OPEN MIC ARCHIVES
NOVEMBER, 1997

Updated November 28, 1997

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HAVE WORDS

SNIPPETS OF MEMORY

WORDS AND PHRASES

LIVING BY THEMSELVES

NOWHERE TO GO

YET WAITING IN THE RAINY NIGHT

IN A SMALL TOWN

FOR THE NEXT BUS

ANY BUS


MILT

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

Be thankful for this day

In this very special way.

For what God brings

Is what the season brings.

Family from far away gather

To feast at His table

On Thanksgiving Day.


In the room where His table sits

In a fireplace, warming the atmosphere

Of this family of thanks.

like the fireplace, the same warm

Atmosphere i glowing brightly

As they greet one another

With warm handshakes and hugs.


Adults and children

Are waiting for dinner,

Waiting to pray by candlelight.

Karen G

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

Ode To The Grasshopper

By: Joe Kelly


i'm going to open a store

and call it

GRASSHOPPER

it will sell stuff

the kind of stuff that people like

but they will all be

GREEN

because the store is called

GRASSHOPPER

no one will steal anything

because they'll be attacked

by the

GRASSHOPPER

and no one wants that


its cold outside so

say bye to my friend

the

GRASSHOPPER

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


TO DANCE


May I dance in the presence of my King,

Colorfully whirling in joyous praise.

May I sing the love of my heart,

The adoration of all my days.


In my spirit I saw my dance,

With vigor to my physically unknown.

I felt myself spiritually drawn up

To rejoice before the Throne.


O Lord, let my heart rise up

To ever praise You in the heights.

May You constantly be to me

My soul's chief delight.


Miriam Lockhart

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

MODERATION IS KEY


Have you ever really wondered

That we waste our time

Trying to rid completely

The ugly green monster

From our hectic lives??


We need to aim for a hue

Somewhere between a white and a mint green,

Not too much, yet somewhat less than forest,

To sustain and nurture a relationship

For if all we have is a blur of white,

Then we cannot love..


By: Annette Anderson

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


A grayness covers my body

My mind is in confusion

from all the days past.

My mind dazed from the ideas

of tomorrow.


One of these days I will lose

control of all gained

Never knowing what to say

or do.


I will break through the wall

of life

Entering into the land of dreams.

A breeze calming my body as

I walk on the clouds.


I find happiness and joy in

the arms of love.

Then awake into the arms of hate.

By- Nicole Perko

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


ODE TO AUTUMN


I have gathered violets and sweet-fennel

From the mossy-banks of icy streams

And have plunged my hand into the Lalique-crystalline

Have laved the brown-grime from my dreary day.

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

TODAY IS SO SAD. NOT A TEAR TO BE HAD SO WHAT THE HELL PLEASE DO TELL. DOES ANY ONE REALLY KNOW. WHAT PAIN THERE IS TO SHOW. ALWAYS REACHING. NEVER TEACHING. SO WHAT AM I SAYING. NO USE THAT'S WHAT IM CONVEYING. JUST SOME WORDS. JUST FOR THE BIRDS. PITY AND SORROW. NAH! MAYBE TOMORROW.

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

"DY'IN TA LIVE" by J.A.M.O.


Day by day, light turns gray...

The moon sleeps on.

Night after night, a shadow's decay,

The sun burns upon.


Morn by morn, sigh after sigh...

Time and time again.

Dream after dream, closing by light,

They're all dy'in ta' live...

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

gangs



They walk the streets with their red and blue rags, walking like the own the town.

One hits the other, another goes down, blood every-

where no one in sight.

The cops come running they say another down, what the

hell is going on in this town?


As the guy that got shot is being put in the ground

another shot was heard and another goes down.

Danielle Jakubetz

somm@webtv.net

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Updated November 25, 1997

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Your never far away from me, your like a sweet refrain. That haunts me with its medoly until it plays again Your image lingers lingers in my heart the time we are apart and every time I think of you its music too my heart.

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

I trod the orange exodus

of sorrows mournings and sunlights

betrayal, the inner working cognates

of the empire stretch before this broken son

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

Away From Home


I look out onto the sea
And see the first star.
I wish for my family,
Missing them from away so far.


I wish that I could jump into the water
And swim to the other shore.
I know my mother misses her daughter,
But I think I miss her more.


I know that I must stay,
For I am needed here.
But in my mind, as I look out at the bay,
I can see my family clear.

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

The ghosts of Oudenaarde fly in circles
looking for their bodies,
their love still felt.


The wind reminds them of life
among the living,
when tangible kisses
blew softly on their cheeks.


They moan at midnight
when drifting clouds
reveal glimpses
of a hide-and-seek moon.


And they wait
in hope of another world.


As the night music plays,
they dream of holding, of
slow dancing once again.

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

The Rain

the Rain, my friend, has come

It has cooled the pavement

That the Sun spent the day baking

I lay down, face up

the pavement cannot burn me now!

the Rain, my friend

The Ultimate Peace Negotiator

You see, I walked disrespectfully

all over the pavement

all day

He tried his best to scorch

my bare feet

the Rain

brought us together

and this is where I want to stay


JMA johnnycrunch@webtv.net


johnnycrunch@webtv.net


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

Last night I thought I heard you, tapping on my window,

But it was just a drunk guy asking for tangerines


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

Phizco

IS THERE REALLY A DIFFERENCE


man and woman

if you take the wo off

is it man ¿

in a sense

but don't you go checkin'


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

indulgence

wicked it seems

you share my dreams

why will you've crushed

and im left lushed

i've washed it down

god bless royal crown...

and i'm a better man today



coydog

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

Mercy Killing

Tanka


intolerable

pain, tubes hang preventing death

end this suffering

struggling to breath, I pray

take my life away

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

A coin was tossed
A lover lost
And all turn to gaze at me


A choice was made
An answer gave
Though wrong it seemed to be


The light of your eyes
A beautiful prize
Was all I needed to see


To show me the way
Through life's simple play
How much I wanted thee

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

tired of the lies i told
the people i betrayed
lives continuos diseased decay
to a yearly grave


to some i am a idiot
others a good friend
to most i am a enemy
year after end


i know i make no sense
i know i am not smart
but i am sure of one thing
and that's my heart


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

Still, Life


This is now the restive Winter's gray.

One must hold a candle up to the Day

To see what fortunes Fate did belie.

Daylight dances above the sky.

But on this Earth in winters shade

No prismatic moments of light were made

But one . . . and I have seen

That moment melt into the vapors of a dream.


Mark Glenn Stokes

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

i rot this but near midnight

buying time, buying time

whisps and twists of smoke eat thru the night...

it's around midnight

i burn this tree; round it isn't

bump upon bump upon bump! the trunk is

covered with knots

tied in, intertwined

ennui washes out my insides

i weep this willow

it cries with me,

or maybe without...

me, i can't

murder this lie

of rotting buds near midnight

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


live and...love?
you told me just to trust,
but your promises weren't true,
now i know to trust, anyone but you.


you grabbed my soul with both hands,
will you ever let it go?
i thought i really knew you,
but did i? i don't know.


memories are all i have,
for the time has passed,
even way back when,
i knew it wouldn't last.


what is love? is love a feeling?
or, is love a thought?
i may not know what love is,
but i know what it is not.


daina young 1997

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

I love the rain

How cool it feels on my fingertips

The taste of purity on my lips as it falls

How the rain pelts the windowsill

Like a lullaby, singing me softly to sleep

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

Last night I took a look in the mirror.

I looked so long and so hard, nothing seemed to fit into place.

I cried and tried to make things work, but it was no use.

Last night I took a look in the mirror, and when it broke,

I watched my life shatter.

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

Updated November 14, 1997


The courageous moon
In its worthy sky
Came forward with its bloodshot eyes


Lingering longer
Mistletoe heart
A family called the Potters
Walked slowly into the vast night


Your minds like prisons
All thoughts locked inside your heads


Little lies,
Little reasons,
All of these things we aren't allowed to shed.


I am held for treason
For a locked up thought escaped my head
Don't tell of this insanity
Or surely we will all end up dead.


~*~

HEART TO HEART


It never rains, it never pours

because you're mine and I'm yours

holding hands, exchanging looks

just like out of story books

close together, or miles apart

we'll always be together

heart to heart!

~*~

Love Me

Once you say you love me
please don't take it back
I want your love to be for me
since mine is in your hands.


You're cruel to play these games an me
Why do you hurt me so?
Some day you'll cry then think of me
my pain is what you'll know.

Domingo F.

~*~

Discourse on love's thoughts

Between the Real and Wanting

Light snow in the night

~*~

P erpetrators of all ages

e xpressing laughter in wickedness, getting

e ven without cause

r epeating these words


P rivate no more as

r eason collides with

e very taunt, crying

s ilently, alone in crowded

s pace

u ndermining esteem at the banks of a

r iver of abuse, twisting

e motions


~*~

The considerate dragon asked me for a cigarette,

I laughed and went on.

The considerate dragon asked me what time it was,

I again laughed and went on.

Then the considerate dragon didn't ask, he took,

he clawed and burned me so bad that I will

never, ever laugh again...

~*~

DREAM ONLY


she came to me like an angel in the night,

but,

when i awoke she was my pillow.................

christopher

~*~

Lonely



, Saddness and sorrow

the black lines just won't go

away,so much pain!

it just won't go away

so, lonely! dying like a

delicate rose!


~*~


THE GAME SUCKS

sEE mE?

i AM A mAN!

nOT iMmORtAL,

bUt A mAN,

i HAvE jUsT AS StRONG AS eMOTIONS

AS a wOmAn,

i jUsT CAN't ShOW tHEM,

i BlEeD rEd

jUsT lIkE yOu,

i cRy tEaRs

jUsT lIkE yOu,

aNd i gEt pIsSeD

jUsT lIkE yOu,

yOu sAy yOu ArE TiReD oF bEiNg pLaYeD,

tHEn StOp pLaYiNg tHe gAmE,

mEn aRe nOt hEArtLeSS AnImAlS,

tHEY jUsT pReTeND To Be tO iMpReSS yOu.


christopher

~*~

Did I forget to tell you

Its over

I didn't want to hurt you

But I really had to

It seemed as though

Your love for me was greater

Than my need for you

It seemed as though

Your expectations for this

Were totally different

Than the ones I held

And so it didn't work out

And it never will

So let go

And quit holding on

To your bleeding heart

Because it will only hurt you more

In the end.

jking@whitman.gmu.edu

~*~

I cast a wish

Into the starlit sky

I reeled it in

Only to find part of a star

Part of a shattered glass dream

That someone else had woven

I cried on the shoulder of the moon

Hoping he'd understand

That I stole part of someone's dream

And because I didn't

Cast my wish far enough

I broke apart their dream

To succeed in mine.

-Jenn King age:16-

jking@whitman.gmu.edu

~*~

Closed into myself

Like a prison chamber

My once strong voice

Echoes through the halls

Of my past

Reminding me

That I was once my own true self

Not owned and controlled

By the voices of others.

-Jenn King-

jking@whitman.gmu.edu

~*~

A soft whisper from the wind

Reminds me of the time.

The time when one could

Soak up the essence of the world

Without thinking of the problems

That tear us all apart.

A soft whisper from the wind

Lets me smile for a while

And reminded me of the time

When youth was held carelessly

And life was completely

Free.

-Jenn King-

jking@whitman.gmu.edu

Updated November 10, 1997

LOST AND CONFUSED

WHAT DO YOU DO WHEN YOU'RE LOST AND CONFUSED?

WHERE DO YOU GO WHEN YOU'RE ALL ALONE?

YOU SIT AND CRY AND PRAY TO DIE,

NO ONE CARES THEY JUST SIT AND STARE.

SO YOU GO TO THE BEACH AND BURY YOUR FEET.

AND AFTER YOU'VE CRIED ALL YOU CAN, YOU LET

THE WAVES TAKE YOUR BODY AND SOUL.

BY: MARY BETH M

~*~

MONEY


Tattered from boundless travel

One who has seen a million faces

Known many hands-

Calloused.

Emerald abides in the eyes

Of all who hunt it-

Depending on it.

Cast in a suffocating

Fold of confusion

Burning a hole,

Slithering away...

Lasting years

As a transient treasure

Vital to our being,

Necessitated by society.

~*~

GREEDY


The only guy with a one-item gift list

doesn't want a

car,

money,

wardrobe,

better job,

better body,

no sex,

no booze,

no cigarettes,

you don't even want

a new computer,

newspaper,

cell phone

or a

sweater

darnnit,

all he wants his a kiss

and you can't even give him that!

bitch.

while I stand here

prepped for anything

armed with chapstick

~*~

ERROR


Perhaps they did not realize their mistake in leaving us

alone

together

why should they?

we are after all

relatives

and

computer correspondents

but at the moment we are

neither

really

in fact at the moment

we are

kissing

~*~

Twice


NOW is not a time to talk

I would not hear YOU anyways

I CAN hear your heart pounding in your chest

It has NEVER been that loud

As you slowly TURN my chin upwards

I can feel myself kissing you BACK

~*~

Ash Tray


I lay like a Rosary in an ash tray

Forcing my self to go somewhere(special or heavenly)

I am meditated and taken, but not to the place I want

I now know I want to crawl into my mind

But someone just stuck their cigarette into the ash tray

Forcingly, I think about life

The ashes are so hot now

Burning my eyes like needles

Stinging

And now I can't seep into my mind

I can't figure out why so curiosly I think

~*~

Silence

Like a flash flood without warning

washing away all words.

Syllables floating

down

down

down

A river is formed

Swirling with waters full of

thoughts

Fat drops of quiet land on eyelashes

Eyes closed, mouth open, tongue out

collecting

drinking

gulping

Peaceful Rain

~*~

MY LOVE IS SO

by Shannon Robinson


She is as cute as a teddy bear,

She is as pure as the sunshine.

She has the beauty of a Queen.

She the love that is so great.

She sparkles like a diamond in my eyes.

She shines so bright that a dark day is always right.

She has the voice like a nightingale, so sweet and reassuring.

Skin like silk

She is the beautiful colors of the rainbow.


Polerman@webtv.net

~*~

The silver dagger

Is now crimson

With my pain

It tears through my soul

Carelessly breaking me apart

It doesn't care

That my eyes show the pain

Of an aching soul

Brighter colors hold me together

With threads of hope

Holding together

The wounds of pain

That the dagger slices

So carefully


-Jenn King-

~*~

Sunny days
living in slow motion
stillness in the air


Remember me?
I loved you when
you didn't
love yourself


Balmy days
the ocean whispered
sunshine healed our souls


Silent days
so many silences between us
so many things
we'll never know


Crazy days
lost inside a maze
lonely days
living in a haze

Carmen Colombo
The WOW Project
http://www.wowzone.com
e-mail: wowzone@axess.com

~*~

Sweat


Freely flowing feelings

sensitized by sensual sensations

from sinuous bodies blending

blind passion purposefully

and precisely precipitating a rising

roiling raucous cauldron

of love and lust leading to

an exceedingly exciting extended

explosion of ecstasy


(Damn baby)

Updated November 6, 1997


MY poem doesn't rhyme

breaking apart small stones,

too small to see.

a lonely bird doesn't sing,

but i think i hear her groaning.

~*~

Digressions



Holding you in my arms:

Sweet love's crying pleasure.

Intrinsic is the intimacy

and fulfillment of a single dream

recurring.

And into the eyes of your soul

I slide effortlessly,

hopelessly helplessly,

endlessly

~*~

How can I forget
such a beautiful face
the warmth I feel
in your embrace

.

how can I forget
the tears I wept
the tears you dried
when my heart you kept

.

how can I forget
the light in your eyes
or how you pick me up
when my soul dies

.

how can I forget
this feeling inside
when I feel you
And our two hearts collide

~*~

PIZZA

by Reem


I wish I was a grown up
to eat as I please
pizza with pepperoni
or pizza with cheese


Ice cream for dessert
will do me just fine
with chocolate chip topping
and caramel with lime


A peanut butter sandwich
will do for a break
with fresh apple juice
and a big piece of cake

~*~

The bright blue sky reflecting in my eyes

The gentle flow of the wind caressing my face

The soft scent of your cologne in the air

The vast emptiness surrounds me that is my own

How I long to become a part of the beauty that surrounds me

The beauty that is you

~*~

Begins my day

with a simple hello.

Leaves me

with a complicated goodbye.

Opens my heart

with a beautiful kiss.

Listens to the static

with an open mind.

Restricts me

without even knowing.

Makes life worth living

just by being you.

~*~

FRIENDS FOREVER?

Renegades12@webtv.net

Friends are forever
or so I've been told.
So many times
in so many ways,
but it seems like so long ago
it was the truth.

Because as you grow older
you sometimes grow apart
from one another
or sometimes you grow closer
to each other.

Something changes
your trust torn apart,
but you two swore
it never happen,
but it did!

So I guess friends aren't always forever as I've been told.

~*~

Haiku Poem
by Jennifer O'Hara(age 11)

The dancers flew o'er
The floor with a simple grace
Like a bird in flight


Cinquain Poem
by Jennifer O'Hara (age 11)

School is
A place that kids
Dread for no good reason
Except for math, history and
English


Cinquain Poem
by Jennifer O'Hara (age 11)

God is
The giver of
All good things, food and clothes
Happiness and joy, every girl
And boy

~*~

Angel of mine,
beautiful as the moon,
my soul is shouting for your love.
Your kiss is sweet,
your touch is glorious.


I will be with you in time,
and hold you in my arms forever.
Though we are apart,
my love is not lost.
For true love can never be broken.

~*~

REMEMBER ME


When I die

Do not cry

Remember me as I am

Remember me as a friend

Remember me without tears

Remember this one thing

That I haven't really gone away

My mind ran free

It's time for my feet

To catch up with me

Karen G

~*~

Cancer Dreams
October 2, 1997

Kat


How does one sleep

when the thoughts of the mind

frighten the heart and soul....?

Too many nights

have I spent fighting....and losing.

The harvest of dreams

that waken my soul in terror....

only to find, after the awakening,

that dream was neither sleep,

nor escape.

~*~

Simply seen at first

The scene burst

Facets of millions of shades

Shimmered portrayed

Cast in stone

Porously prone

Here amid the stones

Where silence drones

funereally

memoriously

those who were laid

hibernatingly have remained


Updated October 31, 1997 HAPPY HALLOWEEN >';'<


~*~

man takes time to paint a picture

of himself, high on the mountain tops.

man makes time, because he is a universe

painting his heart with stone,

a blue hopeful, but still he wonders...

why the sky tears herself apart every evening.

screaming aloud in crimson glories,

but does she color herself in anger or delight?

what good is a promise without faith.

~*~

Should the wind ever blow

Without calling your name,

I would not forget.

I'd lift my face toward heaven

And shout to the mountains above.

Your name would echo across the skies

Until someone,

Somewhere,

Would hear

And know

That I love you.

~*~

-napalm soup-

will you bring me some water..

how long can this last??

its only gotten hotter

though our time is long past.

the fire still smolders

but the flames have died.

id still love to hold her

to forget her cruel lies.

well cupid left me with a limp

~*~

THE POET TREE

The poet tree is a little tree

That poet's use to sit under

He sits for hours to think and wonder

And write what he can see

The poet tree has a history

The limbs have sheltered some...

Poets of the past

With Homer, Poe and Scott Key

The poet tree is not a tree, but a state of mind

To allow the artist under her, to write what he can see


Copyright © 1997 AHA Books. All rights to individual poems remain with the authors.

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