In 1821 began by S&DR
the world commenced to travel by railwaycar
Pulled by No 1,the very first locomotive
& christened by Stephenson&Co ....the Active
IN THE WINTER SOLSTICE,
WHERE HATE AND FEAR LAY
DESTINE TO THE DARKNESS
UNTIL THE HALCYON LAYS HER
EGGS IN THE COLD UNFORGIVEN
EARTH, AND THEN TAKE FLIGHT
ALLEGORY
COPYRIGHT 2017 UNDER BOOK BY MARY E. W. STEPHENSON TITLE LOOKING AT THE LIGHT FROM THE BOTTOM OF THE LAKE.
I came about when the world was hot and embroiled in a rumble.
When transit men carried all they had in a frayed bundle.
When steel was gold or so I was told, and silkworms are of quietude, for less the people that need them.
When Swinging On A Star was the national anthem.
When sugar was rationed, and horse meat the staple, and vouchers held the value of money.
From heart distress, we wonder how relentless thou art in a promise of milk and honey.
I was carried into my teens by voluntary ships on raging seas, and I was cognizant of stiff black bodies hanging from Southern trees under incidental nights.
It was when I was shaken into the consciousness from the cries of freedom marchers, who claimed the thunderous moments of the Northern lights.
My soul has grown deeply grievous of the unrighteousness of humanity.
For it is from dust we came to dust we return in a nation of sand.
Excerpt from A Float with Memories by Mary E.W. Stephenson
copyright 2002
Hail friend and fellow well met!
Are ye inspired yet Taz?
Are ye ready to post one yet?
With your usual pizzazz?
Well perhaps if we goad you,
And your boss unloads you,
You’ll both write; you and your love,
If, you know,. push comes to shove.
So I’m offering a prayer,
For y’all over there,
That you become unwired,
And therefore inspired.
Both of your talents are missed,
And that’s just one of the list,
in the Soup of things that you bring
About which we can sing.
Try to post one once in a while,
Along with your Josh juvenile,
We enjoy your poems and his too,
Now, at least for the time being,
.. this poem is through.
A tribute to our Poetry Soup friends, Richard Pickett (Taz)
and Mary Meade Stephenson.
I don't know where you are, but I hope you're near
Hope you know the times I seem to feel you here
Sometimes I think of the friendship taken away
And wonder if there was ever really such a day
When the presence in the room was real
And you could take away anything bad I'd feel
I will always remember when our hearts were free
And remember the girl who was so much like me
I will always wonder why you had to leave this world
But never will I forget that happy, lively girl
When I see butterflies floating side by side
I will pray one is you, still free in your new life
Julie Stephenson
I'd like to say I miss you, need you all the time
Touch me anytime you'd like, don't ever leave my life
I'd like to say let's start again, love me like before
Fill my body with your passions, make me love you more
I'd like to say my heart belongs only to you
My world revolves around your smile, and I've met nobody new
I'd like to say forever is a word I never used
Because I'm scared to say it's over, I do not love you
Julie Stephenson
I don't look around me, I don't even really see
All the people in my life who really might love me
Because I'm too busy thinking, or just rearranging
the things in my head
Dreaming of better things I want instead
Sometimes I forget what is really real
Always pretending there's something else that I feel
I really have to wonder if I'm even really happy
If I'm trying so hard to be
Sometimes lost in a world that is so hard to bear
Waiting, just waiting, for the something else out there
And wondering about the damage that I may have done
To the person it is that I love
I've just been so numb, so empty inside
Daydreaming life away, so I could hide
And I wish I could stop it, I wish I could let go
Of another life, and just love the one I know
Julie Stephenson