Cliff Saunders | April 25, 2008
I stand on a peninsula,
watching a lifeboat guided
by three nuns come ashore.
One holds a neon candelabrum
while the others drop lily petals
on the shoreline breakers.
They are here to inspect
the portfolio of my sins.
Slowly they turn the pages,
murmuring at the last picture
where I’m kissing the exposed
breast of an ecstatic crone.
The nuns don’t say a word
as they climb [...]
Steven M. Sloan | April 23, 2008
Characters Of Lead
Some people, to be politic,
Keep heavy words inside their head.
But, the full weight of such a word
Won’t dissipate when it’s not said.
Too, the lighter words they pick
Will seem as though they each have shed
Their meaning, since they will be heard
To name the famished as well-fed,
Or call dead-soil a flowering bed,
Instead of what all [...]
Cliff Saunders | April 21, 2008
Going naked for God,
you ride a festooned animal
that has lost its horns.
You’re a pilgrim wearing palm leaves
as proof of a holy visit.
Life is so much ventriloquism,
of that you are quite certain.
Mostly it’s tossing crabapples
into orchestra pits, burning
moss off dumpsters, but that’s
about to change. From now on,
you’re going naked for God,
riding a ceremonial ram
to the isthmus [...]
Steven M. Sloan | April 16, 2008
Nothing exists outside of me
For all the world’s my fantasy –
Thus, “reality” is but a lark
In which I’ve set my fancy free
To fill this void & endless dark
With worlds that have no words for cark,
Or care, or woe, or misery.
And yet, at times, these dreams turn sour,
Commuting with nightmarish power
To stain themselves most bloodily . [...]
Steven M. Sloan | April 14, 2008
Enigma
A flash of lightning
In the darkest night
May seem like nothing
More than vivid light,
For this frequent sight
To some may seem trite;
But over water
Such flashes of light
Fill me with ardor
To free fancy’s might
In symbolic flight –
The better to spite
Those narrow of mind,
Whose thoughts are too tight
And heavily rimed
To be recondite
At the common sight
Of black lakes and [...]
Steven M. Sloan | April 10, 2008
Sour To My Taste
When lingering over my past’s cup
Of deep draughts to partake,
The quaffing of old sorrows
Brought changes with self-hate.
But, “what ifs” and “might have beens,”
Life’s pities and mistakes,
Are for some a pleasant world
To view and contemplate.
Such believe there’s no free-will:
Man as tool of fate –
A conceit designed to quell their souls’
Anguish and heartache.
Hence, [...]
Jay R. Strisik | April 2, 2008
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..
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.
.
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It’s time I sat down and faced the big questions:
Genesis of the universe, Origin of Life, and the Limits of the sky.
All this before breakfast!
Most folk have an answer: God.
It doesn’t really work for me.
I think what IS was brought about by accident.
The materials of the stars and planets are really unsolid,
They are composed [...]
