shimmering bay

reflecting the clear summer sky

a row boat

jeff C.

TLC

Once I saw a child standing alone on the street

staring at strangers walking by

even those who knew her didn't want to take her hand

the child silently cries for some tender loving care

Across the street I watch.......

this child who was standing alone

the strangers who took no pity and the familiar faces

who ignored her pleas

Feeling the hurt I run to her.......

wrapping my arms around I found myself silently

crying for some tender loving care

NOT READY TO SAY GOODBYE

Catherine Cottam

All choked up, I try not to cry.

The time comes soon to say goodbye.

I love my friends, they’ve touched my heart.

Too soon, it seems, we’ll be torn apart.

In four more years, we’ll go our separate ways.

They split us up in a number of days.

What will life be like without my friends?

I cry as the school year draws to an end.

What will I do, without my best friends?

I fear that this might be the end.

Our laughter and giggles, we had so much fun.

Soon they’ll be gone, we will have none.

I’m scared they’ll forget me, during next year.

They say that they wont, I have nothing to fear.

I’m scared to go forward, afraid to look back.

I want to go back to nap time and snacks.

We were so young then, no problems or worries.

We’d squeal and jump at the first sight of flurries.

All choked up, I can’t help but cry.

I’m not ready to say goodbye.

I Can't Believe I'm 26...

I can't believe i'm 26.

My mind's a constant youth fix...

I don't act my age.

I'm wasting a page...

Trying to make this memory immortal.

Unicorns majestic, fey and fairy alike rest and frolic in my soul.

They've been there for so long that I can't picture myself without them.

In my mind Reality's slowly draining them of life with it's black hole.

It's effects my heart tries to stem...

But don't you worry...

My heart and soul are strong...

And I'll probably say this once again.

And I know I wont be wrong.

I can't believe I'm 46,66,86,106...

My mind's a constant youth fix...

I don't act my age.

I'm wasting a page...

Trying to make this memory immortal.

A  STAMP

BY  LIP  SAI  LIN

A  STAMP

RETREATING  TO  A  CORNER

TRAVELS  ROUND  THE  WORLD

BOUNDARYLESS

POLITICLESS

COLOURLESS

TIMELESS

WITH  WAVY  EMOTIONS 

OF  THE  LOVERS

WITH  STARKING  SURPRISE 

OF  THE  CHILDREN

WITH  OVERWHELMED  JOY  

OF  THE  PARENTS

AND  NOW  WITH  THE

HUMBLENESS  OF  ME

WHO  IS  ONE  OF  HIS  OWNER

"beyond tribalism"
by Jack T. Marlowe

 

the ant only wrote poems
that other ants could relate to;

 

the same was true
of the bee, the termite, and the wasp.

 

the poor caterpillar closed himself up
in a cocoon, where he couldn’t see beyond himself;

 

but the butterfly, from her fluttering vantage point,
was able to embrace the whole world in her words,
and then gave it back, for all the world to regard.

 

CREATION THEORY OF MEDIA-MADE GODS

by Bill Albright

Mankind continually creates gods

An overt evoluntionary process,

One god is never enough.

Gender correct as goddesses created

From nymphs, virgins, cherubs,

T & A expansions, winged feet of presidents,

Guitarists, winners, losers, dead poets,

Decorating the darkness

Of greed, manipulation,

Servile accumulation of regasrd

Initially a celebrity

For all to see, and see, and see, and see.

Name recognition reduced to one syllable

A logoed saint of style.

Unique, copyrighted, consumer friendly

Elevated unquestionably to the

Authoritarian status of god or dess

Burying the faults that

Modeled him or her or it

To diety, thee-ity, absurdity.

Advice for Living

Don’t let your tears

Fall on empty ground,

Don’t let your cries

Fall on deaf ears,

Don’t let your signs of anguish

Fall on blind eyes.

Don’t cower in the shadows

With your soul full of darkness,

But stand tall in the sun,

Don’t keep your hands by your side,

But reach out to touch those who are beside you,

Don’t crawl on your knees alone

When you can stand by a whole nation

Of people just like you.

Silence is once again contemplating

Gazing upon the shadow

Its flesh once more bleeding

Mind crushed with too much thinking

Silence, its temper once again rising

Darkness of the soul, seething

Tick, tick, clock running

Whisper silence, forego the screaming

                        -Rowena Zaragoza

A Glass of Zin

It was three days after your death,

and I knew what that meant. We buried you

yesterday. You hate spending your nights alone.

I passed the time tonight by visiting

Our friend, you still remember him I’m sure.

Owns the bar on Court Street. No hair. His eyes

Squeeze out of his sockets when he’s excited

But otherwise they disappear beneath

The bags of his lids.

No hair. That reminds me of you.

So I sat at the bar, and our friend shuffled

Towards me. “Darker than usual in here,”

I said.

“Not really. Maybe it’s just you,”

He replied.

“Maybe.”

The air. You used to insist that

A bar wasn’t a bar without the smoke

And I smoke and you never did and.

And I think I like it better without the smoke

Now. For a while I don’t think of the craving, the

Sickness, so perhaps I should live out my years

Behind bars. Inside bars.

The waitress—what is her name?—

Stood beside me and leaned across to our friend,

Who squinted at her and waited. “Glass of zin,” she said.

Our friend disappeared into the darkness, rummaging through

The shelves like a librarian. He returned with

A bottle of white zinfandel and a shapely wine glass

That reminded me of you. When the bottle was uncorked

He clutched the bottle by the throat,

Tilted it until the slimy pale liquid rushed

To the lip, and paused.

After a bit, the waitress—I don’t remember her name!—

Lifted the empty glass to the ceiling, peering into

Its crystal air. She shrugged. She wandered away.

It’s been three days. I ordered

A glass of zin.

Behind

Give me the light,

Its all dark everywhere,

I cannot fathom the height,

down me somewhere near,

You are going away too far,

I think its better closer,

You run ahead hare like,

let me also come there,

I understand just a little,

You tell me whatever is there,

You boldly open ways and means,

I cringe somewhere here,

Trust me my friend,

its the way it has been done,

forever and everywhere,

that some have horns on hind,

and other say we are behind.

Shishir Gupta

Expressions

 Roman Isayev

Fury

Rachael Englebry

There is fury

calling screaming all the time

There is fury

in our hearts and in our minds

There is something

pushing us to keep on fighting

All i know is that

there is too much crying

And i try to find

some peace of mind

and i try to find

someone of my kind

Will anyone

come and fight

this fury with me

all i need

is human

generosity

The Gate of Protection

The metal gate

Stands guard of the house

Rusted and worn

from many a day's work

protecting a girl from danger

and the outside world beyond--

The girl has no experience

of worries and troubles

those just another word in the

dictionary--

Shall the gatekeepers be alarmed

when the

gate tumbled down with a crash

and the girl walks right through

without turning back

brown skin 
by jasmin liddell

          I am brown

          can't you see

          You can tell by looking at me

          I am proud

          I don't care

          I am beautiful no matter what I wear.

   

          I may be dark

          But I'm proud to be black

          You can tell by the way I act

          I go to church

          I go to school

          I never ever act like a fool

     

           Are you proud

           Do you care

           Do you care if people talk about what you wear

           If i were you

           I surely wouldn't

           Because every one is beautiful no matter

           what

           their

           color

Finding My Voice

Can I speak for myself?

Can I tell you my name?

Oh I didn't know that about myself

Guess my life was a game

People judge before they know

Call me names like I'm slow

I'm not deaf

I'm not dumb

Ill laugh it off just for fun

I know who I am

Do you?

Still talkin junk?

Shame on you

Brush it off

Smile and grow

Don't forget

Let ya true colors show

I'm still young

Making a choice

yet I'm still

Finding My Voice

Wisdom

Noanie Salcedo

Wisdom is the aid of all things;

It gives courage to hold things,

Manifold one own's personality,

Indeed its the vital in all aspects f life.

Wisdom is the best lesson,

It teaches individual to be harmonious,

Just and fair judgment,

For the benefit of everybody.

Wisdom is more than knowledge;

Creates perfection, color and taste,

Of life's mixture;

Its innate and fragile!

Rotten Potatoes,Week-old-Sunday Lunch and Day-old-Bread

vuyo.c

Today i met a begger-lady.

She was carrying a bag filled with

rotten potatoes,week-old-sunday lunch and day-old bread.

she walks for miles,going door-to-door

to sell her dignity for a piece of stale bread.

She's walking to feed her children

she's walking to feed herself,

she's walking to feed her drunken husband who,

after a few have clouded his judgment

bashes her about for kicks.

In the day she is the ridicule of her community.

Her name has long been forgotten,

she is now begger-lady.

today i met a begger-lady,

she said ''thank you Madam'',

INDOLENCE

bj hearn

a buzzing, humming, droning bee

humidity so thick you can cut it with a knife

lazy, stand-still summer pasture

tall bunches of spikey grass in various shades of green

                                                sea green

                                                sage green

                                                chrome green

                                                emerald green

                                                bottle green

                                                jade green

                                                pea green

daisies and wild phlox dotting the patches of chartreuse

an azure, bluer than blue, sky--peacefully dotted

with fluffy tufts of cloud quietly drifting by like cotton candy,

daring you to swallow it whole in a yawning mouthful

who wants to do anything other than BE?

okay, sit in an apple tree and read what you want, maybe,

or draw and paint a blooming iris, perhaps, but other than that?

NO!

THE BLUE

                       (JAVED IQBAL)

FOR A WHILE, THE STAR SMILES

I SEE THE TREES, MILES AND MILES

I SAID,"YOU ARE TRUE"

WHEN I SAW THE BLUE.

SILENT SURROUNDING AND MY VOICE,

HOW TO FEEL, WAS YOUR CHOICE,

I FELT SOMETHING, THAT WERE YOU

WHEN I SAW THE BLUE.

THOSE PINK FLOWERS, I COULD SEE,

BUT I COULDN'T SEE THE FACE FULL OF GLEE

I ASKED," WHO ARE YOU"?

WHEN I SAW THE BLUE.

SUN CAN WAIT, IT WILL COME

BUT TIME AND TIDE WAIT FOR NONE

IT COULDN'T WAIT, IT FLEW,

Home
Terri Vance

When I look at this World

We call home,

I like to see the good in all the bad,

The love through all the hate,

And the peace through all the war,

I ask of you to look around,

Look and you might see everything

Is not always as it appears to be,

This world we call home.

To see that this world we live in is a great and beautiful one

That we should always treat as a new born baby,

With gentle hands and a loving heart.

So that she may continue to prosper and grow for generations to come.

When I look at this world I think about how sad God must be,

With all of the fighting hunger, anger, and hate

In this big world we call home.

There has to be love and compassion for which God seeks

Somewhere in his creations near and far

In this wonderful and beautiful World

We call home.

over the grasses

to the core

what once was here

sounds come striking

set aside

the mark unknown

tattered, eternal

Scintillating Spirits

The day is radiant with its golden

Sunrays falling down and kissing the earth.

Ecstatic rivers are dancing beneath

Mystique mountains.

Birds are singing with vivacious voices

While the trees are swaying jauntily with joy.

The flowers are blossoming with

Saccharine nectar that choreographs

The pleasant path for the bees.

As a gentle breeze flows sluggishly

Into my corrugated face in the

Summer daylight,

Joyful spirits leaped from my

Heart and converted my

Somber spirits into sumptuous smiles.

I lay down lazily wishing

A TIME AND A PLACE

Chris

There's a time to arrive and a time to leave

a world so true

so true to you

This world is a place

a place to live

a place to cherish

a place to make your own

for you to remember always when you leave this time and place.

ABC'S (JULY 15, 2004)

BY DWIGHT D. DAVIDSON, JR.

A, IS FOR APPLES SOME ARE GREEN, AND SOME ARE RED. B, IS FOR BREAKFAST WE'RE HAVING IN BED. C, IS FOR COCKATOOS LEARNING HOW TO SCREAM. D, IS FOR DUCKS UPSIDE DOWN IN A STREAM. E,IS FOR EGG IN A NEST OR IN A BUSH. F, IS FOR FIREWORKS-IT GOES BANG, BOOM & WHOOSH. G, IS FOR GRANDMA, SHE'S REALLY QUITE, AND FAT. H, IS FOR HAIR THAT GOES UNDER MY HAT. I, IS FOR ILLNESS (WHICH NOBODY LIKES). J, IS FOR JUNK-RUSTY BEDS, AND OLD BIKES. K, IS FOR KITTENS ALL SCRATCHING THE CHAIRS. L, IS FOR LEGS THAT WE WAVE IN THE AIR. M,IS FOR MUD THAT WE GET ON OUR KNEES. N, IS FOR NOSE, AND I'M GOING TO SNEEZE. O, IS FOR OSTRICH WHO GIVES US A RIDE. P, IS FOR PARCEL-LETS GUESS WHAT'S INSIDE. Q, IS FOR QUEEN WITH A CLOAK, AND WITH A CROWN. R, IS FOR ROLLERSKATES-WATCH US FALL DOWN. S, IS FOR (SIS.) SOME ARE SHORT, AND SOME ARE TALL. T, IS FOR TENT THERES NO ROOM FOR US ALL. U, IS FOR UMBRELLA TO KEEP OFF THE RAIN. V, IS FOR VET, WHEN YOUR PET HAS PAIN. W, IS FOR WATCH-WE CAN HEAR THE TICKTOCKS. X, !

 IS THE ENDING OF JACK-IN-THE-BOX. Y, IS YAK HE'S OUR HAIRIEST FRIEND. Z, IS FOR ZIPPERS, "THAT'S ALL FOLKS THAT'S THE END."