Six of my poems are featured at The Short of It,
a showcase of poets at I Write Her.
Many thanks to Editor Susi Bocks.
• Embracing Blue
• Right in This Passage
• A Wedding Toast
• My Thoughts, Your Words
• Forsaken Sentinel
• Gone, but for Memories
Ken G.
The Heart of the Matter
The root of the problem
lies in perspective.
On the one hand,
ideas sprout, with
the potential for growth.
On the other, the core issue
is whether the option
to branch out is precluded
by stunted growth.
There are bound to be
alternatives, once
the seed is planted.
This is my response to Poetics: A Tale of Two Images,
the prompt from Mish at dVerse ~ Poets Pub,
where we are asked to consider contrast between
any two of the twenty-two images that are provided.
Daylight Lament
Gone are the longer days of sunlight, when the sun slips below the horizon later with each passing day. Now comes the march of days that wake each morning to fewer hours of light, until shadows reign and each minute saved is meted out once more, only to be taken again, as we are deprived of sunlight in this never-ending cycle.
balance shifts
between day and night
at solstice
This is my response to Haibun Monday 6-22-26: First Solstice,
the prompt from Frank Tassone at dVerse ~ Poets Pub.
Due to medication, my voice was hoarse (for 10 days, in total)
when I originally posted this poem with audio – in a whisper.
Fortunately (and hopefully for good), it’s almost back to 100%,
so I’ve made a new recording.
Grounded in Reality
for Jeff Bender
Your absence went unnoticed
for days. When seen
through a window, you were
asleep at the table, but not.
Your brief rest, after a fall,
permanent.
There were no goodbyes,
and for your final farewell
we left before
they put you into the ground,
that part too hard to watch.
Grounded in reality,
we are left with a window
that looks only into the past,
yours far too brief,
with fondness.
A brother (in-law), gone, now, six years.
“Grounded in Reality” originally was featured by Hotel by Masticadores.
My poem, “Work, As an Ethic”, is featured today (Father’s Day!) at Silver Birch Press. Many thanks to Melanie Villines for making this day even more special.
Ken G.
(My voice has been hoarse for a couple of days,
but I think a whisper actually works for this poem.)
(22 June 2026 ~ My voice is not quite back to 100%,
but I’ve re-recorded this.)
Grounded in Reality
for Jeff Bender
Your absence went unnoticed
for days. When seen
through a window, you were
asleep at the table, but not.
Your brief rest, after a fall,
permanent.
There were no goodbyes,
and for your final farewell
we left before
they put you into the ground,
that part too hard to watch.
Grounded in reality,
we are left with a window
that looks only into the past,
yours far too brief,
with fondness.
“Grounded in Reality” originally was featured by Hotel by Masticadores.
Shared with Open Link Night #410 at dVerse Poets Pub.
Three of my poems, Designated Driver, Brilliant Shades, and Ever Full, are included in Well Versed 2026, an anthology of fiction, non-fiction, and poetry, from Columbia Writers Guild.
Designated Driver was awarded 2nd Place in Poetry.
Ken G.
A Simple Man
A mythological
sword-wielding savior
suited in armor,
to a five-year-old child
who imagines a world
of fantasy as told
in bedtime stories.
In truth, a simple man,
gentle, but firm.
A father to look up to,
turn to for guidance
in the real world.
This is my response to Quadrille #250 – Mything Poems, the prompt from De Jackson at dVerse Poets Pub that asks us to use a form of the word myth in a 44-word poem (excluding title), with no required meter or rhyme.
Image source: Dreamstime
Many thanks to Michele McDannold at The Literary Underground, where my poem, The Second of December, is featured.
Yes, back in February. Mea culpa for not announcing this sooner. The Second of December went on to be in my poetry collection, The Long Haul.
Ken G.
trying to exist
in a world of mudslingers
there is no hiding
hot sun beating down
any protection welcome
simple survival
This is my response to SenHai Saturday #56, from Susi Bocks at I Write Her,
with a senryū and a haiku inspired by the photo provided.
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