Saying Goodbye - Anthony West (Submitted by Jessi-Ann Bettcher)

So soft
the brief touch of your lips
on my cheek.

Was I almost intruding?

"Look after yourself"
should have been
"I love you!"

Then the Jumbo flew over
my head
and I shouted my love
above the roar
and thundering thrust

...as if you'd hear.

Through the clouds in my eyes
I watched you fly away
and wished I'd been born with wings.

The Road Less Traveled - Kit McCallum (Submitted by Fallon Negro)

How often we must bear the challenges of life;
The endless roller coaster between happiness and sorrow;
The constant ups and downs of daily strife.
And always the question remains... Why?

Life is not an easy road for most;
It twists and turns with many forks in the road,
Although always, and inevitably, we are given a choice..

Do we turn to the right... or the left?
Do we take the high road... or the low road?
Do we take the easy path... or the difficult one?

Decisions are not easy for those struggling for direction...
And sometimes the many choices and signs become overwhelming.

While standing at a crossroads in life,
The urge is to take the most comfortable path;
The road with least resistance...
The shortest or most traveled route.

And yet, if we've been down that comfortable road before,
Have gleaned its lessons in life, and learned from our experiences,

Do we yet again follow the known?
Or does our destiny lie in another direction?

The fear of the road less traveled is tangible and all too real;
It manifests itself in many ways,
And tends to cloud the issues that might otherwise be clear.

It is in these times of confusion,
That we must seek peace and solitude;

Time to contemplate on our life,
Our experiences and our choices past;
Time to look back, and reflect on what we have learned
Without fear or confusion.

For only each of us knows our own personal thoughts;
Our unique past and personal history;
The experiences that brought us to the crossroads we now face.

We can always learn a small degree from others' experiences,
And yet... no one person can walk in our shoes,
Others know not the trials and tribulations faced in private...

For each is individual...unique...and personal.

And that is way...while standing at a crossroads,
Only "we" can formulate the decision for ourselves;
The true direction that lies within;
The choices we must deliberate on with clarity and wisdom.

For it is only through personal reflection,
That we can now choose our destiny;
...Our next adventure;
...And the future we will embrace.

Witch-Wife - Anonymous (Submitted by Lauren DeMayo)

SHE is neither pink nor pale,
And she never will be all mine;
She learned her hands in a fairy-tale,
And her mouth on a valentine.
She has more hair than she needs;
In the sun 'tis a woe to me!
And her voice is a string of colored beads,
Or steps leading into the sea.
She loves me all that she can,
And her ways to my ways resign;
But she was not made for any man,
And she never will be all mine.


Guest - Rabindranath Tagoro (From Selected Poems, Translated by William Radice) (Submitted by Jon Becker)

Lady, you have filled these exile days of mine
With sweetness, made a foreign traveler your own
As easily as these unfamiliar stars, quietly,
Cooly smiling from heaven, have likewise given me
Welcome. When I stood at this window and stared
At the southern sky, a message seemed to slide
Into my soul from the harmony of the stars,
A solemn music that said, "We know you are ours-
Guest of our light from the day you passed
From darkness into the world, always our guest."

Lady, your kindness is a star, the same solemn tune
In your glance seems to say, "I know you are mine."
I do not know your language, but I hear your melody:
"Poet, guest of my love, my guest eternally."