https://youtu.be/IOYekvb8zBk

Poetry performed by Val Cole

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POEM;

Upon ox-eyed daisies, a curse seemed struck
every mid-summer, when I was a child.
One by one, their petals, girls would pluck
‘til no stem held white blossoms in the wild.

Thus-tortured flora, guilty of no crime,
would stoic...

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/JG8EGDLt2G0

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

You got that midnight skin,
that deep, dark water
that takes the moon to pierce.

I've thread my laugh
on the end of a needle
and stitched it between every breath.

You don't just kiss.
You cut.
Deeply.
That Scorpio tail,
swinging,...

https://youtu.be/OOgwDT0MB-0

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

I love you the way money feels in my hands,
the way it lays there,
the thought of all the things I could do with it.

Also, I love you the way money
leaves my hand
quick, quiet,
then it's gone.

It doesn't pack a bag
it doesn't thi...

https://youtu.be/ODONvrHKgco

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

We learn love
the way children learn danger
running toward it
full speed,
laughing.

You hid behind your smile,
beneath your skin,
purposely.
Still, I counted
in heartbeats.

One heartbeat,
two.
Danger.
Regret.
Things I never say ...

https://youtu.be/bLIuidQNpUg

POEM:

For Beth on our 25th anniversary

Your fists plunge into a mound of elastic dough
a subtle smear of flour above your eyebrow,
and wisps of dusted hair
the back of your wrists could not wipe away,
pursed lips, flattened palms,
back bent driving your elbows dow...

https://youtu.be/tA420TWmaHU

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

Demoiselle, by James Ross Kelly

In the last part of that time of dusk
when shadows meet the first departure of light.
over three fingers of the river
a Great Blue Heron performed an aerial pirouette.

Down with wisped blue gray feather...

https://youtu.be/HHAP9egsIUU

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Apologies/what we owe the uni(verse)

Awake, the door elucidates the shape
Of her body, limbs stretched between this privacy
of her mind, which asks What we owe the verse
And If the universe owes us for existence?

Asleep, the blin...

Performed by Val Cole
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———The Birthday
The celebration,
Returns once again for us.
All gather for joy,
But mixed deep within it all,
Amongst food and gifts,
Reminders of all that’s lost,
And sorrows I’ve kept,
Have bestowed my heavy heart,
With the gift of life.
One born of sweat and strug...

Performed by Val Cole

Together on the shore, we ache for something

Together on the shore, we ache for something
What? Is the question, like contests of Will
One ever know the shape of two other
Questions why? Why? Is one we ask at the gate
Two questions, one answer is existence
Do I exist to yo...

https://youtu.be/2fraP2i1Gf4

Poetry by Val Cole

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———Salvation
With a single act,
All merit burns to ashes,
Only death forgives.

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/K0SK6Sv01xE

Performed by Val Cole

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From writer: This is an echo verse poem in response to my identical twin’s death (drowning). Identical in virtually every way as children, we grew to look different as adults, but our voices remained identical. We were echoes of each other....

Performed by Val Cole

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———Dreams

To what end is education,
When all refuse to learn,
To see the lies they build upon,
And cry for what they earn?

To each will come their own demise,
Designed and shaped by time,
Hidden amongst their hopes and dreams,
They’ll cry it is a crime.

To what en...

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

SOME PEOPLE

Some people really make me feel so ill
That I just wish I could go out and kill.

If only it was legal would the deeds
Be executed, as I'd make them bleed.

By that, I'd be talking a swimming pool
Full of blood, for I don't mesh well with fools.

I...

Performed by Val Cole

Animal Story
A Pantoum with Consonance

by Ardalan Pourvali

Squawking seagull beaks prey upon candlefish
while a high tide invades the mainland
but barriers block a tsunami
the storm surges; people withstand

While a high tide invades the mainland
raiding squirrels invade the coots nest
but barr...

https://youtu.be/vK9Dvsq7C68

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Open Spaces By Kevin Cahill

When she looks at me
I understand only
That we have to get this close
To see how infinitely far away
We are from one another
I have to caress her bare skin carefully, tenderly
to see how far we have str...

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Loud crack, and a sting.
Tongue feels around,
chasing single, salty-sweet drop,
losing it under thick lower lip.
Hand grabs abdomen.
Grab: make a fist,
let go.

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/tMulykDPlZs

Poetry reading by Val Cole

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POEM:

Oh, The Baby Farted Under The Christmas Tree
(By Edgar Galeano)

In a cozy little living room, the lights are shining bright,
Presents piled underneath, what a lovely Christmas night.
But in the midst of all the cheer, somethi...