Love Is An Eternity
Contributed by Charles Dean Walker
Dark with the moonlight, lighting my way to you.
“So beautiful,” I say, in a whisper I say to you, in your ear.
Joined together are we.
Eternally under the starlight.
You can feel me close, but not sure how so.
I show myself as ultraviolet light to you, but you can't see.
I feel you, you feel me, warm in the touch.
You pass through me, I see in you.
You’re the lady, the woman I love, loved.
Our love is eternity.
I know you can't live without me.
I heard you say it so long ago.
Under your breath in the sun.
Felt so cold, but the day was hot.
Only for, but not for me.
I could feel it through you.
In hand with you, you could feel it too.
I know, that you know, that I never left you.
Only got closer, but you wouldn't even know.
In that graveyard, you walk along the rows.
With a rose in hand; it's red, my favorite color.
Honey, how'd you know?
Did I tell you long ago?
Looking for my name, but it wasn't there.
Not any longer.
Time wiped it away.
You still found me.
From that warm-cold feeling.
That you had that day.
It brought you a moment of assurance.
A smile tearful though it was, it was a moment of knowing.
Knowing I was ok.
The rose dropped from hand, to the stone.
It rained while you walked away.
Deep in the ground, there is a ring.
It says, “Love is eternity.”
A cold, dead, yet warm whisper comes from beyond, and it says, “I love you.”
You Don't Have To Suffer In Silence
Contributed by Marjorie Labriola
She tells me, “It's okay.”
She whispers, “You don't have to suffer in silence.”
I begin to hesitate,
Thinking of all the abuse, and all of the violence.
So… I begin to shut her out, I start putting up my walls.
But only to protect me from any further falls.
I've been told many things, only to be disappointed,
And all I know is that I'll make sure it's avoided.
So? I crawl back in my hole. Just to hide away.
To hide away from worry, and to hide away from pain.
I never wanted to feel those feelings once again,
but anxiety kicks in and I think about it again.
Same place, same time, same experience, only mine.
Some may never understand. I understand that as well.
But all I wanna do is save what pride I have left and hold it in my heart and hands.
Comforting myself, because it's all I’ve ever known.
Even as a child in foster care,
I felt so all alone.
Thirteen brothers and sisters, never really close.
So, I learned to love myself, and be what I knew the most.
I opened my mind. I learned from experiences.
I am very visual, very opinionated.
I am a kind person, although sometimes stern.
But as many of you don't know, I myself had to learn.
Thinking of another time, another place, another day…
Blocking out the thoughts of all the bad things and experiences going away.
Imagining everything, being free like a bird,
Flying far above what we can understand, or see, and even what you've “heard” about me.
I am me. I am proud.
I may have walls, but they can be broken down.
She tells me, “It's okay.” One day, I'll understand.
Until then, it's in God's hands.
Thinking of another time, another place…
Another day, another way…
When all the pain turns to beauty,
And I feel happy once again.
The Green Thumb Conundrum
Contributed by Robert Lyons
The seed is sprouted, and sapling rooted.
Leaves fan out and branches shoot.
The stem thickens as time’s cycle loops.
So beautiful the calyx and pistil, sugar leaves bristling.
As light permeates its canopy, the red hairs turn brittle.
Harvest moon coming with pools of flushing, gushing delight.
Out with the lights, a day of night, time to trim tight.
What an amazing sight, a blazing haze in a fortnight.
Should I keep it for me? Probably won’t, that's just how it
Goes, out the door and planting more. How contrite.
