Category: Uncategorized

Performed by Val Cole

Genre: Historical

A Civil Soldier’s Tale

“Lie still now, soldier”, the Union General said,
As he knelt down beside the boy’s bloody, wounded head.
The dying young lad, no more than fifteen, if a day,
Wore the blight of cannon, from being in its way.

The General swallowed hard, to fight back the pressing tears,
Before he gazed upon his soldier, now less his limbs and gear.
“Is it b-bad?” the soldier asked, in a voice filled with fear.
“Not at all,” the General lied, knowing the boy had not a prayer.

“You’ll soon be headin’ home,” he continued in a whisper.
“Back to your mammy and your pappy, and your favorite dog, Kipper.”
The soldier forced a smile and then closed his swollen eyes,
“Why Sir, I think I see them! Looks like ma baked me two pies.”

The General shuddered knowing, the lad’s folks died years ago,
And the dog named Kipper– killed in an avalanche of snow.
He only knew these things, since he had taken the boy in,
As this dying soldier’s father had been the General’s next of kin.

“This bloodshed has to stop!” the General roared and shook his head,
“Did our boys grow up together just to shoot each other dead?”
“Must be something I can do!” he snarled, rising to his feet,
To be silenced by a bullet as it grazed across his cheek.

The soldier took a breath, his head fell back- eyes open wide.
The General took his sword and laid it by the boy’s side.
“Go on home now, son,” he said, “back to those you love,”
“And give them my regards; in fact give your pa a shove.”

Just then, in the distance, he heard another soldier cry,
“The South has just surrendered as stated by a Union spy!”
The General stood up slowly and brushed off his dusty knees,
Wiped away a single tear, and called out to his company.

SJ Roebling

“Tell me, was the prophet talking about himself or someone else?”

A large fiery white ball swiftly descended from the skies, approaching my window. Surprise kept me stuck to where I was. I saw what was coming but there was nothing I could do to escape. The closer it got, the brighter it became.

It smashed through my window and blasted against my face. Buum!

It scattered into a billion stars. They filled my room. And from their midst came a dozen of pretty angels.

They helped make my bed and scented the entire place. One of them left me a glass of water.

My lover called me just then. “That’s my gift for the night. Sleep tight.”

People think I’m a lunatic and should be locked inside.
But friends keep visiting, and I take them out for rides!
Went on Wednesday with Lana to Wells On Sea.
Sat on the beautiful beach, and ate the picnic made by me.

She wandered to the water to walk through the waves
while I pondered on a poem about the beauty of the day.
Soft wind lifting individual grains of sand,
children castle building, lovers walking hand in hand.

Dad hogging the plastic bucket, Mother refusing to play,
Lifeguard at the lookout at the curve of the bay,
sounding the siren to warn of the treacherous tide
catching a couple out on the other side.

Who wisely whip off footwear and quickly wade across
to the belt of a beach with the beach huts, and the fabulous flower froth.
The poppy, the ragwort, and cuckoo,
on the quay were people in ill-fitting clothes stroll, as people do.

Licking ice cream, and talking of this and that,
with sun heated faces, and kiss me quick hats.
Seeing clouds banking thinking ‘The dry will never last.’
While terns protect their offspring in the marrum grass.

Atop undulating dunes straddling the shore.
While Lana lingers by the water for an hour
wanting even more of the salt, and the sea spray,
determined to extend the glorious day

when we went to Wells On Sea,
sat on the beautiful beach,
and ate the picnic made by me.
*

An hour of silence
In each of those water droplets
silver dewdrops on a clear night
the sudden embrace of spring
Coconut desserts prepared the old way
Life has moved a minute further
The metamorphosis of a lifetime
Stars and comets blink in delight
with the wisdom that time has shown
The caravan moves across the tapestry of connected lives.

By- Chandrani Banerjee

leaves hang
like painted glass
bathed in light
glittering, they catch
the corners in my eyes
turn them around
I walk through this
living mosaic
that surrounds
holds me in naked rapture
my mortal blood
pounds the earth, whilst
skin and bone, bound by scars
ever grind to dust
birds’ words drip down
my spine, lay in hazy
dappled pools, lazy
stones shine, kissed by
sunshine’s rays, electricity
darts dragonflies between
my synapses, around my brain
I drink this in, basking in the freedom
that knowing brings, for
I know alone feels like a lifetime
I know what it is to go mad
I know how to speak with angels
why former friends cross the
street as I go past
I am just one small human being
who has done things the stupid way, but
I know after all this time, I am fine with that
when I am dead all of me will be burned to ashes
and they will ride upon the winds
that is my truth

RJ Farndon 2021

Once upon a time I was a lost dog. I was abandoned, lonely, forgotten,
and praying for a home. I had no place to hide, no place to go,
no one person who would love me and let me love them.

I had been abused, starved, left alone out in the heat, and the snow.
I was frightened by the storms and was offered no shelter to
protect me from them. I ate what I could find from what was tossed out.
I had to move all the time just to survive.

I was so skinny my ribs stuck out. I ached with pain and my skin itched.
No one knew the love that was inside me.
I was hoping for that one special human to call my own.

I never felt the joy of love or caring, and Hiding was my life.
Cruel humans received their joy from taunting me, and for them it was a sport.
Then one day a police officer found me and took me to a shelter.
I was finally warm and fed, but so alone, and so scared.
We were all scared at the shelter, I could tell.

I was so scared of men; they had been the worst to me.
But one day a man came, a sad and lonely veteran. He saw me,
Then he stopped and talked to me. He showed me love
for the first time. He held me and spoke softly to me.
I licked the tears from his cheeks as he told me we would both be ok.

He said, “I’ve got your Six Buddy”. He promised to always be there for me.
He promised no one would hurt me again.
He kept saying I will never leave you behind.
He held me as he talked so softly to me.
Come with me, and there will be no more fear for you or me.

I will not leave you outside again. You will always be warm and fed.
You will be loved, and you will be cherished.
You will always have a soft place to sleep,
and you will have so many toys to play with.

I was so scared because he was a man. Men have hurt me and scared me in the past.
I have been scared for so long that I knew no other life.
But for me to trust again and with this
new human felt right. I felt he needed me as much as I needed him.

He kept his word to me, he fed me well, he held me at night when we slept.
He brushed my coat and made sure I was clean.
I had so many toys and we would go for rides together.
He never left my side even when I first feared him.

I waited every day at first for things to change and I was so patient.
I waited to see if this was real, the days passed and then the weeks,
but the love between us grew so strong.
As the months passed, we became so close we were now inseparable.

It did not take long really, because I felt the love the very first day.
I knew he was my very own human, who loved me, and I thanked
God each day that this man saved my life.
I thanked him every day for the life I now have, and to be genuinely loved.
I know he thanked God for me saving his life as well.

So, I want to tell all my friends in the shelters, there are
loving humans that check the shelters each day.
They will share their home with you, and you will be loved once you are found.

So, all you other humans out there open your hearts.
You do not have to search far. You will have that perfect home for a tender heart.
You can be that shining star in a beautiful creature’s heart like mine.

If you do, then a new member will join your family circle.
You will all grow together and be a family.
There is room for one of us with you,
because without you we have nowhere else to go.

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

Dancing on the razor’s edge

No mind

No body

Zero point

Shunya

Free falling in space

A fractal of light

A crystal skull starts vibrating

And shining iridescent

Never seen before

Patterns of light

Seeing through the eyes of Goddess

A lens of purity

Of Majesty

Of Dignity

Of Victory

Morphing into a hybrid

Human angel soul alien

A new hue-manity

Where sovereign wisdom reigns

We loved silently
It was eternal
Felt like our souls
Already knew each other

It was unquestioning
With no hope no desire
Separated by
An unbreakable frontier

We looked into
Each other’s eyes
Felt the touch for
One last time

Placed our love
On the burn of fire
Our journey stopped before
We even cross the aisle

In the hope of
Meeting again
Someday, somewhere
The wait was eternal