Category: Poetry Festival

Read Poetry: The Family Farm, by Gerald E. Greene

The funeral ended, I sought solitude,
on petrified planks in his cold, empty barn,
transported to times of memories faded,
when he stood as a giant before childish eyes.
Wooden beams, hand chiseled, fitted together,
by strong arms and tackle, holding framework firm,
through rain storms, blizzards and changes of seasons,
retained in position over two hundred years.
He once stood as I, after grandfather died,
perhaps with emotions similar to mine,
while thinking of soil and its meaning to him,
as he viewed the patina of harvest and sweat.
My life is different, fast paced and hectic,
as lawyer with office, contracts and clients,
in city center, stressful and demanding,
requiring allegiance and greater achievements.
But ancestral echoes grow louder with time,
beckon and chasten the next generation
to honor the past with resolutions new,
so I hear and answer. “I’ll come back to the farm.”

—

Gerald E. Greene

Author Kaleidoscope – A Poetry Collection
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Read Poetry: A WIDOW’S STORY, by Terita Buchanan-Moore

He was snatched from my grasp
In the blink of an eye
Tragically taken
By a thief in the night
My soulmate lost his life
In fifteen minutes
I became widowed
No longer a wife
Not by choice though
It was pure evil
Unleashed upon me and my family
Ten years later
Still in disbelief
When buried memories
Begin to surface like a vengeance
From my own remembrance
This past nightmare
Becomes a true reality
Of flashing frame shots
Stomach balled in knots
As I can sadly recall
The worst day of all
How I found him
Laying helplessly in a pool of blood
With gun residue
Scattered on his skin
In a state of shock
I mournfully watched
As my sister tried to revive him
I wish I could have turned back the clock
To the time when he was breathing
and standing right by my side
Alive and well
Moments before
Death decided to knock at our door
Holding on by a thread
I surely thought I would lose my mind instead
Our lives haven’t been the same
Since that unfortunate day
Trying to live on
After a loved one is gone
Is the hardest thing to do
Living life without him
Has been a heartbreaking task to get through
For no one can erase 38 years of his soul’s existence
In a short period of time
As the pain of not physically seeing him again
Leaves a very deep empty hole within
That no man can fill
So many thoughts of where we could have been
Often run through my head
Yet, I press on and remain strong
For I know this is something
I will never get over or understand
Why and how this was written in our life’s plan
Day after day, I’m doing the best that I can
By the grace of God
I’m living proof
As to how the Creator can keep you
During dark horrifying periods
From broken moments to happy spirits
Never thought I could feel again
But I did
No Love will ever match his
As he will be safely tucked away in a special place
In the deeper part of my heart
Forever and for always
Will I cherish those blessed days
I shared with my true love

 

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Read Poetry: Mother and Son by Malik Shakur

 
My Eyes 
are filled with tears 
Knowing each of the steps  
I’ve taken 
We’re steps  
Walking with you 
To the end of your 
Life’s mission.  
Your death   
was always near  
and my soul  
Understood   
The realization  
of your end 
But 
Acknowledging  
The existence  
of your beginning 
Can never be 
a plausible  
Mention  
Without understanding  
the relationship of a mother and son. 
As I look back over  
Our life together  
I am not moved  
by the lack of time 
spent 
But profoundly  
Amazed  
At what I’ve  
Become.  
Because of that 
Their something about the relationship  
between a mother and a son  
That should be noted  
With clarity, 
Acknowledged with praise 
and a keen sense of 
infinite wisdom. 
When a son 
has been raised  
to be a man 
The road  
a mother and son  
travel 
 
 
Will have,  
And has had 
many turns,  
twist,  
hills and valleys. 
For many  
looking at the relationship 
With their noses  
Pressed up against 
the glass 
can only see  
the distance  
between them, 
never seeing 
The reasoning 
Why this  
Relationship must be, 
what it must be. 
A Male child  
has a duty to go out  
Into the world  
and seek his own  
fame and fortune, 
Start a family  
Raise his children 
Instill in them  
Values,  
pride, 
Understandings, 
Responsibilities and 
Their purpose. 
A mothers duty  
is to love that male child  
Believing in him 
nurturing him and hoping he understands 
the sacrifices  
She has  
given, 
Believing  
They will 
Sustain him 
in his times  
of  
trials and tribulations. 
Throughout this Journey 
their desires,  
thoughts,  
beatings of  
 
 
hearts and  
Silent prayers  
Continued  
Until that moment  
When you  
took your last  
Breath 
Felt your last  
Heart beat  
and 
listen to  
the last notes 
of the songs  
a mother and son shared. 
On the date of my birth 
My mother gave me the gift 
Of being her first born child. 
And with this gift  
comes a duty like no other. 
When a queen dies  
it is her first born son  
Whom assumes  
the responsibility of  
Her thrown. 
Without a 
Coronation 
now a king that is thankful to God 
charged 
with keeping  
the faith and family intact 
Adhering  
To the past 
values 
Wisdoms, 
nurturing, 
understandings 
Being principled,  
making sacrifices, 
As she has made 
Before him. 
And regardless  
Of how I feel  
In this moment of grief  
I have a duty  
To honor,  
Be steadfast  
And adhere 
To the dutifulness as a man whom is you son. 
 
 
In the quite hours  
After your death  
Where the exchange  
Of mother and son 
Becomes 
Son, siblings, family and friends 
I know become the head of my family. 
Now that you  
Have passed 
You now get to 
Confer with 
Our 
Ancestors 
and their ancestors  
and their ancestors  
about your life’s 
mission to raise a son, 
Your soul 
has been released 
back from  
Whence it came 
And the  
Carcass we now 
Morn  
Can no longer 
Tie  
Your soul  
To pain  
Sickness  
loss 
Hopelessness 
Anger 
Depression  
and fear. 
We 
Here and now 
collectively 
Share 
A uniqueness  
of time stopping  
Just for a moment  
And will continue  
Tomorrow 
Without  
The presence 
of you smile 
The joy of Your laughter  
The sway of steps 
 
 
and 
The calm in our storms. 
You now get  
To celebrate 
Looking back on your time  
Now past, 
Telling stories 
To your parents,  
Laughing with your  
Friends and siblings,  
Holding a son 
Whom has  
Passed before you 
But 
Always keeping  
a watchful eye 
As the seeds  
of your garden  
Continues to  
Grow,  
Thrive, and live  
The purposefulness 
of a life 
worth living.  
As your family 
We wish you  
A safe passage 
As your son 
I only wish you LOVE. 
 
 
 
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Read Poetry: Isadore Greely’s Place, by David E Navarro

Ominous beats thump the shutter
my blood throbs, I shudder within
hear the eerie creaks and groans
of stressed parched gray timber floors
and walls with each howling gust pushing
against the rough blanched stone estate,
a dark gabled palace of yesteryear
on the sparse plain midst the tall grasses
dominant within its wrought iron fence
and gnarled tree-lined perimeter,
up the hill separate that looms
above the field of wild grain overgrown.
The musty smell reeks of untold stories
better left in graves to sleep, but rest
escapes me as I lay huddled in the corner
there because my car gave up the ghost
on this chill night that might kill by morn
if I fear to lay in this cold tomb of a place
where a hoary voice breaks the dark shadows
just to simply ask if a fire would suit me.
I jump out of my shaking skin—my heart
drops into my stomach as Isadore Greely,
with glazed orange eyes from the instant fire,
introduces himself with an outstretched
gnarly hand of knuckles, then grins and says,
“No one has visited me in years,”
and intends to be quite a congenial host.

 

 

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Read Poetry: Untitled #37, by Ryan Mettler

 They were wrapped up within one another
Like tangles bits of twine;
Two threads stitching a single lover:
“I’m yours, and you’re mine.”

They embraced hard and fast,
Desperately trying to get closer
On bed-sheets stained of nights past
And pillow-talk echoing “No, sir.”

How sleeping came with sublime ease,
And they fit together like a rhyme;
They both ink’d moments just like these
As the drifted into time.

 

 

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Read Poetry: Blue Remembered Hills, by Cas Greenfield

 Skim a brittle frozen lake
And dance into my heart again
Melt my mind with breaths of spring
And lead me to The May
When the nights are lighter And when the days are lengthening
Bluster me with morning thrills,
Lead me to my Blue Remembered Hills

Fill my sky with untold stars
Breathe me into life again
Sketch my air with summer nights
And choose for me the way
Your magic hour at sunset
When reds and golds surprise
Roll my tongue with sugar pills
And lead me to my Blue Remembered Hills

Once we were callow young
With all our years before us
Ever two together as one
Now with our new found song aching to be sung
We’ll cast our dreams upon the Blue Blue Hills

So dance me through the Valentine
To where our love is sheltering
Shower me in blossom sparks
Of hawthorne’s scented day’til sage Augustus clothes us
In frosted robes of silvery
When seasons move against our will
We’ll walk upon our Blue Remembered Hills

When seasons move against our will
On Blue Remembered Hills(from Splinters and Sparks)

 

 

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Read Poetry: This Is My Life, by Shellie Palmer

Genre: Life, living life, living, hopeful, joy, happy, sad, perspective

Symbols and notes I see, I see signs of what’s to be. I’ve seen hearts, wings and babies. I don’t understand them as they appear more so daily. These days go by so quick, I want to enjoy every moment as they come and go by. In my sights of life see more intolerance this is why I want to enjoy this life. These symbols could be more than just a sign, it could very well be what I’ve been missing in my life. True friendships have found me happy and sometimes it makes me cry that’s my life. So why do I wonder what these signs are about. I question it sometimes. Life is a question mark , the answers will come in time. I still have plenty of life to live to make it right. After all this is my life.

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Poetry Movie: What is Love, by Colin Guest

Poetry by Colin Guest

Narration by Becky Shrimpton

Editor & Visual Design by Carey Dieter

Produced by Matthew Toffolo

POETRY 7 questions:

What is the theme of your poem?

Love.

What motivated you to write this poem?

My strong feelings of love for my wife.

How long have you been writing poetry?

I started writing poems back in 1983 while working in Brunei. I have recently written a number of love poems for my wife, with two of them in the final four in WildSound Poetry Festivals, with another of my poems that Julian Ford read out online, in the final four.

If you could have dinner with one person (dead or alive), who would that be?

I think due to my love of writing, it would Le Child, whose writing I think is in a class of its own.

What influenced you to submit to have your poetry performed by a professional actor?

I think the words in my poem would appeal to many people, especially those who do not know the difference between love and desire. Also, by having my poem read out live, it acts to give more publicity to my writing endeavours.

Do you write other works? scripts? Short Stories? Etc..?

I have written and had published two short fiction books, plus one re my life in Turkey where I have lived for over 25 years, and a memoir entitled Follow in the Tigerman’s Footsteps. This covers my working as an expat for nineteen years in fifteen countries spread throughout the Middle, Far East and North Africa. In conjunction with Voyage Media who think my memoir could be used as the basis for a television series, I have written a pitch, which is on a list that Voyage sends out to over 6,000 producers to see if one is interested in using it.

At present, Julian Ford, one of your readers is working on turning my memoir into an audio book. I am presently writing a novel, and had over 14 articles published in online magazines, and one published in a UK expat magazine. I also took part in a live radio show in America re my writing.

What is your passion in life?

My passion is writing and hoping that one day I might have one of my books used as the basis for a film.

Young couple wearing rings hand in hand
Red heart tree