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 Apr 2020 Kendra Gatz
Winnie M W
In the careless spring of youth
When my heart was new
Before it knew

I stumbled off my feet
So simply sweet
For him

For him I laughed
For him I sang
And would have given all

But he did not fall
No, he did not fall
For me

So young, his heart, was old
In contrast, mine was new
He knew what I did not

For he had stumbled
Right off his feet
So simply sweet

Oh, she was his one
His lovely
His only

She was his love
She was spring
And spring was she

When she laughed
The birds
Would sing

And when she smiled
The bells
Would ring

The sun
Would shine
On everything

For when she walked
And where she walked
She walked in spring

Softly sweetly
Footsteps fell
In them followed spring

She walked away
His heart once young
Now knows too well

I look behind me
As I walk with hope
To see there spring

But it is never there
No, it is never there
I do not walk in spring

Birds do not sing
Bells do not ring
I am not his spring

So young, his heart is old
Likewise, mine is too
I know what I did not

Oh, I had stumbled
Right off my feet
So simply sweet

For he was my one
My lovely
My only

He was my love
He was spring
And spring was he

When he laughed
The birds
Would sing

And when he smiled
The bells
Would ring

The sun
Would shine
On everything

For when he walked
And where he walked
He walked in spring

Softly sweetly
Footsteps fell
In them followed spring

He walked away
My heart once young
Now knows too well

Still I ache to be
His one and lovely
Be his only

I long to be
I long to walk
Sing and ring and shine

I long to laugh
And smile and walk
I long to be his spring
The story behind this poem is not true, though as I write it and read it, it feels very real to me. As luck would have it inspiration struck at a Jazz concert and I did not have pen, paper, nor handy computer with which to give life to the fleeting thought before it was lost forever to the black hole that is my memory. So there I was in the hallway outside the auditorium furiously typing away on my phone trying to preserve the lines flying through my head while at the same time trying to listen to the music wafting through the door. I felt like a miserable excuse for an appreciator of the arts but I think it was worth it. Now, several drafts later my baby is still not complete but I am sharing it with you. I welcome all advice and criticism but please be kind, like I said it is my baby. Enjoy.
Your beauty touches of a stars heavenly radiance
For in your face is captured their celestial glow
In blissful pools of endless starlight splashing
And I alone my love will always deeply know

The value of your beautifully enchanting eyes
Which securely hold in bond my heart each day
In a powerless confinement of cupids sweet adore
Where my love easily grows in an abounding way

For deep in my dreams I have always sought
Your heart's love which daily endears my mind
For it has always been my heart's fervent desire
To of your sweet love belong an infinite time

For to serve the daily needs of your lovely heart
Each day  leaves my face with an enthralling glow
Knowing I will never have a single desire to depart
Those beautifully enchanting eyes who love me so.
 Apr 2020 Kendra Gatz
zee
bright.
 Apr 2020 Kendra Gatz
zee
i think of people as if they're stars
billions are existing, brightly shining
each star necessary to complete variations of constellations
but when one star dies out, you can never complete it.

much like people,
billions are existing, brightly shining
unaware of the purpose they have
blinded by other's lights they forget their own
forgotten brightness, they forget the purpose they have
in other's lives.
i looked up one night to stop myself from crying but instead i was captured by the most beautiful mess of twinkling stars, almost blinded of how brightly lit they were.
Walking along the river bank, a boy found a dress,
Floating in the bleak water.
A colorless bundle of cloth.
In the moon light, he noticed the dress winking back at him.
The beads glistened off the water's reflection.
It looked serene and wholesome, like the sun rising on a cold winter's morning.
The ribbons acted as arms, waving hello.
The garment's creases and folds, revealed a silhouette.
All around, the noise came to a stand still.
The river's touch, made the dress move, twirl,
Dance.
He wanted to reach out and touch it, hold it.
He wanted to dance with it.
To feel the cloth melt at his finger tips.
As he extended his hand to grab the floating mystery,
He fell in.
Devoured by the unforgiving river.
Only a few minutes passed but it seemed like eternity.
Then, drifting upwards from the haunting water,
A pair of faded jeans and a muddy shirt.
They moved as one gliding over to the pallid dress.
A sleeve reached out and met a milk-white waist line.
And guided the colorless dress to the middle of the engaging river,
To dance under the moon light.
Obviously I'm new at this, and my grammar and spelling and punctuating could use A LOT of help, but try to ignore that please! Thanks :)
tonight we gather
to mark a
commencement day

four decades on
from a late June
afternoon

exchanging
embraces and
bon voyage wishes

departing a grand
chandeliered Rivoli
embarcadero

bound
to glorious
destinations

our bold sails
welling with
youthful
exuberance
in pursuit of
dreams
and intrepid
endeavors

our life
journeys
are blessed
with rich
abundance,
the grace of
challenge and
the gift of days

this evening
as we reconnect
to share the joys
and wisdom gleaned
from well lived lives
we will also celebrate
in multicolored splendor
the lives of classmates
who have commenced
journeys to other
destinations

though their
earthly sojourn
is complete
passed friends
remain alive
in our memory

surely the spirits
of the beloved
will walk this
room tonight

forever young
their quiet presence
will gently touch
tender hearts

they’ll appear
as they once looked
on their finest day

and as we relive
the bits of our lives
we shared with
one another

we may feel
the grasp of a
warm hand
as we once did
during that
snowy evening
west end walk

we’ll dance with them again
around Tamblyn Field bonfires
gyrating in a shared
ecstatic ebullience

we’ll applaud most likely
to succeed lives
most beautiful smiles
and crack up
to the hilarity of
class clown jokes

we’ll taste the kiss
of an after dark
Lincoln Park
rendezvous

groove to the
rock steady
beat of a
bad company tune  

we’ll submerge again
in a Yellow Submarine
to embark on an epic
Greenwich Village
journey

we’ll roll down
the shore on old
Thunder Road
windows open
hair blowin
radio blastin

we’ll taste the sweet sip
of Cherry Cokes
and Root Beer floats
at Roadrunners

chasing lost love salty tears
spilled over ***** upperclass home boys
and the soft blush sentiment of a
first French kiss

wouldn't it be nice
to swoon to the
fantasy and
winsome yearnings
of favorite
summer songs

filling our head’s
with mind
blowing collages
starring
team mates
drama club
second takes
heady chess club
checkmates

we’ll marvel at the disruption of
premillennial breakthrough science projects
created by pocket protected slide ruling
entrepreneurial math wizards

we'll recall droll gossip
by drab hall lockers
dim gym showers
awkward dances
Yippie people power

patriotic assemblies
cool sharp dressers
right on brother
Que Pasa lil sista

rock and roll album covers
Simon and Garfunkel poetics
Go Go Boots kickin
FM radio psychedelics

Midnight Confessions
emphatically blared
from the cafeteria jukebox
Civil Rights, Earth Day
and righteous
anti war activism

tribes of hoods, Ra’s,
jocks, artistes and tie dye hippies
everything is groovy
lets get a sandwich at Ernie’s

first carnal explorations
Moody Blue Tuesday trysts
man could she speak German
boy do I dig her dress

we did hard time together
at split session detention centers
ate chocolate chip cookies
cracked up to Mr. Thomas’s
Ides of March tragedy

took first tokes and
sips of Boones Farm
we partied hard
and did no harm

admired academic brainiacs
and the civic commitment
of student govie reps
shut down the gubmint
was never a threat 

basketball rumbles
Bulldog football
**** Ludwig soccer teams
nimble cheerleaders

leggy majorettes
kick *** marching band fanfares
compelling masquer presentments
Park Avenue wayfarers

they were
crew mates
on The Soul Boat
rode shotgun
to Midnight Rambler
Doobie Concerts

cruised hard in
the Root Hog
Rat Raced Louie
in tiny white Pintos

we booked
many a mile
with our lost
friends

on the road to
this evening

authoring
volumes of
fabled odysseys
and fantastic
recollections

their stories
are our stories
telling our stories
keeps them alive

some may say
gone too soon
but the measure of
a well lived life
is not counted
in days, nor
accomplishments

but how one has loved
and how much one was loved

quietly there
always with us
forever to be
a wholesome
part of us

as the brothers
from Cooley High
would say

lets tip a sip
for the brothers
and sisters who
ain’t here….

God bless
Godspeed
enjoy the evening
vaya con dios mis amigos

Music Selection:
Pat Metheny
Mas Alla


RHS 74
Class Reunion
Elks Club
Rutherford
11/29/14
There once lived a girl
Barely even three
Who wore childish, innocent smiles
And ran around freely.
She spent summer with her sister
Picking lilac flowers,
Rolling down grassy hills
Endless fun for hours.

There once lived a girl
Finally thirteen
Who wore gloss on her lips
And said things she didn’t mean.
She spent summer all alone
Never picking any flowers
Claiming she had better things to do
With her endless summer hours.

There once lived a girl
Sixteen, impossibly thin
Who painted scarlet on her wrists
Because she could never ever win.
She spent summer locked away
Bawling in her room for hours
And there was nothing in the world she wanted
More than lilac flowers.

There once was a girl
Who tried so hard in life
But she couldn’t bear to live
With her sugarcoated strife
And one day she just vanished
So her sister cried for hours
And upon her solemn grave
She laid withering lilac flowers.
 Apr 2020 Kendra Gatz
misha
your name is
forbidden in
my mouth
or in my heart
because when
i think about
you;

i'll cry a little more,
hurt a little stronger
love a little softer
because you no longer
make me feel sober

i'm drunk on the
memory of you
if only i could chase you with pizza but shots don't work like that

— The End —