Meditations on And Then Volume 18

Cover Shelley Haven

in formation
awareness
gathers
clustering
touching
taking
in each
knowing
only
not yet
complete
p. 1 Kenyatta Prisoner No. 74A3701
the chain
that binds us
inextricably
together
cannot be seen
and is not felt
except for
the yearning
stretching
creating space
out of no where
to enclose
imagined
fire
in reflections
p. 2 Kenyatta
not separate

not equal
intermingled
desire reveals
the Unknown One
p. 3 Safiye Bandele
follow your nose
overwhelming
busy-being
ol-factory
life-product
swamps sweet reason
not only one's own
but all, mingling
wafted together
and reason learns
it is not there
to command
but only
to serve
intense
sense
of being
alive

p.5 Ana Lopez-Betancourt

all in the details
in the smoke
the love
in straightening seams
the love
care worn grace
keeping her grip
on the sail
of fancy
dressed for
the dance
to the end
p.7 Fostina Dixon-Kilgoe
without revelation
seeing is the gift
that blinds
p.8 Lea Diaz
in the beginning:
word
vision seed
without being
potential without power
needing
the dreamer
to nourish
with magic
word into world
of her own making

p.9 Kundalini Nicholson-Walker

the true coin
you mint
discovering
your own self
is the gift
that can't
be taken
from you
self trust
the essential good
wanting to know
even more
keeps running
for life

p.10 Lennox Rafael

the answer
my friend
is
the body knows
no matter
how many times
thrown away
returning
true
ascendant
resurrected
in the throb
which is
incessant
reminded
that innocence
is unconditional
and can never
be lost
only mislaid
p.12 Roger Santivanez
being
taken
for a ride
past the point
of no return
and released

p.13 Hae Sol Song

the refuge:
water-bed-scape
idyll image
transient peace
even in surrender
turbulent troubles
pierce repose
in the dream
this world's
pressures
intrude
and so we
arise
for another
day
p.14 Howard Pflanzer
everything we know
is metaphor
the body
politics
poetry
the medium
of communion
solidarity
the possibility
of being
more than ourselves
as ourselves

p. 15 Julia Palfi
displaying
evidence
to the contrary
man
stands
nonetheless
asserting
the right
to be sad
p.16 Marianella Medrano
forgotten
horror
does not rest
homeless
dancers
infiltrate
imagined
pool
from which
they have
been cleansed
p. 17 John Reid
unpunctuated
life flows
ceaselessly
rising
falling
memory
striving
to hold
waves
as its own
story

p. 18 -1 Zaadia Colon
creation's labor
not unbound
wills
not escape
but structure
all with all
complex edifice
expelled
stretching
the membrane
of expansion
as
poised balance
til dying mother
of a billion worlds'
silent insistent
recall
draws in
her works
calling them home
in mutual embrace
encircling
vortex
hurtling
towards
destined
conception
beyond being

p. 18 -2 Myrna Nieves
raise hands in praise
the human project
is in good hands:
physician,
eyes closed,
attention
undimmed
by sight,
palpates
quicksilver hands
blazing guitar:
Manitas de Plata
hand in hand
"More than 1,000
join Muslim 'ring of peace'
outside Oslo synagogue"
applausible future

p. 19 Laya Firestone Seghi

naked to
all
the pain
she sings
freedom
fearless
life
free from
supports
she flies
as she falls
into
a space
beyond
your
wildest
dreams
p. 21 Tanya Torres
pump
of life
before
the quest
the urge
bearing being
into the
only now

p. 22 -1 Milton Polsky and Warren Wyss

co-labors' offspring
a bouncy play thing
novel poem
happy omen
from pen,
a toy
and then,
enjoy
p. 22 -2 Eli Cohen
Coney Island
my homeland
between
Neptune
and Mermaid
then the long block
past the old
trolley line
to Surf
from there
just a little further
up ramp
onto the boardwalk
turn right
to Shatzkin's knishes
turn left
past the Half Moon hotel
(already a home
for aged Jews)
and onto Coney,
reappearing
every summer,
eternal carnival
dream factory
that delivered
spectacle
you live
with a million others
or
not the ramp

step down
onto the cool
often damp
sand
striped with sun
streaming
between the
shadow-casting
boards above
there, the mystery
of Coney
couples making out
bold but shy
as if they found
a secret place
for passion
that did not need
the sun
to burn
at the very back
under the boardwalk
concessions
hidden places
that I loved
retreats
from heat
and hunger
stands for
the beach crowd
that's where
I first
ate pizza
Neapolitan
ten cent
rectangles
if you were lucky
and the young man
serving you
was in a good mood
you got a corner
with crust

on two side
those were
the days
p. 22 -3 Donald Lev
let us
celebrate
bad
attitude,
embrace our
rejection
"not like us"
uninvited
the business
barging in
where you
don't belong
the price
becoming
the insider
without
the comfort
always
at the edge
the precipice
even at home
even in Israel
black humor
our salve

p. 23 -1 Vincent Giangreco
are you one
of us?
guileless
mission
do you need
to know us?
we, the medium,
are our message
we are
for you
to be human
is to melt
face to face
losing boundaries
into the
common stew
we are
a mongrel lot
Jews are human
p. 23 -2 Alicia Cintron
god bless you,
Kalylah
p. 24 David Neiditch
needing
a name
defining danger
to quell
nameless dread
enter
natural suspects

those
wronged
by those
like us
that which
we fix
our fear to,
our apartners
a living system
tormented
tormentor
reciprocating
objects
orbiting
each other
respectful
only at a distance
but when impinging
spinning
in rage
fantasy
and vengeance
and so it goes
with race,
our construct
framing perception
distortion
misimpression
then
fresh injury
to self and other

p. 25 Marlene Nadle
Ike knows
he's liked,
Nixon nix
neither man
started rich
grace and disgrace
perfect match
Ike leavens the dough
Dick raises the cash
Neither man has Jack's aplomb
Ike seems dumb
And Dick has plumbers
p. 26 Luis Benitez
sea
scape beyond
bonds
of being
life force
becomes
waves
p. 27 George Malave
rage propelled
camouflage legions
lesions
in desert sands
strange oasis
blood attractors
bring 'em on

and on
and on
p. 28 Lia Gladstone
vain mission
dubious achievement
sowing discontent
but
dangerous
subversive
dreams
come natural
rising weeds
breaking the ground
profligate of life
regenerative
power that needs
to move
unbottled being
cracking
whatever the order
our own story
two hundred fifty
years of slavery
and then
another hundred fifty
policed
kept out
and still
dignity
the measure
of worth
engenders
the push
one by one
and together

because
once there's
a chance
to be as good
as can be
imagined
the genie
uncorked
will find
a way
out
and all
our genius
will connect
will help
find a path
for the dance
to proceed
p. 30 Mitchel Cohen
History of Western Civilization
war
the mission
an end
in itself
accomplished

p. 31 Bernard Tuchman
delusions of stability
balanced
on
tip
of
a
b
a
y
o
net
p. 31 G. F. Phillips
a real relationship
reliably attached
meeting needs
of the other
each knowing
what to expect,
matter of fact,
without judgment
no leash
no control
free flying
they flock
around him
man the provider
center of attraction
and you alone
by yourself
watch
and wonder

p. 32 Amber
in my shtetl
Communist Jewish
Coney Island
pumpkins a threat
American as apple pie
directed against us
Halloween assault
trick or treat
wide soft chalk
red white and blue
to slash across
new fall jacket
leering pumpkins
candles inside
expressing fire
directed against us
by Richard Nixon
channeling
Whittaker Chambers'
Pumpkin Papers
only later in life
fear repressed
by time
I learned to love
pumpkin pie
p. 32 Ralph Pessah
there is no point
to beauty
it is the only point
p. 33 Margaret Yard
not a simple task:
transcendence
by the unacknowledged
victim
unseen

unwitnessed
invalid
collateral damage
the doer of deeds
always justified,
serving
a higher purpose
having no regrets
not responsible
for outcomes
no crime
no amnesty needed
and yet profoundly lost,
the trust
that makes life possible
and you, a refugee,
one among many,
in need
of a sanctuary
where borders
are not closed
where openness
is not weakness
and new connection
knits again
life's fabric
we need
each other's
otherness
there is
no higher purpose
than respect

p. 34 -1 Johannah Segers
flung
wildly out
of bounds
hopscotching
vagabonding
this great land
strangely
not frightening
dad's
great escape
with us
too short
not to remember
it all
p. 34 -2 George Spencer
nearing
the finish line
still a beginner
p. 35 Larry Simonberg
give us this day
our daily news
lifeline pulse
in fleeting lights
fame or infamy
ephemeral
only news
itself
is
constant
as
contest
and we

are alive
placing
our bets
on history,
As It Happens
p. 36 Nat-Lee Saxenian
listening as
the hunger
gnaws
consumer is
consumed
p. 37 Nadina LaSpina
offering the help
he needs
to give
the stranger,
sensing rebuff,
turns hostile
p. 38 -1 Michael Kranish
it's all in the rules
Canasta
a gracious
class order
meld within rank
a place for jokers
and other wild cards
seasoning the meld,
never dominating
1950
Canasta new
party game

for the young

choose your partner
and your strategy
aging well
the game goes on
through
appointed rounds
of life
knowing
what to do
discovering
new tricks
getting better
over time
and then
dismissed
by the children
now with lives
of their own
like aging hippies'
transcendent dreams
out
of the
picture
long
full
glory
hair
cut
fallen
swept
away
p. 38 - 2 Dyske Suematsu

purity
beyond
grasp
the end
of play
offers
nothing
to appreciate
art is
journey's
path
the way
longing
discovers
what it is
seeking
to grasp
another
aspect
only to
realize
the end
is not
in sight

p. 38 -3 Laura Costas
not apart
not with
home free
and you
stranded
shorebound
listening
for echoes
of echoes
p. 39 Johanna G. Martinez
reaching
The object
is not
something
above
who we are.
To be human
is heroic enough
to go with
sympathy
into this world
in resonance
and sometimes
at the edge of
life force in motion
always seeking
the path
of joy
p. 40 Sofia Angelina Marrero

drawn
by your
attentive
hand
cow
looks
astonished
p. 42-1 Neil Silberblatt
closely focused
on what's next
and nearby
set in our place,
we need to be stirred
turn on the novel,
tune to the news
medium message:
not hot and not cool
Goldilocks' porridge
does not disturb us
it's not my problem
my plate is full.

p. 42- 2 Ralph Nazareth

what's in a name?
owning imagination
price of one's soul
to die for
authority
to rule
the heart
of billions
it's your story
your continuity
your terms of
peace
your cut of
space time pie
p. 43 Barbara Ann Gardner
Africa
cannot be
turned aside
it calls
insistently
see me
while I am
as I am
mirrors
shining
into you
illuminating
don't knows
you never
suspected
reflections'

kaleidoscope
turn
your life
cascading
into worlds
more real
than your own
and more
transient
props
askew as
your world
invades
offering
solutions
dissolving
complex fabric
that is the wealth
of humanity
into extractable
exportables
raw materials
for an
interchangeable
future

p. 45 Daney Forbes
like money,
science
grows its power
by aping God
self-renewing
eternity,
life
everlasting
from which
it draws
its tribute
from
tribulations
of beings
drowning
in the storm
living
dying
real
momentary
compelled
by need
contracting
a debt
beyond
understanding
in gratitude
for moment's
grace
eternal submission

p. 46 Millie Niss
1
Lord
creator
of war
source
of rule
master
beyond
reason
destroyer
of doubt
fill us
with your
image
your word
our conviction
in your rites
communion
magnified
as one body
we are
your host
our arms
embody
your will
consumed
in pursuit
of your
cause
we
become
ourselves
in action
freedom

our service
fulfillment
for life
everlasting
2
in faith
men
must do
just
crime
horror
shame
vengeance
valor
heedless sacrifice
glory
that you
may be
unrivaled
in your
power
and we be
secured
in your embrace
3
secretly
knowing and
needing
not to know
even victors
are scathed
in your name
(moral
wounds
cannot

be named)
4
rut only
deepens
retracing
beaten
path
hardening
closing self
to deaden
pain
and on from there
to greater injury
5
soul on fire
soul on ice
raging within
a greater
emergency
after the pain
burning light
passion
for ourselves,
our common
being
and what
might be
remorse,
finally knowing
the loss
that is ours
to redeem
ignites

contagious
love
to reclaim
God's world
p. 47 Martha Deed
Knowing
it's time
to start
what remains
forever
unfinished
is better
than hope,
the choice
is not
in danger.
Making
meaning
(joy of life)
itself
the end.
And we
still
left
in life
receive
what we must:
the unbearable
gift,
tangle
we share

beyond being,
to pass
through us
and on
because
trust
is all
that matters.
p. 49 Sophie Neiditch
at the end of the day
still standing
together
as always
of a seed
impelled
sky bound
reaching
for light
each seeking
its own way up
alike and
distinct
marked
from within
like all of us
p. 50 Robert S. Holzman, M.D.
being
ourselves
(richly
complex and
contradictory)

revealed
even to
ourselves
only
as we live
in the don't know
inventing
new dialogue
to tilt
the balance
those words,
that look
to turn
the story
towards
our intent.
who we are
in the moment
the sum of
what we know
and
what we can't know.
for the daunted seeker
easier to see
abstractly
without
connection
clear definitions
one thing
at a time
searching
the world
for clean borders
resolvable
problems

do
what we can count
write off the rest.
But
the sufferer
and the healer's
never ending quest
living as themselves
in the everlasting
don't know
is to
understand
merging
emerging
in resonance with
whole being
in distress

p. 53 Dr. Janice O. Bennett

I can breathe
but barely
pulled inward
spirit bruised
not crushed
to get by
narrow space
allowed to pass
but not
to breathe
deeply
not to take
more air
than necessary
just enough
not to choke
because
I am not
the exception
I live within
the rule
I am there
watching it all
and so
are you
who know
my name
but do not speak
take no issue
with maker
of rules
defining
your space
your reality

denying me
my name
me, whose name
you do know
p. 54 Carol Jochnowitz
telling
the story
foretells
the lesson
add complexity
spin
and the wheel
of fortune
and misfortune
stops
with many
messages
no clear order
and still
we see
and feel
and need
to respond
not intimate
not knowing
and yet
they also serve
who only stand
and wait
and say
"my friend"
p. 55 Jim Story
art does not exist

without
attentive
observant
receivers
willing to be
undone
blinds
(self
chosen
deflections)
open
resistance down
And Then
art comes in
unfolding
layering
bending
remixing
firmament
ever
changing
setting for
fixed star
never before
noticed
placing us
where
we didn't know
we need
to be

p. 56 Rona D. Schenkerman
1
in whose name
holy murder
is done
victim of
your own
consumer
fraud
you bought
your salesmen's
g-dspiel
you know,
One Truth
saves all
the rest
be damned
and now
you want
your good name
back
lots of luck
2
we who start
from zero
trying
our damnedest
just to get along
don't expect
paradise
(except our
True Unbelievers,
who, like your crew,
express their
killer genes
with pride)

3
we who
are coming
to believe
we need you
share your
disappointment
we cannot ask
of you
what you
have promised
and failed
to deliver:
to save us
from ourselves
we feel your pain
p. 57 Kika Stayerman
sun
seducer
of life
what waits
below for
your sign
to embrace
pure need
gentle impulse
that which must
be coaxed
to become
more than
you can know
bound by
your own power
needy of worship
and alone

your true gift

desire
maker of right
to breathe
awakening
partners
to be
called forth
from a sleep
without
turbulence
to breathe
because
they are stirred
beggars once
begotten
whose purpose
is no longer
yours to use
but are grateful
as you shine

p. 58 Nancy Ross
this is not
a bad dream
because
I cannot
wake from it
but like a dream
its logic
pierced
by loss
undealt
hands
without
chance
to play
execrable
inexorable
forced debts
and the dream
to awaken
in a state
in which
I am
prepared
to teach
the next class
And Then 18 p. 58 Louise Rader
after
diagnosis
trial
by ordeal
on altar
an offering
own body
altered
and what

are we
offered?
not life
everlasting
but,
with luck,
another
helping
of now
and ours
to guess
what all
is worth
p. 59 Stephanie Hart
Christmas
Rockefeller Center
The Tree
sixty years ago
a child's
joyous memory
first threads
crisscrossing
the loom
and it's wonderful
each year
a different tree
but The Tree
remains the same
imagined
fabric
informed
by new
lain threads
renewed as
magical tapestry

ending each year

wish fulfilled:
ever greater wonder
through chaos
disappointment
and fresh love
The Tree
of innocence
shimmering glory
draws forth
witness
to envision
impossibilities
made real
wills spirit's
resilience
resisting acid
analysis
defying
deconstruction's
malice
the fabric
of life
enriching
as it unfolds
becomes
you

p. 60 Etnairis Ribera
watching the motion
of lives
other than
your own
all so clear
and loud
enough
so you can't hear
the wind
going through you
carry you away
without intent
of your own
or even
of it
the wind
itself driven
by pressure
from behind
where
it can't see
but knows
it must
flee
or be
swallowed

p. 61 Margaret Cooper
dim fortress
buttressed
by souls
staffing
desks
bearing
intolerable day
by day
longing
for fog
air
uncontainable
over river mist
at rest and in motion
barely visible
boats knowing
somehow
their way
p. 62 -1 Rozanne Seelen
before
firstborn
marked
and taken
First of Adar
plague
of
darkness
hold fast
in time
of fear
touch
is all
we need
to feel

p. 62-2 Erika Medina

better than
I know myself
you
show me
my feelings
like they have
a shape
what
I mean
like I'm
a person
recognized
like no one
ever
given me
that much
and you
can show me
to be
a better person
like I want to be
someone
who you love
like I love you

p. 63 Frank Murphy
listen
like that
attentive
to flux
space
held open
unfilled
between
self-announcing
densities
being
not busy
bearing
witness
dissolves
membrane
holding
each
together
as self
against
the other
and in
that dying
freeing
cherished one
from grip
of possession
into
the flux
p. 64 Rosalie Calabrese

the New York City dream

when City madness
too much to bear
calls forth
craving
to breathe
close to nature
a getaway
another
place to be
ourselves
troubles aside
and then
someone else's
dream ended
for sale: upstate,
a house
our dream
come true
we
had
our house
appearing
magically
last house
before the woods
(Soon after,
the woods were sold
and we owned
the old house
before the development.)
Our house
was inhabited

not by ghosts
but squirrels
some in the attic
one
down the chimney
which we discovered
as we pulled into
the driveway
one window shade
swinging
Summoning
courage
as in a dream
we entered
to find
every window frame
gnawed
evidencing
an heroic
fearsome
struggle
in quest of
squirrel
freedom.
We called
Jack Russell
our handyman
whose ad
in the Pennysaver
had said:
"Your the boss.
I'm the horse."
Jack set traps,
but the squirrel
was never found.
He told us
it must have escaped.
Jack said
(as he always said)

The problem is
you dont live here.
We loved our house
like an old
infirm relative,
who, in later life,
we had adopted.
After sixteen years
we sold our dream
house.
an adventure
with many misses
which we still miss
p. 64-1 Robert Roth
there is no
comfort
to be had
in being
comforted
only
a weary
grudging
duty
to comfort
the comforter
assure
it really
is OK
how are you
doing?
fine!
I lie
seeking
rest

where
there is
no peace
p. 64 -2 Danielle Roth
in those delicious
crepes
taste her love
made for you
your delight
her pleasure
that's how
love works
she could tell
by how you were
that it worked
taste is
a living memory
only remember
the taste
of that sweet love
and you will know
deep inside
more goodness
will be there
for you
no doubt
love is real
you can
taste it
p. 64-3, 65-1 photographer unknown, Bill Cafone
two pictures

more than
sixty years
apart
spirits not
apart
in the beginning
eyes engaged
outside picture's
frame
towards
another
presence
fixing
the moment
in a pose
the opening motif
proud to be attractive,
appealing and entranced
and then
jointly and apart
the play unfolds
we rejoin
the scene
in act four
(it is a
long play)
the same beings
fully themselves
eyes
engaged
looking deeply
and with pleasure
into
the presence
of each other

p. 65-2 Carletta Joy Walker

she didn't slip away
no retreat
the siege lasted
longer than any war
Kato, wily warrior
cheated death
again and again
until the last
not conservative
she burned life
and watched with delight
the curling smoke
of life consumed
rise and fill
the room with
mischief and mystery
she knew a thing or two
and could not
brake that express
from hurling forward
into the night
on a mission,
it's headlight needed
to illuminate
the art of living
and that she did
in payment
more than full
to her devotees
attendant
players
spinning with her
in her wild yarn,
a tale beyond belief
and much more fun
p. 66 Jens Magnussen
prodigal thought

spilling seeds
new born
onto barren
fields
not in our
dream
but only
what we
live through
and still
pour forth
content
undeterred
by consequence
like everyone
expelling
by-product
and in that
fertile
waste
produce
the world

p. 68 Rosemary Drescher
in
perfect
trust
at the
end
of the
earth
one
small
step
and then
another
I
walk
the path
of my
parents
careful
not to stray
into eternity
p. 69 Farishta Ramin
because
it is
irrepressible
space opens
not consumed by fire
not smashed by fist
but the echo
of our need
an arch
we can
conceive

(once we see
we are not
alone)
within whose
canopy
under
standing
we find
ourselves
forming place
which cannot
be taken
from us
because
it is not place
at all
but spirit
the space
mind-will
constructs
ample
grounds
for life
to play
to live
without
permission
life worth
the pain
life worth
dying for

p. 72 Mali Obomsawin
even now
when
pieces
fall away
despite
your will,
each day
a trial,
not all
is loss
more story
yet to tell
if anyone
is there
to listen
p. 73 Jenne Vath
swimming against
the river of time
traces of Rachels
and Sarahs
and Josephs
and even Samsons
my own family
transported
from Poland
to British Isles
and then again
washing onto
these shores
names reappearing
peopling anew
generations

without memory
unrelated
related
each swimming
in their time
holding onto
a name
p. 74 George Jochnowitz
we, objects
of your pranks
playthings
in your
sport of gods
butts
of your jokes
our
impotence
your merriment
grievance is
our legacy
in our weakness
enemies abound
exposed,
we know
we lack
and so
we fight
contesting
title
to our soul
and if
we fear
gods
run amok

we simulate
your
power play
setting
sights
on ourselves
fight on
for unity
one will
one god
in human form
and focus ire
to kill
shame
at its source
self or other
it doesn't matter
which
p. 75-1 George B. Pitts, Jr.
if I die
before
I wake
life
and
world
go on
your gift:
continuity
holding
together
the thread
to pull us
through
this day
this night

keep us
spinning
unaware
hurtling
through
space
we stand on
solid ground.
We
must have
illusions
we can
believe in
our realm
only real
between
forces
beyond
control.
Within it
we widen circle
of play
and live.
for this
magic trick,
your gift,
praise

p. 75-2 Oliver Ogulnick

how good
to be
where
elephants
are commonplace
and
being you
is surprising
p. 76 Mike Wagner
it's not like this dream
a one day wonder
just popped up
got caught
ending
the inning
no, this kid's dream
was always ready
in the dugout
waiting to be called
even when other
kids dreams
struck out
shaken awake,
dreams lost
in the glare
of days'
compulsions
to take care
of business
Mike's kept on
swinging
waiting for play
to resume
and then

a break
in the glare
the call comes
one fine
bleak
Vermont day
off the bench
onto the field
it's time to
Play Ball !
p. 77 Jonathan Mindell
And Then
Appeared
The Lord
To Tell
The Truth
To Answer All
the panel's
questions
Who is like You,
mighty One!
And who can be
compared to You,
for the sake
of His Name
the panel voted

p. 78 Delilah Soler
Self Damnation
attunes ascent
across-along
the fretted rack
screws tighten
stretching
Pain taut
but true
skin tight
spirit sail
caught unaware
in breath's wisp
updraft
Rises
Resurrection Bound
and
released.
p. 79 Jerome Levkov
stretching
twisting
being-space
not a pose
but life stance
curl's enclosure
enforcing
separation
yet
in the stretching
longing
drawn towards
the past

well of possibilities
from whence
we spring,
perhaps to
spring again
p. 80 Lourdes Cintron
prisoner of choice
freedom's hostage
what you need
is not offered
those cute cat
videos
your friends
spread virally
on Facebook
do not satisfy
you need
real cats
living with you
in real time
with lives
of their own
free from choice
pursuing
and catching
their object:
each other
and you
adore them

p. 81 Charles Pitts
Immortal
Love and Power
two faced god
passing through
each
not-so-other's
presence.
Unresolved,
power of love
love of power
mixed messenger
calling us
from tower
of babel
creative
confusion
the one
true way
wild variety
only natural
And Then
Power's play
to check
mate's
threat
to order,
instills
fear
of fantasy
contracts
ligaments
ruling
from within
as
violent
self loathing
Love's

slow soft
lubricant
responding,
slips
knot's
constriction
loosing grip
of Power
over Love
and in
repost
hard control
Power's
last
defense
to stop earth
quaking,
it must be
flattened
none the less,
Love's waves
uncontrollable
roll on
p. 82 Regine Dhoquois-Cohen
living in the comfort zone
not belonging
a sniff test
deeper than racism
anti-semitism
and all other
phobias
we know ourselves
by whom we exclude
by who isn't.
who doesn't,
how we know it,

and show it
learn from
jokes
proof
they're funny
if you're one of us,
solidarity forever
you're
Jewish?
but you're not
like them
you're normal
like us
are you not?
p. 84-1 George Spencer
my Coney Island
homeland
of outsiders
welcoming
intrusive guests
suckers all
out for a good time
at any cost
til pockets
emptied
barkers
hawking
sensation
overload
active bodies
at the center
of attraction
and we

of immigrant strivers
marking ascent
the background
chorus
a mile from
the midway
cheering on
what we
could hardly believe
we with
outside dreams
college
and the world
inheritors
of the New Deal
we partaking
tepidly of
life in an
amusement park
we knew
what not
to eat
did not go
on roller coasters
on a full stomach
enjoying
the ride
secure
in our
detached way
in it
not of it
love at
a critical distance
we who cannot be

mesmerized
do not
get taken in
easily
wise too soon
seeing the trick
missing the magic
to this day
regretting
our good sense
p. 84-2 Anonymous
name
droppings
crack
open
fertility
rights

p. 85 The Sticker Dude

games
do not play
they suck dreams
spit them out
war weary
wrecks
and you
the joker
as always
the win
almost
in your
hand
reconstruct
your house
of cards
p. 86 Anonymous
unmet needs
safely
behind bars
unloved
and unloving
must escape
emotional
prison
this is
not a crime
placing
being
in
another's
hands
not a fault
trust
betrayed,

ill use
by one
you trusted
a choice
that failed
pain tells
us
don't do THIS
again
but exactly THIS
never happens
twice
pain itself
is dumb suffering
you have power
to feel good
about why
you make
your choices
no matter what
the outcome
your pain has meaning,
lessons to learn
the question is:
What are
your questions?

p. 87 Zaira
always there
vital systems
very old
beneath
our notice
because
they work
p. 88-1 Art Gatti
and then
we all converged,
not remembering
what we forgot,
when everything
became known
by everybody
instantly
and liked
p. 88-2 Howard Pflanzer
It depends on what the meaning of the word "is" is. If the "is" means is
and never has been, that is not--- that is one thing.
If it means there is none, that was a completely true statement.
-- President William Jefferson Clinton

p. 89 Fredy Roncalla
It is
the turn
of poets
that makes
the generation
audience
entangled,
pieces
connecting
poets
themselves
first audience
the bed
of love
calling
voices
to chorale
ambitious
to evoke
unheard
melodies.
We
consume
our poets
and must
have more
rooting poetry
into being
fashioning humanity
out of that bounty
(not a fashion
to be coveted
and followed)
gifts
we must
assemble
for ourselves
as

meaning.
No great
poet,
no matter
the gift,
can do
the job
of poetry:
transgressive
reach
only a tide
pulls
each small
incursion
crossing
against
the rule
defiling
barren
institutes
of convention
whose order
absorbs
as it
kills
only
perhaps
to crack
the seed,
and thus
itself,
renewing
landscape
to refresh
humanity.
Poetry
must swarm
life
whelming up
and over

and over again

each time dying
as it
sinks in
becoming
the us
we had
not yet
known
ourselves
to be.
p. 90 Vincent J. Tomeo
how uncivilized
to share
the earth
with beasts
who shit
unlike
ourselves
p. 91 Peg Reilly
Uneeda biscuit?
no more
Nabisco's
dark
satanic
factory
re-purposed
artisanal
Chelsea Market
where the
High Line
ends.
Consciously
we throng
Fat Witch Bakery's

brownie ovens
our destination.
In Good Taste
We Trust
p. 92-1 Joel Shatzky
In the spirit of Courses for the Studentrepreneur, from a piece I wrote
after the 1994 election "Modest Proposals for the New(t)Age":
Why should the poor be prohibited from selling their children or
their body parts, as people already do in many poor countries?
This would provide income to the poor and productive services to
their buyers at no expense to taxpayers.
The list can go on and on. The market system is the natural way
by which the stronger capitalize on their advantage over the
weaker. At first it may seem crazy to treat people like excludable
and disposable things, but once the bonds of human solidarity
have been dissolved by the acid imperatives of a profitmaximizing market, you'll soon find there is no logical limit to the
pain that you're willing to have other people experience for your
benefit. We all buy cheap third-world products without a lot of
thought about the conditions under which those goods were
produced. But when it gets closer to home, subjective (human)
values may kick in. For example, some still believe that less
human suffering is a good worth paying for. They lost the
election.
As for marketing babies for food, it's already been proposed by
Swift.
p. 92-2 Anonymous
http://maps.google.com shows 10 marriage counselors on West 86th
St.
(no marriage can survive that much choice)

93-1 Albert Paul Thomas Waugh

no joke
the homeless
a people
born of malice
it was the 1980s
when dispossession
became public policy
for my generation
(itself too young
to remember
Hoovervilles)
homelessness
hardly existed
here in the U.S.
sure
always a few
George in the Village
"sketch for a dollar"
near Smiler's
Moondog around
Rockefeller Center
a poet
and always
the Bowery
now trendy

p. 93-2 Marvin W. Schwartz

from dust to dust
kicked up and out
from its own home
dust
fugitive
tempest tossed
seeking surcease
from flight
a happy landing
a place
unused to agitation
to settle
in peace
to reside
to form
new attachments
refuge
welcome
93-3 Robert Roth
always some joker
not part
of the scheme.
Power,
frustrated,
turns
nasty.

p. 94-1 Samaris Ayala

whole beans
rattle
in a bag
but Latin coffee
from bodega
vacuum packed
like a brick
knocks you
in the head
awake
p. 94-2 Ronna Wineberg
there is no trouble
in America
the land is large
its people
not pre-occupied
by urban stress
loving Gods
natural
order
they will
defend
it
no
joke

p. 95 Milo Shepherdson
an accounting
three days:
8 4 1
8
8 3
+1
clues
we
(who are not
you)
can only
guess
p. 96 Anthony Thomas De La Puente
as she
listened
listen
as
she knew
you to be
be
open
to be
filled
the spirit
the listening
we share
lives
onward

p. 97 Pat Koleser
because life
is possible
it wants
to be
splitting
the rock
to grow
by still
waters
all it needs
it has
the beauty
of its being
it offers
for free
p. 98-1 Sohnya Sayres
managing
the lives
of others
thats where
the money is
life force
extracted
discreetly
bestowing
honors
or not
wielding
the club
whatever
gets to job

done
p. 98-2 Jefferson Guillaume
the name of the game
is who makes the rules
joining a force
you can't control
makes you a tool
there goes your essence
but keeping that essence
a journey of change
beyond fixed ideas
of who you are
change is loss
but also choice
the game you can win
is change with respect
plenty of room for
what you must keep
you share it with others
and you take on
what they must keep too
honor the past
is the task of the future
what that means,
ours to discover
live and let live
a hard path
but true

p. 98-3 Gene Brown

not Jews like us
what does it mean
to be a Jew?
here
in America
on the slippery
slope
towards
homogeneity
to live on
how separate?
how engaged?
how to hold
your ground?
Jackson Heights
Williamsburg
just a few miles
and centuries
apart
one family
two cultures
each
to the other
strange
who the better
carrier
of the message
through
the generations?
what is the law?
what is its spirit?
afraid
of each

other's
questions
leading to
unacceptable
answers
each a danger
sharing
gut feeling:
it's bad
for
the Jews

p. 99 Ann Yarmal
and then
from our
entwined love
one stays
embodied in
another day
passion to let in
and express
compressed
but not lost
slowly painfully
gathering
anew
to receive
and
give light

p. 100 Eleni Begetis Anastos

Terror shock
ground
gives way
clutch
for fix
beyond
grasp
held by
nothing
hard rush
a moment
prolonged.
And then
startled alert
sudden death
dream
a wake up call
to life.
Or else,
the thing
itself.

p. 101 Jaycee Ray Greer

Not in the beginning,
but very close,
wild dogs
domesticated men.
Noticing their ferocity
and prowess,
but also certain deficits
in which dogs excelled,
like smell,
and the ability
to work together
as a pack,
Coopers
canine ancestors
came around the campfire
and made a deal.
Lets team up in the hunt.
You can plot, and trade.
Rely on us to find, follow,
and kill.
And well treat you like
Masters.
Men, having
their egos stroked,
readily complied.
Economic surplus
and hierarchy
followed naturally.
And, to this day,
slavish obedience,
the deal
of dogs
is what makes
Rule
possible.

p. 102-1 Oliver Ogulnick

the class
will now walk
the class
will now write
the class
will now play
the class
will behave
as told
Play as
ordered
is not much
fun.
Which is why
they cant order:
the class
will now have fun
and your mind
is still your own
p. 102-2 Catherine Ednie
perfect mango
perfectly peeled
cut, served and
in minds
tongue,
tasted
before wielding
the knife
hacking away
at messy reality

p. 103 Ros Lipps as told to Carol Jochnowitz

driven
by parents
needy for a
Star
to light
their way
imagining
her future
fulfilling
their own
disappointed
and hurt by
the child
who was
failing them,
thwarting
their dreams
dreams
for her own
good.
She
driven out
by impotent
rage
plotting,
escaping,
seeking asylum
in a free
new world
bold
young heroine
of her own novel
inspired, perhaps,
by immigrant tales
not long in the past.
And then
the end

freedom
failed
hauled back
to the life
she chose
to flee
her life
impregnated
by guilt and fear
still damned
more than
seventy
years later.
Strong Family Values.
collateral damage
p. 105-1 Walter O. Beaton
skin
against
skin
kiss
p. 105-2 Jack Robbins
a bald-faced lie
when
none-of-your-fucking-business
would have been enough

p. 105-3 Marvin W. Schwartz

bravery
suicide
honored
with glory
parents
finally
proud
of their
son
p. 106 Cynthia Harting
craft itself
subject
our nature
to create
dream
truth
fashioned
into form
expressed
as art

p. 107 Heon Oh
simple our order
obey
without question
bearing great sacrifice
strengthening will
primary color tells
who is the enemy
red is the color
were sworn to destroy
we who are green
stand assured
of our victory
one day will come
no matter the cost
this is our time
hard life
and glorious
later remembered
best days
of our lives

p. 108 Laura Liben

loss
fruit of love
yours
needs
embracing
fresh born
cries
to heed
nourished
with memories
painful the joy
strengthened
resilient
withstanding
beside you
supporting
forthcoming
your wisdom
so sing it
mourning's
blessings
gift
beyond
time

p. 109-1 George Snedeker

there is
no happy
endpoint
to be had
in the grip
of not having
reality
too thin
sucking
breath away
why wonder
you ask yourself
and yet
without
a point
breath still
insists
listen
a new kitten
in the house
making
trouble
p. 109-2 Marvin W. Schwartz
black humor laughs
last

p. 109-3 Laura Costas

rash to judgment
p. 110-1 Ian Vollmer
reading your message
in And Then
she responded positively
p. 110-2 Michael Szpakowski
this package is X rated

p. 111 Pat Kranish

Seduced by
the senses
calling me
forward
unmoored
from my
berthing
I roam far
beyond
to bright worlds
unknown to me
richer
than
promises
bounty
unbounded
mine
for the taking.
Having
to have
reaching
to get.
Choices
attachments
holding
is rooting.
The price
never counted:
out of sight
out of mind.

Gone are
the sorrows

and joys
of the loving.
Possessed
by my quest
abandoned
alone
only
my longing
remembers
my losing.
Who could
have known
each moment
a choice?
This fable
repeating
in lives
through
the ages:
Misunderstanding.
the source
of regret.
Ours not
to blame
for the
pain
caused
and suffered.
To live with
and learn from
the most we can do.

p. 112 Nvea Castro

thank you for living it
telling it vividly
courage contagious
encourages all
each has a path
a way to expose
the joy
from within
awaiting release
joy freed
becomes us
a gift
we must share
circles
embrace
as our lives
intertwine
p. 115 Marcia Singer
end of the day
birds final call
soaring to catch
last of the light
fish in the dark
hidden from notice
fear abating
safely bathe

p. 116 Carletta Joy Walker

imagic you
in your shoes
steps to do
no minding
out of sync
blues shoe
stops beat
in sinks
refrain
we
is all that
we be
times three
Inside Back Cover Marvin W. Schwartz
his horse
not young
resembles
the man
Back Cover Shelley Haven
in completion
corrugated
but unbroken
life textures
background
sustaining
all content