Julian, this captures the missed handshake of some intimate intersections beautifully. The maps moment is inspired! 👏✨🔥

In a succinct poem you've created so many potential readings, C, and I felt I found something on each re-reading. That alone is such a hallmark of the craft at work here. Using an hourglass is very hard to do without cliché and for me it was fabulous and very compelling. Extraordinary piece! 👏✨🔥

Paul you really tap into a rich vein here and mine it well. Got me thinking that this replacement manifests in so many ways, from the screensavers of cherry blossoms and mountains on flat screen TVs to the plastic plants in homes and offices. This is the obscene anthropocene we have created.👏

Philippa, this so effectively paints the crushing inevitability. You get the sense that the choice would be made thusly even if they knew what lay at the end, and that is such devastating portrait of an impossible absence of futures. 👏💥

Unflinching—savage even—in its assessment of the collapse mythic regime and the detritus it left behind in the uneasy collision of historical architecture, industrialization, and urban decay. A powerful choice for the prompt, Jan. Wow! 👏💥🗡️

Thanks for the positive vibes, Jan!🙏

So kind of you to say, Stace. I am not normally writing entirely dark and despairing stuff, so this was a prompt I did not think I would write to, but I found my way. Appreciate you!

Thanks Paul. I'd like to write something about the arrow of time at some point. I think that could be an interesting exploration.

Stace, this has such great voice. That is something you do so well and it's on full display here. Love the craft around this topic.👏💥

Love this reminder that we've lost something. Time and regret are unknown to our four-legged companions. In truth, it is part of why we often say we don't deserve dogs. And Audrey is such a good girl she should be back for more cameos! Great work, John. 🙏🔥

Paul this is such a journey of time, remembrance, and things gone before and gone, and the final stanza so unexpected and magical. You really struck some gold here.👏

This brings to mind the near-impossibility of life amid the cataclysmic forces of the universe. Loved it. And like you, Merril, have been hosting, and tree-getting, and only just now sitting down to read. You were my first and what a treat!

Not early at all! We're ready in my house. The snow is falling tonight and the lights are shining!❄️

Congratulations, Debra. An extraordinary cavalcade of imagery and what an arc from the first stanza to the last. This is the sort of piece where I want to sit with coffee or tea and hear the poet discuss it. 👏

Marvelous tone and voice. A really enjoyable turn at this prompt. 👏✨👏✨

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Thank you all for the reposts!🙏