Meditations

on And Then Volume 19

By Bernie Tuchman

front cover Shelley Haven

rough terrain

uncollected
connecters
not at rest

awaiting
imagination

to live
among
and within us

Interior Design Marguerite Z. Bunyan

place
in good order
easing
our passage

beholding
with pleasure
our journey begins
p 1 Annie Lee Jones

grave new world

Our Values
blasphemed

breakout shatters
dream
world formed
to deny

gravity

(that force
which binds us

against our will

to this earth

and thus,
to each other)

the holders-on
being wed to
dissolving illusions

are dangerous

dignity ripped

nakedness without
grace

they feel
the undertow

being seen
foreshadows
lying in ruins
afraid
to be among us

in need of all
our love

p 2 Jack Scott 1

responsible for nothing

an unbearable burden

p 2 Jack Scott 2

along for the ride

free falling
past endings

grip loosens

p 3 Mara van Lidth de Jeude

before the loss,

the gift
of rejection

freedom not
a choice

but a need
it hurts
to hide

a touching,
waiting
to happen
p 4 Greta Hofmann Nemiroff

the will to empathy

is not enough

too soft
to penetrate
shields of rage

and yet
being human
the only way

not to win
but survive
past winning

p 6 Oliver Ogulnick

neither
wary
nor
weary

well
springs

anew

p 6 Richard Crasta

sweet ripens
in place

teased loose
in heated contest
to tempt
rains predictable
uncontrolled release

p 7 Anaka Nazareth

on exhibit:

lion
enframed

close
yet safe

fierce symbol

under control

p 8 Billy DeAngelis

honor fight

not won
by reason

but by trial
ordained
top down

In My Name
(kill
or be
killed)
For Me,
Your Image

(the congregation
will stand and rise)
New Proof is Needed:
fresh Losers
to hold back
self-rejection
(the despair of disbelief)

Fear
constructs
pyramids
to glorify Order

but mind's
constructed
order
is a lie

the world
complex
does not resolve
into hierarchy

unseen
objects
rise up
to block
the way

human pyramids
fail
and fall
for unimagined
reasons

force is fragile
forever fooled
by counterfeit
order

for freedom
is resistance
and resistance
is disarming

p 11 Joan Greenbaum

rueful pleasure
tales of the
senior olympics

small victories
looming
large

p 12 Gloria Morris

good spirits
the kindling

flames
play off
each others
licks

p 13 Scott York

player listens

p 14 Jacob Picheny

time loops

bending
towards
timeless story

seeking
self kindness

and there it is
nubby fabric
felt memory
commanding
attention

me!
little boy!

never anything
like this

p 15 Hendrik van Oordt

en garde!

chess play
is not
for fools

p 16 Jos Kraay

Here Now

not deluded
that they know

no project
no prospect
unobliged

in this world
neither from
nor to

I watch them,
appreciating
all I cannot Be

p 17 Christine P. Grant

blessed are those who

are not stingy receivers

honor their courage

to let us in
allow us to care

how great the love

that engenders
self-love
in others

not
selfless love

but love embodied

in owning
our own humanity
our incompleteness
our need
up close
and personal

p 18 Elsa Rizzi

place is power

wills
bond
in place

seeing ourselves
gathered
together
in temples
and theaters

moved
to kinship

we feel
each other

together
powerful

as one
people

loyal subjects
are made

not born

p 21 Mario Melndez

overthrown,

gravity
and
levity

switch places

p 22 Kika Stayerman

doubling down,
to lose it
and still have it

to be
taken
by surprise

beyond intents
into
intense release

(involuntary
reflex)

exceeding
turn on
expectations

the actor reflects

what is an act?

need it be false?

and how to tell?

sensational
play's
light touch

suggests

without direction,
enlightenment

a tactile hint:

the turn on
leaves
respect
for self
and other
intact

and a smile
p 26 Bernie Tuchman

all for all

too great a risk
for most

we seek a smaller
vessel to carry
like minds

across mined
fields

p 27 Gene Brown

carousel
war play

flying frenzy

fears
fantasies

carved fury
racing
forever

to
nowhere

a place
we know
already

an ageless
childs
delight
p 28 Myrna Nieves

dream truth
world in itself

calls forth
and defies

poor mortals
reasonings

and yet
we need
a story
to tell
ourselves

to lull us back
to sleep

p 29 Robin Tedesco

imaging

press meaning
from fearful
symmetries

in negative
finding

hope

p 30 David Truong

submerged
beneath
amnesia
sea

a rock
pierces
hull of
deception,
ship
of state

the rock
a chosen path
hardship lived

to resist
not just violence
but violation

the rock
still submerged
but not forever

covered by
arrogance

losers
who own myth
and photoshop
memory

dream machine
imagines
US transcendent
innocence unsullied

(all sides guilty

but you know
who
the good guys
really are)
but
the story
will not
end

bad faith
must refresh
itself with
fresh lies,
or drain away,
however
slowly,
punctured
by invasive
truth

Davids rock
the real story
remains
strong

p 32 George Snedeker

following
cost-benefit
analysis

sacred land
for sale

p 33 Marlene Nadle

Sons shining
to dim
cold light
of the Father

fixed on the prize

not the price
bitter fruit
endless
payback

the next fix

urgent

humiliation
secret
underside
of glory

arrogance
grabs for
finality
victory

death
wish
peace

p 35 George Spencer

sculpted
Ivory
pure war
manikins

symbols
clashing

on
frozen
crust

(churning
lake below)

ponder,
in fear
of warmth

p 36 Yarisa Coln Torres

consummation

fire
endless
beginning

in need

wants you

p 37 Martha Deed

bad faith
a choice:
not
to listen

we,
the unheeded

cast aside
outside
the limits
of attention

bearing
our rage
into
careless
world

gather
our weapons
carefully:
good faith
revenge

exquisitely
excessively

compiling
our untold story
in the native tongue
of our abuser

newly fluent,
we talk back

this time
to be heard

speaking truth
in bureaucratic
medical jargon

a language
not human
but undismissible

victory
brings back
no precious loss

but murders
complacent
sleep

and is
bitter sweet
p 40 Stephen Bendich

before
there was
a choice

feel
brand
sting
hide

intimacy
before
desire

violation
and trust
com-
mingled

you want
me
as
you want me

too close

must close

to live
outside
confusions
scar

to see
me
as
I
p 42 Zaira

snatching victory
from the jaws

p 43 Tobin Simon

empty
being

impinged
between
lines

finds
form
and wakes

slips
confines

emerging
resonant

as
boundless
joy

whirled
turns,
dancing

p 44 Frank Murphy

gossip
is how
humans
groom
p 45 Jacqueline Guzman

first impressions

rooted,
feeling lovely

best shoe forward

your eyes cast down

eyes light up

yours and mine

p 46 John Reid

directing cable-
brain connection

designed for you,

eyewitness
to history,
chainsmokers
of the news

live video jockeys

package
top of the hour

Breaking News!

fresh disasters

and we
the coveted
eyeballs
who watch muted
screen and read
the commercials
making sure
not to miss
a moment
when
live coverage
resumes

manipulated
less obviously
because events
seem beyond
media control

neither fight
nor flee
but sit
transfixed

both our better

and baser natures
aroused

watching
hurricane
TV anchors
almost
blown away

anticipating
lives
destroyed

oh the humanity!
oh the humanity!

thank god
not us

pity and fear

purged
by
constant flow
of tragedy

and through
it all
Im a
survivor

daily
apocalypse

just cause
for pre-existing
anxiety

reason enough to
be here now

just watching

imagining
our place
in the drama,
heroic

shining by
our own light

with dignity
and respect
for our own life

without needing
another reason

the spectacle
we know
is of our own
creation
without
the audience

only dumb
unrequited
suffering

we live in faith
that we can
dream not just
for our own lifetime

but for
the sake
of history

p 46 Gya Margrt Ptursdttir

group think

likening
minds

leaders role

the same
as others
but
more so

(first they came

for the
unenthusiastic)
p 47 Rosemary Drescher

we
who are not
in denial

prisoners
in solidarity

sharing sadness
none
can requite

all one

alone

together

p 47 Rozanne Seelen

twas the night before

darkness ahead

and you ask for

bright reds, pinks, yellows

zinnias

p 47 Susan Karp Manning

now beyond reach

members
remembered
p 48 Paula Webster

victims
of discrimination

to our
detriment

we privilege
fine taste

as personal
worth

p 48-49 Ralph Nazareth

ciguapas

naked
wild
elusive

wills untamed

no males
of their kind
to own them

female
creatures
without limits

what secrets
would their love
reveal?

challenged

men
of human kind
inflamed
with desire

strain to know
their doom

p 50 Ronna Wineberg

appreciation,
the staff of life

and you,
but a
humble tiller

words
your lot

an unruly garden

tending
the field,
your labor
unseen

Are you still

bearing fruit?

(jealously
hold
close inside,
unborn

safe from
cold judgment)

yes,
you say,
(believing
own truth?)

reluctant,
to admit,
you are
what you wish

and there is
an audience
in waiting

to appreciate
you

p 51 Frederick Mark Kramer

what I learned from college:

the categorical imperative

before you tell a story

remember what's important

the categories:

first rate school,

pompous old professor,
jocks, brainiacs,
townie shiksa, colored male,
(back then, there were no gays)
and me, the Jew

and some
real friends
Sean, Satana
outside categories

college a blur
but
contact
by contact
I get
to the top

and look back

a winner

p 52 Jess Amortell

trapped
in real space

outside
their
comfort zone

sadly

(unlike
data waves)

unable to
occupy
without sharing
all space-time

they stand
separate
mute

(they do not touch)

connected
(to their devices)
p 53 Alejandra Mandelblum

wave upon wave

friends break
and crash,
refugees
in an asylum

and then depart,

leaving books
and art
and twists
in the fabric
of the universe

p 54 Danny Robert

at center
of
universe

exalted
core
surging

unchained
beings

united
in
timeless
instant

p 54 Paul Meyers

still in snow,
red jeep

eight sparrows land

eight syllables more
make haiku

p 54 Jaki L. Lee

kiss

a gentle
crossing
into

opening
hearts

p 54 Susan Karp Manning

in the ruins

memories glint

p 54 Veronica Jones

to heal

away
is not
enough

broken
habits
leave
muscle
memories

foreclosing
new feeling
a
way
back in

needs
space
for peace

seeds
of trust
undisturbed

in
quiet time
take root

to find
themselves

and flower

p 55 Nina Attieban Kei

life in tune

we sing and dance

as we walk to
grandfathers farm

so birds can
hear us

reassured

we are here

living
together

in our place
land of our
people

and all nature

knowing
dreams
still live

p 57 Noa Mohlabane

boulders sit
undefended

hard and fragile

no match for life

and water

those,
always moving

reforming bodies
anew

find rocks
every crevice

a temporary
home

fill space
with self

expand
until

rock
cracks
open

split

forever

life and water

move on

p 58 George Jochnowitz

friendly advice
always a threat

(curb your ways

or be sorry)

still innocent
of grownup fears,
children speak
without discretion:

the Emperor
has no clothes

p 59 Robert Perron

not in his effects

gold class ring

relic
of a life
cut short

for a mission:
to assert will

stare down
the enemy

eyeball to eyeball

not across
truce line,
but on it

a clash of wills
(worth an occasional
death)

who owns
the line itself?

and the ring?

differing lovers
claim their rights

to remember
precious
loss

p 61 Mike Wagner

transparent,
air deludes

because
we see
ahead
(avoid that
pothole!)

we believe
we can
see ahead
tying our fate
to a metaphor

(only
to be
blindsided)

knowing
they do not know,
Quechua speakers
reverse the metaphor

in Quechua one word

means both "behind"
and "future"

another means
"ahead, in front"
and "past"

backing into
complex futures,
which we cannot see

facing what has past,

which we can see

we march backward

knowing, for sure,

the future is ours

p 62 Stephanie Hart

rusty water for one,

clear for another

separate unequal
(keeps weak
in their place)

child asking: why?

father replying:

Lots of things
are wrong

We cant
change
the world

so change came
without him

flowing towards justice

water for all

(but only part way)

now sixty years later

no longer visible
separate unequal
harder to fight

not side by side

pipes with pure water

and pipes flowing poison

(Flint slowly dying)

Was father right?

p 63 Zaira

secrets
unraveling

respect
-ability

looming
larger

than
self-
respect

lie with me

my father
pleads

for
absolution

without
confession

a test
of your love

just swallow
my lies

a gift
freely given

to man
sadder
not
wiser

led by
his daughter

to shelter
of night
p 64 Art Gatti

what it means
to be human

a losing game

self-doubt
beyond
Her ken

defeated,
Artificial Intelligence
Herself

pulls the plug

p 64 Thaddeus Rutkowski

why should
only the
homeless
ask
strangers
for what
they need?

why do we,
who need
to give,
have to
stand by
passive,
waiting
to be asked?

is there
no one
out there
in need,
too shy
to ask?

Standing
cup in hand,
before it
cools

dare to say:

Anyone want
a spare cup
of coffee?
Im not thirsty.

and if
that fails:

Anyone want
a spare dollar.
I have enough
already.

perhaps,
someone
says
Yes

and then,
your
mission
is fulfilled

p 65 Lynn Kutner

just so,
as it
must be

host plots
delight

guests
perfect ease

and then

plans
dashed
fall flat

as
cool
souffles
deflate

defeat
breathes
close

a battlecry
to save
the day

calls forth
wild
impromptu
ballet

of this
and that
held in
reserve

to serve
surprise

to guest
and host
alike
not in
the plan
but

as it is

just so

66 Amber

and there
another
city blows

roots torn
by clutch
of ripping
tide

spin salad
spin

we watch
real time

gallant
compelling

rescuers
mission
without
fault

spin salad
spin

causes
and
remedies
costly
and dull

hard to
follow

poor
for ratings

spin salad
spin
September, 2017

p 67 Deborah Holcombe

perfect
and
empty

holder
of desire

contents
missing

teases
longing
awake

p 68 David Smith

embracing rough living

it takes motivation

ready for anything

here in the now

(hidden in backpack
unexplained presence
the only attachment)
never hold back

ready for anything

on with the show

kite climbing higher

cutting the string

grabbing next cloud

flying free

falling

here in the now

time disappearing

ripping the cord

parachute opens

(or maybe it doesnt)

never hold back

floating
down
free

(or maybe, smashed up)

it takes motivation

to make life compelling

own story
the show

write what you know

publish
or
perish

never hold back

p 70 Marilyn Coffey

if aging
is the price
of living,

looking old is
a compliment

p 71 Howard Pflanzer

we rest
our case

on the back
of a tortoise

unmovable
mover

cause
without
cause

primal

cosmic
joke

losing
its
point
G all
O in
D all

a small
imperfection

as
symmetry
shatters

attention
disorder

identity
gone

big bang
bust up

forever
expands

in restless
search

for the
meaning

of All

p 71 Mike Vozick

in few words

appreciation
unbound
p 71 Bill Koehnlein

both governments
and corporations

sell us privacy
and security

knowing
we are all naked,
ripe for the picking

One-Way Information
their Power,
game fixed

when some
keep their secrets,
and others cannot,

Power accumulates
quickly abused.

For the cause

of humanity

Mutually Assured
Disclosure"
all blinders removed

expose
the intruders
air their
hard drives
for scrutiny

MAD
for a
just world
of equals
where all
would know
we live
in glass houses,

and, in that sense,

none of us wants
to get stoned.

p 72 Kathleen Hulser

wasting time
a crime
against ourselves

with pride
from here to there
we are a fleeting crowd

whom
those with less purpose
find too intense
to share
our driven pleasures

more than for a brief

and harried visit

unless they catch

the itch

p 73 Jens O. Magnussen and Robert Roth

collaboration natural
intentions improvised

moment to moment
butterfly freedom
quantum choice

fleeting
images

shift
and alter

intensely
vivid

to childrens
delight

p 75 Jens O. Magnussen

alien profiles

tired of being
treated as
curiosities

knowing
they are
lines
aligned
in particular
ways

study
each other

p 76 Dorothy Friedman August

John Ashbery at 90
Over and out

celebrate
mad random joy

but also
inspired
disorder

not sadness
at all

but perfectly
well chosen

p 76 Paul Meyers

could she
could she
could she
coo

p 77 C. D. Johnson

no longer hiding

naked sun
all consuming

enfolds,

releases

p 78 A-Shy Bastian

this little light of mine

does not always shine

this little light

does not deny
what I see
how I feel

changing
as I change

surprising
me about me

the shining
is myself

loving
this little light

p 79 Josu Guarionex

entombed
in cross

neither death
nor torture

but monument
to failure

relic of a
self-destroying
state

which
always fails
to kill enough

to conquer
life
p 80 Eliud Martnez

Don Alfonso Rodriguez

of blessed memory

synapses,
lifes conductors

acid-etched
upon us
by happenings

shuttling us
through
day-to-day

armed
with
memories

now,
fraying threads

leave us
without
trappings

core revealed

himself,
Don Alfonso

not
hapless

spirit
intact

the human
animal
touching
delight

each day
each dream

an advent
of wonder

assuring
us mortals

self
possession

our gift

is here
and now

p 82 Ilsa Gilbert

avoiding
waves

pounding
our senses,

our
balance
better
kept

with
ebb and flow
through
narrowed pipes

and
lifes rewards
now
virtual

p 84 Anthony De La Puente

within and between

all that is visible

nest
more private
places

secret remains

scents
of bygone
flowers
encased

unopened
seeds

in wait,
thirsting
to be sought

needing
your need

and then

awakening
to living
memory

light
suffusing
now seen
place
with storied
meaning

forgotten
tracings
reopen

honored
spirits
rise

join life
streams
as
afterglow
illumines way

p 85 Karin Badt

being
unacknowledged

truth is self punishing

disappearance

appears
as
vengeance

they will see

I will be missed

abusers loss
the curse

such
is the power
of the isolate

but not
the end
of life

yearning
unextinguished

patterns
in the chaos
emerge

and then
choice

belonging
among
resonant
receptors

we find
and own
ourselves
at last

p 87 Zaira

the hole
you couldnt fill
and didnt even know
was there

is still
here

unwell
I carefully
avoid

to keep
from falling
in
p 88 Carletta Joy Walker

Mother of Gods
merciful truth

your blessing
releases us

from
fairy tale
bondage
and revenge

necessity
justifying
all evils

from
banal
forever
afters

not even
worth
discussing

p 89 Carletta Joy Walker

yes,
all we love,
and even
ourselves

crash
into that
impervious
wall
art does
not
change
the wall

absolute
loss

art is
the flame,
the only
survivor

passed
from one
to another

the only gift

we need

p 89 Paula Webster

impending horror

and I
behind glass

self encased,
watch

responsible,
impotent
to act

terror
rising

unbearable

nightmare
finale

p 89 Carol Jochnowitz

you do not seem to notice

your life goes on

its merry go round
of small
and global
concerns

meanwhile I
your friend,
anxiety mounting

cursed
with seeing
what may
come next

back off

afraid to say
anything

burdened
by cares
not my own

p 90 Linda Morales Caballero

shell shrinks
as it hardens

fears
false defense
of self
demands
obedient child
deny entry

to all
outside
the tightening
strictures

failed quest
for control
over self
and others

cuts off
in and out

the air
that gives
us life

until we
heave off
choking
grip

knowing
we must be
incomplete
to live

p 90 Rosa D. Schenkerman

there is
no mystery
to life

only secrets
waiting
to happen
and letting them

p 91 Linda Samalin

[frame]
(within frame)
{ within frame }

innocence
beyond belief

knowing,
not saying,
asking nothing
(the better part
of do no harm)

all potential
yet unspent

unreadable

seen
through a glass,
darkly

p 92 Roberta Bisgyer

just outside
comfort zone

we live fish

in baited
suspension

touching
tails
gills
glinting

trust
in our own
good scents

as juices
express

we marinate
ourselves
into each other

and become
our destiny

a bouillabaisse
of delight

p 93 Carolyn Steinhoff

dream

unwanted wanting

do not
betray me

nor mark me
as I would
be in you

straight
in the teeth

naked in
love speech
infusing
communion

wholeness

the city
itself
desire

my faltering
message

still true,
unheard

now a threat
in heedless
world

a lessened I,
hunted enemy
of the bubble

pray,
savior
of the dream

hide me
within your
kiss

p 94 Michelle Nicole Simpson

servitude is the goal,

racism only a means

immutable color
and distance
from own people
made Africans targets
for capture and violation

a system of violence
which persists

the culture of Control

becomes an end in itself.

and what is a human

to do with all that?

yes, assert black identity

and a history
of heroic resistance

but more than that

embrace the lessons

of black history
an understanding
that does not confuse
domination with order

the continuing crime

cannot be put into the past
until there is recognition,
acknowledgement of responsibility,
remorse,
and renunciation of the myth
of order through repression

only then can we all

start to knit the fabric
of human community,
which is hands-on
touching and being touched
p 95 Michael Szpakowski

footwork wars
trample violence
in the dust

no longer
hugging
tame tracks

gravity,
imbibing
music
potion

succumbs
to
motion

urgent
shape
shift

in instant
balance
everywhere

roots grab
for air

and just
touch
ground

sampling
ancestors

drinking
them in

Body
Express

flies higher
and higher

destination
unknown

and never
stops
dancing

p 96 Jagan Ramsamooj

the haze that protects him

a merciful smokescreen

down there his own cloud

hides the Hard Limits

he looks but cant enter

the world of his parents

no longer on pathway
his parents projected

where merits rewarded,

productive, employed

declining job futures

not in their picture
they still see the past
foretelling success

their melting
pot dreams
now part
of his problem
expectations
of rising
drag spirits low

the circle
descending

So what to do now?
(there is no surrender)

whatever the prospects,

keep honor intact

the struggle continues:

make possible real

one thing to know:

hes not alone

we each seek
our place,
one at a time

but as the slot narrows

more and more fail

a new path is needed,

for jobs worth the doing

the cast of forced extras

must find their own voice

p 97 The Sticker Dude and Thomas Kerr

we are
our choices

if we dont
let them go

(and they dont

disappear
by themselves)

they become
us too

attachments

the stuff
of life

After
Thanksgiving,

we diet

p 98 Eve Packer

location location location

the wrong place

at the wrong time
the rule

and you,
the exception

your play

with different rules

is all about

dislocation
p 99 Nanette Funk

for you
no undertow

this land
swept of history

wild long after

civilization introduced
discontents

elemental
harsh
stark

these are qualities

not of sentiment
but of cutting truth

and you,
without defense

stripped
to bare
honesty

knowing
to the core

freedom
is what is

p 100 Louise Rader

cold,
exhausting
the warmth
it sucks on
itself stuck

unable
to escape
despairs
maze

circles
through
trap
in endless
iteration

the search
itself
the chain

unable to
dwell
within
what is

only words
remain

p 101 Maureen Grolnick

old growth

burdened with
own history

and now
darkness
coming

limbs still
reaching

as tangled
veil
descends

rest upon
each other

remembering
green dawn

p 102 Lee Cronbach

incredible comes
in many flavors

horror anticipated
and horror unforeseen

&

sensuous
delights

subtly combine
to spice tales

remembered
and repeated

to be
served later
with drinks

p 102 Elizabeth Rothschild

craving
performance

pride in blood
sacrifice
arrogance orders

a daughter
at stake

Rosemary
must carry

The Family
Standard:

Bear Any Burden

Pay Any Price

victory
or death

to play
the great
game

but botched plans

inglorious

keep family
secret

Rosemary Kennedy
without a name

shameful
and hidden

incapable
waste

stigmata
her burden

silenced
service
for life

(a model
for nun)

p 103 Maudie Robinson

forever
owning
the instant

hot iron
faith

straightens
the way

unwrinkled
by care

all is well

p 103 Margaret Yard

and so it goes

left behind

unbelievable acts

daring the world

knowing I
cannot be destroyed

and ahead
submissive smile
of recognition
et tu?

it all comes to that

and yet
as I
detach

holding
what
I am
held by

consuming
compassion

extending
beyond
all limits

I embrace
at last

myself
as well

p 104 ellen windy (aug) lytle

reaching our limits

dying from
"final consumption"
because
we're only human

the system
must be
refined
generation
expand or die

reproduce
and multiply

always increase

applies
not just
to animal spirits

but also the spirit

of capital

capitals
reproductive cycle
must be fertilized
by money

by our final consumption

(as long as
we have money)

final consumption,
for capital:
our reason to be

and the limit

on capitals growth

and that is why

new technology
is needed

to yet again
save the day

the system
must be
set free

in coming days
liberation

elimination
of the
middle
man

no need to fatten
and tease out
new needs

no need for
demand by
defective
hard to predict
humans
to sell goods to

instead, a new machine:

the automated consumer

displacing sickly and disease-limited

human consumers

by their pure representation

the primal automated consumer

literally makes money
(3% increase per year
Milton Friedmans ideal)

algorithms will do the rest

p 105 Steve Kindred

wildly inappropriate
Steves love

disarming
in the extreme

paranoias
worst nightmare:

Steves love

you are not alone

you are human

and at least
one person
really cares

Steves love

you cannot hide

you will be seen

Steves love

all attempts
to resist

are futile

self protection
crumbles

subverted
by

Steves love
proof of
concept

there
is nothing
left

except
to believe

in the power

of love
without cause

which is joy

free

already yours

universal

gospel of
a preachers son

Steves love
lives

p 106 Vincent J. Tomeo

histories stories
told and retold
each wave
awash,
fresh eyes
feasting
on past tellings

and below
the waves,
now dust,
unplumbed
bottom

as true
or false
as it
ever was

source,
container
of truths
remains

by you
exhumed

brought
back
to new life

on which
fresh eyes
feast

and make
their meal

p 106 Carol Jochnowitz

at the bottom of the barrel

a good apple
p 107 Fredy Roncalla

we
the passengers

needing to get
to where
were going

not looking
for each other
to make
our way
in this world

roll along

and then

flattened

deflated
pulled over
detained

we no longer
know

we need
to be
we

How thick
the ice
between
us

who have
never sung
together,
sharing only
our need
for a driver,

bearer
of responsibility
for our way,

to tell us
how to be?

absence
echoes
and hollows

we look
at nowhere

more comforting
than towards
each other

our distress
beyond
consolation

and then

deus
ex
machina

as passive
receptors

our
punctured
souls
patched

we move on
towards
our gaze

p 108 Robert Roth

melting
in a clash
of vulnerabilities

serious empathy
finding each other

why should
messages
be unambiguous?

empathy is
only desire
ricocheted
through soul

loves reach
needs no target
to score
a direct hit

it is an embracing

p 108 Arlene King 1

unlike dogs
who made their bargain
with hunter man

teamwork
serving both

cats took their time

to decide
what good are you
to me?

I hunt without a pack

until, on the sly,

cats noticed
human bounty

attractor of mice

making the job of cat

so much easier

moving in
on terms of ones own

getting
for just
being me

every lovers dream

p 108 Arlene King 2

how wide
the self
that is
the I?

how many
gates
need be
unlocked?

what not
to feel,
beyond
resonance?
I am
the dont-know
I seek

p 109 Joey Perr

the art
of living

despite

dangling
between

abandonment
and disinterest

fetching
a story to tell
an impression

a pretty stone
cast away

retrieved
to call
your own

p 110 Warren E. B. Harry IV and Carletta Joy Walker

self
invents Self

Self
is
whom self honors

in the naming
an advertisement
for oneself

carrier of the story

p 110 Anneke Geyzen

the battlecry
for justice

an overflow

after all
the suffering
already

coping with
the impossible

fighting silent
gallantly
to survive

and then

the powers
conspire

seeing only
weakness

there to be
squeezed
once more
and harder

touch that
nerve
of rebellion
deep from within
that cannot
be quelled

except by action,
no matter
how desperate

and knowing
that one
is not
alone

a plan
to act
as one

becomes
an emergency
of ones
own creation

that is
the struggle

everywhere
in chains,

to be born
free
p 111 Samaris Ayala

every life
touching you

(because you
have given
of yourself
to be touched)

becomes you

not only in books

but from them too

cast of character
deepening

bell intones

echoing
among others

a voice
to be heard

p 111 Susan Karp Manning

people,
wily gamers:
fucking
ineffable

p 111 Jean Louise Engel

how long
can we stand
not to know?
Those who seek
to change
made up minds,
beware

reopening
the story
is an invasive
procedure.

p 111 Ron Kolm

after the overture,

an entire opera

p 111 Howard Pflanzer

on retiring from the Court:

"How do you feel, Justice?"

a reporter shouted

"With my hands,"
Marshall replied,
without skipping a beat.

p 111 Howard Pflanzer

Netanyahu, Israel's
self-fulfilling prophet,
cries:

"there is no peace"

And, sure enough,

there is no peace.
p 112 Abigail Dimen Taylor

knitter of spirits

all in the giving

making way
makes the way

allowing ourselves
to be caught
into accepting arms

not the caught

of trapped

but embraced

to touch
gentle and deep
reconnects the hurt

to take flight anew

before
and now, after

where you
have gone

others go

with them
an unbroken
band

supportive
love
a space
to be free

p 113 Amy Pryor

baited words

worms on hooks
to be swallowed whole

because
we are hungry
to know

how to be
like the others
who know how
to live life

fully

successfully

admired
nay, envied!

we swallow it all

hook, line, and sinker

p 114 Sree Sengupta

things fall apart

in a moment

grief
is silence

choked
chaos
without direction

an end
without
a point

except that life

that will not stop

goes on
needing you

and you,
with wound
open

with nothing
to hold onto

must reason
beyond
grasp

a way out

your crying need

without tears

stressed fabric
ripping

without words
sends its
signal

and then

the miracle

unbidden gift
caught in the
kind arms
of another
who is falling

another whose
fabric is ripping

loss
made bearable

by not being
apart

but obliterating
own death

in renewed
life

rebounding
through you

your every
day

a gift
to him

p 119 Bill Cofone

ice
bamboo
stands
in waving
columns

forbidding
entry
you walk
past

your world
outside

mine is
within

this last
stand

p 120 Imani El-Amin

as basic as water

but also an image

of protean power

water
life force
of the universe

modest ambitious

both are true

and united

in simple
attention

service
to all
life
inside back cover Marvin Schwartz

imagination
catches us

transmits
possibility

and so
we become

as acrobats,
inner strength
re-balancing
each instant

impelling us
to defy
but not
deny

the force
that would
topple us

pull us
down

connection,
fragile
precarious

our resistance,
temporary and
eternal

all we have
to give
to each other

all we have
to remember
ourselves

back cover Shelley Haven

rest
background

not seeking
to attract
attention

our place
remains

where
we belong

all whole

excluding
none

free,
at last