Poetry

Unhappy Happiness

in ,

…is value in pain

Though most disagree.

Many try to avoid it

Thinking they will be free.

But the pain doesn't disappear

Its only stuffed, drugged, or denied.

And over time the pain will erode us.

Failed attempts to escape give way to its unrelenting tide.

So what should we do with pain,

When it grips us in its claws?

When it crushes and pushes and smothers and gnaws?

In labor, it's a queue to impending birth.

A woman's body is working

To bring a human to earth.

The key in childbirth

Is letting pain have its way.

But even…

By Angela Jones

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Voices

in

…they won’t leave me alone,

Voices from long past and still they roam.

They tell me my downfalls, my mistakes, and regrets,

All of this way to much to bear in one’s head.


I open my mouth and let them all out,

A pure primal scream, the echo rings throughout.


I through back my head, feeling empty inside.

I pushed them all out, left no place to hide.

When in the emptiness, a small voice arose.

It was hard to recognize the voice as my own.


As tears streamed down my cheeks, for the very first time.

My mind filled….

By Tracey Koehler

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How to Live Forever

in

This poem woke me and insisted I get up and give birth to it.

—————

…am bored," the boy said to his mother.

"Then go gaze out into the world."

"But for what shall I search?" he inquired.

"The more you open your eyes, the more you will know the beauty and wonders that surround you.”

"But I fear I may have viewed all there is," the boy argued.

"Bring me five things of interest from the forest," she demanded

"Then take those things, and make of them a tale.

Toil until eyes burn and fingers ache."

And he did.

In his stories, he created worlds.

He sailed vast oceans and fell in love with…

By Phil Gladden


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Night Fear

in

…I was just a little one

I could not sleep so had to run

Down the hall to mom and dad

Hold me please, I feel my fears

My face is wet from all my tears

Mom and dad I'm scared you see

Mom and dad just please hold me!

But no, they yelled at me instead

They yelled at me to go to bed

This little one no hugs for you

You hug yourself to see you through

You cry yourself to sleep alone

And in the morning you are shown

Another day with night comes near

Again, you'll…

By Marian Torres

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Let Sleeping Demons Lie

in

…heart races as I toss, turn, and kick away another night. If I do manage to fall asleep, the nightmare begins.

An invisible demon, throws me about. The pain so real, I think I may die. I know it is a dream, but I cannot wake. I try to run, every muscle straining as if I am weighed down. I try to scream; silent breath only escaping my lips. I think I wake, only to feel the invisible demon attack again, and I realize I am still dreaming.

So scared.

What if I never wake?

Repeating over and over until…

By Tracey Koehler

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