james r. wood
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Cheryl Lynn Leath

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A MONA LISA APPEAL

bonni

I am not dead, for smile will curve temporary,

a Mona Lisa appeal.

I am a mask, ageing, crumbling, ashes to dust.

Mystery blushes with cheekbones, contemptuous,

upon face, upon reality. As you enter door, I

smell ridicule, see brows crinkled by alcohol,

smell laughter upon your breath, upon my chest,

you stand, you lurk, you leave cracks upon

nights, upon ill-willed, sunken floors.  A day

beats rhythmic notes, just like my naive hart

pounding in vessel, I hardly notice anymore.  Like

a child's naive ride, love fades, erodes on unhappy

carousels.  With stretching miles between the lines

and I, sipping cups of black tea, a smile curves,

temporary

a Mona Lisa appeal.

 What's going on ?

What's going on in this world today?

Nuclear Wars so please let us pray,

to end all the violence and unneeded death,

watching these soldiers take their last breath.

They die for their country, and this i respect.

Please Stop for a moment, while we reflect,

on things we can do to help out our nation,

A WALK IN THE HIGH STREET, ON A BRIGHT SUNNY DAY

 Esfandiyar Khan

Walking in the High Street,

the crowd all around you.

People chatting loudly, laughing,

children running after pigeons.

Their laughter filling the street,

and you laugh.....

feeling their happiness,

your heart swelling up,

with such joy....

wanting desperately to keep it inside.

Then you look around sheepishly,

feeling  a tiny bit silly.

You dry your eyes and move along.

 

People walk all around you,

as if they don't see you,

and if you're not careful----

they might walk right through you!!

(a scary thought)

 

You look up at the bright blue sky,

fast turning gray,

heavy with rain.

And then it starts to pour.

You watch laughing couples,

trying to squeeze in together,

in small "pound-land" umbrellas.

And you have no one

to share your umbrella with !

jungle Florida

playful 'gators

you go first

THE EXPRESSION

Knowing ourselves

And letting people know us

Makes us stand better

On the platforms of society:

Acceptance and  not

The rejection-

Makes its way for the progress

Of any individual quite often

But sometimes, also the rejection

Might make its way to the top

And outshine

If the conviction behind

The knowledge is a driving force

With determination of thoughts

Being right without

Caring much for their acceptance

At the very outset

Of their expression

                       Kamalpreet Singh

and letting people know us

Makes us stand better on the platforms of society

Two Faced

Sword- smooth but sharp

Drugs- curing but deadly

Tan- nice-looking but damaging

Bomb- compact yet wipes out a world

Human- strong yet weak

Water- essential but harmful

Lion- nurturing yet fierce

Beauty- important but painful

Lightning- quick but destroying

Vision- fast but engraving

Internet- educating yet corrupting

Rainbow- serene but angry

Food- nourishing but health-risking

Glass- strong yet easily shattered

Brain- complex yet narrow-minded

Oleander- beautiful but poisonous

Death- peaceful but devastating

Gossip- easy but life-ruining

Silent Gratitude

(Published in The Edge Of The Metaphor, India, 2003)

Once when you honour me

once when you appreciate things

once, even if I give you something

as you always wanted me to become trustworthy

"Think of your future" you said

"Plan your emergencies" you added

and you slap me once when I depend myself

because in that thing I'm happy

How many times I tried to impress you

giving you things more than what you expect

but I never heard anything, but comments

and you never know what I feel

But one time i know you're happy

the time when you're in a real emergency

the time when you doesn't know what to do

and so I came, and helped you

I could see it in your eyes

even if it's flooded with tears

with your smile, I know what you mean

and you know what I feel--

I And The Moon Walked

Bill Albright

The moon came to walk with me

It glowed full to make this pairing be

Stride for stride to where even I must go

No matter who I may be, walking fast or slow

To a place destined to become the consequence

Of those who preceded in deference

To fates unknown, a journey I must keep

Beyond the horizon where the sun and I shall sleep.

Life, once a daily drama, encores to memory

More clearly viewed than what my eyes did ever see

Each step on the path made bright,

Darkness cleared from my mind by the light

Loaned, as is life, all this thoroughly revealed

When the moon came to walk with me.

The Music Man

From his mind out through his hand

Shines the soul of the music man

Simple chords, finely tuned

Blood seeping from a single wound

Heartstrings played, filling the room

Nourishing rhythms; an exotic perfume

Emotions rising with surging beats

As he sweeps me off my feet

This man of music knows my pain

He plays it over and over again

Filling my heart with sounds of wonder

Striking memory with waves of thunder

His chorus is one of magic and delight

When he plays, his world becomes right

Hometown Fan’s Lament

It is the eighth inning, and I have to go again- The crowd stands in anticipation ­ if he can just hit the ball we can tie the game- We all stand and think that maybe we will see him do it, do what we paid to see- The reliever, a rookie, sweats in the July heat, he knows the score, and he hears the crowd- the angry drone of a hornet’s nest to his virgin ears-he delivers and the hero swings, strike three. The miss is as dramatic as if he had hit the sweet spot dead on.

The crowd exhales, a boxer hit hard in the ribs.  I slide by the aggravated couple at the end of the row; they think I drink too much beer.  The hero let us down today, but we play again tomorrow.

A life is momentary, an idea never lasts, a time passes, but dreams are forever, a feeling fades, days expire, nights awaken, but dreams are forever, memories are constantly replaced, knowledge is renewed, but dreasm are forever, hate dies, new loves bloom and people change...but dreams are forever.

blindfolded in the mind images of thoughts to come.

trapped in the soul explanations of the images in the mind.

hidden in the depths of emotion feelings that allow ideas to become reality.

This all may sound subtle, but I've got something on my mind.

I just can't believe I've held it in all this time.

I am not upset, just misunderstood.

Wish i could explain, really wish i could.

Accusations

Misunderstandings

All of the above!

I try to keep my feet planted, though i am untied to love.

I feel neglected.

Sorta abandoned inside.

Have i been rejected?

Thrown to the side?

Live life to the fullest, so momma always said.

Right before i imagined her

tucking me into bed.

Life’s Flame

Patty Briant Elliott

I had a life.

I thought it was mine.

I took it for granted

  and often the lives of family or friends.

But when deaths’ near door

  tried to quell life’s flame,

I began to re-value that which means more.

From deep in a coma,

  where surreal darkness engulfed my bed,

 I heard the voices

    of family and friends.

They read aloud from the Bible to me

  and many a favorite chorus was sung.

They even whispered permission,

  “It’s okay to go,

    be with the Lord, if this struggle

     to live is too much to bear”.

Deep in my soul, I fought with myself.

I knew I’d die imminently.

Then out of the darkness appeared brilliant light.

I reached for it’s luminous arc,

  where a man’s silhouette I could see.

“Jesus”? I asked and reached for the light.

 But it receded as a tender masculine voice said to me,

   “It’s not your time.”

 Then I could see, as God wanted me to.

So I asked not, “Why I’m near death”,

   but “What do you desire of me”?

Again he assured, “Not your death”.

“Live life to the fullest with laughter and love.

Be gentle and caring, as you keep telling others

  there is life eternal, through me”.

Thus to life’s flames, I ever will cling.

Chelsea Marie 

There are so many things I want to tell you, but I’m afraid to scare you away

It’s so hard to hold back when my feelings for you grow more and more each day

The feelings and emotions that I have for your surpass those of any other

You make it so hard for me to express the way I feel to you, I’m left with nothing to do but wonder

You’re the last thing I think about before falling asleep, and the first when I awake

I put my heart out on the line for you, and I feel I have left so much at stake

I often see pictures of you in my head when I’m staring off into space

Unable to hold it in, a bright, childish smile appears on my face

I do nothing but enjoy the long nights spent with you clinched to your arms

I don’t know how you did it, but you snatched my heart with your Derrik charm

I will never forget those special moments that we shared together night after night

When we are together it feels like nothing else in the world could be so right

I would do anything to be able to say I’m all yours and you’re all mine

There’s nothing else I can do but wait and let you take your time

I guess what I’m trying to tell you is that I’m in love with you, I just wish you’d see

I sit around constantly thinking about not what we could be, but what we should be

“The Fighter within Me”

I fight a battle everyday

Against discouragement and fear

Some foes stand in my way

The path ahead is never clear

I must forever be on guard

Against the doubts that come along

I get ahead by fighting hard

But fighting keeps my spirit strong

I hear haters and the voice of despair

The dark predictions of the weak

But I find myself pursued by care

No matter what I seek

My victories are small and few

It matters not how hard I strive

Cause each day the fight begins with something new

But fighting keeps my hopes alive

My dreams are spoiled by circumstance

My plans are wreaked by either fate or luck

Some hour, perhaps will bring my chance

And the great hour has never struck

My process has been slow and hard

I’ve had to climb, crawl and swim

Fighting for every inch of the yard

But I have kept in fighting trim

I have to fight my doubts away

And be on guard against my fears

Hearing words of dismay

Has been familiar through the years

My plans keep going wrong

My thoughts combine to my faith and will

But fighting keeps my spirit strong

And I am undefeated still!!!

I  LOVE  MALAYSIA

BY  LIP  SAI  LIN

OH ,  I  LOVE  MALAYSIA

WHICH  IS  A  WONDERFUL  COUNTRY

IMBEDDED  WITH  LOVE  AND  CULTURES

M STANDS  FOR  MULTI-RACIAL

A  STANDS  FOR  ABUNDANCE

L  STANDS  FOR  LONGEVITY

A  STANDS  FOR  AUTHORITY

Y  STANDS  YOUTH

S  STANDS  FOR  SANITY

I  STANDS  FOR  INTELLIGENCE

A  STANDS  FOR  ACHIEVEMENT

OH  ,  I  LOVE  MALAYSIA

AND  WANT  TO  BE  A  REAL  MALAYSIAN 

Have my Cake and Eat it Too

Such a sweet sorrow is this head’s dear bottom.

How beautiful is the obvious mystery.

How ugly is obscure clarification.

Oh I do love the future of this history.

I want to have fun running while I walk

And sing in such a sweet silence.

Could I just fly with my feet on the ground

And yield with bitter defiance?

I want to walk sitting down in my sleep

And sleepwalk while I am awake.

Could I please eat just one tiny morsel

And still keep this nice piece of cake?

To quote Gary Larson: “It was late, and I was tired”

HOW THE SPERM WHALE GOT HIS NAME

I have read that the sperm whale was named

by the whalers who preyed on it.

Men, I suspect, whose imagination was affected

by years of cruising the oceans of the whole world

in search of whales to slay, to flay and boil

for the oil which countless ages of evolution

had given them that they might survive

the oceans’ crushing, icy depths. 

I have read that the especially desirable oil

inside the head of the sperm whale

looked to the sailors like their own sperm.

Perhaps the whalers’ vision had to do with

their enforced, years-long celibacy while at sea

or perhaps spermaceti, which is what they called it,

really did look like their semen; who knows now?

I don’t know as anyone alive today has had

occasion to gaze upon pools of spermaceti.

If, indeed, he wished to.

A CLOUDY  DAY

BY LIP SAI LIN

WHITISH , WOOLISH

HANGING  IN  THE  AIR

CLINGING  TO  THE SKY

FLYING  ACROSS  THE  MOUNTAINS

 HIGH  ABOVE  YOUR  HEAD

COME  IN  DIFFERENT 

SHAPES  AND  SIZES   

APPEARANCES  AND  STATES

FROM  GROUPS  OF  SHEEP 

TO  PUFFS  OF  SMOKE

FROM  CLUSTERS  OF  FLOWERS 

TO  OVERLAPPING  OF  SURFS

ALL  DECEIVING  YOUR  EYES

AS  A  SUDDEN  RAIN 

COMES  LIKE  FATE

 OPEN MIC ENCORE I