Distant trains still sound alarms,
Blinds are drawn, people yawn,
It's time to call the day.

The sun's turned off,
The moon's turned on,
The stars like pinholes
Blink till dawn.
The animals are bedded
On the farm;
Beneath the counterpane
I'll find no harm.

Today's work is done,
Tomorrow's not begun,
But tonight I'll sleep
Like the seventh son.

His senses held him prisoner
Overwhelmed and alone
Walls were his burden
The light too much to bear
The soaked linen of yesterday's news
Stained of fear from battles before
He needs to be cradled
Yet no one comforts him
He rocks back and forth
Rhythmic on the floor
Anemic screams suffocate
Silence fills the void
That breaks with a rasp
Sirens in the distance
They did not come for him
Noise bleeds through gaps
Like it did before
He weeps

I would like to take your heart and coddle it.
I would like to hold you close.
Your tears should only serve to water the flowers that grow from your soul.
I'm sorry that it's so difficult,
this life you have to survive--
but I promise you,
better days are coming.
So please,
don't ever tire of shining.

You know she’s sad when you see
that she’s fallen back into her poetry.

Take me back
To times of tranquility
In a time of peace
And mental stability

To escape my feelings
Of guilt and regret,
All the trauma and pain
I just...cannot forget

Where my mind is pure
With social innocence
Deaf to their words
Of cynical influence

Where fear is a myth
A story of fiction
Condemned by verse
To eternal extinction

I could be..

Free from the trauma
Free from the pain
I can erase my history
And walk tall again

By Darren Wall

Everybody loves the twins, you will too.
Everybody loves the things they’ll say and do;
Their eyes smile when they see you coming,
You smile back because they’re so loving.
Everybody loves the twins, you will too,
The girls surely love you two.

Brigid likes to crawl along the wall now that she can stand,
Ophelia does the same but the girls have to use their hands;
It won’t be long now until they’re walking,
Wait another month and they won’t stop talking.
Everybody loves the twins, you will too
The girls surely love you two.

They don’t know how to say they're in love with you,
But that's okay you can see that its plainly true;
They light up when they see you coming,
The arms start flailing and their legs start pumping.
Everybody loves the twins, you will too,
The girls surely love you two.

Dreaming of your loves in the comfort they’re in love with you,
Dreaming of your loves in the comfort that you love them too.
Dreaming of my loves in the comfort I'm in love with you.

You know Cohen and Ellis,
Powel and McEnany,
Hutchison, Meadows,
And soon, Giuliana;
But try not to recall
The most infamous POTUS of all:

Donald the orange-skinned POTUS
Has a Pinocchio nose,
And everytime he speaks out,
You literally see it grow.
All of his well-placed minions,
And millions that can't be named,
Try to protect the Donald,
But only expose their shame.

Then one sunny DC Day
SC Jack Smith  says:
Donald with your team in flight,
Your term in office is finite.

Then how his minions left him,
And they shouted silently;
Donald, you long-nosed politico,
You're a blip in history.

The wick was primed, lit and trimmed regular like
the steadfast held on to the faint light of hope
if not for thier all
but all others
they shielded it from the wind
and the rain
and fed it with love and devotion
so it burned steady,
bright but not glaring
and they had to look hard
but all who searched
found it
Then lit their own wicks
primed and trimmed regular like
and just like that
it grew
and love happened
And they became free
because they could finally
see.

The hood won't be the same,
We're out standing in the rain,
To encourage sprouts as we once did our children;
For down the road you see it's as legal,
As a Timmy 'n cream-cheese bagel,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

On this side of our border,
Starting this October,
We'll bake it, vape it, roll and bowl to take it;
Down the road you see it's now legal,
The price of home grown's dropped to zero,
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale and some will eat it;
We're good to grow the free green grass at home.

I'm awake and it astounds me,
My four plants that surround me;
We've realized what we've long been dreaming;
For there's a store now where we can cop some,
Come this fall fresh buds will blossom,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.

Yes we're all on board to greet it,
Some inhale, and some will eat it,
We're good to grow our free green grass at home.