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Poems submitted in 2022

The Graceful Elephant

by Jennifer Reedy, 2022

I am old
I am not skinny
My thighs are too thick for my calves
My belly hangs over my pants
I don’t care
I put on my pink canvas shoes anyway
I am learning ballet
I plie’ and bend
Yet struggle to rise and releve’
There’s fondue, to melt, like cheese & chocolate
Tondue, to stretch
Saute’ to jump
Music plays and my sore body creeks and pops
Balance
Hold
Breathe
Move
Lift
It’s exhilarating!
I strive to be as graceful as an elephant.

One Moon, Two Nights

by Anne Kelly-Edmunds, 2022

September’s full moon
dressed in harvest hues
rose about the eastern horizon.
She beckoned brightly as I drove.
I followed until she lit
the foot path to my home.

October’s Hunter’s Moon
shone midnight bright
through out windows.
She woke me with the call:
Come out of doors.
Feel the moist air on your skin,
the damp earth beneath your feet.
I followed, witnessed her shining
arc towards the western horizon.

Give Me the Cooling Night Sky

by Markos Rapitis, 2022

Give me the cooling night sky in all its beauty.

Give me the pretty fireflies that light up the night.

Give me the grass that is covered in dew.

Give me the chance to look up in the night sky and see the stars.

Give me the sun with all of it’s heat to warm me up.

Give me the evening when all goes quiet to watch the sunset fall.

In Spring

by Anne Kelly-Edmunds, 2022

Tight buds open,
        arch toward freedom.
Crimson wishes bloom,
        unfurl with hope.

Beach Walk

by Charlotte Heotis, edited by Peter Heotis, 2022

I strolled along the sandy beach
My tracing the ocean could not reach
But when I look behind
There were only the sands of time.
So, it is with earthly things
We come, we go
Tears only memory we know
Rage and torment are for naught
And only peace and love not forgot.

Spring Raindrops

by Vienna McCarthy, 2022

I see May flowers Blooming
I hear birds singing their sweet songs
I feel the light dripping rain drops on my arm
I taste the sweet honey suckles in the yard
I see the bunnies roaming, and the rain drops dripping from petal to petal
Spring is in the air everywhere

Still

by Linda Sleszynski, 2022

At long last
Quiet,
Still
Difficult to be
Still
Can’t Concentrate on just being
Still
The worries haunt
Still
The memories taunt
Still
Nature is called forth
Still
Heart rate slows
Still
These years have been a test
Still
So much unrest
Still

Never Ending War

by Yvette Malavet-Blum, 2022

9/11/2021

Twenty years later

We write about our heartbreak

And let the tears fall on the page

Twenty years later

We bring our heroes and heroines

Back to their families

In coffins to place in their graves

And I let the tears fall on the page

The image of the generals

Saluting the flag Draped coffins

Woke me from my sleep

I wrote about my misery

And deep rooted

In a world that salutes the remains of

Dead twenty- year olds

Who never knew peace

Most of them immigrants

Their lives shortened

The hurt cut me deep

I want more in my lifetime

I Want peace

I turn the page of current events

And always another war

Why Us?

Why Me?

What can I do for my country?

But sing

Oh Say Can You see

Not Long Ago

by Linda Sleszynski, 2022

Not long ago
did I feel the possibility of hope
as Spring I knew was coming
and my dear snow-crusted city
would turn from shadow to light
and gray to blossoms of crocus and narcissus.
The others did not want to hear of my worry
of the madmen
and the threat.
Still I held that silent ache.
It gripped me in its embrace.
Each day would I move my eyes
to circle my apartment,
this symbol of my adulthood.
I scanned my treasures
as well as my necessities.
What to take
if there were no choices?
What could I bear to leave behind?
Always did my gaze fall upon
my most treasured possession;
an antique perfume bottle.
It was my grandmother’s
and my mother’s befor eme.
It had the delicate curves of a woman;
the color of red currants,
and a faint scent
remained inside its depths.
As the threat
and my ache both expanded
each day I added another necessity
to my suitcase:
wool socks, gloves and hat,
two hand-knit sweaters
and thick tights,
some toilet items
and fruits and nuts.
Would I be a coward for leaving?
The others wanted to stay
with their guns
and fight if it was needed.
At the first sign of fire in the sky
I carefully wrapped the perfume bottle
in package paper
and among my woolens
I protected it.
I wrapped myself warmly as I could think
and began the long trek to the border
praying they would not think lower of me
for leaving.