I sought to be loved,
But no one was there.
Day after day my heart ached;
I longed to share my passion.

One starless winter night,
My heart gave up.
It went empty and cold;
Life had no meaning.

Hatred washed over me,
Like a wave
Over a sunlit rock pool.
My thirst for love had gone.

My desire had evaporated.
I know my yearning will never be satisfied;
I will continue with my life,
A slave to hatred.

Francis (aged 12 years)
from *New Families, Old Scripts

Have you laughed with pain?
Have you cried with pleasure?
Don't tell me you haven't
Lived.

Ants build.
Locusts destroy.
Everything that moves
Dances.

My father gave me the
Last of his wine.
Thus leaving the rest of that
Habit behind.
His eyes, once blue like skies
Over sea,
Were grey with regret when
He gave it to me.
The older you grow, the
Better it sits,
The bitterness clouding both
Wisdom and wits.
I'm glad he won't know
How well I understand
How much the bottle can
Steal from a man.
If anything's off in your
Body or soul,
If angry or lonely or
Not feeling whole,
The first things to toss so your
Boat doesn't sink,
Are the barrels and bottles marked:
Too Much to Drink.

Standing still
Crushed rampaged
  metals collide the face
  splashed with guts of the
      masses Massacras being
            routines in all routes the
                   scenes are blinding
                        as light flashes
                     before the eyes
                  like angry skies
                in  darker nights

           The day is reborn
      the face wiped with
  cloths of sorrow black
bags already gone but
  not forgotten, pardoned
     only when the bones have
           cracked and the body
           can no longer stand the
             pain, with holes deep
             enough to be filled
                    by the rain.

my spirit breathes into forever
constant peaceful love
I stand and look into the oracle
Oracle of you