Sweet and Bitter Stuff of Wonder
Brought to you by Mary K
POCKET
A pocketful of lies or emptiness –
The hopes I hoped just did not reach
That fluffy addition to my cozy coat.
So, I sat and thought –
What if I tore it off?
No more lies or emptiness.
Yet, will hopes stick
As if stitched?
© 2026, soulmary
Another beautiful prompt from d’Verse Poets: Quadrille #257 – Pocket
A lesson
Comes up to lessen
Ignorance.
The lesson
Lessening insecurity
Gifted liaison.
© 2026, soulmary
Three-things Challenge #MM565 today can be read and enjoyed here.
Lesson – Lessen – Liaison
Living with pain can be hard but beneficial,
Say people.
People can be utter strangers on a marketing spree
To win new followers,
Or friends loving you, yet under the spell
Of their new gurus.
In the case of friends, I know I can trust
Their love and devotion, their sincere desire
To rescue, support and dance the victory tango
With me.
Yet, how I see my pain is hard to define or describe
In terms of general knowledge
Or in the trend of new age spiritual thinking.
Let’s be who and what we are
No matter what, or when, or where.
Let’s raise our glasses high
Believing tomorrow will anyway provide.
© 2026, MaryK
This poem is written after the beautiful and rather difficult prompt of Poets and Writers United – Friday Writings #247: Reframing Negative Concepts. It was a challenging one for me, and before writing it, I read the takes of other poets and writers who had shared their works with the hope to get inspired. And I did get inspired. So, if you are wondering how to tackle the prompt, or the issue, go on and read them.
When I see
A play that I like
I wonder
If I need
To know all that stands behind
The curtain line.
Slow and patient,
The play moves towards its closure.
Somewhat tired, yawning and apathetic
The audience is unsure of its purpose.
© 2026, soulmary
It’s been 801 prompts at Write Better Poetry! Here, I had some of the best and most warming experiences of my poetry writing that started in the autumn of 2010.
THE PEACEFUL HUM
Late summer glows sweet and softly sad
I gaze dreamily at the gold blessing me
In patches between the tall branches,
Crystal tears fill my eyes brightening my day,
I hum a tune so peaceful that all my silent being
Immerses in the joy.
© 2026, MaryK
To see where this poem was inspired, you may visit the d’Verse Quadrille 256 prompt here. There are so many poems written in answer to it that you can spend some quality time enjoying.
HUNGRY FOR AN EVIL DAWN, ANGRY AT A PHASE OF FOLLY
While hoping to make a cold profit
Without hustling over others’ priorities or emotions
Or how my rudeness will affect my reputation,
I boldly confront my evil dawn
Counting casualties, yet hungry for more.
When I stop to stare at the stream of thoughts,
Reckoning the complicit state of things
Which I callously name Folly,
My jaw drops in terror
Or in anger.
Just a phase not worth remembering
Yet, worth of a handful of whirling lines.
© 2026, Mary K
**
Sunday Whirl 775 by Brenda – an amazing handful of words. Make sure you visit and check out some of the other takes to enjoy!
casualties phase profit drop folly cold hungry dawn complicit evil stream reckoning
**
If we decided to go shopping,
Would we decide to walk or drive to the shops?
Such a dilemma, I find myself wondering
As I hope to make up my mind.
Then you say, “Shopping’s just a waste of…”
“Time?” I jump in, then bite my lips,
Seeing your eyes flaming with irritation.
“But I need a new dress,” I mumble
In hesitation, and smile
Hoping to calm your anger down.
“Let’s measure your waist then,” you look at me
And smile, bringing the tape measure
I had forgotten we have.
Hours later, we order champagne
And the waiter takes a photo
Of our beautiful happiness
In the cozy next-door bar.
So, did we walk or drive?
Well, we are still to decide.
© 2026, MaryK
Today’s interesting prompt of Three Things Challenge #MM552 – plus some nice takes on it, that you may enjoy! 3TC
Here are the things: Waist Waste Waiter
This is a poem from POV of a fairy tale character
Rapunzel
I sit alone in the fricking tower.
No door or stairs give me a chance for a walk
My body feels decomposing
My brain can still sense its decay
I wonder how I even got to know that
No one ever comes to teach me anything.
Does it all come by in my sleep?
Does it make any sense to try and change my fate?
Do I even exist outside this place –
A fairy tale, a fantasy location, a crazy whim
Born in a sad person’s head?
© 2026, Mary K
Today, a bit late, I came to write a poem in answer to a beautiful and interesting prompt at Poets and Storytellers United. Here you can check it as well as some of the other writers’ takes: Friday Writings #244 – If the Glass Slipper Fits.
The world seems tired.
Maybe someone has stood firm here –
Where the north wind blew
But blew in vain
For it was not worth the effort.
The one that stood, just waited and
Believed salvation will provide,
In spite of the awful wound.
Then, a spiral caught my eye
Its hypnotising charm bewitched me.
In lovely haze, my mind got peaceful and it asked:
“Who cares about the vice
We live with?”
What is the word to name that
Frantic feeling?
© Mary K, 2026
Another “world” poem. That is a topic that sounds and feels natural these days. The above poem was written to the Sunday Whirl #774 prompt, and if you visit the web site, you may enjoy the other poets, too.
Here is the wordle:
firm vice world wind cares someone
worth wound word here seem spiral
Skip the World Or Simply, Change it
Skip the world, forget about it
Look beyond your fears and
Imagined gloom.
Make another world without all
That used to put you back,
Away, or simply down.
Change the world, your picture of it.
Place it central on a wall of glow
Bright and unforgettable –
Just as your heart will crave it.
© 2026, soulmary
Written for Robert’s Wednesday Prompt – “[blank] the world”, PA Wed #798
