Mourning Poems
Said She
by Schafer Bailey
Calloused hands and bruised knuckles
rolled loose leaf tobacco in rice paper
The Sun loving me in the only way it knew how
with violent kisses leaving spots against my skin
Arms wrapped around me in autumn afternoons
words spoken with so much weight
they required delicate whispers
of promises made in the past humidity of summer
"Nothing can wreck our boat" said she
......
Had he known...
by Graham Ereks
It was very early in the morning,
I can recall, not without mourning.
The roads were soaked; the cloud pregnant--
The gnats in all facades, the water was stagnant.
Full of ecstasy, he descended from the bed,
No doubt the night before he was well-fed.
How full of life he always was, not until then;
He was ravaged like a prey in a lion's den.
Had he known, He'd have have been stationary,
......
Behind the Sun
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
The faces of the tom-toms were sallow,
So was the face of the sun, dark-visaged,
Red, and starved through a pogrom
That assaulted the peace of the beasts.
Darkness spelt the names of diseases,
Each pronounced through stiffened tongues,
Whited by the scourge of hate – a common
Figure, cadaverous and laconic, but incestuous.
......
In Mourning
by Jamie B
You are dead to me
And I don’t mean that as an insult or as a stab at you but I feel as if the Michael I knew and cared for died in that moment.
I am in mourning of my lover.
Thinking of seeing you now repulses me, the thought of your very touch makes me quiver.
I can never forgive you for this, not because I won’t but because I can’t.
You’ve brought me to my lowest low in a time where I need all the support and courage and confidence and strength I can muster.
You are dead to me.
A whole new feeling to the phrase filled with sorrow.
I will never not feel this empty sharp pit or this hot furious pounding pulsating from my ears when I hear that phrase being used.
Shame on you.
......
Kennedy Visited
by Ken Ripley
He stood there silently
In the long, languorous line
Curled around and passing through
Beneath the lighted, night-chilled dome.
Shuffling and stepping with a muted tread,
It linked its way to the vaulted hall
Where the great corpse lay, reposed and still,
In the aspects of burnished love and steel;
A human chain of love, sadness, tender tears,
And curiosity-seekers seeking solace.
......
Kennedy Visited
by Ken Ripley
He stood there silently
In the long, languorous line
Curled around and passing through
Beneath the lighted, night-chilled dome.
Shuffling and stepping with a muted tread,
It linked its way to the vaulted hall
Where the great corpse lay, reposed and still,
In the aspects of burnished love and steel;
A human chain of love, sadness, tender tears,
And curiosity-seekers seeking solace.
......
Faded Memories
by Ava Frazier
Faded journeys
A woman’s hat on a box on top of a shelf in a wardrobe
Along a stack of postcards
And a framed photograph
Said She
by Schafer Bailey
Calloused hands and bruised knuckles
rolled loose leaf tobacco in rice paper
The Sun loving me in the only way it knew how
with violent kisses leaving spots against my skin
Arms wrapped around me in autumn afternoons
words spoken with so much weight
they required delicate whispers
of promises made in the past humidity of summer
"Nothing can wreck our boat" said she
......
Ankles
by Brady Stewart
My love for you was like wine
And as they say,
I'm an alcoholic
Now that you've left me,
You can say you've met her
Mother earth, glorious god
The amnesiac of sleeping darkness.
Sometime I'll stop on by
We'll
Chug the wine when I
......
Behind the Sun
by Nkwachukwu Ogbuagu
The faces of the tom-toms were sallow,
So was the face of the sun, dark-visaged,
Red, and starved through a pogrom
That assaulted the peace of the beasts.
Darkness spelt the names of diseases,
Each pronounced through stiffened tongues,
Whited by the scourge of hate – a common
Figure, cadaverous and laconic, but incestuous.
......
