#writerscreeds

[instruth]

TWILIGHT

Twilight stretches its long shadows,

twigs dangle like bony fingers,

craggy hairs scratch against windows,

a lone spider spins and lingers,

whispering of the night’s cold air

As the day retreats in muted gloom,

tall stilts stride through dusky stairs

branches stiffen unto gagged looms

a hush unfolds—a breathless stare,

as twilight flickers… lost in its doom

©Johnny J P Lee

02 April 2025

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photos, annafridacharlotte

[rageinreverie]

raising a daughter

She is three, barefoot in the grass, spinning like the world cannot catch her.

She is all wild hair and dimpled hands, her voice loud with certainty. She does not ask for permission to exist. She does not yet know that society expects that of her.

She climbs too high, runs too fast, sings too loudly. She throws her head back when she laughs, unashamed of the space she takes up. She believes she is the moon, dragging the world in line with her gravitational pull.

And yet.

At bedtime, she holds her doll close and whispers, “She’s sad.” When her mother asks why, she shrugs. “She wants to be small.”

At the store, an old woman chuckles, “She is so beautiful!” The words mean nothing to her, but her mother’s stomach clenches. She wonders how many more times her daughter will be told that beauty is the most interesting thing about her.

At the park, she watches the boys play a game. She stands at the edge, bouncing on her toes, waiting for an invitation that never comes.

That night, she asks, “Am I pretty?” Her mother forces a smile. “You are smart, and kind, and strong.” But the question lingers between them, heavy with the weight of every woman who has ever asked it.

She is three, but she is already learning.

She is learning that when she says “No,” grown-ups sometimes laugh.

She is learning that people are softer when she smiles.

She is learning that she must say “Sorry” even when she does not know what for.

Her mother watches, afraid.

Afraid of how the world will shape her, how it will file down her edges, turn her wild laughter into polite smiles, make her believe her worth is something fragile, something given by others.

So she tells her daughter stories of brave girls and fearless women. She teaches her to climb higher, run faster, sing louder. She lets her say No and means it when she listens.

But she knows the world is waiting.

And some nights, after her daughter is asleep, she stares at the ceiling and wonders if she is strong enough to hold it back.

-rage in reverie

[instruth]

Away From The Hassles

Away from the hassles of bustling days

I ride out quietly, just wandering all alone

I dream of warm nights as daylights delay

To paint the dawn, before the night is done

When troubles knock on my door everyday

The glowing roof of live sparkling stars

Burning woods for my nightly harmony

Survived, to the wild frontiers, way afar

Over the plains of calm whistling melody

Precious memories remain near from far

Afore it becomes a legend, dead and gone

Fulfill my duty to preserve what still remain

Unseen, unrecognized, even I am just one

For I uphold all that has been held for gain

Lest I relinquish whatever is past and done

the wounds of nature

depriving its soul of love

man becomes loveless

©Johnny J P Lee

25 February 2025

HAIBUN: Gogyoshiren15 + Haiku 5-7-5

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

[instruth]

A Peacock Blush

A peacock blush

A certain kind of hush

Out from the bush

Too slow for a rush

Just need a little push

From a windy gush

in a streaming flush

With a rainy crush

For a morning slush

Ah! A magnificent lush

©Johnny J P Lee

17 December 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photo Credit, Andrew Tan

[instruth]

What Is Truth?

Knowledge,

without Understanding

Acknowledge,

notwithstanding

Conceptualize,

intellectual indifference

Conception prize,

by a soulful Experience

knowledge + experience

is the conception of truth

in spirit and soul

as in matrimony to

create a sacred offspring

©Johnny J P Lee

09 January 2025

MODIFIED HAIBUN:

(Poem8 + Tanka 5-7-5-7-7)

Photos Credit, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

THE RUINS

Ruins are beautiful

pieces reassembled

imagined or soulful

even hallucinative

no longer in ruins

Ruins, magnificent

as creative arts

restored brokenness

as healed scars

Ruins, years of love

ruins are memories

the artifacts of true love

fruits from olden days

©Johnny J P Lee

15 December 2024

HAIBUN: (Gogyoshiren 10 + Haiku 5-7-5)

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

[instruth]

O! SWEET MEMORIES

O! Sweet memories

Innocently and carefree

Young, fragile and gay

Spending all my days

With plenty to spare

Everyday, everywhere

While I recall

as teardrops fall

Precious times slip by

With a consoling lullaby

Some who love me and care

Are no longer here but there

Yet life goes on

for good memories gone

in newness reborn

though nothing is meant

to last, theres a gift of love

planted within us

©Johnny J P Lee

16 January 2025

HAIBUN: Gogyoshiren15 + Haiku 5-7-5

Photos Credit, Tumblrs Collection (photographers unknown

[instruth]

A FENCE FOR DEFENSE

A fortified fence for self defense

Impenetrable wall, for self preservation

An inner sanctum to retreat into oneself

Listening without hearing, to remain still

A very safe place, and … so alone

a training from young

to learn polite obedience

weakness to sheer strength

©Johnny J P Lee

12 February 2025

HAIBUN: Gogyoshi5 + Haiku 5-7-5

Photos Credit, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

The Day The Mountain Left Me

The day the mountain left me

I was playing outside our hut

Happy child up my favorite tree

With my little furry friend, Nuts

Bushy tail squirrel, a true dearie

We were praying to Mount Brown

A usual routine just after breakfast

Watching the eagles swooping down

Likewise, hunting for their breakfast

Nuts chewing away, me playing clown

Boom! My cheers and joy to bygone

Vanished into thin air, big plane above

Like an angry golden eagle all alone

charging at me hungrily, lacking in love

After the war, my mountain was gone

I was only five

I lost Nuts and my parents

Now I climb mountains

I search everywhere to find

what is missing in my life

©Johnny J P Lee

25 March 2025

HAIBUN (modified):

Gogyoshiren15 + Tanka 5-7-5-7-7

Photos Credits: Unsplash Images

[instruth]

JUST YOU AND I

There isn’t any day go by

When I forget the reason why

Together, just you and I

Is sweet hello, bye to goodbye

Whether we are far or nigh

At our low, and at our high

You are the apple of my eye

The expanse of space and sky

Loving, longing in laugh and in cry

Though years and times pass us by

The New year dawns as you and I

I can go on and on, I don’t deny

Come with me, come let us fly

For this world may harm and lie

Forever our love will never die

©Johnny J P Lee

03 January 2025

Gogyoshiren15

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

[instruth]

Dots Dots Dots

Dots Dots Dots

Dreams Thoughts

Memories Jots Jots

Good Bad Yeses Nots

All Daily Living And Lots

Find the Dot that is you

Trace it

Every bend to every stop

More Dots

Mark the Dots, all of them

Dots form a pattern

An image will appear

Dark night of the stars

The truth that you seek

To reveal your true name

do you know your name

you have to complete the dots

then you will be found

©Johnny J P Lee

23 February 2025

HAIBUN: Gogyoshiren15 + Haiku 5-7-5

Photos Credit, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

nothings beyond time

good things come to those who wait

first believe then see

there is no magic at all

theres only life - its all there

©Johnny J P Lee

05 December 2024

Tanka 5-7-5-7-7

Photos Credit J. P. Lee

[instruth]

A Sense Beyond

A sense beyond

the six you know

observe the wind

listen to its colors

lick the sounds

Engage the music

feel the melody

sniff the rhymes

Oh! Touch thy soul

Compose the sense

©Johnny J P Lee

04 November 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photos: Unsplash Images

[instruth]

LITTLE HOUSE

little house on greenery

set in a wondrous scenery

white mountains background

tall swaying pine trees surround

below runs a gentle trickling stream

a picturesque piece of dream

where the air is fresh and pure

my thoughts in prayers for sure

home is always where my heart is

inside to outside - oh, what a bliss

©Johnny J P Lee

24 October 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photo: Album Collection

(Photographer Unknown)

[instruth]

Warnings That Are Ignored

A crack with steam from

the cave ceiling

Take a walk to the peak

of the mountain

Oh bring along the charts

just in case we

need to pinpoint the spot

Once that’s done

we will proceed from there

So do not worry

if the signs are there

don’t wait for the volcano

to spill its lava

©Johnny J. P. Lee

15 January 2025

HAIBUN: Gogyoshiren10 + Haiku 5-7-5

Photos Credit, Unsplash Images

[instruth]

Rumors Whisper Only In Secrecy

Rumors, whispered only in secrecy

Without wings, the secret is shrouded

in a well concealed fallacy

as hoarded rain, frosted and clouded

only to burst without mercy

As icicles, thawing out the story

Trickling, pouring out their tears,

withheld, since hushed in history

Hidden, denied, out of innate fear

to preserve, sustain a false victory

©Johnny J P Lee

11 October 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee