LIFE POEMS

What spirited heart drives me thus?
Frenzied madness . . . I must refrain!
Spoiled little child, make such a fuss,
How the ego of youth is vain!

Fight though I may, never will I win:
The battle lost before the start;
Self- centeredness, my greatest sin,
Corrupts my mind, the sacred heart.

Why the need to so glorify
The self? My stay would be of use;
And so, live less a life of lie,
If not others would I abuse.

Well, it is such that people cry,
For the world is not a nice place,
Much less good my heart, yet I try,
Compassion show and sins erase.

This Land Beyond
by Leonna

This is a place and time
Without violence, without crime
The air is pure, the water is clean
Our earth is our garden, ever so green
Homes for everyone, no one's in need
Never to hunger, nor is there greed
Men have dignity, men have pride
Never standing in shadows with something to hide
Children are cherished, not to neglect
Elders are loved, treated with respect
Death is accepted and understood
For beyond old age is everlasting and good
There is no mystery, nor wonder here
Things are simple, there is no fear
This is a time for all to be done
Where men work together and live as one
A place we long for, life is a song
Not just a dream, this land beyond.

Colors
by Rini

What are the colors of life?
Could be black for the endless strife.
Red symbolizes the color of the heart,
Where cupid strikes with his tameless dart.
The sky may be blue, maybe gray,
Shows how life can change day by day.
Yellow in sunlight & spring flowers,
I bask in them, hour upon hour.
Green as the emerald sea,
Brings peace of mind & tranquility.
Angels with wings of white,
Lift me off my feet to flight.

Can you tell me what are the colors of your life?

Tomorrow May Become Never
by Andrea Hill

Say your "I love you's" today
Tomorrow it might be too late
Here and now is forever
Regrets my friend, are too hard to shake

Tomorrow may become never
Who knows when they could be gone
I've done this one time too many
Although I knew it was wrong

So "I love you" mother and father
"I love you" my brother alike
"I love you" my husband and daughter
And all who have influenced my life

I will always speak from the heart
I will speak every word as our last
I shall have no further regrets
When someone I love has passed

The Questions Of Love
by Barry Bickar

The truth that holds us together
The trust that will always be there
This is why, why I push through the obstacles
Without the fight, what's the purpose?
What's the challenge?
What's the reason we push each other?
What's the reason we love each other?
This is why I live;
This is why I go on with life.
This is why I love.

Ashes On The Ground
by Casey S

My life is like a million stars
that scatter through the sky,
and from my place in outer space
I watch the world go by.

At other times I'm twinkling sure,
a star to lead the way,
and in the night a guiding light
that led you home today.

At other times I'm blazing fast
and race without a sound,
until you see the star in me
in ashes on the ground.

Do You?
by Douglas Burruss

There is a world beyond this pain
A wall of fortitude shall stand in vain
An abundance of emptiness caves in from each side
Standing from the bottom, blinded to the light

Do you hear my cry?
It is silent

Do you see my fear?
It is giant

I cast off my shield, a heart made of stone
Open to you are inflicted scars that you own
I want to hide in the sanctuary of your promise
But I can’t find my way through the sedentary darkness

While Waiting For Thee
by Sharon A. Bryington

Don't weep at my grave
For I am not there,
I've a date with a butterfly
To dance on the air.
If I'm missed, find a flower,
I'll be there too,
Sniffing it's fragrance
Right next to you.

Don't be sad
When you remember me,
For I'm singing in the sunshine,
Wild and free,
Flirting with the lighting,
Playing tag with the wind,
Chasing the thunder
Time and again,
Soaring with the eagle,
Swimming in the sea,
Enjoying all of nature
While I'm waiting for thee.

The Mill
by Lloyd Klumpp

Day after day we grind the grind,
Working away, body and mind,
Goals to reach, things to prove,
A need for bread and a roof

Week after week we grind away.
Making a living? No, working for pay!
Mouths to feed, feet to shoe
Not time enough to think of you.

Month after month the grind goes on.
Becoming mindless, feeling numb.
One more passes, then another.
Sometimes ask why we bother.

Year after year - grind, grind, grind.
Our souls destroyed, our hearts unkind.
The roof is ours. We have our bread.
Such a shame our spirits dead.

15 Minutes
by Billy

I want to change the rules.
Instead of fifteen minutes of fame,
It should be fifteen minutes of love.
Everyone is entitled to fifteen minutes
Of pure, uncensored, unbridled love.
Fifteen minutes -
fifteen minutes of blindness,
Overwhelmed with bliss,
For fifteen minutes -
For fifteen minutes nothing else matters.
Love matters.
If everyone got it -
Everyone would get it.
Just fifteen minutes -
Who needs fame anyway?

Everybody
by Kayn

Everybody's listening,
But not everybody hears.
Everybody's brave,
Still everybody fears.

Everybody's searching,
But not everybody finds.
Everybody's looking,
But is everybody blind?

Our lives are what we make them
By design and chance,
Still innocent victims of circumstance.

Everybody's wanting,
And everybody needs.
Everybody's trying,
But not everyone succeeds.

Everybody's laughing,
Still everybody grieves.
Everybody's praying,
But not everyone believes.

The meaning of life is simple,
Nothing elaborate or complex.
Life is not a game,
Nor is it a test.

We are born with no road map,
We are given no guide.
The answers in life
Are ours to decide.
To do with as we please,
And all of life's answers.

Future Memories
by Ted Reynolds

The small boat tosses in the midst of a vast ocean.
The boy leans over the taffrail, listening.
Far off beyond that blue horizon out there
He hears a far, almost inaudible music,
Fascinating, compelling, calling to him to come.
It comes from somewhere he has never been,
But which he will reach someday, and recognize
As the source that has always been reaching for him.
It will show him, teach him, mold him in its image,
And he will never again be the same, but truer.

The young man stands before the mountain range.
Never has he seen these before, but he knows them.
Far at sea he has learned what to listen for.
Somehow he knows they will become part of him,
Their trails and crests, their hidden lakes and lairs,
Have waited centuries only for him to arrive,
So they could open their treasures to his soul.
Darkness and light, beauty and terror are up there,
And wait to embrace him when he reaches them.
He picks up his walking staff, and steps toward them.

Across the room the weary man sees a face.
The tiredness drops from him and he stares at her,
Hardly believing what he sees, what he feels.
He has never seen this person before,
But he knows she has been waiting for him.
She will teach him secrets, they will share treasures;
As friend or lover, tutor or mate, he cannot guess.
How can he know, how can he recognize this stranger?
The ocean and the mountains have taught him.
He moves toward her, speaks to her, and hears her voice

Immortal Rhythm
by Ryan Williams

Here I stand, searching for that little cafe down
Beat Street, where the atmosphere doesn't reek
of the rotten eggs that have ruled our lives for
too long.
The sound won't die, but it never grows any
louder, like the memories of an
age-old dream on the verge of oblivion.
I walk the sidewalks, staring numbly into
the neon gates of hell where Beelzebub wait with his
contracts and loan sharks,
giving away instant cash in exchange for nothing major -
Nothing but your soul.
This disillusionment permeates my world, and drowns
out the way to the temple of soul that I seek
as my haven; but the sound is still there, and the Beat never dies.

Here I watch, searching for that little cafe
down Beat Street, and listen as our small
marble spirals away from its orbit,
forever stuck between day and night.
No one hears the
screams of the kamikaze banshees
as they fly themselves
into the last refuges of a world that kept itself
alive without needing to
fear the barbers who would shave away
its goatee, its life.
Puritanical, Satanical, all the same,
all working its black magic on the music.
The day it died, no one really sang, but ran as its undead
counterpart reared its deviled head.
Screaming black words only its minions heard, sang,
chanted.
But the sound is still there; the Beat never dies.

Hear I listen, still searching for that little cafe
down Beat Street, dodging away from the monsters
that legends never speak of.
A dictator, or just a dick, denying one last
alcoholic pleasure to an audience tired
of sun, flowers, and blue skies, laughs
at the meager attempts of his pawns to resist.
Only sacrifices in a game, no
more, maybe less.
Can't go back, always forward, straight into the steel jaws
of one more damn Bond villain.
And two weeks of cold, away from the fire, that'll
dull the senses, or are they already dull?
Protest? Ha - a sacrifice and nothing more is
said.
But there is another path.
Is there?
Or is there?
The sound is still there, the Beat never dies.

There I stood, watching and listening, and searching for that little cafe
down Beat Street.
And now the sounds grow louder,
the red blood returns to the fingers, the toes, the ideas.
Smoke, from a snake, a snake of leaves, that speaks to me,
and tells the story,
the fairytale,
the truth.
The sky isn't blue, the grass isn't green, and those
long gone inspirations, enemies? - that long ago pierced the soap bubble
we all lived in, they knew, know, will know.
The door is opened to the faint tapping of the instruments
of our soul, spirit, body.
And here, in this little cafe down Beat Street, I am done searching
because the sound is always here,
and the Beat will never die.

Life Dreams
by Ladycat

Dreams upon dreams of mountains set before me
On a path through life
Wide oceans calling my name
Hatred stirred by things I should have done
Things to make my life worthwhile
Yet I can only sit and think about those things now
I hate myself for following my rightful path in life
I hate myself even more for living it and living through it
Without a dream left in sight
The seas of glory are washed with the blood of disbelief
Who am I to choose now
Who am I?

Life's Winding Roads
by Donnie Winslow

Sometimes we take the long way
To places we need to go,
We find that it's a winding road,
So round and round we go.

We think we find a shortcut;
It takes longer than it should.
Some turns that we make in our lives
Aren't really all that good.

>From here on out I'll take the straight away,
No matter the time in which it takes;
And hope that God will guide me,
And that I make no more mistakes.

Think about the road you take,
It may take you out of your way,
Do not take the roads I took,
In the end, you may have to pay.

A Simple Need
by Dove

A simple need,
A simple deed,
The woefulness of it all.

A cast of good.
A cast of bad,
The blindfulness of it all.

Must we see not,
Or do not,
Want all or want none?

Shall I believe in you,
Or distrust you;
Shall freedom become all?

Shall the white man become colorblind?
Shall the black man not hate?
Will we all forget the promise,
Or will we all believe in Him?

Away
by Jessica Lee

I awake in the morning
With the utmost delay,
Knowing this will be
Just another stressful long day.

Eyes still half shut,
Then I let out a groan.
There's nothing pleasant out there;
I'd rather stay home.

I have no control,
They expect way too much;
I get lectures and preaching,
But that's not what I want.

So I run far away,
No place in mind.
I just follow my dreams,
Leaving the day far behind.

Then I stop and I look,
And there's no one around;
But I hear a sweet voice,
So I don't make a sound.

I'm looking too hard,
And don't need to try;
Everything beautiful
Sits right before my eyes.

I watch the sun set
In the pastel pink sky.
It goes below the hill
On which now I lie.

The grass is so cool
To the touch of my skin,
I can smell the fragrant night,
That I'm hopelessly lost in.

I feel the kiss in the breeze,
And the dance in the stars;
But then something hits me,
And it hits me so hard.

I didn't even leave,
And I'm lying in bed...
But then where did I go,
And where was I led?

Was it a place that exists
Only in my dreams?
What's this place for,
And what does it mean?

Close Your Eyes
by Alison Rotmark

Close your eyes; what do you see?
Do you see what's really there,
Or do you see what you expect there to be?
It's more than blood and bone we share.
Reveal our heart, our soul, our mind...
We're all the same when you are blind;
Blind to color, beauty, weight and height.
There's more to see than just with sight.
So close your eyes and see what's there;
You see more blind then when you stare.
Close your eyes and open your mind...
We're not so different when you are blind.

Pieces Of Life
by Dee

my life is like one big puzzle
many uniquely shaped pieces

every bit scattered across the table
every minute my frustration increases

all the shapes look like they might fit
it's very deceiving

there's only one true fit
I have to keep believing

but you know when you find the final piece
that your puzzle is complete

Distortion
by Kevin Rose

You have convinced yourself the hardest thing,
To defy the strongest feeling.
To turn your back on the nicest seed,
And destroy love given, which you need.

To paint the lover with a tarnished brush,
Take his personality, and crush,
Bend, distort so all good is hidden
So evil comes forth, false and unbidden.

That evil in small amounts is common
In all people, no matter where from.
If you look for it, you will find in all
The ability to hurt, maim and maul.

But suppress the evil and look for good.
In an ideal world, all people should,
And you will see the love, the care, the best
Evil turns to dust when facing the rest

So I beg you to look again at me
with no prejudice, let your mind be free,
For within me you will see and find
Someone who is loving, caring and kind.

The True Light
by Starlight

When you look into life,
You don't see what's inside;
For you look with your eyes
And not with your heart.

If you want to know the truth,
Then you have to close your eyes;
And open your heart
To see the true light.

Don't try to change
What was really there,
Just because what you saw
Brought you only despair.

The truth is the truth,
And it will never change -
No matter how much
You try to forget.

Broken Flight
by Ron Carnell

An arrow streaks from silent bow
To distant cliffs on deadly search,
The aim cast high, intentions low,
To where a pair of eagles perch.

An eagle flutters to the grass,
A cry of pain upon her tongue.
A broken wing she finds she has,
And cannot fly with only one.

Her eagle eyes cast to the skies,
To mate now soaring in the wind,
To cliffs and nest, eaglets denied,
Harsh victim of an archer's sin.

She circles round, confusion wild,
Her pinions moving in the breeze.
She flaps a wing in awkward trial,
Her voice grieves out in strident pleas.

It takes two wings to soar in flight,
To play a noble eagle's role,
A single wing lends no one height,
It takes two halves to make us whole.

The Old Me
by Helen Carter

Look down deep -
deep inside of your mind;
an old part of you
I know you will find.

The part that is hiding
and doesn't want to be found;
it has hidden too long
and won't come around.

You know it is there,
hiding way down inside
the place that you think
you have gone in to hide.

Let your inner self free;
let it run, let it ride.
Let it out, let it sing;
let it out from inside.

It has hidden too long,
that old self that is you;
because you were hurt,
let it out and run through.

There is something there
that is wonderful indeed;
it was once nourished -
it came from a seed.

That wonderful you
that you hide deep inside,
let it out, let it run;
please don't let it hide.

Those who really know you
miss the old you, it's true;
and for that they are sad.
They only want what's best for you.

So let yourself out;
be happy, be glad.
Don't let the past hold you -
the one that was bad.

Release your old self,
the one we once knew;
the one we came to love,
please let yourself shine through.

Oh, we see bits and pieces
every once in awhile;
the old you shines through
and gives us a smile.

We miss that part,
that old part of you;
we miss all the fun
and the laughter we knew.

Please just come back.
I hope you find the way
back into our lives
and we hope you will stay;

Because we do miss
that old part of you,
the one we once loved,
the one that we knew.

Come back to the world
where everyone's free;
come back to our world,
the one that we see.

That one that is hopeful,
joyous, and glad -
a world full of love,
even though good and bad.

The world won't change.
It's sad but it's true;
but we know that you can
come back to the old you.

The one who is happy
and sees all that is great -
the one who's optimistic,
who doesn't care if they're late.

Please, won't you return
that old wonderful you?
Won't you bounce back
to the one we once knew?

I've hidden too long
deep down inside.
I've crawled into myself,
and I tried to hide.

I'm still learning
to set myself free;
one day I will learn
how to be the old me.

Candle
by May Richardson

I light my candle,
melting it clear
the air whispers,
sometimes too near.
My candle burns
yellow, blue, white,
I keep it going
all through the night.
Sometimes it flickers,
moving in torrid patterns,
circling, dwindling, sparking tatters,
flame wanes, then rises up,
springing form what you thought was no more.
It keeps on fighting,
melting wax as time goes by,
the candle is me,
and it is I.

The Way
by Dan Peeper

I climb upon the mountain
Just to see what is in the way.
I know what's there,
But must I face it today?

I can only go forward,
Even when I look behind.
It doesn't matter which I choose,
I fear what I may find.

So I stand in this time
Feeling it frozen in place,
Waiting for me to chose
As indecision swallows my face.

Do I speak,
Or do I not?
What if I fall?
What if I'm caught?

Do I look into the light,
To make the path clear?
Will I get there faster
If I follow my fear?

I see what's in my way,
For it draws me near -
Is their a way over,
And can I get there from here?

The Car Boot
by Ray Collings

Come sleet, snow, wind or rain,
The cars turn up once again,
This gathering upon a field,
The goods inside all soon revealed.

Books, bottles, bric- a- brac,
some displayed on a vegetable rack,
Pots, pans, postcards, pram,
Even jars of homemade jam.

Paintings, pet food, clocks and clothes,
Most set out in uneven rows.
Garters, gramophones, toys and games
Funny things that have no names.

Hats and handbags coloured pink
everything PLUS the kitchen sink.
There's girly mags mid`st mills and boon,
Mixed with Items handed doon.

Many's the goodies made to last,
Like elasticated knickers from Grannie's past.

Perfection
by Ammon Taylor

Have we been deceived?
The sweet scent of temptation, intoxicating as it may seem
The shell is so simple
Yet the deep inner core ever elusive sadly proves to be

When will this slow realization, this pure revelation break forth
and bless my eyes?
When will this enlightening wisdom permeate my thoughts,
when can these actions
enrich other's lives?

The anticipation of impossible transcendence
This profound longing for the transformation
The ascendance from finite to infinite
Haunts me through every waking thought

How much longer must I wait?
Dear God, I implore you, insatiable as my beseechment may seem
Please let my weary soul have the strength
To shatter these shackles, please let your imperishable truth set me free

Would time and space meld into one?
Would there be room to learn and grow?
Would my emotions cease to be?
What creature would I then become?

Have I been deceived?
The sweet scent of perfection, intoxicating as it may seem
The shell is so simple
Yet the deep inner core ever elusive sadly proves to be

This equivocation of perfection, this paradox consumes me

As You Are
by Emily Fessler

No more, no less,
Come as a friend.
Not stupid, not smart,
Come as a human being.
Not pretty, not ugly,
Come as you are.
Not early, not late,
Come on time.
Not shy, not outgoing,
Come with personality.
Not happy, not sad,
Come with feelings.
Don't come with a fake identity,
Come as you always are.

Time
by Dae

Time.
Distant memories.
Future fantasies.
What's behind us
once was in front.
Blind, past the horizon,
things there the eyes can't focus on.

Lessons learnt
in the transition from youth.
Innocent ideology and adversity
make way for reality.
Belief into truth,
uncertainty to understanding.

Angst forgotten,
maturity and conformity,
scholar, then worker,
lifelong responsibility.

Physical. Mental. Spiritual.
Explanations for existence.
Insecure merely.
Insular really.

The question,
why are we here?
We.
Something to fear -
man an animal.
Surely there must be a purpose?
No.
Today is yesterday is tomorrow.
Time.
Interaction.
Chaos rules, not destiny.
We can be free,
but fear of the unknown
forces us not to be.

I Wanna
by Julie Clark

I wanna swim in an ocean that's as blue as the sky
I wanna meat a stranger and look deep into his eyes
I wanna get on a bus and not know where it's going
I wanna walk a million miles from summer to where it's snowing
I wanna watch a sunset over a river in a far off land
I wanna find all the people falling, and lend them a hand
I wanna hold a baby in my arms and breath in its breath
I wanna follow a trail in the woods and learn to defy death
I wanna go to India, and see leather faced men
charming snakes and chanting mantras, learn the art of Zen
I wanna go to Africa and go on a wild safari
I wanna chase lions, see tigers, and eventually meet me

I wanna be all that I know that is in there
and I wanna see a post card, and say that I've been there
I wanna have three children, live in Santa Fe
and when they wake in the night, I wanna be able to say
let me tell you a story, of all the places I've been.
They'll have long hair and long skirts, I'll have them all and then
I wanna die an old woman, peaceful in the breeze.

I wanna be the smoke falling from my lips, away into the trees
I wanna slip into spirit, and at last collapse at God's feet
and ask did I do all you wanted me to, did I see all I could see
and I wanna be there when that love graces my heart
and he'll look into my soul and say, you knew it from the start.
It all started with a young woman, yearning for something new,
who knew all that she could be, was sure that she could do
something nobody had every done before, so she went ahead and began
a trip that lasted a lifetime and started as I swam
in a lake under the moon, stars above in the sky
and I followed somebody for once and never asked them why.

I'll lay back and breath my last breath,
learn that I cannot defy death,
and know it all began before
when I chose to open this door
by proclaiming I'll not be told
to marry young and then grow old
in a place where I was supposed to be
when there was so much more I wanted to see.
That's not how this life will end,
because in the path ahead there's a bend,
and I'll not go around it, see,
I'll strike off of it into the trees
because I'm going to say right now:

I wanna learn and teach myself how
to breath in peace and be here now.

Tears
by Jfreak

Tears fall forth from my spirit
The knife that penetrated my heart
Is being twisted and twisted
The pain is exuberant,
More tears.

The vocal blade has been sharpened
Delicately, the bearer of the blade
Approached from behind, as like Brutes.
As I turned for an embrace, I was pricked,
More tears.

I drew back to look deep into the eyes
Of the one who betrayed me this way.
The hand never removed itself from the handle
Never tried to Hide it's guilt.
More tears.

My torn open breast bleeds forth
On hands unrepentant, with no remorse
As I look into the face of my betrayer
A smile flashes back at me,
More tears.

With another twist of his wrist I crash to my knees
This seems to discomfort my Brutus.
So he leans over to whisper sweet comfort in my ear
A Judas kiss on my cheek, then he disappears.
More tears.

The blade is still embedded in my flesh
Deep in my bosom, blood still pours out
Mixed with the tears of my spirit
I will Never understand why.
More tears.

The Day No Child Would Cry
by Tiggah

One day there will come a day,
when no child would cry,
when all tears would dry,
and smiles would appear.

Did you ever begin to wonder?
What it would be like?
If a child didn't have to cry,
to feel pain, sorrow,
to feel empty?

We all grow from learning
right from wrong.
Why would we hurt a child?
Children need love.
We, as parents,
are taught to provide it.

We need to learn to give
a child a day of smiles and joy,
and the freedom to be a child.
Never lay our troubles on them.

When a day comes when a child doesn't cry,
will be the day the world
will become a brighter place.
A child lights up the world.

We wouldn't need the sun,
the moon -
we'd have the sunshine, the starlight,
of a child's smile.

It's all the world really needs,
and we can make it happen,
If we let a child be what,
they want to be.

So deep down,
remember -
a child grows from us.
So let's give a child a reason
to smile.
never a day of tears again.

No child should have to cry.

Paperdoll People
by Sweetsteffanie

Your plastic eyes search my figure,
So different from yours,
Unique and hideous,
A creature you have never seen.

You shake me violently, and turn me over,
Looking for my seam -
The place of imperfection
Where you can rip me apart and find out what I am made of.

I am different from you
And it scares you.
I have disrupted your neat order,
Your common-sense geometric world.

You hate me,
And all because I chose to be my own person,
And I am not you,
And I am not like you.

But I want to be like you...
I try to stand in your rows of paperdoll people,
And I pretend that you won't notice.
But I am always found out.

I want to be accepted...
But I refuse to be like you.
The happy medium I'm searching for
Is no where to be found.

So I sit by myself, cowering,
Hiding in the corner of our world,
Watching as the single file lines
Of paperdoll people go by.

The Mask
by Wolfgirl

A mask of plastic happiness often covers her sadness
Her beliefs hidden from most
Afraid of, but willing to face the unknown
Wondering where her place is in this life
She has come close to sharing herself
Never completely revealing anything to anyone
Feelings of invisible chains corner her
When she dreams, reality shatters before her very eyes
Accomplishments she strives for just at hands grasp
She feels lost sometimes, not yet finding her notch in this world
At times the glimmer in her calm eyes slowly disappears
But within her heart a silent flame burns her inside and out
She roams day by day, playing roles
Strength unknowingly resides in her
History repeats itself once again
The translucent veil she so proudly wears
Little by little answers will come, pushing it aside
One day there will be no more mask for her to wear
One day her beliefs will be known
One day she'll know her place in this life
One day she will share herself
ONE DAY this mask will be NO MORE

Look For Me
by Tracey Stroud

Chaos rules the road of my life,
But it is the one I have chose.
No one looks inside - they see me,
But no one really knows,

Will you follow,
Or simply turn and walk away?
Everyone leaves eventually,
No matter what they say.

Take a chance,
Hold my hand
We could make it,
I know we can.

See me . . . look inside,
Find the woman;
The one I must hide.

Do you see her?
She is very sad.
Look for her
She could be the best you've ever had.

Anger
by Wendy Flora

Churning and boiling
heaving, hot - like a cup of tea
on a table in an earthquake.
The steam zigzags up as the
cup clanks and rat-tat-tats
on the saucer
And the dark tea sloshes around
in a whirlpool
over-spilling the sides and
staining the fine lace cloth
Pressure
Stress
Force
Gravity - and then
E X P L O S I O N!
and silence.
Peace.
The deadened silence of a cease- fire . . .
thick, heavy silence.
It's almost as unbearable as the quake . . .
more ominous . . . fearful . . . unknown . . .
Can this uncertain peace
really
be more comfortable
than certain war?

Being There
by Vinny

Is this the train to end of station
the end of life, its consummation
Is it the chill or whistles shrill
that makes me check if I'm breathing still
My aged hands reach out to ask
who will help me in this task
I fight for life with waning zeal
I know its passed and losing's real
So I push for every breath
to find the courage and accept my death
I thank you for the hand I've held
It helped while my spirit swelled
Your eyes they speak of special care
And I thank you for being there

New Toy
by Krystin Bedard

the ignorance of a lone boy
confused by his emotions
pressure building
what to choose
he looks towards the new toy
caught in the moment
blinded by it
he turns away from his old one
merely tosses it aside
without a second thought
forgetting how long it had been with him
the memories
the reliable toy that one day
it will be remembered
after the new toy is broke or returned
after interest is lost
he will return
and it will be here
waiting to be picked up
and used again.

Another Gift
by Josephina

Another gift.
A parade of stuffed animals with smug faces stands at attention in my room.
The sweet yet sickening aroma of "get well" bouquets permeates the air.
As if these thoughtful gifts will heal me.
I'm in their prayers
and positive thoughts
but I'm still lying in this hospital bed.

My negativity is my savior.
Protecting me from the disappointment
that seems to hold hands
with lab results and second opinions.

Positive thinking is a cyclone
that tosses me up
into a cloud of false hope.
My burden is too heavy,
the hope is too thin.
So I fall slowly,
back into my hospital bed,
where I am met by a darker face of false hope.
It drips through my I. V. line.

Another gift.
This one from someone I have yet to meet
and probably never will.
I'm in her prayers.
It will probably be another animal
or a box of candy.
More chocolate coated positivity
being forced down my throat.

A journal.
A journal?
What could I possibly have to write,
that would be worth saving?
My days have no surprise beginnings,
or happy endings that I would want to keep
and read again later.

If anything, I'd have to write fictional days for myself.
I could write of the day I wish to have
or the things I wish to do.
I could go back and say the things I never said
or take back the words that stung as they passed my lips.
Something empty that I can fill with something other than false hope.

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