Borderline - Lyndon Queripel

On the other side of time I stand
It runs like sand through my hand
From the black hole of the soul
Release a word of peace unplanned
To echo through this promised land

It seems we must have come too far
You can’t remember where we are
Our shadows run under the burning Sun
Searching for fragments of trust
In powdered gold and diamond dust

As tears of truth from hollow eyes
Part exchange lies and alibis
With no sweet retreat from the heat
Lock the window and bolt the door
Your clothes don’t fit you anymore

Illusions of hope surround the haze
Your gaze is reflected in a daze
It’s no surprise to recognise
In the mirror of mercy and love
The only one you’re not scared of

Sirens scream like a dream in space
A dark star fallen far from grace
It flashes through the midnight blue
Then disappears without a trace
Another unsolved borderline case.

Lyndon Queripel

Goddamn Seagulls - J. Archer Avary

The bastards wake us up before six in the morning
screeching and squawking bloody murder outside the house.
I stagger out of bed and slam shut the bathroom window,
dry-mouthed, head pounding from last night’s overindulgence.

I climb back into bed and close my eyes but the clamorous
cacophony continues, closer, louder, shrill and piercing.
My wife pulls the duvet up over her head and turns to me, pleading
‘You need to do something about these birds, just make it stop.’

Angry now, I jump out of bed, storm to the window and see
dozens of snow-white gulls swarming in the street, fighting like hell
over ice cream residue stuck to the sides of a plastic container. Garbage
is strewn all over the road and seagulls feast in a gluttonous orgy.

I stick my head out the window into pink daylight and crisp morning
air. An alpha-type seagull cranes its neck, looking at me with its
beady narrowed eyes like ‘get back to bed, you meddling fussbudget.’
Its mates swarm and circle overhead, caterwauling tuneless epithets.

It’s way too early for this, garbage in the street and these
goddamn seagulls. I lean out the window to my waist, boisterously
snarling, snapping, barking, bellowing canine fury into the street.
The hellhound hullabaloo act sends the seagulls scattering.

Tranquility is restored to our quiet corner, and mankind’s dominion
over the animal kingdom remains intact for another glorious day.
I close my eyes and join my wife in bed, aching for one more hour,
one more dream, but it’s not happening, it won’t happen after that.

J. Archer Avary

A Cup of Tea - Kathy Figueroa

There are times when weighty matters
Must give way to much lighter stuff
Instead of news of gloom and doom
You want to hear some happy “fluff”

It’s a self-preservation thing
Designed to keep you hale and sane
As the world burns and stomach turns
And U.S. war drums beat …again

So make yourself a cup of tea
Maybe get out your sewing kit
Sit next to the kitchen window
Breathe deeply and relax a bit

How stately stand the trees outside
How pretty are the lights of town
How grand the sky that opens wide
How pure the snowflakes drifting down

Kathy Figueroa

May You Know Peace - Kathy Figueroa

Under the weight of your burdens
May you never stumble
May your spirit and resolve
Not waver or crumble
May you find strength and joy
In small and quiet things
And may you know the peace
That this season brings

Kathy Figueroa

Stillness - Julian Clarke

Why chase the stillness
when the feral mind runs wild;
inhale, accept, exhale, be free
body still, body quiet:

take these precious moments
for they're yours
for you alone,
relax in the stillness of being.

Julian Clarke

Together For Peace - Ian Duquemin

Brother, lift up your gun
Shoot it skyward and aim at the sun
Empty the chamber then lower it down
Then place it upon the ground

Sister, take hold of my hand
Let's join together in making a stand
Raise up your banner with slogans of love
And hold it up higher above

Mother, join in our plan
You are the bearer of every man
Take all the children and gather them near
Protect them from hatred and fear

Father, teach them of peace
Tell them the reasons why fighting must cease
Our children's futures are slipping away
Direct them the right way today

Ian Duquemin

The Other Side of Peace - Ian Duquemin

Let us not forget...
You cannot "fight" for peace
Hate. Fascism. Gods and guns
Are the things that have to cease
The Third Reich and the Germans
Are two... and far apart
The evil with no thought for man
And soldiers with a heart
Those young men forced to hold a gun
Are not the men to blame
As usual it's authority
Who hid within their shame
So Germany... The Fatherland
Enjoy a peaceful day
And bow your heads to children lost
Who wore the colour grey
And do not fear for orders past
That you too had to follow
Today we celebrate OUR dead
And the end of war and sorrow
So may you too find peace to pray
For ancestors that fell
"I hope that peace has found its way...
To fill your hearts as well"

Ian Duquemin

Inscription - Trudie Shannon

Upon this candle,
I inscribe these words.
May peace embrace you.
I will take a match
And light the stranded wick.
The living flame will burn my words
Out into the ether.

Would that all words between people
Could be dispersed
With such gentleness.

Trudie Shannon

Bring Down The Pyramid - Fred Williamson

Come on BLEEP BLEEP
Wake up you ba ba sheep
Come out of your blinkered sleep
Protest march the street
Stop listening to the lies and old blarney
Start a barney
Start the fight, it is your right
Come out of the den
Escape from the pen
Follow the wise men
Too long we have been salt and peppered
Turn away from the shepherd
Join the like minded
Who are awake and not blinded
Stop being suppressed
Under house arrest
Instead of being manhandled
Slowly strangled
Mangle the triangle
Let’s not allow ourselves to be fleeced
Let’s share the golden fleece
Bring down the pyramid and live in peace

Fred Williamson

Anger Revolves The Heart T’entrap - Chris Hudson

Anger revolves the heart t’entrap
Tethers the mind by ties of time
White tides flow out and in
And vain pride fumbles, pries and tries
Peace resolves, sets you on the track
The path you follow complies
With sublime will and origin
Need to question, wonder why
Push, pull, forwards and back
Clock hands revolve, time lies
Sense allows no rest, begin again
A shallow course to ply
Karma will again reply
To your dharmic questioning
Sense cannot descry nor reason ponder why
Intense circles describe the sunny sky
Let thought on raven’s wing fly
Go afar! Go afar! And circle around
Spread the message of knowledge new found
And purge the enemy, anger from thy heart
Let peace and love grow, sow seeds
In thy heart, sprout peace and love
In this, thy hallowed ground, make a new start.

Chris Hudson

Poem From The Hippie Days - Kathy Figueroa

You've gotta have a cause
Whatever that may be
Something to bide the time
..And use that en-er-gy

You don't need a career
A good hobby will do
To exercise the mind
And make a buck or two

So dig that nine to five
Earn some cash, stay alive
Or, if you don't want to
Go to work for the man

Just sing on the corner
And then shake that tin can!
Sell your wares on the street
To help you make ends meet

Move out to the country
With a good friend or two
Then live off of the land
Groove and play your kazoo

Bop Bop Be Bop
Wa Wa Wazooo

Do what you want to do
And be what you will be
Ev'ryone needs a cause
To keep 'em feeling free!

Kathy Figueroa

Sorry Peter, Paul and Mary - John E Blaise

Where have all the flower power people gone?
Long- time passing
Where have all the flower power people gone?
Long-time ago
They have gone to ground, disappeared everyone
The bearded ban the bomb beatniks
The free love, free living fan,
Pass us the hash tray man
Let’s have a revolution if we can
The vociferous anti-Vietnam war protesters
Those who took the Greenham common stance
Just give peace a chance.
The happy, hippy movement a wave of bright colour
Are they now ageing anarchists and agitators?
Or anti-establishment conspiracy theorists
Now settled with two point four children or grandchildren
To continue their life style would be so brave
So they drift away leaving room for the new wave,
Of young people, free spirits with an open mind
Able to question and probe whatever they find
Meanwhile the one time pusher of soft drugs
Is now a small time dealer selling rugs.

John E Blaise