Poetry + Photography
Poetry + Photography
Straightforward - Zion Zackery
The sun rises and rests, and rises and rests every day to blossom its beam.
The final goodbye to the sun is anywhere down the road.
Don’t remain parked after a crash; many more will come and there’s
An experience within each.
All roads come with hills and flats
Why let the wheel control itself?
Put it in drive and push the gas until the tank is empty
Reaching the mountain’s peak is the gold to a miner.
To look down, to turn back on the pages read
Gives the road, book, and trail its value.
Unknown Door - Gavin Leonard
Why Not
- Isaac Koffi-Moyet
Why not
Let peace speak
Where missiles soar
Let love lead
Where brothers war
Let hatred cede
Where enemies abhor
Why not
Speak truth
When evil lies
Lead hope
When fears arise
Let anger cede
When tempers rise
Why not?
Greetings from Baltimore - Jeremiah Spann
Nighttime Graffiti - Diego Marin-Jarve
Snowfall in the Park with a Lover
- Nicholas Boettcher
This moment will never be caught.
Only you and I witness this snapshot of time.
This soon to be forgotten feeling
Fleeting and unique like snowflakes
Dissolving in our mouths—
We try to hold them on our tongues.
I Dream a World (Inspired by I Dream a World by, Langston Hughes) - Hunter Simms
I dream a world
Where everyone’s light shines
And dreams come true
A world full of coexisting minds
Where love blooms anew
All will have the respect
That we all deserve
And none will we reject
For Martin’s dream, we shall preserve
Peace will reign
Ignorance shall be slain
And we’ll all be riding that freedom train
But this world won’t be all smiles
Oh yes, there will be trials
But human dignity will be seen for miles
The humanity of others will shine brighter than the stereotypes
And people will be judged by what lies within
Not by if you’re black, you are a sin
Or if you’re a man, you're meant to win
The bounty for your wife and kin
No, no, no
Your appearance won’t set you apart
But what lies in your head and the content of your heart
I dream a world
Where we all unite
And our love
Our love will shine so bright
Our love will flow like sweet summer rivers
And melt away all cold winter shivers
Oh yes, our love shall leave a mark
On those with light skin and those with dark
But our love won’t be all bliss
For we must all in the end feel Death’s kiss
Or the brunt of rage
Or the sting of tears
There shall be loss
And the shadow of fears—
There’s always been pain
But in this new time, we’ll share it
The rage, the loss, and all those tears and fear
All of these we’ll inherit
From friends and family to mere acquaintances
We’ll feel their pain and fight together
We’ll remain united even in bad weather
When things seem rough, stormy, and wild
Together we’ll all reconcile
Like a phoenix from the ashes
Or the sun from a murky horizon
Our love will rise from the pain
And the beauty of dreaming shall reign
Submission - Liam McCone
The Darkness of Light - Nathan Li
Light gives you focus, and gives you strength,
Filling your life with a lustrous paint.
But for me, light binds me by the wrists,
Tying me down with unbreakable restraints
Sure, light reveals the thoughts you hide
The feelings filled with dread.
The ones that refuse to show
Until light opens your head
But I never asked for this life.
I was never given a chance
To embrace the many freedoms
You throw away like a dirty lens.
For every ounce that light reveals
Another ounce it takes
While even a single ray of light exists,
I must copy every step you make
While you sing and hum while dancing on your feet
I drag my feet with dread
Hoping that a guardian angel
Will bring this pain to an end
My only refuge is one of black,
One strengthened by a wall
So powerful and resilient that
Even light cannot overhaul.
While I am surrounded by darkness,
My chains can finally snap.
During that split second, I can wander the earth,
Away from light’s torturous grasp
Yet you struggle with all your might
To make sure I cannot enjoy
The luxuries of life that you
So easily destroy
For all my existence, the choice has been yours,
But perhaps it can be changed?
I only want a little taste
Just one tiny little exchange?
For once, could you run from the sun,
And give me a little space
To finally paint my own picture
And to draw my own face?
Standing Out - Thomas Wit
Transmutation - Brendan Fanzone
I searched for wealth,
turned lead to gold.
I stared at snakes,
My flesh turned stone.
Sought grace in wine
Poured forth from blood.
Saw the full moon,
I devolved to beast.
In old pictures.
You grew to me.
I turned to the mirror,
And faced myself.
Parasite - Adarsh Gadepalli
The presence of dark life
trickles down Earth’s surfaces.
A foreign entity revealed,
too frigid for questions
too hot for dependence
A quest to control the universe
in a lousy planet
picked from billions and billions.
In stars of death,
as the regime of odious powers,
we are her most formidable foe.
The Gentleman's Flood- Thomas Marine
A street in California was hit
by the flood from Washington;
The people armed their houses
and winged it to the hills.
The forecast became darker
and destruction rolled over the horizon
But the money people looked
out and were pleased,
saying, “This is no purpose
for alarm— it’s a good
time for a bath.”
Suffering - Noah Bull
On the reason why, I have never suffered in the way I could.
Looking to my left and to my right, there falls a raindrop.
Slowly falling down the fleshy skin of a human being.
Detaching from the chin and heading straight towards the soil to nurture.
The sadness and sorrows around me overwhelmingly flood my brain.
Is it selfish to want to suffer in your own way rather than suffer from other problems?
They always teach us selflessness over selfishness in the classroom,
But should we expect the same attitude in the adult world?
Everybody around me always suffers in the way that they can,
So why can’t I suffer in the way I want?
When we experience a state of suffering we are never suffering alone.
Everything we do matters, not only to us but the people around as well.
Even if I do suffer in a way I could, would I want others to suffer with me?
Should I stay silent and suffer because of others instead?
I don’t know what to do, so let me just suffer along with them.
Telegraph Man - Nick Anderson
Why do I sit here and delay what should have happened years ago?
Sitting here, tapping on my desk like an anxious student before the bell
and making these notations that are as obsolete as my being.
I hate that word: obsolete, it seems to imply that I have no meaning,
to say that something simply slips into meaningless is a
crueler fate than putting a dash through the neck of a prize-winning lamb.
How dare you call me worthless, for I saved thousands of lives and
brought joy, fear, anger, pain, and sadness to millions. Can you say
you have done the same? I will go out with pride,
for I have no remorse for what I have done.
The waiting does scare me though; I never know when a
message will be my last. I guess that’s something we share.
Worry not, for what will happen to me will surely happen to you,
In fact, I pity you. For when you eventually fade into nothingness with time,
I will at least be remembered. I’ll be sure to make a note of you. OUT
Red Table - Tony Liberatore
you should not have come to school today.
you could hardly get out of bed. your bed is safe, please return.
please return these bullets to the safe in the basement,
please return these lives to their rightful owners. they are not yours.
look around. hiding in the restroom, or the kind janitor’s closet,
please don’t find them. look at the anguish in the mirror.
think. think about the emptiness.
these silent walls, newly silent halls, marred with the flash of your suffering.
the cafeteria tables, broken and sprawling, scarlet tint shining, bearing
the weight of your revenge, guarding the secrets you whispered during lunch.
look around. you hold their hearts in your hand, still
beating. how can you slaughter their innocence?
listen. you can still hear them, strewn along the weeping linoleum,
crying out in desperation, are you happy now that the laughter is gone?
tears spilling all over these red tables, bloodied canvases, broken,
broken, broken. no fixing something as broken as you.
you should not have come to school today.
you can’t even look them in the eye. your time is up, please return.
please return this joy to the little ones shivering under red tables,
please return this hope to the parents waiting on the phone. you have no more.
is this the canvas you wanted? did you settle your score?
Hands of a Clock - Nick Anderson
Three different contestants: short, thin, and tall,
Enduring a race that has no end,
A race that is raced simply
For us to steal a glance and look away.
We never know who is winning,
With our glances ever so quick,
We almost never observe this race
Except if it is the only event to observe
An ignored competition in every room,
Ignored by the people who invented it.
A cruel fate for these contestants:
Tick, tock, tick, tock, tick, tock.
Stapler - Michael Dent
I have a colleague at work
who starts his job by completing mine.
Believe it or not,
there are many like this man,
and I have been fortunate enough to meet a few.
He comes from a large family with quite a few cousins.
While some are festive, others can be plain,
yet they have the same talents.
My colleague uses his talents on the daily.
You see, my colleague has a job, as I do.
His is to finish mine.
We make a good team.
This man is ever so dependable.
He and I have a well working arrangement.
This is just business.
My job is to organize my thoughts,
but his job is to keep them together.
Poison Moon - Jair Taylor
High fidelity beyond belief
Living a blurry life
My aim is true
Betrayal in my mind
The mystic soul mentality
Framed the essential image
Blurred picture, blurred life
Ranting consciously, so exhausted
Magnetism, power is seductive
The brilliant Juliet letters
I punch the clock
Big, grand fireworks sound
Embarrassment, goodbye cruel world
A Human Perspective - Constantino Diacoloukas
Our homeless, paralyzed neighbors struggle in the cold as
we watch them shiver in the wind.
We rely on them for oxygen, but their existence is taken for granted.
They rot silently as furry parasites enter their wounds
and rearrange their insides so a new generation can occupy its corpse.
Rodents like these have no choice. They kill to live.
They feed on seedlings before they are even born into trees,
then, they finish off the parents. Victims are stored in their cheek,
eventually brought back to feed the newly born scum.
Mother Nature watches her children feast on God’s creations.
What will happen when all our neighbors are no longer with us?
Will we die with them? Our neighbors need us as
we need them. Help them live so we can breathe.
We are no different from the tiny parasites that live among us.
All have no choice; all must kill to keep on living.