NOT AN EXCUSE BUT AN ATTEMPT AT KNOWLEDGE
Joe Quinton
some rules are not published
existing only in our minds
as tools of pride
weapons to use against
one we wish to injure
thinking - how stupid
they do not follow the rules
they wish to cause me anguish
by not obeying
unknown rules are best
they cannot be followed
thus cause grief endlessly
~!~
THE SOLDIER
Terri Smalling
God smiled, "Upon the young soldier"
Welcome home, my son
Your time has come for peace
Your work on earth is done
The soldier said, "The last thing I remember"
I had a gun in my hand
I was fighting a war
In another land
God replied, "Now you'll fight no more"
You have not died in vain
You and others have given your lives
Your war has been contain
The soldier said, "My heart breaks"
For the wife and parents I left behind
Please, God, be so kind
And give them peace to find
God replied, "Your parents and wife will weep"
For the son and husband they could not keep
And when their day come
You and I, will meet them, to greet them home
~!~
Tears I See
Chris Moppin
Aids, viruses, infections and diseases
I sit and watch as the death toll increases
Addicts, potheads, and coke blowers
I watch as their intelligence lowers
Arguments, fights, abuse and lies
I watch as the young child sits and cries
These are all things that are real
Each of them changes how we feel
And brings forth salty tears
That are continuously flowing throughout the years
~!~
Mom
by Dawn (aka Yankeegirl)
She walked through my life with a smile,
A smile broader than any ocean was wide. We walked
Side by side through ages of triumphs and disappointments.
Through it all, her smile never wavered, never disapproved.
I could see it within the dark, scary nights as I can still see it
Within the clouds that follow me wherever I go.
She walked through my life with pride, showing it’s gleam even
Through the darkest moments of sadness and fear. She walked with me,
Teaching me to hold my head up no matter whom tried to push it towards
The ground in defeat and sorrow.
She walked through my life with unconditional love, always making
sure I felt the brightness of it shine within, no matter what the outside
world threw along my path. She took my hand and held it tightly, while I
grew and made decisions that would change my days to come.
She walked through my life ever so quickly, all the while I was
Thinking she would be there at my side forever. We walked in silence
upon the soiled ground, our last walk together in the rain, as she
wiped the raindrops from my face.
She walked through my life as an angel, giving all and taking
nothing in return. We still walk together; her power is still as
bright, while her soul is resting in another place. She still takes my
hand lightly, as I walk holding my head up, while the rain runs down
my face.
~!~
The Gallery
Douglas B. Jones
I love visiting the art rooms
where canvas has been exquisitely groomed.
Objects of all manner and shapes
rise to meet you from their resting places.
Colors and textures intertwine and blend,
something new greets you at every bend.
Here I feel the artists' at work
expressing their inner worth.
Although they may be gone
many beautiful works live on.
I feel the artists' working on my soul,
as I gaze awestruck on their goal.
~!~
Brass Premiere
Timothy McNeal
In the evening then
her slender figure in that long black gown,
her fair plait glimmering,
her trumpet pressed against
her breast,
her belly breathing and
her baby blues
promising.
~!~
Foolish
I reached out to you, and you turned away
So what is it now, that I am supposed to say?
I told you the truth, you wanted more proof
So inside I wept, smiled, and gave you my best,
but how long was I expected to hold on
I wonder how easily a mind could be changed
with just a simple little song
You told me to trust you
You'd never do me wrong,
Two years later, I sit
still asking myself,
"am I foolish for holding on?"
~!~
Sing Sweet
Jenna Walls
Sing sweet my love,
Into everlasting night.
Sing sweet my love,
Let our hearts be light.
Sing sweet my love,
Make the moon shine bright.
Look long my love,
After never-ending night.
Long long my love,
Deep into my eyes.
Look long my love,
Into the starry sky.
Stay near my love,
'Till day overcomes everlasting night.
Stay near my love,
'Till darkness becomes light.
Stay near my love,
'Till the moon no more is bright.
~!~
***** The Flow of the Crow *****
marlene s thornton
Within this faith I'm building
Pyramids cindering
With a depth of misery
Casting out a silent chill
A scream from Hell.
Blackness all around me now
A chaser never to be found
A clown on a merry- go-round.
Feelings all over again
Here never fades
The tree stands still
The birds from Hell
I'll never fail.
I have done my time; and did just fine
The old oak tree is dead
Where the wind use to blow
The flow of the crow.
A picture of orange and blue
Is what I think of you
An abstract form
That I adorn.
~!~
Forgotten
Annie Wood
He is that fallen lance that lies as hurled.
The forgotten younger brother or son,
who is swept underneath the rug-
next to yesterdays war games and polite tea party sets.
The one with a voice,
but no one who cares to listen.
The parents are too caught up in their own personal vendettas,
The child’s older brother or sister
is too blind to see the coming rage.
They tend to him like they would a dog,
a misguided child that grows up amidst the media’s fog.
Lost in the world that has him caught in it political web.
Hi dreams, his fears,
All get washed away and dries up like the oceans ebb.
~!~
A hangman’s moaning
DHANESH M KUMAR
Is there anyone who sees my mind
Alas doing for the sake of a bread;
The justice perhaps may have a thousand reasons
to make him stranglehold, surmounted my knot.
That final stare varies, person to person
Often making my mind so brittle,
agonized faces many I have seen,
But so penetrating is the beaming smile!
Me the tool and he the sufferer,
Is there anyone who sees my mind?
The plant directs it’s roots to spread
And then to grab the riches of earth,
There on to make the flowers blossom.
The vigorous fragrance and
the luminous beauty,
suddenly becomes the thing of past,
devoured by the plant’s arrogance.
~!~
Me
Cathey Lee
So this is who I am,
Comfortable in middle age,
Roomy clothes and sensible shoes,
Glasses reflecting twin moons,
In incandescent light.
And yet, sometime,
Before I sleep,
I see myself
Powerful and lovely,
Entering a room where
All heads turn to watch me;
Invincibly serene.
In a daring dress and,
Impossibly high heels.
The men rush to take my wrap,
And the women’s eyes
Are hard as marbles.
~!~
"DISCRETION"
-LYRIQ
Discretion of the wounded one,
who is fatally mischaracterizing
the one who has mentality of a man,
and capability of a woman,
draws complete attention to the,
impact of disguise,
and realize the relaxation,
and the soul of the mind,
through great sensation,
the remembrance of footsteps,
and the,
overdue of laughter,
brings out the aptitude of'
soul and,
my life chapter
~!~
SERGEANT DAY
Donald E. Felch
In sudden surge of trailing time
Disturbing disarray
Overcomes the ordered march
Of starchy Sergeant Day.
His stepping sure and ramrod straight
He faces toward the storm
Embracing this familiar feel
Of winds now blowing warm.
Their fingers grip his haversack
And arms around his chest
Embrace the polished edifice—
Of hero at his best.
So into battle steps the staunch
And surly Sergeant Day
Convinced the foe he faces now
Will melt his cares away.
From deep within his past he pulls
A drummer and a beat
To which he marches on again
Never to retreat.
His steps more sure, his heart alive
With pumping, burning flame
The soldier marches to the front
Defending freedom’s name.
But drum and drummer beat the beat
Of battles fought and won
In days now past where flowers bloom
Beneath the setting sun.
This soldier’s fight is over now
The stirring in his soul
Is just the an image of his past
Collecting yet the toll.
So beat the drum and blow the wind
Throughout the coming day
In honor of the reticent—
Our hero, Sergeant Day!
~!~
I'm sick and tired
tired and sick
of being taken advantage of
trying to get money
from me!
I couldn't see
that your goal was to cash out
on my doubt
in my ability
let me write poems
tell me I'm great
next thing you know
there's a sale in my box
for only 19.95
dollars and cents
I can have my poem
in a book on some shelf
where can i find it
nowhere else but
My house.
:-)
zymoscopebgo
~!~
but to love you....
kimmy skjod
I crouch my knees up to make a stand for my book to talk,
This thought has gone on and on in my mind, made from the same tissue
God created for all of us.
Each of us the same, yet so different.
I pray a place is for even the most lost souls, for I could be your best
friend in a world without power of many, but a world under the power of
'One'.
Someday on the other side of our blinded hearts, we may laugh at these
times, we may cry out for forgiveness for treating eachother as we do.
You may be dreadful, but I love you and you may hate but there must be
love, maybe small, but some inside of you.
Try to remember who created you, created me and regardless of what you
believe we are brothers and sisters,
God took his time to make us.
I will remember not to hate you, but to love you-
for someday on the other side, after this life is over,
truly we may be holding hands and hugging, we may be best friends.
I will forgive if it will help love circle this world-
~!~
Cynical means of inserting my own version,
elevating chance of mistake
insisting a punctured vein,
the socket stitching light to a rusty gate
no third eye for the vision
no nicotine to grasp the wheels,
feather upon winds my friend,
existing hopeless passion
standing to the bricks, no reflection to pass
escape the sun without a memory
the pillow brow toucheth my grass
one step from understanding
two breaths away from drowning,
three segments grasp replacement
still four feet past the lighting
I touch the day I found you, kissing the frame of the undercurrent
the barriers of my distance, feel your presence as you exit
a new element of ascension. this whispering wind of indifference.
leebrascorn
~!~
"Bailers Twine"
Karen S. Deason
Bound within' with bailers twine
Wrapped so tight inside my mind
Seeking the truth, amidst all the lies
Looking for answers I'll never find
Struggling to loosen the bailers twine
That has me bound so deep inside
It holds me so, I cannot breath
And takes me to my bended knees
Please Lord, please hear my cries
Cut me loose from the bailers twine
That bounds me deep within' my soul
And promises never to let me go
~!~
IN SEARCH OF THE VOICES
By Rick Van Weenen
Please come with me and journey to a place where voices speak
Where angels murmur wishes and where answers I do seek
Come venture through my guesthouse which has floors and floors of room
Where sometimes screams are echoed and where angels sing a tune
Where doors are always open, where I smell the stench or sweet
Where seemly ghosts do wander through the halls I never meet
Where I can sometimes taste the blood or banquet so divine
War and peace of souls release, does seem the ever mine
I’ve wandered through the corridors, been lonely in my plight
Not found those many voices which come calling every night
I’ve etched the words in memory that I’ve found along the way
As voices keep on calling and don’t ever go away
I dreamt that I had found them and we partied till the dawn
I felt at one, passed torment, then another one was born
To waken me from sleep again, to voices in my head
So here I wait dear traveler, let us search this road ahead
~!~
He's Back
(In Memory of 9-11)
Lone Wolf
High above the smoking fields soaring
Sharp eyes controlled chaos spied
Screaming, popping, clanking, cracks of thunder
War rages on the wings of His pride
He's back, He's bald, His talons razor sharp
Toughest kid on the block once again
Striking down the foes of evil
In His might there is no pretend
Shrieking, sounds the commands to charge
Enemy begins to cower and flee
From the sky comes the Death Angel in many forms
As the side of truth closes in on victory
He's back, spreading wide His wings of fire
With the One True GOD giving wind to his flight
He's back with a vengeance, justice he serves
With a Power that resides on the side of right
Attacking out of nowhere plucking out their eyes
Destruction is all this enemy understands
This bird of prey is only too happy to oblige
Divided they fall but "United We Stand !"
He's back with the ultimate war machine engaged
Triumphant in every battle, the plan is working well
He is back accepting nothing less than a total win
As Satan's hoard lay dead and dying, payback is Hell
~!~
Where cellophane memories shrivel
blended like a Starry Night painted by the devil
diamonds drowned in oil
furrowed in brain-coils of my soul blossom unpunctuated as flowers mate
the butterfly
living immortal
beside the wind’s ode on the sky’s river bend as a fantasia (if time
were glass) wants to
peel
and does Where cellophane memories shrivel in Kerouac
trip tear drops to the edge of the sea
From the Marriage
of Heaven
to a piano made of jelly beans
and Hell’s eye
that verbs nouns and sounds imaginings of supernovas for the soul
to transpose
lilac teeth soft as petals on a virgin’s stomach right above her belly
button
insufficient
I am the universe dependency
galen
~!~
Beautiful
By: Lauren Russell
Beautiful, what is Beautiful?
Snoop has a song about it, Christina has a song talking about it.
But really does it mean to be beautiful.
Does it mean to have your butt stickin out? Or dancin with a
bikini top in a boxing ring? Is this what it means to be beautiful?
Does beautiful mean to have guys flirt with me? Does it mean to
wear short skirts or maybe it means to have that perfect ten body?
Is this what it means to be beautiful? Because if it does than I
must be ugly.
If this is what beauty is all about than I have no choice but to
be ugly I don't want to be beautiful if this is what I have to do in
order to have boys notice me or have model agency call back.
I'D RATHER BE UGLY!!!!!
~!~
In a world so filled with hate is it possible there could ever be peace?
Could kindness and love ever gleam through the wails of guns and bombs?
Could everyone just get along and forget their problems in the past?
When will we lay down our arms and instead rejoice in peaceful acts?
Will this ever happen in a world so filled with hate?
When will we learn that it is not one country that is the source of all
problems?
For it takes two to start a war?
When will people learn to respect each other for who they are, not where
they are from?
Could one day all of the countries in the world unite and have the honor
of working for the global community?
Could this happen?
Will this happen?
In a world so filled with hate is it possible that there could ever be
peace?
~!~
Holding Hands
Rhonda L Jackson
Last night after church at the benediction
It came to my attention
As we held hands time stood still for me
And I became keenly aware
Of this simple gesture
Holding hands can represent many things
Protection, direction, connection, chastisement
Advisement, appeasement, and even senuality
But here in this setting it represented agreement
That Jesus is the Christ
Apha and Omgea, Omnipotent, Omniscient
Omnipresent, King of kings, Lord of lords
The True and Living God
I am glad I was made aware of this
Special event and privy to its awesome power
Holding hands touching and agreeing
In the power of prayer, the completeness of peace,
The strength of truth
Holding hands touching and agreeing
Holding hands touching
Holding hands
~!~
CITY OF SILENCE
Shabina Nawaz
City of silence where my loved one's lie,
Where i will rest when i die.
I can hear the tree's see the insects,
and Feel the breeze.
City of silence where we all will be, if not
Today then some day, we will lie next to our
Loved one's when we die.
City of silence tell me what does unfold,
We are scared of the myths we are told.
City off silence where my loved one's lie
Some day I will rest there to when I die
~!~
Perfect Friend
Diana
Your my perfect friend because of,
the twinkle of generosity in your eyes,
the sensitivity of your sincere heart,
your perfect because of your determination,
you've helped me fight these brick walls that I've built,
you've followed me every golden step of the way,
all the tears that I have tasted were shared with you,
all the strength you gave me, I will securely keep in my heart,
our friendship is as delicate as a rose,
but as strong as an iron ship,
our friendship will secretly wrap around our souls,
and will never be taken away from anything,
the glow of your harmony sinks in my skin,
and reaches my pure mind with giggling memories,
I've searched even the stars for this friendship,
and I truly know that God has blessed me with
A Perfect Friend.
~!~
MY DEAD UNCLE,
By Sven Poppins
Since all was for the best in his possible world,
And his hooded eyes saw no evil
And his wife was plump and round and good
The man saw only things like grandchildren playing
And decorations for the seasons.
He had gifts for all that he loved, and they loved him
Even though he was not of intellect or wit.
He was plain and knew his place and was quick
To praise the worst of mankind’s follies.
He often found that his zipper was down
Or the listeners in the room had deserted him,
But his story droned on to the one small child
That was only there to eat the chips.
And all stayed good in his possible world
Until the day his chest tightened and his breath was short
And his hooded eyes closed on his good world
And the ones he left behind
Were finally taught what it meant to regret.
~!~
For my friend Geramie who was killed March 26, 2003...
Abbie LeAnn Woods
Why him?
He was going to be someone,
someday.
He was smart, funny, and popular.
He was friends with everyone--
no exceptions.
It's not fair he had to die.
I would have taken his place,
any day.
How come the people who wanna die,
never ever do.
How come the people who wanna be hurt,
never ever do.
It's always the innocent ones.
who end up going first.
I noticed it today,
this sad, upsetting day.
I keep telling myself,
"this isn't true."
I keep asking myself,
"how can this be?"
I guess it was for a good cause.
God thought it was his time.
To leave us empty handed.
Our hearts shattered to tiny peices.
God~he was only 16 years old.
It wasn't his time!
How could you do this to us?
His friends, his family, his foes.
Why did you do this?
I guess we'll never know.
I Love You Geramie, stay strong!
*cries*
~!~
"actor's book of poems"
Thomas Fulfer
Time to reevaluate life
dissect everything
pick the pieces up again
walk forward into tomorrow
the days will never come back
regrets sorrow hate
i loved her
all her words spoken through the eyes of denial
all her songs of betrayal
there's nothing left inside of her
they took it all
and left me without a chance
~!~
A BLACK WOMEN
pen name: Script
A black women is me
A black women is you ladies face the facts, a black women is
true.
An attentive, attractive attempting to do, the best for her
black women is real, let my finish if it's my poem you feel.
Strive to do the best, a brilliantly, blessed, broad-minded,
brave black women makes it through.
Tell me what kind of black women are you??
Me, i'm a true black women, a sophisticated, strong, smart,
smooth black women.
A true black women is never taken for granted, a true black
women doesn't care that she's viewed so slanted.
A true black women has to impress no one but herself.
A true black women can hold her own, stand her ground, even if
there's no one around.
A daring, demanding, delicate, divine black women can do
anything in this world don't be surprised that this is coming from a
16 year old gurl.
A true black women goes through good and bad
A true black women has times of happy and sad
A true black women makes mistakes, but remember you can always
tell a true black women from a fake.
~!~
Encore I for April, 2003.
Encore II for April, 2003.
