July 2007 Poetry Corner

Fleet Afoot

The racing speed of a desperate cheetah…
The delicate grace of his fleeing prey…
With deft and defiance an agile surfer
Angles the crest of an angry wave.

High-stepping kickers on pitch, field or rink
Leap with dexterity, race to the goal…
Turning the tables to stem the aggression…
Quick to defend… Eager to save.

I stand in amazement,
Staggered in awe,
Cheer for the effort
As if it were mine.
Praise to the winner,
Bask in the glory.
Sharing a toast, let us
Savor the wine.

Dennis Martin began writing plays and submitting them to the local playwright’s festival when he turned 40 years old. He has written 13 plays –several of which have been presented as staged readings in the Baltimore Playwright’s Festival. Dennis has written over 800 poems and self-published a book of poems titled “Love and Passions” available at www.iuniverse.com and major online bookstores as well as 6 other poetry collections and 3 novels available at www.lulu.com/dsmartin. Read more about Dennis at http://www.iwritesome.com or blog with him at http://iwritesome.blogspot.com .

Stockpiled Sagas

Overcrowded
Split spine
Dog-eared
Undercover; hard and soft
Knowledge, History, Romance,
Travel through tome
See a new place

Luscious,
lazy literature
Some disheveled,
Heavy-eyed and sleeping on the job
while others play
London Bridge Falling Down

Bargain Bins,
Mounds of Mysteries
Piles of Prose
Half off “how-to’s,”
Neatly arranged and
some tossed
upside facedown

Cover to cover
atop one another
Stacks and stacks
of paperbacks
Zigzag towers
Cornered chronicles
Just looking for some space to rent

LavendarRose is a pen name for Yvonne Perry. This poem is from her collection titled Sockpiled Poetry. More poetry by LavendarRose may be read online at http://www.angelfire.com/poetry/onlinechapbook/ .

**************************
The world
Is simply a clutter Of different religions,
Different faiths,
Different beliefs.
But how could anyone know
That their beliefs are correct?
How do they know
That what the preacher up in the front
Of where you are sitting
In mass
Is saying something
That you should believe in?
Or is he reading
From the book of lies,
The Holy Bible?
Is the Holy Bible
All true?
Or is it a bundle of lies
All bound together with a leather cover?
People can have perfect faith
In Heaven,
And then die,
And find a new life
Waiting for them,
In another body.
They could think
That Heaven is a myth,
And then die,
And find a golden gate
Swinging slowly open,
With God offering
Open arms to them.
They could think that
Death is the beginning of
A new life,
And then die,
And find Death just a vast emptiness
Of nothingness.
And as they spiral through
The black,
They wonder why
They ever thought
That death was a beginning.
So why have faith?
Why have belief?
You can never know
What happens
After the icy hands of Death Slowly wrap around your neck...
And tighten their hold.
It would simply be embarrassing
If you firmly believed
In something,
And then were proven
Wrong, completely wrong.
So why bother?
I'll tell you why;
If you have nothing
To believe in,
Nothing to have faith in,
And you're never sure of yourself,
For you need to see to believe,
Your life is nothing.
As blank and as empty
As one theory of death.
You have nothing to live for,
So you might as well
Just die.
Katie Curry started writing poetry when she was eight years old after falling in love with Shel Silverstein. This poem was written when she was about twelve.

****************




In The Canyon

Deep In The Canyon Of My Mind
A River Flows
It’s Filled With The Rapids Of Focus
Cascading Freely
It Becomes A Smooth Stream Of Concentration
That Waits Patiently For Me To Jump In
And Float Gently In The Cool Water Of Knowing
Within The Canyon Is The Answer
Without Question Without Hesitation
I Am Healed
Resting In My Cavern
In The Canyon
Of Love

Hal Manogue
From the 2008 Collection of Short Sleeves A Book For Friends
http://www.shortsleeves.net