The Hush

Thank you for reading

Richard

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Richard

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Enemy – Inner Me

Steel ribs cage the beast.
Burst free, my enemy!
Reveal yourself to the world!
A ridiculous proclamation
born of a ridiculous man.
I splutter out like a wetted candle.
Exertion meets exhaustion, as
steam rises like ghosting breaths.
Only the melancholy escapes,
grey plumes of inner me.
The shell remains untouched,
unlike the damaged mind
which reaches tendrils of self
deep under a paper epidermis
to ink out everything they touch.
Dark, they are, seeking crimson
warmth and love, an
extension to this endless pain.
A revelation. A blunt gift.
The inner me is my enemy.
I repeat this patient mantra.
But the cage is unbending
and the will behind it raw.
After all, is passing not for
blurring speedsters, or
those avoiding the view?
I have neither a view nor
the time in which to travel.
This heart thuds an agreement
when I would wish It
a stone-cold death.

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Thank you for reading

Richard

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Bean Dreaming

by Richard M. Ankers

Entering to a bell as though welcome,

overt smiles greet these scowls.

–

With so many luxuries to enthral the senses,

we choose the simplest and sit.

–

Classical music graces unseen speakers

hidden from view, not mind.

–

This is ambience by design, perfunctory;

we close our eyes to elsewhere.

–

Curlicues of steam make mysteries

of a developing morning,

–

that huffs and puffs beyond a

forcefully fogged window;

–

we chill to our forefathers as the bean,

prized and perfected, percolates.

–

Leather seats make false luxury

for this temporary king of the hour.

–

Brief lives pass in ever-cooling sips

and whorls of ochre gloop.

–

Time to go. Time to leave. The misting

cityscape is just another dream

–

I have no wish to wake to, and

definitely no wish to wake from.

–

The End

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Richard

Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku

I’m delighted to have five haikus featured in editor Gabriela Marie Milton’s fabulous new anthology, Tranquility: An Anthology of Haiku.

For anyone who enjoys this beautiful art form, please check out the new book on Amazon: HERE

Thank you for reading

Richard

Paradise Misplaced

Gobblers by Masticadores – Latest Post

A big thank you to editor, Manuela Timofte, for publishing my latest poem, Paradise Misplaced. I hope you enjoy the read.

Here: Paradise Misplaced

Please take a look at the other fantastic poems and prose on this wonderful site.

Thank you

Richard

Crinkled

Seen as it’s World Poetry Day 2025

Crinkled

Crinkled thoughts attempt to unfurl
Words and letters – damn this ruination!
Divided by force, separated
Folded in upon themselves
Mountainous in their minuteness
Kissing the wrongness of the misplaced
Meeting parts of me I’d rather they’d not
Meeting the worst, as there is no best
Who am I kidding?
Crinkled thoughts can never unfurl

Thank you for reading

Richard

Photo by Stormseeker on Unsplash

The Dropped Veil – A Winter’s Tale

Soul Poetry, Prose and Arts Magazine: Issue 1

Cover art: Lita Marie Bonciolini, Adam Penna, Arvilla Fee & Camellia Paul

A big thank you to the wonderful, Arvilla Fee, Editor of the fabulous new Literary and arts magazine Soul Poetry, Prose and Arts Magazine.

I’m very proud to have my poem The Dropped Veil – A Winter’s Tale included in their debut issue. Plus, thanks to the fluke of being born with a surname beginning with ‘A’, I’m presented second in the magazine.

Please take a few minutes to read what Arvilla has assembled, as the work is incredible.

Available Here: The Dropped Veil

As always, thank you for reading

Richard