Poetry
• COLD ELLISON VI - Philomene
Long
• Darkness as the Light - Hillary
Kaye
• American Scream - Rex
Butters
• Weapons of mass destruction -
shanna baldwin moore
• Red Rover in
Venice - Carol V. Beck
• Letting Go -
Adrian DeSimone
COLD ELLISON VI
“As for me, I delight in the
everyday way,
Amidst wrapped vines and rocky
caves.
Here in the wilderness I am
completely free.”
Han Shan, Cold
Mountain
Silver days at the
Ellison
Longest rainstorm in ten
years
Beneath the slippery
sky
The Ellison glistening
Dangling
raindrops
Silver
sounds
Sunset
I slip out to the sea
I am the only
person
On Venice
beach
Grey sea, grey sky, grey sea
gulls
I am wearing a bright pink
raincoat
The seagulls believe I am the
sunset
They turn their backs to the sea and
face me
They assume their sunset viewing
positions
Chests
forward
Motionless. Except
for
An occasional scratch of the
ear
The flutter of a
wing
We watch each
other
I act like the sunset for
them
I raise my glowing pink
arms
I stand motionless for a long
time
Kneel, then recline upon my
heels
Alone on Venice
Beach
It is all so slow, so
simple
Being a
sunset
Back at the
Ellison.
Alone at the black iron
gate
I look
up
Soft rain
sliding
Over the red
bricks
Two red brick wings open
As if to embrace
me
Two ghostly shimmering red
wings
We watch each
other
I look at the
Ellison
As the sea gulls looked at
me
I love this old
building!
I love this old
building!
Ah! yes, Kukai, the gulls
and
Yes! Even these
stones
Will become
Buddhas
– Philomene
Long
(from QUEEN OF BOHEMIA
Poems by Philomene Long)
*************
Darkness
as the Light
by Hillary
Kaye
Six men carried away the
bodies
but the smell was not something that
could be gotten rid of that easy.
Six strong
men carried on and yet the future seemed so dark around
them.
Their strength was hailed in newspapers
and around the world they were known.
They
were tall and handsome and spoke the common
tongue.
A mother who had born one said she
never did really understand his work.
She
still thought of him in all the nakedness of life's beginnings and didn't see
that something was not
right.
Four
more years they got for themselves to drag the world through a
dream.
They thought they had one that was
good for everyone they said.
Still someone
had to take care of the bodies, drag them out and bury what did
remain.
A small child wrapped in a blanket,
the blue black beginnings of growth now dead to hope and
happiness.
There is no way to find these six
men now for they regard the darkness as the
light.
************
American
Scream
I
missed the peace march
to see
Zac
off
to Iraq
to fight a
war
for a
core of elected
oil
executive
cowards
a
cartel that smells
like
death by greed
deaf
to the pleading
of a
million children
slowly embargoed to death
a
hierarchy of hyenas
cracked
crusaders
freedomphobes
led by a lop eared cowboy
clown
deserter-in-chief
election
thief
third generation career
politician
elitist east coast college
cheerleader
pr
reborn Texas rancher
Hitler money fortune
cocaine maim brain
DUI dumb
guy
like a chimp
with a chip on its
shoulder
a spoiled boy
playing
at playing
soldier
unfazed by lack of
facts
using meat and blood troops as photo
op props
ringmaster of
fear
to the media
zombies
his hypno sleep sheep
flock
jolted to submission with terrorist
alert shock
slip slide skate to pay police
state protection
surrender their minds to
Asscrost and Rummy
Orwell’s oil well a
gusher
unattended elections
held
ballots stolen
and the fainthearted media
raising
their ad rates and the
fainthearted
Democrats watching their
polls
roll
over on their
backs
oh, shake the old
vampires
off the throat of my
nation
Zac,
when you get
back
we’ll
laugh
at how expensive your cheap education
became
I’ll show you this poem
and
you can teach my
son
your best skateboard
moves
anti-gravity flip boards and
jumps
and your lucky way of
landing
lucky way
of landing
you have
a lucky way of landing
lucky way of
landing
lucky way
of landing you
home
– Rex
Butters
************
Weapons
of mass destruction
homeland
security
bio chemical
drugs
destroying our
youth
Our war is right
here
in our
homeland
dealers in death and
doom
if we don’t help our
youth
we have no
future
the devils in the
courtyard
drummin up some
doom
bio-chemical
warfare
take ya to yr
tomb
the judges in his
chambers
face is full of
gloom
the people in the
court
scared
cause
God has left the
room
In God we
trust
is on our doller
bill
spend it on our
future
our
youth
terrorized by
chemicals
sneakin
in
making them
old
a nation of old
people
and throw away
children
Homeland
security
save our
future
our
country
wake up mr
president
homeland
security
our dollers
mispent
–
shanna baldwin moore in
2004
************
Red
Rover in Venice
Sindi Misc says
“Jump”
n’ Venice says
“How high?”
Sindi Misc says
“You’re not
jumping fast
enough!”
n’ Venice says,
“You're right,
we must do more n’
more ‘n more!
Syndi Misc says
“Now, you’re getting
the
idea!”
Carol V.
Beck
************
Letting
Go
By Adrian
DeSimone
A boy sits, relaxed and
calm
Looking for what he
loves
Searching for a good omen at
heart
But he stays still, confused and
melancholy
Nothing but dark, unfortunate
thoughts circulate within his veins
And his
heart pulses, no emotion, but the truth stays
hidden
Finally, a dim light flickers in his
head
A good thought is
resurrected
He remembers back to a warm
place
One with friends and
family
He realizes his life is flashing
before him
Panic and shock are also
fabricated
Could this be his
end?
He sits wondering once
again
Pondering this thought, this
nightmare-come-true
His blood has now run
cold, realizing he's almost reached the finish
line
As though a quick power surge has
erupted, that once dim light shines
again
Brighter than
before
His Panic melts and his icy blood
unfreezes
He has found new hope, new
meaning
And with this comes a poor
technician, and the slide show breaks down
He
becomes aware
And as though someone has taken
a flash picture, a harsh light explodes
in
his face.
Posted: Mon - March 1, 2004 at 05:32 PM