Friday, 21 November 2025: I mean, really, do you really want to read yet another post about beaches or mountains? Or yet another post about someone’s three favorite meals? Besides, that’s not what’s on my mind. Part of what makes my voice mine is speaking what’s on my mind. And the odds that the suggested prompts ever will be what’s on my mind are low.
Copyright ©️ 2025 H. K. Longmore. All rights reserved. Using this content to train AI models is forbidden.
Author’s note: sometimes I find it interesting to see how a poem evolves. So, here’s one that started as a somewhat freestyle poem, that, after time passed, I decided to turn into a sauna sonnet.
Empty hole
In core of his soul.
He forgot his goals.
Time galore, but still needs more.
Missing half amplifies
Ambition lost;
Life simplifies
But at what cost?
Time now consumed by adult toddler
Who, when he was a toddler, was his coddler.
And feverishly, manically recalling
Memories of the missing, haunting and enthralling.
The missing becomes his poem,
In danger of being lost forever,
The bliss and glad life
No longer its own witness.
Introspection: he finds an empty hole
Down deep in the core of his troubled soul;
Goals forgot when he set out to explore.
He had time galore, but still he needs more.
It seems the missing piece now amplifies
Several signals of his ambition lost;
Bittersweet: he finds his life simplifies,
His schedule now streamlined, but at what cost?
Time now consumed by an adult toddler,
Who was, when he was a toddler, coddler.
And feverish, manically recalling
Memories of the missing—enthralling,
Haunting—the missing becomes his poem,
Bliss and glad life, no longer witness own.
Copyright ©️ 2025 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged absence, acceptance, affection, aging, ambition, bliss and glad life, compassion, dementia, freestyle, goals, memories, poem, poetry, sauna sonnet
Israel, born Jacob, lived in desert heat,
Where at the well he and Rachel did meet.
I sit in sauna heat, thoughts turned to him.
Surely his heart filled with vigor and vim,
As he bargained for Rachel as his bride;
Seven years work, then she'd be at his side.
Fast-forward to appointed wedding day,
Israel finds out too late: he was betrayed.
Leah now his wife; Laban struck new deal:
Another seven for Rachel's hand for real.
Israel now juggles wife and idea:
Courting Rachel while married to Leah.
The solution for Israel was simplex;
The execution by hearts made complex.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry, sauna sonnets
Tagged affection, awkward, commitment, coping, desert, determination, empathy, enough already, forgiveness, fourteen years, frustrations, honesty, hope, Israel, jealousy, Laban, Leah, love, love triangle, misunderstanding, pain, patience, poem, poetry, Rachel, relationships, resilience, sauna sonnet, seven years, timing, well
A simple question asked,
Not a complicated answer,
But with distance now tasked,
He'd rather die slowly of cancer.
Emotional and physical withdrawal,
With no opportunity to discuss,
He'd rather chaw on uncooked chawal
Than watch spoken words repercuss.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged absence, affection, cathartic, poem, poetry, relationships, sauna poem, vulnerablility
It was maybe foolish, and ill-advised.
Now my brain won't stop 'till I'm penalized.
Seek solace in song, make air column hum:
Tunes ne'er before played, on euphonium.
Was not enough, I still want time machine
To avoid ill side effects: intervene.
Pluck metal strings o'er resonant wood frame,
With acoustic bass, minor blues tune, tame
My heart and my mind with what-ifs now racked.
But the time is too short to pacify;
And dark images, not yet past grim, fly.
Now to the page the turmoil can be tracked.
Tomorrow I must face the unknown score.
Resolution unknown, check back at four.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged anti-tear, anxiety, cathartic, emotional health, heart, introspection, kathartic, poem, poetry, risk, sauna sonnet, self reflection, self-control, shame, sigh, solace, song, sorrow, therapy, unnecessary risk, wistfulness
A remark made in one place in space-time
Recombines with remark from distant past
And then current situation. Alas!
'Twas enough to make heart a flounder-mime.
Remark was innocent enough, he thought;
No malice, deception, or ill-intent
Could be detected at space-time present.
But the combination made blood run hot.
Social moors dictate none involved should know,
Despite communication's rules; sealed lips
Until through therapist's door he can slip.
Emerges with Seven Breaths Up in tow.
So he tries the seven breaths exercise,
And answers appear to his great surprise.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged acceptance, anxiety, communication, consequence, coping, determination, growth, improvement, introspection, kathartic, poem, poetry, sauna sonnet, solace, therapy
"Are you doing okay?" she asked with caring eyes.
"Yeah, I'm fine," I gave the oft repeated lies.
It was neither the place nor time,
To get into my sorrow, to make saline rivers sublime.
I'll tell the truth, should she again ask,
When we're homeward bound.
I'll tell her of how sometimes, behind my mask,
I feel I don't belong, I shouldn't be around.
Or perchance I'll let her choose:
Does she want the strong façade
Or the vulnerable truths?
The tender heart, or full bravade?
I won't say something she uttered was the trigger.
But she didn't ask, so I'll stand by my rigor.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged cathartic, consequence, coping, i am a rock, kathartic, love, memories, Parable of the Good Samaritan, poem, poetry, rejection, relationships, resilience, saline rivers, sonnet in length and style, therapy, timing, word crimes
Author’s Note: I started this one in August, nearly finished it, but then started running and biking again, so I didn’t get to the sauna at the gym much for a bit. Having decided to go to the sauna after a weightlifting session at home, I’ve finally finished this sauna sonnet.
Amidst cheers and jeers galore, foot cocked back
To make Newtons and kilopascals meet.
Aim and power, trajectory complete,
Foot releases to gain the goal they lack.
Perchance 'tis football, soccer, or rugby
Fills your mind? If so, from violence refrain,
I implore; please don't let your mates mug me.
When I explain, your laughter please contain.
As you may imagine, the ball went in
The wrong goal, not by wrong trajectory.
It was block inelastic that sent in,
He failed to compute the stuff vector, see.
It was but a simple game of foosball,
And object blocked might have been a goofball.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry, sauna sonnets
Tagged analogy, blocked goal, defeat, missed goal, physics, poem, poetry, sauna sonnet, sports, victory
Author’s note: Is it bad that I mostly wrote this after a bike ride nearly a week ago, with some editing and additions over the next two days, but didn’t post it yet so that I could do final edits in the sauna, so it could belong to my “sauna sonnets” collection?
Twenty miles per hour may not seem too fast
When you're accustomed to interstate speeds,
Or when one lane view fills with tractor vast,
Or when an ER visit is your need.
But on road bike, lemonade stand spied,
It gives no time to consider barter;
"Sorry, I didn't bring any money,"
Words lost in the wind? But how I replied.
And on a road bike, familiar face eyed,
It gives no time to consider ardour,
Before the road calls, "attention, Sonny!"
Attempt to determine face I revised.
Future me: be more free with hand waves cast;
Have lemonade cash so sale may proceed.
Thirty five miles isn't far by car,
By motorcycle, or carbon-based horse.
Road bike though, it raises the bar by force.
I've got lemonade cash for some kids' jar;
Exterior paths of urban lake take.
Lo! A lemonade stand I surely found.
Lemonade downed, to entry point I'm bound.
Exit lake, for a scenic view make; break.
Young dark haired woman on street corner stood.
I stopped, drank, opened snack (just shy of good).
"Here Bennie," she called out to dog just passed.
Her look, voice, familiarity hast,
Dots connect as down walk she runs not fast.
One lesson learned, the other, failed indeed.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry
Tagged based on a true story, canine, cash, cycling, dog, exhausted, extrovert, interconnected, introspection, introvert, learning, lemonade, Money, outgoing, poem, poetry, sauna sonnet, sonnet pair
Teepee valves, miniscule locks inside veins,
Unknown, unappreciated, obscure;
The sanguine tour direction they ensure:
Forward, up; gravity's effect contain.
Exercise neglected, too much caffeine,
Sleep deprivation, veins age premature;
Apple core, root beer belly, I assure,
And with poor hydration, a gap between
tiny valves creates, wider veins attained.
William Osler's band says there is no cure.
Root causes they ignore. Patents secure,
Full reversal causes bottom line pain.
So hope, so act I, reverse conditions
Which brought me here, miracle volition.
Copyright ©️ 2024 H.K. Longmore
Posted in poetry, sauna sonnets
Tagged caffeine, consequence, determination, exercise, gravity, hydration, obesity, poem, poetry, regrets, resilience, risk, sauna sonnet, sleep deprivation, suffering
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Musings of a Kunderian Monster 