First Verse
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Classic
Afternoon Rain in State Street
Cross-hatchings of rain against grey walls, Slant lines of black rain In front of the up and down, wet stone sides of buildings. Below, Greasy, shiny, black, horizontal, The street. And over it, umbrellas, Black polished dots Struck to white An instant, Stream in two flat lines Slipping past each other with the smoothness of oil. Like a four-sided wedge The Custom House Tower Pokes at the low, flat sky, Pushing it farther and farther up, Lifting it away from the house-tops, Lifting it in one piece as though it were a sheet of tin, With the lever of its apex. The cross-hatchings of rain cut the Tower obliquely, Scratching lines of black wire across it, Mutilating its perpendicular grey surface With the sharp precision of tools. The city is rigid with straight lines and angles, A chequered table of blacks and greys. Oblong blocks of flatness Crawl by with low-geared engines, And pass to short upright squares Shrinking with distance. A steamer in the basin blows its whistle, And the sound shoots across the rain hatchings, A narrow, level bar of steel. Hard cubes of lemon Superimpose themselves upon the fronts of buildings As the windows light up. But the lemon cubes are edged with angles Upon which they cannot impinge. Up, straight, down, straight--square. Crumpled grey-white papers Blow along the side-walks, Contorted, horrible, Without curves. A horse steps in a puddle, And white, glaring water spurts up In stiff, outflaring lines, Like the rattling stems of reeds. The city is heraldic with angles, A sombre escutcheon of argent and sable And countercoloured bends of rain Hung over a four-square civilization. When a street lamp comes out, I gaze at it for fully thirty seconds To rest my brain with the suffusing, round brilliance of its globe.
2
New
Remember the Light
Remember the Light When you feel downtrodden and afraid When you find it hard to be brave When the clouds of life block the sun When things are unraveling and undone When you feel abandoned and alone When you are weary right down to the bone When you struggle to see the light When you feel you are in a constant fight Remember your spirit, your soul, your source Look deep within and you will see this force It has been right there your entire life In times of joy and in times of strife Remember the light that will come back Turning the darkness into luminescent light Remember the truth of who you are A gift to the world; a brilliant star by Alison Johnstone
1
New
The Best for Bees
The bees would buzz and buzz around the hive, the hive that sat on branches high above the garden flush with blooming roses red and rhododendron, lily, daisies bright. Their smell was strong and what a sight to see, it seems the best of all the world for bees. But no! It seems they were not satisfied- Instead they went to sting the nearby kids.
5
New
Golden Light
You are amazing just as you are
As unique and bright like a perfect star
Believe in your worth and follow your heart
You have so much love and wisdom to impart
Shine your light for the World to behold
Your strength, your power, your truth in gold
The light in you will ripple and glow so bright
Illuminating the World and everyone’s starlight
The light will expand with pure hope and love
Bringing peace to the World on wings of a dove
by Alison Johnstone1
Yesterday
New
Mighty Steed
The knight would rest on him his mighty stead. His auburn mane of flowing fire and flame. Upon four mighty legs he cantered so. Across the plains they traveled far to find the valiant hero many fought before. To best him now would prove the knight’s own mount, but this is when the knight did find him so upon the back of hippopotamus.
6
New
A child’s voice
I didn’t come here to see you cry I came here to see the passion in your eye Angry or sad, you always fought back the tears But this time I don’t think you’re ready for next year As the soft tone of your gentle voice flows through my ear It makes me wonder : what will happen next year? As we went to bed, I wanted to write a poem So I thought, what rhymes with “oh my gosh”? But then I realized, a poem doesn’t have to rhyme or not It comes in an instant as you have a thought.
2
In the Future
In the Future, What will I do? Who will I be? Who will be by my side? Will I even make it there? Trees surround us but what if they are gone The steams and rivers hydrated us but what if they're poisoned Nature heals us But what if it's dead What will we do when there's nothing left When we can't go back When our children ask what is a polar bear Because there aren't any left Nature is dying and the world is looking away The world looks to Artificial intelligence The world looks to money The world looks to robots When will they look at the door they shut The door of creativity The door of Nature The door of love The door of community The door of the animals The door of the streams The door of freedom The door of humanity's continued existence Written By Nyx Rodriguez
2
New
The Unwavering Course
The Unwavering Course The river never questions where to go It knows its path and it naturally flows It never questions why or how The power of its course is all it knows Flowing and flowing out to the sea Free to be itself and to just be Listen to the river and the lesson so true Embrace your dream in its beautiful hue Follow the passion sparked from your soul Believe in your truth and you will find gold by Alison Johnstone
1
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