn Leffmann

Image: Tending to the Bar (here)

the 12 given words:
antlers evil evasive residual struggle dahlia transfuse  pluck
methuselah (a patriarch an extremely old man; a very large wine bottle holding 6 liters.
presentiment (a feeling that something evil is about to happen; foreboding.)
fourth rule (there’s an exception to every rule.)
barkeep (a person who owns or manages a bar)

held in high esteem unwavering by nature

with pretensions of a highly informed person

barely a struggle to maintain this stature

guardedly careful when transfusing information 

antlers held up high with no measure of evil

avoiding presentiments so as not to cause alarm

even in the course of shaking a methuselah bottle

such was the dignity, tact and prestige in a person

he could appear unwittingly evasive 

a residual fault in an unguarded moment

Likened it to plucking a dahlia pensive

a fourth rule treading daintily in all innocence

Such were the hazardous challenges of a barkeep

MLMM's Wordle #118

with the given words

Sevenling (happy moments)

                                                                          Attribution: Bùi Linh Ngân
Image: Satisfaction (here)

Pleasure centers on three likable satisfactions
Love for emotional balance good food for burping
And reading and writing to tickle the brains

Bouncy souls would be bouncing more and better
If the kitty is full of greenbacks in full support
To ensnare the unsuspecting target male or female

Life is worth living with such a wholesome package

For Victoria's at d'Verse's second in the
series of the 5th Anniversary celebrations
Poetry and Painting Embrace:
We Can’t Forget Claudia Schoenfeld

Going through life's mysteries - a Quadrille

                                                                       Attribution: Joaquim Alves Gaspar
                                                                                Creative Commons Attribution 2.5 Generic
Image: An Journey not Planned (here)

Going through life's mysteries
A journey of sorts
Extending the reach
Wanting to clear a burden
But it has got a strangle hold
Holding back the smoothness of progress

Favor me an answer
Why is it necessary to stifle growth?
Why?
Not being fair!

(44 words)

For Grace's at d'Verse Part 1,
Catching Up with Brian Miller
-  5th anniversary celebration
to write a Quadrille and to
include the word  -  journey

He felt numb thinking about it

                                                                                       Attribution: Richard Webb
Image: This black sheep like any
ram is not to be trusted (here)

the 12 given words:
numb succumb crack crumble lock luck spark irk
thrum (to recite or tell in a monotonous way)
chum thumb slick 

He felt numb thinking about it 

but he was not to succumb

not to crack under pressure

Many had crumbled before him

They failed to lock out such elements in time

Unashamedly they ran out of luck

It sparked a debate in his mind

He had long been bothered

It irked him to be thrummed and

to be bombarded with a slew of spins

They were too high flown to be believed

Determined to side-step an impending heartache

He decided not to be too chummy with the new guy

The next time they meet he could just thumb his nose at him 

He could smell him from a distance

A slick character if there was one

For Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #257
with the given words and
Kerry's at Real Toads's   the tuesday platform

Led many astray

                                                    Attribution: Coyau / Wikimedia Commons / CC-BY-SA-3.0

Image: A Spent Force (here)

Unsuspectingly
Entangled in the branches
Spent force deflated

Rough winds of summer
Quite unfriendly by nature
Led many astray

For Chev's CARPE DIEM - Utabukuro
(bag of poems) #13 inspired by Jack
Kerouac's  'a balloon caught' and
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #311

Often ends with violence - A Choka

                                                                                                     Author: Paulrfss
Image: Monument commemorating
civilian casualties during WW2 (here)

Choka - comprises 5/7 syllable couplets 
and to end with an extra seven-syllable line

Hate is a portent
element lying dormant

It gleefully waits
To unleash its ugly head

Triggered off with words
Often ends with violence

Once released it will
survive with life of its own

Funny enough that
many find it amusing

It thrives in twisted
minds claiming  a victory

If only they had
to experience the carnage
that they had themselves started

For MLMM's B&P’s Shadorma &
Beyond - to write a choka and
Sanaa's Prompt Nights's - hate’s a 
parasite that rots the soul

Fighting off the strange power

                                                                            Artist: Milena Pavlović Barili
Image: Cupid's Overpowering Stance (here)

Engrossed in wanting to create a masterpiece

Of putting splashes of paint daintily on canvas

'Why am I being stubborn not giving it a miss'

She lamented still trying against the obvious

Fighting off the strange power that overwhelmed

Pulling her away from her resolve so profound

Not realizing the many attempts

Of Cupid's arrow playing havoc in the background

(60 words)

For Words Count With Mama Zen

at Real Toads  -  to write  a 60 word 

poem inspired by the image

How she loved the freedom

                                                                                        Attribution: Andrew Storms
Image: Happiness  (here)

3WW given words:
carefree ear-splitting
deadpan (a face showing no expression)

Sunday's Whirligig's the 12 given words:
thumb flick lonely parakeet sits plum 
buttocks game shelf nags cook turn

Poets United  -  absence

Carefree days were back and problems kept at bay

No more ear-splitting screams reverberating across the room

She could just thumb her nose deadpan at anything 

that moved with a flick of her fingers

Such was the feeling unshackled off the bonds of a relationship

How she loved the freedom

She felt lonely though, as a parakeet sitting plum on her buttocks

But game for anything to fill up the void

His absence was telling initially as shadows of movements dancing on the shelf

That came incessantly foraging unto her feminine innocence

But now she was spared

At least there were no more nags or long discourse

She could now cook up some ideal scenes of happiness

To turn an empty room into something boisterous

A celebration of sorts with a big hurrah

Yes, finally, evaporation!

He was gone for good, forgotten!

MMT's Sunday's Whirligig #68
Thomg's 3WW #488
Sumana's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  absence

A Japanese Garden

                                                                                            Attribution: Fg2

Greenery in Spring

Water soothing to the eye

Nature at its best

Image: A Japanese Garden
Emphasizing a water feature typically with a bridge or even waterfalls at
other times (here)

                                                                                                                              Attribution: Fg2

Stones bushes and space

Ideal physical balance 

Paradise's yearnings

Image: A Japanese Rock Garden
Emphasizing natural rocks with small bushes. The ground is covered in
gravel that is raked into various patterns.(here)

For MLMM heeding haiku with Chev's  - a japanese garden

Often seen as green wraps for sushi fills

                                                                                         Attribution: Douglas Perkins

Image:  A wakame and lettuce salad 

with seaweed, beans, and tomatoes (here)

Wakame seaweed salad very unassuming
Healthy simple Japanese specialty meals
Seaweed most user-friendly for exotic dining
Often seen as green wraps for sushi fills

New easy to carry package is now available
Simply add water and wait for five minutes
Simple richness of Seaweed Salad on the table
With sesame soy dressing to make it exquisite

For Marian's the Tuesday Platform 
at Real Toads

Not to pass off something unusual

                                                                                                  Attribution: Takeaway
Image: Ready to eat Herring (here)

Not to pass off something unusual
Typically common and freely available
Herring with chopped onions that was the call
To be gulped slowly in ways casual
To the many road-side takeaway stalls
Hank followed as shown by the locals

First was to pick it up by the tail
Roll it over the chopped onions
To hold it then in front of the face
To slowly lower it into the mouth
They took little gulps with such relish
That was the way to take herring
Hank not realizing it was all raw fish

Hank was in Holland many years ago

Note:
Apparently they added in the right amount
of salt into the containers at sea so that it
was seasoned enough upon reaching shore

For Mary's at PU's
Poetry Pantry #310

Love for fresh flowers out of season

                                                                                              Attribution: Kaz Andrew
Image: Fresh Flowers (here)

the 12 given words:
child filled room bright blooms love 
season reason wild have when irrational,

3WW
wasteful addicted bruise

The child in her had filled the room
Nauseating to see all the bright blooms
Love for fresh flowers out of season
Wasteful just for few days was the reason

Wild imagination unashamedly addicted 
Lots of money to have them imported
Bruised her ego when hubby objected
Seen as irrational but she was not affected

MMT's Sunday's Whirligig#67
Thomg's 3WW # 487

Shoddy preparation could even be fatal

                                                                                                   Photo: Alessio Albi
Image: Surfacing from the Deep (here)

Insistence of  cooling off from the summer's heat

Testing coolness of the water creeping up to the ears

To be immersed in a tranquil pool shaded from the light

Was it a way of maintaining rapport with nature?

She had warned of the consequences

Misgivings of what awaited below the still waters

was quickly answered upon surfacing from the deep

To be entangled with a loose confusion of choking debris

Reflection of trouble ensuing when plunging the unknown

That should put some sense into him

Would I be able to sustain the impact? he mused
But risks taken could go along any directions, she said
Anticipation could reduce possibilities of errors, she added
Can life be tolerable if one is to give way a little? he asked

He had learnt meeting half-way was a problem solving mechanism

Mindful though where risk factors were compromised
Taken lightly shoddy preparations could even be fatal

Anarchy in thoughts might well be contributory to failures

MLMM's Photo Challenge #120
Susan's at PU's Midweek Motif  -  compromise

Envy ran wildly through his system

                                                                         Attribution: Jonathan Billinger
Image: Succulent Tomatoes on the Vines (here)

the 12 given words:
through plants ground order right 
stalk lady cross lick only end ride

Envy ran wildly through his system

Felt the despair turned in his belly

When he spied the green luscious plants

All in a row in the ground in orderly

fashion but sadly 'on the other side'

where the grass was greener literally

What did he do wrong that they did right

It was akin to stalking a beautiful lady

Surreptitiously on the sly following

Not knowing how she would react

When the moment came upon discovering

that there was an admirer following her tracks

It crossed his mind on how to lick the malady

If only he knew how as he kept eyeing the wonders

of succulent tomatoes, cabbages and red chillies

to no end. It was a long ride to getting green fingers

Brenda's Sunday Whirl Wordle #255 and
Kerry's The Tuesday Platform at Real Toads

That war is a game

                                                                    Attribution:National Nuclear Security Admin 

Image: A Pilotless QF-80 jet fighter 

of the 3205th Drone Group (here)

That war is a game
to outwit the enemy at minimal costs
Soldiers are just playthings

Drone warfare cuts through
Causing havoc behind enemy
lines. Troops then advance
for the finishing touch
Isn't it fun for the Generals?

Any loss of civilian lives
Dismissed as collateral damage
Without as much as a tinge of guilt!

(55 words)

Kerry's Flash 55 at Real Toads
Mary's at PU's Poetry Pantry #309

Only moments before very much like us

                                                                                                      Attribution: Ggia
Image: Syrian and Iraqi Refugees arriving in
Greece not too long ago (here)

They used to walk alone trudging slowly

Eyes on the asphalt not gazing yonder

With no designated directions aimlessly

A forked road ahead was not a bother

At other times gathered together in the shadows

Self-conscious not overly friendly among friends

Helplessly quiet like a sheep in the meadows

Around them their worldly possessions

These days their numbers turned bigger

Displaced from their homes, harassed

Family members in tow across borders

Some drowned when their boats capsized

Only moments before very much like us

Caught in the cross-fire of human conflicts

Such misfortune a tragedy of the luckless

The growing numbers of society's weeds

For Rommy's at Real Toad's  -  weeds in the garden