POETRY: "Marie Antoinette" By Cheryl A. Baldwin

We were separated

like a banana and its peel

I felt tossed out

... yet I was free of all the bitter implications of life.

Oh i may not understand now, but i will!

...Someday

    

Mama say he was no good for me

...but oh how i adored him dearly.

See I was in love.

Astonished by his style 

and captivated by his voice

               But still he was no good.

Creepin' through the nights at all hours and...

And I loved him.

Didn't seem to mind his wicked ways, cuz at the end of the day 

He was still mine 

and I was still his

He was my Mozart 

And i was his Antonia,

Lost in the music of love together.

     And there was always that voice in the back of my head telling me that this was wrong.

But i couldn't...

I just couldn't let go of...

 ...my love.

     ...Yes, those days have come to pass,

and even though i don't get that feeling anymore

and even though those melodic memories still parade my dreams...

I must find peace with it...!

  ...Cuz mama knows best

And she say that the rhythm in my heart will, one day, live again.

"Hi" by Ana Hagins

My mind starts to race

at increasing increments,

a pace so unrealistic my thoughts can’t keep up.

 

Arrange, rearrange.

Arrange, rearrange.

Constantly changing,

but not in cycles.

 

One step closer and

my nerves go haywire.

Hostility.

A total mental chaos.

 

Anxiety hits…

 

PANIC!

 

PANIC!

 

PANIC!

 

Arrange, rearrange.

Arrange, rearrange.

Constantly changing,

but it’s not a pattern.

 

Viciously banging against my head,

my thoughts can’t get a grip on

what needs to be done.

Ever so aggressively scourging my tongue

that my teeth began to chatter.

Brain freeze.

 

WAKE UP!

I’m awake,

in a zone but not focused

…gotta get focused.

 

KNOCK! KNOCK!

It exasperates intensely on my throat like

I’m chokin’,

and then it gets me nauseous.

 

SPIT IT OUT!

Now I gotta puke

like a punk overdosin’.

 

Arrange, rearrange.

Arrange, rearrange.

Constantly changing.

 

I’m flipped like opposites.

Gemini.

Now yin and yang.

 

STOP!

Now im feeling woosey.

 

 

One step closer…

 

 

WARNING!

YOU ARE NOW OVERDOSIN’

OFF A DRUG THAT GETS YOU OPEN!

 

One step closer and it all replays…

 

 

PANIC: arrange, rearrange.

 

 

WAKE UP: I’m woke. I’m in a zone but not focused. Gotta stay focused.

 

 

KNOCK KNOCK: it hits so hard off my throat like im chokin’. 

 

 

Arrange, rearrange.

Arrange, rearrange.

 

 

One step closer…

 

 

SPIT IT OUT!

 

I take one final step

and say…

“Hi”.

POETRY: 'S (Xcuse Me, 1st Luv)' by Trinity

Ill try my hrdst 2 say

ths w/o 2 much scruple

bt I cnt hlp bt c da wy uve neglectd us dese past six

yrs. Ive bn starving

frm ur lack of affection or any knd of sentiment

tht wud giv me any incentiv 2 wnt 2 luv u. u dnt knw hw mny times I seriously

thot bout leavn u. I wsnt sure

whn I’d do it or whthr or nt I’d tell u face 2 face or jus simply

leave a dear jon lettr on da fire place. Bt nsted I stayed

bc it sounded

so

hrd 2 scheme

my wy thru ths life w/o u. Az I said

it ovr & ovr n my hed I fnd myslf  st-st-stuttering

lik a cam’s shutter…

Mor lik a shiver

bt it wsnt freezn. It flickrd & flutrd az I tried to fnd evry reason 2 4gt it. Bt its steadily

on my mind. I thnk bout u lik 1 thnks bout 2, lik 2 thnks bout turtle duvs, lik duvs thnk bout cryn… ive shed

enuff tears 2 flood ths earth ovr again & u hv yt 2 feel my pain. It’s a steady

cycle: I start

2 leav bt something

alwys stops

me & makes me hope ull do bettr bt thn I fnd myslf stuck

n da same

spot.

& im sorry

if it seems

az if im puttn evrythng on u; its sum

of my negligence 2 bt eithr wy we hv 2 face da fact tht we cnt sustain

a healthy rltnshp. I didnt wnt it 2 cum 2 ths bc I knw it wud hrt. Ive thot lng & hrd bout it…bout me… bout u lik r thnks bout s,

lik s

thnks bout shoes,

lik shoes

thnk bout wlkn, lik wlkn thnks bout out… im wlkn out on u bc its hrd nt knwn wher u nd 2 b bt known tht its nt wher ur @. Jus take a wlk n my shoes

4 a moment. I say

all of tht 2 say

tht our current situation

is pass da possibility of restoration. We no lngr hv jus patchs 2 sew

up bc weve out grown ea othr n certain aspects. Do u smell

wht im stepping

n? & n sum

cases im bored 2 say

the least. I nd 2 taste da kiss of someone

new. & az I sit

here & thnk of hw 2 summarize

da end of wht seems 

to b nvr endn I beg tht u nt bribe me 2 stay

bc by da time u respond 2 ths txt ill b gon. I knw ths is totally random & I hope tht im nt interruptn a gud day or addn 2 a bad 1. So

xcuse me, 1^st luv, bt we r thru. Sorry.

</3   =’(

*Send*

POETRY: 'Homecoming' by Kabriel Moorehead

Homecoming
By Kabriel Moorehead

Things will never be the same

Words of wise men that are imparted upon the youth as they leave home

You never quite know what you’re getting yourself into

Leaving southern comfort in search of an ideal

Because home is where the heart is

Until you grow weary,

Of the constant aches and pains of a sheltered existence

The monotony is like a slowly dragging dagger across your veins

Eeking out drops of life until one day you hit empty,

Becoming soulless and drone like,

Trudging through your days in a death march,

A fluid less trail of tears left in your wake

This is why children leave home

Unafraid of the unknown

Because the threat of becoming pigeonholed is daunting

Things are never the same once they return

With the anxiety of invariability removed

We become slaves to the system unchained

Purposeful in our slow, staggering steps towards individuality

Things are never quite the same once we return home

Because we don’t want them to be

Copyright 2012| Kabriel Moorehead

PHOTOGRAPHY: 'Moon Shadows Hold Secrets' by Jazelle Handoush

Moon Shadows Hold Secrets [Poetic Pieces]
By Jazelle Handoush

She's the dark side of the moon;

She's a mystery & a muse.

Copyright 2012 | Jazelle Handoush

PHOTOGRAPHY: 'The Inevitable Toothache' by Jazelle Handoush

The Inevitable Toothache

By Jazelle Handoush

She's all candy hearts

& icing on the outside

but she's just a temporary sweet nothing

to get you by.

Copyright 2012 | Jazelle Handoush

POETRY: 'Beneath The Rubble Of The Realist' by Jazelle Handoush

Beneath The Rubble Of The Realist
By Jazelle Handoush

I see you destroy all these beautiful things, take a
Sledgehammer to hearts and heros. You say
You're not destroying, you're showing
Real world, true face
What it looks like through the inside, now
Out.
You said you'd take a
Needle through the Milky Way
Thread between teeth, sharper than it seems
Pull it through, take a string, in,
Out,
In...
Tie a knot, loose or not
Stars shooting, bullet to the brain
POP!
You say you're not the one to destroy, when the
Big, red, bright self-destruct button
Is anyone's to deploy, but I
Think you're setting them up on an instant install, placing
Them way within reach for the any mind or kind, until
Click!
A basic boom.
You say, you say, with words on repeat, dark minded
With meaning,
The realism of the matter is with each mess we make
There's magic underneath,
A means to take it through the rubble, find a realization,
And make it gleam.
I'm sick of the voice, this dynamite in every nano-bite.
Bomb squad saviors, all shiny with armor, take a blast
One to make the deafening last
To detonate your dynamite
And help me find the shine in the golden grains of granite.

Copyright 2012 | Jazelle Handoush