Qiiill and Ink
NO DESSERT
No sugar tonight in my coffee
No sugar tonight in my tea
No sugar to stand beside me
No sugar to run with me
-THE GUESS WHO
GHOST
Like a bad dream...
Someone mentions your name.
(Isn’t it funny how letters grouped
together
Could once mean so much?)
As I go about my mundane business
called living,
I walk around in a fog of
Memories all day,
Unable to shake your ghost...
Sitting on my shoulder...
Watching everything I do.
MOLLY HARTSELL
UNTITLED
\
A meagre mortal
by a meagre sea
among meagre planets
of a system
in a meagre galaxy
But in life
knowing not nearly anything
within a speck of substance
Oh, my Universe
how I rule over you
TANUJ
It could only happen in America
Sometime
after the fact
a queer frost of
stygian hue
crept into the renaissance
and took its place
silently between the legs
of Mona Lisa
DAVID SOUTHWOOD-SMITH
PRESENCE
scattered bones swinging in the air
i’ve had many lives, many kingdoms
many dreams,
nothing matters
now there’s just you
& me
formless, breathless, dreamy lies
i wake choking on a scream
let’s say we hold each other,
just for awhile
’’SMILING IN ALL THE PICTURES”
Playing with guns and fire
drinking and smoking
attempting to deal with reality...
but you were smiling in all the pictures
when you were young.
The less faded pictures show
the grin dissipating into a
sardonic smirk
and you are further back in all the scenes
disattached and not part of anyone or
anything
No one takes the blame or responsibility
for your unhappiness
So Welcome to the Real World,
filled with solipsistic visions
of people causing your misery.
Can’t you imagine
sunny days or peace on earth?
Ignorance is bliss. \
But
I try to remember
that once
you were smiling in all the pictures.
FASHION
UNTITLED
No need for sU"iving
words painted on my heart
and soul
we do have something in common
No need for communication
bathing in conversation
“You Radiate Warmth”
Comfort
comfort
curled fetal
in my arms
and i dream of your kisses
JON PARGAS
UNTITLED
A suicide
is a deliberate act
caring about not being
cared about
What difference does it make?
He enjoys the moment
while waiting for the death.
UNTITLED
I am laughing
at your eyes
which crinkle at the comers
when you smile.
I am watching
your hair as the sun
glints gold against the crisp blue sky.
And I am falling
faster than I should
because of the crisp blue sky
and your eyes.
BONNIE BLACKBURN
UNTITLED
Uncle Joey kicked back in his rocking
chair
“Uncle Joey” I ask him “Wouldn’t life be
a lot easier if everyone could win at one
of those game shows? You know, like
Wheel of Fortune, except that everyone
gets a chance to spin the wheel.”
“Everyone does get a chance to spin the
wheel though, son. Both in real life and
on TV. Think about it.”
“Yeah Uncle Joey. But not everybody
wins. If everyone won, we’d all be
happy. After all, wouldn’t you be happy
if you could spin that wheel and win a
zillion dollars?”
“I dunno, son. I’d be satisfied if I could
spin for Vanna White.
She sure beats the hell out of your Aunt
Fay.”
DAVID SOUTHWOOD-SMITH
FRIGHT NIGHT
Moon
Full moon
One eye watching my every move
Trees twist and crack
Under the Wizard’s cold breath
The only noise now
Nothing
Loud nothing
Trees crack again
Sound shatters the frost from my mind
Once again
I am safe now
The only reminder of the Fright Night
Full moon
Lump in my pants
She only asked me one question,
but that one question was enough to blow
my quiet little world into smithereens. My
first urge when she asked me this alleged
question was to puke. Yes indeed, just to
puke my rotten, putrid guts out.
“Why”, she asked me,her eyes
burning with the tell-tale curiosity of a
young girl about to lose her
virginity,”Why do they call you The
Alien?”
I immediately began to sweat
For this was the question that I myself had
managed to avoid for the first 23 years of
my life. I knew now that I could avoid it
no longer. However, I managed to appear
calm, cool, and collected.
If there’s one thing that I’ve
learned in life it’s this: There’s nothing
wrong with sugar, it’s the people who eat
it-
Keeping this smug knowledge to myself, I
laughed ,”Where on earth did you hear
that?”. But it was a short, quick, awkward
laugh and my lover didn’t miss a U'ick.
Suddenly I began to burst with convul
sive, hysterical, crazed laughter. The
laughter of a mad-man.
“Alfred?”
“Alfred?”
“Alfred? Alfred? Alfred?”
Finally I could stand it no longer.
“What?!!” I shouted, the onions from my
lunch still fresh on my breath. I saw how
frightened my lover looked. I immediately
calmed down. Besides, I knew if I didn’t
treat her kindly I wouldn’t get any dessert.
No dessert.
No dessert.
No dessert.
No dessert.
No dessert.
No dessert. Ever again. And I’m sorry
folks but I just couldn’t handle that. No
indeedy.
RUTHECKLES
UNTITLED
You are a Goddess
and i am stone
i scribble these few lines
for Your Eyes alone
it would have been sooner
but they just wouldn’t come
for You are a Goddess
and i am stone
TODD SHIFFLET
BONNIE BLACKBURN
JOHN NULL
JON PARGAS