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Athanasios Sklavis's avatar

https://athanasiossklavis.substack.com/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=android&r=59l45zMyMy

Here's a poem I wrote today,

My Study Facing West

My study facing West

Looks out into the wood

On mountains capped with snow

From a blue house in the pines

Nestled down below

My study facing west

Is filled with wondrous things

With oddities and books

With instruments of song

With elusive melodies

My study facing West

Where my black dog Bear

Curls on his Persian rug

Soaking up the rays

Of a winter’s afternoon

My study facing west

A place of sweet repose

To rest my weary bones

I hide myself away

From the tumult of the world

My study facing west

Is painted with the light

Of a golden somber dusk

Where sun dappled trees

Sway gently with the wind

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g.a.jennings's avatar

a call to share

came in the gloom

with words to spare

i offer them so soon

as a comemt poem

silly as i make it

silly as we need it

in these days of doom

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augmented man's avatar

Every line here feels startlingly alive

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Sharmila Ganapathy's avatar

This is a poem which is half about my late maternal grandmother: https://poeticjourneyswithsharmila.substack.com/p/i-come-from-ode-to-the-asian-matriarch

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augmented man's avatar

Sharmila, thank you for sharing this piece of her with us,

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Brady Martinez's avatar

https://substack.com/@poetoccasionally/note/p-177956657?r=4glrpu&utm_source=notes-share-action&utm_medium=web

This is a poem I wrote during two stages of a breakup: when it happened and a year later. Would love some feedback. I hope you like it!

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augmented man's avatar

This is quiet, strong work. Keep the lens on the bird and the ground beneath it, and the truth will rise on its own.

Your comment here is very much appreciated

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Nimita Kaul's avatar

https://open.substack.com/pub/darakhth/p/is-my-voice-truly-my-own?r=d9o4y&utm_medium=ios

Hi, this one is my latest poem with my art.

Happy to connect,!

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augmented man's avatar

Your poem tenderly captures the tug-of-war with inner voices, raw, honest, and quietly empowering,

I'm so happy to connect with you!

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Nimita Kaul's avatar

Thank you! So glad you liked it ☺️

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Francesca Bossert's avatar

Mad World

Juxtapositions of Privilege and War

Armed with a glass of Chardonnay,

I sit amid golden light

while swallows pond-swoop

for Michelin-star mosquitoes,

hoping the feral kitten’s mother

has returned from her evening hunt,

that nothing has befallen her.

Will we later watch

Drive

to Survive?

Armed with automatic weapons,

soldiers in vantage points

watch the frantic agony of the starving

and shoot,

just because they can.

I drain my glass.

Check the WiFi.

As if connection could save us.

© Francesca Bossert 2025

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augmented man's avatar

this glows & stings at once. in just a breath, you turn cozy wine into a mirror of war, leaving me moved, grateful, and wide awake

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Francesca Bossert's avatar

thank you for reading, Aug. We are so lucky, it’s almost obscene. Sharing my words is cleansing.

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A New Poem A Day's avatar

Here's a recent one from me. https://substack.com/home/post/p-166435368

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augmented man's avatar

The "Burn After Reading" Technique, i love it

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joestronge's avatar

I have some poetry on Power Poetry under joestronge. The site is admittedly limited as to mise en page but is so easy otherwise.

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augmented man's avatar

Joe, every layout is unique, but the most effective ones always hit the mark

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g.a.jennings's avatar

of course, substack ruins the format..

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g.a.jennings's avatar

This might pass as poetry...

Billy and The Pool Hall

Billy got a pool cue and shined it up nice,

Learned to powder his hands and chalk up right.

After years of planning he barged into the hall.

"Step aside boys," he shouted. "I'm better'n you all."

He won his first lag and started a good frame,

Only to proceed to lose his first game.

Billy got his ass beat from there on out,

But didn't learn humility or ever felt doubt.

"I can't lose every stinkin' game that I play."

But sure enough he did, and could no longer stay,

As every rack he played resulted in the same.

He had to give up his playing of the game.

Billy got a teacher to re-learn how to shoot.

But his teacher said, "Billy, don't be a fool.

You've got no talent and you'll get no luck."

Yet Billy wouldn't hear it. "I can't believe I suck!

I've got to keep on tryin'. I can't be that lame!"

So Billy continued to pursue his desperate game.

Billy got his ass back to the hall.

But of the games he played, he lost them, one and all,

And Billy knew that it was his time to walk away.

As Billy was leaving, one of the sharps named Johnny

Called out, "You got guts kid. I know why you came.

But you suck. So go on home. Leave this game."

And Billy was heard by some to sigh,

"Thanks Johnny, I just wanted to say

That I've been beaten by the best."

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augmented man's avatar

Billy’s grit and your snappy rhymes are a treat

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g.a.jennings's avatar

Thank You. I was unsure of that.

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Andy Beth's avatar

Born soft, with pale skin,

She´s told it´s from her Father…

Fair ones burn easy.

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augmented man's avatar

Andy, thank you for sharing this light touch wonder

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Francesca Bossert's avatar

Good morning, this is not a fun one, compared to the one I wrote yesterday morning that made men blush (and me too, a little). But the Paris auction of a handbag yesterday morning set me off, and I storm-wrote this one. And I've never shared on here before, but I think this one merits a little bit of a push.

Thank you for reading!

Love

Cesca

RUBIES AND RUBBLE

Paris bids, Palestine Bleeds

While snipers calibrate

to solve the Palestinian Problem

once and for all,

a bidding war breaks out in Paris

over a dead celebrity’s handbag:

cracked leather

stained lining

sticker residue

ten

million

dollars

Going once

Going twice

Gone.

Somewhere over the rainbow

an auction afficionado

on a private island

sips champagne and scoffs

“What a steal!”

having dropped

thirty-two and a half

million

dollars

late last year

for Dorothy’s ruby slippers.

Meanwhile, in Gaza,

a child is pulled from the rubble.

No yellow brick road

No good witch.

No shoes.

No home.

No heartbeat.

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augmented man's avatar

Hi Francesca

This piece stopped me in my tracks. thank you for writing something so raw, so needed. You juxtapose grief and glitter with surgical precision, and it lands with heartbreak and power

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Francesca Bossert's avatar

Thank you, Aug, for feeling it so deeply. Hugs, Cesca x

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augmented man's avatar

Your poem beautifully captures silent struggle and the hope that follows. Thank you for giving voice to hidden pain and reminding us that joy can bloom again

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Rolando Andrade's avatar

Thank you @augmented man. I a Psychotherapist, so i am used to deal with this material

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Mark Cooley's avatar

Making the Dream

I watch the dawn come slowly

Past the morning star

The shortest day of winter past

Red sky fading to the lightest of blues

Blues in a minor key

If I were a shepherd, I would give a lamb

If I were a wise man, I would do my part

Deer cross the yard

Stepping carefully through the snow

Thoroughly studying the way

Then running, small hooves kicking up puffs of snow

Light growing

Until I can see the frost

Dusting the brush along the property line

Making the dream unnecessary

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augmented man's avatar

Hey Mark, your poem is so lovely! It's like you've given us all a gift of a new day, and every line is like a warm, soft breath of wonder.

Keep on lighting up the world for us!

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