DEEP DOWN

My roots lie in despair,
I've been around almost as long as it has,
in years, I don't know how long that is.

I am the root of prejudices and wars.
I love hunting rabbits on horseback
or making people afraid of silly things,
like feet or food or spiders.

I want to be popular with the young.
If I could grip them in infancy,
there would be no hope for them.

I hate people.
I break and bite,
I freeze and ruin them.

Life revolves around me.
I don't change but people do,
when they are sad
I am happy.

----Mark Costine

SPEAK

A coat says : cold
A shoe says : walk
When a hand says : deal
A mouth says : talk

A ring says : marriage
A bird says : egg
A servant says : please
A master says : beg

Pink says : girl
Blue says : boy
A soldier says : gun
A child says : toy

A hospital says : birth
A condom says : none
A school says : book and boredom
A party says : fun

A heart says : I quit
Death says : come with me
Life says : I'm finished
A hippy says : let it be

----Mark Costine

RAINY DAYS

The rain is trundling down my shoulders in sore steady drops
I don't care
It's soaking through the inadequate protection of my perfect clothes
I should have known
It's sloshing all over my perfect unbeatable image
That's now gone
I've done my best to keep it out there's nothing more I can do
It's too late
I should have expected the rain instead of sunshine
I need an umbrella
Rainfall was inevitable if I had bothered to look at the stormy skies
Course I didn't
I can only blame myself for deliberately shutting out the grey skies
I only saw blue
I had nothing to shelter under when the storm broke over my head
No lightning pole
People had warned me of the ferocity of the incoming storm
I didn't believe them
All I saw was clear sunny skies set to go on forever
I ignored the small cloud
Now I have only myself to blame in the midst of the rain
No forethought of shelter
The clawing ripping rain is going on with no end in sight
Inside of me
For I had brought this storm, this lightning, this terrible rain
On myself
Can't blame the weatherman who predicted this to my closed ears
Can blame myself
It's too late for regrets, recriminations, tears or heartfelt pleas
But not for pain
I know what I've done and why I've caused the rain to come
Not the sun
Maybe it will stop although I seriously doubt that ever happening
I don't deserve it to
The grey skies hang overhead seem to be there forever
Which is just cause
I have caused my own weather and my own pain
Only me

----Laura Foskin

WAITING FOR ONE WHO WILL NOT RETURN

It stood there all alone waiting for the one who will never come back
The pictures still rested on the faded wall
The boots stood there waiting for impatient feet
The clothes lay tousled on the dusty chair
Waiting for someone who will never be there
The window was open to air a room
The door stood ajar begging to open or close
The one who used it will not slam it closed again
The books still lay opened and pleaded for someone to turn their
    page
The carpet was still muddy from his last hasty feet
It was never brushed nor cleaned it just lay there
The sun which shone through the dusty window
Would not light a sleepy tousled head in the morning any more
Nor the waves wet bare sandy feet as they ran down the deserted
    shore
The tin whistle still lay on the ground where it was thrown
It would no longer suffer the inexpert blowing again
It was a shrine to someone who would not be anymore
Not a soul had touched the doorknob since his hurried hand
Nor had windows been cleaned of the years of dirt that lay on their
    weeping panes
The crypt which he had lived in would remain the same
Until he sat once again in the bed reading his books
But that would not happen so it stood there
Waiting guarded against intrusion
Just waiting listening watching for someone they would never see
    anymore
They waited watched and listened
In the silence of the house for him
For the one who would never ever come back

----Laura Foskin

RED PAINT

Blood is like red paint is what they always said
I never believed it
It's dark and dull not bright and vivid
But then my best friend's hand was blown off
And I saw what they meant -
Of course it was wasn't it?
I mean it's gone so it must have been
I didn't see it hear it feel it
I just heard its victim
My best friend
Us with our guns they with their rocks
I almost felt sorry for them
Then they fired bombs against guns
That's not fair is it?
Even if it did work
I saw blood gush out of his arm
Running down over his mudsplattered tunic
And I saw what they meant
I couldn't move
Couldn't run
All I saw was red paint dyeing his clothes
Spilling onto the ground
The terrible red paint of death.

----Laura Foskin

SOMEDAY

On a warm sunny day
in mid-July
I woke to find
you'd gone to the sky

No more will we play
together as one
sit in your garden
having much fun

Now you play
with angels not me
I don't mind
so long as you're happy

I'll see you some day
we'll play together again
why did you have to leave
you were only seven

----Donna Jacob

I AM

I am the girl
          who'd walk the plank
I am the girl
          who'd rob a bank
I am the girl
          who'd never thank
I am the girl
          would always blank

I was that girl

I am the girl
          would hold her head high
I am the girl
          would never cry
I am the girl
          can reach the sky
I am the girl
          holds the answer to why

I'll be that girl

I am the girl
          with pennies not pounds
I am the girl
          that never frowns
I am the girl
          scared to walk the ground
I am the girl
          who'll always be around

I'm afraid to be that girl

I am the girl
          will never be shamed
I am the girl
          always framed
I am the girl
          always named
I am the girl
          always detained

I am that girl

----Sarah White

ACTING YOUR AGE

You always try to look older
But never want to grow old
You can't decide what you want to do
But won't do what you're told

You spend all your time daydreaming
And staring at the sky
Covering up your lovebites
From your mother's watchful eye

Half the time you laugh so much
You're rolling on the ground
The other half you cry so much
You begin to think you've drowned

You're old enough to make choices
Too young to see them through
Sometimes you've all the answers
Most times you haven't a clue

----Doireann Larkin

REMEMBERING US

Will you remember me when time has passed?
Will the memory of our friendship last?
Will you think about the times we've shared
Or how we stuck together when we were scared?

Together we discovered strange new things
Found out how life both hugs and stings
I told you all my hopes and fears
We wiped away each other's tears

We laughed until we couldn't breathe
Our friends were all that we would need
And when all else seemed harsh and black
Friendship was one thing we'd never lack

In years to come just spare a thought
For the happiness our friendship brought
Whatever life brings me to do
I know I'll always remember you

----Doireann Larkin

A JOURNEY

Dogs barking in my ear
A spooky door has just appeared
A swirling abundance of light and magic
To not go in would just be tragic

The cold slimy stairs wind round and round
Flashing lights but not a sound
The smell of food fills the air
Pictures of vampires everywhere

From the room on the left
Comes a ghost -
Get out of here quick
Or else I'll be toast

I turned to run
But the stairs were gone
I kept running on
And on and on

Till I stopped dead
In the middle of a square -
A door appeared
But did I dare?

I pulled and tugged
But it wouldn't budge
The ghost down the hall
Was nowt but a smudge

At last it moved
The door was open
Was I in my room?
There's always hoping

I pushed the door
Where was I now?
In a fishbowl scuba diving -
How?

What am I thinking
I must be crazy
All of a sudden my vision's blurred
Then I know this is absurd

Five minutes later
What was I to think
I'd just come out
The kitchen sink

I sat on the chair
Watching T.V.
And suddenly realized
What happened to me

It wasn't a dream
It was really true
How did it occur -
Not a clue

----Donna Jacob

AM I THE ONE

I am the one
Who made you mad
I am the one
Who made you sad
I am the one
Who isn't bad
I am the one
You never had

I will be the one

I am the one
Who stands up tall
I am the one
Who will not fall
I am the one
Who knows it all
I am the one
They'd never call

I was never the one

I am the one
Who learned to trust
I am the one
Who will not rust
I am the one
Who always must
I am the one
With a heart of dust

I am the one

----Suzanne Daly

JOHNNY

He lives in a cold cliffside cavern,
He smiles as the world collapses,
He makes a little brother cry.
Curvy cars make him want to scream.
Johnny will say Thank You for a punch in the face,
He sees machines that bleed and men with wings,
He can draw better than Billy the Kid.
He uses his finger like a smoking pistol.
He licks the cows in the field to see if they're ripe,
His jokes would make a murderer say That's sick!
Johnny loves to kick authority in the shin,
He is a magnet to every living creature,
Explorers would be lost in his stomach.
He looks like a black hole in space.

----Mark Costine

MY FRIEND

Her name is Hannah
She loves eating yellow bananas

Her dogs are called Bonzo and Bailey
She's usually normal - mainly

Her brown hair is long, thin and phoney
Her arms are skinless and bony -
Very much like her pony

She won't wear the same clothes as me
But ah, fiddledeedee!

----Suzanne Daly