pleonasm

he wouldn’t let go
of that book

nobody knew what it
was
because nobody could
pry it off his hands to
have a look

Eh, whatever

it was just a book

Other crazed men
held on to
dangerous objects like
knives and screwdrivers
and shards of glass wrapped
in a cloth and a padlock
in a sock ever ready to become
a flail when swung right

But he just
held on to that book with gray
hard covers
and like some evangelist
went through the apartment
buildings from
door to door
knocking
and asking the residents if
they’ve seen her

‘Who the hell was he talking
about?’ they’d
ask

and this question made him
leave
and go to the next door

One time
some kid opened up
and probably thought he
was talking about his mother, for
he answered, “She’s at work.”

And without another word
the crazy fool
just barged in, passing by
the kid
and went straight into
the living room where
he seated himself on the
sofa and opened the
book
ready to talk to the
kid about her

Only,
the kid ran out and
asked for help

Cops were called and they took
him to the station

someone there
figured that
the guy simply couldn’t
tell reality apart from
fiction

“He’s talking about
a character in that
book he’s holding,” they said. “Thinks
she’s a real person.”

“Yet another nut case. And what the
hell’s the
story about? What’s it titled? Who
wrote it?”

Not without great effort
and a sound beating, they
managed
to take the book away
and have a look at it

It wasn’t even a book. Only the
cover was. He ripped it
and glued it to
a thick notebook that
was fully written by hand

“What the hell you call
this?” said one
of the cops.

“A manuscript,” said another.

“A what?”

“Our felon’s a writer. I’m sure you
know what a writer is.
Now, d’ you know what
a pleonasm is?”

“Not the time for playin’ smartass,
smartass. Just say what
you mean already.”

“A prime example of pleonasm
is labeling a writer
as crazy.”

“Huh?”

“C’mon, just get on with the
procedures. We gotta get
this guy into a mental
institution.
He’s a writer, in case you still
don’t get it.”

“Oh…”

They were 50% right

Should’ve added
the word ‘unpublished’ before
the word ‘writer’ and
then the statement would’ve been
complete and
100% true

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "pleonasm"!

Check it out HERE!

https://www.amazon.com/stores/author/B09C46RMPS/allbooks?ingress=0&visitId=96628550-28a0-4f19-9a78-7717f0614bbd&ref_=ap_rdr

Thank you!

@bogdan_1_dragos
“pleonasm” POEM by Bogdan Dragos he wouldn’t let go of that book nobody knew what it was because nobody could pry it off his hands to have a look Eh, whatever it was just a book Other crazed men held on to dangerous objects like knives and screwdrivers and shards of glass wrapped in a cloth and a padlock in a sock ever ready to become a flail when swung right But he just held on to that book with gray hard covers and like some evangelist went through the apartment buildings from door to door knocking and asking the residents if they’ve seen her ‘Who the hell was he talking about?’ they’d ask and this question made him leave and go to the next door One time some kid opened up and probably thought he was talking about his mother, for he answered, “She’s at work.” And without another word the crazy fool just barged in, passing by the kid and went straight into the living room where he seated himself on the sofa and opened the book ready to talk to the kid about her Only, the kid ran out and asked for help Cops were called and they took him to the station someone there figured that the guy simply couldn’t tell reality apart from fiction “He’s talking about a character in that book he’s holding,” they said. “Thinks she’s a real person.” “Yet another nut case. And what the hell’s the story about? What’s it titled? Who wrote it?” Not without great effort and a sound beating, they managed to take the book away and have a look at it It wasn’t even a book. Only the cover was. He ripped it and glued it to a thick notebook that was fully written by hand “What the hell you call this?” said one of the cops. “A manuscript,” said another. “A what?” “Our felon’s a writer. I’m sure you know what a writer is. Now, d’ you know what a pleonasm is?” “Not the time for playin’ smartass, smartass. Just say what you mean already.” “A prime example of pleonasm is labeling a writer as crazy.” “Huh?” “C’mon, just get on with the procedures. We gotta get this guy into a mental institution. He’s a writer, in case you still don’t get it.” “Oh…” They were 50% right Should’ve added the word ‘unpublished’ before the word ‘writer’ and then the statement would’ve been complete and 100% true
♬ original sound – Bogdan Dragos

16 July 2026 1

it is time to give up

it is time to give up by Bogdan Dragos

Yeah,
it’s one of those
evenings
when reality
just doesn’t want to
cooperate

When you’ve given it
your all
and feel like there’s
nothing left but
to mourn

the pages lay
scattered about
like autumn leaves, only
with less value

At least the leaves
serve a purpose, don’t they?

while the pages you’ve
written…

The beer also tastes
like vomited sulfur 

You even forgot to
drag from the cigarette
you’ve just lit
and the ashes fall on your chest
and gift you with a small
burn mark

You curse a
little

Not knowing whom you’re
cursing

But then it hits you

You suddenly remember
that reality
is nothing more than
your own reflection on the
surface of life’s water

You give a little
laugh
followed by a sigh

Yeah,
there’s nothing left do
be done

It is time to
give up

Only,
not in a defeatist manner

Give up
the struggle to control

take a break

and let life
straighten itself out

You don’t have to
actually believe

Just to it
and be amazed at the
results

You’ll see

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "it is time to give up"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

9 July 2026 9

“The Lives and Dreams of Some of Us” – featured in SPILLWORDS

New poem featured in the illustrious SPILLWORDS PRESS!

TITLE: The Lives and Dreams of Some of Us


( ⊃｡•́‿•̀｡)⊃ Give it a read HERE


Thanks!

9 July 2026 7

he’s all over the place

he’s all over the place by Bogdan Dragos

Something wasn’t right
about him

I mean,
the guy was way too rich
and privileged
to have missing teeth

yet his mouth
opened like some rusty dungeon
gate

Every time they tried
to fix his teeth
he’d break them again

intentionally

with the claw of
a hammer
or with a rock when a hammer
wasn’t available

What a lad

He kept all those
rotten vegetables and fruits
and meats under his bed
and in drawers
just to feel the smell of
death
about him

Death was everything
to him

His god

His world

So it’s small wonder that
he eventually
met his idol
or rather
gave himself to it

at age 22
he weighed no more
than a 12 year old
but had the wisdom of
a 62 year old who’d made it
in life

and that’s apparently where
the problem lies

when the mind knows too
much about too many things
it grows interested only
in the supreme thing

Death

and eventually the
body follows

“Dying in a dream is
always followed by
waking up,” he used to say. “For the
mind doesn’t know
what to render in the dream
afterwards and crashes. The dream
ends. Whether it’s a dream or
a nightmare.
Death is the way out.”

He got out, alright.

First out the window
and then

as his body hit the pavement
below

out of this dream

In this moment
he is all over the place

in my writings
first
and in the reader’s mind
second

But it should be fine
since I did not
share his name, right?

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "he’s all over the place"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

4 June 2026 3

a fingernail

a fingernail by Bogdan Dragos

he started
late in life

somewhere in
his early fifties
if I recall

and in just a few
very short years he
became
the inspiration and the
motivation for all
things associated with
late blooming

He sure proved to the
world that it’s never
too late for
dreams

“But what made you start?”
I once asked him

and he said, “a fingernail.”

Clearly he wanted me to ask,
‘A fingernail!? Oh my God,
what in heavens do you
actually mean by that, sir?’

but I kept silent

just watched him

and then he
went on

“Yeah. One day
at the age of fifty-three
I just found this
broken fingernail
lying on the floor of my
bedroom. I’ve never even
spoken to a woman in well
over ten years, let alone inviting
one over. Hahah!
So you can imagine my shock
as I observed that broken
fingernail just lying around on
the floor.
Fear was obviously the first,
most primal feeling that
inundated my soul.
And I was right to fear.
For I was indeed stalked
and about to be possessed.
And that, my friend, is how I met
my muse.
It wasn’t some apparition
coming and looking for
her broken fingernail. No. It was
all my fear and morbid curiosity
that brought her into my life,
summoned her
if you will. The mind conjured her
up and
as I started writing about
her, about the event of finding
that fingernail
on my bedroom floor, our
relationship caught
outlines.
But one thing I do know
and that is that
it’s different for every writer.
Your muse might not come to
you in the form mine did,
but don’t give up. Keep
looking, my friend.
And one day, one night, you might
just be surprised by
what you’ll find.”

I thanked him for the
advice and went
home and got drunk

“You wanna write about it
sometime?” she
asked

“Sometime,” I said. “Sure. But not
today.
Today let’s just get drunk and
feel shit and
sit in silence.”

We really
did that
all night

and on the next day
we started writing again

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "a fingernail"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

29 May 2026 1

he’s wrong, but he’ll never know

he’s wrong, but he’ll never know by Bogdan Dragos

he rarely goes out
in the summer

mainly just sits
inside
in his shorts
and drinks beer all
day and types
endless words on
a mechanical keyboard

it's not even attached to
anything
not connected

there's nothing to
connect it to

he's got no computer
and no
electronic devices in
the whole house

The keyboard he found
in the dumpster
one day while taking
out the trash

mostly crumpled 
beer cans

On that day he was
approached by some homeless
dude
who began calling him stupid
out of nowhere

"Why you do this, man?"

"Do what?" he asked, ready
to throw punches

"The goddamned cans! Why you
throw 'em like this?
Why did you crush 'em?
Now they're worthless!"

The homeless dude was
trying to tell him
that the cans can be
recycled for money
but he would not
understand

He was too much of a wild
beast
too antisocial

he lived among people
but not with them

and would hate them
for no reason

Back inside his
concrete cave
he would imagine
himself loved
and appreciated
by the masses

and would write
songs and
odes for them

all he needed in life
was that
and alcohol

and sure
he thinks he's very unique
in this
but here's where
he's wrong

No matter though

he'll never know

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "he’s wrong, but he’ll never know"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

21 May 2026 3

blessed to live in interesting times

blessed to live in interesting times by Bogdan Dragos

she had those ridiculously
long and sharp
fake nails
that doubled the length
of each finger

Those on the right hand
were
painted silver
and those on the left
black

and she liked to
poke things with them

and one of those
things was
my side
every time we sat next
to each other

at times she’d poke hard
enough to hurt her
own finger
and then would give a mock
cry and say it was my fault
and then laugh about it

“Aren’t you gonna ask how
I wipe my ass with
these?” she said

“Nah. I figure too many people
did it already.”

“Many people? Whaaaat?
Who d’ you imagine I talk to?
I don’t interact
with many people. No people
actually.”

“What about your
family?”

“Family… Yeah, I still think about
turning on the gas
in the house
and leaving them to die. They never
open a window in that
house anyway. It would make it
easy.”
She poked a nail into the
side of her head a few
times. “Ah, why am I such a
coward?”
And then suddenly her eyes
lit up. “Say, how about
you help me a bit?”

“No thanks. I don’t feel like
murdering anybody.”

“Dummy! Who said anything
about murder?”

“I could’ve sworn it
was implied.”

“Was not! On the contrary!
You could actually save
some lives if you
help me.”

“Oh? And what do I gotta
do?”

“Easy! You come home
with me
an’ we tell ‘em you’re my
boyfriend of years and years
and I trust you with my life
and the life of my dear ones. You
have a car, right?
Well, you can use it to take
my grandma to
church. It’s been her dream to
go there one last time, you see?
But since she’s so old and
sick and can’t move
and has nobody to help her, well,
she suffered a great deal because of it.
Grandpa can’t even move
from his bed. He’s far
worse than her. But we have
unfinished business,
him and I. And I
fear he’ll depart from this
world before we can properly
settle our scores, you see?
So, if you could take grandma to church
where she’ll be for about three
hours and then bring her
back… Well, I’ll get to spend that time
alone with my grandpa and…”

“And what?”

“Let’s just say you’d save grandma’s
life. She’s mostly innocent. Mostly.
It’s the old bastard I wanna have
a private
talk with, not her. She can live for
a few more years.
So, um, we got a deal?”

“My car’s broken. I’m waiting to
get it fixed.”

Her nails
were quick to poke me in the
side again
“Liar! You don’t wanna do
a good deed for a
good soul in this ugly world!”

I’m not sure who
the good soul was
in her view
but I’m sure the world she
talked about wasn’t ugly

No, it was
just very interesting,
that’s all

we’re both blessed enough
to live in interesting
times

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "blessed to live in interesting times"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

14 May 2026 6

the great gambler

the great gambler by Bogdan Dragos

we all know what makes an
athlete great

what makes a martial
artist great

a fisherman

a chef

a mountain climber

a race pilot

a painter

a hunter

sure

but

what makes a gambler
great?

Now this is rarely
if ever
asked

Somehow the answer, “he who wins
most and loses least is
a great gambler,” remains
unsatisfactory

It would’ve been fine
if we were talking about
a boxer for example,
but gambling… that’s another
hell entirely

winning a lot
doesn’t make you a good
gambler. A lucky guy
maybe
but great gambler?
Not so
much

I don’t think there’s
such a thing as a great gambler
but I do think this one kid
from my hometown came
quite close

He didn’t win or lose
or gamble a lot in the first
place, but he
was always the dumbass who said
shit like, “Hey! Bet you I
can throw this here
stone all the way over that
there branch on that tree.”
And before picking
up the stone he’d take out a
butterfly knife from some pocket
and open it before you. “If I miss,
I get eight cuts across the
arsehole. But if I don’t miss, you
get the cuts.”

Or he’d say, “Look, we stand
right here an’ toss the
coin at the wall, see? The one that
lands closer wins.
The loser gets this nail stuck into
his dick hole. You in?”

Whenever there was any
competition of
any kind, he’d instantly come up
with something like, “Loser has to cut off his
foreskin and wear it like
a wedding ring for seven days.”

An’ he was hella serious
with that shit too

He wasn’t the smartest fellow
in town
and I’ve never seen any of
those penalties being
carried out

Soon as he came of age
he suspended all school activity
and got a job
as a construction worker

I’m pretty sure he
never won any
money from gambling

Yet he’s still the greatest
gambler I know

Cuz no matter what
he does
he always bets on his
life

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "the great gambler"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

8 May 2026 5

they called him Jesus

they called him Jesus by Bogdan Dragos

the reason they called
him Jesus
had nothing to do with
his refusal to do drugs

He was far from
being the only homeless guy
who stayed sober

But he was the only one
who owned a donkey

it grazed the weeds around
his tent
and at times carried him
through the park

He didn’t go around
preaching

and that’s what
made everybody love
him more

Many thanks to LatinosUSA —English edition for featuring my poem, "they called him Jesus"!

Check it out HERE!

Thank you!

30 April 2026 6

at the top

Feeling bitter again
he opens the 
beer can 

stares at it 

stares at his 
reflection in the 
mirror mounted on the 
wardrobe door 

“Well,” he says with a 
sigh. “If I’m lonely it’s 
because I’m at 
the top. It’s always lonely 
at the top. 
The winner stands 
alone.” 

He raises the can 
at his own 
reflection and 
drinks

Thank you!

24 April 2026 7

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