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.