My Phenomenal Woman.

Shay is her name and she is the best
I love her so much that I forget all of the rest
Caught up in the game
Caused us so much grief and pain
Our addiction so strong, did us so wrong
Just to get along
Now clear headed and on a better path
We start to pick up all our aftermath
Look back on our past
I’m glad our love mde it last
We learned from our mistakes
So I’ll be there at the gates
With my arms wide open is how I’ll wait

-J.L.

 

Embracing

As we embrace the pain, we embrace the rain
It falls from the sky as tears fall from my ete
They drop just because and no one knows why
Just as people love and just as people die
The time we have spent – this love is not a lie
Your feelings have changes
I don’t know why
Something I stay awake and sometimes I cry
I’ll be off to the pen, so here’s my goodbye

-J.L.

 
To Change My Ways

As my soul breaks like clouds on the horizon
I find myself trapped in this insane asylum
My mind is down the drain with so much pain
I’m coming apart and acting strange
I guess this is what happens
When you’re locked in a cage
Nothing will change ‘til you turn the page
So I find myself reading
Sitting on center stage
This is my life and I’ll live it my way
Take it breath by breath and day by day
I will have to work to change my ways

-J.L.


Life’s Struggles

Can someone please tell me why?
Why life has so much struggle?
What happened to my piece of the pie?
Why do some people get to drive brand new Mercedes benz
And jaguars but my old clunker won’t even pass smog?
Why do some require a maid or a butler
To answer a knock at their door?
But I need a pistol and a vicious dog?
Why are some people blessed with walk at sunset
On their own private beach?
But where I’m from, where I live,
It ain’t even safe to walk the streets?
Why do some people get to drop their kids off at private
Schools to be lectured by college professors?
When my kids show up to school
The first thing that they pass is a
Good old fashioned metal detector
So I try with all that I’ve got to get my family out of the hood
But the economy took a dive
Now the job market ain’t no good
Can’t find a job with no education
Feels like modern day segregation
No paid sick leave
No paid vacation
401k? Never heard of it
But I know parole and probation
Life seems unfair,
Filled with so many struggles
Mexicans and blacks fillin’ those concrete jungles
Mija, daddy’s not coming home
He stabbed someone in a prison rumble
So will someone please tell me why?
And what’s going to happen to my daughter’s
Piece of the pie?

-C.B.
 


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The voice that I hear in the darkness
And still of the night
It’s like a song coming from an angel’s mouth
Don’t wake me from this dream
Just let those angels sing
And leave me alone in this abyss
After all
You are just a dream

-M.C.
 


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The system, from a young teen trapped
Labeled, thown away by society
Left to my own devices
13 years old standing on a corner selling
And smoking crack
My life one big crisis
No graduation day for me because of my choices
From probation to parole
Strung out on meth, now I hear voices
Or is it just my memories
I’m reliving the time of being told I’ll never amount to shit
I know I have to stop using drugs
But my spirit is too broke to quit
Half my life has been spent behind bars
For my drug addiction
Yet not one time have I been offered
Any kind of drug education

-C.B.
 


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No vivid moonlight, just a dark stark jail cell filled with emptiness. The lack of love
inside of these walls gave birth to deep thoughts of the lack of love within myself.
My ineffable yearnings of wanderlust have been stifled and insatiable appetite for
sex has suffered from the plights of starvation. Stagnation has crept up on me in all
its various forms. Dragging me down on my journey yet never enough to cause me
to stumble and fall. Carrying all burdens and past failures into the hopeful sunset of
tomorrow. On a pale white stallion I will ride from the gates in search of wanderlust.
Love – Moonlight – Deep Thought

-A.D.




She paused, in deep thought…
The moonlight softly played upon her

Auburn hair like several old violins
We didn’t speak. We just sat,
Looking into the depths of each other’s
Eyes…
Love pulled me deeper into the
Cage of her heart
Captured at last –

-D.M

In my box of darkness, there’s lots of loneliness and sadness. I wish I could see some

light, but it is so black, dark, and scary. I’m sorry, but I can’t see anything good in my

box of darkness. All that I see and feel is fear. It is so dark.

-J.V.

 

Beauty

You’re just about perfect to my all seeing eye
But I’m not superficial, and your beauty foes
A lot deeper than your exciting eyes
Your soft, smooth skin and your sexy body
Which radiates the most powerful sexuality!
The beauty of your smile
The wonder of your little laugh
And the pitter-patter of your cowboy boots
On my backstep pull me from
Troubled sleep into the most
Beautiful present
There’s no describing the beauty that you
Bring into my world –
It just “is” –
Like the next breath
And the next
And the next

-D.M.





Box of Darkness

Somebody handing me a box of darkness,
What would it look like?
I was once handed a box of darkness
A gift as much as it was a curse
It contained both shadows and visions
Of what was to come into my life
It brought me many sorrows
Which became the seeds of my happiness
In it was all of my fears
Each one dimming my inner light
Shadowed beings that did not give up
Without a fight
In the darkness I became lost
And I searched endlessly for the light
I found that it was within my heart
Where there exists no light or dark
Just me
Inside of that box
No longer scared of the dark

-A.D.




 
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I am giving you a piece of my heart to remind you that I am always here for you no
matter how far apart we may be. I’m giving you a piece of my soul that will hold
you dearly and never let you go. Whenever you are troubled and struggling to smile
remember that has no limits and goes on for miles. Always smile and always know
that I am thinking of you.
You’ve changed my life in so many ways. You’ve added something special to all
of my nights and days. Always show me that you care. You’ve always given me
friendship that is beautiful and a devotion that is rare. Thank you for all that you are.
If every wish that I ever made upon a start came true, I would be as happy as I am
when I’m with you. Since I really can’t express myself the way that I’d like to do, I’ll
sum up all of my deepest thoughts in three words: I love you.

-M.R.



Phenomenal Woman

Strength in her virtue
Grace in her flaws
Tenderness in her love
Beauty in all
She has given life and bared the burden of pain
Given rise to her greatest joy
A proud mother indeed
She gave me her everything
And spoiled me with care
Her love was my protector
I had no fears or no wants
She was my mother,
But also had to be a father at times
She raised her only boy to be a man
In a world turned cold

-A.D.

 
Danielle

Respects herself always
And she doesn’t take disrespect from anyone
Never accepts anthing less that perfection
And always expects the most from me
She’ll love me always
Unconditionally
And forever
Keeps her head held high
Rain or shine
Perseveres wiping tears
From her eyes
Loves herself and the best of the world
While it has proven unfair
Strong and beautiful
From the ground up to those gorgeous eyes
And long dark hair
She’s perfect in every way
Thin or small
Sick or well
A goddess of heaven
An angel of hell
To me she’s everything
That a woman should be

-R.B.

 
How I Feel

This class is so awesome
I don’t sit and play opossom
To write how I feel
It really helps me deal
To do something right
It helps me sleep better at night
When I think of love
I wish I was holding you tight
I want so bad
To be able to kiss you goodnight
Because my love for you is outta sight
You clear up the clouds and brighten up my life
To set all of this out
Is such a delight

-J.L.