Dear Jenny, had lots happening since January and only just got back here. My apologies, and thanks for posting the dancing poem. You’re a writer to watch!

Rosemary Nissen-Wade (aka SnakyPoet)s last blog post..Inevitable Mystery

A RED DELICIOUS

Stooping to pick a Red Delicious
from the pile, the apples topple,
and an old man wags his finger toward me.
Obligated to buy the whole barrel, I cart
dimpled cargo sheepishly past
the oranges and bananas, hungering
to be invisible.

A Beautiful Moment (ballroom dancing)

A beautiful moment
Locked within the jaws of temptation
Within the arms of fate.
Flying
Emotions pounding across the dance floor
Whirls of colour
And light
Glinting through silky hair,
And within alive and loving eyes.

Your moment
To shine.

Smooth hands
Running over
Feathered dresses
Sequined bodices
Damp skin.
Hair fanned out in a light
Caressing wind
That you alone can feel.

Just the two of you
Alive in the dance.

Breathe
Move
Hold
Step
Channel your feelings
Through the beauty
Of the dance.
Inhale the life within your partner
Let it push you onwards
Every particle of your being
Locked in this wonderful new world.

This
Is where you will always belong.

Turning
Twirling
Until you lose sight of who is who
Whose hands are whose
Whose hair it is
That you can feel against your temple.
It flows so smoothly
In the misty euphoria
You can hear heavy breathing
Heels gently touching the ground
Then toes, just caressing the floor
Wrapping you in the spirit of the dance
Flames threading through your soul.

You are delicate
Graceful
A swan
A rose
And he will protect you,
Take your hand,
And lead you through the thorns.
Such a passion is growing within you
That you forget that you are being watched
And nothing else matters
But the rhythm of the music
And the flow of the dance
And moving with him
As one person
Beautiful balance
Beautiful…

And the heat is heavy on your feet
But it does not matter

It is such storytelling in motion
Such electricity and contagious energy
Concentrated into one space

It is such…
Beauty.

And here,
On the dance floor,
You are home.

By Jenny McBride, age 13

The Greatest Gift

Blood of the sun,
He walks, awakened,
Trailing shreds of sky, and earth, and sea,
Then comes the storm, and he walks alone,
Tread softly now, you walk on memories.

Call the night,
It will fall at your command,
O’er red skies, and earth, and seas,
Silver trees of silver dreams fall by your hand
And there remains but the dust of memories.

Touch the horizon,
Sit upon the stars,
Draped in sky, and earth, and sea,
Shattered souls of broken men
Cry out from the dust of memories.

He holds the Earth’s dreams,
Yet they fall apart,
Splitting sky, and earth, and sea,
As the darkened world creeps up upon the heart,
And steals the dust of memory.

Still his spirit burns
As the flame of life,
Devouring skies, and earth, and seas,
Raising ashes to fire, and fire to light,
And torching the dust of memories.

He walks among the dead,
And drifts by the living,
Sleeping between skies, and earth, and seas,
Among those who can never unite,
Lies the dust of his memories.

Blood-shod heels
Tread every land,
Every sky, and earth, and sea,
Thin upon the ground, and hazy in the darkness,
Lies the dust of memory.

Shed your bindings,
Step away,
Leave these skies, and earth, and seas,
Forever trapped, forever bound,
Step softly now, upon my memories.

Look behind the sun,
Far away,
Beyond the skies, and earth, and seas,
You will not fly free, but walk forever on,
But bear the Greatest Gift: your Memories.

By Jenny McBride, age 12

My thoughts collide;
Expressions melt;
Bringing in fear;
My heart had felt;
Arising nausea;
Hurting pain;
Falling starts;
My clothes they stain;

Why am I here?
Who do I seek?
My clothes in all;
Fall to my feet;
All sounds drown out;
My hearing at halt;
Everything gone;
Closed in a vault;

Hearing impaired;
I like it this way;
No one to heart;
No “games” to play;
Faces melt;
Port holes close;
All these minutes;
Suddenly frozen;

A dark room;
Within it I lay;
Breathing slow;
Black and gray;
A window I seek;
Noises they’ve stayed;
I wanna kill you;
I want to blow you away;

I take a deep breath;
I blow hard;
You scream;
As you float afar;
Bye noise;
Bye all to you who suck;
I’ll never like you;
Goodbye all that muck;

I’m bondaged in shackles;
Made of memory;
My life;
I will never see;
I’m nothing to you;
So keep away;
My body, soul and mind;
I’ll keep at bay;

I like my life;
Without you in it;
Me and others;
Just don’t fit;
I don’t want you to know;
Anything about me;
All you people;
I really don’t need;

My experiences stay;
I read them all;
Who needs to know?
The feeling in which you fall;
I know what there like;
All weasels and pest;
I hate the lot;
And all the rest;

I curl up in the corner;
Arms around my knees;
My flesh and hair;
The rats they feed;
Pist in psyche mode;
I cringe at that;
I ate that one, this one;
To the last rat;

Blood dies in my mouth;
My cloths they stenched;
Silence is reached;
No thanks to a wench;
The noise maker;
Humming in my ear;
You think you got me;
But I killed all I used to fear;

You brought them to me;
Thinking I’d fall;
But you all the one;
In hell you crawl;
Skin inflamed;
I feel the heat;
My heart aches;
With every hit in beat;

No noise around;
The hell with you;
I take in breaths;
But only a few;
I killed you all;
Not a chirp in shock distance;

I lift my head;
Sun shines through;
Hits the floor;
With thick morning dew;
Mold is growing;
Filling my nostrils;
It grows in my skin;
My body it fills;

How long have I been here?
How long have I stayed?
I’ve been held down;
My life faded;
Where to go?
Forward I guess;
Why do I care?
All you want is the best;

I hear the mold;
I crawls up my spine;
Up my neck;
And down a fine line;
I still sit here;
I will not move;
My life alone;
Becomes anew;

Not only silence;
But everything else;
The one that kills;
And all that sells;
I pray to God;
For all that you make;
For this night in silence;
For my soul to take.

Is this what your looking for? Not sure if I posted this in 30 poems 30 days, but I seem to be in a stuck. I’m writing a paper and nothing else seems to be popping in my mind at the moment. But if I can muster up something I will share it……

-Rianon-

Eyes bright, she stares
unmoving,
watching,
unafraid.

Eyes soft, she chews
dull snorting,
snuffling,
unafraid.

Thanks for taking the time to comment. There is certainly no requirement that you post a poem. Participate in whatever way you feel is appropriate.

James,
Thanks for helping guide Leah.

There are other ways to participate besides posting poetry.

You can converse with the community, egg John on to greatness, heckle other participants, or moan incoprehensibly when assignments are given.

I did not say these were all great ideas, but they each add something to the group in its own way.

I believe John’s outcry was because there was absolutely no response at all to his post. Simply put: a fight is more engaging than being ignored. There is nothing quite like having a post get ignored. You wonder whether it was even worth your effort. Even moaning lets John know that someone read his post.

Hope to see you around, more aptly put: hope to hear from you from time to time, even if it is just a moan.