Dawn L. C. Miller
Give me some poor reflection,
before the light changes.
Let little shoes dance me,
bright sparkles joy me up
from my bent fingers
and give me
a soft coat with a good name to frame my neck
with a warm concealing collar.
Let me draw it up
and look in the mirror
seeking some revelation past it all,
an essential truth
reflected by small shoes
and soft coat.
may these trappings conceal
and reveal
some truth of me shining
before the light fades too much.
Beach Scene
Sandy Robinette
The ocean lips the shore
Tickling toes.
Long rollers' slow motion
Lifts the waiting surfers' boards.
The sun, the sand
Beach paradise.
Beyond the blue-hazed horizon
Lurks the vast sea,
Waters deep, seething,
The chop and turbulence,
The sullen heave.
Surging liquid power
just at the edge of sight.
Nelson Farley
My Jewish girlfriend
Gave me a rose,
A yellow rose
With red petal-tips
As if it were bleeding
Identical to
Another yellow rose
With red petal-tips
That she gave me
A few weeks before.
The first rose is in its
Vase still in full bloom
But the yellow has bled
To a dry-blood brown:
It has given me the
Joy of color.
As I remove the rose from its
Vase carefully to
Preserve its bloom--
Preserved even in death,
And before I place
The new rose
Vibrant, alive
In the vase,
I realize today is
Good Friday.