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 POET
         LAUREATES:Elizabeth
         Santos
 N.G.
         "Gary" Stapp
 
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               | PEACE  Evening
                  on the Harpeth Riverand the golden chariot rolls on
 to rule the nether world, trailing
 stars that call a hawk to rest
 high in a motionless elm. Violet
 haze creeps across field grasses
 as a brown mouse hurries forth
 to search for berries that grow
 along the bank. Stifling air
 freshens and dew falls, a sweet
 reprieve from grinding toil.
 A coyote calls: night has come
 in which to sleep, perchance to dream
 of harmony among mankind.
   RANT  Slide
                  me under a microscopeand record my imperfections,
 then stuff me into a pigeonhole
 under an outdated heading.
 Destroy
                  the things I believeand name them illusions
 for the sake of your reality,
 that I may learn to worship you.
 Make
                  willing eunuchs and mentalpygmies of my children to create
 the obedient army of your hideous
 new world order dystopia.
 Ply
                  me with chemical happiness,the new kool-aid of your utopian
 cult of fear, the classic Orwellian
 cage of rats that you inhabit.
 You
                  have spent too many yearsat the feet of Nietzsche and Marx,
 skulking in prestigious towers,
 feeding on history's crimson
                  swill.
 This
                  cannot stand. Now nations drawback on either side of the nuclear
 abyss, fingers poised to begin the new
 holocaust of your insane creation.
   PROPHECY  land
                  of insubordinationlost in empty disputation
 empires built on speculation
 justice drowned by intrication
 families
                  in disintegrationschools devoid of education
 churches loving ostentation
 poverty begets frustration
 lives
                  of bitter desperationhopeless in their situation
 questing honest legislation
 finding cold discrimination
 factions
                  clash in confrontationshouts of brash intimidation
 taking sides across the nation
 societal extermination
 war
                  the ugly destinationblind to every implication
 powers watch in consternation
 nations plot retaliation
 weakened
                  by degenerationcrumbles now the great foundation
 far too late for extrication
 soon will come obliteration
 Submitted
                  by Mollie Kindall from Pegram, TNe-mail: molliemaek@gmail.com
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               | WHERE
                  IS PEACE? Accept
                  failures bravely,Bestow love abundantly,
 Convey ideas correctly,
 Delete jealousy completely.
 Eliminate
                  problems wisely,Face challenges boldly,
 Guide friends properly,
 Hurt no one intentionally.
 Intensify
                  goodness wholly,Justify facts strongly,
 Keep your mind openly,
 Lend advise timely.
 Mince
                  words carefully,Never help reluctantly,
 Oust selfishness totally,
 Peace will be there gradually!!!
 Submitted
                  by Gunam Rajaratname-mail:
                  rajaratnam_gunadevi@yahoo.co.uk
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               | THE
                  SILVER THREAD Whisper
                  not to me of Xanadu, stately dome of Kubla KhanOr those ageless warriors who brighten history's
                  span,
 I know of Omaha's grim beach and Iwojima's
                  sands
 The fallen always cherished and whose glory ever
                  stands.
 But
                  I have heard of one fair land with places as sweet
                  dreamsOf a fairyland of beauteous charm hewn from virgin
                  realms,
 Ah, savour Mavuradonna's heights and Chimanimani's
                  peace
 Oh land of sweet delight and true patriot's
                  release.
 T'is
                  also said their strife was fair and noble was their
                  causeBut honour with deceit was paid and almost without
                  pause,
 Scattered they were to far flung lands with little
                  worldly gain
 Save for that blessed hope that once their dear
                  land may reclaim.
 There
                  is still the mystic silver thread that binds this
                  gallant bandOf comradeship, travail and ah, the Regiment's last
                  stand,
 They say that hope still lies awake for some
                  eternal hour
 So tarry friend for thou mayest yet still smell
                  such sweetest flower
 ©
                  S. Weatherall, The Bard of Gatooma.October 2006
 (Gatooma was a small town in Rhodesia. It has a
                  different name now - Kadoma)
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               | SECURITY
                  BLANKET  They
                  continue the adamantRepudiation of the wrap
 Clothed in the insistence of denial
 An image based on ocher.
  Presence
                  of contaminationImpossible in the linen
 The implication
 That it is genuine after all.
  Inquest
                  of skepticismAn abundance of data
 That man is not living by
 Distortions and marked tempera alone.
  Medieval
                  mundane artist's renditionLittle more than desperation
 So please pray tell
 Where are the thousands more?
  ©
                  D.S. 2002   --
                  Submitted by David Soriano from Bradford, PAe-mail: soriano@pitt.edu
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               | COST
                  OF FREEDOM Problems
                  always startAs persons all should now know
 When doorways are open.
  Freedom
                  and ideasThe rights of man also here
 You know what I mean?
  Liberty
                  never freeAlways a ticket to buy
 Where is the window?
 ©
                  D.S. 2002  --
                  Submitted by David Soriano from Bradford, PAe-mail: soriano@pitt.edu
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               | BABYLON
                  AND THE BEAST I
                  had an awful vision of a ten horned beastthat shook the ground and rose from the east.
 The kings of the earth stood and stared
 as it devoured anything that got in its
                  way.
 All
                  the armies prepared for warnot really sure what they would be fighting
                  for.
 Some people fled in horror and fear
 searching for hiding places that were not
                  there.
 On
                  top of this creature for all to seewas a woman dressed very regally,
 and inscribed on the cup in her hand
 were written the words "Mystery
                  Babylon".
 Suddenly
                  a voice was heard to sayfall on your knees and begin to pray,
 keep your spirituality exceedingly strong
 and you will be saved in this
                  Armageddon.
 --
                  Submitted by Cedric Napti Walters from Atlanta,
                  GAe-mail:
                  cedricnaptiwltrs@aol.com
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               | INVASION
                  OF FREEDOM Before
                  the flag, I pledge allegiance,While placing my hand upon my heart,
 But today is no longer like before
 As we watch our freedom falling apart.
 No
                  longer free to soar the skies of blueOr leisurely walk to collect our mail.
 Bombs now planted everywhere;
 Where, oh, where, did our country fail?
 Did
                  we give to others way too much,Depriving our people here at home?
 Should we have just closed our eyes
 To all the suffering; a poverty
                  syndrome?
 Industrial
                  Revolution, the great need for oil,Protecting our interest both here and abroad.
 Send our soldiers to die in a war for the cause
 But is it ourselves that we thus
                  defraud?
 We
                  need our two and three cars apieceAnd don't talk about any of us giving up ease.
 So when it comes to our interests that we
                  protect,
 Could it be our greediness that we
                  appease?
 Go
                  out and spend and don't save a penny,For if you do, the economy will plunge;
 So go out and buy that brand new car
 And back into debt, for the economy,
                  lunge.
 Will
                  the cycle go unbroken, each generation going to
                  warOr will in this world we learn someday to live as
                  one?
 Once again to feel free to soar the skies of
                  blue
 Without the fear of anyone foreign?
 --
                  Submitted by Gloria Sarasin from Trinity, North
                  Carolinae-mail: sara689@yahoo.com
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               | RENT
                  A SUIT We
                  will represent you, not resent you.We will honour you, not dishonour you.
 We will stand by you, not walk by you.
 We will care for you, not share with you.
 We will consult you, not insult you.
 We will not be like you, though we'd like to.
 We will do our best, not like the rest.
 We will
 We will
 We will.
 --
                  Submitted by Roger Stewart from Perth, Western
                  Australiae-mail: rojak1@bigpond .com
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               | A
                  PLEA FOR PEACE Can
                  we begin to understandThe cry of the innocents in foreign lands
 Or the anguish shared on our own soil
 When death and destruction take its toll,
 When peace interrupted is commonplace,
 When retaliation occurs at a rapid pace?
 "Vengeance is mine," saith the Lord,
 But at the lamb the lion has roared,
 Suicide missions perceived as valor,
 Signs of compromise keep growing paler.
 The guns, the bombs, the loss of lives--
 Where is peace when no one survives?
 Where is righteousness in each barren region?
 Bands of rebels form separate legions.
 Why can't leaders together agree?
 Constant bloodshed does not make people free.
 Why can't life be serene once more?
 Case and desist the horrors of war!
  --
                  Submitted by Floriana Hall from Akron, Ohioe-mail: Floriana102@aol.com
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               | AVOIDANCE I
                  am scaredof looking
 straight into
 your eyes;
 I'm frightened
 of what I will see.
 I wouldn't dare
 search for your
 inner soul,
 I'm terrified
 of what there may be.
 The world is changing,
 so are we
 Just wish the development
 would turn and see,
 The world needs love,
 not a killing machine
  --
                  Submitted by Liv Astrid Bergsager from Haugesund,
                  Norwaye-mail: livab@yahoo.com
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               | IN
                  THIS WORLD THERE IS: AggravationAlienation
 Annihilation
 Desecration
 Desperation
 Detestation
 Eradication
 Extermination
 Irritation
 Isolation
 Molestation
 Obliteration
 Pacification
 Provocation
 Separation
 And
                  you say"I am not responsible for any debts other than my
                  own."
 --
                  Submitted by Airen from Dallas, TXe-mail: airen_69@hotmail.com
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               | O
                  STOPA BIN LADEN Where
                  are you, hiding from the world?After deeds done, to make hair curled,
 In the name of religion, hatred was
 hurled,
 Like some of your compatriots, you will
 go down,
 Dead or alive, the world will more than
 frown,
 When your place of concealment, is
 finally blown,
 And news of your capture, is known,
 Until then, the way(s) or your demise,
 are various,
 But devising plans, are really quite
 tedious,
 The favorite way, among some, is a
 missle of sorts,
 To travel an arc, and zero right in,
 To whine its' coming, and go down your
 shorts,
 And blow you away, like most of your
 cohorts,
 It won't free the world of terrorists,
 but will cause,
 Others of same ilk, who would have
 reason to pause.
 --
                  Submitted by Rudy Hoedel from Nanaimo, B.C.,
                  Canadae-mail:
                  WWW.RUDYRAH@HOTVOICE.COM
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               | CONSPIRACY When
                  our government conspiresWith the monarchs and dictators,
 Like a deer drowned by an alligator,
 Hope of the public expires.
 Flags of freedom fail to flutter,
 Democracy melts like hot butter.
 Certainty suffers, integrity abused.
 Only the Devil amused.
 Love sighs, Fraternity cries,
 Equality is an extremist stand,
 Justice is buried in the sand.
 Humanity stretched like rubber band.
 When our government conspires,
 Injustice and vested interest aspire.
 Our rights are flaunted and defaulted.
 Truth is mocked and halted.
 When our governments conspire,
 Rights of the public expire.
 --
                  Submitted by Asif Ahmedfrom Birmingham, England, UK
 e-mail: a.s.ahmed@bham.ac.uk
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               | THE
                  PRICE OF INFAMY You
                  won with your atrocities your fame.Books proclaim your works, but not with glory.
 You each, we do remember your great name.
 Hitler,
                  you your people did inflame.You took your reign as king of the persecutory.
 You won with your atrocities your fame.
 That
                  you weren't your brother's keeper was your
                  claim.Cain, we learned your curse from the Bible
                  story.
 Always we remember your great name.
 If
                  to some of you we gave a nickname,"Jack the Ripper" all the same is accusatory.
 You won with your atrocities your fame.
 Bin
                  Laden, you are too in the hall of shame.Now to blame, you'll go below purgatory.
 Absolutely we'll remember your name.
 Relentlessly
                  through history you came,Each to play your bloody annihilatory game.
 You won with your atrocities your fame,
 But God, who sees, remembers each "great" name.
 --
                  Submitted by Andrea Dietrich from Pleasant Grove,
                  Utahe-mail: Pandie55@hotmail.com
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               | AMERICANS Strong,
                  Caring, Free, Life, there's no doubt.As an American that's what we're all about.
 Sept. 11, 2001 they declared war on this day.
 Now Americans will make them pay.
 They've
                  hurt us, they've caused us pain.Americans won't stop until they know their
                  name.
 They tried to break our spirit, but they just made
                  us strong.
 Americans have strength and they were
                  wrong.
 Let
                  us stand alongside one another.Americans are sisters and brothers.
 They have taken something from each of us.
 Americans won't break, we're born to be tough.
 The
                  land of the free, the home of the brave.Americans give, Americans save.
 Let us bow our heads and begin to pray.
 Americans, ask that those bad memories go
                  away.
 --
                  Submitted by Teresa Skyles from Tulsa, Oklahomae-mail: ratshare@swbell.net
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               | A
                  VILLANELLE INDICTMENT OF THE BLIGHT Brutes,
                  in name of God, to show their might,fixed laws that you'd succomb, dumb, measly
                  sheep.
 Womankind, kind woman, rise and fight.
 Serbian
                  daughters once with smiles brightRavished by beasts whose skin with sin did
                  seep.
 Angels hovering nigh have you in sight.
 A
                  dutiful bride in India for something less than
                  triteHad fire set upon her as she lay in bed asleep.
 Kind woman, womankind, your soul's in
                  flight.
 A
                  Somalian child within a hut shrieks and huddles in
                  fright.To steal her "sensuality", they've come to cut her
                  deep.
 Angels from on high do hear your plight.
 And
                  nearer here's a wife (and all's not right),Who, trembling, bruised, hushes her son not to
                  weep.
 Womankind, kind woman, comes the night. .
                  .
 Sisters,
                  don't be wearied by the blight.For what they sow, God's told us they shall
                  reap.
 Angels have prepared you robes of white.
 Kind woman, womankind, hold tight your
                  light.
 --
                  Submitted by Andrea Dietrich from Pleasant Grove,
                  Utahe-mail: pandie55@hotmail.com
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               | THE
                  HONEST POLITICIAN It
                  is with great inspirationThat I compose this dedication
 And call on a certain incarnation
 Which should prove to be a sensation.
 It
                  is with great expatiationThat you compose inner commotion
 And call on a certain reaction
 Which should prove to be a connection.
 With
                  all that are exerting concentrationTo the great words of my creation
 Like wide-eyed sheep to destruction
 You follow the pictures of my
                  imagination.
 And
                  when you leave this exhibitionIt will be with a need for contemplation
 On my many words of idealisation
 For a world with great skills of
                  organisation.
 But
                  if you still have the inner voice of
                  preservationYou will come to the realisation
 That the meaning of my incantation
 Is to create in you ... Frustration.
 --
                  Submitted by Angelique T. Vermaakfrom Empangeni, South Africa
 e-mail: mwfenton@iafrica.com
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               | INFLATION In
                  times past and now forgottenWhen honesty ruled supreme,
 Before some men with hearts rotten
 Deposed those worth our esteem,
 The world was free of speculation
 And there was no talk of inflation.
 But
                  then a band of cunning thievesWith lying tongues and souls of greed,
 And many tricks up their sleeves,
 A simple plan their minds conceived
 To bring the world into subjugation,
 Requiring only guile and dedication.
 The
                  first step was to begin the tradeOf lending money and holding sure
 The wealth that folk, through work, had made;
 With "interest" as bait they'd allure
 Their naive victims into their den,
 And this hold true now as did then.
 Once
                  the money was in their handsThey used it for their own end,
 And would take the poor peoples' land
 As payment for the money they lend;
 It didn't take long for them to hold
 In their vaults other people's gold.
 Their
                  eyes were set on bigger things ...With this wealth they began to bend
 The judgement of princes and kings
 Who were in need of funds to spend
 In projects that they thought were best
 To safeguard their kingdoms' interests.
 From
                  lending to individuals,Then to kings extend their usury,
 They soon became multinationals
 Controlling the world's treasury.
 They rule supreme and over all
 The peoples and their capital.
 Power
                  hungry, they'll dash to piecesAll who speak against their clan;
 While their heartless greed increases
 Their victims survive as best they can
 Eating scraps from their table,
 And true freedom remains a fable.
 So
                  until all control returnsTo the leaders of each nation,
 In whom the spirit of truth burns,
 We are saddled with inflation
 And our children will never be
 Masters of their own destiny.
 --
                  Submitted by A V Fenton from Empangeni, South
                  Africae-mail: mwfenton@iafrica.com
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               | AMALGAM
                  OF MILLENNIUMS The
                  despair and desolation engulf our hidden
                  emotionsLike an ebb tide in the sea -
 And keep our lives afloat in troubled waters
 By turning around the happiness key!
 The
                  dawn of civilization has been a key witnessTo such turbulence since the histories of the past
                  -
 And brings the memoirs still today, for continuity
                  in next millennium
 But that may not be the last!
 Worse
                  holocausts and bloody wars of the twentieth
                  centuryDepict the inhumanity and abuse of brutal force
                  -
 While walking down the memory lanes to remind our
                  despair,
 Next to paving new millennium's only
                  course!
 But
                  suddenly the expectation of a glorious
                  awakeningNow tickles my brain with a "civil sense" of mass
                  -
 To honor the dawn of the new millennium as the holy
                  gate
 Through which the nobility has to really
                  pass!
 Restrictive
                  power comes from the imposition of lawsThat pretends to robotize the present mankind -
 And creates an anguish through the disappearance of
                  "devotional love"
 That does not put us in a bind!
 The
                  true soul of man should be the product of education
                  and freedom,Instead of the restrictive claws -
 To enable the rapid progress in the next
                  millennium,
 And eliminate the visible pasts' damaging
                  "flaws"!
 Now,
                  democracy, lost to money grabber politicians, has
                  createdA reign of corruption over so many lands -
 While the strong political power moves only among
                  the cronies
 With time via a 'mutual' shaking of
                  hands!
 The
                  fruits of such transfers of power leave nothing but
                  the bitternessIn the mouths of the million factions -
 And are now sobbing for the meritocracy in the next
                  millennium
 In lieu of the democracy's selfish
                  actions!
 At
                  present, I dream to see piling of fraternity,
                  freedom,And humanity from the past millenniums to the new
                  -
 And build a bridge of love and fellowship to
                  promote human rights
 For the forthcoming generations to view!
 Surely
                  the task is not easy and will need engraved
                  emotionsAs the building block buried in each soul around
                  the Earth -
 But still we can explore possibility through
                  amalgam of millenniums' ideas
 Drenched with brutality, sacrifice and
                  mirth!
 --
                  Submitted by Hillol Ray from Garland, Texase-mail: mukhosh@aol.com
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               | BUREAUCRAT Bureaucrat
                  is just a word for someone who is slow,The sweat that trickles down his nose is probably
                  just for show;
 Working
                  hard's against the rules, ...accomplishments...
                  forbid!!If you're the guy that wants to work, of you
                  they'll soon get rid;
 Slacker,
                  sleeper, lazy bum ... and these are just a few,Accomplishments that you can earn, do you now have
                  a clue?
 "Work
                  hard", they say vocally, but just what do they
                  mean?The time that you're allowed to work is only when
                  you're seen;
 Be
                  here by nine and home by two, I know it's very
                  hard,To work between the many breaks, you useless piece
                  of lard;
 What's
                  that? I said a naughty word, not politically
                  correct,I better change that word right now, your psyche
                  might be wrecked;
 The
                  words I choose instead of lard will not be fat or
                  plump,The phrase I think I'll choose for you is the
                  "Equine Challenged Rump";
 In
                  time, no doubt, this simple phrase might seem a
                  little dumb,So here it is just plain and clear, you are a
                  horse's bum.
 --
                  Submitted by E. Ralph Fallentine from West Valley
                  City, Utahe-mail: pipesurgeon1@juno.com
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               | THE
                  WOMAN SACRIFICED I
                  am the woman who was sacrificedFor an unworthy cause by those who decide:
 'This one shall not live'.
 I walk alone -
 I
                  am the woman whose face is knownWhose thoughts must not be spoken
 Judged by those who decide:
 'She must be broken'.
 I have been shamed -
 I
                  am the woman who was defamed.They have created through lies and inventions
 A network of spies who distort my intentions.
 They have tortured and robbed me of my
                  peace
 I
                  am the woman they have brought to her knees.For their own selfish reasons I have been
                  reviled
 By those who decide:
 'She shall not have her child'.
 I am the woman without a life -
 They've
                  decided for me:'She shall not be a wife'.
 I am the woman who is made to pay
 Unspeakable horror each night and each day.
 Yet, I'll never know the reason why -
 But,
                  I won't cry, and I will not dieI will persevere and go on without fear.
 I do not know if there will be another Spring
 But I know that all my praises I will sing
 To Him and Him alone who owns my soul
 Therefore
                  I will be consoled.But I am old, and I am cold
 I do not know if there will be another day -
 But no one has the right to make me go
 I am here to stay.
 --
                  Submitted by Sigrid Castaldo from Flushing, Queens,
                  NYe-mail: Musigg@aol.com
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