Heartsease in my garden bed,
  With sweetwilliam white and red,
Honeysuckle on my wall:--
  Heartsease blossoms in my heart
When sweet William comes to call,
  But it withers when we part,
And the honey-trumpets fall.

1005

Bind me—I still can sing—
Banish—my mandolin
Strikes true within—

Slay—and my Soul shall rise
Chanting to Paradise—
Still thine.

Uncork the bottle,
And pour it quick!
It’s been a long, long day
And I need sip.

Wine, oh Wine
I’m glad you’re mine.
Without you, I fear
I’d lose my mind.

Your dark, luscious beauty
And your white gentle hues
Coax and ease
My stress to defuse.

On days like today,
And nights,
Like tonight,
It’s you I turn to
For some bottled delight.

By: Cedric McClester,

How many times
Must it be repeated
Before the gun lobby
Is finally defeated
This sickness we have
Seems to be deep seated
If there’s a time table
Then we need to meet it

How many times
Must condolences
Be the only thing
That there is
Before we ask ourselves
What gives
Or it touches us
Where each of us lives

How many times
Must the same old excuses
Be the refrain
From our elected useless
In spite of the evidence
Of countless abuses
It’s insanity
One probably deduces

How many times
Must it be tolerated
Though most of us say
How much we hate it
How long will the gun advocates
Debate it
With arguments that
Have already been stated



















Cedric McClester, Copyright © 2015.  All rights reserved.

I am a shifting sky,
pale of pomegranate pink
to the desert plains of your
sloping skin stretched over
your bony fingers. Please think
of me when you press digits
to your lips, feel inked
numbers pulse in your pocket.
Expect me in a leather jacket
shining like oil-packed puddles,
breath heavy like smacking cigars
against brick walls and tonguing
the mortar. Expect me burrowing
my nails underneath your wedding
veil, chipped polish closing
in on the chiffon, expect my noose
of sheets to use your fabric softener,
the scent of your bed, fresh,
before we laid down in it.