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Poetry
To Remember
Memini
After Awhile
Song of Exile
Where Is My Chicken Soup
Memoir
Time of Sorrow
Another Place
Song of Friendship for Jilly T
Masters of War

To Remember

We survived those days, it seems by floating high
On vagabond love that wanders unsecured--
Too free to be defined--and fostered by
Phantom kisses spoken in a simple word.
A love so real yet fueled by fantasy
And haunted by the scars of past heartache
Left us wondering which way to run from destiny--
But still you abide in my dreams by no mistake.
Such beauty! We're blessed our paths ever crossed.
Now the sand runs low and flows like bitter wine:
Choking on its grains, pretending nothing's lost,
Our emblazoned hearts revealed as genuine.
Remember this, dear friend--for forever shall you be--
You are nothing less than a scared soul to me.

~suz~
July 2001

Memini

Dies iam ut videtur exsuperavimus hosce,
vago qui passim palatur volitantes amore
umbraceis et alito suavibus una sicuti voce,
nimium etiam quin explicetur liberiore.
Hic tam candidus amor qui somnis fovetur
est autem et praeteriti doloris plagis inquietatus
admirantes tandem reliquit quo nobis fato profugitetur
meis huc usque in somniis restas inviolatus.
Qualis proinde decor: nos qui obviam iverimus beamur:
sed nunc vastae effluent arenae; acre effluet merum:
quarum particulis stangulamur qui nihil perditum arbitramur
nostrum quoad corculum revelabitur verum.
Quod autem omne, carissime, tantum memento:
Nihil tua aliud mihi amatius quam anima esto.

~susana~
mensis Iulius

Song of Exile

I've been wand'rin round this land
for oh so long a time.
Don't member what it's like to breathe fresh air.
Feet scourged upon the bitter sand,
I'm prayin for a sign.
Don't know what it's like to belong somewhere.

Oh how I long to bow before the King
and kiss the golden shore of Zion.
I long to lift my voice and sing
but I'm bound to this place by a ball and chain...
here in Babylon.

I'm weak and heavy laden,
can't carry on no more,
and fallin to my knees I lament my strife.
But then my cries were fadin
and that sea began to roar...
lookin up I saw him there, the Way the Truth and the Life.

Could it be that I might bow before the King?
Could I kiss the golden shore of Zion?
Could I lift my voice and sing
praise as all my stains wash clean?
Could this be the end of Babylon?

I was afraid to catch his eye
but he wasn't scared of me.
And reachin out his arms he pulled me near.
I started askin why,
didn't know how this could be.
He shhed me and said softly, "Have no fear."

And so I bowed before my King
and I kissed the golden shore of Zion!
I lifted my voice to sing
as the tears washed away in a warm spring rain...
far away from Babylon.

I'm out of Babylon...

God bless Babylon.

~suz~
Easter 2001

After Awhile

After a while, you learn the subtle difference
Between holding a hand and chaining a soul,

And you learn that love doesn't mean leaning
And company doesn't mean security,

And you begin to learn that kisses aren't contracts
And presents aren't promises,

And you begin to accept your defeats
With your head up and your eyes open,

With the grace of a woman, not the grief of a child.
And learn to build all your roads on today

Because tomorrow's ground is too uncertain for plans,
And futures have a way of falling down in midflight.

And after a while, you learn
That even sunshine burns if you get to much.

So you plant your own garden and decorate your own soul,
Instead of waiting for someone to bring you flowers.

And you learn that you really can endure...
That you really are strong
And you really do have worth
And you learn...
With every goodbye, you learn.

Veronica A. Shoffstall

Memoir

My small and frail body, exhausted from the flight,
draped across his suitcase
as he pulled me to our room on the eighth floor.

He left me there, on the bed to rest,
and quietly slipped outside.

I stirred at his absence, and summoned my body to wake
as I stumbled out the door after him.

He stood at the rail, looking out into the darkness.
It was a mysterious place to me, and
I could only imagine what it looked like.
I could hear the crashing of waves and the rustling of palms
and I smelled the salty sea air
and felt a mighty but unfamiliar wind
blowing my hair and tugging at my clothes.

"Daddy--" I said, "the wind is warm."

He looked at me with a charming grin and gallant eyes
and slowly turned his eyes back toward the noisy blackness.

"Daughter--" said he, "that's how the wind blows in Hawaii."

~suz~

Where Is My Chicken Soup

I gave you my warmest kisses
and shared my most cherished thoughts
I gave up my heart
and trusted that you would never make it stop

I told you all my secrets
and gave you those sacred words
I forgave you endless times
even when it really hurt

I held you in my arms
as you cried into my lap
I tryed to dry your tears
and kiss then all away

I remember hot summer days
after a long days work
I would give you a free snocone
and listen to your day

I sang to you and read to you
I wrote to you and listened too
and once when you were sick
I even made you chicken soup

so where is my song
and my hot bowl of soup
were is my book and
those arms I need so much

I think of all the sweetness
but all I see is the unkind words
was it all just a sugar coded
fantasie that you wanted to rip away

now who do I go to
when you broke my heart in two
what is this sad and lonely
girl going to do

why do you watch me cry
why is my mascara running down
from my sad and lonely eyes
where is that boy that use to dry my tears

I miss him so very much
I miss his soft and kind touch
I miss his gentle words
I miss my Josh

Where did you go
Why did you leave
Why can't you just love me still
Why can't you grant my one and simple wish

Hold my hand
Pick up my heart
Dry my tears
and let me love you again

~~Semra Gunning

Time of Sorrow

My bemoaned spirit wails and clouds with gray
I've now lost all the goodness and the light.
I hope never to wake this coming day.

All men have purpose to fulfill, they say
Oh, how it seemed so clear when all was bright!
My bemoaned spirit wails, and clouds with gray.

The darkness presses on me as I lay
Waiting for suffocation by the night --
I hope never to wake this coming day.

I despise those who've brought me to this way
I cannot help but lurch at them in spite.
My bemoaned spirit wails, and clouds with gray.

I once had dreams and Love, and life was gay
But dreams, Loves passed away before my sight --
I hope never to wake this coming day.

Death's a blasphemous thing for which to pray --
What matter is it since my love's ta'en flight?
My bemoaned spirit wails and clouds with gray,
I hope never to wake this coming day.

~suz~

Another Place

I could take you to another place;
sorrow has no name,
Where people really matter
and aren't just a game.
So give me your hand,
and I'll take you away,
Where good people aren't scared
and evil ones have to pay.
A place where everyone knows
you by your name,
But no one knows what you've done
and no one knows your shame.
Where there is only one race
and that's mankind,
Where people think with their hearts
and not just their mind.
A place where no one knows what it's
like to have a broken heart,
Where no one knows what it's like
to have their world torn apart.
I close my eyes and think that I can
see that special place,
Then I open them and see the world
that I must face.
If I could find this place,
I'd take you there,
Where lives aren't built on his life
and people really care.
A place where you never hear
a broken-hearted cry,
A place where hope lives on forever
and dreams never die.

~~Laurie Culley

Song of Friendship
for Jilly T

You snuck up on me
and stole my soul
Swept me up and
made me whole
and we became friends
...so suddenly.

Together we were
kings of all
Scaled every mountain
made ruins of every wall
and we became a team
...so suddenly.

We floated on the magic mist
that comes with special love
We never faltered or skipped a beat
when push came to shove
and everything was perfect
...so suddenly.

You gave my back a scarlet robe
and my head a golden crown
You came you saw you set me up
and then you knocked me down
and you left
...so suddenly.

I turned around
and you were gone
I gasped I cried
and I wrote this song
and I realized how much I love you
...so suddenly.

~suz~

Masters of War

Come you masters of war
You that build all the guns
You that build the death planes
You that build the big bombs
You that hide behind walls
You that hide behind desks
I just want you to know
I can see through your masks

You that never done nothin'
But build to destroy
You play with my world
Like it's your little toy
You put a gun in my hand
And you hide from my eyes
And you turn and run farther
When the fast bullets fly

Like Judas of old
You lie and deceive
A world war can be won
You want me to believe
But I see through your eyes
And I see through your brain
Like I see through the water
That runs down my drain

You fasten the triggers
For the others to fire
Then you set back and watch
When the death count gets higher
You hide in your mansion
As young people's blood
Flows out of their bodies
And is buried in the mud

You've thrown the worst fear
That can ever be hurled
Fear to bring children
Into the world
For threatening my baby
Unborn and unnamed
You ain't worth the blood
That runs in your veins

How much do I know
To talk out of turn
You might say that I'm young
You might say I'm unlearned
But there's one thing I know
Though I'm younger than you
Even Jesus would never
Forgive what you do

Let me ask you one question
Is your money that good
Will it buy you forgiveness
Do you think that it could
I think you will find
When your death takes its toll
All the money you made
Will never buy back your soul

And I hope that you die
And your death'll come soon
I will follow your casket
In the pale afternoon
And I'll watch while you're lowered
Down to your deathbed
And I'll stand o'er your grave
'Til I'm sure that you're dead

~~Bob Dylan


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