GROWING UP

It seems that with the passing of time, we as a country have lost most of that "innocence" of the bygone days.

I was thinking the other day:

1) We got our first air-conditioner when I was about 12, it ran only during the hottest part of the day, the attic fan ran at night.

2) We never ever locked our house

3) The only thing ever stolen in those days were watermelons from someone's patch (I was a regular culprit)

4) The only gang we knew of was "Spanky and our Gang" on Saturday morning TV.

5) You were really excited to get just plain old KIDS tennis shoes (low or high tops)

6) The saying "Making hay while the sun shine's" meant exactly what it implied.

7) You mouthed off to your teacher, she tore you up, then the principal had his turn, and when you got home there was a reception committee (Mom and Dad) with belts.

8) The worst abuse a kid got was having to select the willow switch you were going to get "whooped" with

9) Kisses from a young girl was relished, not expected

10) A drug problem was: you were feeling bad and grandmother was coming over with the bottle of "Castor Oil"

11) Hand me down clothes were really looked forward to, especially if your cousins were city kids

12) Drag racing was you and your best friend filling two wheel barrows with manure from the barn and racing with them to see who got to the dumping spot first

13) If you disagreed with your parents, you kept it to yourself, but still respected them

14) We did not always have everything we wanted, but we had everything we ever really needed

15)  Hunting, fishing, trapping, and skinny dipping was a prerequisite for normal boyhood development

16) Young girls actually strove to and took pride in cooking home cooked meals and making their own dresses

17) The only curse word in the movies was "Frankly Scarlet my dear, I don't give a damn" and even that made us blush!

18) Sneaking a beer from your Dad's ice-chest was something he did not immediately interrogate you about, he just let an upset stomach and headache do the punishing for him

19) Mosquito's were worth fighting off to see a drive-in movie

20) Soap had a multifunction: cleansing a foul body and a foul mouth

21) A wake-up pinch or a kick to the shin was still a common practice on church pews

22) A neighbor in need always found out he had more friends than he thought he did

23) When you got a little older, you realized that your Mom, Dad, and preacher actually had a pretty good sense of humor (and you prayed that GOD did too)

24) No matter how bad you were or what you had done, Mom, Dad, and JESUS forgave you and still loved you

25) You told your parents that you would never say anything like that to your kids, many years later you realize you sound just like your parents! (Hey they could not always be wrong)

26) Your Dad put you on his knee when you two were fishing and he said "Life just does not get any better than this" and he was 100% right!

They say you can never go back, I have tried, but the times are different. Well, maybe the times are the same, it's just the people that are truly different.

Looking back, I tried to teach my daughter by the old code. At times things were strained. Well, I have discovered that the times do change, but if you do your job right with your kids, things will come full circle. My youngest told me one day that I was really hard on her at times, but she understands now that she was on the verge of making some very bad decisions. She thanked me for what I did.

Full circle? I like the sound and feeling of that.

HOW TO TREAT OLD MAN TIME

BY DANNY GILL

Do not look but twice on the clock

For time won’t wait for any one, flesh or phantasm

Drive your full attention towards it,

And it will take a thousand millenniums,

To move one minute

Direct your unflinching eyes to another chore,

And it will take the snap of a finger,

The stroke of a hand to move hours

Let this be known, time is a double edged sword

It’s the most powerful panacea, while

Being the most deadly disease 

A CHILD UNWANTED

They say you don't struggle in life until your old and torn

I struggled for life since before I was born

My mother tried to kill herself to get rid of me

A drug overdose failed and shewas stuck having me

A child unwanted I was born

Two parents and a six year custody battle both said they wanted me

One told the truth the other just lied

Six long years filled with anger and anguish

And one parent left standing by my side

One truely loved me and the other just lied

The hurt, the pain I deal with til this day

I feel like a child without a name a child unwanted

My heart is always filled with pain

A pain knowing I was born to a woman who truely never wanted me

A woman who was with my father for his mony got stuck having me

A child UNWANTED

Confused

 Viktor G. Grigorov   
 

My eyes are crying,

My soul is dying.

But who cares what I feel, do you?

When I am saying I LOVE YOU

It seems nobody’s interested in my story

That lead my path of the glory

Doesn’t matter anymore to me, my life is as simple as yours

There’ll be always closed and open doors

I hope you’ll never forget my feeling to you, how much you mean to me

My dream to be with the person with whom I wont be able ever be.

My final words to you girl that I really adore

That I hadn’t told you ever before

Darling, I love you, please never forget

That i love you just like that!!!

SPRING`S ROSE IN BLOSSOM

"Mother" Marie Gibbs

A spring`s rose in blossom

You have not withered

We have not lost you

Yet, we have gained an angel

Your sweet cooking provided us nourishment

Your uninhibited spirit enlightened those whom you touched

Your laughter gave us encouragement

And your wit always made one think

The fact that you left us is real

But our memories of you will always live in the heart

I knew we`d be friends

Right from the start

And when I was hungry you fed me

When I was sad you made me laugh

When my spirit scorned, you embraced me

You always had an open-door policy

So, when winter`s night falls

I will think of you as that spring rose

One that flourishes, smells fragrant and fresh

A true earth mother, whose endurance and power still grows

A Welcoming Of The Strange

Jeffrey Reed Thompson

3 Cinquain

Strange girl

Dear - from Peru

Receives past three letters -

Four new parables . . . I am left

In doubt.

Strange girl

Liked Indian

Goes to her school so true,

With new preambles - and surely,

I fly.

Let’s bless

Her from Peru -

Be honest and sincere,

As if all things stem from that life

I trust!

The Enlightment

As one wonders;

through the stages of their life.

Enlightment!

As one wonder;

through the lessons of their life.

Enlightment!

As one wonders;

through the paths of their life.

Enlightment!

As one wonder;

through the history of life.

Enlightment!

As one wonders;

through the lines.

Enlightment.

 

I had a smile just for you,

When I see you walking down the road...

Need for the light,

To guide you straight for the right way...

I stay here just for a while,

Keep watching you standing there...

Until your time has come,

Leaves me and really walk away...

But I have no realized that you'll never comeback,

Just say goodbye to me...

In the island of hope I'm being alone,

Waiting for you to pick me up,

Brings me to the line of happy with you..

It impossible moment could be happened to me...

My days so blue,

And my nights too cold...

Dear,...I'm cold here and going to frozen without you...

I've forgot to tell you at the time you beside me,

That I love you very well...

Now I missing you like standing in the dark,

But I think I can't taking good cares of you someday...

Gosh...how could I expected you are together with me...?

Event in another day I don't know where  you are...

Maybe you'll be happy elsewhere or with someone else...

But this time,...please stand by me,

I really need you so...

Gay
Callum Johnson

Opium should be the religion of the people.

Recreational like a doll house

And with the silver bells so erudite so rude

Let the world sigh their forbidden, intoxicating smoke

In a trance of worship

In a revelry

Wrought in fire, hot as hallucinogens.

Give me opium then let me die.

I LOOK

Amy hughes

  Everytime I look at your face

theirs nothing to explain

cause this love for you

will always be the same.

 When I look in your eyes

I know each time when

you look in mine that the

love you have for me

will guarantee i will always

be the one of your dreams.

&&&

Hush Beyond the Nexus

Calm falls in this place of sanctity

One last requiem sounds in the breeze

When did I leave my rotting soul

There among the pine trees

Putrid waters cascading

Down the mountainside

There she walks among the pine trees

Look into her eyes

Wishing for something more

Than this gentle death

Every step causes loss of purity

Reaching for these tangled memories

That fade away like a dream

Quiet down, lift me up

Tell me that you love me

Make me think that I mean something

Then throw me to the ground

Praying for something more

Than tears of little meaning

Trapped among these pine trees

Bring me out of this seclusion

Tasting how it feels

To once again be alone here

Pouring all away

Weeping now for any savior

The bitter taste of fear

Lets me look a little closer

Wishing for something more

Than this gentle death

Fin.

3RD TIME

Brian Watkins

This is for the times we never had

For the friends you want to be

Because its hurts when I don't see you

And it’s worse when I do

This is for the break that never came

Made me feel like it was just a game

For all the fun times I thought we had

All the indecision that made you mad

For the long anticipated kiss

That I will forever miss

For the morning that you knew

That we were through

Because I had a lump in my thought once more

All the sadness to the core

For the note that explained a lot

All of which I forgot

And back to you I came

For two days that weren't the same

Only to have my heart shattered

Three times my heart was battered

This is for the anger that was never there

The one I refused to bear

This is the poem you always wanted

Even though all I write is sorrow

It’s not about your beautiful hair

Or even how much I care

But for the times I never knew

Hurt

I try to talk to you,

But you won't listen,

I know that you don't care.

But it hurt's to see you laugh,

While i sit here and cry,

You told me you will never give up on me,

I believed you,

Now look at me,

You hurt me mom,

You hurt be bad,

One day I hope that you can forgive me,

THE ULTIMATE TEST

by: Michelle Anderson

You put yourself to the ultimate test

and now they lay you down to rest.

All the butterflies and the bees

and then a chill, a sudden breeze.

You wanted to prove that you did know

that life was nothing but a show.

You wanted to tell everyone what to see

but you should have just let it be.

You decided what you should do

you found a way for people to believe it was true.

You went upstairs and locked the door

and two minutes later fell to the floor.

I want you to know what you did was wrong

but truly kept us going forever strong.

I'LL ALWAYS BE YOUR FRIEND

Andrea Santos

We are friends, yes we are friends

That's how everyone sees us together

That's how you see us together

You know that i mean everything i say

I'll be here when you need a shoulder

I'll be at your side when you're down

I'll be the one you'll come running to

When everything around seems to disappear

I'm saving all my strength for you

To give you hope whenever you need it

And if you're still wondering who i am,

I'm the girl who truly loves you

Masquerading as your friend

If that's the only way i could get into your thoughts

If that's the only way you could see me through

If that's the only way i could keep you

Then i am and will always be your friend

“PASSION”.

The beast, crouched, wide eyed,

Tensed to pounce on his unwary prey,

The lovers in their innocence lay

On a Sunny Honey Day

Raising goblets of rich red wine

Their mouths and lips full

In each others praise

In sun dappled shady scene

Lying still, their tinkling laughs

Drifted through the lush green grass.

Hissing snarls from the beasts jaws

Gape eyed, glutton malice

For the scapegoat prey

Slithering forward, silent

Bared claws gripping soil

To rip asunder

The human hearts of all.

Lulled, by warm breezes, caressed

Each so gentle touch aware

Sweet perfumes of their love

All senses invaded

Whispering soft soft sighs

In that secret mossy glade

Then, Pouncing fast

With full blind fury

Spitting out shrieks of venomous hate

Sinews, claws unleashed

He laid the scapegoat  hearts to waste.

Kissing gently

Dewy eyed

The lovers arose

And  silently

Stole away.

"True Love Never Dies"--
Sarah Sophie

By the way he smiles by the way he stares I can tell he truely cares.  He can tell me looking into my eyes he will love me until he dies.  I know it's true, I have the same love for him too.  It will never die, aslong as i'm alive.  No one can change the feeling I feel. No one will ever understand, it's so unreal.  He feels the same, he told me so.  This is the true love I will never let go.

Tomorrow

Yesterday I had shed all my last tears,

Tears of sadness and frustration that

was built up for years.

Yesterday I laid all my pain and troubles to rest,

Fueled by strength and determination

I was able to bury those memories with confidence.

And today I seek to restructure my life,

I seek to heal my wounded wings and prepare to fly.

So no longer will I fall, No longer will the

Vultures of this world prevent me from standing tall.

For tomorrow it will be time to break free,

Time to make a change by starting inside of me.

It will be time to help others break their

shackles of yesterday,

As I seek to guide them along life's journey

Day by day.

teacher ,teaching,

in the room,

children playing,

learning too.

days go bye,

minds grow wide,

aging  fast,

before the eyes.

time to tell,

kickball plays,

dogging all ,

the rainy days.

lunch bell rings,

bellies  full,

nap time comes,

dreamland rules.

waken up,

feeling fine,

listen to,

the nursery rhyme.

      RED ROSE
HARINI SRIDHARAN

 

Your folds never unfold

The mystery of your scent

Your lovely red petals

Symbol of eternal love triumphant

Your blood red petals

Outshines gay green leaves

You symbolize a lady me lady

Closed as a bud you are a girl

You bloom as a lovely woman

But still holding many secrets

Your petals red but white in roots

And your thorns add awe and beauty

Alison
  &&& Deborah Jones

&&&

"Endgame"

Red rivers of life stream their way down

Into crimson lakes without a sound

Streaks of color assault my eye

A bloodstained blade alone does lie

Beside the slice of sharpened steel

Now in the light, he is revealed

A man that's bloody, rotting, dead

He died alone all night he bled

He stained the room struggled to live

But he meant to die and die he did

Killed not by gun, or sword, or stone

He died of loneliness alone

Abandoned by everyone he loved

He blamed himself for it because

He kept being told how easy it was

To live this life without a love

When he reached for you you beat him back

His pleas for help met with attack

He slit his wrists, his last resort

From pain he couldn't seem to sort

I look still closer into his eyes

Only to jump back in surprise

The face of the one who'd ceased to be

belonged to noone other than me

SATURNINE LADY RETURNED NOT
necip kose

the suns repetition for twilight curse my seconds to refeel the day

my Lady in black ceded me alone

i've complicated the ways of regret to wonder who won by this separation

creeping her to back on yesterday

dimmed tomorrow obsessed my feelings

as i'm following my direction

i am supposed to weep deeper

never had i wanted to have

i've loved searing more than reviving

the tide between love and hate is the weird enigma of mind say

nowhere i could drag this confusion

even i became paler of her sight my mental vision can't deny that

she had intruded in me irrational

she was my nonsense tendency

her saturnine entity seduced

and spelly visage introduced

never seen i wanted to see

i've loved gloom more than pleasure

saturnine Lady will return not...

WHAT  MAKES YOU LIKE THIS?

(for Jayne)

What makes you like this?

       

I wish it is because

You live your life

With magnificent carelessness.

        

You believe

It is because

Your mother’s threat

To lock you away

In a metal institution,

Where you go bed alone,

Is what makes you like this

     

Only they know -

Your family -

The real answer -

How your granddad

Abused you -

What your mother calls,

Just interference -

Is what makes you like this.

        

It is past midnight

And you lie here,

Beside me,

Unable to sleep.

                                                   

&&&

Sarah Gingrich

&&&

Eric
            &&&      

&&&

&&&
   

&&&

-Janice Bernette Cruz

 

&&&

     

&&&

   

There is more! at:
OPEN MIC ENCORE I
OPEN MIC ENCORE II