Category Archives: Poem

The Red High Heels, For Writing Prompts, Jan 14, 2026

The Red High Heels

When I saw them in the store,
one half classy and one half whore,
the Crocs I had on seemed a bore.
Those heels were strappy, cut low, red.
I knew those heels would knock men dead.

As I left the store in them,
I was feeling oh so femme
until one shoe caught on my hem.
‘Twas then that I went tumbling down,
wrenched my ankle and tore my gown.

This fall was just a quirk, I thought,
with no regrets for what I’d bought,
for I was feeling oh so hot
that men would surely all be gawking.
I’d be more careful with my walking.

In Mexico, young girls or crones
go tripping over cobblestones
with no risk to their ankle bones.
Moving with sure-footed grace,
they never fall upon their face.

They chat as they cross streets together
even in inclement weather––
Their four-inch heels of strappy leather
negotiate each slippery rock,
barely noticing where they walk.

So I just got up from the floor
and sauntered once more towards the door
onto the street outside the store.
Where, once I got into the swing
I knew those shoes were just the thing.

My car was just one block away
but it was such a lovely day,
I thought that I would just sashay
up to the plaza for lunch and booze––
a trial run for my new shoes!

I belted up my dress a bit
so I would not trip over it.
Once more I felt sexy and fit
as I accomplished no small feat
negotiating each walk and street.

I must admit that I felt hobbled
as I walked over roadways cobbled.
Perhaps I grimaced, winced and wobbled.
But at the time, I was enthused––
thinking only of my new shoes.

When I reached the plaza and I walked by
a table of men, I felt each eye
peruse my legs from toe to thigh.
I knew that those new shoes were why
I held the gaze of every guy.

Maneuvering towards an empty table,
I walked as well as I was able,
but overlooked just one small cable
as I glanced over for their reaction.
That’s how I ended up in traction!

 

 

For Writing Prompts, the prompt is “Red.” Image by Kira Severinova on Unsplash

“Bride’s First Meal” for JustJoJan#26 “Rubbish”

Bride’s First Meal

It was a layered casserole of maize and squash and beans
whose contents were indigenous and well within her means.
She blanched and drained and layered in a glass loaf pan.
She followed all directions and plotted out each plan.

Dabbing on her favorite essence, she donned his favorite dress.
With the front door open, she didn’t have to guess
when he was walking up the lane and so she would be able
to greet him with a soulful kiss and dinner on the table.

But, her first endeavor she’d hoped would be delicious,
in fact was not ambrosial, but instead pernicious.
It seemed as though the entire dish might be having troubles
as it rose above its boundaries with ominous pops and bubbles.

In short,

These were the things that went amiss
after his entrance and their kiss.
She rued the day that dish was born.
The squash was tough, as was the corn.

Instead they went to Burger King
and ordered one of everything,
came on home and gorged on it,
so their first meal was quite a hit.

She pitched her failed attempt within
a nearby waiting rubbish bin.
She was smart and so good looking.
He didn’t wed her for her cooking.

For JustJoJan#26 the prompt is “rubbish.”

“Sugar, Sugar” for Just Jot it Chewy Prompt, Jan 12, 2026

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Sugar, Sugar––You and Me

Hey, Sugar Sugar, you’re the one for me.
I enjoy each calorie.
Smooth or frozen with chocolate on top,
washed down with a glass of pop.
Pile on the sprinkles and roll in nuts.
You’re the best, no ands or buts.
My little Sugar is smooth and dreamy.
My little Sugar chewy, creamy.

Shortbread, brownies, chocolate chip––
in my coffee, I like to dip.
But cheesecake, pie––other forms of sin––
I put on the table and dive right in.
Swim to the middle with my teeth,
see what there can be beneath
the icing or cream or chocolate sauce.
When dessert arrives, Sugar’s the boss.

Hey Sugar, Sugar, you’re the one
in snow or rain or blistering sun.
I don’t care if you’re hot or cold.
Baked Alaska is great, I’m told,
but I also like a big old cone
just piled with ice cream, all alone.
Don’t touch my Sugar, don’t you dare!!!
When it comes to Sugar, I don’t share!!!

The prompt for Linda’s Just Jot it, Jan 12, is “Chewy.”

“Magnanimity” for The Sunday Whirl, Jan 11, 2026

Magnanimity

Truth works its ancient magic, shaping a fluid world––
moment after moment coming slowly unfurled.
Whatever force holds power to shift errant mankind
beams blunt messages to Earth hoping we will find
those who will stifle envy and hate and greed to sow
seeds of magnanimity for all of those they know
are in need of shelter or clothing, food or care,
abolishing injustices, stripping  falsehoods bare.
That scroll upon which truth is written, unfurled once again,
reveals what some in power have called truth is really sin.

Prompt words for The Sunday Whirl are: beam blunt works moment own shape ancient envy truth scroll shift fluid

“Reconciliation,” Haiku for Tanka Tuesday, Jan 6, 2026

                           

  Reconciliation

I lift his picture
from the place I have pitched it.
Fortune cookie words:

~There is much of value in what you throw away.~

Remember once more
Joys he brought into my life,
as well as the pain.

 

The prompt for Tanka Tuesday is to write a Puente poem making use of any syllabic form. I choose Haiku. The quote in the middle stanza is from a fortune cookie. I know Haikus are not supposed to be named, but I couldn’t resist imparting a bit more information through a title.

Here is a link to more poems written to this prompt.

Image created with A.I.  after many failed attempts!!

Note: This is actually based on a true story, although what I found in my wastebasket after receiving that fortune in a fortune cookie was 1,000 pesos stapled to the inside of an envelope I’d crumpled up and thrown away.!!! And actually, the poem’s insight was one I achieved on my own, the wastebasket being a metaphor for a trial separation that ended in––you guessed it––a reconciliation.

At a Distance for Word of the Day, Jan 6, 2026

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At a Distance

Although you may be absent, thoughts of you still linger.
I think you have my memory wound around your finger,
for though I find the lack of you totally endurable,
my memory suffers from a need that’s totally incurable.
Friends may think the distance between us is a pity,
and yet with one so erudite, so pithy, loyal and witty,
it seems you linger on even after you are bound
off to other regions—your presence a mere sound
heard over the telephone, imagined o’er the keys,
so I may have your company any time I please.
Relationships are more, my dear, than a simple presence.
Sometimes merely words suffice to conjure up your essence.

 

I am answering this challenge with a poem written in 2016–ten years ago. If you are still curious about this untypical relationship described in the poem above, read more about it HERE
and then HERE.

For Word of the Day Challenge, the word is Distance.

“The Green Moth” for the Poetry Challenge

The Green Moth

Note: The Poetry Challenge was to write 10-14 sentences of poetic prose about a defining moment that influenced a new direction . Wish I had more skill in formatting this so the words came right up to the moth, as they did when it flew onto my screen and then rested quietly as I arranged the words around it. This was the best I could do in recreating the experience.

“If He” Open Link Night for dVerse Poets


Creche by Judy Dykstra-Brown

If He

had married the girl and had children
and been less overt with his teachings
of peace and love too radical
for a world immersed in their opposite,

he would then not have changed the world, perhaps,
but only lived in contrast
to that power popular among those who needed it
and effective in keeping those adverse to it quiet.

If he had married the girl, the world would probably have ended up
pretty much how it has anyway, but he might have had a different ending––
grown old, had his cronies over to talk about the good old days,
converted water into wine and served them loaves and fishes.

Mary Magdalene would have danced for them like in the good old days,
and all of his children would have listened in awe to hear the tales
of how he walked on the water,
bade Lazarus to rise from the grave.

He would shush his cronies as they started in
with tales of how he smashed the souvenir stands
and threw the moneychangers out of the temple––
not stories for young ears not quite yet ready to learn revolution.

And all of the ill done in his name might have happened anyway,
but at least he would have had a good life.  Would have suffered less.
And some other savior might have found a way to save the world
that would have worked.

For dVerse Poets Open Link Night 398

See other poems HERE.

“Hearts” For The Sunday Whirl 375

Hearts

Hearts on hooks sweep back and forth
from east to west to south to north,
hung on chains where they are caught,
dizzy from what fate has wrought.
While other shocked hearts steam and swell,
 bound tight to sticks in their own hell.
Whether held by chain or stock,
hearts the world over feel the shock
while you, I hope, possess a heart
that’s been free from the very start.

For The Sunday Whirl 735 the prompts are: hook sway hearts strip chain dizzy sweep you stick swell steam shock

“The Usual Stuff” for SOCS

The Usual Stuff

I’ve had enough
of the usual stuff––
wars, tsunamis
murdered mommies
global warming
cancers forming
mad religions and heretics
engineering our genetics
drug cartels
emptying wells
mounting debt
nuclear threat

I hate to say it
but every day it
is getting worse
this global curse
Presidents who line their pockets,
turning food stamps into rockets
and human capers
in all the papers
so all in all
it’s an easy call
I find less friction
in reading fiction!

The SOCS prompt is “Usual.”