The Great Wall spanning China Or the Wall in East Berlin Were made to keep the people out And hold the people in Masons mixing mortar Joining bricks in common cause Silencing the voices With their edicts and their laws Can only stop the flesh Because a mind is free to roam Behind closed eyes […]
Jeff Burkhart’s “Rhyme and Reason”: Inauguration (An Open Letter of Hope)
This is the poem I wrote and posted for the inauguration of President Obama. It is a hope, a message…a prayer that I have decided to humbly submit for each new president going forward; especially this one. It is a prayer that it seems to me, is most apt on this particular day of […]
Poetry Corner: James Garrett “He Read Fate”
The four letter word Navy, Once meant both love and “yuck”. It gave trials and errors, For a strong, young buck. Individuals form families, Blood connects most. The adopted were chosen, Oath closed to boast. Sun adopted Rock, He granted rays day and night. His ears heard sounds of the past. His eyes saw far […]
Poetry Corner: Johanna Ely “How the Dream Comes”
It doesn’t matter how the dream comes, just that it comes, and it always does. Poverty, heartbreak, or abuse might defer it, but it still finds a way to slip inside you and begin its song. Sometimes it first appears when you’re a little girl, maybe five or six years old. You see a bird, […]
Benicia high schoolers gearing up for poetry competition
The method of learning by doing is certainly true of poetry. After all, one can learn a lot about becoming a great poet by immersing oneself in the great poetic works and performing them for an audience. That is the basic premise of Poetry Out Loud, a national poetry recitation contest founded by California Poet […]
Bobby Richardson: Camp Diversity USA
They say familiarity breeds contempt. Whether you subscribe to this philosophy, or not, please allow me to vent. To be different is to be blessed. What if we were all the same? Can you imagine the bigger mess? Imagine much more madness, than we currently have now. It would manifest exponentially. I mean wow!! I […]
Jeff Burkhart’s “Rhyme and Reason”: Desire
A sidelong glance turns to a gaze, inciting dreams of wonder It’s everywhere and all the time, from here to way down under Anxious insecurity; an unsure breathless smile Try to speak but words won’t come, so wait a little while The very young and very old, and all folks in-between Have lived out these […]
Poetry Corner: James Garrett “Your Answer”
You learned my name, Then heard my voice. My eyes locked on yours, Fate guided the choice. A passing few moments, Time held in place. Shy yet bold, Sweet smile on your face. Time for the passing, Of days turned to years. Years turned to decades, Held sorrows and fears. Always the hug, The warmth […]
Jeff Burkhart’s Rhyme and Reason: “My Home Movie”
A film is always playing, in this theater in my head The popcorn, coke and tickets, never cost me any bread I’m starring in this feature, of my future and my past I’m also the director, of the players in the cast The genre seems to flip around, it’s all the same to me From […]
Poetry Corner: James Garrett “Giants”
Once I was with Giants, Three men strong. They haunt me now, Like ghosts in the night. They are the soul of America, But they wouldn’t think they were. I’ve lost them now, Not in mind, but in sight. They are as I last saw, Young, trim, and eager. Always ready and willing, They took […]