Raised with violence and harsh spoken words
She embraced fairytales, roses, and romance
Always seeking the different and absurd
It’s better than performing a cruel dance

Fantasy led her down the path of pain
Where self-hate and ignorance reigned supreme
Unable to cope, she felt quite insane
But that’s what comes from living in a dream

Tired of the dark, she sought a new path
Self-reflection led her to face her fears
And slowly her inner pain and deep wrath
Left, leaving room for hope’s light to appear

Still, she embraces roses and romance
It’s better than performing a cruel dance

Kelly Rose
© February 7, 2017

Gold so glitters than any gem that doth shine,
Effulgently than lanterns of night skies,
Dazzlingly than a moon kissed shoreline,
But nears not my seraph's opalscent eyes.
Yes, so fresh are the waters of the Nile,
With exuberance of a silken Moon,
But nears not my seraph's vivacious smile,
That tends to draw all that doth breath to swoon.
Yet I know: "Velvety is Heaven's chin,
Whose frickles bear such a novelty luster
But nears not my seraph's unblemished skin;
More fair than them in a wondrous cluster.

So true love is but a gem that doth shine,
With a luster that at one's soul doth twine.


©Kikodinho Alexandros
Jumeira, Dubai
6th February 2017

I walked the streets of Dundalk, Maryland
In Baltimore, when winters shiver shook
Bright festive baubles clung in every nook
And flickering lights from windows gaily spanned
And by Papapsco Church I paused to stand
And gazed upon a host of the good book
And open-mouthed I felt compelled to look
Upon a scene obscene to understand
As ragged folk on benches tried to sleep
And county folk with badges moved them on
And pinned a blunt citation to church door
That shamed the reverend that tried to keep
Poor homeless folk from freezing evermore
At Christmas in a land most Christian