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Read Poem: I HAD YOU BUT…, by Gladys Muturi

Growing inside me for nine months had me at pause
But now I realize why
Why now? I’ve come so far
’til I have taken a halt
I had you but now I’m sad
I can’t stop crying now
I overfeed myself to get the milk you deserve
My breasts swell in pain
Heavy like a pound ton weighing down on me
You’re not a mistake
You’re the best mistake
I wish I should’ve known better
No, it’s not your fault, It’s mine
Daddy’s not here, I’m here
You had me at hello around the clock
24/7, every week, morning, noon and night
Exhausted, no plans for me just you
I love you, but I’m powerless
My energy is drowned out
like a candle blown from the wind
I’m crying now
Yet you comfort me
I look up
I thank God I had you
I had you and I want to say “I love you”

Read Poem: Love in the Time of Corona, by Jared Michael Ellis

I am scared.
I wasn’t
I was wrong.

I went to sleep fast like a child.
Carefree.
Confident
in my mothers ability
to protect me.

I went to sleep in my bed
and woke up in a place I did not recognize.
Scared.
Cradled in my mother’s arms.
Disoriented.
Nothing is familiar.
Overnight my world
My playground
became a place I did not recognize.
Overnight my home,
My oasis,
Became my solitary confinement.

I trust my mother.
If she can make the flowers bloom May
then I trust I will bloom too.

I close my eyes so I can see better.
See what my natural eyes cannot.
I need to see a future.
One that is normal.
Maybe this is our new normal?
For now, I’ll settle for
one with hope
One with music in the south loop
One with social distancing karaoke.
And long distance relationships that span a block and a half.

One full of love.

I cannot predict the future but
I do know one thing:
I will not stop loving.
I will not give up on Love
I will not give up on Joy. I will give her away freely
My Joy
I will give her away to all who ask
and those who don’t.

I guess that’s not fair to say…

That she can be given away.
She is not a possession
She is a state of mind.
She cannot be bought or bartered for.
She can merely be found and shared.
Humility is all she asks in return.
She looks fondly on me
as I have had the blessing of knowing her for years.
Even when we lose touch
we find our way back to each other
and continue to do so every day.
I always know exactly where to find her.

She hides in the cracks of my music –
In the bud of a tulip the dares to bloom
despite the frost –
Echoing in the laughter of my grandfather
long after his passing.
You can find her in the little things:
The unexpected places.

She stands as tall and proud as a lighthouse
guiding damaged ships to calmer waters.
I am the vessel of her affection.
Now, like one of her ships
I don’t know where I am.
I’m still disoriented

and scared.
But I trust my mother.
She is Joy –
and Love…
and she is still cradling me in her arms
as we forge unfamiliar territory.
I trust she knows what she is doing.

I have more victories behind me
than trials ahead.
I lost my job, but I have not lost my Joy.
They took my happiness, but they cannot take my Joy.
My Joy –

New world:
Same Joy.
New world:
Same Love.
New world:

Read Poem: CITY LIGHTS, by Sujan Bista

Vibrant colors , making darkness look beautiful.
Twinkling all around, on a cloudy night.
Reality braided in fiction.
The trail of city lights.

As the sunshine turned to ghost.
We shall meet again “dawn”,says the dusk.
Then i walked alone.
The poles with light that guided me home.
Pin drop silence, got no one to talk at.
Cold nights, I’ve got warm paths to walk back.

The candle and the fireflies.
Shaming the stars and it’s twilight.
Escaping scary noises, ignoring wolf’s howl.
Before midnight, I’ve got to go home.
With the help of bright sight as it shows.
The trail of city lights.

Will wake you up to listen the howls and cherish it.
The trail of stars, candles and fireflies.
Dissolving self into your candy lips.
With the emerging heat, the touch of your porcelain skin.
As you held my hand guiding me back to sleep.
Losing mysef in peace, at the beauty of your mountains peak.

Sujan Bista

On Mon, Mar 30, 2020 at 10:47 AM Sujan Bista wrote:
Miracle.

Vibrant colors , making darkness look beautiful.
Twinkling all around, on a cloudy night.
Reality braided in fiction.
The trail of city lights.

Will wake you up to listen the howls and cherish it.
The trail of stars, candles and fireflies.
Dissolving self into your candy lips.
With the emerging heat, the touch of your porcelain skin.
As you held my hand taking back to sleep.
Losing mysef in peace, the beauty of your mountains peak.

Read Poem: A Message From The Last Unicorn, by Gloria Hudson

It was I… (she spoke from within)
Charmed and enlightened
Strength and pose
Beautiful and fierce
But, a tender soul.

To be a unicorn was…
Mysterious to some
I spoke like a human
But, all of a sudden
They all wanted my horn
As their trophy…
A metal…
The cup which held great treasures
There was…
None so great in any kingdom
Magic…
I possessed
I suppose.

Until they killed
My son, my daughter
And husband and parents
I was content and happy
They killed us all…

We once…
Lived side by side
In harmony;
I would often sit by the rivers bank
And tell of tales far in advance.

They all assumed it was my horn
That gave me the power to speak
To tell of such tales
In great detail…
But, it wasn’t
No, not really

They assumed it was my horn
Because, it was different from all others
And had such beauty.

But, to get my horn
That held little to none
Of the power they thought it possessed
That had to bring me down.

Like all the rest…
To my knees
To cry
A stab in my body,
“As anyone else,
I bleed!”

I thought to myself,
“This is not right!”

But, then…
I was too weak to explain
As I’m sure, my family failed
The same as I did;
Too weak to tell them.

And, then when I was at weakest point
They stripped my horn right from my head!

Me…
“What joy it was to disbelieve;
I was actually happy to see them try
To activate a power the horn did not bare.”

I at my brink of death..
Still I watched…
As they beat my horn and said incarnations over it,
Bared it from inside, ate and drank from it…

How could they not know…
My power never came from my horn
It was gifted only deep within me.

I know many of you…
Are looking at the next best thing,

Since I am gone away.

And, perhaps it will bring the power…
The people here; want today.

Remember with great power,
Comes great responsibility.

Who I was not much like you in form
But, yet able to do something’s that you do.
You looked at me with lust of the power I held inside;
And wanted me like a child wanting it’s grand prize.

The power I held; I held with love.
But, you…
You did not see me as meat
You needed me not to eat
Nor that of my blood as dripped,
Sinking into the ground, you did not care…

No, you wanted my grace,
My fierceness, my voice, my head,
My soul as a prize possession,
You wanted most of all was my strength and my power…
To say the things that only I could say.

But your lack of knowledge…
Left you…

Empty handed.

No power in my horn
My meat
Nor my blood
The power was in my spirit…
And, that was the one thing you couldn’t harness then…
And, still can’t harness today!

Fools as you were
Open your eyes
What gifts that are granted to one
Can’t be transferred to another…
Unless you let it be…
Naturally;
As it was designed.

You killed us all
So, what we could of told you…
The truth!

You took and then, you paid the cost
Because greed…
Eat you up inside
Until you destroyed
All that you really loved…
And, you did not even blink your eyes,
As we all died!

Do not make the same mistakes again…
Only once my dearest friend
Listen for the memories
That come from long ago
And listen to truth…
Not the lies other men tell…
I am just one of the memories…
Locked inside;
Today, only once…
Do I speak…
And, I’m not certain whom will hear
And listen or believe!

But, look around at all the world has in it
Animals, trees, green grass,
Rivers and springs and remember…
When you lift your hand wanting power…
That only one holds.

To speak to me…
Like days of old…
Remember; there is good and bad does exist…
You have to listen contently or the trivial signals you will miss!

And, you once again; will try to kill the one-you needed the most-
Perhaps you have changed…

But, if you had; I wouldn’t be here to explain…

Speaking through centuries of torn and ripped veins
To tell the truth
You must not fail this time
You must listen with your heart
Not your head that tells you lies
You listened to it before
And look I and mine are no more!

So, my message…

Here today-
Is don’t play with gifts that aren’t yours to bare, don’t take!

Instead remember me-by your side-
It’s written in your DNA; that I was good…

And good to you until, you caused a war and killed us all.

Now; faced with the new decisions;
You must not make the same mistake!

You must hear with your hearts!
Your souls, even!
You must try!

But, realize what is coming-isn’t a fly by night-
You will be confused…

Conflicted…
Oppressed…
You will…

Want to cry.

The powers be that are to come…
One is good, just like me.
One is evil and only your heart can determine.

But, if greed is what you seek,
You’ve seen that it overcome you…

You must lay it down now,
In order to see…
What is good…
And…
What is not!

Listen to me…
As, I speak from beyond the great divide
But, I speak from a place that still lives in your insides!
Make your choice carefully…
(Fading softly)
She said…
Goodbye, until we meet again on the other side!

POETRY READING from Poet Kitt Fedoroff

Performed by Allison Kampf

POEM:

Sally Gossamer Wingstep heard a most curious sound,
It came from beyond the wilderness copse, over, about, and around;
When Sally flew around the last tree a wonder she could see
A greying Fablehaven hound softly baying at a prone bumblebee.
Sally risked to go closer to inspect this quite usual sight—
Instantly she flew for Johnny H. Beekeeper in a quite frenzied flight.
Can he find the resolution for a bee brought down so low?
If he lacks the right solution, where then could she ever go?
Johnny was tending keen to the so new garden green—
Petite pois on the trellis, coifed and coiled like you’ve never seen,
Tomates on the vine, carrots long and tall, blueberries arching high;
And Johnny’s prized honeycombs, so grand as to make a master bumble bee sigh,
And cousin-once-removed baby Amber Grace with the prettiest wee fairy face
Was flutter-skurrying in and out of plants and was just all over the place!
“Johnny, O Johnny”, Sally cried to her family friend with sure pride
“Come quick with me to see this poor poor bee, laid low and curled to one side.”
Finding hard-working Katje to attend their baby Amber Grace
Sally and Johnny flew straight off to the far away wooded place.
With simple mind and quiet grace, John approached the curled up bee
But twas nothing more could be done, was plain and simple to see.
“Let’s take him home” offered John to Sally’s slow honoring tears,
Nodding, Sally looked for brambles to build a sled as for one’s peers.
A far off buzz grew nearer, the Wild Hive had come to find their brother;
A rippling peace reigned as Bumble Bee and Fairy regarded one another.
John and Sally backed away bowing as the Bumble Bees took up the reins;
The bees would long remember how those aloof fairies had taken such pains.
The old Fablehaven hound bayed again as the sled disappeared around the wooded copse;
Sally and John made their long slow way back to home and the fairy-grown crops.
Sally made her thank you’s and kissed wee Amber Grace;
Quite a wonder to see how Honor and Love forever bless this place.

Genre: Fantasy

Poetry Reading: The Long Road, by Shobana Gomes

Performed by Allison Kampf

POEM:

At first glance, it seemed easy,
I, the traveler on a weary road to perhaps fame,
I tamed my mind to think in ways one would want to impress,
But like a toddler taking baby steps,
I fall, struggling to get back on my feet.

The route I took seemed all too ready to steady that feet,
Through stumbling tears, I made my smiles just as effortless,
I cried first, then I laughed,
Isn’t laughter sometimes created from tears?

The road was long, the road was windy,
The road took me to eternity,
I wondered at some point if I would reach eternity, yes, eternity,
But stop I did not, I traveled through time, I traveled through eternity.

There were days when I thought “not a second to waste”
Until one day I realized that it took time to reach eternity,
It was the long road I had chosen,
Through much travail, none of which man can know or hear of.

I trudged with time on the long road to eternity once,
Right now, I face, I stare ahead,
I have not seen the end,
No, there is no end,
I have only been on the trail to the “beginning.”

THE END.

Poetry Reading: LOCKED TREASURE, by LannaEvolved

Read by Allison Kampf

POEM:

In the box
I am sworn to secrecy

Petrified
His gaze against the shadows of the bars
has grown so weary
it deflates in fades
Suppressing the entirety of his remorse

‘To him, there seem to be a thousand bars
and back behind those one thousand bars no world’.
The soft
The righteous
The other step
runs away with the breath of space
In a time undefined by reason
In the smallest of shifts and turns, circling
moves like a dance of strength around a core
in which an eccentric
stands upright
In time there always remains a question
The faith that transcends
The magic curtain slides
from side to side
soundlessly — He is there.

So many possibilities to be free from the beginning, and uproot the past of burden burgeoning like a flower’s ability to withstand change in unpredictable soil and yet still feel alive.

He expands through the tension
the calmness of limbs — and stems
in the heart which fate prescribes to be a mighty will stood parallel to them.

Love is unintentional decision making upon the choosing of a
Solidified destiny
A clairvoyant
romantic

Bat wings in my heart
Calm bleeding
Smiling full

This life is my teacher
Take me to a room
without an education please

Put down a book that moves the table and reads the script from my last piece

Not the other way around

Magical thinking describes our destiny, the rest is fate
I’m not here to school you

Death happens
And clutter builds into a false enamel
Eventual decay
If not maintained

Fleeing toxicity is a freedom beyond understanding

Outside the peripheral
grief spins me upside down

The last flower petal remains
With it’s scent forever reminding
me
Of our song
In solitude

When the streets are lit with lamp designs
And Arabian nights alive in the instrumentals
My senses
mystified

Living within our home without
The perfect combination

Of chivalry, compassion, and attention to the details
This is an emotionally available man

Sin is a perception
Redemption; clarity
Pure mist
The clearance of past partners
Leaves my space
To make rooms upon the doors newly turned
for an atmosphere of hope

The written letter reads as I write:

To my love, I love you with all my being.
For You are everything I asked for when
My mind left me
My consciousness awoke for you to be found by me now.
And that cannot be duplicated.
For I am Gratefully blessed. By you.
To Our eternity.
Cheers to our eternity.

I’m with you.

Read Poem: the perks of being real, by Karah Wilson

in high school
i wanted to feel like charlie did
in that tunnel
on a drive
with the people he loved most
in the world.

i wanted my life
to be like a coming-of-age film
where everything and nothing felt right
all at the same time.

i wanted to feel infinite.

but as we grow older
as our skin changes
as our hearts tire out
we learn that’s not real life.

no,
real life is filled
with heartbreak
with madness
with death
with unfairness.

it’s filled with fights
with people
you hold close.

it’s filled with music
playing
while you cry yourself to sleep
at 3 a.m.
because you’ve never felt so
alone.

it’s filled with the hardest
goodbyes
you never thought
would pass your lips.

it’s filled with watching your loved ones
wail out in pain
because they’ve lost someone they love.

yes,
real life is filled
with heartbreak
with madness
with death
with unfairness.

but one of the easiest parts
is realizing it’s also filled
with love
with happiness
with life
with fairness.

it’s filled with hugs
after fights
with people
you hold close.

it’s filled with music
playing at a party
with all your closest friends
at 3 a.m.

it’s filled with the easiest
hellos
of new friends
who were once
strangers.

it’s filled with watching
your loved ones be
the happiest
they’ve ever been
because they deserve it.

so,
while charlie had his friends
in that tunnel
on that drive,

i have so much more.

because what i have is in real life.

and that makes me feel
my own kind of
infinite.

Read Poem: Dear Mema, by Sienna Feruzi

I’m paralyzed,

You’re in the front of my eyes

And you won’t. go. away.,

You were my light,

You were the shadow in my shade,

The breeze on my hottest days,

The pink and gold of a sunrise haze,

You were the ground under my feet,

You were the smile folks loved to greet,

I feel you now when I see injustice,

I feel you when I see true love,

I know you are the voice of my happiness and patience;

You’ll always be my baptismal dove

And the one who encouraged me to stay confident and kind

Who taught me to never be left behind

For I am special, just how I am.

I’ll always have that Avery glam.

I’m paralyzed but I’m motivated

Because of you I’ve become elated

To have this life I have to live,

If only with you, for you I could give

Another walk along the bridge

Or through the park

Or at the store

I’ll always, always want some more.

But I’ll have the time, I’ll get the chance,

Once I meet you again.

I love you.

Read Poem: p r o M I S S, by Randel

You heard it, right?

Those sugar-coated, tender reassuring words
he once spoke
With his brimming eyes and gentle lips
That whatever the odds
Together, you will sail through the fiercest of waves
Climb through the peakest of hills
Cross even the furthest oceans and seas
Just to stay in each others’ warmth and never leave.

But now there’s nothing you can do but to kiss
the shapelessness of his empty words, sentence and phrase.

Perhaps, those promises you held upon
Are nothing but mere letters and chants thrown by the folly of his tongue.

A broken vow,
A fantasy told;
A happily ever after that should have been sealed with that one blissful kiss——However, it all ended as a miss.