#writerscreeds

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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)

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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

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Don’t Get Emotional

Don’t get emotional

over antiques or such

They have no compassion

nor feeling

only too keen to close a deal

Don’t get too upset

over failure or rejection

They don’t know problems

can be solved

as puzzles to stimulate the mind

Don’t be too excited

over gifts and favors

They are expensive treasures

too pricey

You can hardly ever afford them

©Johnny J P Lee

07 November 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (15)

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

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AS THE MOON RISES

As the moon rises, I rise

The stars too, in surprise

As the night cloud passes

A charming face surpasses

And beauty hides to the rear

You are no longer far but near

As the moon rises, make room

Sweet tears touch the gloom

Cloud of peace passes by

As sunrise makes me cry

©Johnny J P Lee

17 December 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem 10

Photos: J. P. Lee

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CONSCIENCE

As a person, I am whole

Physically, I have strength

Mentally, I possess intellect

Soulfully, a stretchable will

Spiritually, innate conscience

Conscience is what makes us human

It is our immediate moral authority

We must never disobey our conscience

Conscience is not a personal opinion

It is a navigation to what is absolute

Conscience is the yearning for moral truth

so we are willing to give up our opinions

on moral issues regarding right and wrong

Conscience does not try to prove us right

It is right, and it wants only to be right

Conscience is definite in a person

It is a precise and accurate measure

a metric tape the person always carries

for the exact measurement of an action

on which one is to be judged absolutely

By the consequences of one’s actions,

one is examined, judged, and sentenced

So question everything, do not assume

Check one’s neglects, wants, and likes

Judge no one, judge only one’s own self

Moral responsibility makes one human,

with a free will, unlike animals that want

only what they like, and will kill for it

The ability to reason makes one a person

Babies are only human, not yet a person

There is no right or wrong conscience

Only conscience or no conscience

There is only life or no life

Breathing or no breathing

Alive or dead - only one, not both

what is a conscience

the seat of truth, what is right

one’s own sanity

©Johnny J P Lee

14 November 2024

HAIBUN:

(A Gogyoshiren Poem 35 + Haiku 5-7-5)

Photo Credit, J. P. Lee

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Under The Golden Arch

Under the Golden Arch I drive

A pass away from here to there

A gate to Heaven on Cloud Five

There is no suffering anywhere

Only joy so soothing all will give

From heart and soul, everywhere

People greet, smile, sing and jive

Peace touches all who love and care

Where Sun and Moon kiss, and we live

©Johnny J P Lee

30 October 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (10)

Photo Credits, Liliana Guta

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The Last Train To Tomorrow

I ride the last train to tomorrow

No other options, it seems for today

Trembling in defeat, and sorrow

dig deep into the past, to my dismay

There is no clear path to follow

No safe or better place for me to stay

Desperate for a future to borrow

One full of hope, by a prosperous say

An impending dark night, deathly slow

With the threat of pierces and slays

Of demolition, that chews for a swallow

when my past catches up in displays

Lures and promises, deeds of shadows

Walking talks, only monuments of clay

It’s futile to hope for the glory of a hallow

This train, my last ride, come what may

©Johnny J P Lee

08 August 2024

Photo Credit J P Lee

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A LITTLE RAIN

A little rain falls

It falls tears

A teardrop rolls

It rolls its pain

In little rain

A little rain splatters

It splatters champagne

The champagne pops

It pops its smoke

In little strokes

A little rain blows

Blown by the wind

The wind carries

It carries its breath

In little wreaths

A little rain sprinkles

It sprinkles water

The water showers

It waters the soil

In little toils

A little rain drops

It drops dew

A dewdrop drips

It drips its pearls

In little curls

A little rain pours

It pours rain

A raindrop flows

It flows a spring

In little strings

A little rain sparkles

It sparkles light

A light aglow

In glowing hope

In little dopes

A little rain waits

It waits in prayer

The prayer invites

With sweet delights

In little starlights

©Johnny J P Lee

22 October 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem40

Digital Arts, Christina Chin

Photo Credit, Unsplash Image

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DAYS OF DRAGONS SLAYING

Today I kneel, praying at the front pew

Recalling everything I’d thought I knew

Visiting places, events more than a few

Of joyful days in my childhood as I grew

Plain as the new grass, purer than dew

Innocent, flexible, as the evergreen yew

Naive, fearless of danger with a hew

Dreamed of fiery dragons that I slew

Down molten lava from a volcanic spew

With the friendlies that can only mew

Times transformed me from a shrew

To a genius fresh out from the stew

Sharply and cunningly as to the brew

Ate, swallowed anything I could chew

Dug to discover, into the deep sinew

To control and rule by the skill I drew

And turned men into a slaving crew

Build an empire day and night - phew!

High up, away into the heavens I flew

I puffed as the dragon, its breath I blew

Till I collapsed among everything I threw

To patch up pieces of soul with a neat sew

Picking up the ruins and starting life anew

As the day I was born, green horn as new

Searching to find myself, simply to renew

©Johnny J P Lee

19 June 2024

A Gogyoshiren Poem (25)

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

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WE ARE ONLY PETALS

Because we fall, we are only petals

likewise, life and death are the same

We are beautiful, we bloom and shine

we are what the seasons demand on us

Must we all wait to fall, to learn the truth?

©Johnny J P Lee

27 September 2024

A Gogyoshi Poem (5)

Photos Credit, J. P. Lee

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THE ORDER OF THINGS

a wanderer under constrain

behaves in disdain

he takes the train

over a rough terrain

his thoughts all in chains

confined, fractured in restrain

refined waves hit his brain

heart and will struggling to sustain

perseverance strive to remain

courteous attempts all in vain

logic and sense get slain

facts and truth stay lain

confusion adds on to the pain

losses not declared, none pertain

camouflaged with a sinful stain

fallen from a high mountain

lying face slips down the plain

poor as church mouse in refrain

doomsday is here for certain

just trust in hope to regain

till in blessing to ordain

all the favors to contain

drop all schemes for gain

together, a bundle of grains

with a bunch of grapes, attain

©Johnny J P Lee

01 December 2024

Gogyoshiren Poem (25)

Photo Credit J. P. Lee

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REACHING HANDS

Reaching hands

Stretching out to lift me up

To Wonderland

Dews served in a buttercup

Royally grand

Clap! Hands and feet

A dancing pair

O swift samba sweet

Flip, flit and fair

Generous treat

A smiling face

Speaks a thousand words

In peace I pace

Truth in scabbard sword

A warm embrace

©Johnny J P Lee

10 September 2021

A Gogyoshiren Poem (15)

Photos: J. P. Lee