Author: poetryfest

President Trump was beaming with pride as he appeared this week on major U.S. news programs and in his over two hundred chatbot assisted tweets in the last five days. He actually did it: took Disneyland apart and set up an outdoor prison filled with shipping container housing and the biggest red, white, and blue roller coaster in the world. After today’s ribbon cutting ceremony, Trump Holy Land will has opened its gates to newcomers from near and far. Blowing kisses to a gallery that included Putin, Kim Jong Un, the Wealthiest Saudi Princes, Trump seemed more
excited than the day he showed up in El Paso for the completion of his electrified, AI monitored, killer bee drone patrolled wall. What follows are a few of my favorite of his tweets and a little commentary for anyone who has been hiding from the news the last four years.

“Bunch of hacks in Congress. Could not get my third term amendment. Supreme Court no help. Cow face Sotomayor is no good.”

“ Haters! Our new U.S.A. Iron Dome Defense and Trump Holy Land does it. I am probably the best president ever. That’s right, Lincoln doesn’t even come close.”

“Donald Jr and hot first lady, Kimberly, will continue my legacy with this great Trump Holy Land. All our illegal immigrants and Palestinian refugees will have it good. Maybe too good” “What Netanyahu and his crew did was fantastic! Gaza cleared out in less than two years! Who does that? Genius. Stand-up tough guys. Of course, they needed me. We picked up a big chunk of the tab too.”

“With Corrections Corporation of America and Israel’s security people wanting to help, everyone inside Trump Holy Land walls will be safe and secure.”

“Loving Trump Holy Land. Great walls. Thick tall concrete walls. Tall and super solid. All the kids can paint on them if they want. Do that jungle graffiti they like. No problem. No Didi” “Sure, Trump Holy Land is smaller than Gaza, but 25 thousand Florida acres is enough. Can get two million in there easy. And I made a sweet deal. Paid so little.”

“What is Gaza? 140 square miles? 90 thousand acres? I figured this out. Okay, maybe a little tight. But guaranteed, every family will get their own container. Great big shipping containers. So easy to stack!”

“No free rides in Trump Holy Land. They’ll have to work. For the really good ones, daily work passes. Plenty of farm work and construction down in Florida. Plenty of hotels. We need good housekeepers.”

“Hell, I’ll bring a few to work at Mar-a-Largo!”

“Just heard my son wants to build his own Trump Holy Land! Says biggest landowners are ready to sell cheap. We won’t be cheap; we like these people.”

“I see more Trump Holy Lands popping up. How much do we own in federal land anyway? 25%? We could cut some nice little slices out of this pie. I know Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Texas, even Pennsylvania is thinking about a Holyland.”

That last tweet was hard to believe; but sure enough, the federal government owns not 25% but approximately 28% of U.S. land. That is around 640 million acres. Below is just a partial list of major league private landowners. Yes, Trump was right about Gaza being roughly ninety thousand acres. Could make for a parking lot for one of these owners.

I know this game but still
would gamble anything
I would keep losing and
losing to avoid the
final moment of loss
I don’t want to lose all
that love has fashioned fine
I want to die before
losing my life dying
and dying to outwit
what shadow follows us

High up in the mountain’s top to low in the valleys trade winds the White Raven glides like it’s a feather on a gust. Free as a newborn spirit aloft to cast its wings far and wide. The powerful presence of this epic bird has been known for millennia. The magical spell it casts upon all things living or dead is to be permanent and precise. The raven waits for instructions as to the special powers the bird inherited. They are rare in nature and a very special species. If there is fear the raven appears If there is pain the raven appears If there is no justice the raven appears, every good dead the raven does adds a link to the golden chain upon its leg. There is a young girl laying in the alley way with needles in her arm. The raven appears and takes the girl away from the place she was to die at. The young girl cries why don’t you just leave me be, I don’t want to go on just leave me be.

The raven has other plans and transforms itself into a strong tall man and he carries the lady to the hospital and inquires for her to get rehabilitation in her near future. It’s now up to the lady another golden link shows up on the raven’s chain for the good dead it performed. The raven is sure the young lady will survive and thrive for the rest of her natural life. And suddenly it’s transformed back into its original form of a raven in white. It’s not disappointing but it is sad to be transformed back to a raven in white. As the bird lifts off its wings spread wide as it glides on a coarse yet to be determined only fate knows the outcome and destination.

The white raven flies high in the atmosphere looking seeking out those in despair, those in need, those on the edge of life and ready to give in to their demise that they have obviously chosen to end their time on this earth in this realm currently. The raven takes notice of a lost young man wondering the dark dangerous streets with cuts and bruises and track mark scars all over his body. The raven in white transforms into a beautiful middle-aged woman with flowing blond hair and hands of gold for caring and caressing the boys’ wounds. The young man cries out what happened to my life what happened to my body why did I end up this way? I have been wronged, I have been abused, I have been burned and left to die in the alley and the infested streets.

The raven in white now a woman holds the young man tight and assures him there is light at the end of the tunnel he must persevere through this and gain control of his life and the direction that he is headed. It confirmed that the young man’s birth mother subjected him to unbelievable circumstances from being a prostitute to a thief to a mugger and worse. The raven woman now directs the young man to a church that is huge and tall and massive compared to his little body he is overwhelmed and starts to cry and falls to the ground and begins to pray. It seems that a spell was broken, and the young man is clean or cleansed of his bad doings. He will suffer no more, he will hurt no more, he is free of the evil that once possessed him. There is another golden link on the raven in whites’ chain. In one instance the raven in white returns to its natural state and flies free and the boy is left in the church’s hands and will be free from all burdens for the rest of his life.

The raven in white is guided by angels above and they know where to send the raven they know those in need and those that are on the brink of ending their time on earth or ending someone else’s time on earth. Many souls are forced and extorted to do horrible things to themselves or to others. The victims have no choice, their families are in danger, and it may end badly for them. Suddenly the raven in white transforms into an officer of the law and is going to guide a lost soul who is a prostitute on the streets of New York. The young man has been ill for some time now and he knows what the illness is he doesn’t want to admit it to anyone not even himself. There are wounds all over his body he is delirious and lost he has been this way for several years and knows that he has wronged many of people men and women.

He speaks of lonely nights lost in the gutters in the skull of the city in the belly of the beast. Forced to be and do things that he would have never done before in his life. He became hooked on the products because of looniness and sorrow. Now he is forced to do these evil deeds and doings. And he knows he has the killer virus in his body, and it has been spread to many unknowing people and they passed it onto other unknowing people. As an officer of the law the raven in white has many connections and avenues to peruse to get this person to help and guide him out of this darkness and out of this despair. The man finds comfort in the officer’s help and accepts the offer to get better and be a better person and he is assured his family friends and loved ones will not be harmed or hurt or killed or tortured. There is another link of gold on the raven’s chain. The raven in white has been successful and has made a difference in this person’s life forever. The raven in white returns to its natural state and form.

There’s an infant in a crib. She’s been born with an addiction to crack cocaine through no fault of her own. The mommy has an addiction problem and doesn’t want to face the facts it can take her baby’s life and her own eventually. She has been this way for many years to many years, she doesn’t know where to turn or who to turn to. Suddenly the raven in white transforms into nun in black and white. The nun took the infant in her arms and cradled her rocking her back and forth to sleep the baby’s shaking and shuttering came to a halt. The beautiful nun took the infant to the convent, and it was attended to and weaned off the crack cocaine that was in its system. The mom was admitted to a clinic near the convent, and she attacked her addiction head on and has made miraculous progress at getting better and coming clean. The infant had a hard time of it taking quite some time to get better. Its little body was ravaged with the side effects of cocaine addiction. It is known the baby has suffered from its mom’s actions and the mom is remorseful that she did what she did to the baby.

They both have a long road ahead of healing and learning and teaching others the right way to approach life after addiction how to approach self-awareness after addiction, how to approach self-pity after addiction how to approach forgiveness after addiction must be nurtured and tempered with kind hands and kind hearts and kind souls. This is going to require angels’ dedication to setting things right and righting things wrong. It will take time and energy on everyone’s part for this to work and for this to be permanent. There is one more golden link on the raven in white’s chain as it transforms back to its original state and beauty and form. The mother and child have entrusted their lives and souls and wellbeing to the raven in white and it’s turned out to be a blessing.

Everyone has learned a lesson, everyone has passed a test, even the raven in white has learned new ways and techniques to approach a serious problem or addiction. It turned out to be a good lesson for all. The raven in white soars the skies and all the levels through the clouds and through the winds known for carrying migrating birds to and from their destinations. It is a very intricate trail to traverse and navigate. The knowledge of the course is passed down from generation to generation, so the new life trails are traveled by the new lives and the old lives, and everyone has memories of it using it to their benefit which will go on for generations to come. While in this neighboring galaxy the raven in white would make conversation with extraterrestrials and direct them in peaceful and positive ways.

The raven in white now transforms into a gray extraterrestrial and begins to communicate with the other grays from a distant galaxy. The grays want to take over the minds of certain human beings and use them for labor on other planets like Saturn, and the moons around other planets as well. There is valuable ore to be had on these moons and the grays need laborers. The raven in white comes up with a plan to build a mechanical device that will drill for the ore and process it down to a usable source. At the same time the raven in white helps them develop a system that draws energy from the sun itself. Thew ship the raven helped create can get extremely close to the sun and draw up energy through a cylinder that has been engineered for this purpose.

This will save the grays from having to go from solar system to solar system looking for their fuel and energy source. Have it been known that the grays are hospitable entities and very intelligent way beyond a humans compacity to comprehend. The grays try to acquire how to have feelings like love compassion fear, joy and unity. The raven in white does not know how to transform these feelings for the grays. This is one thing that the raven in white can’t accommodate for the grays. The raven in white feels empathy for the grays and wants them to know he understands and will continue to try and find a way to accomplish this with the grays in the future. Through telepathy he assures them he will not give up on this quest. The grays agreed and said they would be on their way with other obligations they have to take care of. The raven in white feels like a gold link has been added to the chain. This is one she is proud of and feels close to and wants to remain close to. The raven transforms back to its original form and shape. This was a wonderful experience, and everyone benefited from the connection and meetings. This is one that the raven in white will hold dear to his heart for this lifetime. The raven in white is feeling the powers released from within he prays they last for the duration of this quest.

The raven in white is in free flight for a while and wandering around the world it’s free of worry and woe’s and it’s happy to be gliding safely without harm or foul. The raven in white receives a message and then is transformed into a bar tender in the worst part of a city and on the wrong side of the tracks. There is a young man with his head down on the bar and is crying in his drink, He drinks straight whiskey, and it makes him a mean drunk he wants to fight and has come close to killing a gentleman recently. He doesn’t know how he lost his way. He has lost his wife, his home and kids and now is homeless living in the alley they call wino lane. It’s a sad time for him and he wants to end it all as soon as he can. He has cut his wrist; he has tried to drown himself and he has got a gun but has not used it. His anger now is going towards strangers that have it all. He is so angry that they have it and he does not and killing them will make him happy he is delusional. Out of control the raven in white assures the man there are better ways to deal with his problems yes, it’s bad yes, its pitiful yes, it’s sickening. Through some therapy and guidance, the young man can turn things around, but he must commit to a system a clinic or AAA group.

It will be a long hard road with many twists and turns and boulders and potholes to get over and go around. This young man is going to be a special project for the raven in white. This is going to be the best for the young man to get back his respect for himself and others. This is going to be the right way to get rid of any anger, rage, fear, jealousy, it all must go for this to work to his benefit. He must be committed to this chosen course. It will all be gone with a lot of effort and persistence and faith in himself and others that are better off that offer their help he must accept it in kindness and thankfulness and gratitude. The raven in white feels the gold link attaching to his sparkling chain. And he is off again in flight to help another in need. The young man will make it just fine if he stays on track and listens to his angel helpers and his heart he will be just fine,

The raven in white is in flight soaring and zooming in and out the clouds. I am happy to have helped so many. It is blessed to have been given the power and energy to do so. Suddenly the raven in white notices that the gold links of chain are transforming into golden feathers on each wing one by one the links are transformed into golden wings on the raven in white. It is miraculous and wonderous and a moving experience. Each golden wing made the flight lighter faster softer. Many little golden links turned into golden feathers in a short period of time all the raven in white’s feathers were golden and pure energy there was no effort in the flight process. The raven in white was energized and powerful. Now it is off for a free flight. No worries no woes peaceful serein this is the life the raven in white thought, and this is where I want to be. I pray for all those I have helped as they will pray for me. I will guide them through the tough times as they will guide me to accepting my free will. I will always give it my all and I will always be there when in need. I will always be.

By: Timothy Floyd Phillips

February 18th, 2025

At fifteen, forced to stay up all night drinking and smoking was hell in every way. It was time for my newspaper route and there was over 4 feet of snow to contend with. Folding the papers and bagging them up my younger siblings had their own to do. The snow was too deep to ride bicycles, so it looked like trudging through the drifts was the only way. There was no time to waste, and I had to get on the road to get the papers delivered before the school bell rang. I was on the diving team and had practice that morning after the paper route. I finally got done on the route and made it back home to change out of the snowmobile suit and into school clothes. The day was like any other day, kids being kids picking on me threatening me constantly. From one bully to another I warned them to back off and leave me alone. They were very persistent. I went to diving team practice that morning, I was good, and all the other team members knew it. I could do an inward one and a half which no one else could do. There was a competition coming up at the end of the week and we were to travel out of town for the weekend. I was looking forward to it in every way.

After practice, I came down from the fourth floor to the third floor for my science class and on the stairs well a big brute of a boy held me while the other preppy boy swung and hit me in the face. As soon as he let go of me, I lunged at the preppy boy and proceeded to pound the living hell out of him. I was not going to stop till he stopped moving. I was wailing hits left and right no one could stop me no one wanted to stop me. Finally, two teachers separated us and pulled us in different directions. I was livid and ready to give them what they deserved. It takes a big man to have a buddy hold down someone while you hit them in the face, and they are defenseless. We both went to the principal’s office and got suspended for two days. How was I going to explain this one to the tyrant at home who is drunk on the gills from a seven-day binge? How was I going to survive this one? How would I even approach the tyrant at home just waiting for a reason to explode to put blame waiting to attack for no reason at all If there were no reason, he would surely make one up.

I left the school on my bike riding around for a little while stopping at gardens along the way picking flowers for my stepmom who was at home alone with the tyrant. Red roses were her favorite ones. Finally got home and came up the back porch steps going by the old Maytag washer machine with its ringer wheel. It was from the sixties and worked great, we used it often. I came into the kitchen and could see the tyrant’s feet hanging off the edge of the couch in the front room he was passed out cold thank God. I gave Mom the flowers and she kissed me on the forehead saying get a vase. Everyone tips their toes around the house till the tyrant gets up for work on the night shift. Then we cleared out till he had gone off to work. He was a cook at the nearby golf course. In the evening times, I would sit and roll up smoke for mom.

While doing that we all sat around the tube watching Mash and the regular shows on Friday nights. The weekends were quiet the tyrant would be gone all weekend. Leaving some peace in the old house. There was supposed to be a carnival coming through this weekend in the field behind our house. All the kids in the neighborhood would envy us being in our backyard. On and off I would see this beautiful woman riding a big white horse in the field behind the house. She would often stop and ask me if I would like a ride so far, I have said no but next time she asks I am going to say yes let do it. Sure, enough she came running up through the field on that white horse like a goddess. She pulled my arm, and I was up on the horse behind her in a split second. We rode off into the wind and what a ride it was, I’ve never felt a woman’s body so close to mine ever, not at fifteen. It was like a dream I was in heaven.

We rode all around town, and everyone saw us together. It will be the talk of the school come Monday and boy would I love it. After a bit we ended up at this small apartment attached to a garage, it was just a studio apartment. She ran inside and came out with this baby boy in her arms. Blew me away she had a son, He was not even a year old. I was amazed what would she want with me if she had a son with some other man. I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. It scared the hell out of me I didn’t know what to say or do. He sure was a beautiful blue-eyed blonde-haired boy. I suggested I really should head back home by now. She road me back to the house in the field and dropped me off on my back porch. Just before letting go of my arm to release me to the ground, she planted a kiss on my lips that exploded in my head. I saw shooting stars and streaks of lightning it was out of this world. Never felt anything like that ever. Then off into the wind, she road waving goodbye to me with her long brown hair blowing in the breeze. I was speechless.

The next day was Saturday, getting up early for the newspaper route was automatic, the snow had melted some and the field behind the house was being prepared for the fair. I got the two youngest boys their breakfast of milk and bread with a little sugar. It was all we had. I stood for a cup of hot tea with saltines with a little sugar on them. I headed out the door after folding the newspapers and loading the bags. It was bitterly cold out and snowing on top of that. The roads had been plowed so I could ride my bike this time. After forty-nine stops I would head back home climb under the blankets and cozy up to the cat that slept with me every night. I slept that whole afternoon into the early evening when I heard a horse in the back of the house. It was her Adana, she was back on the white horse with jeans on and a flannel shirt her long brown hair hanging loosely down over her shoulders. She was back and gesturing for me to come and jump on the horse with her again. I was in for the ride of my life this time around I knew it before I even got on the horse.

We rode everywhere that we could, and we ended up at her apartment again. She tied the horse up out back to a tree and asked if I wanted a drink of soda, I was thirsty and went inside for the soda. I went into the very small bathroom to wash my hands and face when the door flew open. She closed the door behind her, slamming me against the wall she planted a kiss on my lips like I’ve never experienced before I was in shock and pleasure at the same time. Before I knew it, we were naked on the floor of that small bathroom. I guess you could say I lost my virginity that day. I fell in love I would go on to see her every day for several months to come. I did my paper route every a.m. and then would be with her and the baby for a couple of hours then I would go off to school. I would pick roses on my route to bring to her every day. Eventually, I quit school and got two jobs, one as a pizza prep person and the second one as a nighttime maintenance person in a Walmart store graveyard shift. This went on for some time. I was getting exhausted when I came home from one job, I would fall asleep playing with the baby and then be off to the graveyard shift till 8 a.m. and home again for a few hours’ sleep and back to work again. She started going out with her friends on the weekends, leaving me home with the baby. I knew this was going to be the end of it. I soon it came to be the truth of it. She had found someone else throwing my clothes out in the snow on January 15th, my birthday saying it was over. It killed me I cried for days I gave up the jobs and hitchhiked back to my hometown up in North Pennsylvania. I was taught a huge lesson during this period and that is never trust one who holds all the cards and holds your feelings like your hand close to the vest. Do not ever go all in. Always leave an out leave a backup have your own best interest at heart in your heart.

By: Chad Robertson Barry

February 18th, 2025