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 Sep 2015 AJ
Walter W Hoelbling
is it not strange
that the knowledge
of returning spring

helps little

in the here and now

to forget
the oncoming chilling gusts
of winter?

       * *
 Sep 2015 AJ
Walter W Hoelbling
dead bodies floating
in our oceans
from the Asian Pacific
to the Mediterranean

crumpled corpses lying
on our beaches
thousands drowned unknown

overcrowded detention centers
not unlike concentration camps
behind barbed wires
guarded by police and snarling dogs

nobody feels responsible

not  those who started wars
destroyed whole cities
made millions homeless
and into refugees

not those who take advantage
of the chaos for their own gain
abusing the names of their gods
or some ancient figurehead
to excuse their atrocities and greed

not those who live
in comfortable homes
and wish the desperate crowds
would just stay on the TV screen
and not come close

nor those who pretend
to be the guardians
of our great humanitarian heritage
but show no backbone
against nationalist fanatics

it is the shame of the world
to sit and talk and watch
and not do enough

those who turn away
the needy and homeless
could also
      quite suddenly
lose their homes

forced to rely
on the kindness of strangers
 Sep 2015 AJ
Rainey Birthwright
listen -
hear no sound, feel
only wind on its way, ghostly
nothings, but hush to sharp wings
of ocean birds so fraying as they cut
the sky, shuttle to fairways, far aways,
in plaintive cries, i hear what they say,
sailing into the jeweled skylights, but i
am only weight of air, still on ground,
i mumble out, sidle the bone tides
that roll to land, grains of clarity,
i am mist and tear, a world
of hollow, i am that sound -
of ocean in a shell.
 Sep 2015 AJ
Charles Bukowski
I met a genius on the train
today
about 6 years old,
he sat beside me
and as the train
ran down along the coast
we came to the ocean
and then he looked at me
and said,
it's not pretty.

it was the first time I'd
realized
that.
 Sep 2015 AJ
rosepetal
Untitled
 Sep 2015 AJ
rosepetal
the rattle of a lost soul pushing his buggy outside

goes by

i lie on a matress mind perked up

staring with eyes shut wide
 Sep 2015 AJ
rosepetal
Untitled
 Sep 2015 AJ
rosepetal
god
tripping down heaven's stairs
to say hello
what lovely flowers are here
do we eat the tea cups too?
 Sep 2015 AJ
Noah Ducane
I could be made of gold,                                                                                                                                         and dance my life away.
I could glow with praise,                                                                                                                                         I could be lifted by the crowd.
I could charge by the hour,                                                                                                                                     I could make living cheap.
I could dine with kings,                                                                                                                                           or deny them the pleasure.
I could be outspoken,                                                                                                                                             even whispering my voice would be heard.
I could raise the sun,                                                                                                                                               I could command the stars.
Yet it would not make me happy,                                                                                                                          it would not make me sing.
Beyond you there is nothing,                                                                                                                               and no love of anything.
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