August, 2013
despair
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 26, 2013
despair
what do you do
when your muse refuses
to cooperate
slinks into a corner and sulks
or sneers at you … “you suck”
hollows out your insides
and leaves you in despair?
what do you do
to escape the loneliness
of an empty page
staring at the same lines
over and over
until they disappear
in a mist of tears?
what do you do
when you lose self-belief
think you are not good enough
never were … never will be
and despite the affirmations
from your dearest friends
you wallow in self- pity?
perhaps you take a walk
find a peaceful place
to simply be – and reflect
thank God for creating you
brush strokes on his canvas
a composition for his song
loving you for being perfect
just the way you are …
yesterday, today and tomorrow.
Perhaps then you can smile
through your tears of shame
rekindle the fire in your soul
and understand …
your muse never leaves you
He just waits patiently
For you to believe in yourself
to Be … Have … Do!
Amanda Edwards
Pearls of Wisdom
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 24, 2013
Pearls of Wisdom
By the pearls of wisdom that passed down to us,
we wear a shared strand of sensibility
that transcends our cultures and placement in time,
uniting our womanhood bond.
Experience teaches us to be the wiser
regarding our choices and priorities.
Whether near or far, home is where the heart is,
and family always comes first.
Through thick and thin we will persevere,
and we forever find the silver lining.
There are no regrets, only sweet reveries,
and schemes of dreams to be fulfilled.
The vistas invite us like open doors,
for new adventures are out there, waiting.
Embracing each moment of friendship with you
is grounded in life-lasting love.
Shari Jo LeKane-Yentumi
Compassion – Meet me There
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 22, 2013
Compassion – Meet me There
In the field, are flowers,
each shares an innate language
unspoken, it has many powers.
though invisible its mystery
is heartfelt, touches feelings
a way of being creatively.
as each one of us participate
our consciousness in expectation
all hearts in what we co-create
breathing life into our world
where all our possibilities exist
within our fear and our love
we are war and peace, the whore
and holy, the weakness and power
heart does not judge or score
in the feeling lies the prayer.
Gael Bage
best seller
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 21, 2013
best seller
Perhaps I may only sell a handful
of my books
Perhaps it is true
that my kind of story does not sell
but if I sell my soul
to be a ‘best seller’
will it matter how many books I sold?
perhaps to you it will
but to me
I wrote the story I wanted to tell
and as Frost might say,
that has made all the difference.
Amanda Edwards
Eternity in a Moment
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 19, 2013
Eternity in a Momenteyes are a window
on the world orbs rove,
inquire of infinity.Awareness rises
ascends in a spiral
revering all lifeCosmic waves in me
and in you traverse
the universesigh with the wind’s
suspire, open to feel
myriad connections
circle of One,
eternity in a moment
of ancient wisdom
unfurl our sails
on our quantum ocean
no exclusivitystars and planets
are there for everyone
our ship’s is Unison.
Gael Bage
a lazy afternoon
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 19, 2013
a lazy afternoon
the sun warms my back
as I sit and drowse a little
composing a poem
a symphony of sound
accompanies my thoughts
the hum of my laptop
tap tap tapping of the keys
the drone of distant aircraft
a purring refrigerator
firewood waits patiently
outside
in the trailer for me
you like your fire don’t you?
well then?
the freezer automatically makes ice
it doesn’t know it is winter
a pumpkin sits moulding away
at the kitchen sink
won’t turn into soup by itself
pity
the bananas blacken, sweeten
nicely maturing for a cake
perhaps tomorrow
today
there’s just enough time
to warm my back
drowse a little and dream.
Amanda Edwards
Unconditional Love
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 16, 2013
Unconditional Love
Like walking a tightrope, I strive
for a balanced view of life’s ride
But balance is not considered normal
most people come down either side
Lemmings – we rush to take sides
do battle in wars that no one can win
the conscientious objectors are denied
held, on short rations, as if in sin
If we choose to love inclusively
look at truth, walk in another’s shoes
we will be shunned, others fail to see,
judging what shows, expect their dues
Often the abuser, was first abused
Oh yes, his victim needs love and care
but a cycle of abuser, using and used
renews if in judging – we fail to share
the pain of the child in the perpetrator
he also suffered and endured. Perhaps
he never knew normal but daily torture
played with as a sexual toy. Slapped
and intimidated, he learns to comply
until by and by, it seems quite normal
a way of life, why change? Why try ?
Condemned – no one hears his child call.
It seems it’s compulsory to take sides
after divorce some side with the husbands
others firmly on the side of the brides
sometimes children are expected to stand
with Mum or Dad. Is it not cruel to ask
a child to divide love in two and choose ?
When friends fall out, fight and shout,
try to keep all as friends and you lose
for they think you side with the enemy
in truth – I see each One’s humanity.
Gael Bage
Refugee Man
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 15, 2013
Refugee ManIn the camps only the rats are fat yet always hungry
splashing on beady feet through the guttersfrom place to place, weaselling through the holes
where the wind blows in its silent breaths, looking for waterthe wind and the rat, light-fingered thieves of
those bits we have hoarded and waited forUp among the legs of a woman, in caches of fur and bread crumbs
They crawl in their secrets, chewing holes in another language through plastic bags?
Stuffed in dark placesI teach my son somewhere new and we find
tiny marks of teeth and the smell of wind breath, sour from the salt, on bags left collapsed
of any life they might have hadAnd so he learns
And so he will keep on with his stones in the air and one dayhe’ll become a million pieces of flesh falling through the sky
singing red in Jerusalem
Susan Wolff
Killing Fear !
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 15, 2013
Killing Fear !
When I laugh
will I look like a silly fool ?
If I should cry
Will someone say I’m sentimental ?
When I try
how many will point out I risk failure ?
If I speak my truth
is my soft underbelly left exposed ?
When I reach out
will you say mind your own damn business ?
If I share my feelings
Will you ride roughly over what’s exposed ?
When I tell you my dreams
will they be dashed into little pieces ?
if I venture to hope
will it all end in deep despair ?
and if I dare to love
can I make love truly unconditional ?
Gael Bage
Time and No Time
POSTED IN contemporary poetry August 15, 2013
Time and No Time
Could we all be eternal
or in time, does it end ?
It seems I always knew you
my true and loving friend.
At times the clock hands
move so inexorably slow
If I blink do the sands
of time silence the show ?
Is our life sequential
did we meet once before ?
Is our essence essential
a fixed bullseye score ?
Does mind mark the hours
coloured briefly by emotion
to navigate life’s showers.
Is time an elastic notion
an illusive mental trip ?
Or perhaps an endless stream
drop by drop, every drip
a delightful lucid dream
Does time come together
gather in synchronicity
guided forever to render
this moment intuitively
One in One, a complement
dialog is stilled in grace
by a quantum entanglement
aware – in universal space.
Gael Bage
