MAP
#74
Theme:
Poems from International Guests
1.
Jayne Fenton Keane, from Tallai, Australia:
"A
SONNET"
Those
darkest eyes ablaze by umbral suns
Desire
mirrors upon our vanity,
Your
head upon my breast sends breath through me,
Our
winged shadow's cast -- an ebony swan!
Entwined
we glide toward truer selves unknown
While
whispers of wrecked lovers scorch our minds
--
Those caught in nature's paradox designed
To
make tomorrows. Wastelands warped in stone
Revere
our emptiness. Deep in your eyes
I
see myself. Such skeptical disgrace
Is
holiness. Coarse nature can't displace
Our
mindfulness. We consciously revise
The
arias of artless birth with lust
For
art. To stalk this solitude ... -- We must.
©
Jayne Fenton Keane
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
2.
From Carl Dhiman of London:
Shopping
around
for
a better deal
for
a better
you
make me feel
lika
a natural woman
an
unnatural come-on...
a
pint sized problem
in
a pushchair
a
way in
a
way out
a
day in
a
healthy doubt
a
love
of
your life
(inspired
by, and dedicated to Mimi Knapp)
©
carl dhiman
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
3.
From Brinsley Sheridan, of London:
Forty-Something
If
you remember 1968?
When
bells were ringing by the golden gate
And
no one worried about the dollar rate
You're
Forty-something.
Can
you recall when Lennon grew his beard
And
words like "Psychedelic" first appeared
And
it was cool to call your parents "weird!"
You're
Forth-something.
And
do you tell your kids the sixties were the time to live
That
all that music today is only derivative
And
when they watch TV and ask you: were you really there?
You
say yes, because you like to think you nearly were.
If
all your friends can talk about is how
The
price of property is doing now
Or
if the school their kids are in is in or out -
You're
Forty-something!
Do
dinner parties seem a dull affair
Where
wine is spoken while the guests compare
The
cost of renovating that art-deco chair -
You're
pretentious - and Forty-something!
Once
Sergeant Pepper had the only lonely heart you knew
Now
all your friends are on their own or marriage number two!
Psychedelia
has given way to psychotherapy
Peace
and love for financial security
Forty
is a golden age. Forty is a magic stage
Forty
is now all the rage - Because we're forty
Forty's
when you reach your prime, Forty is that special time -
When
you'd give everything you've got to stay thirty nine!
©
Brinsley Sheridan
4.
Alex Krysinski of Wakefield, England:
Abuse
soft
as a caress
on
unmarked skin;
gentle
as a word
that
undermines,
breeds
doubt.
Abuse
of
tenderness
and
trust
that
you can't quite
speak
of
but
you feel it
somewhere
deep down
even
though the child
has
become woman.
It
stirs like a phantom
when
you can't trust,
when
you just can't love
even
though you want to.
And
the abused abuse
themselves
or others
until
someone or something
brings
light into that dark corner,
that
secret self
that
frightened child
who
still clings
to
the woman.
Someone
or something
who
can dispel those Demons,
sends
them back
to
where they came from.
Abuse
leave
scars
that
are not visable
until
someone or something
brings
them into the light.
©
1998 Alexandria Janenna Krysinski