Category: Poetry Festival

Read Poem: Silently Screaming, by Naa Lamiorkor Boye

You hurt me, you break me then you leave me.
You claim that you love me and yet you refuse to let me see.
You hold me back from who I can be.
You never let me go or set me free.
Captive.

You bound me and cage me and lock me away.
Nothing I cry can keep you at bay.
You always need to shout instead of say.
But I love you anyway.
Hurt.

You hit me and hurt me and say you are sorry.
You say it is a problem and I shouldn’t worry.
But then an argument turns into something gory.
Will you ever end this horrible story?
Broken.

Now I am broken and do not say a thing.
I flinch and shudder at the slightest ding.
I barely open my mouth to even sing.
I feel like a bird with a broken wing.
Useless.

Are you happy now?
Are you satisfied that when I see you I nearly bow?
Are you done with saying that I look like a cow?
Because I changed everything of mine yet you don’t even say wow.
Silent.

Here I am, no speaking, no crying, no singing.
Yet in my mind, I am silently screaming.
So keep these words and start minding.
For one of these days you may look for me and never start

Read Poem: Quarantine, by TAK Erzinger

Hills
heave euphoric
bruised in crocuses

Overwrought
heaven ruptures
in rain

Spring appears
sheathed
in uncertainty

Sweating
out the cold
fevered by wind

Next to me
your mouth open
a hive

Sweet
humming in
familiar warmth

Exhaling
relief and comfort
a ritual aubade.

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: 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.

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 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!

(C) Gloria Hudson 2020
https://authorgloriahudson.bussiness.site

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: STREETS, by David Dephy

Read by Allison Kampf

POEM:

Looking at the empty streets.
Beauty needs to be seen.
I know you are happy out there
on the other side of emptiness,
yet the present is the choice
which remains. In admiration,
beauty, in poverty wealth
and in silence the sound,
I will put the gun down,
who stands beside me matters more.
I’ll remember this second,
on the other side of what was emptiness,
I’ll remember this present, but the streets
will be alive again, only that which needs
to be seen will be.

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.

Poetry Reading: BENCH SOLILOQUY, by Paula Shaffer

Poem read by Allison Kampf

POEM:

This is my Bench; I deem her to be. She minds the Sea dutifully; in silence, splendidly.
Firmly in place on this rock jagged cliff, barrier free, scene panoramic
for the eye’s inner theme: keen, translucent clarity.

This strong tawny throne atop pedestal high, my toes exposed cannot touch
ground; my bare legs swing like those of a child from long time ago. How I had
forgotten how simple fun can so easily be; grace should be said here, deservedly.

The Sun in brilliance stakes his scorched claim; Sister Wind fans back chillingly.
The Ocean’s spittle dampens my face, cools my arms, taunts me to
dare even to breathe. I sit in awe, my smallness aware, how grateful to be.

“Consume me,” says this wild Lady Sea, serving salty martinis, a sun-kissed tease.
So I imbibe, with desire athirst, until drunk with beauty and wonder entwined,
consume her elixir in greed, one last sip to satisfy time.

Two seagulls banter just who will be first to dive into frothy waves white, slicing,
taunting, gravity suspend, to finally break free, a daring bait tease,
vying for bounties now richly exposed, hidden below the shimmery gleam.

Snippets of laughter, tinkling chimes, pepper the sea salt air; and then Sister Wind’s
bellowing roar: “I will be heard,” insistent demand. I hear her song,
passion intent made perfectly clear; I willingly obey, submissively.

A toddler set free lithely skips on the Ocean’s soft edge; wet sand tracing tiny toes
tanned, mapping the claim of this little girl’s glee. A new path to wander and fearlessly be:
magic unleashed, whimsical, untamed, wildly free.

A golden-crowned pigeon in wedding dress white regally sashays into my
sight. “Look at me,” she coos, boastful in sheer royalty. I acquiesce, then bow
in humility to Queen of the Bench, Her Most of Royal High Majesty.

My lips taste the salt of this deep turquoise Sea, seasoned just so, a chef’s risque
dream. Sand, salt and sea; recipe of senses set loose, how simple, how free,
like lovers embraced in a delicate kiss, tender in its intensity.

I long to sail to this Ocean’s far end, taste her salt-sweetness, chilled champagne tea,
reach the magical side of a wanderer’s dream, that thunderous
stream, rushing to wherever it leads, however far faraway is.

Yes, this Bench is mine, and always will be. My solace, reprieve, when tears are on brim;
exposing a world that few really see, dare comprehend, baring her secrets