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23 April 2019 | National Poetry Month WebPoetrySlam

April 23, 2019 By Annis Cassells

The Giants March
 

Mountains and hills float above the morning mist, like
   islands in
a prehistoric sea, and I have come again to the giants march,
where their arms, whiter than the clouds, flail round and round
in the Djinn-laced air.
I have come to the giants march when sun is rising to make them
   glow,
and when sun has set them into deep dark shadows,
I have known them as a welcome landmark in my travels to
   and from
the land of brown skies and heat.
I see their numbers increase with each passing, and I am
   heartened
that there is some hope for the creatures and humans
in this world of corruption on many levels, the giants
stand above it all, the giants march in place.
 
~ Natalia Corres

Natalia Corres, retired tech whisperer, has written weekly web news for Examiner for 3 years, as well as publishing a Pet Services Directory for her local area and blogging.  She enjoys writing poetry, non-fiction, and urban fiction; as well as providing creative assistance to others in film and animation projects.

22 April 2019 | National Poetry Month WebPoetrySlam

April 22, 2019 By Annis Cassells

Motivation
 
The whole day stretched before me
To work on all this mess
Dust bunnies danced along the shelf,
Much laundry, I confess.
 
I scrunched down in my favorite chair.
My pans were mucked in swill.
I wondered what to tackle first –
The socks piled in a hill?
 
While I yawned and stretched my arms
A towel fell off its rack.
My virgin sweeper stood at ease
With cobwebs on its back.
 
My family will arrive here soon
To meet their humbled home.
They’ll ask me what I did today.
I’ll say, “I wrote a poem.”
 
~ Connie Williams

Connie Williams is a wife, mom, grandma, and retired teacher.  She has published articles, curriculum, and children’s chapter books.  Oh, and surprisingly enough–one poem, this one.  Check out her first attempt at a website: https://connie-a-williams.wixsite.com/mysite

21 April 2019 | National Poetry Month

April 21, 2019 By Annis Cassells

A F T E R

After there’re no mountains left to climb
After there’re no poems left to rhyme
After there are no more problems left for me to solve
After there are no more urgent conflicts to resolve
After goals I set no longer shine
After things I wished for all are mine          
I will still find happiness in everything we do, and
Want for nothing more than just to always be with you.
 
After dreams we dreamed have come to pass
After Autumn’s leaves have cloaked the grass
After all the hard times and the good times we have known
After all our children are grown up and on their own
After there is time to smell each rose.
After doors once open slowly close
I will still find happiness in everything we do
And want for nothing more than just to live my life with you.
 
~ Nelson Varon

In addition to being a musician and a writer of song lyrics & poems, Nelson Varon was a NYC school teacher, the founder of Nelson Varon Organ Studios in NYC,       a published songwriter & author of PlayNow Method For All Organs. He wrote  feature articles for The Music Trades  magazine, and How to Open a Piano & Organ Store (a chapter in the industry publication, How To Open A Music Store) and the short story, Fixing Things.  He was also the founder, publisher & editor of The Music & Computer Educator magazine, and the founder of Kern Piano Mall, in Bakersfield.

20 April 2019 | National Poetry Month WebPoetrySlam

April 20, 2019 By Annis Cassells




Femme
for love & culture

You weep inwardly (inner cry-New York Style)
after your friend asks you – did you ever want a relationship
   with your father?
after twenty years – filled with antiseptic/// hardened glow
 
No, I say, and I want to cry.
 
no resource will fill—I doubt the hand that feeds me
promise, promise is not forever, can still, quiet roaring.
 
& when I stare into the sun
burning up my retina—destroying images of men leaving or
   papa dying.
Do I ever want real relationships?
 
I burn a hand that feeds
burn feeding-you hands
char flesh center-stage, focus of undoing.
 
I’m weeping, calling my mother
it’s just us & this hostility & genesis
stalking us everywhere we go—with every man we meet.
sharp glare thrust knock politely tap, tap on thin bone
scattering dazzling pink light, scaly, glittering on wish-less
   tongue
bloody from memory of darkest sky, omen of past retreat.
 
we cannot beat our demons, but we trap them and suck out
   the meat
only bone is left, we sprinkle colorful light and leave remains
   like that.

~Mateo Lara

Mateo Perez Lara is queer latinx, originally from Bakersfield, California. He received his B.A. in English at CSU Bakersfield. He is currently working on his M.F.A. in Poetry at Randolph College in Lynchburg, VA. His poems have been featured in Emerson Review, EOAGH. He is an editor for RabidOak online literary journal & Zoetic Press.

19 April 2019 | National Poetry Month WebPoetrySlam

April 19, 2019 By Annis Cassells

To Bring One Home
 
Do you hear it?
The plaintive drone,
A wild melody,
Drifting on the wind.
 
Follow me
Down cobbled alleyways,
Past stonewalled cottages,
Into fields of heather
Across a grassy moor.
 
The call is louder now,
Pulling you inexorably,
Stirring the blood
With cries of warriors
Marching into battle,
Fearing death,
Yet going forward anyway.
 
Your heart is filled with longing.
The wind is cold,
Making the reddened nose run
And eyes tear.
The sun is setting its golden blessing
Across the hills.
Serpentine stone walls cast shadows.
Sheep bleat,
Adding grace notes
To the haunting tune.
 
Stumble over a rise
And there they are!
Standing stock still
In rows upon rows,
Wrapped in crimson and emerald tartans
Whipping in the wind.
 
The highland pipers
Calling
At the end of day.
 
~ Carla Joy Martin

Carla Joy Martin was born in New York City and grew up in St. Andrews, Scotland and Pasadena, California.  I have lived in Bakersfield for thirty years now, having raised my two sons here.  I have taught piano, art and English.  In these “Golden Years” of life, I am a substitute teacher and aspiring poet and children’s book author.

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