To seek a dream, though worn with age
Inscribing it on parchment page
Is but a gift of hope you give
To those who never learned to live

The visions etched in prism light
When written on a page of white
Bring rainbow colors to one's life
Enveloping the moment's strife

The beauty in the hills of green
When placed upon a paper's sheen
Become alive, an Eden home
That flourishes beneath God's dome

The joy of love, the pain of loss
That dwell within an inkwell's gloss
Are treasured words that cause a tear
To fall upon a listening ear

To lay your heart in morning's glow
On crest of crystal virgin snow
Is but a dainty print that gleams
Of who you are or what it seems

A poem that speaks in depth and grace
That mirrors eyes and soul and face
Will find a harbor in the minds
Of all of those who've read your rhymes

A poem is made of words you sift
Ethereal sands, a treasured gift

 She digs inside my make-up drawer
And claims she's almost grown.
Only three, this little one,
Heartaches of life as yet unknown.

 Upon her cheeks she puts on rouge
And paints her lips a shade of red,
She views herself and says she's pretty
And then she jumps up on my bed.

 I look at her and I wonder,
Was I ever, like her, so young?
Did, I too, say I am pretty,
As on the bed, like her, I flung?

 Her cheeks so fair and lips of pink,
She has, for now, no need of paint.
Into my world she wants to go,
She thinks it's something that it ain't.

 She smiles wide with ruby lips,
And claims, that now, she looks like me.
I smile at her and then I wonder;
What it is she views that I can't see.

 On her, I see, her eyes of blue,
On me, I see, my mousy brown.
I see her face so soft and smooth,
While my own, more like a clown.

 I close the drawer and wash her face,
Returning her to a child of three;
I kiss her cheek and head out to play,
With the dog and Heather and me.

-- Submitted by Gloria Sarasin from Trinity, NC

-- Submitted by Carra Wilmoth from Pearl, MS

Billowing mounds of ivory,
Trace imaginary skylines,
Floating in a world created by their own.
Pure white masks gray,
Pinks and oranges cover navy,
Shifting, changing, colliding in space.
Massive works of God's clay,
Continually mold into figures of
Clowns, rabbits, or whales driving cars.
They are foreboding parents hiding the world
From the glittering celestial bodies.
Refreshing the earth with calming mists,
They drizzle down to reincarnate growth.
Suddenly pounding at the window,
Acknowledging their anger and unleashing their wrath,
Until the emotions drain, leaving only puddles
Of the past to be sloshed through.
Muddy filaments of joy and relocation.
Troublesome spots that force me to acknowledge
That I am moving too fast,
And noticing too little.

-- Submitted by Katie Wilkinson from Mt. Prospect, IL

 -- Submitted by Margy from New Orleans, LA

 Crisp and white, the arctic snow
brings smiles to those young and old
Then the wind will whip the air
and snow will circle everywhere
Flying up to where it came
then gently falling down again.

 The snow will meet its maker, though
when the sun sends out its glow
We watch it melt and float away
only to come another day
When winter's kiss gives it life
and once again we're blessed with white.

-- Submitted by Leslie Prichard from Albuquerque, NM

Rain falling in your eyes
Drifting down to the ground
A pond gathers at your feet
As you stand there and drown

Looking around at the world you know
How many hurtful things that blur your way
You want to just stand there dying
Then fight the hurt away

When I look at you
I see past the tears you cry
I see how bright your spirit is
And how much love you keep inside

I can't stand here holding you hand
And watch you drown
So I will pick you up
And walk you across the pond

I want to take you away
From all the hurt you feel
There are so many wonderful things
Waiting for us on the other side of the water

-- Submitted by Ashley Crofts from Salt Lake City, Utah

 Savor Peppery Black
Inhale green,
Dream in Blue
Lick Purple,
Let lime green make you smile.
Wear dark chocolate brown
Admire Gray--statues are gray.
Chew Pink Cotton Candy
and Bubblicious Bubble Gum
Tremble in a thick,
Shadowy Midnight forest at dark,
Then stand in awe at the same forest at dusk.

 -- Submitted by Phoenix from North Fort Myers, FL