Dear self,
In losing you

Days seem blurry
Nights seem scary

Heart grows weary
Eyes turn teary

I lost the merry
I lost the power to write my story

When I die I want to be
in love with you.
I want to take with me
your tender care.  I don't

want to leave you without
you knowing that a large
piece of the fabric

of me

was you.

I want to experience

you,

the breathless catch
which surprises me
everytime I think

of you.

The thought under the song
of you loving me   The words
of prayers, in so many
languages.  We were
Blessed to know that
love was our predestined

Minute.

We for whom God planned,
in the beginning, a banquet
of days.  Not years.

When I die I want to take
your voice breathing
our names,

over and over again.

          God give us a lifetime,

          for a minute.

         You and me.

         A prayer

         Returned.




Caroline Shank
10.8.2024

The sun arose, its duties to uphold  
In its usual, resplendent style.
While flaunting its rays of orange and gold,  
Proudly it rose, with an unsettling guile.  
But I wasn't moved by this garish display,  
For I find no joy since love went away  

And why does the moon glimmer so brightly?
The sun and moon --- a heartless duet!
I find their demonstrations unsightly,
A disgraceful breach of etiquette;
Such indifference causes me agony,
For I find no joy since Love turned from me

Just listen to those warblers in that tree--
Their once-welcomed songs lack appeal;
How dare they sing amidst my misery . . .
How can my broken heart hope to heal?
O, forgive my tone so doleful and wry,
But I find no joy since Love said good-bye

Come, Love, fly homeward to my heart once more --
Heal the dying dreams of yesterday;
Don't leave me standing alone on Life's shore --
(I'd rather the tide swept me away!)
Even Angels in their heavenly lair
If bereft of Love would flee in  despair!
          
But life marches on the same as before --
And the Earth still orbits the sun,
And each day my heart breaks a little more
Facing solitude when day is done;
Though fearing derision, I'll not be coy . . .
To live without Love is to live without joy!

the sounds
softer.


once the day is dawn, the door is open, face the sky, all
comes well some days.

Peaceful as a frozen lake by a quiet winter's dawn
still as the silence that whispers to us, like a fawn
Drawn to the air in our lungs as we gently engage  
side by side in a world of great love, rock of Age

Let us fly like birds through a world of pure joy
where beauty and grace are virtues we deploy    
Let us live here as one and always keep pace  
with a heart that is pure, set always in place

Composed as the Sun when it beams on the snow
with a linger of solitude and a trace of afterglow
Quiet as the stars of heaven that exude n' shine
late at night in the sky as it turns , red to wine

Let us embrace and exist as we breathe in the calm
clothing our thoughts with a drop of  sweet balm
Let us arrive by the rivers of brave and swim free
just like the fish in the sea who know how to be,

peaceful as a frozen lake by a quiet winter pond,  
still as the silence that whispers to us at dawn.

Am I making mistakes
or living my life,
Is it softness I feel
or sharp edged knives?

how is it that the difference
I just cannot perceive?
I sweep over the floor
believe good will preceed.
it's nice to be in present tense,
where future still don't exist
in my mind, it's a void hole.
Am I being a lot dense
or is it somehow
awakening in senses.

Is it looking bright, the sun
why do I feel I am looking at the life anew,
what changed, is it a dream sequence
or the perception
Looking at it from a different point of view.

I'll pay a ransom for my art
the ivory tower must release
the fair maiden
my muse
for freedom of expression

Lawrence Hall, HSG
Mhall46184@aol.com


                 We Are Offered Two Candidates for the Presidency


I am afraid that one of them will win