OPEN MIC ARCHIVES
November, 2004
Autumn Be Praised
Bill Albright
The sun is not fading,
In fact, it burns hot, and me, yearning
for a cool time, a wind from the sea,
coloring vines and trees,
Autumn's sights.
Seasons of the calendar
move surely through man's calculations,
the land's glows emerge, flowers bloom for another day,
earth makes bed with itself,
nature's sepulcher.
Dweller in a time of seasons to come,
another cycle which dons
black, white and gray
hasten not to this Winter, though Autumn's colors
go south with the sun.
Days pass, even as we of October stop
to enjoy, that where we have been,
leaf shaded yesterdays, rain slackened thirsts,
delaying the bier of the dead, cold year,
praise Autumn.
-0-
HOKUSAI'S WAVE
Margarita Engle
A color woodblock print
the gentle power of vision
transforms my recurrent nightmare
of tsunamis
in Hilo.
The artist's wave
is a sea-blue wing
feathered angel, downy foam
patient beauty.
Entire boats are lifted
the stalwart rowers suspended
between sea and sky
wild hopes embraced by a comforting view
of solid land, the distant snow-capped volcano
so perfectly conical, so familiar
exactly the shape of two wings or two waves
rising to meet face to face
in midair.
-0-
MY FAVORITE THINGS
Teresa Skyles
My favorite things are to smell the air in the spring.
To watch the flowers grow, to hear a bird sing.
My favorite things are to have a family to love.
The color blue, the beautiful sky above.
My favorite things fried chicken, chocolate ice-cream.
A good nights sleep and a wonderful dream.
My favorite things are kissing a new babies feet.
To smell hot chocolate to sleep on clean sheets.
My favorite things are drinking ice tea on a summer's day.
Laying in the heat letting the sun melt away.
My favorite things are being special in someone's heart.
Feeling their love and knowing we'll never part.
My favorite things are to have someone brush my hair.
A long hot bath and a long life to share.
When I open my mind the words just come out.
My favorite things are what life is about.
-0-
THINK ABOUT IT
LANE TICE
I hear everything that is said to me, but never listen.
I am spoken to sweetly, but never wooed.
I am yelled at, but never hurt.
My buttons are always pushed, but I am never angry.
I am laughed at, but never feel ashamed.
I am cried upon, but never sorrowful.
I am lied to, but never hold a grudge.
I hear how people really are, yet never judge.
I am always taken for granted, but never bothered by it.
People never stop talking to me, yet I never acknowledge a soul.
Sometimes I am lost, but always end up right where I started.
I relay sadness to all the world, but never speak a word.
I let people down, yet never fail to be there for them.
I am often overlooked, yet never complain.
I harm people and never think twice.
I excite people, yet am never excited.
I help people, yet never lend a hand.
I have no eyes to look, no hands to heal, nor a shoulder to cry on.
I have no ears to listen, nor a brain to think, yet I am relied on by the
world around to always be there.
I have no soul for compassion, no heart for feelings, I am merely a telephone.
-0-
Green Curtain Silver Pin
Zeph
From verdant cliff a shining linn,
Splashing down like a silver pin.
Little fish in clear stream,
Through rocks freely swim.
Determined
Keishia V. Gresham
I stress and I strain
Yet still I remain
Focused on my true vision
Trying to take advantage
Of any opportunities that stand in my way
God gave me the talent, knowledge and ability
I will be a fool not to use what he has blessed me with
Although I know I will face many obstacles-I'm still
determined to prove myself
Not only to the world but for myself
Despite the challenges that I've faced in my past
I realize that all of those things were just a test
A test of my faith and I'm willing to pass
So as I live, as I get older
I get wiser, I get stronger
And I am so determined!
-0-
My Brother's poem, written the day before he passed away.
Written by Andy Ollar 10/05/04, passed away on 10/06/04
It is most certainly in the life long persuit of truth,
Ultimately, we shed our last bodies
and
share what billions have before, and billions will again,
in the one certainty
for a
finite being to comprehend
and
to it's existence would seem impossible
But in turn to do so would be enlightenment, comprehension, acceptance
and understanding
Before the end of life this would set one free
leaving life to study on larger questions.
-0-
THE SENSE OF FREEDOM
BY LIP SAI LIN
HIS BODY IS SET FREE
BUT NEVER HIS MIND
THE MIND IS NEVER FREE
WHEN HE THINKS TWICE
WHEN HE CARRIES A PINCH OF SENSATION
OF LIFE
WHEN HE HAS SOME CARING FOR OTHERS
WHEN HE HAS A SINGLE GREED FOR
HIMSELF
WHEN HE HAS NO RIGHTS FOR FATE
WHEN HE HAS ONLY DREAMS FOR THE
FUTURE
-0-
Sometimes in the darkest nights
When the lightning flashes bringing light
I stare into the trees and they are there
But with the thunder they are gone
They are there to watch over me
Even when I am blind to them
They are always there
Domo atashi amo
They give me the courage to fight what's wrong
They give me the strength to see it
They protect me in times of danger
They comfort me in times of pain
They are there for all of us
In all our times of need
We only need look to them
To find the courage to succeed
Joelle Crystal Willsey
-0-
‘A lonely voice’
Jan-Jaap Reinders
Loud is your loneliness
As you squarely broadcast
Your own rare happiness
When all you need is company?
-0-
The Vain Search
G.Govindan Nampoodiri
O, Traveler
When the path you left behind
Slumbering in vacuity
And the miles to go creeping to infinity
And when the foot-prints of the generations came and gone
Disguised under the sludge and dust silently
What you are searching among the
Fallen Petals of the Time vainly
The sweet memories of merriness or
The brackish tears of afflictions?
O, Voyager
When the sky up in front meditating in tranquility
And the deep blue sea fondles the
Naked, diffident shore warmly
And when the countless lives came and gone
Like the foams and froth of tides and ebbs
What you are searching among the
Broken Conches of the Time vainly
The pearly shell of verity or
The empty shell of illusions?
-0-
"The Limelight"
Jenna
The light is casting down on me,
My hands are shaking and my heart is heavy.
My mouth is dry, but my palms are sweating.
The clue is given, no more fretting.
I clear my throat and open my mouth.
I try to speak, but instead I shout.
My hand slaps to my mouth and I grin.
I laugh and say "Just giving it a new spin."
A few groans and giggles arise from the audience.
I'm new to them, an entirely new sense.
Once again, I open my mouth to give my line,
I stand for a minute, waiting for my sign.
When I speak again, its loud and clear.
The way I act, I get some friendly jeers.
I'm the type to be silly and outrageous.
When I'm done, I hear I was fabulous.
The limelight was mine that terrific night.
Acting gives me a wonderful fright.
A feeling of excitement and wonder.
That applause just makes me shudder.
I greedily accept their praise,
Because it's the appraisal the really pays.
-0-
Postcard Kisses
Harlan Harvey
I met her and kissed her that same night
She was undoubtedly drunk
And I
Only one of many
She gives them away
Kisses
Like meaningless postcards sent out to old friends
Too hurried to write
Not enough there to understand how she feels
But that picture
Oh how it has drawn me in.
-0-
UNTAMED POEM
Izabel Sonia Ganz
I've got a poem by the tail
but the rest of her
fights me tooth and nail.
She scratches out half of what I type
the "delete" key is almost worn out,
every time I hit "return"
she growls and squirms.
She pricks her ears like a troll
whenever upwards I scroll,
goes into frenzy at every "alt",
With no warning she comes to a halt,
utters a yowl, a yell and a whistle,
words wiggle, fingers fly, keys glisten -
and with no change in girth
the untamed creature gives birth
to a perfectly formed,
totally unexpected,
eminently polished,
admirably terse -
little gem of a verse.
-0-
Today I have entered my teens,
And not bent on my knees,
But I can walk on my legs,
Through the river of life.
With sometimes waves,
And sometimes calm,
I walk with my friends,
With the feeling of joy
The preparations for adventure in this world.
I have to study and make fun,
Walk with the sun and values of childhood,
With some friend’s and my womanhood,
I have started my journey of life,
With some hopes in the light and sorrows in night.
Rashi gattani
-0-
To my beloved readers, I have yet another tale to tell.
This one occurred during our trip to Eagle Bluff, in my dormitory cell.
It was much like the City of God leaning towards hell.
As we entered our place of rest,
It smelt at best,
Like steak, marinating in human bile for all to digest.
It was small, much too small,
Just as the prison cell you guys threw me in for doing nothing at all.
My punishment was unbearable - Ian’s constant shriek,
Making me unable to get a good night sleep.
I am Jack's complete lack of sanity,
Though I know Ian’s life will be brevity.
I awoke quite early. I was still a little blind.
I peered down the hall at the clock to see the time,
“Ugh” I thought. “It’s only 3:09.”
I finished my math in a grainy feeling chair,
And I blanked out for an hour, as bored as you’d be watching a
hibernating bear.
I waited there in this endless realm of darkness, waiting for the light to
peep out from under its covers. Then, a divine sign of God’s infinite
mercy, a messenger from above,
Came a little creature, we know as a bug.
This bug intrigued me as I watched it squirm all about,
And I followed it into the other room where I head a shout
“Henry! Turn off the lights! It’s 4:20. Now get out!”
“Ok Nick. Don’t fret;
I’ll be out of your room. Just give me a sec.”
I watched the bug crawl all around their space,
Until it crawled under David’s bed. You should have seen his face.
It looked as if he’d been sprayed with mace.
I closed the door,
And I sat on the floor,
Until the darkness was no more.
Louis Rownd
-0-
This Poets Prayer
Johanna Albee
Standing on the poetic shoreline
As the words roll in a sentimental tide.
I bare my naked soul to you
In my writings I cannot hide.
Standing humbly before your eyes
Trembling hands display my essence.
Praying it will envelope your mind
Remaining without obsolescence...
The desire to make you understand
My compilation of esoteric pondering
Roads of thought inside my head
Where I am continuously wandering.
The words that I present to you--
Unpolished and unrefined--
Not a captive to conformity--
In the midst of chaotic ramblings
Deep messages of truth can be heard
Enlightenment comes to the patient eye
That looks beyond the word.
-0-
WHAT IS AN AMERICAN
— Julie Craig
Better, ask what poetry is:
rhythm, meter,
rhyme, no rhyme,
verses, stanzas
commas, capitals,
none.
Couplet, quatrain,
cinquain, sestain,
political, natural,
every-day-life.
Sentimental,
monumental,
spiritual,
not.
Blank verse,
free verse,
iambic, sonnet,
ballad, doggerel,
limerick, haiku,
none-of-the-above.
That’s what poetry is.
-0-
Longing
tri tran
Autumn gray, a desire to blaze,
But, Halloween, a burgundy ember,
Without its glow.
October, empty and lifeless
While nostalgia blossoms within my heart
As I dream to retrogress onto my golden joy.
-0-
Hide and Seek
A thought, a poem , a game and a story
by Grandma Barbie ( Barbara Alyea)
We had a game of Hide and Seek,,,
I had to count and could not peek...
I heard them scramble, every which way,,,
I heard them giggle as they ran away...
I counted just as long as I could,,,
to a hundred gazillion, then find them I would...
I thought I knew where Haddassah would hide,,,
I found her at the closet door, behind...
Now, Johnny just sat there watching me,,,
I picked him up so he could see...
We found Rachel who hid under the bed,,,
she was the easiest, I saw her blond head...
But, Matthew he was the hardest by far,,,
I looked and looked even behind the cookie jar...
Then, I heard a whistle up the stairs,,,
and, knew he must be hiding up there...
I looked in the closet and under the bed...
But, still no Matthew, "where can you be", I said...
"Boo", "behind you", he scared me so soon,,,
then ran home safe to the living room...
-0-
OKLAHOMA
Bret Wooldridge
Turquoise beads
A handful of sky
And chanting
there is more at:
OPEN MID ENCORE I
OPEN MIC ENCORE II
Poems Copyright ©
designated authors 2004.
Page Copyright © AHApoetry.com 2004.
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