INAUGURAL LECTURE SERIES (POETRY)

Sep 2016

Randolph Llewellyn Wilson

Politics , Wall Street and The Disenfranchised

What amount of sugar will render '*****'
palatable

Aug 2016

Walter W Hoelbling

Diapers and politicians
need to be changed frequently
and for the same reasons

********

los panales y los politicos
hay que cambiarles a menudo
y por los mismos motivos

#change #politicians #diapers

Aug 2016

Stephan

Spare Me The Lecture

a collaborative piece created by Papaya and Stephan*

I know the story of an ugly old fellow
Who taunted and cursed and told many lies
But did you know that an ugly old fellow
Was merely the skin that held his disguise

"Spare me a quarter and I'll spare you the lecture"
Often he’d say to the young and the brave
Laughing they’d pass without barely a glance
Thrusting the man into temper and rage

When along stepped another into the commotion
Stopping to listen to all he did say
Shaking his head he reached in his pocket
Pulled out a quarter to proudly display

Then closed his hands into two equal fists
Held them up high as he said with a grin
"I’ll pay your offer so you will stop ranting
If only you can guess which hand it is in"

Stroking his beard the man gave a smile
"I do love a challenge, so let us begin
But once I have chosen and reveal your coin
You’ll stay to listen, and we both shall win"

The old man reached out, with hand on each fist
“Son, you cannot fool a man that’s my age”
Then pulled out from behind the younger man’s ear
The same coin that earlier the man had displayed

The look of surprise on his face was alarming
He glanced down at both of his two empty hands
Then thought to himself, now how did he do that,
I held it right there? but then said to the man

“A deal is a deal, so I guess I will listen
But I have a schedule, it’s my day to teach
Please hasten your words holding all of your wisdom
And here I shall stand till you finish your speech”

"I can say nothing you've not already learned
That each man has something special to give
To stop and to listen and open your eyes
This is how all men and women must live"

"Some will spare time, others spare a dime
Still others will play tricks as you see
You must be wise, separate truth from the lies
And always be the very best you can be"

Aug 2016

Michael LoMonaco

The Addiction Epidemic

Drugs of pleasure are an escape,
Living in an imaginary paradise.

Once addicts come back to reality,
Existence without the high seems unreal.

Craving drugs as if they need food,
Starving for that artificial happiness.

Users are dedicated to false determination,
Neglecting harmful chemicals that promise joy.

Responsibility is absent from their actions,
Blaming dependency on other individuals.

Despair leads to committing crimes,
Stealing money for the hunger of fake arousal.

Destiny led by dependence will inflict misery,
Fueling a lifestyle that has no moral worthiness.

Cravers must arrive at desperation to recover,
A quest found by the collapse of a breakdown.

Trying to discover a route to quitting addiction,
Seeking happiness through paths of genuine trails.

#poem #sad #addiction #life #pain #society #emotions

Aug 2016

Mary Pear

Oh Little Bud

Oh little bud upon the bush
Give one more push!
And poke your salmon coloured nose
Through the green cap that grows
To keep you warm and dry.
It holds you tight
And lets you see the light
You need to help you grow.

Don't touch this bud!
Just let it be and let it grow just so
No peeling back the sheath
To see its colours. No forcing heat, no elongated day
Or shortened night.
Just let the thing unfold.
It is itself.
It is not yours or mine.
It is its own.

If it is red we must not wish it pink
Or think that it is ours
To **** or pinch.

We can and must protect from harm
And shoo the greenfly.
We must keep it warm
In winter
Feed and water it.
But it
Is of itself.

And as it peeps
And shows its colour
We can 'Ooh!' and 'Aah!'
And love the thing it is.
And as it grows
And spreads its petals
We can look
But never touch its velvet softness
Less we leave a mark.

Left alone it reaches to the heavens
Opens
Drinks the sun and rain
And thrives.

Then in its own time
When the petals have reached out
To let the pollen dusted butterfly and bee take of their fill.
One by one, full ripe and satisfied the petals fall
And for awhile their beauty and their scent
Leaves soft remembrance.

Aug 2016

Jeff Stier

August 1945

We turned the sun
into a scourge

Burned two cities in Japan.
It was not antiseptic.
It was not friendly.

It was ****** on a scale
that the world
has come to know too well
but by a means
that upset the balance
of nature

The magnetic forces
of the atom unhinged
set off on lunatic paths
to arrive at something
like the sun

Flesh was peeled from bone
that day
faces peeled from skulls

This is not a pretty thing
not a bedtime story
for your kids

Yet our taxes pave a path
to the next generation
of hell-found missiles
aimed deliberately
and directly
at the hopes
the domestic fears
the quiet anxieties
the moments of wonder
of love
the kiss in the morning
goodbye
the welcome home in the evening
of every person alive today.

Is there a way
to say
No?

Aug 2016

Corvus

Hashtags and Hypocrisy

Before identities and allegiances are even confirmed,
The cries of anger rise up like a thick, black smoke,
Heavy and suffocating, it flows through streets,
Over the English Channel, across oceans,
Seeping into social media and blanketing all else.
Cries for vengeance,
Vengeance,
Vengeance.
And those cries barely manifested into a wisp
When Beirut was attacked the day before Paris.
I didn't see any Facebook pictures of the flag of Lebanon.
Do any of us even know what the flag of Lebanon looks like???
To **** innocent people is a crime except when we do it,
Then it's "There are always casualties of war,"
But if this isn't a war except when we're killing people,
Can it really be called a war?
We care so much about the injustice of it,
How the innocent are mowed down without mercy,
That we want those bombs dropped and we want them dropped now.
When those bombs destroy homes and blast children's limbs apart,
Bloodless and pale, until the area looks like it used to be a porcelain doll factory...
Will we all have Syrian flags for our Facebook pictures?

Aug 2016

Stephan

Someone said, "Hey Stephan"

.

Someone said, “Hey Stephan,
what’s up with all this love
It seems in every poem
that’s what you’re thinking of

Why are you always dreaming,
why is it you can’t see
That love is just a legend,
a made up fallacy

The world is filled with evil,
don’t you watch the news
CNN or NBC
or others you can choose

Clinton is a liar,
Trump is just a creep
They’ll both destroy the nation
for fortunes that they reap

Murders by the thousands,
death is in the streets
I can’t believe you haven’t seen
within the many tweets

Our water is polluted,
we’re choking on the air
They even have new bathrooms
for every one to share

Prices through the ceiling,
paychecks in the ground
Protesters are screaming,
you can hear them all around

There’s war in other countries
Servers have been hacked
Innocent bystanders
Caught in the attack

Drugs are running rampant,
****** is king
Coming through the border,
such a nasty thing

Little kids are crying,
not enough to eat
Living in the squalor,
sleeping in the street

So tell me, will you Stephan,
what’s up with what you write
Every poem filled with love,
morning, noon and night"

I looked at him a moment
and with all honesty
I said to him, "I’m sorry sir,
were you talking to me?

I was lost writing this poem
for one I do adore
I didn’t hear you talking,
could you please say it once more?"

**He just walked away shaking his head

Aug 2016

Stephan

Revealed

.

When dark clouds collide and
thunder erupts on shaken stares,
rains fall in unrelenting sorrows
along bramble thorn threads,
screaming leaves crash
into a frozen ground
of broken branches
and disgraced smiles,

as cardboard condos
dot the litter strewn landscape
and graffiti drips
in tobacco stained puddles
at the feet of those
standing in an endless line
for bits and scraps
of the life they once knew,

while sons and daughters
face the monsters drugged
by beliefs conjured
on sand blasted battlefields
and bibles of their own deciphering,
bridging the elongated gaps
between lies and promises by those
disguised in designer pantsuits
with fingers crossed
behind their backs

and children have secrets ******
upon them through filthy fingernails
hiding under bed frames
of rusted iron and disgusting touches,
silenced by the horror
of squeaking hinges
and foot steps in the hall,
crying for mothers who don’t believe,

the tears of a poet will be revealed,
bleeding through the page

Aug 2016

John Stevens

American

I am an American.
Proud to be called one.
When the flag goes by
Chills still creep over me.
Even after seventy plus years.

Many have died
Defending her name.
Defending the rights
Given by The Bill of Rights.
Freedom is definitely not free.

I ask my grandson when he was four
"What does that flag
hanging on the wall mean?"
He replied "Freedom".

Many have died
When stupid politicians
Ran the wars against us
Not the Generals who had the knowledge.

Eight years ago I remember clearly
someone we all know say;
"For the first time in my life
I am really proud of my country. "
Very disturbing words
I shall never forget.

Let us honor those who
have gone on before us.
Let us never forget
what we have and still stand for.
Let us stand and be counted.

For Freedom. Liberty. And much more.

My heart is heavy as we sit idlely by
watching all slip down the drain.

When you live in this country you abide by the laws of this country.
Never demand of America to accept your laws that violate American law.
05-28-2016

Aug 2016

Traveler

CASTLE OF THIEVES

There remains no train to glory
The jackals have broken their cells
The zombies are in the mall now
The angels are cast unto hell

The brilliance of the wicked
Rule the castle of thieves
All the wars they can monger
All the innocent blood they can bleed

Corporate incentives form their new gods
The big money of freedom's speech
They locked the gates to the heavens
And ignore the voice of the meek...