Author: poetryfest

Empty out the cavity of my heart,
I did not leave a gap for where to look next;
Haven’t caressed your tenderness,
After failing, I already couldn’t get past the perplex.
On that deserted day,
Suddenly I was conquered completely by your eyes;
Turns out our encounter is not only fate,
It’s also the ever-changing reflux of shifting tides.

Snowflakes, with little restrain,
Falling through every night without tenderness;
In the dark, your desolation was explored,
Traces of our wandering were found in the wilderness.
Like a meteor, you give life to our vision,
But it’s only a fantasy, an illusory blear;
With chanting faintly heard from afar,
A morning half-awake, becomes ever so clear.

Fall in love with your coldness,
Live up to the most beautiful hour with every second;
Since the moment you passed by,
It’s been transformed into an incurable beckon.
Perhaps, as time flies,
It will eventually peel off the decoration of the mirage;
And the lingering sound without beat,
Will be the heart rhythm that I burn for you like a montage.

“They lock me up with a thousand chains;
they forget I’m the key”
– Anonymous

the key suspended like a pendulum

the lock that leaves an air of light in the silence the key

through locks

are forgotten

that my bruised heart has arteries and cranks

that my hefty lung has holes to breathe

and that with your fingers

DRAW THE PENCIL AND THEN THE

secret graphics that are the unconscious opening of the symbols

of the cryptic mysteries of sleep

and with fingers without illegitimate locks I open the doors

that should be closed as in eternal deafness

for me that’s why I take the devil from the tail I squeeze the silence

I turn the key

(everything is a perfect combination)

I just need to know what they think

(everything is a perfect prison and there is no perfect crime)

Errarum humanum est

I turn the key

I just need my unconscious

that dream that only comes at night vigil

with closed eyes

with wide eyelids

Stealthily awake we’re all awake for Alice to turn the key

and open the doors one by one

even with stumbles even with ears that do not listen

but inside always inside is the hand that turns the key

and remove the taboos

the precise orders

Always inside is the key the enigma

and finally the dream

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

“Sword of War”, from “Of Virtue, Love and War”, by Ryan Christiansen

Would I were a soldier still – would I were yet still a knight
A servant of the beautiful – honor bound to all that’s right

I’d marsh’ll out to meet the foe – for her return to fight
Would I were love’s soldier still – would I were yet still her knight

But there is not now such need or cause – no need to make such war
For you are gone or never were – and will dwell here never more

I dreamt I stood atop a hill – on the edge of a black’nd vale
Beneath a sky, bled of its light – hanging somber, gloom and pale

I peered across that vast expanse – to the reach of my own sight
Through the smoth’rd stain of murk and air – to your tower ivory white

But gathered on the valley floor – in that gulf that lay between
The minions of the wicked hoard – stood in numbers never seen

They jeered and taunt’d “come down and die” – for you’ll see her never more
But the sky did crack of thunder then – as I drew my sword of war

I charged my stallion like a bolt – of raging fire, through their ranks
Their blackened blood, like a river, ran – that’d overflowed its banks

A storm of fury, we did fall – on all those who dared stand under
Rising, striking; my sword rained down – a hail of death and thunder

Cleaved and hewn, their bodies fell – to their ranks we did lay waste
Swept aside, like so much chaff – of our vengeance they did taste

Emerging from a sea of blood – we rode up from that vale
And coming to your hill top’s crest – sought you there to no avail

That length of land, I searched for you – to distant heights my eyes did strain
I searched throughout that valley rim – yet my search it was in vain

For the place you dwelt, t’was now gone – fully vanished from all sight
Not a stone or remn’nt there remained – of your tower ivory white

Then gleeful words rose from the vale – and wound their way into my ear
And faintly offered whispered thoughts – that I alone could hear;

“So sweetly crafted was our ruse – and it seems you’ve finally found
T’was a wisp of cloud now blown away – like an echo’s faded sound

A machination, by design – was this thing that you called love
We set it there, for all to see – on that hill top high above

T’was never true, this lure we laid – and pity seems you fin’ly find
T’was nothing but a conjured dream – that lived within your mind”

Down I slid my horse’s back – and there laid softly on the ground
Down I lay my sword of war – and into blackness my heart drowned

My soul bled out there, on the earth – the life inside me f’lly drained
A stone, I lay beneath that sky – of shadow’d murk that now hung stained

And there I linger’d pass of time – the length of which, I do not know
A corpse, I clung there to the ground – in that place I dreamt you so

But then there came, set on the wind – a voice far faint’r, yet more clear
With mercy softened words, it spoke – so familiar in my ear;

“Neither death nor dist’nt draw of time – could, of my love, leave you forlorn
For nothing und’r heaven’s reign – could quell a love eternal born

For though you see me not, I am – for in your heart, I do live yet
There I dwell and always shall – to this now hold, lest you forget

Be not deceived, in this hour dire – and be not turned from who thou art
My love, my knight, my soldier brave – carry forth as you did start

And so he rose up from the ground – and climbed back upon his steed
The wicked’s voices rose as well – but to their lies he payed no heed

And starting down that valley black – a soldier knight again once more
Returning thus unto the fight – he drew his sword of war

Performed by Val Cole

My mountain to climb by Bethany Zare

Diagnosis cancer,
like others have had.
My type is common,
so not really that bad.

The experience feels
like an amusement ride,
With ups and downs
but nowhere to hide.

Each test brings more questions
no clear path to believe,
Not sure who to trust.
No one brings me relief.

I cling to hope
and try not to fret
until one doctor says,
“It might have spread.”

Could this be it?
Might I soon expire?
It crosses my mind,
no time to retire.

Toc-toc-toc goes the clock,
my hour glass runs dry.
Knock-knock-knock on the door
I start to question why.

Lessons not learned
will be repeated.
Can’t skip ahead
like a class where I cheated.

Must breathe,
slow down.
Try to get off
life’s merry-go-round.

I look in the mirror
to see my core
no longer in conflict;
I’m at peace not war.

Breath in recovery
breath out self-care.
Love is the answer.
Gratitude, fully aware.

Surrender, Acceptance,
coming in handy.
Offers of food and prayer
are better than candy.

Who knows
where this path leads,
when it will stop
or if I’ll succeed.

It’s my mountain to climb.
I forage ahead
just one step at a time,
leaving behind dread.

Discomfort now my BFF.
Not distracted from my feelings.
I sit with the grief
as it’s all part of healing.

Performed by Val Cole

Rust
By Kelly Loraine Stearns

collecting old keys
seeking answers unseen
lost in a puzzle
of amnesiac complexities
the clock chants why
timeless moments pass her by
orchestrating a symphony
of a perpetual dream
silence whispers
echoing particles of dust
a young womans demure
shatters the silent voice in rust
iron oxide leaves behind
hypnotic tales forgotten in time
fueling visions through the fog
stepping through portals
as sleep conducts the beat.
insomnia is a friend
when reality seems to creep
envoking images of forever
translated through synchronicity
rain is the epiphany
enclosing her forgotten destiny
only through the eyes of translucent beings
will rust reveal infinity.

Performed by Val Cole

Dedicated to the Unknown Woman

Listen to the drums
Echoing through the valley
See the demons fly
through the night

Hear the old woman
Cry out with fright
As a young woman is stripped bare…
Violated, beaten and bruised
She lays
With unseeing eyes
All she hears
Are the silent screams
Inside her head.

Oh Africa
Land of my birth
What has become of you?
There is no joy
There is no mirth –
So she sighs
And walks down to the riverside
To wash away
The stains
She sees inside her head

Her soul, her heart
Don’t you know
Her spirit feels dead!
The water is cold
Deep and wide
and
it calls her
it embraces her life
And it swallows her soul
Mother! Father!
It
is
finished…

She is… dead

The drums echo mournfully through the valley
The demons chuckle with delight
The old woman wails
and cries
and sighs
As another daughter of Africa
…dies

© Sharmaine Anna Dobson

Performed by Val Cole

MILKSHAKE, by Leslie DuFresne

In having everything and nothing to do all at once,
this mother strips herself bare
of dignity. I do what I have to.
The happy meds I fed my mind this morning
kicked themselves in
far past the buzzed feel-good uprights
landing amidst a stadium of Zombies.
One of the Zombies reared its head
and took my place,
crept into position
behind my un-sobered mind’s wheel.
In search of a milkshake
an already meaningless jaunt
A request from the back seat
It’s not a matter of yes or no –
Just duty.

Numbness plays its sweet victory over my limbs
My mind – a broken stop light
Flashing – but nonfunctioning –
A purposeless machine
like the broken ice cream maker
that greets us at the drive thru
as it has various days before
with the same answer
‘Not working’ they say
Day after day
The insanity repeats itself
hoping for a fix.

In the end, what does it matter to this
purpose waster
Zombie walker
duty deliverer?
Around and around this mother goes
Doing everything but nothing at all.

–Leslie DuFresne