NPM

by Anna Marco

 Poets
 don’t be afraid
 to fall off the paper edge
 Into the abyss of
 A E I O U
 Aaay eeee eye Oh spinning euuu
 Fall Into word pools
 Get tangled up in xyz and ABC
 Break rules, Make rules
 Onomatopoeia excites
 Cuckoo meow honk boom
 Typing tapping
 Swirling twirling black marks upon white paper
 Form communication
 Soul speak spirit
 Heart to heart language 
 Be the opposite of normal
 Gifted wordsmith
 not crayon scripture
 It's how we live
 Throbbing head
 Midnight invocations
 we fall off the paper edge
 To sleep
 and start again tomorrow
 Go

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Anna Marco was born into theatrical heritage, gifted in creative writing and majored in Media. Her professional writing career spans 30 years. She is an internationally published author to 6 books and 800 magazine articles. She won the Los Angeles Valley College Poetry Contest for “The Lemon Tree.”

by Carla Joy Martin

 Lewis Carroll, author of Alice in Wonderland, wrote a poem called “Jabberwocky,” that tells of a monster called the “frumious Bandersnatch.” This poem is about a similar creature.
  
  
 Beware, my dear,
 The frumious Bandersnatch!
 The famous bait and switch!
 The one who begs and woos,
 So sweet and so solicitous.
 Sings your praises
 To the moon,
 Kisses your earlobes,
 Makes you swoon,
 Tempts and teases,
 Gives gifts and pleases,
 Until he thinkses
 That he has you
 Where he wants you --
 Then SNATCH!
 He takes your freedom,
 Clips your wings,
 Criticizes your every move,
 Insidiously, he is so smooth.
 Weaves his will in and over yours,
 Closes windows, shuts the doors.
 Takes and takes
 Until there is no more.
 Run, my dear,
 I do implore,
 For he will try to swallow you
 Evermore! 

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Carla Joy Martin is a poet, pastel artist and piano instructor.  After living in New York, Scotland and Pasadena, she has now resided in Bakersfield for thirty-five years.  Carla enjoys promoting the arts in Bakersfield.  She hosts the Dukes Memorial Concerts as well as co-hosts the First Friday Open Mic Nights with Portia Choi. 

by Annis Cassells

 Winter nights GrandPap sat
 Snug near the coal stove
 In the home-place dining room
  
 arthritic fingers wrapped around
 a time-worn pocket knife
  
 scored a scantling of well-grained wood
 with knife point markings true
  
 His opening cleave, 
 Unlocked the wood’s walnut breath
  
 Silent shavings lined his lap
 Surrounded his straight-backed chair
  
 ‘Til bedtime, when links entwined
 Created a perfect chain 

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Annis Cassells is a longtime member of Writers of Kern. Her poems have appeared in print and online journals. In 2019 Annis published her first poetry collection, You Can’t Have It All. She’s a contributor in the 2020 social justice anthology, ENOUGH “Say Their Names…”

by Anna Marco

Catfight
With a wild rose
Both of us
Torn and tattered
Bleeding
Scarlet Red  
Thick as velvet

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Anna Marco was born into theatrical heritage, gifted in creative writing and majored in Media. Her professional writing career spans 30 years. She is an internationally published author to 6 books and 800 magazine articles. She won the Los Angeles Valley College Poetry Contest for “The Lemon Tree.”

by Anke Hodenpijl

 The nymph of her emerges from the river,
 seeks shelter on the bankside 
 of her mother’s arms.
 Unfledged, she spins into her dance,
 opens her arms like wings made of diamond light,
 and receives her life next to the river Jordan.
 There is no rushing in this place,
 only the flow.
  
 Imagine a young girl, unafraid,
 stroking the strings of her lyre
 singing into creation,
 only to be betrayed
 by a lamb and a snake.
  
 At the gloaming
 she hangs her harp on the willow,
 feeds the fish with her body,
 knows her song of Zion
 are sewn into the ribs of women. 

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Anke Hodenpijl believes the practice of writing brings her closer to life. Her work reflects on the intersections between immigration and assimilation, spirituality, family, racism, and sexuality. Her work is published in several anthologies and literary journals. She connects with other poets as a facilitator at the Art and Spirituality Center in Bakersfield and as a Critique Group leader with the Writers of Kern.