Nothing Underneath, T.Gerken

Nothing Underneath
By Theo Gerken

Sing me a love song
and I'll answer in praise
but give it to me rough
and I'll be right in your face
As we met
we had our battles
none
of which I won
Soon I sensed you were of another kind
the archetype
of not my kind
the way you impacted me
caught us wondering
left the truth hanging
about the beating and the banging
how I'd wake up
so completely uncalled for
between four white walls
in hospital
hospitalised
traumatized
stunned by psychological warfare and bad food
shunned
by my only visitor
always my inquisitor
so questioning
so calculating
and to force himself upon me
filling me
with his slow mechanical rage
sincerely smiling
while dehydrating my face
bits of me
were leaving me
now the others around
came convinced
you and me were unsound
they said it was a fifty-fifty blame
that all my problems
put your high earning name to shame
but then hospitalised
again and again
for no reason
for a moment
they saw reason
started questioning
I left the truth hanging
about the beating and the banging
they started seeing
patterns of abuse
pushing me
to expose the truth
seeing this
you were loosing this game
unless using change
to clear your own name
so
selling yourself
as though you said my mother
should have sold me
being the whore she was
giving birth to me
Sing me a love song
and I'll answer in praise
with you
it never happened
so I'll always be disgraced
caught in the circle of seeking your approval
it is sad to see
I am a refuge
in this relationship and in my own home
I keep moving
But knowledge of what I seek
and again
the rug is pulled beneath my feet
pulled from underneath
pushed from up above
contracting gravity to your favour
showing the skies
the righteousness of you endeavour
loosing ground
sinking right through it
sinking through earths' surface
try beat me to it
the only memory of her master
was natural disaster
emptying my core
convinced there is more
raging upon my waters
threatening to me leave
relieved and furious
saying things I couldn't believe
this struggle
seemed ignite a spark
the twinkle is in the eye
I beg the twilight to be your guiding light
you come on to me
your intentions to scared to tell
saying you'll do right as I please
I'm thinking oh God please
fucked breathless 'til I could breathe no more
fucked heartless emptying me to the core
fucked blue white gold and yellow
as all the colours of the rainbow
hit me right in the face
and I'll kneel in praise
appropriate behaviour
has come to be my saviour
once more
touched by the breeze of death
once again
screwed by what has nothing underneath
filled with seeds of evil
too tired to stand up
deprived of free will
to make the final cut
thinking about the baby
what sin it will bring
but love infinite
I almost change my mind
before realizing environmental factors
can do nothing to this kind

Silent Mary, K.C.Wheat

Silent Mary
by K.C. Wheat

Mary Ann takes off her jeans.
Leaves them on the floor right there.
Then she stares at me over her shoulder,
With her elbows resting on the table.
Her Afro smells like cigarettes
As I watch one bead of sweat
Slowly roll down her spine,
Make a left turn, trace her hip,
And wet my hand.

Lost in Time, J.J.Fay

Lost in time
By Jennifer Joan Fay

Skin with becoming aging signs
Something only told by lost time
Thoughtless thoughts
And a heartless soul
An emotionless mind
Destroyed by time
So confused, so unaware
Such a lost soul without a care.
Forbidden Love
The sun in it's fiery glare
How I love it's warmth
Solace, consoling
Yet not nearly as comforting as your soothing arms.
Your heart beating close to mine
With every waking breath you take
Don't make me feel as though this has been a mistake.
Anxiously awaiting you
The torrential pour
The howling winds
The silent line
The endless whines
Anticipating seeing you
Anxiously awaiting home
Awaiting your touch
Your elated kiss
As the clock slowly winds
It gets slower with each waking time
The slow quiet room
Yet gabbing away
The tired eyes
And the anxious await.

Life, L.H.Berry,Jr.

Life
By Lawrence H. Berry, Jr.

Mother Nature is crying.
The earth is still frying.
Fact finders are prying.
Bush is still lying.
Everybody''s still buying.
Time is just flying.
God is now dying.
The Pope is now sighing.
Life''s lessons applying.
But, I''m still trying.

Beer One...,E.Sullivan

Beer One of Twelve
By Ed Sullivan

Crack. Smell. Sip. Sip. I love the taste of cold beer. The brand name don’t matter, as long as it’s not that cheap, cheap shit. As long as a twelve pack costs more than eight bucks, and the beer is cold, I love the taste. Sip. Especially the first Sip of my first beer after a long hard day of sleep, Sip. That’s always the best. Sip.

Sip.

As I take a seat on my favorite chair and turn on the ballgame, I chug the remainder contently. Toss the empty can in the general direction of the kitchen. I reach into the box and grab another and I know like a pitcher knows how to throw it’s all down hill from here, sometimes even to the depths of hell. Oh well.

Crack.

Our World Our Duty, N.Kabir

Our World, Our Duty
by Nabila Kabir
It would be a much happier place to dwell in –
To inhabit,
If people would just walk as far as a trash can –
To throw away their garbage.
It would be a less complicated place to live,
If people were busy doing their jobs
Instead of –
Finding excuses of not getting it done.
Now tell me –
Am I not right?
If, when walking, we didn’t have to step over
Empty soda cans and old flyers
In our every step.
Wouldn’t it be a prettier place to occupy,
To reside in,
If honesty filled our hearts?
Why is it that once someone drops their phone,
They loose hope of ever finding it?
Why is it that,
There are security guards
In front of every door of a simple store like
Wal-Mart?
Do we not see the world in which we breathe in –
The world in which we stroll in –
is filled with filth?
Now tell me –
Is the filth not a result of our actions?
Because we would rather steal –
Than buy.
Because we would rather lie –
Than then tell the truth.
Honesty is rare and –
Loiterers are common.
The reason our work never gets done
Is because we are lazy.
The reason our wallet gets stolen
Is because of our dishonesty.
So next time you walk by a trash –
Throw your trash in it.
Next time you find a phone or a wallet,
Turn it in.
Because then –
The world would be a much happier place to dwell in –
To inhabit.
Now tell me –
Am I not right?

Picking Etiquette, G.Bosacker

PICKING ETIQUETTE
By Gerald Bosacker

You can pick a wife or a rose,
and then quite sensibly
the right card, your teeth or new clothes,
a guitar, a friend or your foes,
and often, quite privately
that icky stuff between your toes.
Pick garden weed that stubborn grows
and winning numbers I suppose
or your butt when no one knows
but mothers and teachers agree
it's never nice to pick your nose.

The Bones Once Protruded..., N.Kuwik

THE BONES ONCE PROTRUDED FROM MY HIPS,
MAKING IT DIFFICULT TO SLEEP ON MY SIDE
By Nicole Kuwik

My mind
pushes me up against a wall
holding a fist
to my face threatening to
pound
pound
pound

So I sneak into spiral notebooks
neatly listed with numbers
which once added to equal
fifteen, sixteen, seventeen...
when I was still
sinking somwhere
along the transfer from sand to swamp

I login to forums about triggers
and thinspiration and taste
raw carrot and stomach acid,
toilet water and white tile,
salty tears on grey stairs

My hands turn orange like
a flamingo eating
shrimp
shrimp
shrimp to make her pink
and my bones ache with the
deficiency
of it all