Upload
nguyendat
View
218
Download
1
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
Poetry Collection
Faculty and Staff
Complete Poems
2015
5th Annual Poetry Contest
Central Georgia Technical College
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Faculty and Staff HAIKU Sabina Alexander Seppuku ………………………………..………………………………………...1 Milton Bentley Confused ….……………...……….……………………………………………..1 Christina Cannon A New Dawn ……………………...……...…………………………….……….1 Christina Cannon Sakura ……………………………………………..………….………….………2 Anita Dailey Cherry Blossom ………………………………………………...………………2 Anita Dailey Joy …………………………………………………………...…….……………2 Wanda Haynes Family Tree …………………………………………………………..…………3 Wanda Haynes Something I Looked For …….……………...………………………………....…3 Kimberly Hicks-Grable Cold Raindrops …………………………...………..………….….……………..3 Ernest Jolly, Jr. Listening ……………………………………………………..…………………4 Ernest Jolly, Jr. Surprise ...…………..…..……………………………………..……….…………4 Pamela Lukat Unconditional Love ……………….……………………………...…….………..4
Marinda Martin Sunrise Games ……………………………………..….….……………..………5 Marinda Martin The Destructive Friend………………………………..…..……………..………5 Caroline Samples In a Movie Theater Parking Lot …………………….…….…..…………………5 Steve Starks My Mother the Star…………………….……………………..…….……………6 Glen Stone Autism ...……………………………………………….…………...…..………6 Glen Stone
Binary..………………………………………………………..……….…………6 Simone Williams Color Me Domestically………………………………………..…………………7 Faculty and Staff FREE VERSE POEMS Sabina Alexander Medicated …………………………………………………….…………………8 Milton Bentley Wave of Technology ………….…………………………………………………9 Belle Bush In the Celerity of a Moment ………..……………………..………………….…10 Belle Bush Shadow Dancing ………..……………………..………………….………….…11 Shabrea Davis Fear ………….…………………………………………………………………12 Tamekia Goodroe Obstacles …………………………………………………………...…….…… 13
Kimberly Hicks-Grable Blinded By You …………………………………………..………………….…14 Jeremiah Johnson Ancestry………………………………………………………………...………15 Jeremiah Johnson Rules to Live By (or “Rules By Which To Live”) ………………………………16 Wayne Lockwood My Best Friend Come To See Me … …………………………..…………….…17 Wayne Lockwood Somber Shelter ………….…………………………………………………….18 Caroline Samples The Importance of Red ………….…………………………………………….19 Steve Starks May I Hear The Words ………………….………………………………..……20 Debbie Waugh I Am Exuberant …………………………..…………………………...…….…21 Simone Williams The Uprising………………………………………..…………………...………22 Sheila Willis Songs ………….………………………………………………………….……23 Acknowledgements …………………….……………………………...…………..24
1
Seppuku
Tumultuously
Crimson tides are blood and blade
Slashed against life’s shore.
Sabina Alexander
Confused?
Making decisions
It’s difficult for us all,
But the choice is yours.
Milton Bentley
A New Dawn
Deeper than midnight
Starlight is hidden from view—
But here comes the sun.
Christina Cannon
2
Sakura
Blossoms fluttering
The petals of pink fragrance—
Rain down on pathways.
Christina Cannon
Cherry Blossoms
Cherry blossoms pink
Cotton candy, lite as air
Springtime in Macon.
Anita Dailey
Joy
Joy, best gift ever
Given from our God above
Unmeasurable.
Anita Dailey
3
Family Tree
From centuries past
This man is my family
By blood, I belong.
Wanda Haynes
Something I Looked For
Her old, tattered wreath
Simple and humble it was
Christmas it announced.
Wanda Haynes
Cold Raindrops
The first cold raindrop even the old woman seems
to want my raincoat.
Kimberly Hicks-Grable
4
Listening
Talking and Singing
While dripping, dripping, dripping.
Radio and Rain.
Ernest Jolly, Jr.
Surprise
Oh no! leaves falling
And fall has been here and gone.
Must be Texas oak!
Ernest Jolly, Jr.
Unconditional Love
Small, loyal, handsome
Devoted, companion is
My Yorkie “Winston.”
Pamela Lukat
5
Sunrise Games
Barefoot and wide-eyed,
We creep as lightly as dew,
Hiding and seeking.
Marinda Martin
The Destructive Friend
Tufts of pure cotton, Like fresh snow, float to the floor.
The dog’s in trouble.
Marinda Martin
In a Movie Theater Parking Lot
A lunar moth’s thin
green wings melt on wet cement—
a shimmering death.
Caroline Samples
6
My Mother the Star
Basic elements,
Hydrogen, helium, all,
My mother the star.
Steve Starks
Autism
Life in the spectrum
Inputs overwhelm, confuse
Understand me, please.
Glen Stone
Binary
I was a zero
Rising to five volts, I’m on
Now, I am the one.
Glen Stone
7
Color Me Domestically
Red, purple, black, blue…
Here lies a battered woman,
Violence ensued.
Simone Williams
8
Medicated
Agitated
Luciferous
Psychotic
Restless
Afraid
Zombified
Overwhelmed
Labeled
Anxious
Me
Sabina Alexander
9
Wave of Technology
Email, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube, and Text,
No more phone calls or voice messages, so what’s next?
The future was just yesterday, but presently it’s today.
Few are savvy about any of this, just learning the way.
Living today in an ever-changing technological age
Causes some citizens to squawk in moments of rage.
It’s difficult to keep up with all the changes
Since all our ages extend in various ranges.
There’s no turning back as we hop on board.
Being left behind, that we surely can’t afford.
Times are a’ changing; we’d better not be left out.
It’s smarter to stay abreast and give all we got.
Milton Bentley
10
In the celerity
Of a moment
Life can pirouette Without reason
You assume
You have time
An abundance of Seasons
Then considerations
Shift
And you concede You’re adrift
And in the
Breadth of
An instant
Hearts become
Broken
Promises just Tokens
And our
Countenance leaves Disheartened
Silhouettes
Belle Bush
11
Shadow Dancing
I cannot remove
Every trace of you
Nor do I want to
Though some
Might say I
Should
But there are
Psychic reminders
As well as
Physical “Ohs!”
Always something
Lurking
To haunt me
But the healing
Is in the
Aching
And I’ve no wishes
To forget
No regrets –
Least not where
You are concerned
So I am
Periodically ambushed
And a memory rolls
Down my cheek
And I feel
A familiar tug
In my chest
As your shadow
Dances across
My soul
Belle Bush
12
Fear A reaction so sudden
Hindrance of the unknown
What a devastating twist it would be?
To fall upon your knees
Giving up is much easier
To triumph puts your soul to rest
Like lying in an empty nest
Afraid to take on the test
You’re the only one in your way
You may fall
Get right up
When people tell you there’s no way out
You prove to yourself that without a doubt
That nothing can stand in your way
Nothing controls your ability to stay
Unafraid or tempted to go astray
Go after everything you know would pave your way
Your time is near
But you will never go anywhere in life
Because of fear.
Shabrea Davis
13
Obstacles I trusted God through it all. The pain, hurt, sorrow and tears. Through it all he made it worth the ride.
Tamekia Goodroe
14
Blinded By You Do you love me?
Tell me now.
Your actions don’t show it.
You don’t know or perhaps you do...
that I live, breathe, and function in the daze-haze of you.
No longer will I behave like this.
Walking around in your fog…
With a set of brand new glasses…I choose to see you.
Clearly, with a bright light,
On this day, I uncover you.
My visibility is at 100 percent.
Tormented, I am no more.
Kimberly Hicks-Grable
15
Ancestry A lottery of skin is an ancestry
Southern Gothic sandy creek beds and black water
Turning, tangled amid Spanish mossy post oaks
Where to survive was to conquer
Over the plow heads in forgotten tarns
Over sisal fiber ropes from 200 year old trees
Over fence line and catch dog disputes
Over the worms and polio, and living water and fire
Men seethed their callous imagination
Sweated it in the porous earth, and mostly missed
Teeth, ears, eyes, or fingers—disfigured by
A responsibility to maintain a family and stead
On down the winding buck and rattlesnake path
A lucky stand of tenant farmers got gravestones.
Victory upon another home—one of 12 children survived.
Yet again: a mother’s Christmas supper made from flour and lard.
But the jackpot belonged to men who made their minds
To follow a mule across a field
Until angel-eyed Death afforded them rest
Our ancestors were deities ruling over dust
Smacking empty gums, searching for tree-bored rounds
That passed through the feral dogs with which they contended
In the tombola of flesh, only the sacred survived
To contribute to the great mystery.
Jeremiah Johnson
16
Rules To Live By (or “Rules By Which To Live”) Rules to Live By boggle the mind,
As if the brain was but an onion;
Classifying stacks of practical actions
Doesn’t peg the normal function:
Somebody told me “don’t do drugs,”
But Granddaddy told me that in 1970
Dock Ellis pitched a no-hitter
Tripping on LSD…the exception, obviously—
Experiments often yield awesome results.
Somebody said “stand for what you believe,”
But even a band called Rage Against the Machine
Sold its songs to Walt Disney World—the exception?
Just take the money.
Somebody told me “read until you’re wise,”
But I found a stack of lies, and despite
T.S. Eliot, I planned my wedding for April.
Perhaps just living like a character’s the ticket.
Darwin inclined we must be varied,
Have an attribute, and feel lust for that;
Natural selection will be worth the wait
To see which of the fittest
Admits to following rules.
Jeremiah Johnson
17
My Best Friend Come To See Me
My best friend come to see me. It's been a while since he's been here.
With laughter and a story. It's nice to hang and share.
We begin to talk of yester-years. How wonderful it was back then.
Today it's just a blur. Tomorrow gone again.
Each day I seem to struggle.
Remember those things I love. A face I can’t remember.
My best friend growing up?
We talked what seems for hours. Reminisce of things we've done.
Like fishing he exaggerates. We’re laughing having fun
As I struggle to remember Something caught my eye. He must be leaving soon.
For he waves at me goodbye.
I think it's time to rest. I'm tired and feeling weak. As I put away the mirror. Slowly drift off into sleep.
I'll talk to you tomorrow.
My friend whose name escapes. Maybe then I will remember.
Your name when I awake.
Wayne Lockwood
In memory of “Grandma” Alice Davenport
18
Somber Shelter
Day soon grows wiry Sky light change to amber fade
Defend from dark night
Walk the shadowed path In search of somber shelter
Night will soon be here
Humble and alone Echo sounds of night appear
Whispers, dark, and cold
Water, wind, and voice Stirring sounds of noise at night
Smells of day’s refuse
Faint, drowsy, and weak Gathering close on red brick
Closing eyes to night
A simple shelter Break from the wind, ease of depth
Sooth a jagged soul
Cloth swathed around him Old newspaper fights harsh chill
Bitter yet it seems
Keep one eye watchful Fear he will not wake swiftly
Drift into light sleep
Night shall pass to day Shadows fade to a new dawn
Vagabond of life
Wayne Lockwood
19
The Importance of Red
To be red as swollen lips, as a long silk dress. Not the soft purple of love, some wasted bruise—
To be gunfire, the powder flash
before the bullet leaves its chamber. The static spark of a charged finger on metal—
To be a blood moon,
or the veil it casts on dry stalks and wet newborn calves—
To be red—
I dyed my hair. To be a tongue, raw and unafraid of speech—
One crimson streak behind my ear.
Caroline Samples
20
May I Hear The Words
When I consider all the Lord doth give,
When I think of His love and His grace.
May I live as He would want me to live,
May I be found worthy to see His face.
When I come up short and I stumble and fall,
When I on my own I can no longer proceed.
May I be lifted and strengthened to give my all,
May I be blessed to fulfill Thy smallest deed.
When I have come to the end of my days,
When I have given my all and I am done.
May I be brought to stand before Thy gaze,
May I hear the words “My child, well done.”
Steve Starks
21
I am exuberant.
The long, cold, dreary winter ends for now;
Stunning in his blueness, a male bird daily flits and flutters outside my kitchen window as if waiting for Godot.
From the pond my granddaughter scoops up slimy evidence
Of rackety frogs and nightly orgies.
Tiny wisps of green emerge unabashedly from brown-clodded soil
As chickens, sending out random pterodactyl messages,
Rush to devour ghostly mammoth worms unearthed by heavy rains;
Light replaces dark, and I am born again.
Debbie Waugh
22
The Uprising
On street corners, in cell blocks, in classrooms the stench of rotting dreams and failed
attempts of a once royal people have been crushed by money, or the lack there of.
They say money is the root of all evil, well I can tell.
A young man forced into the streets to survive, No mom at home and his dad is long gone,
forced so early to be a man, he gladly welcomed a pistol that a gang leader was more than
willing to place in his hand.
He examined it and felt the cold and lifeless steel caress his flesh.
This represented his heart on the day he became a new man.
Standing outside the corner store by the ice, the gang leader pointed and said, “You, take
that life.”
Pow! Pow! Two shots to the head, and some man’s wife was dead.
The young man stood frozen in time because he could not believe that act he had just
committed and moments later, he was carried away only to rot in prison for the rest of his days.
A smart, talented, beautiful, young woman who came from little and now has even less, so at
night she lays her head down to rest, no not in her own bed, but in the bed of a stranger.
He keeps a roof over her head and her closed mouth fed, just so he can make money by
placing her in a another man’s bed.
She suffers in silence because she fears the violence he is capable of, and to leave almost
certainly means death on the streets.
A line a night is what keeps her sane as she makes her money so her living won’t be in vain.
Welfare, social security, food stamps and more, but there can never be enough for the poor
black.
Don’t fault us for what we can’t control after all, you placed us in this black hole.
Fumbling around in the dark with no guidance and no relief, I say give us a light, or must we
continue to remain in darkness before we gain our true freedom?
It’s time for the uprising of our young people.
Simone Williams
23
Songs
I once read that human life is precious,
so handle it with prayer, ...
but far too often we handle boxes
with much, much greater care!
Many believe very passionately that we all need love,
but far too often, we haphazardly mistreat others
in its simplest form--
by not making eye contact when we pass one another,
or not caring for all other forms of animals,
including dainty, dreamy doves.
Some find comfort in the form of pure lyrics-
While believers find comfort with nature
...then nurtures
Bees that buzz and birds that chirp
Some of the sounds of God's small creatures.
Let's never forget to forward a little gesture of kindness
every day in the form of a smile (which is a song)
The purest form of charity that everyone needs
in our infinite hope chest!
Sheila Willis
24
Acknowledgements
The Library staff at Central Georgia Technical College would like to express our
sincere appreciation for the generous assistance provided by the following
departments in making the poetry contest and celebration day a success:
Central Georgia Technical College Foundation
Campus Life Office, Central Georgia Technical College
English Faculty, General Education, Central Georgia Technical College
Marketing and Public Relations, Central Georgia Technical College
Economic Development office, Central Georgia Technical College
Student Affairs Office, Central Georgia Technical College
Academic Affairs Office, Central Georgia Technical College
And a special thank you to all of the students, faculty and staff who submitted haiku
and free verse poems to the contest. We appreciate your interest, creativity, and
enthusiasm.
As set forth in its student catalog, Central Georgia Technical College (CGTC) does
not discriminate on the basis of race, color, creed, national or ethnic origin, gender,
religion, disability, age, political affiliation or belief, genetic information, veteran
status, or citizenship status (except in those special circumstances permitted or
mandated by law). The following person has been designated to handle inquiries
regarding the non-discrimination policies:
The Title IX/Section 504/ADA Coordinator for CGTC nondiscrimination policies is
Cathy Johnson, Executive Director of Conduct, Appeals & Compliance; Room A-136, 80 Cohen Walker Drive, Warner Robins, GA 31008; Phone: (478) 218-3309; Fax: (478) 471-5197; Email: [email protected].