poetry

marielle, 8 june 2015

who i am

I reject the idea that you learn who
you are in high school.
I've been here for three damn years
and I've never been further from truly
knowing who I am.
I lost my best friend,
I'm afraid to talk to my mom,
and my grades have become more important than my mental stability
(something in which has grown
entirely too frail over the years.)
I hate people,
but I want fiends.
I'm an ass of a person
with a conscience that rains over me.
I don't need anyone,
but I need him.
I'm going insane,
but I'd never speak a word of it.
I'm a god damn storm cloud
rolling over in hopes of creating
a rainbow.
I reject this concept of loving yourself
before you can love anyone else.
I've despised myself for years,
but when he looks at me,
I forget why hating myself was ever like.
I reject the fact that adults
possess the power to minimize
my feelings.
every
damn
thing I feel is valid.
don't tell me I'm not in love.
don't tell me I'm not stressed,
and don't you dare tell me I have
nothing to be sad about.
my scars are not proof of survival,
my riddle body is not so poetic,
but the fact that they exist
proves that I was once very sad and
very sick.
i reject the belief that high school
is the best 4 years of your life.
I see a future,
and I know it will be better.
I have crumbled under the weight of the world
far too many times,
but I have the strength of a thousand mountains
inside of me
and I will do whatever it takes
to make my future a hell of a lot
better than this.

Danielle Perez, 8 june 2015

The Woods

The woods are scary.
The wood is where it happened.
So quiet and dark.
 
Why did I go in?
I was warned about these woods.
Some don’t make it out.
 
I approached the path.
Trees screaming for me to leave.
I went any way.
 
I walked quietly.
They didn’t hear my loud screams.
No way to turn back.
 
I opened my eyes.
Those never found were with me.
Never to be free

Danielle Perez, 8 june 2015

Best Day

I’m really hungry for some yummy cake.
 
It is going to be a happy day.
 
The baker better not make it taste fake.
 
All of my friends and I down by the bay.
 
 
 
I can’t wait to get on the floor and dance.
 
I’m bouncing to the beat of the music.
 
I really hope that I don’t lose my pants.
 
Dancing so much I might even lose it.
 
 
 
It’s finally time to open the gifts.
 
Anticipation is building in me.
 
Hopefully I will not miss my work shift.
 
Yahoo! I got a brace for my bad knee.
 
 
 
And so my big day is sadly over.
 
Now back to work with my big lawn mower.

Danielle Perez, 8 june 2015

Best Day

Dee Snuts, 8 june 2015

All Shrek by Shrek Mouth

Somebody once told me
“You wanna see a movie?
There’s a new one and it’s called Shrek.”
I thought it looked a little dumb and I said that to my mum
she said “it’s the movie or you’re going to bed.”
WELL, we get in the car and then we start driving
Pull up to the theater and then I start wonderin’
Didn’t make sense for it to not be fun
It didn’t look smart but it didn’t look dumb
Y’all need to move I gotta see
Just what this movie could be
I’ll never know if I don’t go
C’mon let’s start the show
My god, it’s amazing, I love this movie, no way
Dear lord, I loved it, gotta get its DVD
Every joke here is gold
All this greatness I cannot hold
So we get home, and I say to my mother
Don’t tuck me in, not under my covers
We need to talk about Farquaad
And how he got Shrek to go get Fiona
The dragon scene was looking really sweet
It had me on the edge of my seat
You think tomorrow, we’ll go to the store?
I need some more Shrek galore
The next day, at Walmart, I got some Shrek themed PJs
And the next day, at Shoprite, I got Shrek mac n cheese
I had my whole room painted green
Everything I own is Shrek themed
Somebody once asked
Do you want to skip your nap
I heard there’s something new down at the movies
I said yup! What a concept! I could use a little break myself
And I could always go for a film
WELL we get to the movies and the movie’s Shrek II
I start crying don’t know what to do
It didn’t make sense to have more that one
The first one was fine what could they have done
Go in to view, go in to see
Just what this movie could be
I really wish I didn’t know
How many minds this could blow!
Hey now, I’m a Shrek fan, I know everything Shrek says
Hey now, I love Shrek, I could watch this movie for days
And next year I start first grade
I wonder how many Shrek friends I will make

Alan Ireland, 8 june 2015

The Story of Adam

An epitaph for humanity.

He took a bite
And got a fright.
Forgot it all
In sex that night.

A new day dawned,
A race was spawned.
It multiplied,
But heaven mourned.

 The flags unfurled.
The battle swirled,
And fitfully
Destroyed the world.

 Our way we wend
Till paths contend.
In that first slip
Was writ our end.
 

Published in Music in the Air, Summer/Autumn, 2015

Alan Ireland, 8 june 2015

Tale of Desert Storme

Sir Georgius de Bushhe was in fine fettle
As he led all Christendom to battle.
‘Doughty knights, and damsels, too,’ quoth he,
‘We’ll smite that evil Shaykh of Araby,
 
‘Pursue him till he’s rightly dispossessed
Of wealth he has to insolent excess.’
On hearing this, the multitude did roar:
‘The infidels will flee in Shock and Awe,
 
‘So let us march to godless Babylon,
And kill till all iniquities be gone.’
And thus it was that in that time was born
The Götterdämmerung of Desert Storme.
 
With bold Antonius de Blaire, his squire,
De Bushhe laid waste that wicked land with fire.
‘Make no mistake,’ quoth he, ‘you will be free.
You have the pledge of my artillery.’
 
He spake of wondrous matters for the morrow:
Araby reborn, relieved of sorrow,
Prosperous and safe neath Zion’s wing,
With all the fruits obedience would bring:
 
A plastic cornucopia that spills
Casinos, clubs, and divers other thrills;
The gastronomic marvel of Big Macs,
And mortgages for all from Goldman Sachs.
 
And lo! the Arabs flocked to join his banner,
Girded in the Occidental manner.
‘Thank you! Thank you!’ one and all declaimed.
‘What little we have lost…for so much gained!’
 
 
Published in Music in the Air, Summer/Autumn 2015

Gert Strydom, 8 june 2015

There in the Dwaika

In the Dwaika in the Murderer’s Karoo
the world looks to me as turned upside down
as if inapproachability there becomes reality
but it’s a place where people still do believe in the Lord God.
 
[Reference: “Karoo (Also Karroo) An elevated plateau in South Africa.”]

Gert Strydom, 8 june 2015

At birth we come into this life alone (Rubiyat / Persian quatrain)

At birth we come into this life alone
and when in death the last of it is gone
all that we wanted to be and achieve,
all love and pain is done.

Satish Verma, 8 june 2015

Sneaking Gods

Reticent were moon, sky and birds.
A pall of gloom spread on the trees.
Stoically I rode on the wings of pain,
to watch the descending values.

A timeless truth separates the charm from lies,
and I long for the generosity of past
which could connect us to future.

A flame burns the eyes.
When we took the wrong road?
Still the fever is rising.

Gods sneak into our affairs.
A firebird flies in the space with long span of shadow,
the helpless victim lies in wait, to be dispatched.