Hope
by Brian Quinn

When all about you is black with gloom,
And all you feel is pending doom.
When your bones are racked with grim despair -
When every breath is a gasp for air.
Keep on going, though you need to grope,
For around the bend is a ray of hope.

A ray of hope is perhaps all that's left,
As your will to live has been bereft.
You've lost it all, it's just no use!
You can end it all, you need no excuse.
But throw away that piece of rope,
And give yourself a chance of hope.

Just give yourself another day,
Brushing aside what your thoughts may say.
This is your life and you can make a new start,
By ignoring the brain - just follow the heart.
Taking baby steps in order to cope,
And minute by minute you'll build on your hope.

Build on your hope,. one day at a time,
Though the road be steep and hard to climb.
The hurts of the past - they should be dead.
The fears of the future are all in your head.
Just live in the present and refuse to mope
Your life will sparkle for you're living in hope.

A Night Of Beginnings
by Tara Marshall

The wind is soft and cool and I start to stare into the distance.
I am waiting to see the stars shoot, or the moon shimmer a smile.
The night air is like a storm on the coast, engulfing me in its grip.
Still, I stand and wait and watch,
To see the stars shoot or the moon shimmer.
The sun has been hidden for hours and I have been too!
Looking to see the life I have never knew before.
Searching for the wondrous beauty of the surroundings.
I look at them everyday and see nothing,
But tonight is special and I know that because,
I am a new person, learning the meaning of life.
Seeing that it is precious and longed for,
Knowing that I will die, just as soon as my life has started
So from now on, I will take nothing for granted,
Not the stars, the moon or the owl that hoots eerily.
Because, I am a new person receiving a new light,
And, learning that I am nothing but a human,
And I am not perfect, and never will be.

Solitude
by Nancy Ness

I dwell amidst my Solitude,
No longer clamor 'bout my ears.
These walls with clangor once imbued
All resonance pealed back some years.

No stentor left about my ears
Now hear what's left, I venture on.
I'll hearken here ensuing years
And cherish sounds from those bygone.

My wistful journey ventures on.
As solitude peers back at me.
No clamor from those years bygone
And through the silence now I see.

My solitude enlightens me
With sounds unheard those years along.
A muted silence helps me see
How beautiful the warbler's song,

Those sweet tunes unheard years along.
The breath of wind upon the panes,
I revel in the warbler's song
And pattering of roof-top rains.

The wind breathes gently on the panes
These walls indeed remain imbued.
The roof-top patters with the rains
My hearkening fills solitude.

The Feeding
by Jason Silverthorne

the life I see of misery
upon me it depends
to make it hale or make it meek
feeding it with my sins

my doubts are its favorite drink
and upon my fear it sups
of my resistance it never thinks
it knows that I’ll give up

once I sought the light of day
a folly at its best
the darker path a better way
to give my soul unrest

in the shadows of my mind
in the darkness found therein
lurks the creature of the night
feeding upon my sins

Distant Heart
by Annie Basile and Lloyd Klumpp

Flowing spirit takes control
Leading me astray.
Distorting all my thoughts.
Emotions runaway.

Why do I perform
Upon life's envious stage?
Is it all a game?
A dance within a cage?

Am I full of anger?
Torn and insecure
Not knowing good from bad
Some inborn fatal flaw?

Pain from pleasure haunts me.
Guilt drives away the glow.
The world screams lessons at me
And yet I still don’t know.

Fly
by Angela K. Dyson

So high above the world I'm flying,
the only breeze is an angel sighing
The warm glow of the sun shines down on me,
as I drift ever closer to my destiny

Floating through these beams so bright,
I push myself to reach new heights
I don't know when, but someday soon,
I'll be there dancing on the stars, on the moon

On the ground I hear them cry
to get back on earth, and out of the sky
I'm not meant to touch the stars,
They're just too bright, and much too far

And just when I stop flying, start falling
I hear the voice of an angel calling
I listen well to her sweet sound,
saying, Fly on, and don't ever look down

Where Are You Daddy?
by Diane Blue

Hey daddy, I'm right here -
Can't you see me?

Hey daddy, I'm talking to you -
Can't you hear me?

Hey daddy, I need a hug -
Can't you touch me?

Let's play catch daddy.
Teach me to fish.
Help me build a birdhouse.
Listen to my wish.

Daddy, daddy, where are you?
I can see you standing there -
What's the matter daddy?
Don't you even care?

I need you daddy -
Don't you love me?

Never mind daddy.

Not Always
by Angell

Its so hard to know that some wishes don't come true
So hard to realize that you can't have all you want
Sometimes our fantasies carry us away
in to a world where everything is ok

Its so hard to tell your heart that love is not found
Its hard when the person who should always be there

We are always taught to trust our hearts
that our dreams will never fail us
yet we are faced with so many days when
all we were taught seems like a lie

What can you do when you can't have a dream
When you just try but its hopeless
When you look at the sky and you begin to cry
Wondering where the next step will come from
You have no choice but to go on
the world can't stop just for your tears

You know its unfair
And that it's all a lie sometimes
But yet there's faith that dreams will
come true and sun will shine your way

Innocence of a Woman
by Cooper

Things have changed forever more.
Time has stood still.
No longer am I the little girl that I used to be.
The memories will remain close in my heart, but the Innocence is gone forever.
Through time, marriage and children, so much knowledge has been gained.
And yet so many questions still remain.

Will the answers ever unfold?
Attitude and thoughts are now conceived so differently.
Who are the real friends, and who are the real enemies?
Who and what are the real priorities?
Will you still lose yourself trying to do for everyone else?

I think not, the most valuable lesson you have learned,
Your soul needs nourishing too.
But which path you take to do so, only you can decide.
The impact may be great, but I shall stay strong.
I now carry myself in a different way.
Some say for good, others say for worse.
But as long as I know and remember my reflections of yesterday,
Then I am the one who will say.

Emotions are so high, and so low, and in between,
I run fast, and chase them all day.
Never really knowing which one will be caught.
At this point and time in my life, I have certainly been put to the test,
But I can still try to do my very best.
There are still thoughts that I hold on to,
I still have my angels guiding me safely.
And I know that there will always be a rainbow after the storm,
And that tomorrow will be a different day, beginning with a new sunrise.
And with each person that has true passion and unconditional love for me,
Will remain by my side to help catch me if I shall fall or call.

Through all the changes that have taken place,
I know I still have my saving Grace.
I shall be aware, and hopefully better prepared for the years ahead.
They also will bring more change.
Is that not what time is suppose to do?
But I shall survive even if the little girl has vanished,
I can still reflect back on my wonderful memories.
After all if it were not for her, I could not be the woman I am today.
Even though her voice will always haunt me,

Now is the time, to say goodbye to the Innocence of my childhood,
And really concentrate and savor the Innocence of my womanhood.

Life's Qualities
by Jessica Kulzer

The quality of life is in the mind,
Not in material things.
The world is filled with beauty,
when your heart is filled with love.
So live everyday of your life
as though it were your last.
Cherish yesterday, dream tomorrow,
Live today.

The Last Day
by Nichole O'Bryan

The new millennium has come
Is there something to fear?
People occurring
A new age is here
Around every corner
Over every edge,
The question in everyone's mind
Could this be the end,
The end of our time?
New people arriving,
More people dead
As we round the corner
People are afraid
For the choices we have made
Will the new millennium
Take us by surprise
Or is this just another day?
We all want to know,
Is this the last day?

Degrees of Love
by Faye Jones

She loved him and the life they had.
When he was no longer
there for her
she let him go.

Another loved him too.
He was her soul mate.
They were born of the same parents.
Only because she loved him so
She let him go.

They all loved him.
He was of their clan,
Their motto "always here for each other."
They knew what he would want.
So they could let him go.

Oh how they loved him.
He was their child too.
All had watched him grow.
They felt his pain so--
They could let him go.

The old ones in his life need him.
He made them someone special.
They have their memories, so
They let him go.

The ones he played with enjoyed him.
He made an impression on them.
They miss him, but
They let him go.

There was a little one.
He was not old enough to know--
Oh but he would have loved him so,
And he would have had to
Let him go.

Oh but the ones that bore him,
Even though they need him so
They loved him too much not to
Let him go.

For all the ones that loved him so,
Our comfort is in knowing we
Let him go
To the One that loves him more.

Sea of Destiny
by Wolfgang

Seagulls sparkle in the wind
Like diamonds in the sky,
They dip and soar and ride the crests
Of waves, that roll on by.

My ship they follow on the sea
And guide me through the storms,
To reach my quest and keep me safe,
A seeker, not forlorn.

With open eyes I follow blind,
The seagulls leading me,
Until I reach, what I must find,
The sea of destiny.

What They See
by Casidy Reynaud

I bring myself here every day.
I fake a smile and look the other way.
Let them laugh and talk some more.
They don't have a clue, they know nothing for sure.

I go to my classes, I get my work done.
There's just no way this could ever be fun.
As soon as it's over I'll look back and see.
All the bad times that they caused for me.

They'll never understand me.
I'll just keep it all inside.
Someday when they look back.
They'll realize I had pride.

I guess I'll just have to tough it out.
I've done it for this long.
Someday when they look back.
They'll realize they were wrong!

The Glory Of It All
by Edward Castro

Many times life's challenges are greater
than we acknowledge them to be.
Through your dreams lies destination.
A future which you control.
Possibilities of achievement lingers about.
Your dreams a mere grasp away.
Strive with all your might
Don't loose faith within yourself and
sweet life shall be rewarded.
With a gentle kiss of glorified pleasures
From...life its self.

Fallacy
by S. Selina Jamil

Tumbling
over reflection's widening shoals
a mock-rivulet
of memory frets,
trickling
out like tiny drops of coconut oil
dropping from careworn hands
fingering unbraided hair,
glistening
for a moment like silver
drops of splurging water titillated
by the diurnal romance
of a wet dark veil of hair,
vaporizing
as the translucent irony
the afternoon sun beckons

Childhood Fantasy
by Philip Zemler

The war party gallops wildly across the plain,
War horns blow shrilly, sending their sharp notes through the air,
Banners flutter in the wind,
Gold glimmers off the foreheads of the magnificent riders
And light flashes off drawn steel.
In answer to the horns, the portcullis is raised
The drawbridge is dropped.
The children ride across their mud puddle moat
And into their cardboard castle.
They sheathe their wooden swords and tether their stick horses.

Open Book?
by Philip Zemler

Except for the few pages of my past,
My life is an empty book.
It takes the shape of a mystery,
To me it does at least.
For I cannot tell what happens next,
Too many cliffhangers and too much suspense.
But its clues all lead eventually to the same place,
Unfortunately it does not say where.
It only says get the next book,
For in this one you've ran out of room.

Stay True
by Sunshine

Stay true to your dreams
A dream conceived in a thought,
Is a thought only a dream
Or a dream only a thought

Stay true to your thoughts
For they matter most of all,
Dreams they conspire to conceive
Hopes they inspire and conceal

Stay true to your dreams
Dreams can come true,
Conceived in the eve anew
They fade by morn like dew

Stay true to your thoughts
For they matter most of all,
Desires they burn to initiate
Faith they desperately create

Stay true to your dreams
Dreams can come true,
Peace is yours in a visions
Light shouldn’t be a prison

Stay true to your thoughts
For dreams they create,
Majestic and flightful
Lifelike and beautiful

Reflections of Yesterday
by BSC

As the sun is slowly setting
And the evening shadows grow
I think back on days gone by
To a place I'd like to go.

Back to a place in my childhood
When days were so carefree
Back to the days when my Mama's lap
Was my favorite place to be.

Those days of slides and swing sets
Of playing out in the yard
Those days when we were growing up
And nothing seemed too hard.

All too soon we turn around
And find ourselves all grown
With adult responsibilities
And children of our own.

The memories of yesterday
Come quickly to mind
When as an adult I'm searching
For answers I cannot find.

We struggle through our losses
Gain strength from each hurdle crossed
And learn that we are not truly alone
Especially when we feel most lost.

Now the shadows have faded to darkness
The days warmth is now growing cold
I look up to the stars in heaven
And wonder what tomorrow will hold.

The stars are shining down brightly
Almost as if to say
Sleep well my dear and don't be afraid
For tomorrow's a brand new day.

Turning Inside Out
by Wendy LaTulippe

It's time to open up our eyes, stop staring at the ground,
The only benefit has been the vast loose change I've found.
This downcast look as nothing to do with shyness or acting demure-
Perhaps time has come to cease brooding and become an active viewer...

Slice an apple lengthwise and you will find a star.
Watch a lowly creature thrive with just some dirt inside a jar.
Look up and spy a bird's nest, against a skyline bleak.
Nature's perfect architecture-a nursery made by beak.

We humans, we spend so much time in thoughts about ourselves,
Accumulating useless things to display upon our shelves.
We consume and plan for future, and wrestle with the past,
Trade in our spirituality to be superior iconoclasts.

Notice the mathematical accuracy in the design of a pine cone.
Witness the working society of queen and all her drones.
Savor the haunting beauty in the call of mourning dove.
Rejoice at blossom from seed dropped by hapless breeze above.

We can fret about our mileage, our taxes and our purse.
Or perhaps just stop a bit to inhale our surrounding universe.
The waves will gently lap the shore whether we are here or not-
Creatures creeping back from near-extinction will gladly take our spot.

The sun will continue to brightly burn, why not feel it on your face?
Earth will rotate just the same without a human race.
The dolphins seem to laugh at us, they clearly are amused..
And mountain gorillas stare with knowing eyes, curious and bemused.

Pollen kisses flower, old growth gives way to new.
A thousandfold of crickets strum without regard to you.
We can continue to live our lives in some superior fog,
Or agree the world turns as one big wheel and we are not the cog.

Thank You

To:

A heart filled with love,
A head filled with wisdom,
A hand filled with the hand of someone in need.

I extend:

A heart filled with thankfulness,
A head filled with memories of
A hand that has known love,
not by word but by deed.

Thank you.

One Of A Kind
by Wolfgang

A precious one of tender years
Sat crying by my side,
I asked:"Whatever can I do,
To make your tears subside?"

"I heard somebody say" said she,
"God makes us all the same,
If that is so, then all I have,
Is just a different name!"

She looked at me with her brown eyes,
And asked if this were so,
"You wipe your tears; I said to her,
I'll tell you what I know."

"Each one of us, without a doubt,
A precious piece of Art,
So do not fret, you are unique,
You were right from the start";

"Each one of us, just like the trees,
We reach a different height,
Some stay quite low, to touch the ground,
And some reach for the sky";

"Each one of us, just like the birds,
We sing a different song,
We leave the nest and fly away,
But know where we belong";

"Each one, like snowflakes falling down,
When winter has arrived,
No two are ever quite the same,
Though they may look alike";

"Each one, like pearls inside a shell,
A bright and shining treasure,
But each a deep and mystic glow,
To hold a different pleasure";

"Each one of us, just like the flowers,
Bare colors of many shades,
Each one an equal to the other,
But never quite the same";

And when it rains, my little one,
Each drop's a special tear,
That falls upon our mother earth,
Who holds us all so dear";

She left me then, this ponderous child,
I'd eased her troubled mind,
Her tears dried up, by an old man,
Each one,......one of a kind!

The Eyes Of A Child
by Terri

An old man was sitting
on a bench in the park,
his clothes were all tattered
his eyes had no spark.

He was feeding the pigeons
some old dried up bread,
as he threw his last piece
here's what he said;

Well, little birds,
I've nothing to give,
this place is a mess,
this world where we live.

The rapes and the killings
are driving me mad,
on most every street corner
you see something sad;

I cannot change things
my age is against me,
The new generation
can help make it healthy.

I'll be looking from Heaven
with a smile so wide,
If these things could be changed
using a child as your guide.

Understand
by Angell

As we lead our different lives
There are days when all is wrong
When nothing seems right

When you feel like
The deep blue sky will fall on you
Yet you don't seem to mind

When the unexpected happens
When you worst fears become reality
When your dreams are shattered to pieces
When you realize
That you can't have all you want

When they tell you
"I told you so"
For believing in what they call foolish dreams
When they tell you to grow up
When they tell you to deal with it
When they say give it up and move on

You look at the stars and you softly cry
Saying that life isn't for those who give up
You wipe your tears and take a deep breath
As you say to yourself "You can't have all you want
But you can never give up
on trying to have as much as you can......"

For Me
by Malcom Shartan

I watch you,
Yet I cannot speak.
My tongue is tied
And it makes me weep.
Interested in you, I am.
But my shyness withholds me from action.
Oh Bedeviled soul!
Why must it be this way?
It is difficult to force myself to act
Dealing with such lavish beauty.
I would like to get to know you,
But I'm too self conscious.
Worried about what they would say.
Being an introvert-a blessing and my curse!
It helps me elsewhere,
But here it hurts!
It frustrates me to no end.
I feel lonely.
Depressed and lonely.
No one who totally understands me.
No significant other.
It seems loneliness is my fate.
Cursed Fate!
But I must remember that fate is
My own making.
I must strive to overcome
Strive to ita fac id.
Wishing will get me nowhere.
No train, or car, or plane, to take, no.
Only determination and ambition will get me
To my destination.
What is my destination?
Eternal life.
Eternal happiness.
Eternity.
But I need someone to journey with me.
To experience with me.
To live with me.
To love me.
For me to love.
For me to cherish.
For me to care for.
For me to be faithful.
For me too.

Winter's Threads
by Ron Carnell

Entrapped within a world of snow,
No where to be, no way to go,
I stand behind a silvered glass,
Watching Winter never pass.

Through window fogged with frozen breath,
I catch a glimpse of frozen death,
A tiny bird who stayed too long,
His tiny breath forever gone.

I see tall oaks with fingers ‘loft,
Gloves of living green long doffed,
Their silent prayer for Winter’s end
Another echo in the wind.

My lake beneath a sheath of snow,
Beneath that sheath, hard ice of woe,
And farther yet the fish ensnared,
Their prison like the one I share.

I huddle ‘hind my meager walls,
Abiding time through Winter squalls,
The fires I stoke small recompense
For solitude and loneliness.

I search my mind for memory,
A gleam of living history,
Of times I knew in times long gone
Before the break of Winter’s dawn.

There was a Spring in youthful past,
Seen through another pane of glass,
Not knowing bonds of Winter’s schemes,
But only sun and childhood dreams.

Yet age and life and love forlorn,
Are like the savage Winter’s storm,
No where to be, no way to go,
And years are like the drifting snow.

The Earth will find another Spring
To stem the cold that Winters bring,
And that’s the way the Earth should be,
But Spring has come and gone for me.

Entrapped within a world of past,
No where to be, no way to last,
I stand behind a silvered pane,
Watching Winter surely wane.

My EmptiNesst
by Nancy Ness

My cherished dovelets bide
Within my feathered Nesst
To flourish by my side.

When down submits to plumes
So tentative in flight,
They've grace, as lovely loons.

I've taught them how to fly,
And though they now alight
While flitting by and by,

I'd rather see them soar
About in worldly heights.
They'll then learn even more.

From aerie perch on high
With views of every sight,
My doves can reach the sky.

'Tis time to fluff and primp
This empty feathered Nesst
For brooding in the spring.

I'll Be
by Nancy Ness

What do I think?
What'll I say?
Thoughts on the brink
Of fleeing away.

Words in my mind
Floating about
Thoughts too confined
Stand up and shout!

Tell them all now
They're listening still.
They may not care now
But hear me they will.

Who cares of the rest's
Opinions of me?
My plan's the best
I'll be what I'll be!

The Only One
by Michael Anderson

Somewhere off in the distance,
I could of swore I saw a light.
But only for a second,
Just another trick of the night.
I've been wandering forever,
And darkness has always ruled the skies.
Even with the sun, am I the only one-
To watch the world through jaded eyes?

Am I the only one to ever see black-
And gray rainbows crest the horizon?
Am I the only one to perceive Death,
Or the pale horse he flies on?
Am I the only one to stare face to face,
Through a lion's wild, hypnotic eyes?
Just to touch her mane and dare through pain-
A chance to tame her golden prize.

Am I the only one to reach for a star,
Only to watch it fall from grace?
The only one to dance with Destiny,
Just to see the look on Fate's face?
Am I the only one to cry out in vain,
In the name of the undaunted?
Am I the only one who feels the pain,
Of heroes no-body wanted?

The only one to wake unto the day,
And look to the sky, high and proud;
Only to see laughing maniacally,
A demon in every cloud?
The only one to hear the distant bells,
And understand the call?
The only one to freeze in emptiness-
Behind a miscreant, emotionless wall?

The only one to wander so determined,
On such an aimless quest?
If only to find some peace of mind-
To lay an aching heart to rest.
The only one to sit in a crowded room-
Of people laughing and having fun;
Feeling alone, like some unprogrammed clone?
Am I the only one?

Known
by Red Letter

I wish to be revealed
to be opened and consumed
like sweet oysters on a platter
I'd like to be understood
like a deep read
like a classic
picked apart and examined
I would like to be chosen
for greatness
for fullfilled dreams and demands
I want to be tempted
with sweet ripe fruit
listlessly hanging delicious
the smell dripping
in the heavy sweaty air

I want to pause and take a bite
to eat my life whole
to swallow it down
gluttony of the soul

Honesty
by Ron Carnell

Honest is the best policy
Is only a fallacy
If not treated
With reciprocity.

Do you see?

Breaking Out
by Ron Carnell

Sunshine on my pillow,
Tear stains on my sheet;
Another lonely night,
Another morning to greet.

Get up ... Go to work ...
Fight the bustling thong.
Another day ... Another dollar ...
It's gone on far too long!

I'm breaking out!
I'm breaking free!
I'm gonna be
whatever is me.
I'm going to love to love,
And hate to hate,
And leave my destiny
To a thing called fate.

Watch the flowers grow.
Watch the children touch.
Feel my soul grow wider.
And be so very much.

I'm breaking out!
I'm breaking free!
I'll live my life
gentle and easy.
I'll live with style,
And sing my songs
Loud and clear
To those bustling thongs.

And one of these days,
They'll break out, too,
And see the truth:
To be you is true.

Walking Alone
by Michael Anderson

Alone

From childhood's hour I have not been
As others were- I have not seen
As others saw- I could not bring
My passions from a common spring-
From the same source I have not taken
My sorrow- I could not awaken
My heart to joy at the same tone-
And all I lov'd- I lov'd alone-

Then- in my childhood- in the dawn
Of a most stormy life- was drawn
From ev'ry depth of good and ill
The mystery which binds me still-
From the torrent, or the fountain-
From the red cliff of the mountain-
From the sun that 'round me roll'd
In its autumn tint of gold-
From the lightning in the sky
As it passed me flying by-
From the thunder, and the storm-
And the cloud that took the form
(When all the rest of Heaven was blue)
Of a demon in my view.

Not A Common Thing
by Ron Carnell

I hear a song and wonder why
The writers dupe and poets lie,
Why love is such a chronic theme,
When poets and the singers team.

The measure placed on what we feel,
Becomes too small, becomes unreal,
When all the truth is washed away,
And love is just a tired cliche.

The songs are flawed and movies err,
And books are often as unfair;
Despite what artists write and sing,
True love is not a common thing.

Waiting Game
by xan

He sees it clearly; now he's gone.
His whole life has gone so wrong.
Tries to reach out for the light.
His hand consumed by pitch of night.

Could have been on his side.
Helped him out from all his lies.
Could have been a waiting game.
Try real hard for instant fame.

And he's gone; now he's gone.
He's got it all so wrong.

Sit in the darkness; watch the trees.
Silence is now the word I see.
Trying so hard has got him down.
Blackness makes no single sound.

In the abyss I count your smiles.
Walked across a million miles.
Now's the time to see you through.
Waiting game in solitude.

Now it's a waiting game, I see.
Trying to sow the living seeds.
Now is the time to make the grade.
Failure is not an option made.

It's always a waiting game, I know.
Trying to reap the seeds I've sown.

As the Day Goes
by Jennifer Johnson

Choices and wrong turns are made,
as the day goes and the sun fades.
People are loved and hearts are broken,
as the day goes and words are spoken.
Smiles and frowns are shown on faces,
as the day goes and children play in open spaces.
Happiness and sadness are felt by all,
as the day goes and night falls.
Tears of joy and tears of pain are shed,
as the day goes and all are in bed.

Mountain Men
by Jeremy Redinger

Fearful and lonely,
Staring mindlessly at the unfathomable mountain.
A beast was forming in my soul,
A battle of love and hate,
Courage and fear plaguing me.

Thrills and chills,
No one's winning the battle,
Would I, Should I, Could I,
But no one's in the saddle,
Controlling what I do.

Dragged and Dazed,
They take me up the mountain,
The Mountain Men.
Regardless of my weak pain,
And the dreadful feeling of evil,
I let them take me.

Right or Wrong,
I don't know which is which.
Trapped in life,
The two extremes of love and hate,
One way out,
That I can see.

Fearless and Befriended,
We share the burden together.
We climb the mountain,
To escape the craziness of our lives.

Though our loved ones told us not to,
That there was another way;
We were ignorant.
We climbed the mountain,
And leaped into space.

In a split second,
you realize who you are,
Why you should have listened to your loved ones.
You are not one of them,
Mountain men.

In an instant,
You are dead.

Hiding
by Ashley Ronnenberg

Blonde hair, blue eyes,
Can't hide the fears that lie down inside.
Nice cloths, dirty looks,
Won't tell the stories that are no joke.

Little whispers here and there, tell another dare;
Scars mark broken bones, each with a story of their own.
Something lies deep inside, lurking, beneath the truth
Of what this girl has been through.

Tons of nights walking around,
with no clue where to sleep,
was a little fear.

But going home to her
was the worst fear
the little girl could ever face.

Walking Alone

I, too, was born of a world not the same,
Amongst white snow, a raindrops' shame.
In life's garden, a dormant seed.
A heart held of dissimilar need.

I, too, was awed by lightning's flash,
Embering in mind even after the crash.
Followed closely by silent rain,
Blood-red, falling from the sky in vain.

The wind chimed and the earth shook from thunder,
And my mind was but befixed to wonder;
How could I stand amidst this storm,
Seek shelter not, yet still seem warm?

But I, too, take my sorrow at a site-
Other souls would nonchalantly slight.
And I, too, have felt the need for love,
But could only love that need which I dreamt of.

And as I peered deep through the skies,
The clouds grew black to shut my eyes.
The demon that came in your view,
Now's taken from me what he took from you.

In the garden the seed has sprang,
A nameless child unearths the pang.
Felt for the flower, both eyes in close.
Took twenty thorns to touch the rose.

A wondering mind looked to the sky,
So beautiful it had to die.
Laid it to rest upon the stone,
And turned away a man full grown.

Singing the same song at a different tone,
In thoughts, destined to die, unknown.
Born unto a world not of our own,
We walked together, walking alone.

Kisses Through Glass
by Rosemary J. Gwaltney

concrete bunk beds with rubber mats
waiting in line
loud doors
echoing halls
eyes ever watching
mundane things mingled
with tenderness
collect calls
miss you so much
four bare walls
toilets flush
beside the phones
how long? no one knows
waiting, anxiety grows
kisses through glass
hands palm to palm
warm eyes smiling
through the pane
throwing kisses in the air
he walks away, slow easy swing
twisting my ring, I
follow his graceful form
with blurring eyes.

when a month looks like forever
takes a week to get your glasses
they don't care if you don't have your medication
coffee machine but the money isn't on the books yet
was that dad on the phone?
does he still have a back ache?
what did he have for dinner?
did he hold hands with you through the glass again, mom?

Little Shadow
by Jennifer Wooters

I take a step back
and let you walk before
As a little shadow
just trying to be a little bit more,
I'm tired of the pain
that lingers inside
I'm neither seen nor heard
but a soul that's died,
I try so hard not
to be pushed aside
But I trip and fall
and again I am denied,
If once you would
just open your eyes
And actually see me
and look past the lies,
I am definitely not as strong
as I'd like to be
but please pull me forward
and let me be free,
Just a little shadow
all trapped up in a box
Let me walk in the spotlight
where everyone talks,
It's so hard to walk
where no one can find
I just want to be in front
so please open up your mind.