Words are Birds BY FRANCISCO X. ALARCÓN wordsare birdsthat arrivewith booksand spring theylovecloudsthe windand trees some wordsare messengersthat comefrom far awayfrom distant lands for themthere areno bordersonly starsmoon and sun some wordsare familiarlike canariesothers are exoticlike the quetzal bird some can standthe coldothers migratewith the sunto the south some wordsdiecaged—they’re difficultto translate and othersbuild nestshave chickswarmContinue reading “Words are Birds by Francisco X. Alarcon”
Category Archives: Words Written
Poem: A New National Anthem
BY ADA LIMÓN The truth is, I’ve never cared for the NationalAnthem. If you think about it, it’s not a goodsong. Too high for most of us with “the rocketsred glare” and then there are the bombs.(Always, always, there is war and bombs.)Once, I sang it at homecoming and threweven the tenacious high school bandContinue reading “Poem: A New National Anthem”
A Litany for Survival
BY AUDRE LORDE For those of us who live at the shorelinestanding upon the constant edges of decisioncrucial and alonefor those of us who cannot indulgethe passing dreams of choicewho love in doorways coming and goingin the hours between dawnslooking inward and outwardat once before and afterseeking a now that can breedfutureslike bread in our children’sContinue reading “A Litany for Survival”
[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]
BY E. E. CUMMINGS i carry your heart with me(i carry it inmy heart)i am never without it(anywherei go you go,my dear;and whatever is doneby only me is your doing,my darling) i fearno fate(for you are my fate,my sweet)i wantno world(for beautiful you are my world,my true)and it’s you are whatever a moon has always meantand whateverContinue reading “[i carry your heart with me(i carry it in]”
Dew Drops Right Outside
For many years, at great cost, I traveled through many countries, saw the high mountains, the oceans. The only things I did not see were the sparkling dewdrops in the grass just outside my door. RABINDRANATH TAGORE
Prince Speaks
Compassion is an action word with no boundaries. ~PRINCE
Words of Amit Ray
The true miracle lies in our eagerness to allow, appreciate, and honor the uniqueness and freedom of each sentient being to sing the song of their heart. AMIT RAY
Praise Song For The Day
Praise Song for the Day BY ELIZABETH ALEXANDER A Poem for Barack Obama’s Presidential Inauguration Each day we go about our business, walking past each other, catching each other’s eyes or not, about to speak or speaking. All about us is noise. All about us is noise and bramble, thorn and din, each one of ourContinue reading “Praise Song For The Day”
Two Poems by Keith Leonard
OPENING LECTURE AT THE CONSTELLATION INSTITUTE When you draw shapes in the night sky, it will help if you remember that your pencil passes through matter we can’t see, or name, but know exists. It will help if you imagine the bright spots as your parents, your past lovers, or enemies. Perhaps you will drawContinue reading “Two Poems by Keith Leonard”
Through me course wide rivers and in me rise tall mountains. And beyond the thickets of my agitation and confusion there stretch the wide plains of my peace and surrender. All landscapes are within me. And there is room for everything. ETTY HILLESUM
Happy Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Quote of the Day
Do not doubt your own basic goodness. In spite of all confusion and fear, you are born with a heart that knows what is just, loving, and beautiful. JACK KORNFIELD
Small Craft Talk Warning
All poetry is about hope.A scarecrow walks into a bar.An abandoned space station falls to earth.When probing the monster’s brain,you’re probably probing your own.A beautiful woman becomes a ghost.I hope I never miscalculate the dosagethat led to the infarctionof my lab rabbit again.All poetry is a form of hope.Not certain, just actuallike love and otherContinue reading “Small Craft Talk Warning”
Gratitude by Barbara Crooker
Gratitude This week, the news of the world is bleak, another wargrinding on, and all these friends down with cancer,or worse, a little something long term that they won’t die offor twenty or thirty miserable years—And here I live in a house of weathered brick, where a manwith silver hair still thinks I’m beautiful. HowContinue reading “Gratitude by Barbara Crooker”
The Creative Drive
The Northeast has lost millions of poems, reducing the canopy. Just a few days ago,high winds knocked a poem onto a power line A recent study found that poems increasedthe sale price of a home by close to $9,000.The years, however, have not been kind to poems. a few blocks from my house.I had notContinue reading “The Creative Drive”
It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day
I’m a huge fan of Nina Simone. My favorite song? Feelin’ Good. I like it in all its iterations I guess. Most people probably have forgotten all about Nina’s version and skipped right to Michael Buble. That’s OK. I don’t think she would mind. Nor would she care about the Muse version. I like thatContinue reading “It’s a New Dawn, It’s a New Day”
Do You Have Insomnia? No? Then You Should Get It!
I just read the best short story! On top of great storytelling, it was free! Click the image above and you will be whisked away to Mary Widdicks’ website where you can sign up to get it and read it as well. Trust me, you won’t be disappointed! It’s a great read. She is anContinue reading “Do You Have Insomnia? No? Then You Should Get It!”
Courage Doesn’t Always Roar…
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day whispering, ‘I will try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher
Poem: How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This
dear reader, with our heels digging into the good mud at a swamp’s edge, you might tell me something about the dandelion & how it is not a flower itself but a plant made up of several small flowers at its crown & lord knows I have been called by what I look like moreContinue reading “Poem: How Can Black People Write About Flowers at a Time Like This”
Rudy Francisco – Complainers
Exactly this…
“There is no small act of kindness. Every compassionate act makes large the world.” —Mary Anne Radmacher
Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World
Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World For the community of Newtown, Connecticut, where twenty students and six educators lost their lives to a gunman at Sandy Hook Elementary School, December 14, 2012 Now the bells speak with their tongues of bronze. Now the bells open their mouths of bronze to say: ListenContinue reading “Heal the Cracks in the Bell of the World”
Ode To Alternatives
Hey Kevin, I know I’m always talking, but look at those two little boys who don’t know any better – they’re using a king as a pawn, a pawn as a knight, a queen as a bishop-and isn’t not knowing the rules just beautiful? Because really, where’s the joy in shouldering night into workdayContinue reading “Ode To Alternatives”
Forgiveness
for Dad I’m writing you 10 years later & 2,000 miles Away from Our silence My mouth a cave That had collapsed I’m writing While you You wear the Hospital gown & count failures Such as the body’s Inability to rise I see your fingers Fumbling in the Pillbox as ifContinue reading “Forgiveness”
This Page Ripped Out and Rolled into a Ball
A rose by any other name could be Miguel or Tiffany Could be David or Vashti Why not Aya which means beautiful flower but also verse and miracle and a bird that flies away quickly You see where this is going That is you couldContinue reading “This Page Ripped Out and Rolled into a Ball”
