OPEN MIC ARCHIVE June

OPEN MIC ARCHIVE
June, 2005

OPEN MIC ENCORE I June

OPEN MIC ENCORE II June

Wasted Time

By Nick Tock

School was meant to be the fuel for my desire

To learn, grow up, mature and be inspired

But instead I burned out all of my good fire

To gratify society with the words, “you’re hired”

It’s authorities’ will to eventually teach us all

That was the beginning of my life’s great fall

Thrown into the hole of the path most tread

The one that school has always taught us to dread

Now here I lie, ten years away

Hoping to be rich some day

Because that was all I was taught to know

Making money, with nowhere else to go

Now here I lie, thirty years away

Hoping to be happy someday

If only I would have made more of those years

But instead just followed the path of my peers

Now here I lie, sixty years away

Waiting for my death someday

I realize my life was wasted, for lack of my desire

All because I wasted all of my good fire

-0-

What should I complain of?

Being one who has it all but wants it none.

To wonder seems a curse, to digress a sin,

This day, a paradox, should not be believed in.

To what end does the grass grow,

If only to be cut?

To what end does the wind blow,

When only a fleeting moment of its intent we feel?

And to what end do I go,

If only the inevitable.

In my yellow wood seems like one path alone,

Does present itself so menacingly.

And if I choose another, albeit accidentally,

To the same end it will lead, though it may satisfy completely.

A generation lost, what cause have we?

No war, no fight, no belief,

No mass distraction from the banality of days

But worse, no depth.

We have dispensed with the old,

We have replaced it with nothing.

ned healy

-0-

MY BELOVED FATHER

BY LIP SAI LIN

WHEN ICE MELTS WATER FLOWS

WHEN FIRE DIES OFF ASHES REMAIN

WHEN YOU LEFT LOVE STILL GROWS

AND A STORY IS TOLD

AND AN IMAGE IS FORMED

AND A MEMORY FLASHES IN

AND LOVE LIVES ON

FOR FATHER'S HUNGER

FOR FATHER'S HARDWORKs AND SUFFERINGS

FOR FATHER'S SAVINGS

ALL HAD BUILT UP A TOWER OF LOVE

NOW STILL HOVERING ABOVE US

TANGLING IN OUR BRAINS

LINGERING IN OUR HEARTS

FLOATING IN OUR EYES

FOR THE ONCE BLESSED BY MANY

LONG - LIFE FATHER

HAS GRANTED US

AN ETERNAL MEMORY

OF OUR BELOVED FATHER

-0-

FROM DEEEEEP WITHIN

TRI TRAN

My heart throws up joy

Upon the silver clouds...

Each musical note reminds me of yesterday's emerald flames.

My heart throws up its pulses,

The sky, a happy lark, beaming...

Azure blazes incessantly, for centuries,

Auburn, abright, like fireworks,

Forever, I live, unfold my amber wings,

Humming happy melodies.

-0-

From the Creative Writing: The Joy of Writing class at Upper Valley Campus of Napa Valley College, St. Helena, California, please accept the following haiku:

#1. Robin skates on frozen

bird bath, sun melts

shower

by Patsy Ann Taylor

#2. Hummingbird blurs rose bush

thorns of pain

escape

by Robera Goodin

#3. Daisies dance in breeze

calico kitten attacks

no fight -- no fun

by Trudy Martin

#4. Black poodle, dancing leaf

charges it, to fly high

disappointment

by Roberta Goodin

#5. Blue sky stretches wide

brown earth greens beneath dampness

sink in subterrain

by Laurel Vjohnson

#6. Words dry syllables

haiku springs

weather's vicissitudes

by Val Ramsey

-0-

"Today"

Sean Apland

I stared out the window

past all the dismayed heads

and at a treed, a rather unique tree.

Not that it was different from the other trees,

but it had an unspeakable uniqueness about it.

Gray-brown bark covered its limbs,

yellow-green needles sprouted from twigs

like you would see on any pine tree,

though this tree was special.

it seemed there was something within its limbs,

something hidden within the rings of its trunk.

i try to put my finger on it but come up blank.

Within its waving branches a whisper is carried on the wind.

by the time it reaches my cocked ears

there is nothing left but a faint trace.

Straining to catch what was whispered,

whispered from spreading branches,

I hear the word "Today"

-0-

My Guardian

The Guardian Angel of me

Please come help me see

Make me funny, and make me play

Open new doors for me each day

Take away all doubt and fear

I want no seriousness with me here

I want to find love in all places

I want to make friends with new faces

Don’t let me worry or cry

I never want to say goodbye or die

Take away all sadness

And replace it with happiness

Help me find my one true mate

To love and be loved; as is our fate

Protect my loved ones on earth here

I’ll always love you My Guardian Angel dear.

~Jackie Fire

-0-

EYES OF ICE -
Emily Olsen

I look into your eyes,

Searching for some sort of reprise,

from the coldness that resides there,

Freezing all with your stare.

When you enter a room,

There is an air of doom,

The room falls silent,

But I stay defiant.

Few dare meet your gaze,

But me you will not faze,

Because I see below the surface,

That you dont do this on purpose.

I see pain in your eyes,

Born of cheating and of lies,

I feel compassion for you,

Though I know not what you've been through.

-0-

Just Like That
Wesley Murat

Just like that

She moves

Just like that

Locked down

Just like that

Drums sound

Just like that

Mos Def is

Human beat

Just like that

Flow so tight

Move your feet

Just like that

Boy rides

Just like that

Nigga slides

Just like that

we the strong survive

Just like that

It rains

Just like that

You’ll feel pain

Just like that

We all the same

Just like that

Hoes got it for free

Just like that

Nigga skeet, skeet

On her knee

Just like that

She moves

Just like that

I flow

Just like that

I’ll make my dough

Just like that

Feel it from deep

Within

Just like that

Human sin

JUST LIKE THAT!

-0-

The violent rain pats my head as I stand outside

I listen o so carefully, the thunder I abide

I feel the power surge through my veins, this is what I've known

That many years it's never come, look at me I've grown

I walk inside the house so dark, thinking in my head

What will my dreams be tonight, resting in my bed?

The rain that pat my head outside is hardly coming down

And lightning with some thunder brings a very heavy sound

Calm to me but not to you, it's pleasure in my heart

Nature pounding violently, it makes it's own nice art

Allie Hemmingsen

-0-

the angry cigarette

texter

u laze with me, glaze with me

hang around on my lips

burden my fingertips

burn my soul , shadow my craving

sandpaper my throat

i live in your leaves and you incense my hair

you color my nails and smoke my veins

your an expensive whore , but your dress is virgin

i lay you down to die in your grave of ash,

but there's always another one of you fresh and packed

i am ill and you make me gloom

when im happy , you want to celebrate

when im down you want to evaporate

you slowly breathe , i slowly die

im smoking a tree i cant believe it

skin ,teeth and brains slowly decay

u make my people glide away

god i hate u

i need you

your clinically white

make me think of hospitals and tubes and my throat on fire

you make me helpless and without hope

you make me worry while i smoke

i was cool, you befriended me

now a fool, you hang on like a conspiracy

one day idyllicly i swear

ill drop you and stub you out

ill forget your charm and guile

and find a new friend

shell stand by me and not impose

not consume and not overdose

shell be pink and breathe with life

ill hold her hand and breathe fresh smiles

she'll be my baby and ill instill

pride and joy which you could never bring

-0-

Daddy

Chelsea Camacho

Daddy I am in love

Daddy I am in love with a thug

Daddy don't be mad I need a man

That will comfort and love me

Daddy please why won't you just understand

This is gone be the best thing I ever had

But I don't care what no one says

Cause you know me, I ain't afraid

It aint gone mess up my life

I had a boyfriend you had two kids and a wife

So I really don't have to think twice

I am so sorry that I was bad

But I know I made them up to you

So I really Thank You

I know how it feels to be in love with some body

Just like when you were in love with your honey

But I promise you this I am going to graduate

And then burst into dripping tears

Then you will tell me what I want to hear

That I did it and I am proud of you

And also with all my heart I love you

-0-

Night Clouds
Arthur C Rowe 3rd

Night clouds fill the sky

With their foreboding shapes

Of darkness linger

The fledgling death throws

Of the lingering days plans

Each plan stands on it's own

Yet supports and is supported

By all of the residual plans

When the clouds come

They blanket the dying days plans

Engulfing them wholly

Devouring the days very essence

Bringing peace to the world

When I was younger my grandfather

Used to tell me of the night clouds

And their coming each evening

He did this after much questioning by me

as to how the world grew dark each night

we would walk or ride in the car and

he would tell me about the night clouds coming

he would tell me how they swallowed the whole of the earth with

intentions of never letting go only to be beat back with the

sunrise forced to return their wares

he would warn me of the night clouds

but grand farther never said

. . .they could come in a day

-0-

treat him right
jamie hayes

riding my horse through the wild open west

knowing me and my horse are at our best

feeling the brisk breeze across my face

theres a certain feeling that special taste

the ground under neath rushing by

it puts you on a natural high

no petrol smells or motor running

just a natural horse who can be cunning

you have to teach him who's the boss

or real quick smart he'll give you the toss

just remember that your his mate

he relies on you to look after him its his fate

so treat him good and don't leave him locked up

or you'll soon find yourself, sore on your but

by the homy poet

i tell you so you no it

-0-

Popular beliefs.

John

Not all U.F.O’s are fictional,

Not all Scots are dysfunctional,

No, your parents weren’t so square,

You should’ve seen them, wish you were there.

Hitler was evil, Capone was not,

J.F.K. was not really shot,

Happy Days could not have been aired,

In the face of Alfie, you gotta be scared,

The Monkees could never, ever sound hip,

The Titanic was not ,such, a big ship,

Shakespeare was witty, you’d be amazed,

Iraq would look good, after a phase.

Nothing is new, after 2000 years,

The bears do not like sharing their firs,

Can’t keep on going, run out of steam,

This is so weird, feels like a dream.

-0-

'Wanderer'

Thomas Smihula

Thoughts lost,

only pieces remain, becoming a puzzle

Incomplete,

trying to shake the mind,into remembrance

Joy felt,

briefly, hardships overlooked

Forgiveness only a word,

concept has little meaning, action not retrievable

Dealings,

easily molded, changing direction upon command

Satisfaction,

easily obtained, without realizing it has been reached

Frustration,

lasts only for a moment, since it deviates from its course

Events,

occur briefly, rarely lived again

Love, hate, sadness, pleasure,

unidentified due to gaps;

they have been blended together

Hence, enters the Wanderer within

-0-

GREEN

by Maya Menon

It is envy and passion.

Differences coming between.

Changes for good and bad.

It is lust,

Love gone wrong.

The unloved

Fighting back,

The unneeded

Finding their place.

It is not what it seems

And everything it is not.

It is confusion,

The crushed being crushed once more.

It is nothing that is anything

And everything to no one.

It is green.

-0-

SPLENDOUR OF SILENCE

Dark Flame

The devil within me laughs with scorn

How the hell can I love, when I don't love me

My life flashes before my eyes

At times I wish I'd never been born.

There must be something better than this

I cry tears of blood & search for the light

I search for the inner me

I turned my back on wedded bliss

Only in meditation am I free.

Incessant empty chatter drives me insane

Loud music boy's & screaming kids

Is all I hear, noise, noise noise

'Tis their mothers I blame.

For sanity's sake I draw the curtains

Then I reach into my own universe

With folded hands my soul I retain

In silent contemplation, in cosmic elation.

lost to all worldly desires, my mind set free

I feel the splendour of silence

My eyes closed tight, the spirit world close

To me. In silence I tread the path alone

The path of enlightenment

Then I am truly home.

-0-

HAVE YOU EVER?

-NIAMH BOLGER 2005

Have you ever just felt like you don't want to be here?

You don't see the point you've had a bad year.

Your new friend is against you, and your old friends don't really care?

Have you ever just felt like you don't want to be here?

Have you ever just felt like you're never wanted?

By bad memories you are haunted,

Your newest memories make you feel numb,

Have you ever thought how you could be so dumb?

Have you ever fallen in love with the completely wrong person?

Destroying your heart without even giving a reason,

Even though you've been cheated you still love this man,

Do you not hate him because you don't think you can?

Have you ever felt foolish like your never right?

Giving up the battle without putting up a fight,

Wondering what people are thinking when you don't have a clue,

Have you ever felt that you don't know what to do?

Have you ever felt like you lost a best friend even though you haven't?

Forgot that they were there, replaying the same habit,

Think of all bad things, thinking they weren't there,

Have you ever had secrets you forgot to share?

Have you ever tried to kill yourself, to find a way out?

You keep calm and collected but want to scream and shout,

Take all the bad things and never the good,

Have you ever said I cant when you should have said I could?

Have you ever just felt like you don't want to be here?

Trapped by all your childish fears,

The world around you destroyed by friends and foes,

Have you ever felt like you just wanted to go?

-0-

LIFE'S LESSON

YVETTE MENSAH

I often wished that I could reverse my life. With the knowledge that I now posses;

If it would only be possible, I could avoided a life of stress.

I would remember to be kinder, love more;

I would have realize what helping other while your young was really for.

If it was possible, I would respected the need to learn;

I would not have mind the voices of correction being so firm.

I would heeded the warnings of the old;

I would have accepted the advice I was told.

I would have walk thru life instead of run;

I would reflected on all the wrong I've done.

Now here I am aged before my time;

With the mistakes of my life possessing my mind.

Haunted by the memories of my past;

Healing the self inflicted wound that seems to last.

Waking up to regrets, realizing that in it all it is still a blessing;

That even though I am haunted, I am alive to reflect on My Life Lessons

-0-

"In Defense of the Realm!!!"

Denis Silverman

The English language....a delight.

So please, do try, to treat it right!

Wont you make the simple pledge,

To take care of your...heritage?

The French are quick to take up arms,

When anyone, their language harms!

Seeking solutions enforced by the State,

To keep their native tongue...inviolate!!

The Germans are not far behind,

When grammatical villains they do find.

They quickly take it upon themselves

To threaten..."Mend your errant ways,

Or else!"

Only we, who English use,

Think nothing of it, when we, it, abuse!

The tongue of Shakespeare, Pope and Paine, causing, for those...too sensiti(f)

Much Pain!

Smarten up! don't let down the side!

Keep our English polyglot language

Vibrant and Alive!

Let it, from your cords vocal, lightly trip.

And please....stop making....a mess of it!

Goldenrod.

-0-

BRIANNA

By Chelsi Waite

Blindness never kept you from being like anybody else

ready to dive in and never give up

I’ve never met you but you sound so brave

any time I feel like giving in, I think of you

never have I known any person as strong as you

not only were you strong, you were happy

although you’ve gone away your heart lives among us all

-0-

Dreading the Fond Memories

by Sean Lefler

Staring vacuously I recall my forgotten

moments

of all the ill times I have encountered,

oh how bitter the fondness,

amazing how it all changed.

I remember being a kid,

ha, some would argue I still am,

only I know the steps I have taken

how I have lived more than most.

Tonight, though, I wander in and out of still

frames

knowing tomorrow will be the return to everyday

tears welling up where no one can see

as I watch the tradegy, the sadness I caused.

Apologies raining down in my mind

I just wish you could hear,

the pain with it's ugly head

always threatening me in some fashion

tempting me with what could have been

etching in stone what will never be

somehow i had convinced myself, that with time it wouldn't hurt.

What a fool, then and now

still i dread the return as much as the

arrival.

-0-

You think I don't remember all the nights of endless yelling

The fighting and the bickering, it seemed like there was never an ending

I know you don't know but I remember it all

The beatings you took as he pulled you up and down the hall

I hated you for not leaving him you could of made things better

But no you stayed with that bastard and we had to suffer

When you finally did it I didn't let you know then

But I saw something change in you I think you knew you didn't let him win

I know you say you did it for us but there was also a little part of it

You had to do for yourself, to know never again he would have the last hit

You've went from a woman who only struggled with her sins

To the mother I can only strive everyday to have half the pride she

carries with in

You've shown me that I can conquer anything thats thrown my way

So I'm waiting, I'm ready come what may

So if you think you can control me sorry you better think again

Cause now I know I don't have to stay shes taught me that I can win

Krystle Blackshire

-0-

Poetic Justice

Shawnna Thomas

My head is spinning

like 24" rims

and I'm thinkin'

goin' out on a limb.

My friends confuse me

my enemies lose me

I'm too fast for their eyes to see

or their mind to understand the concept

of me, black Nubian Queen

Hard to bring me down

smile or frown

'cause I, Xena, fast as lightning

smooth as can be

nobody understands the power in me

and they're down on their knees, begging me please

wanting the power coursing through me

but the power I control to them is a must is

in reality, it's poetic justice.

-0-

THE ELEMENTS

- hitomaru-san

These swamps and water

Become a sword of power

Not too brittle, Not too soft

Tis to cut down all foes aloft

These flames and ashes

Become punishment and lashes

Break out of the governments' cage

Never again be their slave

This air and wind must be clean

For man has polluted it with his machines

Filter it out with thyne divinity great soul

And send the wretched man into their hole

This earth and soil must be ridden of toll and toil

Be strong, swift and safe as a snake in its coil

Earthquakes and landslides must be

To change the shape of the continents three

Soul holds this together

It be strong in the most fierce weather

It may propel life to begin

Or it may propel to end

All of these elements must be true

And solid, real, as all of you

This sword of mine may give life or take it

But i've been here far to long already

OPEN MIC ENCORE I June

OPEN MIC ENCORE II June

Poems Copyright © designated authors 2005. Page Copyright © AHApoetry.com 2005. Go check out the AHA Archives for more poetry. If you would like to send in your poem to Open Mic. Go to the AHA!POETRY Homepage for new ideas.

OPEN MIC ARCHIVE June, 2005

OPEN MIC ARCHIVE
June, 2005