OPEN MIC ARCHIVES
January, 2005

Dual New Year's Quatrains
                                 by
                            Bill Albright
 
                     Leave 2004's passed joys, regrets
                           Be glad, face the glee
                        Of 2005's hoped for fidelity
                     Talk not of yesterday, today is good.
 
                           A year's departure
                     Turns pages in our book of life
                       Be glad a moment passed in glee
                     Before the world forgets your name.

-0-

 
Ode to My Computer
Joe Polomski
The keys just press down
Like a thumbtack in the corkboard
Your screen glows bright
Like the risqué neon signs
At bars
You let me do what I want
Type, imagine, get updated
Your speakers are loud
Yet clear as a river blue
Your mouse guides me
Like a mama bear guides her cubs.
Computer, You are something special.

-0-

Childhood Fear
Neil Perry
Near the oceans edge
Where the ocean crashed the sand
My cousin and I act as Ninja Turtles and Power Rangers
Abating the though of going in the water
Past our knees
If only I had my K’Nex or Lincoln Logs
To build me a path above the mysterious ocean waters
I wish I was like Slater on Saved by the Bell
So I could fight through the waves to an unknown place
 

-0-

Chameleon Sun (Sonnet Form)
Tamara Beryl Latham
The ball of light that sweeps the sky may be
transformed to Energy, for they are one.
We cannot look upon it, maybe He
said, do not look directly at the Sun.
 
And so, he comes as Mass, we clearly see
Him as our type, some claim that He is White,
but others who have seen Him disagree,
and state He's Black or Asian from their sight.
 
We'll soon expire into spheres of light,
as Mass reverts back to pure Energy.
We'll learn why Einstein's formula was right,
and comprehend his depth of theory.
 
Each moon now formed contains the soul of one,
redeemed in revolutions 'round the Son.

-0-

Oreos for Lunch
Derek Pryor
A game
Of two
Two sides
Both black
Filled with cream
I twist
You twist
I win
You lose
I eat
You watch
Repeat.

-0-

The helpless girl who walked past me, as if I cared
Ashley Kimble
I couldn’t help but notice the way
She smelt of stale cigarettes
As she brushed past me and tried not to
Look in my direction.
And I heard her talk about things,
Knowing I was listening.
Thinking I cared about her scum bag boyfriend,
Or the way she did her hair.
Thinking I cared about how she talks
On the phone all night
Trying to help her friends,
When I know she needs it more.
He was standing in the doorway
Looking for somewhere to go
He didn’t budge.
It was as if he was waiting for someone to help him,
For someone to hold his hand through it all
A million thoughts must have been racing through his mind,
But all you could see was the movements of his eyes.

-0-

With or Without Rhyme
ezumba chuba
With or Without Rhyme
Your words,tastey to ears
poetry in verse
Paints each heart beautiful.
A need to grateful minds
A want to greedy ones.
More, want more
Till their eyes are glassed with tears
Cos too much candy words
Upsets the heart.
With or Without Rhyme
Words in line
penned by you, always a smile
Would be mine with each view

-0-

Santa Claus
Crystal   

On December 25th,
people say it's a myth,
But they say anyway,
that Santa comes on a sleigh,
With Dasher, and Dancer, and Prancer, and Vixen,
Comet, and Cupid, and Donder, and Blitzen,
Is he real or is he not,
because he's never been caught,
So the real question of the world stretching from East to West,
Is Santa Claus real or is he just a fake to get present hiding off parents' chests?

-0-

 

Christmas Haiku
Ed Petersen
Cold, silent darkness
Suddenly . . . a star, a song
A new world is born.

-0-
 
Sleepless
Rozalin
Follow the Nile
Then make a right
You'll see those who refused to fight
 
A star they follow
Such a peaceful sight
Is smeared with sorrow
On Dawn's sweet light
 
Walk the shadows
And with no light
Fight the tyrants left and right
 
Feel the pain
In Hell's sweet maze
Wiesel hates it all the same
 
Now live in fear
For 50 years
And know you can't
Just disappear
 
Don't feel quite right?
Now you tell me
If you can sleep at Night

-0-

these words, once spoken disappear
where do all the dead words go anyway?
how de we recapture the loveangerregret
that once burned so brightly?
 
pieces of me are buried forever once
captured on paper; now thrown in the fire
i long to be that frenzied being
with inspiration everywhere but now
 
i've lost that wild-eyed wonder
it's tarnished and broken and lost
the woman that stares vacant-eyed in
the mirror, when did she become me?

krystal tyree

-0-

The Place
Edgar Martinez
I wish for days where my heart could soar,
To constant heights and much much more,
And reach a place where a stranger i would be,
And leave behind all of this pain and misery,
This place i seek is difficult to find,
A place where love and life intertwine,
Where souls are cleansed from impure thoughts,
And love is a commodity that doesn’t need to be sought
Where anguish and despair do not exist,
And love is something I won’t have to resist,
Where life is a state of ecstasy that nothing can compare,
Just blissful mornings filled with tender loving care,
So if i find this magical place,
I promise to forgive and embrace,
And cherish the time I spend with thee,
Devote all of my essence for all eternity.

-0-

MY  REFLECTION
BY  LIP  SAI  LIN
 
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  THE  MIRROR
I' M  CONFUSED  WITH  THE  LEFT  AND  RIGHT
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  THE  WATER
I' M  CONFUSED  WITH  THE  SHIVERING  AMIDST  RIPPLES
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  YOUR  EYES
I' M  TOO  LITTLE  TO  BE  SEEN  CLEARLY
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  THE  PUBLIC
I  HEARD  SOME  WHISPERS  SPREADING
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  A  BOOK
I  HEARD  MY  HEART  MURMURING
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  OTHER'S  ACHIEVEMENT
I  HEARD  MY  HEART  ADMIRING
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  A  WAR
I  HEARD  MY  HEART  CRYING
ONE  DAY
I  SAW  MY  REFLECTION  IN  A  RELIGION
ONLY  THEN
I  NOTICED  THE  GREAT  GUILT  I'M  CARRYING  

 

-0-

 TORN
RODNEY ROZIER
                      
                        HERE I LAY FORLORN, WORN,
                          LIKE A WOMAN SCORNED,
                          LIKE A BABY JUST BORN,
                             AND I'M TORN.
 
                        LIKE THE WRAPPINGS ON CORN
                     DARKNESS SNATCHED FROM THE SKIES
                         WHEN DUSK TURNS TO DAWN
                         AND LIGHT HITS THE MORN,
                               I'M TORN.
 
                   LIKE THE LOVE A MAN HAS FOR HIS FAMILY,
                 AND TO HAVE THAT FAMILY RIPPED AT THE SEEMS,
                         HIS HOPES AND HIS DREAMS,
                       THE LOVE THAT'S IN HIS HEART
                           IS NOW BLOWN APART
                     LIKE THE QUIET BEFORE THE STORM
                 THE HEART THAT ONCE HAD THE PERFECT FORM,
                          IS NOW LOST AND TORN.   
                          

-0-

A Christmas Benediction
Ed Petersen
May you laugh if you're teased by the angels
May you blaze when love sparks and ignites
May a star's holy shine flood your visions
May your heart hear a song in the night
May your prayers fly beyond the hard margin
May your wisdom heap up as the snow
May peace lullaby your commotion
May you rest in a warm Christmas glow.

-0-
What Lingers Inside
Stephen Vogel
From the treasures of youth that brightens
one's soul, where happiness flourishes due
to much forgotten worries and much received
love. This is what lingers inside.
And like the sun setting on hazy skies, time starts
to cast it's shadows on the faces of the youthful. Earning
respect takes over one's heart, dimming the joys of delightful
spontaneity. This is what lingers inside.
Respect from your upbringing, which one
believes is true and right, will only endlessly
bring pressure. A pressure so strong that
it can make a man weep. Yet a pressure that must be weak,
for the same man can hide it. A soul filled with love without
the self-confidence to define it, this is the breeze of sorrow
that brings one to their knees, a breeze not strong enough to
knock down the wall that is hiding them, but
strong enough to paralyze the goal to self-love, like a struggling
nightmare that holds on to your frightened body, never letting
you wake. This is what lingers inside.

-0-

-Hate Cycle-
Lenny Wagner
An eye for an eye
An ear for an ear
Eventually
We can't see
We can't hear
 
Chain reaction
An action of fear
The chain has an end
That end is near
 
Burn all your bridges
Close all your doors
Hate everyone
Make everything yours
 
See where that gets us
Just see how far
It's us that hurts us
It's just who we are

-0-

Ut Vidi Vici
Jameel Heath
Golden ages crashing through space,
past turning dials and death's feminine wiles,
throwing off dust and a fascinating taste,
from my mind's inner sanctum stares a timeless face;
lake of fire fill my tomb,
away to hades in fragrant gloom,
forever steals time from the reaper's grip,
away, away, the serpents slip;
under all the matrix glistens,
toward perfection matter travels,
without the One it all unravels;
infinity ever drawing so near,
day loves the blazing orb that speaks,
into his rays Horus whispers,
victorious scribe of the solar tribe,
is all mapped out and set in stone?
Christos calls in many guises,
infamous herb dancing in the wind,
all but the initiate say we sinned,
mind only opens to unknown light,
the muses winked and mischievously grinned;
string of gems in praise to It,
truth encased by Thoth thrice great,
I see the point of perfection which lies in wait.

-0-


Lines of black and white
Running through the void of the mind
Such a deep expedition
Yet no one has ever accomplished
The lies and hatred find another route
They always find a way to the heart
Follow the trail with the broken pieces
With A red tint you will find your way
The sun sets fast but that’s ok, you got a flashlight
The red of the trail glows upon your face
I don’t think there is anything more beautiful.
At the end the night sky filled with stars becomes visible
The waving in the night sky
With the full moon and the clouds on vacation
Lie down, watch the animals go by
The wave you sit and watch
Your eyes piercing even the thickest armor
Here is where it lays
Lays forever
In the thick of the fog comes the trail from a broken heart
Pick them up and watch them find the way to their owner
Trees glow green and soak in the sunlight
In the forest of dreams
 
Tim Whitaker

-0-

Sonnet 55
john blackburn
If I don’t know, I don’t know
Surgical investigation and treatment are urgently required
He falls asleep and can be aroused only by a constant supply of information
But let us return to whence we started
Done by either grouping the related god figures together
A profoundly painful dejection, cessation of interest in the outside world
No, there shall be no escape from
Idols of the marketplace
Delight in them is an inhuman pleasure
 In these circumstances he did what most of us do
Accept modestly; surrender gracefully
Adultery still holds too much water
Never the less it had many faults and was usually the most fruitful source of trouble
Quietness and cat-like concentration on the job in hand also intrigued me

-0-

SECRETS ALIVE
Sarah Zerbach

If I could hear the thoughts of flowers,
Listening from sylvan towers,
Might I understand more clearly
Why they love the wood so dearly?
What makes the rainfall so poetic
To nodding children sympathetic
Lulling them to sleep at night
Until the dawn’s first glow of light?
How do the birds, as fledglings shy
Know when they’re ready to take to the sky?
I believe if we listen, with all our worth,
We may hear the secrets of the living earth.

-0-

Peppermint Rafts
Amanda Mapel
Take me away from the wind and the cold
Into the island of your soul
On rafts of peppermint and meringue.
We will feast on the fruits of your beauty,
And I will give you the hidden treasures my talents behold.
Together we can make a symphony.
Apart we are shooting stars,
Burning brightly and falling to earth
Before our time.

-0-

"Sylvia to Ted" 
by Beth Linda Block
 
You, who eagerly fragmented our vows.
You, who routinely savaged your promises.
You, who shackled me to your love, then fled.
You, who slammed a sledge hammer through my wounded soul.
Bastard!
Yet you insisted on returning to me for my wifely forgiveness.
You played on my bond and my weaknesses.
And when I saw your face,
with
no hint of remorse,
no shadow of suffering,
I wanted to brand myself with a glowing iron.

-0-

A CHILD IN ME
Jane E. Cheneth 
In my everyday life
Not one day I have a peace inside
Having so much difficulty in choosing my own path
I still ask mom of what she want
 
Almost all my life I've been so dependent
Waiting for others help in every incident
I never learn to stand on my own
Now I'm afraid to live all alone
 
For that I still think like a child
Waiting for someone to be my guide
Hoping someday I'll learn to stand
And be everybodys' man
 
A child in me still lies
Wishing one day I'll be able to rise
Grow up and be mature enough
For life in this world is so tough

-0-

AN UNSKILLED WRITER
B Leach
An avid writer I am not
grammar, rhythm, spelling hah!
one can't be taught to write in rhyme
it's a skill developed over time
yet the educated people don't think that's so
for when i tell them this
they point me home
an unskilled writer they title me
because my scheme is in AB
and the words I use ain't long and strange
and my writing only means one thing
say what they will
I'll keep on writing
cause my fingers can't stop typing
I'll write about a situation
throw out the things like punctuation
how, you ask? how can this be?
because the title they gave me.

-0-

As far back as I can remember, I always wondered what was inside the box. Its was always a big mystery for me. I really don't know why. There was nothing fancy about it. Just an ordinary box like most others that you see. Square in shape, and colored light brown. With God  knows what stored inside. The thin flaps that protected its contents were taped securely.  After all, peeking was not to be allowed.  Or so I thought. Over time the box changed gradually. But not much. It was still the same box. Square in shape, and colored brown. This is when my curiosity started to turn to fear? Was there magic inside the box? Or something of value, like a treasure? Often I convinced myself that nothing at all was inside the box. Sometimes a bit too often. I think there's a word that would better decribe that, but I can't think of what it is.  Maybe I'll look it up one day. But not now. Soon I grew older. But nothing changed. I must admit I was still a tad bit curious as to what was in the box. Someone once tried to convince me to open the box. But still I was afraid. I could never figure out why. At least that's what I wanted to believe.  After many years of contamplation, I decided that I would finally open the box. Quietly I tiptoed across the floor.  Seconds later, I found myself staring down at the box.  I began to peel back the tape that held the box together for so many years. The flaps were then opened. Soon it was done. The box was open. I can still remember the feeling I had as I placed the final seal back upon the box that night. Things like that, one can never forget.  I then placed the box in the garbage and never saw it again.

Brian A Massey

-0-

Five days a week
Jessica Stepanie 
Five long days a week
Five days of hearing you speak
Five days of living this self destructing lie
Five hundred tears that you make me cry
Five days of being in mental solitude
Five days of feeling unimportant and shrewd
Five days of being in your formal hell
Five days to go through before the final bell

-0-

tonight the horns are blowing, as the champagne keeps on flowing
as we welcome in another New Years Eve,
tonight the old year we'll be leaving, as the new one comes a cleaving
with a brand new tapestry that it will soon achieve,
so out with the old there's new wonders to behold
in this another brand new coming year,
let's build a brand new life freed from the same old strife
as we banish every worry dread and fear
so as father time parts, he leaves in fits and starts
to usher in a baby fresh and new
let no new troubles now befall us as we join in the chorus
and may a Happy new year be in store for all of you

Michael Castellano

-0-

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OPEN MIC ENCORE II

 

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