love: a senryu

I once was in love

getting lost in your bright eyes

not seeing the cliff

- Written for Writer's Digest 2025 April PAD Challenge: Day 15

holiday magic

freshly baked cookies
aroma filling up rooms
igniting taste buds

hot chocolate mugs
steam tickling our noses
warming our tummies

warm colorful lights
brighten the cold winter sky
holiday magic

what lies ahead

I wonder what lies

ahead beyond the blue sea

is it you and me?

I think of that day

I left you with words unsaid

lonely tears unshed

now filled with regrets

I wait for the rising sun

heart still holding hope

push

I push up steep hills

arms straining beyond the max

but I keep going

I cannot stop now

too close to the finish line

where my grand prize waits

but there are those times

I wonder is it worth it?

will the risk pay off?

and I do waver

legs go from underneath me

and settle for less

but no surrender

lies within this stubborn heat

so I must go on

little wave

I saw him walking

he gave me a little wave

I waved back at him

he seemed so happy

perhaps due to the warm sun

it has that magic

just a little wave

enough to push blues away

and warm my cold heart

- Inspired by WD Poetic Asides' 2019 April PAD Challenge Day 18

irreplaceable

I once dreamed I kissed

the stars and caressed the moon

as if they were you

but they were not you

no one could match your magic

despite the efforts

so I closed my eyes

pretending you were still here

and not just a dream

magic

your magic kisses

can make the sun rise each day

and deep oceans weep

when you look at me

I swear my heart stops beating

barely catching my breath

I gather the stars

and I place them in your crown

making you my king