Strings
Starlight
on a guitar
on the last road
winding toward nirvana,
each string
fingered
by the music of the sky
living inside,
and glimmering
past all midnights.
Darrell Lindsey, Nacogdoches
Here and There and Gone
Here and there and gone
like a firefly
on a summer night,
like a soldier
in the trenches
lost to fog and time.
Here and there and gone
like a dream
around the bend,
like a tender love song
on the lips
of a missing friend.
Here and there and gone
sometimes coming back
to glance at me,
some of those occasions
eyeing me down now
in these 3 A.M. memories.
Darrell Lindsey, Nacogdoches
Red Man’s Pledge of Peace
I pledge you by the moon and sun,
As long as stars their course shall run,
Long as day shall meet my view,
Peace shall reign between us two.
I pledge you by those peaks of snow
As long as streams to oceans flow
Long as years their youth renew
Peace shall reign between us two.
I came from mother soil and cave
You came from pathless sea and wave
Strangers fought our battles through
Peace shall reign between us two.
Alexander Posey
Muskogee Creek poet, journalist, and educator
The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she
With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”
Emma Lazarus
Engraved at the base of the Statue of Liberty
The Sky is on Fire
Cold, wet and hungry, I anxiously wait as I sit in the deep muddy trenches of this tumultuous war.
Some are writing their loved ones on torn pieces of paper while others pray or stare out into space.
We are all –
Waiting for something, or anything to feed our hungry souls.
Waiting for something, or anything that can fill the empty void.
The sounds of war resonant in my bones and cause my heart to beat hard against my chest.
The taste of gunpowder and metal lingers in the air and fills my lungs with its thickness.
Fear tastes bitter and I wet my lips just to taste the salt from my skin, so I’ll know I’m alive.
We are all –
Waiting for something, or anything to loosen the chains of fate.
Waiting for something, or anything called hope in death’s grip.
My sense of time grows stronger, as the enemy’s voices grow louder as they draw closer to me.
I know I must be ready to do the unthinkable, the unimaginable, to face this reprehensible evil.
My body starts to shiver, as my senses seem to quicken, while sweat pours heavily from my brow.
We are all –
Waiting for something, or anything that fuels our inner strength.
Waiting for something, or anything to prevail in this raging battle.
My courage builds as I realize that I can overcome fear as it is much weaker than who I am.
We all climb up from the deep trenches in unison as we are a force of many meshed into one.
The intensity of the noise builds and fuels my determination, my inner strength even more.
We are all –
Waiting for something, or anything to bring us all back home again.
Waiting for something, or anything to heal when we cannot heal alone.
I feel the adrenaline rushing warm through my veins as my gut instincts grow stronger.
It is then I realize that bravery is the result of the courage that lives in each one of us.
I look up to see the moon shining full and bright in the black sky, making it look a deep blue.
The red bursts of rockets set the sky on fire as they reach up to the stars shining so bright.
I can hear our Anthem playing in my head as I see through the smoke our flag waving proudly.
The wait is over.
The battle is won.
Toni Stratton, Lindale
