Our topics touch a variety of subjects about nature and the nature of humanity.  The purpose of our all-volunteer organization is to educate poets, and to foster the reading and writing of short poetry.  We are not a vanity press.  Not every poem submitted will be published.  We are a family magazine.  Do not advocate the use of alcohol or drugs in your poetry then ask us to consider your work.  Please read our monthly rules before sending us your work.

CONTENTS

• WELCOME
• LETTERS
• FAVORITE POEM OF THE YEAR 2001 COMPETITION
• PEACE ON EARTH
• KEEPING LOVE ALIVE
• UNDER MY TREE
• HIDDEN CONTEST: ONE BLACK ROSE
• BEST POEM OF DECEMBER

FIRST PLACE - Winner of a box of chocolates.

Quietness Within

May this quietness within turn without
To find its way to others.
And may this peace we share
Bring such a blessing,
It bears more sisters and brothers.

Craig Soderquist, Universal City, TX

Humanity Has No Bounds

Guidance leads the way
Wholesome souls provide grace
Their hearts full of hope and peace
Samaritans promoting a good cause
A definite asset to the human race

Keith Burkholder, West Seneca, NY

Joyful song

Sing a joyful song
with sweetness and light.
Chant to the highest rafters
keeping melodic peace
with all gathered tonight.

Eileen Sateriale, Bowie, MD

Let It Begin Here

Raise in me love to drive out grudges,
Humility to drive out pride,
Compassion to drive out prejudice,
And as peace advances,
Let me be on its side.

Katherine Swarts, Houston, TX

A Fire

Let the fire burn in warmth
never anger or pain
a campfire, a hope
in love's warm refrain.

James M. Thompson, Baytown, TX

FIRST PLACE - Winner of a box of chocolate.

Wireless Communication

Although separated by distant miles
Each night aboard the US battleship
A son still hears his mother’s smiles

Lois Lay Castiglioni Galveston, TX

HONORABLE MENTION

Eros Arrow Error

Give a chest a solid blow
Help restore a healthy glow
Cupid, stung by his own bow

Betty Dobson, Halifax, NS, Canada

HONORABLE MENTION

Diamond Ring

For the rest of our lives, love will sing
whenever I look at this shiny thing:
twenty-year-old engagement ring.

Eileen Sateriale, Bowie, MD, USA

Slow Dance

Their love began by purest chance
A feathered whisper and a glance
Kept aloft on a long, slow dance

Betty Dobson, Halifax, NS, Canada

Fiftieth Anniversary

Although we've disagreed on minor things
Each year love stretches our heartstrings
Like the sturdy oak adds rings

Kay Lay Earnest. Smyrna, GA

Mind, Body, Soul

The right relationship can ignite the soul and mind
Must love each other deeper than just bodies entwined
Give whole-heartedly each and every time.

Shelia M. Goss, Mesquite, TX

Silver Anniversary

My heart chants deep within my wrist
Always as you wish my lips insist
Ever since the first time that we kissed

Maryann Hazen-Stearns, Ellenville, NY

Dancing Lovers

Two hearts flutter like a happy tune.
Dancing by the light of the moon.
The evening ends all too soon.

Eileen Sateriale, Bowie, MD, USA

Distant Word

Distant love brings feelings blurred,
So pen in hand write memory's word,
And find rekindled passions stirred.

Craig Soderquist, Universal City, TX

Not Passion But Compassion

Beware of measuring love by mere emotion:
Pain is the end of reckless heart commotion,
But true love grows from conscious, strong devotion.

Katherine Swarts, Houston, TX, USA

FIRST PLACE - Winner of a $20.00 book gift certificate.

Mom's To-Do List

Brown sugar pralines
Roy's employee valuation
Liquorice pastels
Grandson Trevor's anticipation
Banana nut cake
Son Bobby's expectation
Date-nut candy
Daughter Stephanie's appreciation
Table scraps
Dear dog Andy's reward

SJ Baldock, Lancaster TX

SECOND PLACE - Winner of a $15.00 book gift certificate.

Christmas Knit-For-Gifts

Red woolen mittens under Christmas tree boughs
for Heather and Rachel whose snowmen get "wow's!"
Two green hats with thick yellow stripes
for Richard and Bruce who are not mitten-types.
A cashmere scarf of heavenly blue
for Grandma whose eyes shine the very same hue.
Three pair of socks either gray-toed or white
for Grandpa to keep his cold feet warm at night.
One very large sweater and one very small
for dear husband, Michael and Chiwowy-Dog, Paul.

Maryann Hazen-Stearns, Ellenville, NY

THIRD PLACE -  Winner of a $10.00 book gift certificate.

A Different Year

Painted wood scraps and bits of string
put together for someone we don't know
whispered prayers and a half shed tear
cast to the wind and their distant campfires
a flag, a photo, a dab of perfume
carried close, wherever he marches
a folded card, a few words -- perhaps verse
left in a flickering candlelit fire station door
a jacket, a blanket, a bit of food
dropped by the alleyway, not that far from home

James M. Thompson, Baytown, TX

HONORABLE MENTION

From the Heart

Warm home-baked bread
For my mother who kept us so happily fed
Charcoal-drawn plaque
For my father who always kept us in the black
New hand-knit shirt
For my brother who held me whenever life hurt
Clay candy dish
For a sister as sweet as I ever could wish
Embroidered shawl
For grandmother whose strong support covered us all.

Katherine Swarts, Houston, TX, USA

Spreading Cheer

Woven wreath in autumnal hues
For daughter's new front door
Baked custard dusted with nutmeg
For neighbor with new dentures
Fuzzy flannel nightgown
For aunt, residing in a nursing home
Red and white knit cap
For premature infant spending holidays in ICU
Framed collage of sun bleached seashells
For friend, a reminder of our shore-side visits

Lois Lay Castiglioni Galveston, TX

Gifts from the Heart

Collection of family recipes
For granddaughters to preserve tastes of past generations
Marinated fruited Friendship Cake
For postman bringing the world to our doorstep
Pot of bright red geraniums
For bedridden neighbor to brighten her room
Snapshot album covered with patchwork scraps
For son from snaggle-toothed grin to graduation
Shadow box of miniature souvenirs
For brother to revive memories of our travels

Kay Lay Earnest, Smyrna, GA

Handmade Holidays

Blankets pieced together from discounted fabric
For the kids of "Project Linus"
Corn flake candy whose aroma fills the kitchen
For the tempting of Holiday guests
Little gift baskets assembled one by one
For all of our friends from work
Typing-paper cards covered with crayon
For our favorite teacher at school
A big bowl of popcorn to throw in the snow
For the birds to share in the season

Eric L. Sanders, Atlanta, IL

Knitting up a Storm

Cable stitched V-necked sweaters
for elderly gentlemen to wear on a cold day.
Multi-colored custom-made afghans
covering ladies' laps as they read by the TV.
Bright woolen mittens with thumbs
for little ones who lost them last year.
Popcorn stitched scarves to adorn the necks
of the fashion minded teenaged girls on my list.
Striped hats in colors of local sports teams
for football, hockey and basketball fans.

Eileen Sateriale, Bowie, MD, USA

FIRST PLACE

Love's Last Imprint

Relic of once, upon a time--
One black rose, left behind
Testimony to a love that thrived,
Yet in life could not survive.
A melancholy epithet,
To the bittersweet lives
of Romeo and Juliet.

Lynne Remick, Nesconset, NY

SECOND PLACE

Unopened

Her lips never kissed, rose soft petals
tumbled one by one into night
the moonless dark, a silent fall, motionless gaze--
No one remembers when she left
she came apart so quietly, wilted black
tumbled one by one into night
a wind's final whisper, a fragrance, one black rose.

James M. Thompson, Baytown, TX

HONORABLE MENTION

Last Wish

There
below
in the street,
bound tightly to
my car antenna
with ribbon the color
of blood, in a bow; a gift
from my ex-husband. He wishes -
despite an Order of Protection,
for my demise, with a single black rose.

Maryann Hazen-Stearns, Ellenville, NY

The Baker's Dozen

A singular black beauty
Boxed with a dozen
Decapitated stems
He signs the card
"For my rose
Among the thorns"

SJ Baldock, Lancaster TX

Unicorn

What could be more impossible
than handing me
a black rose.
Horticulturists deny it
yet here it lies
denying me.
What grief has been crafted
in this petal'd void
refusing love.
This unicorn has a very real thorn.

Ron Blanton, Alpharetta, GA, USA

Black Rose

Among roses, colorfully void of black
Liken any other yet immortally fragrant
Significantly mutant in empathy
Brings with its presence, sincerity
Consolation, for lives lost to the
darkened shadows of human ill tiding

Louie Levy, Thousand Oaks, CA

He Loves Me

He was gone in the morning,
but on my pillow he
placed a single black rose,
its petals just beginning to unfurl.
What secrets lie within this fragrant shroud?
With each petal I pluck, the truth is unveiled:
he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me...

Terrie Leigh Relf, San Diego, CA

The Gift

Forgiven, I thought,
caressing the silky surfaced bound box.
Clasp unfast, I raised the lid. Thoughts imprisoned
there flew at me, loud, loud as moths flying to a flame.  Blue
wind from their wings frosted my eyes, sending a chill from
my head to my toes.
The heart knows what the head denies.
On a deep velvet cushion the color of blood, lay a
floral announcement: a single
black rose.

John E. Rice, Houston, TX

Harbinger of Winter

One black rose,
dark, slender and tall.
Black rose,
symbol of death
or lifelessness.
One gift, black rose
harbinger of
a long, bleak
winter.

Eileen Sateriale, Bowie, MD

Dark Emotions

Deep within his heart coursed the blood of his ancestors
liquid fires raging unchecked, unfettered, blazing
with burning desires to conquer, to be conquistors.
Dark eyes smolder lock to dark eyes
then to his corazon, his heart,  his senorita,
he passes the epitome of the Spaniard's true love
the rarest of nature's gifts, one black rose

Jeannette L. Strother, Mansfield, TX

What Is This?

The rose should stand for passion,
The black should make one cry.
Why put the two together?
Is this your last goodbye?
I’ve never understood you,
Yet still I’ve loved you how?
I felt you loved yet hated;
Are these your feelings now?

Katherine Swarts, Houston, TX

Apoplexy

Some nights
I feel the need to get in the car
and drive all the way from now
until sunrise, but tonight I’m walking.

Not a sound
but shoes shuffling
in dead leaves. I walk
because you no longer could.
I walk because sometimes fear paralyzes
and I can almost feel how you must have felt--
the body goes, the mind stays,
the body stays, the mind goes.
I don't know which is worse.

The landscape holds nothing
but shadows. Dark as grief,
night layers me and I can't stop
walking, remembering--
the road simply ends.
In a fine powdery mist
as if ashes or dove's down,
February snow falls. Over and over
one foot plants in front of the other, inhale, exhale--.
the sky splinters amber. I look back
at the prints left. How appropriate,
your leaving at sunrise.

Now studying the horizon, a pale paradigm,
smoke splits the cold, strict air.
In its scent
you return
and the part of me
that is afraid
breathes in the good smell of aged oak.

Knowing it's not death that's hard,
it's the long dying,
I ease myself back from sadness.

Judith Schiele, Brandon, MS

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