OPEN MIC ARCHIVES
JUNE, 1998

Updated June 18, 1998


THANK YOU

Thank you God for little things

that often come our way

The things we take for granted

but don't mention when we pray


The unexpected courtesy

the thoughtful kindly deed

A hand reached out to help us

in the time of sudden need


Oh make us more aware dear God

of little daily graces

That come to us with sweet surprise

from never dreamed of placed


written by dad, Tony Boyer

and left for us by him when he passed away. xx

----------------------------------------


Playin' a Playa


My man ia a playa but he doesn't know he's getting played himself.


He tries his best to lie he just can't be a playa like me.


I can cover my lies, hide the secret letters and he never knows the difference.


When you think you are playin' your girl you never know she just might be

Playin' You!?!

---------------------------------------------------------

The poems are my emotions

the words-my tears

the paper-my tissue

it soaks up all my fears


The pen is my escape route

the ink-its what I bleed

you-the topic of my writings

because you are the one I need



by: Kesi Macon

-------------------------------

So Near, Yet So Far
By Solly Abraham


You are always before my eyes,

Yet I cannot see you

You are always beside me,

Yet I cannot touch you

You are always in my thoughts,

Yet I cannot interpret you

You have filled up my senses,

Yet I cannot feel you

You are always in my dreams,

Yet I cannot fathom you

You are always leading me,

Yet I cannot follow you

You are always so near me,

Yet I am so far from you

--------------------------------------

The Search


I set out on a search for truth

Not knowing what I'd find

Expecting knowledge of grand Duluth

Hoping to gain the highest prize


I went along from shore to shore

Transversing paths untrodden

Many I found, of words a whore

Discarded thoughts were soon forgotten


As I arrived I looked behind

The track had ended and I could see

I wondered how I was once blind

The truth the truth did lie with me

----------------------------------------

The Fake


Continually climbing a stairway

made of nothing


Knowing very well the great extent

of the charade


The ever taxing desire to suppress the knowledge

that the box is empty...

---------------------------------------

Can you miss someone

that you never really had...

Yes, I know you can

--------------------------

We piled fifteen TV sets into a truck

Took them out to the woods

Shot each one

Twice

It all seemed very merciful

Yet I went home

Unsatisfied

Woke up in the middle of the night

Slipped outside and burned down some

Billboards

Still couldn't sleep

In the morning I meant to

liberate a slaughterhouse

But paused for breakfast

And blew up a dam, instead

---------------------------------

IMAGINATION, AND CREATIVITY.

HELD IN MIND, AND HANDS.


WONDER, AND ASTONISHMENT.

THE ONLOOKER.

----------------------------

In darkness of false symbols you stand

hiding in the shadow of thane temple

From the edge of the shadow

you beckon towards me

were I stand

In light of the sun

From your dark sanctuary you

speak of another light

A pure an white light

In darkness all light shine bright

Come, leave the shadow

Let us understand the sun

Soon the temple will be naught more than

the shadow it is

--------------------------------------

Hidden


Deep within me small and weak,

Lies my soul: my one true self.

And there within it's garden keep;

Gathering dust upon a shelf.


I do not let it say a word,

Afraid it might expose my own.

It's voice I've made sure no one's heard;

It only speaks when I'm alone.


The many masks that people wear,

They scare me when I see.

For under them there lurks my fear;

How many masks do they see on me?

------------------------------------------

A dream I had,

A dream I'll have,

Sub-conscience steering me in the wrong direction,

Who to trust, when I can't trust my self,

How can I believe anyone who understands me,

When I can't understand myself,

There is one I want to understand,

I see her in my dreams,

With a leap of blind faith, I pursue,

But trip on my own words,

Someday maybe someday, but not today,

I'll continue chasing lost dreams...

------------------------------------------

I could live like that,

Arising every morning with the sunlight

Streaming through the windows,

Calling out my name from the

Tempting shoreline.


I could live like that.

Basking in the sun, while

Dangling my toes in the water, and

Listening to the waves

Crashing upon the shore.


I could live like that.

Wandering along the land's edge,

Staring out at the emerald sea,

Enjoying the peaceful night air.

Hoping that this dream never ends.

------------------------------------

through my window

i see you walk by

my imagination throwing hammers

watching you through a cascade of glass!

anger takes me,

and i ride solo

through clouds of depression

free-falling 35 seconds through hell

my imagination,

a parachute with holes

and i fall to the ground.

setterberg@webtv.net

--------------------------------------

---------------------------------------------------------

stop the magnetic body and i drew a dry set of endorphin ,house of rockin mago bank books and look at me and look at me -and now look at what you done did

feel full pull and be a fatnano ,red swears to be blue and all this love smells like glue, i want my casket plastic ahla tup-a-ware and red is blue i swear


shallowing collossus

---------------------------------------------------------

He loves my chemical bodyshipwrecked on your sandy beachhere comes along a corduroy boyinsistent in a narcissitic mannerif the fruit of your garden grew onto my wayward pathi would not know what to dostaring at the sticky sweetness of my Desireof you fireburning my chemical worldlying on a sandy beachlying to the nightthe taste of man-made fruit still upon my lipssearching for airinhaling hairHe is standing beside meand I need not breathe

---------------------------------------------------

Love is a rose so tender and true,

Deep down inside i hide my love for you,

maybe someday you'll see,

my love for you deep in side me.

-------------------------------------

MANIAC


You take take your little knife

with its gleaming edge

Tonight you'll find another one

to add upon your list.

You kill them nice and slowly

Their faces screw up in pain

This brings a smile to your face

So you do it again and again.


You like to watch them suffer

As you have once done

You love the pain and fear

that shows on their faces

For doing nothing wrong.

By Jade Baum

----------------------------


My Wish

Oh how I wish that I could fly,

On the beautiful wings of a butterfly.

Leaving behind all my sorrow and pain.

Cleansing my soul for joy in my vein.

To see the world every inch, every square.

Flying as close to the sun as I dare.

With the wind in my hair, the sun in my face,

Leaving behind all my shame, my disgrace.

Oh how I wish that I could fly,

On the beautiful wings of a butterfly

renee hindle

------------------------------------

What fleeting passion do you know?

What glorious demons can you show?

Thee who hast fallen, what fruit have you for me?

What beautiful darkness do you see?

---------------------------------------------------------

Why is what I do so wrong

why do I always sing this song

why cant some one be unique

its never like i used to think

why dose it have to be this way

why cant it all just go away

i guess I can get used to it

my life is now a fire lit

condemned to do as others do

and never see the good in new

like life its self a disgrace

i'll never know the human race

---------------------------------------

FALLING APART


Help me god my world is spinning.

Why now just when I thought I was winning

Who am I where an I going?


Barbara T. Ricca

-----------------------------------

Your Name


An opportunity awakens

Yet my dreams still sleep

i ask for your name

all i get is a glimpse

of your beautiful face


The clock keeps tickin'

with my heart, every beat

i find out your name

etch it into my thoughts

a very pleasantly pain


In just a matter of seconds

another moment will pass

i call out your name

but you don't hear me

my voice is silent again


air viv

--------------------------------------

I've heard

being lost is worth the coming home-

and it was.

I had become a dim figure standing in the wind

without a coat

when

I saw you

shining in a puddle of self assurance

understanding me

before a word was spoken.

With your smile

you unloosed every beautiful sound

... and I..

couldn't believe

my ears.

----------------------------------------------

tripwire

and we fall forward

ruining beauty with analyzation

where can we run when thieves

chase us for our jewel?

where can we hide when we can

no longer run?

Understanding seems

to be a large part of the picture

and the picture is far from complete!

skip the wire

and walk on

enjoying every step.. and dance

along the way

just remember

fool's gold rests in the hearts of the lucky

---------------------------------------------

this is my poem so i throw them. the women i show them. give me ghost as yakub says toast. as-salaam alakium so i shake them and quakem. so i make it known that it all is blown like in a stadium writing poems at radium and then letting them all know this is my flow as i grow with the ill knowledge don't u know. let me flow more and more to the core. quasars to the core.

------------------------------------

Arachne


Burgeoning girl ridding the web,

Abandoning her pulpy cotton like dirty bathwater.

She slither-crawls on fingerclaws

to the edge of the bed,

and peers down

through straggled strands of hair

To the cobblestone rug,

one million arm reaches away.

----------------------------------

WANT AD


Desire:

- tender kiss

- beautiful secrets

- jungle music

- unending fantasy

- quiet night

- real beauty

- crystal snow

- mechanical moon

- pillow clouds

- creativity

---------------------------

TO...

in the lonely room

i sit thinking of you

i know the price i'm paying

but what can i do?


so many seasons have come and gone

since i held you in my arms

so many cold and lonely nights

since i turned away

i should have stayed


now i don't know

what the lonely road holds

but i must try and make it through

'cause maybe someday

i'll be lying next to you

---------------------------------

"Staring at the wall"


As I stare at the wall

I see the monsters of my past

the busted 4 square balls,

the broken glass.

I see the shadows

and his face

with the angry expression

that never fades.

Then the nurse comes in

and changes my IV.

Painful as sin,

as it penetrates my skin,

And now does form

new images on the wall.

-------------------------------------

washington


you left me standing in the rain

with a backpack full of memories,

pocketful of pain,

and a trunk locked with guilt;

my hitchhiking thumb blown cold

by the breath of your goodbye.

-----------------------------------------

playing w/you


'twas twelve twisted vines of twine

that hindered my quick production line - you

roll your eyes but soon you'll know me.

pity like that winds up below me - you

flatter weakly, weekly, daily

behind me stabbing, briskly gaily - you

slip like silver - poison teeth

sucking dry life underneath - you

know steps? where i tread?

(dark spread quickly spread)

deceit runs high - you

wonder why?

not true:

you.

-------------------------------

Flowers:

They sprout,

slowly rise,

bathe in the sun.

Faces upturned,

Eager,

Peaceful; Graceful.

Winter cold approaches,

Leaves wrinkle,

shrivel,

curl back on themselves,

To crumple to the ground.

--------------------------------------

"THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE"


UNKNOWN TO MOST HUMAN'S IS THE TRUTH ABOUT LOVE!


THE HONESTY AND CARING....TOGETHER WITH THAT SO VERY

SPECIAL FRIENDSHIP THAT LEAD'S TO SUCH KNOWLEDGE


THE KNOWLEDGE OF DEEPLY KNOWING

"THE MEANING OF LOVE!"

---------------------------------------------------------

The Question of One Night

By Ashley Becker

A bit after dawn

A minute to late

A question was asked

Which led to her fate

A tear drop of death

Rolling down his chin

He committed the crime

,but she died for the sin

(Not complete Any Ideas any one)

---------------------------------------

Success.
Aimee age 8


I entered a contest right across town. My mama said I would frown. She doesn't

believe that I can win. As a matter of fact I am so good I offered her a gin.

I know I know I will and it's such a pity they even Will couldn't resist a gin.

He told me at the end of the show I WON THE CONTEST! I WIN! I WIN!

---------------------------------------------------------

Consider


My landlady, Mrs. McDevitt,

an odd bird,

hair the color of spray polish

cocooned on her head,

lives as she says

on the only flat part of Mary Street.

Whatever rolls downhill lands in her lap.

Like the time, she insists

she refused to rent to that "Negro couple,"

and they came back with friends,

and chased her all the way down Vestal Ave. in hysterics,

elbows flying, her purse

clutched to her bosom.

---------------------------------------------------------

HAIKU


the sun on the sails

salt spray on my face and lips

look a flying fish


Lee 6-13-98

--------------------------------------

the ebb and flow of the stars

desire breaks over the sands of time

answers and questions come


lee

--------------------------------

at night while i lay thinking here

some what-ifs crawled inside my ear

what-if i lost my only house key

what-if i found out my sister was a he.

what-if i picked a rose

what-if someone told me there was a booger hanging from my nose.

what-if my brother starts to cry

what-if i have to say BYE-BYE!!

i thought everything was swell and then

the night time what-ifs strike again!!!!!!!

---------------------------------------------------------

Looking into a Mirror


This is me breathing

feel the air with thy eyes

This is me blinking

see the truth with thy heart

This is me walking

taste the cruelty with

thy arms

This is me crying

touch me with thy words

This is me dying

remember me

with thy thoughts

I always was the wordy

one.

--------------------------------

DADDY

Your quivering form

sits nervous next to mine.

I watch you hold your shaking hands inside your lap

I wish to reach out --

smooth the worry lines that crease your forehead

But I hold the hymnal still inside my palm instead.

I form the words with an aching mouth

and aching cheeks

an aching heart

And watch you flutter haphazardly

(a butterfly with broken wings)

across the room.

kristjanne@hotmail.com

------------------------------------------------

EXPLOSION

The teddy bear holds a satin heart

reading "I love you."

Define love.

The satin heart explodes in the teddy bear's hands

and he spits on its ashes

prancing tiny teddy bear feet

in the messages left over blurred up words.

kristjanne@hotmail.com

-----------------------------------------------

TO THE POET

i do not know you but am fascinated by you

it is not love, not yet,

but infatuation


you arouse my mind and

my body with your words


i have never seen you but i long

to be near you,

to hear your voice and feel your touch.

----------------------------------------

MORNING

Tall trees silhouetted in the pre-dawn sky;

Far away a dog barks;

Further away a rooster crows,

Chanticleer welcoming the day.

---------------------------------------------------------

AMEN(America the Beautiful?)


Blood stained Indian crucifix

ashes burn scurvy eyes

cynical mouth of weeping wisdom

smashing bottles, mad with lies


Ambassador of vulgarity

consuming your plastic smile

American dream in a liquor store

military lines up in single file


Gun fires, takes careful aim

deeply embedded in the savage soul

concealing their demonic whispers

calculation of incarcerated control!


Written by Judah Thomas Zetterberg

------------------------------------------

THE TREE


A seedling of a cedar

Overshadowed by sweetgum, oak, and maple;

A small, precious tree

Dwarfed by the leafless monsters in the cold December air;

Come spring its life will be choked out if it is not transplanted.


I am a stranger in a strange place;

I do not belong here.

It is so cold in this world full of hate.

Please, let me spread my roots and feel the warmth of the sun upon me;

Please, let me grow, let me flourish, let me live.

--------------------------------------------------

Jeweled Ruby


together we shall be in the flesh

immortal as the soul of the moon and the earth

she possessed eyes of a cool jeweled ruby

legs as long as the forgotten night

a longing a need

for my prison

of the flesh

indeed!!!

in constant flight our souls collide(we both die)

-----------------------------------------------

THE NEVERENDING NIGHTMARE


horror, terror

here he comes again

the fire breathing monster

smoke billowing from his nose

this monster feeds on human flesh

inflicting pain on others brings him joy

i am his helpless victim -

there is no escape.


fear, confusion

this nightmare never ceases

not only in the night-time

but when the sun shines, too

i do not see the sun, i

only see clouds of smoke -

and the fire breathing monster

there is no escape.

--------------------------------------

Hold On

by Kara Masciangelo

- January 1998 -


She lives deliriously, like the wind;

Confused and crazed; restless and weary.


Smooth, pale skin, lusting the moon;

Languid eternity crushes her here.


But, from behind the banal chains of each day,

She will try to shine on 'til the summer.

-----------------------------------------------

i love you you love me

sing a song

plant a tree

watch a movie

then you'll see

that i love you and you love me

we sit and stare

together we will forever be

as forever as a pair

as two makes three

we shall be

as fair as can see

you and i alone

happy sunshine

like a hug from grandma

a chance once taken

and the feeling of risk

our hearts pump as one

we share our little secrets

underneath the sun to dance the night away as one

------------------------------------------------

Home


Summer days.

Time rushes by.

It leaves me behind.


Behind me is everything,

In front, nothing.

I try not to think.


Thinking about we.

Togetherness with stars.

Nothing to understand.


I understand time.

It is for and against me.

but I will survive.

-------------------------------------

TRY!


Count all the starfish on the beach,

Including those beyond your reach.

Though the number may seem great,

Just use your math to calculate.


Sure, it is a large amount

For a little kid like you,

Almost as high as the great blue sky,

But not too big for you to try!


CharlesAlbano@webtv.net

----------------------------------------

TWILIGHT MIND


Simple-minded people

Are certain they are right,

Because they won't concede

To any shades of light.


But in the shades of twilight,

If given a chance to,

Graded thoughts parade

For open-minded view.


CharlesAlbano@webtv.net

----------------------------------

TO MY LOVER


Here I am, do what you want

There shall not be any inhibitions between us

Take my hand and journey with me

Where two lovers can release their lust

Don't be afraid to express yourself

Let your body be engulfed

By the tenderness that I give to you

By the comfort I give unto you

Change your state of mind

Let our souls intertwine

Forget all of your worries

And indulge in all of your fantasies of you and I

----------------------------------------------

BEAUTY

By ~Rori~


Something so trivial

Something so changing

Beauty

Remember when

You were a child

And your mother was beautiful?

After years of media

And social influence

She grew

Old

And haggard

In your eyes.

Beauty is only seen

to the pure

uninfluenced soul

So next time

You pick

Prod

Gouge

Out a person's beauty.

Look through a child's eyes

Pure

And free........


Akashianna@aol.com

------------------------------

Steels the Spine


sanfrancisco such a place

goldengates hide her face

other sites pack'em in

goldengates bring'em back again

goldengates?

walls of plenty

wall'em in or out the many

matters not I play the ante

goldengates?

I eat cement

breath her fumes which I vent

no escape when all is spent

goldengates?

steel intertwined

you get yours, I'll get mine

staying just steels the spine

staying just steels the spine.

E.E.Biller (5/4/98)

-------------------------------

Kite in a Tree


The rhombic red mass looks lonely

drowning

in a wooden embrace

waiting

for a kiss

red

like Lennon's blood

pointed

like a finger

tangled

like me

-------------------------------

Look past my face

Stare into these eyes

Feel the pain from my heart

And see my soul has died.


My heart is cold

And full of ash

From once a fire burned

Lit by you match

Fueled by your passion

And quenched by your betrayal.

BRANDY WILSON

------------------------------------

CASTLE AND PSYCHOLOGY-i FOLLOW YOUR BROKEN ROAD

LOOKING FOR THAT LITTLE MEMORY, i CREATE, I SIGH

AND SHIVER WHEN I HIT UPON YOU, I AM A BULLET

GOD'S TESTIMONY, I CAN MAKE YOU SUBJECT

INNER WALLS CRACK AND FLOODS POUND IN YOUR VEINS

WHEN I COME AROUND, I SEE MEAT, I SEE MY SAVIOR BOWING

AT YOUR DIRTY FEET. . . . . .


---------------------------------------------------------

WILL.......


Will my ears hear your voice as you speak to my with your eyes?

Will your hands touch my heart and beat love's rhythm?

Will our bodies sweat the dreams of our youth and let them fade into the sheets?

Will time stand in our shoes and write our name with wrinkled fingers?

Will we still be?


Sheila Gunter 4/98

---------------------------------------------------------

In Just a Glance...
By EM SQUARED - Nu Urban Soul Essentials


She was so beautiful

as she walked in -

talked in the sexiest tone

soft moans of silence

fill the air

eyes meet discretely

intense stares of passion

lasting forever

in just a glance...

---------------------------------------------------------

For Light-Skinned Brothas...
By EM SQUARED (N.U.S.E.)


As I get nearer and nearer

To my bedroom mirror

Thinking wondering

Trying to find out

If it's all in my mind

Or is our kind now extinct

Becoming out of place

Not by race, but by description

I feel my affliction

No longer fitting in

Lips not full but thin

Skin not dark but light

DAMN! Something just ain't right...

Is it me, or do y'all just

Make a light-skinned brotha feel bad?

---------------------------------------------------------

Go Ahead


Go ahead to your new found way,

I'll try to control my sorrow.

Just leave me thoughts of yesterday,

And have your damn tomorrow.


-------------------------------

The Umbrella Parade


Rainy days are gloomy

The sky is sad and gray

A teardrop falls from

The face of a cloud

He says "I hope the sun soon comes my way!"


The cloud looks down

Upon the streets

A tear falls from his eyes

He sees polka dots and pinstripes

From umbrellas of every size!


He soon begins to smile

And the rain begins to fade

His tears have all dried up

This is the end of the umbrella parade!

--------------------------------------------

Pictures In The Sky


Have you ever seen a picture

Floating in the sky?

In the center of a cloud

A hat, shoe, or tie?

Or it may look like a frog

Or a scary crocodile

A kitten on a log

Or books in a pile.

You can see almost anything

From ice cream cones to toes

From butterflies to ladybugs

Or a face with a large nose

So on a cloudy day

In the grass I lie

Looking for a picture

Floating in the sky!

-----------------------------------

LEAVES OF AN ASPEN


dry, hollow, cellophane paper chinese lanterns...

thinly veined wisps of parchment.. rustling in the breeze...

a thousand wooden balsa sticks... clamoring in exclamation!!!

---------------------------------------------------------

I was drawn by your gentleness,and the night the light fell blue on my pillowand you looked delicate, vulnerablelike a young boy,and how you stepped like a cat to my bedbecause you thought you were clumsy,and the way your thighs made my knees riseas we fucked side-by-side and I pressed your mouth harder on me.You with your soft skin.You with your sweet smell.You with your hang dog sit awhile eyes.Erased.

---------------------------------------------------------

Confession:


One dark and stormy night,

As I laid down to rest,

I knew what I had to do.

Confess! Confess!


But if I did,

I thought in my head,

I would wake the next morn

And find myself dead.


But nevertheless,

I had to admit,

T`was I was the one

That did it.



By: HyperNici

-------------------------------

I I had a teacher in 6ixth grade

she was fat and liked to bitch a lot

all she did was yell and hollar

while telling us to run a mile

i being the sucky runner myself

would make her life a lot harder

while she made mine a living hell

and that's all I got to say bout that

------------------------------------

NINE O'CLOCK RUSH TO NOWHERE

from "Visions of Long Dark Highways"
by Jessica Kuzmier Bauer


City minds

Subway trains

rush rush rush rush

click clack click clack

Mad craze through the streets

As nine thousand gazillion horns cry

And brilliant minds plot

To rule the market


There is the robin

He flies above

Unseen but ever seeing

He perches on the 'scraper

And cocks his head

Watching the giants far below

Kill each other for food

In boxes of fine metal

---------------------------------------------------------

Numbed by a shroud,

The cold touch of death,

I look to the clouds

And with my final breath

My sins do I hide,

I pray for the light

My shackles cast aside

My soul takes flight.

--------------------------

Bare foot


As I run bare foot through the cold morning air,

I can't help but fear,

That there is not a rock,

Waiting for my next footstep,


But I musn't fret,

I musn't slow,

Because it was my idea,

To run bare foot through the snow!

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

-----------------------------

I shall cast no shadow on this world that you doth own

I promise not to make one mark to dirty the land you call home.

I shall watch in silence as you love, then take a bride

Close my eyes as you consummate...my tears I swear to hide.

I shall tread so lightly over fields just streaked with dew

And watch carefully as the moonlight shines on its sweetest target...

You.

---------------------------------------------------------

STREET SIGNS
by:Laine Doublin


The girl who wears clouds

is now choking on rain

stepping on cracks

and drying her feet

just to walk on wooden

floors

she is crying in a sense

but she is not sullen

or confused or even in love

just wearing clouds

and choking on rain

slowly finding her way back

to where it

began

---------------------------------------

Ode To Pain


Below, the ground is quaking

Above, the sky it's burning

Inside, my heart is breaking

My world has stopped from turning


My sun has ceased from shining

The clouds obstruct it's way

My moon has kept from rising

Since you've been away


And like the rain that's falling

My tears are falling too

Awaiting the rainbow's calling

When the light can shine on through


Peering out the window

Time passes oh so slow

--------------------------------------

Early morn the sun arose

Above the mountain high

A memory trace, a sweet embrace

Of the girl I kissed goodnight


Now it seems that all my dreams

Have met with my request

A beautiful girl to share my world

My life is surely blessed


Whenever I think of her

I'll be singing a happy song

The load won't seem so heavy

The road ain't all that long


C. Deatherage

----------------------------------

REACH


Crazy I guess, so it seems

Living your life on hopes & dreams


But dreams come true when hopes are high

So take a number & reach for the sky


C. Deatherage

---------------------------------

"hail for nothing"


when the hours

fell cold,

i felt you

like a new sun,

but i am

all lies tonight,

all wasted air

and haunting dreams,

and you seem to

be flying somewhere,

off in skies

so alienated to me,

our love is

all too full,

all too strong

and lively......

our eyes are everywhere

but where they belong.

-t.matthew

-----------------

I Have Been Tramping
(From the Murovid)


I have been tramping

past the broken carcass shops

past the outburst of light

the riot of sound and dissonance


I have been tramping

through the liberties

the glowing haze

the gentle buzz

the quiet still


and now I return

to my wounded parapet

that overlooks the city

which smolders in the heat of mid-afternoon

now see the bustle of the driven ants

the honks and screeches of the heady traffic.

---------------------------------------------------------

Image


As i stared out the window

And gazed at the rain

I saw an image of you

I could not explain

------------------------

Through the staccato chirp

of the cicada ,

I hear the sunrise ,

its silent yellow heart

screaming for me

to live ...


Michael Gresley (6/10/1998)

-----------------------------

A recent Haiku


withering poppies

die without grief, knowing hope

lies in muddy seeds


Michael Gresley (6/9/1998)


------------------------------

For those who still speak the language of the Bard...


By strained grace

we forswear our love

with honorable countenance...

virtuous orisons for fools.

The amorous bosom

is the thief of noble vows.

Aye, we find naught

so beauteous as the

consenting cheek of a

friend's traitorous love.

Hang restless kisses...

Hang tarrying desire...

Hang all upon love 's blade

for winter's vile storm

of disgrace to destroy.



Michael Gresley (6/8/1998)

-----------------------------------

THE CHANCE

TIS ONE NIGHT LIKE NO OTHER THINE EYES HAVE SEEN THESE DAYS

THE CHANCE OF A LIFETIME HATH AT LAST WELCOMED THINE WAY

IN HOPE AS THOU PRAYER THIS SHALL BE THE DAY

FOR TIS,

THE ROAR OF THE CROWD THAT MAKES THEM DANCE

THESE HAUNTED HALLS OF SACRED CHANCE

---------------------------------------------------------

"The Beach"
By: Jamie H. Age 11

I sit on a sand dune,

And sing to the sea's tune,

There the sea gulls screech,

High above the beach,

The waves are pounding on the shore,

Daring me to come once more,

Out in the distance,

On the horizon of the setting sun,

I see my time here is now done.

----------------------------

The Mountains
By: Jamie H. Age 11

The mountains are so tall,

The majesties of it all,

So majestic and so large,

In an army, they'd be in charge,

I'd like to go and stay,

To spend my childhood at play,

To become an adult,

The mountains like a pile of salt,

My children would fantasize, grow, and learn,

And take life's sudden turns,

On and on the generations come,

To the mountains in the sky so blue,

And make a memory or two.


-----------------------------------------


Updated June 6, 1998

You Again


I'd give my sight to touch you again

I'd lie and fight to feel your soft hand

I'd roam the earth to find your sweet voice

I'd give my life if there were a choice


I'd offer my wealth now useless to me

Surrender my dreams I've longed for to be

I'd sell my soul to feel yours once more

Give up my heart and wait at death's door


I'd give all of this and so much more

To have you here like we were before.

----------------------------------------------

Just For Me;

Hello


everything is so complex within her

like a painting

fake, beautiful,

colors united as one

and

boxed by a frame.


this is she. . . .



---Jean Alfonso

18 May 1998

--------------------------------------

if love is like a rose,

then i am the flower

and you are the thorns.

i am beautiful until

winter comes wilting

me in to an ugly mess

winter is when some-

thing goes wrong. you

are forever protecting

me from harm that is

your job and you do

it with the love that

no one else can----

until i aggravate you

then you are so harsh

i wilt into depression

and the thought------

no one loves me but

then you are there

repenting waiting to

say I LOVE YOU

--------------------------

The darkness is coming for me ,

The light is fading I can not see ,

The darkness is so cold in its everlasting pain ,

Fighting to hide it like an underlying stain ,

Yelling and screaming to get out of my hole ,

Like a wretched demon taking over my soul ,

(NOT COMPLETE)

Brandon Wegner

---------------------------------------------

The Person in the Puddle


The person it the puddle

looks strangely familiar

As if I've seen her before

But I just can't recall

who it is

not at all

But she still looks strangely familiar!

----------------------------------

My Fragile Garden
by Kelly Evans


I walk through a garden

Lovely in the morning sun.

With Honeysuckle vines

And dewy Morning Glories.

Butterflies dance among

Asters clustered along

The whitewashed picket fence.

A breath of fresh air

Fills my lungs.

Sweet fragrances ascend

From all around me.

Roses of all shades

Wave gently in the breeze,

And all is calm

In my garden of joy.

-------------------------------------

Little is known about it

of fairy tale endings

vexation of impossible dreams

exhaustive searching for disappointment


Happiness is my pain

and my whimsical pursuit

tattered and bleeding

enjoying this looming discourse


Spite this mind

again for my serenity

dilute the blood with revelation


Youth and beauty

obsession obscenity

universal male suffering


Maligned manifestations

evading peace...

-------------------------------------

TATTOO


The vile ways of death

set upon

my empty soul

cruel children

run through out my memories

searching

hate

The wild world

dismisses my sorrows

claiming it is nothing

I am a dark youth

as if these emotions

can be eliminated by a growth spurt

These pure

Raw

feelings, rip me apart inside

yes I am dismissed

again

and again

and again

I am less of a person

I feel only processed feelings

Tell me

Is that how it is?

-------------------------------

In the midst of many; I am still alone.

With so many voices; I still hear silence.

So many tear to shed, but my eyes remain dry.

I have learned so many words, and yet

not one was found to fit how I feel.

Through the cluttered mess we call life;

I am still empty.


Written by:

Sarah Christianson

----------------------------------------------

Men


They drool, they drink, they're disgusting

they drool over women

they drink out of fear

they're disgusting for the heck it

oh dear oh dear

They're always watching the game with their buds,

While were cleaning after him and his duds.

It's just not fair, they make all the rules

And we sit and listen, like a bunch of fools,

but now it's time we look large

and kick their butts

So were in CHARGE!!


By:

Lorenza Daniel

------------------------------------------

Dark light shines on my eye

I make a wish and watch my dreams die.

Hope, fate and tenderness,

Your voice shows your gentleness.

Eyes of fire, smoke and death.

Fear is welcomed by my breath.

Love, hatred, time for a good-bye,

Watch as I sit, watch as I cry.

Tears of wealth, sadness and joy,

Cries of happiness, do you think I'm your toy?

Puppet strings make me dance,

I avert my eyes afraid of your glance.

I'm suddenly lost in blues and grays,

You lock me up I count the days

I awake with a start and several cries,

I saw all this in just your eyes.

---------------------------------------------------------

His golden rays of light bring happiness to me.


The way his eyes shine so bright, they always set me free.


Every time he smiles, he dries up all my tears.


His rays of hope, his warm embrace, the way he holds me dear.


I can't explain the way I feel when he holds my hand.


I wonder how it is that I have such a wonderful man.

---------------------------------------------------------

a tear that falls, new life begins

as sadness and joy come forth from within

a new baby born with a life full of love

an uprising start like a flying white dove

a memory or two to remember one's dreams,

a life giving love bursting it's seams,

the end is now near and life says goodbye,

a tear that falls, very last cry.

---------------------------------------------

I wish for you


I wish you were here

to tell me you love me

to hold me forever

I wish for you


I wish you told me every thing

to would tell me all your secrets

to let me be a part of you

I wish for you


I wish, but this will not be

you will not love me

you will not tell me

I will not wish for you


Jeni Plemmons

---------------------------------------------------------

FRANKENSTIEN BOLTED OUT THE DOOR HIS GREEN GRIMACED FACE ELATED: TO HIS BRIDE HE RAN STIFF LEGGED HIGH UPON HIS SHOES ELEVATED: HIS SCARS SHE DIDN'T SEE BUT TRACED HIS STICHED BROW SO COQUETTISHLY: BLUSHING AS SHE SAID I DO- TO 10,000 VOLTS OF ELECTRICITY!

---------------------------------------------------------

"Xenophobia"
By D. A. Stafford


You will always be that stranger who came to life

When I told my words to you;

A sham that was believed to be real.

That, maybe, I could be a lover's martyr.

An avalanche of terror

When I took your smile away.

It would seem I'd be a stranger to you

Until the end.

----------------------------------------

when i had you
i had something to die for
but without you
there's no reason to live


-miche'le

-------------------------

i wake from my dreams
to the cold reality
of an empty bed
and an empty heart

-miche'le

------------------------

"To the angel who changed me"


towers fall to my feet

the rain begins to pour

moonlight disappears

the eagles cease to soar.

life is diminishing

my heart is torn in two

then the angel takes to flight

and light is breaking through.

gleaming, shining

see the angel fly

wings as white as snow

my melancholy dies.

if my angel leaves

my soul shall fear

the way my life had been before

the angel wiped my tears.

-----------------------------------

TUMOR


You replace your blues, by giving me blacks

You cant live with the blues, so you take my pink

Now your pink with envy, & i'm just black & blue

aRiE22@webtv.net

---------------------------------------------------------


Early Rise


Anticipating the rise of the Golden Dome.

The dew still covers the grass like chocolate covering a pretzel.

It smells as thought it has just rained

you know the clean fresh smell after a short summer thunderstorm.

The birds have just begun their early morning errands.

I turn for a brief moment and it is all over.

The world is once again busy

---------------------------------------------------------

MAY THEY REST IN PEACE



God saw you were getting tired,

And a cure was not to be,

So he put his arms around you,

And whispered, "come to me"


With tearful eyes we watched you,

And saw you pass away,

Although we loved you dearly,

We could not make you stay.


A golden heart stopped beating,

Hard working hands at rest.

God broke our hearts to prove to us,

He only takes the best.

--------------------------------------

Betrayal is a red-toothed tiger,

That has a desire to kill,

But will never live because betrayal

Is the end.

------------------------------

UNRETURNED LOVE



My tears ripping away at your soul

Your heart becoming

It usual steel

Love ripping away at my flesh

Unreturned

to me

In this state I am unfit

to live without you

I have no real needs

or wants

That are truly my own

I am simply a product

of unreturned love

---------------------------------------

They don't care


They say they care when they really don't

They say they'll help when you know they won't

You hope this all will come to an end

Oh but it will with a quick bullet whose your only friend

You fall to the floor dazed and confused

Your glad it's over now you don't feel used

A few years later your still not there

But it's OK, because they still don't care.

-----------------------------------------------

A gentleman true,

has eyes only for you.

Holding doors, pulling chairs,

the other women stare- where can they find their gentlemen true?


For gentlemen true,

will always find new,

New ways love, to cherish you close,

to show you that only he can love you the most.


Yes, gentlemen true,

Princes with shoes,

for a Cinderella girl,

whose time in this world,

will shared..


For a gentleman true,

has eyes only for you...

---------------------------------

Watching

Your eyes I melt,

Shedding uncertainty

For sheer bliss, having discovered

The one

------------------------

A songbird singing and a soft soul swinging away,

I walk past this memory into a liquor store,

I get a bottle of amnesia and walk to my apartment,

five shots into it, I cut her name into my hand.


What if I bleed so much, I forget?

What if I stayed in the drink for so long, there was nothing to remember?

Oh, she used to jumpstart my days with a kiss,

but now I am so dead and nonelectric.

I never even got a kiss goodbye.

J.Christopher Ramsey

---------------------------------------------------------

The Leylandii -

their sudden absence noticed

by saddened pigeons

----------------------------

Pacing back and forth

Without a thought in my head

Without a wonder in my mind

What to do....

what to do....

what to do....

But then it happens

A spark a flash

An inspiration

What to do....

What to do....

What to do....

I run for a pen

And forget the paper

write on my hand

With permanent ink

What to do....

What to do....

What to do....

I stumble

I fall

Over myself

I have a thought, I have a wonder, I have an inspiration

---------------------------------------------------------

Tearless Love


I cry tearless cries

to the fearless skies.


The watchful gods shed a tear

for my death is their fear.


The suns beamful rays

follow me through the days

making sure nothings in my way.


Ol'mighty god above

please send me s dove

to protect me from thins love.

-----------------------------

Window of the Mind


The soft blowing of the wind

gently swaying thoughts of the mind.


Questions are flying encased

with no answer in place.


Grief and regret seem in reach

as a ray of reality beams on a distant beach.


Quick and violent

the winds melody is silent.


My mind lays still

as thought fill


with the everlasting quest

to solve this mess.

---------------------------------------

I am your tomb stone, they say. Your only true child, the only one in deed.

I am to carry on what is left of you. What is left of you? Only that of which

you have left behind. would that be only me? What then would that make me, but

a tomb stone, no life of my own? Expectations of those who loved you so, if only

they could see this world through my eyes, see this world they created for me...

through the eyes of a child, what a better place this would be.

---------------------------------------------------------

No more the last words of our Bond do you speak,

no more in public do you anything but wave and glance,

Denounce me once you are free and see if I come to you,

only in your dreams to show you the Wound, open and bleeding that once was my heart.

Denounce me but forget not that I loved you like no other,

and that Love in My Heart will not Die as did yours.

Mine is True love and hence True Pain!!!!!!

-----------------------------------------------

Chemistry, thou art my friend

and I am thou enemy.

Thou hast no fury greater than the pits of Heck

Hamsters are the friend of e.e. cummings.

Oh poopy.

Hamsters shall live in multiplicity

and conquer the mortal world.

--------------------------------------

Emptiness

I can feel the emptiness slip quietly in,

I can feel the bleakness seeping through,

I can feel the cold, darkness running through my veins,

I can feel my liveliness slip away,

I can feel my feelings silently disappear.

------------------------------------

http://home.pacbell.net/shabels/heart.html

(graphic poem accessed by pointing curser at each moon image in sequence)

---------------------------------------------------------

he Hope/


The hope I once carried /

a few short weeks ago /

has seemed to have /

vanished/

The hope I once sought/

has not come back to me/

Although you say /

do not keep the hope/

I know deep down /

I am still searching /

for that hope/

if any/

to carry my heart /

through the rest of/

these trying times/

or to continue/

somewhere else/

-----------------------------

TODAY


TODAY I WAS GOING TO CALL YOU

TODAY I WAS GOING TO CARE

YESTERDAY WAS FOREVER

TODAY LIFE IS UNFAIR

WHY CAN'T WE BRING BACK FOREVER

OH HOW I WISH WE COULD

IF WE COULD BRING BACK YESTERDAY

LIFE WOULD BE ALL GOOD

TOMORROW IS ANOTHER DAY

WHAT WILL HAPPEN THEN

I WISH I COULD BRING BACK YESTERDAY

SO TODAY CAN BEGIN.


BY:BECKY NICGORSKI

---------------------------------------------

People you meet that haze your vision

should clearly be avoided

Let the eye crust of the world

be wiped away by the morning fingertips

that bring in a new day---

Erin O'Sullivan

----------------------------------

HELIUM


"On the contrary,"

the welfare lady

whispered,

"Heaven is coming to

you!"


I heard none

of this,

distracted by the

cramps


I clawed at my

arm-


and tried to float.

-----------------------------

HAIKU

We all will grow old

to second guess choices made

today i am young

------------------------

"THE NOTHINGNESS OF LIFE"

Nothingness envelopes me.

The path is empty.

I turn to speak.

Why am I here? I ask.

But no one answers me.

Alone with my thoughts.

They are killing me.

ALONE ---

It's just a phrase.

But it cuts like a knife.

Through my very soul.

Will no one rescue me?

I cry to the darkness.

I cry to the nothingness around me.

Still no answer.

Then it hits.

I'm all alone forever.

ALL ALONE ---

FOREVER.

----------------------------------

father

faith

abloom

truthful

habitable

eager

rapport

katrina nickersonemail
teensy11@webtv.net

---------------------------------------------------------

"Society and Me"


They say:

Play tough


They say:

Live long


They say:

Give up


They say:

Go on


They say:

Don't show your fear

They say:

It's all right to be scared


They say:

It's okay to cry


They say:

Don't shed a tear


They say:

Act like a lady


And they say:

Be a man


But I say:

Screw them!

-------------------------

A child has been taken

From my early womb

For a love

My baby has left me

I shall see no screaming children

Of my own

I am bare

and empty

A woman with no progress

I woman

who is no true woman

I am envious

of you

take your child in your arms

Hold it

I will watch, feel an emptiness

A mortal emptiness

Great in the depths of my soul


(hold your child and love it, for I am 16, and found out that will never happen to me)

-------------------------------

-hate-

An undying passion,

An uncontrollable urge.

A surge of empowerment.

Gripping the ever strong,

and mutilating the ever-weak.

Imploding the known world

with maliciousness and spite,

creating chaos.

Why must an aeonian emotion

be prevalent in this celestial sphere,

we call Earth?

Can one hate hate?

It's a never-ending cycle

of antagonism.

-------------------------------------

"burdens at peace"


Of burdens to be, of burdens that came; the pain on me now isn't

nearly the same.


Burdens that thru the past are forgotten....blown

away...not equal, not nearly, to those of today.


Those in the future:

conceivable somehow, not slightly meaningful as those of right now.


But who comes to release the war between peace? It's love that loves through

burdens at peace.

---------------------------------------------------------

Dawn rising

orange

over

Monterey Bay

Otters whack rock

to shell

on chests

Pelicans dive,

Screeching seagulls

gather round for scraps

Sea lion surfaces

swims with lone surfer

Waning half moon

hangs in the sky

Morning prayers

and thanks

oh my

a great way

to start a day

----------------------------

His Number One Girl


He looks at me with those sensual eyes

But that's all a bunch of lies

Actually sex is all he wants me for

I'm nothing to him but a whore

Everyone can see that, I don't care

All that matters is he's there

I'm with him, he's with me

I want more, can't he see?

I want him for more than making love to

He's so blind, he has no clue

Maybe he does, maybe he doesn't, maybe he doesn't want to see

His number one girl is all I want to be.

----------------------------------------

HAIKU 2


Try to imagine

These parachute words. No Stop.

No free safety net.

------------------------

money

is the root of happiness,

too bad it doesn't grow on trees,

like fruit,

too bad it comes from factories,

and is not made from honey

bees,

but if it's so true...

that money doesn't not come

from,

the earth,

and does not have,

a pulse,

then maybe,

the happiness it brings,

is false...

---------------------------

I desire a certain woman

Strong I think

Perhaps determined


I desire a balanced girl

Regulated

Intelligent


I require a soft woman

Gentle as the morning fog

Warmer than my coldest fear


I love the woman

I need the woman

She is her woman


I pray I am her man


------------------------------

Guardian Angels


Guardian Angels are all around

Even though we may not see them

They protect us even though we may not feel them

Looking down upon us with heavenly smiles

They watch us as we go one more mile

----------------------------------------

Small, gentle ferret,

Doing what the ferrets do,

she is so little

----------------------

A HEART
BY CHERMEKA ROLLINS

I CAN GIVE THIS HEART
TO MY MOM
WHEN SHE IS IN PAIN
AND WHEN SHE IS DOWN

TO THE

GROUND

------------------

when my dad calls he tells me

about the storm when

he says things about the little twisters

---------------------------------------------------------

Speaking in words

I can barely hear

You lower your eyes

as your lips near my ear

If a whisper could scream

you'd shatter my head

I can hear what you're saying

but not what you've said

-------------------------

Restraints in a Crowded Barn



some times

though you hate to believe it

you find

you've been talking wrong


sometimes

the world's a stage

your poems

get read in some invisible theater


some times

though you hate to believe it

you shouted

FIRE ! at the wrong end of the horse


Some times

all the librarians

have matches

and accuse you of the crime

-------------------------------------


curled in a ball, in this cold empty tomb

terror shines violently, it shines through my eyes

silence now torments my fading, useless corpse

a rage of darkness enters my shadow

my unknown fate delivers this hell

confusion and shame, i tremble of death


Sarah Felger

5/6/98

---------------------------------------------------------

Marriage is not for the timid

You must be willing to die

If there is lipstick on your collar

You must be willing to lie


Stand up for your rights

Those Playboys are reading material

You must be willing to fight

And demand your own kind of cereal


You want the bed

If she's going to be angry all night

But if your lockout instead

The couch will be all right

---------------------------------

Past, Present, Past


I was your past

She is your present

God knows who will be your future.


I wish I were your present instead of your past.

If I were your present I would wish I were your future,

Or I'd rather be all of them above,

Or like I am

One of these than none of them.

-Mayra Flores-

(Dedicated to Esteban Benitez Garcia!)

----------------------------------------

SILENT PRAYER


A child sneaks through summer dark

Hunting cicadas by ear alone


He is distracted by leaf-ghosts

Humming on a baffle of wind


There under the warm rains of slumber

He dreams that souls taste like lemons

---------------------------------------

SONG


There is only sky where I come from

The birds the air the light in minds resume

Shallow waters come to see the foam

Bringing with them pearls to be alone


Now the folds of spring are singing new

Washing clean the stone supporting day

The quiet winds coming from the bay

Are telling me to say I love you

--------------------------------------------

and that which was clear

the path ahead

laced with dreams

now a murky shadow

buried beneath blood and revenge


and that which was behind me

the life before

upon the forest throne

now far away

locked behind a demon's door


and that which was fear

my thoughts within

springing from flowers of chance

now hope reborn

separated from youthful days

-Louis Stavrides

-------------------------------

Watercolor Pictures


Tiny flecks of images

scramble in my mind,

Trapped by corner cobwebs

disjointed from all time.

Like watercolor pictures

the colors bend and blend.


What is happening now,

recalls the hurt from then.

All the white-hot rage

flows free in me again.

-------------------------------

Aspiring


I am in the shadows

cast by masters, grand.

I am but a whisper,

a pebble in the sand,

a wave upon the ocean,

an echo down the hill.

Today, just a sliver

of the dream I will fulfill.

--------------------------

Broken Hearts and Broken Rules


We've talked of many years gone by

We've talked of pain and fear inside

We've been in love, they've touched our hearts

It's called broken love and broken hearts

They say forever until the end

The rules they break, the rules they bend

Now love exists or so many say

But it comes and goes. It never stays

What is really love, can you define

Is it really there, or just a line.

---------------------------------------------------------

MORE THAN WORDS CAN SAY


I LOVE YOU MORE

THAN WORDS CAN SAY

MY HEART BEATS FOR YOU

MORE AND MORE EACH DAY

I WISH I COULD EXPRESS THE WAY I FEEL

ITS SO WONDERFUL

I CAN'T BELIEVE ITS REAL

AND IF I WERE TO DIE TODAY

I WANT YOU TO KNOW

I LOVE YOU MORE THAN

WORDS CAN SAY


BY: TANIS PHILLIPS

AGE 13

tanis19@webtv.net

Page Copyright © by AHA Books 1998.

All poems Copyright äa9 their designated author 1998.

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