#picklemafia

[goneahead]

it's midnight, and my thoughts

are radioactive. everything

decays, even you, even

us. i know this and

yet, it's midnight,

and i am still

living a

half-

life

~~~~~

written for @picklemafia 's prompts midnight and decay

[followcb]

Good morning poetry . . .

Awakens like a song the heart sings

It's an epiphany, a twilight call . . .

The dawning of a new day

Another chance for us . . .

A time for us to love . . .

Rise high in the sky above

🌅

©️ Image & Poem @followcb

Chris Bartlett ☆ Follow the Light!

White Lake, NY ☆ August 15, 2025

[rain-rainynights]

saying goodbye in slow motion

Inspired by the writing prompt "Unraveling" by @myharshwordspoetry and as ever hosted by @picklemafia

they say absence makes the heart grow fonder but forget to say distance hurts as time stretches longer

and what is the heart to do when it sees it has been a fool- weep over the memories once so beautiful that now only feels superficial? sink into the depths of loneliness when the room is crowded ? tear out pages in the chapbooks just to have the loved one turn and look? blame itself for being too sensitive in a world designed for the boisterous?

and the heart sees what the world does not observe: the slow unraveling of a love in-between life’s chapters.

and the heart knew this long before the final kiss: the quiet one is drowned out by the noise and lights too loud to fit into the life of a labrador, and she cannot give him more than he wants or needs even when it is that he does not see.

and so she lets the heart say goodbye in slow motion as she grieves in real-time, knowing she is letting him slip away hollow that he won’t realize she did not stay- until it is too late

[big-low-t]

Avoid A Void

.

Your name is on a sign

It's faded now

Leaning to one side

Paint peeling

It marks the chasm within

A blank deserted place

Carved out of my hungry heart

For you

It's been so long that I...

(insert dramatic pause here)

I just can't avoid this void

This empty pain

This aching

This yearning

This madness

Why am I nothing without you?

.

@picklemafia

For the prompt: void

[myharshwordspoetry]

PICKLE

For

my

Pickle

Mafia

you

started

me

here

one

word

at

a

time

no

pedestals

no

knees

bent

just

truth

real

voices

honest

edges

kind

hands

care

without

conditions

love

without

ownership

no

crowns

no

chains

just

people

standing

exactly

as

they

are

Not.

that

is

everything.

©

02/02/2026 By Jodi Harsh, My Harsh Words™. Reposting on this platform is permitted with Reposting use poper credit. Reposting on other platforms is not allowed. No edits. All rights reserved. @picklemafia

[stillnotwritingtolstoy]

I wanted to be your knife

Your blade to cut through your enemies

And the obstacles in your path

I wanted to be your shield

To stand between you and the dangers

That beset you on your way

I wanted to be your chariot

To carry you on to your battles and glories

As the future becomes the past

I longed to be your warrior

To fight and bleed for you alone

Every single day.

But you didn't want a warrior

And you didn't need a shield

You were looking for a partner

To stand side by side in the field

I'm blessed to be your partner

And I'm proud to be your friend

But I still think I'd make a good chariot

If push came to shove in the end

For the prompt "Knife" from the excellent @picklemafia and @nyx-tenberis.

[sittinginstars]

The Last Stop

So many things happen.

All at once.

All the time.

The world waits for no man—

especially one who has missed his stop.

So I sit quiet,

trying not to catch the eye

of the one who checks the tickets.

This is a one-way trip.

No returns.

Straight to the center of it all,

where everything that must be confronted waits,

staring me down

in the face of infinity.

All those other lifetimes

where I am okay,

where we are okay,

where I am not here,

in this place, without you.

Then a man sneezes.

And I realize

I had been overcome with it all.

This is my stop.

This is for the prompt overcome with thanks to @picklemafia for one word prompts and @alchemicverse for the prompt: #Overcome

[living--in--salt]

Here is my take on @snazzy-writes-a-little and @picklemafia one word prompt "Decay".

Empty Harvest

I am slow moving in most things.

The lack of urgency, the way that I dawdle,

the always arriving late or not all.

This is who I am, I suppose. I was born of an

empty promise and now I am a bringer of nothings.

All words said with greatest intentions and deepest

regrets.

Every action has an equal and opposite inaction.

I reap what I sow and I have never been much of

a gardener.

I have no green fingers and the mulch decays

and fades before we have left the season.

The fig tree is sans fig, the apple sans apple.

et cetera et cetera et cetera---

Even the fruits I am given end up rotten before I

get the chance to eat them.

Splayed open on the counter like a cadaver, or else

sunken and deflated, we can conduct

a brief botanical autopsy---

Here is the pit, Here is the seeds,

Here is what's left of the juice,

hitting the ground and then

disappearing forever.

08.19.25