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WHERE ARE ALL THE ROSES
The sweet perfume of Spring
The promise of tomorrows
Each passing day would bring

And WHERE ARE ALL THE ROSES
I gave you through the years
At all those celebrations
Now marked with silent tears

How many times
I’d gaze into your young and laughing eyes
Those eyes which spoke of
Time that never ends and light that never dies

WHERE ARE ALL THE ROSES
They’re gathered in a spray
And placed here in your mem’ry
Now that you have gone away.

You dared to dream then made your dreams come true
My dreams came true the day I married you

WHERE ARE ALL THE ROSES
Each year a fresh bouquet
I bring to say your mem’ry
Lives in me every day

—Nelson Varon (Words & Music)

A musician and a writer of song lyrics & poems, Nelson Varon was also 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.

Thank You, God, for painting the sky tonight.
I needed to see that wondrous sight.
With the hues of the sunset, You gave me such delight;
You made me feel certain that everything’s alright.

Thanks also, God, for satisfying my need
For a glimmer of the afterglow ~ beautiful indeed!
I was glad to have taken the dogs out on their lead
Because, looking upward, pure joy was guaranteed.

Had I stayed inside, I surely would have missed
That picture-perfect moment, vividly sun-kissed,
When the horizon was captured in celestial mist.
It’s for special times like these that I exist.

I took several pictures with my iPhone at twilight
To share with friends and family, with whoever might
Wish to have a glimpse of this wondrous sight.
So thank You, God, for painting the sky tonight.

—Shelley Evans

Shelley Evans has been writing poetry most of her life. It was destiny, as she was named after the poet, Percy Bysshe Shelley. Many of her poems are inspired by the beach and are often written with her feet in the sand at Pismo. One of Shelley’s favorite activities is rhyming her way through life. Shelley has two poems published in the 2018 anthology, Writing Flora, Writing Fauna, A Collection of Poems from the Southern San Joaquin Valley.

Surveying this vast expanse
I experience a sense of eternity.

The salty ocean spray mists my face.
I dig deep into the sand
to find the moisture below.
The beach is rich with life.
Sea gulls squawk overhead
Pelicans skydive for supper
while sand crabs burrow deep
Limpets and mussels cling desperately
to wave-worn rocks.
A shell tumbles towards the shore
pushed by the last big wave.

At water’s edge, I yell in my biggest voice.
Fears, rage, sorrow,
hopes, longings and deepest desires
crashing out from a primal scream
Firmly and safely held by the powerful waves
and the thunderous sound of the surf.
The ocean holds them all.

Heaven and earth hear my prayer.
No more will I hide from life.
Transformation begins.
Dreaming turns into Doing.
Wishing becomes will-power.
Digging demands discovery.

I AM.

—Rose Lester

(Originally published in Writing Flora, Writing Fauna (2018). Used with permission of the author.)

Rose Lester is a Marriage and Family Therapist in private practice. As a true renaissance woman, she aspires to all things creative and is at home in a variety of creative mediums from song writing and singing, to playing her violin and guitar, to painting and sculpting, or writing poems about life and transformation. Her poems have been published in several anthologies and online websites. She volunteers for the Art for Healing program at Mercy Hospital and helps lead the Threshold Choir that sings at the bedside of those in need of comfort and peace.

What if…if just for today
I thought I was pretty?
It almost makes me giddy!
But what if?
Would I stand a little taller?
Walk a little prouder?
Smile at the reflection in the mirror?

What if…just for today,
I thought I was strong!
Capable to handle whatever comes along?
What if?
Would I speak my mind?
To the weak be kind?
Make solid decisions, my mind clearer?
And what if… for today only,
I believed I was worthy?
Would it make me happy?
If…
I thought of myself as God does,
Lived life as his princess cause,
That’s who I am to my creator.
If, for today,
I say,
I am pretty,
I am strong,
I am worthy,
I’m capable,
I’m kind,
I am my beloved’s,
And he is mine.
–Lee Stewart

I have lived in Bakersfield for five years. I am currently working on a Bachelor Degree in Psychology and have applied for the Masters Degree program at CSUB. I self-published a book of poems called InkSpots and wrote a screenplay. Lately, however, most of my writing has been academic in nature.

My voice shakes, my hand reaches out.
I grip your extended hand firmly, feeling your vibes.
We smile at each other and mumble our names.
Hands drop, as do your eyes—awkward moments.

I watch your face, glance at your hands.
“First time here?”
Never looking up, you nod.
“You’ll like it, I think,” I smile.

You look up, smiling with hope.
I see your eyes searching mine,
They ask if I’m being sincere.
You see me, I see you.

You see honest interest and caring,
I see your worry, fear of rejection.
You see I understand,
I see you begin to open the door to your soul.

You see, then feel no threat, no harm,
I see a warm and beautiful heart,
And we have connected.
I am so glad I see you.

—Judy Kukuruza

Judy Kukuruza is a retired college instructor, continual student of others and bleeding heart peace lover. She has written since she learned to write. Her memoir, One Body, Many Souls, was published in 2018.