Wherever You Go, There You Are by Ryssel Guzman
Where ever you go, there you are. You can lie to yourself but you can’t run away Suppression, mental repression,Leads to depression.Lying to yourself daily,Self deluded.No wonder you’re so wasted.Numbed by your own convictions.Coward you let them feed you,So you don’t have to think for yourself.Oh it’s so much easier that way.What happens when it’s you […]
We Miss You So Much by Ronald G. Auguste
(In Memoriam, for Daryl, after Twenty Years) We miss you so much, Son, in all these years, Enduring in our hearts a constant woe. Most thoughts of you still lead our souls to tears. Increasingly, though slowly, as years go, Sorrows engage our feelings … blow by blow. So much remains of dreams we used […]
Trial by Ruth Padel
Trial by Ruth Padel I was with Special Force, blue-X-ing raids to OK surfing on the Colonel’s birthday. Operation Ariel: we sprayed Jimi Hendrix loud from helis to frighten the slopes before ‘palming. A turkey shoot. * The Nang fogged up. The men you need are moral and kill like angels. Passionless. No judgement. Judgement […]
To A Wife, On Mother’s Day by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Anita, my Wife) Especial thoughts, my Darling, come to you, Served from my heart, with Love that overflows. Pause for a moment from the things you do – Observe that Love spread high, in rows on rows. I prize this day … and prize you as you are – No measure can suffice to […]
Tiger Drinking at Forest Pool by Ruth Padel
Tiger Drinking at Forest Pool by Ruth Padel Water, moonlight, danger, dream. Bronze urn, angled on a tree root: one Slash of light, then gone. A red moon Seen through clouds, or almost seen. Treasure found but lost, flirting between The worlds of lost and found. An unjust law Repealed, a wish come true, a […]
Threads of Gold by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Etienne Walden, my Granddaughter) Educe the sweet and kinder truths in life, That you may taste of joys the Angels know. Infuse your being with beauty, lest man’s strife Efface the blooms in gardens where you go. Never display your beauty just for show. Never ignore another’s grief or pain. Effuse compassion on life’s […]
Thoughts by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Daryl Auguste, my Grandson) Dare you aspire to reach the eagle’s height, And soar beyond the common, out of sight? Reason and intuition say: “You can!” Yet you must learn to bear the ills of man, Lest all their minds’ diseases make you weak. Govern your actions wisely as you seek Under life’s unrelenting […]
The useless counsellor by Ross D Tyler
He sits down. He is ready. He’s got his ‘counsellors hat on’. But the client seems unhappy, Finding chewing gum she sat on. ‘Sorry about the awful mess’ He says, ‘I haven’t got a bin.’ ‘Would you like a glass of wine, or perhaps a tot of Gin?’ ‘No thanks’ the client quietly declined, ‘Alcohol’s […]
The tragic tale of Bobby Magee by Ross D Tyler
Picture a dark and terrible night, In a Treehouse my friends sat by candlelight, Shadows and whispers, eyes gazing at me, First to be dared was Bobby Magee. Bobby was Irish and terribly thin, His father was hairy and liked to drink Gin, To be in our Club was Bob’s number one plan, But first […]
The Scarecrow by Ross D Tyler
The mud is thick, the clouds are grey, Alone I stand here, in dismay. For months I will wait, without any friends, Standing on duty, ”til harvest ends. But wait. What’s that I see in the soil? There are tiny plants beginning to coil Upwards and outwards, reaching up to the sun, Their journey has […]
The (REAL) Tale of the Tortoise and the Hare by Ross D Tyler
Today I’m going to talk about, The Tortoise and the Hare, One was slow and one was quick, They really made a pair! I’m sure you all know the proverb, And perhaps you know the end? But the version you know simply isn’t the truth, You have been deceived my friend! Was the Hare quite […]
The missing pen by Ross D Tyler
I’ve done it again! I’ve lost me pen! I don’t know how, I don’t know when? Perhaps He’ll show, Perhaps He’s gone, Perhaps he’s back where he belongs? “Where does he belong?” I hear you cry, “A Magical pencil case in the sky?” Well he won’t come back, I know this now, He’s hiding away […]
The Appointment by Ruth Padel
The Appointment by Ruth Padel Flamingo silk. New ruff, the ivory ghost of a halter. Chestnut curls, * commas behind the ear. “Taller, by half a head, than my Lord Walsingham.” * His Devon-cream brogue, malt eyes. New cloak mussed in her mud. * The Queen leans forward, a rosy envelope of civet. A cleavage […]
Ten Years After by Graham Rowlands
Ten years after every beautiful cliche wearing jeans & kaftans & long hair & cheesecloth— after every beautiful cliche has gone or may as well have for all it means now L.B.J.’s gone & Che’s gone & Ho’s gone & Mao’s gone to their biographers in the sky without diamonds or L.S.D. Ten years after […]
Telescopes In The Square by Graham Rowlands
On Australia Day too. Good to see you. Like to sit on the grass? Good view. Up. Put your eye to the mouth of the flagon. Yes, eye. Go on. That’s all you have to do. Let me see. Here’s the green. I like green. Good for banks, building co-ops, insurance companies. That dark patch, […]
South Africa by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Nelson Mandela) Indeed! It is a new and shining land! So do not waste the New Day passing blame! From utter desolation, something grand Is rising … to obliterate the shame! The sun has set upon the sorry fields, And golden stars are twinkling in the skies. A new sun, rising on the New […]
Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James
Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. by Russell James Shattered Dreams. Broken Promises. Unachieved Goals sadden souls. Feeling lost with no where to go feeling alone filled with sorrow. Went down the wrong path. Now I’m feeling the wrath of absolute failure man oh man this is such a Disaster. Will I be able to pick myself […]
Savour Your Life by Ronald G. Auguste
(For Sedacy Walden, my Grandson) Savor your life, and try to live it well! Each day should be a milestone on the path Devoted to pure Truth, where Angels dwell, And Love and Kindness keep one’s mind from wrath. Cherish each moment of each passing day. Your life should be a charm, where joy holds […]
Rosslyn To The Prime Minister by Graham Rowlands
Whatever I do now I’ll have your consensus against me— quite right to say you snow in the tropics only at the highest altitude of your own risk if you want an alternative Australia. But you & your consensus don’t do you, sport? Sports? Father? It’s only your economy, after all— refining, processing, high-tech. We’re […]
Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel
Writing to Onegin by Ruth Padel (After Pushkin) Look at the bare wood hand-waxed floor and long White dressing-gown, the good child’s writing-desk And passionate cold feet Summoning music of the night; tumbrils, gongs And gamelans; with one neat pen, one candle Puttering its life out hour by hour. Is “Tell Him I love him” […]
Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel
Icicles round a Tree in Dumfriesshire by Ruth Padel We’re talking different kinds of vulnerability here. These icicles aren’t going to last for ever Suspended in the ultra violet rays of a Dumfries sun. But here they hang, a frozen whirligig of lightning, And the famous American sculptor Who scrambles the world with his tripod […]
Conqueror by Russell Hughes Ragsdale
Conqueror by Russell Hughes Ragsdale I was a gulp of high air; a bird breathing in, a black dot on blue paper, a privileged recipient of finite sacrament of souls of flying saints. That all happened the moment you taught me splendid roundness as defined by the touch of your lips. The other mysteries fell, […]
Conversation 4: On Place by Rosmarie Waldrop
Conversation 4: On Place by Rosmarie Waldrop I sit in my own shadow, she says, the way my mother gave birth to it. In artificial light, blinds drawn against the darkness of power. I think of you as if you were that shadow, a natural enclosure, a world, not a slight, so I can wander […]
Youth And The Pilgrim by Sara Teasdale
Gray pilgrim, you have journeyed far, I pray you tell to me Is there a land where Love is not, By shore of any sea? For I am weary of the god, And I would flee from him Tho’ I must take a ship and go Beyond the ocean’s rim. “I know a port where […]
Triolets by Sara Teasdale
Before a lonely shrine Of foam-born Aphrodite, Ungarlanded of vine, Undyed by dripping wine, I brought green bay to twine, And prayed to her, almighty, – And lo, the prayer of mine Was heard of Aphrodite. I sang of answered prayer, And now before the goddess, The maids lay flowers rare, And she has ceased […]
To L. R. E. by Sara Teasdale
When first I saw you – felt you take my hand, I could not speak for happiness to find How more than all they said your heart was kind, How strong you were, and quick to understand – I dared not say: “I who am least of those Who call you friend – I love […]
To A Picture Of Eleanor Duse by Sara Teasdale
Was ever any face like this before – So light a veiling for the soul within, So pure and yet so pitiful for sin? They say the soul will pass the Heavy Door, And yearning upward, learn creation’s lore – The body buried ‘neath the earthly din. But thine shall live forever, it hath been […]
To A Castillan Song by Sara Teasdale
We held the book together timidly, Whose antique music in an alien tongue Once rose among the dew-drenched vines that hung Beneath a high Castilian balcony. I felt the lute strings’ ancient ecstasy, And while he read, my love-filled heart was stung, And throbbed, as where an ardent bird has clung The branches tremble on […]
Since There Is No Escape by Sara Teasdale
SINCE there is no escape, since at the end My body will be utterly destroyed, This hand I love as I have loved a friend, This body I tended, wept with and enjoyed; Since there is no escape even for me Who love life with a love too sharp to bear: The scent of orchards […]
The Wine by Sara Teasdale
I CANNOT die, who drank delight From the cup of the crescent moon, And hungrily as men eat bread, Loved the scented nights of June. The rest may die-but is there not Some shining strange escape for me Who sought in Beauty the bright wine Of immortality? ————— The End And that’s the End of […]
The Wind by Sara Teasdale
A wind is blowing over my soul, I hear it cry the whole night thro’ – Is there no peace for me on earth Except with you? Alas, the wind has made me wise, Over my naked soul it blew, – There is no peace for me on earth Even with you. ————— The End […]
The Wind In The Hemlock by Sara Teasdale
STEELY stars and moon of brass, How mockingly you watch me pass! You know as well as I how soon I shall be blind to stars and moon, Deaf to the wind in the hemlock tree, Dumb when the brown earth weighs on me. With envious dark rage I bear, Stars, your cold complacent stare; […]
The Wayfarer by Sara Teasdale
Love entered in my heart one day, A sad, unwelcome guest; But when he begged that he might stay, I let him wait and rest. He broke my sleep with sorrowing, And shook my dreams with tears, And when my heart was fain to sing, He stilled its joy with fears. But now that he […]
The Wanderer by Sara Teasdale
I saw the sunset-colored sands, The Nile, like flowing fire between, Where Ramses stares forth serene And ammon’s heavy temple stands. I saw the rocks where long ago, Above the sea that cries and breaks, Bright Perseus with Medusa’s snakes Set free the maiden white like snow. And many skies have covered me, And many […]
The Voice by Sara Teasdale
ATOMS as old as stars, Mutation on mutation, Millions and millions of cells Dividing yet still the same, From air and changing earth, From ancient Eastern rivers, From turquoise tropic seas, Unto myself I came. My spirit like my flesh Sprang from a thousand sources, From cave-man, hunter and shepherd, From Karnak, Cyprus, Rome; The […]
The Unseen by Sara Teasdale
DEATH went up the hall Unseen by every one, Trailing twilight robes Past the nurse and the nun. He paused at every door And listened to the breath Of those who did not know How near they were to Death. Death went up the hall Unseen by nurse and nun; He passed by many a […]
The Unchanging by Sara Teasdale
SUN-SWEPT beaches with a light wind blowing From the immense blue circle of the sea, And the soft thunder where long waves whiten- These were the same for Sappho as for me. Two thousand years-much has gone by forever, Change takes the gods and ships and speech of men- But here on the beaches that […]
The Tree by Sara Teasdale
OH to be free of myself, With nothing left to remember, To have my heart as bare As a tree in December; Resting, as a tree rests After its leaves are gone, Waiting no more for a rain at night Nor for the red at dawn; But still, oh so still While the winds come […]
The Tree Of Song by Sara Teasdale
I sang my songs for the rest, For you I am still; The tree of my song is bare On its shining hill. For you came like a lordly wind, And the leaves were whirled Far as forgotten things Past the rim of the world. The tree of my song stands bare Against the blue […]
The Treasure by Sara Teasdale
WHEN they see my songs They will sigh and say, “Poor soul, wistful soul, Lonely night and day.” They will never know All your love for me Surer than the spring, Stronger than the sea; Hidden out of sight Like a miser’s gold In forsaken fields Where the wind is cold. ————— The End And […]