SPINNING, SPINNING

TERRY MCCOMBS

Spinning, spinning little spider

How I wonder what’s inside her

Can a thing that freezes my mind

Be said to have the spark divine?

Arachne, Uttu, Sudan’s Tule

Webs their holy woven vestibule

Minute creature with legs of eight

Ancients said sometimes you wove fate

Navajo had Spider Grandmother

Knit the world from the realm called Other

Africa’s Anansi would also weave

Some said it was to teach, or to deceive

As you watch her swing from twig to twig

Know that even though small you can loom big

"Welcome To Earth"

Two-faced serpent tongues

Get our millions and turn 'em to ones

Famous preachers and false prophets

Live with wealth, no man can stop it

They walk the Earth looking for a purpose

They scan the land and leave us hopeless

Now we're blind, penny-less, and cold

In man made hell holes we call home

And is it true souls of men stop at a point?

These Earthly wounds won't anoint

Now there's a road to heaven and hell

But we'll soon be dead there as well

And I guess mankind has learned a little

Economic changes have made our souls brittle

The passing of the torch has burned our eyes

And the pure have looked towards suicide

We've been told of forever lasting

and warned of the time that's passing

They've revoked our rights given at birth

With a handshake and a "Welcome to Earth"

A Day at the Beach

Malibu lotion streaked across the noses and cheeks

of children running naked in the surf,

their screams piercing the soft silence.

What children get up early to miss the daytime crowds at the beach?

Children whose mothers drag them out of the waves of bed sheets

to the waves of that deep blue.

The seagulls sing a tragic chorus to match the cries of the children

and fathers try to get a decent breakfast

(having been dragged from their slumbers by their wives)

as the women fuss over shivering toddlers,

parachute-like towels layering warmth onto their gooseflesh.

Blue lips and numb toes,

scraped knees and elbows from falling on the jagged rocks-

precious cuts and scrapes engraved into their skin

and their memories

as they drag their own kids from their TVs

The Elephant Sneezed

Patty Briant Elliott

The zoo’s elephant tease

Was begging me, please-

Give me a peanut

Or some other junk food.

Then over the fence

His trunk he did place,

Sniffing and snorting,

Wanting a taste.

I raised my camera,

Drew nigh his space,

Desiring a close-up

Of this huge face.

Suddenly, the elephant sneezed.

I, nearly fainting,

Fell to my knees

All covered in slime.

Then the hulking beast turned.

So all I did capture

Was his backside

And onlookers’ laughter.

Stone in a Cup of Creamy Coffee

Stone in a cup of creamy coffee

man is alone on vogue

swallowed by the Arjuna fog

These tables here

reflect an old-time voices

then meet in a cup of

Creamy coffee, table and stone

just like people

hiding their histories

I Nengah has looked for Arja

between plates and cups

and a box of cigarettes

Then old-times have itself seen

among fog, pine trees, and apples

and a warp of sugarcane

Stone in a cup of creamy coffee

with her lost voice

I Nengah stands alone on fog

BUBBLES

by austyn njoku

You stole the springs

from beneath my heels

my song becomes flat

like a seven-day old palmwine!

distances are dwarfed by time

the gulf in-between breathes

feeds on a cold timeless void

with neither rhythm nor song

fortunes dwindle and rise

without sparkles we used to know

our eyes reflect the truths

often hidden deep in our hearts

yet companions in a communion

distinct in our very uniqueness

you stole the springs

from beneath my heels!

UNSPOKEN

By   Mr. Micheal

I can hear the words you refuse to speak; I see them sitting there on your tongue. The light in your eye is telling me something, the flame speaks a tongue I never heard before but yet I understand. The feeling I get when we interlock, the smell that floats in the air. The smile on your face, the touch of your lips, I swear the buzz is in my ear. When I'm inside of your love, I just want to say...When my love is inside, do you want to say...? Can you hear the words that are suppose to be said? Nothing is spoke, words are just floating around inside our heads. My body screams with each touch, my mind explodes with every kiss. My ears are longing to hear those words and I know you feel the same. But we speak nothing and nothing we speak, so now we are left with nothing but words unspoken.

Paused Passing
Bill Albright

Dame Fortune paused when I hailed her recently

Speeding past me seemed such a shame

As I stood in the shadows where Miss Fortune had placed me

And even I could not recall my name.

This was one try, a last chance

To have a moment center stage in the spotlight

Where even without a name, attention would enhance

A solitary silhouette, frozen with fright.

WAKE UP POOR MAN

                       BEN RATLIFF (ABSTRACT CHILD)

I see him everyday, on his park bench cloaked in paper

The man who was once within him, is gone like water vapor

I watch his tears wonder as they read between the lines 

wonder what he’s thinking as I walk by odorous of expensive wine

I wish I could put my life inside the cup that makes his life

I can at least spare one dollar, a cigarette and a light

But I know there’s no help, he lost hope a thousand to many

He’s mantled forever in that newspaper looking for a thousand penny’s

A facade I wear

To hide my true self from view

Wish I could show me

Nick Thompson

 The “CUSS-BOWL”

A dissenter of profanity, I fixed a fine on my darling 9 year olds.

My class of twenty-three angels had an uncanny ability.

To pick up cussing and swearing with alarming frequency.

Mortified by  "F"words!” enunciated effortlessly.

"Damn it,”  “Screw you,” being their milder use of sacrilege.

Popular media, and playgrounds, ubiquitously tolerate profanity.

Kids succumb to expletives and grow insensate to swearing.

Emulate, cartoon heroes, who thrive on "taboo" words.

How could I teach kids, hemmed into drift of waning morality?

Albeit tolerating, (more likely ignoring) the usage of profanity.

Pointless, reprimanding innocent kids who are learning?

On the other hand, criticize them, for this impasse.

Feeling challenged, by this word choice of merciless jargon.

My only quick fix, was obliterating, this abysmal language style.

By means of substituting words that are unacceptable.

With a “Nincompoop”, “darn it”, “nitwit,” and “baloney”.

Alternatively “ batty,”  “phooey”, “dingbats” and “malarkey.”

Or, “dimwit,” “shoot,” “fraud,” and “for crying aloud.”

Or else “nutty”, “blast it”, “hogwash” “shoot”, and “dense.”

Consequence, resulting for voicing objectionable language.

A penalty, a dime, for every blaspheme, into “THE CUSS-BOWL.”

Failed to comply, would be steep, ensuing double up the fine.

Consequently, the  “CUSS-BOWL” income will be expended.

To delight, the non-cusses with beneficial rewards.

Thanks to my daughter for ingenious fix.

Tendency of cussing and swearwords is undoubtedly fading.

Profanity inflation, costing them unquestionable bankruptcy.

“The Cuss-Bowl” is slowly but surely weakening, not making money.

A priceless finale, to the callous addiction of indecorous uproar.

DESTINATION AFRICA

by Linda Hayes

Let me take you on a ride

we'll travel through time and space,

destination Africa

birthplace of the human race.

We'll journey back to Africa

to where it all began,

home of the oldest tribe on Earth

known as the San Bushman.

All aboard the time machine

otherwise known as our blood,

we'll have no trouble getting around

with Y-Chromosomes under the hood.

We're going to trace man's origin

and the clues that will lead the way,

are mutated generic markers

that are found in man's DNA.

Through Europe, Asia, The Middle East

our blood trail takes us back,

showing all men paternally related

be they red, yellow, brown, white or black.

Brothers, stop killing your brothers.

Put your weapons down today,

for the proof that we're all related

lies in our DNA.

Life Goes On

by Christina Marie Van-Kellogg

I remember Big Bear Mountain

Those warm and cozy Friday nights

Playing scrabble and going bowling

Before all the yelling and endless fights

Coming home to open arms

Stories of growing up and life on the farms

Staying up and baking pies

A life without fear, a home free of lies

But then something changed, it all went away

I knew it would happen to us someday

But why now when everything felt so good?

Nothing was going the way that it should

Life went on, but I was stuck in the past

Couldn't move onto the future, it was coming to fast

I wasn't ready to move on, at least not yet

All those good memories, I didn't want to forget

But as time passed I started to realize

That as life went on, so must I

So I prepared myself to take on whatever fate had planned next

coming to see

by John Paredes

In this world i live in

It seems like everything goes so fast

So that it is wearing me thin

and all of a sudden i'm in the past

And no matter how hard i try to keep up

I always get left behind

Like a lost little pup

Who had gone blind

And then I came to see

to see what I've always longed for

And all I saw was me

Just that and nothing more.

The Earth is getting littered,

oh no! What a terrible day,

the planet's getting bigger,

I don't know what to say,

if we work together,

and clean up all this mess

for we can live forever,

and the earth will be the best,

but if you trash the earth,

then we won't live too long,

and the earth would have no worth,

and us people would be gone,

so just protect this planet,

then you will be alright,

and if you understand this,

then the earth will be just right.

  -0-

Changed

I see you there, in that picture so loathed

The memories sting as hundreds of knives

Dark is the world in which we live

We are consumed by the everlasting night

Glass half full look to a brighter day

Glass half empty, find your noose and fall

The world is flat, look out for the ends

The world is round, destroy the diverse

Laughing in pain, of lost times of ecstasy

Lend me your ears and truth will be clear

In your eyes I find my sol free refuge

The walls close in, and I embrace the pain

Hoping to God on high

Is like clinging to straws while drowning

The air is thick, my lungs collapse

The heart is still, closed are my eyes

When you dig my grave, make it shallow

So that I can feel the cool spring rain

SURE IS CRAPSEY

Here are

Three plangent things:

The falling rain... the Happy

Hour before dusk… the mouth of one

Shut club.

Slow dancing spring rain

ends without a cue from God.

All green and wet and wild.

HAIKU OF THE HEART'S BLOOD

   

                A poet's heart bleeds:

                he writes using the blood, hopes

                the wound will not heal.

kickin it into gear ­

there ain’t nothing wrong with the gear,

it turns cognizant of some bigger wheel,

cogged, not clogged, teeth,

keeping it in sync with some purpose

intention of self-expression,

goal in self-expression,

thereby expressing some other dimension ­

some element that reacts with the ineffable ­

overwhelming when it touches

the small shell we wrap ourselves into,

the small claim we make of life ­

the LIFE that wants our happiness,

will spare no expense to fulfill us,

knows no boundaries in its giving,

hasn't got a clue as to what lack means,

will kick into gear any & every

engine to ease our path,

machine for our enlightenment,

“x” to be factored in ­

the unknown holds no terror…

LIFE

By Thilini Liyanage 

When the world is closing in on you

And you are left alone on your own

You feel like everything you hold so true

Are just illusions the world has set up for you

But you come to realize once again

It's you, that matters, it's you that you want

And nothing else can be as good as you

Because even with the people you love the most

You'll only find your happiness in YOU!

And I say, think my friend..

Though many times were there when you felt

You weren't meant to be this way

Though many times were there when you asked,

Is life worth living?

Remember this, every time you think of putting an end...

Life is always worth living because...

Because, Life is a LIFE

OFTEN WONDER

by Hunter Aydelott

people see and people go

trance like in the snow

often wonder

what are these things

you may ask

a bit of time

a bit of task

often wonder

when will we open

when will we lapse

when will we view a photograph

and time will not forgive our past

often wonder

The wind

As the icy wind blows

And lifts all the leaves of the ground

With the little shuffling here and there

I love listening to the sound

Although it’s freezing

And I’ve got a shiver running down my spine

I break away from my usual work

And clear out my mind

I’m drifted into another world

Where it’s peaceful and subtle

Entwined in this world

I feel a huge cuddle

With blankets and fire

My body feels comfy and WARM

Like I’m being sucked in

In a loveable form

I feel a sudden rush of coldness

Creeping up my neck

It continues moving

Until it reaches my back

It was all a dream

That kept me warm and relaxed

It boosted me completely

I wonder what’s next …

CHILDREN OF NATURE

The wind reaches around and whispers softly,

“Come with me, come with me.”

Dancing, swirling, huge skirts of air.

He wants to go so he will know.

He follows her most willingly.

The moon shines down and words fall out,

“Come with me, come with me.”

Beaming, floating in a dark ocean.

She wants to know so she will go.

She follows very carefully.

A tree tosses branches; seems to sigh,

“Come with me, come with me.”

Waving, waiting, locked in time.

They follow for they want to know.

They trail,oh,so patiently.

Children of Nature, come together!

Dancing, swirling; beaming, floating; waving, waiting—

"Here we are."

Children of Nature are no longer their own.

Captured by Her beauty

They are slaves at Her throne.

BLACK

jason donovan

gelatinous sea of shadows

incandescent obsidian jet

pulsing , languid

sinuous arms explore

formless mass of darkness

utterly devoid and flawless

hungrily swallowing time

desperately drawing

glistening ripples of black

beckoning , whispering waves of grace

the promise of peace in the lightless womb

the silent depths of viscous fluid

cradle of solitude

"LOST IN MY WORLD"

MICHAEL ROGERS

Lost in my World

I have no shadow at All

For Reflections are Contrite

Makes no sense to look Tall

Short in puny Stature

I'm a Man without renown

If you're looking for Laughs

Let me entertain and be your Clown

The World is only for Four

Excluding me from out its Front Door

Passionate Person engaging to a Fault

But my World has no Colors

Not A "Friendly's" ice cream or Malt

I was a Boy that had fun,a Teddy Joy

The World back then,was fun to Employ

Backyard Family Frolics

Barbeque on the open Grill

Looking for Snow and no school at all

From the tiniest Contours..

of the living room window sill

Lost in a Dream

Without a Ending,Smile

Hoping for a Friend

To come back again

And make my World Smile..

Nihil Obstat

Sometimes I’m lonely,

other times I’m not.

Sometimes I’m quiet,

I think that I’m all I’ve got.

Sometimes I think about

great things that could be.

Sometimes I think about

the soul inside of me.

All the time I write,

like fetters on my legs.

When I don’t want to

my mind practically begs.

To write something down,

to get it all out.

I couldn’t stop doing it,

of that I have no doubt.

To push and to shove,

I do both to me.

But I like the restraint.

I don’t know how to be free

When I’m outside of my mind.

But when I am in my own head,

freedom in there doesn’t mean

that somewhere else people are dead.

YOU  ARE  WHO  YOU  ARE  SO  BE WHO  YOU  BE

For  all  you bad  girls  you  are who  you  are  so make  something  of   it

You live  in  a sad  world  cause  you  had  no   one  to  walk  with  to  talk  with

Now  you  feel  your  life  is meaningless  so  hear  this

You  are  who  you  are  and  don’t  ever  change  it  you just gotta  face it  and  if others don’t like  it  then  tell  them  you made  it

Through  the  struggles  you  faced  trying  so  hard  to  fit  in  when  you  always  felt  out  of place 

Feel  free be  who  you  wanna  be  agree  with  life  and follow  your  dreams  let  them  know   “It  doesn’t  have  to  mean  anything  to you  but  it  means  something  to  me” 

You  are  who  you  are  you  have  to  make  people  see

They  may  not  understand  you  but  I’m sure  they  know  what  it   means  to  to  chase  a  dream

Pride  Envy  Gluttony  Lust  Anger  Sloth  and  Greed  these  are  all  weaknesses  and  shoot  us  down  to  our  knees  we  are  all  different  but  we  feel the  same thing

We all have  the  same  weaknesses  we  just  experience  them  differently  we’re  a  different  color  yet  the color   is the  same   when  we  bleed 

We  are  all  different  so  be  who  you  be

You  are  who  you  are  so  don’t  change  a  thing

And  if  others  don’t  like  it  give’em  a  kiss on  the  cheek  tell  them  you  made  it  just  by  being  who  you  be

And  that  you’re  gonna   keep  going  till  you can  no  longer  be

WHEN ALL IS WELL …

My inner heart blows the divine conch

The chariot of affection may soon vanish

Life, thorough the painful years launch

A look into the past, at the youthful crush.

Musings, drift along the clouds of thoughts

The childhood moon and youthful sun peeps,

The stars twinkled through the mid-life acts

But behind a dark cloud, destined they hid deep.

The affectionate parents, their tender care

Their unbound joy and the playful nature

Ah ! The horizon of thoughts is still mature

But the rainbow cannot last long even here.

When all is well, fate begins its wicked games

Snatching age-old memories, it provoke storms

The flowers would wilt when time shrouds

The ultimate to life lurks in search of molecules.