Exposed: Poetry from a Rising Generation - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 143898247X ISBN 13: 9781438982472

Publisher: AuthorHouse, 2009

Synopsis

Intimate and sometimes shocking, EXPOSED is a compilation of poetry from the rising generation, exploring themes such as heartbreak, friendship, rebellion, self-esteem, loneliness, family, and more. Sixteen authors between 18 and 24 years old have left their voice on the page for you to hear. At an age when deep emotion is often buried, these authors have used this book as a creative space to be real, genuine, and exposed.

About this title

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Exposed

Poetry from a Rising GenerationBy Chariane Fife

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2009 Chariane Fife
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4389-8247-2

Contents

Amir Lewis...............................................1This Sycamore Won't Budge................................2Just Leave...............................................3Escape...................................................4Christian Le Salazar.....................................6I am but dust............................................8It was in Michelle.......................................10Roll Softly Into My Harbor...............................11Red rubber shoes with reflectors.........................13Relinquish only to gain you..............................14DJ Hayes.................................................16Braddock.................................................18I-15/Charleston. 10:27 Friday Night......................19Old News.................................................2007242007.................................................21Rebecca Webb.............................................22Starbucks................................................24The Drink................................................25Unknowing................................................27Lucius Esquire...........................................28Number Nine..............................................30in the blush of your perfume.............................32Cassandra Ashworth.......................................34Blue Veins...............................................36Floating in the in-between...............................37Alan A. Fonseca..........................................38Wish.....................................................40Woman of Fire............................................41Sword....................................................42House....................................................43Dancers..................................................44Callie Hoebel............................................46Still I Heal.............................................48Tempting the Sun's Rays..................................50William Honaker..........................................52I Hate Airports..........................................54Joy Unspeakable..........................................56Slip of the finger.......................................58Sierra Linda Flores......................................60Eres Color...............................................62Eric Stashak.............................................64Old......................................................66It's dark................................................67Disillusioned............................................68Night....................................................70Patrizia Ann Beltran.....................................72They Need Our Assistance.................................74Client State.............................................76Daniel Luczak............................................78The Psycho...............................................80Odette Czarina Felix.....................................82My Secret................................................84When You Want to Give Up.................................85Trevor Lee...............................................86Father...................................................88Chariane K. Fife.........................................90Fall.....................................................92Tasting Hope.............................................93When She Lost It.........................................94Bubblegum................................................95Dance....................................................97America..................................................98Grandpa..................................................99

Chapter One

Amir Lewis

Age:

20 years old

Location:

Los Angeles, California

3 Words I Embody:

Fly, Anti-Haters, Focused

My Life Vision:

I see myself later on in life, providing opportunities for urban youth through my own successes.

This Sycamore Won't Budge This sycamore won't budge Winds blow as hard as the collapse of towers Tragedy Strikes louder than thunder Whether Or not those trees move does not matter This sycamore won't budge How could I stand above a million feet And wonder the dangers of defeat As the soil beneath me moistens Still This sycamore won't budge Chop my branches Steal all the dirt to garden many plants Keep my water enough to fill ten pools Still This sycamore won't budge In the forest of eternity I stand very firmly Their mistakes do not concern me Why so much hatred towards me? How long will this forest stay green Only time will tell but still This sycamore won't budge Just Leave Just leave Please Just leave Emotions wrinkle your sleeve I put on your shirt ... Missing a button So I wear the hurt As if it were mine As love pushed in decline I am no longer your angel My halo without batteries Shoes now red I walk faster I walk I walk further I walk curiously I walk away ... The scale tippin' Off the brink of forever Flushing itself into the depths Of never ... Love's home destroyed Neighbors moved away Now its time I pay Please Just leave ...

Escape Beneath my own worst visions Above their expectations Furious with my own good decisions Women Now figments of a fairy tale Told through the voice of lies Deception greed and selfishness North of present Is of most relevance Not a gift to anyone or anything Just here Bitter is too vague for description Sweet would be of too much reception Escape seems near Seems as if I'm nearin' the end Want to start over but I can't start till I end Thoughts just breeze with the wind Now I need home in mind to win I will win!

Christian Le Salazar

Age:

23 years old

Location:

Salt Lake City, Utah

3 Words I Embody:

Believer, Transparent, Cheesy

My Life Vision:

To let Jesus be who He so yearns to be in my life, thereby letting others see the unconditional liberation He can bring, in every way, to their own lives.

I am but dust Christian Le Salazar ... I am but dust. I am woman, I am simple & I am hardly any makeup. I am life-true & exquisite. Beauty-amazing & authentic. I am ashes, I am broken & I am gold. I am above & not below. I am now-a moment, eternity. I am rare, Treasure, and yes, even heaven. I am life, I am delicate, & I am strong and able. I am then-from before-from the past. I am desire & desired by Him, - a rushing song inside His heart. I am love, faith, & I am hope. I am victor. Alive- new &- growing evermore. I am captivating. Hidden. A mystery-feminine. I am free a fire illuminating a prayer rising a hiding whisper a tearful heart a timeless journey I AM- You are immortal- and in this moment, I am mortal. I am, The fragile grains being held by One palm, The poor offering from an empty hand, The created, voyaging her Creator. I am not lost. I am not fear. I am not. I am free. The only one of me. I will be.

It was in Michelle It was in Michelle. With her Ian and with her Evan. There on Sandy Bluff, fixed under the quiet pink buds. The Ogilvie sons that let me partake in their secrets of fishing in boats of bamboo mats and the wearing of togas like Greek gods. Wooden floors warmed by little feet and hanging ivy stretching in silence to the patio below. It was in holding Evan beneath the reviving blue sky. Quieting whispers of a baby's lips. It was he that held me I think. It was in the happiness of my eyes taking in Ian's exquisite song. Courageous innocence alive in his wide eyes. Princely freckles kissed upon his milky cheeks. And the way his hair held waves and loose curls-like JFK Jr. It was in Michelle ... and in all of her embracing all of me, that the wanderings inside me found sanctuary.

Roll Softly Into my Harbor Roll softly into my heavenly harbor. Come gently to this dome resting high above. Come in, Come up, dear Creature of dust, love and hope And take to the sea's depth your Ominous Cares and black Thoughts. Voyage on, Young Hearts across this endless mirror of Light. My grand blue heart longs to stretch, falling over you like a parachute. I would spread out gently and blanket you. No hostility resides in my Arching wings; Indeed be still, do not fret. I am clear glass which has captured for Eternity.... every Color ... Hear the symphony of the Colors echo. Singing, raising voices- their hallowed anthem to Above. All Colors dance, shimmering into one And in me it is They that you see. Let your treasure chests and dreaming heads float above to join the westward migration of those white weightless bodies- so sheer, so silent- but eversailing here in my vast grey skies. Come. Abide here, in my Sanctuary, a Throne capturing the glories down below- roaring blues, trembling greens, and quivering small yellows. They all reach up- up to me. Their reverent confessions I receive- like prayers of the beings they dwell with. One thing I ask of Thee..... please. Please look into me and let me catch Your gaze. Let me, so wide, mysterious and everlasting Hide there in your frail, simple soulful eyes. Let me, there, reflect for another to see. Let me bring to a stranger passing by you the heavenly happenings. Let Your eyes kiss my face keeping my life ever going, day by day, dawn unto dawn.

Red rubber shoes with reflectors Charlie wearing Red rubber shoes with reflectors, breezes past Lucy-Ann's cottage. Charlie wearing Red rubber shoes catches the sun- blazing, blinding rays. Sundressed Lucy-Ann with a tulip hair clip glances, eyes catching the light bouncing red madness off Charlie's rubber shoes. Lucy-Ann from inside her cottage feeling the glass pot slipping from her scrubbing hands. Charlie wearing Red rubber shoes slamming stop. Lucy-Ann from inside her kitchen head cocking back- glass pot shattering, vocal cords contracting- a scream! Charlie wearing Red rubber shoes waddling speedily to Lucy-Ann's cottage door. Lucy-Ann stammering, exclaiming, "Charlie! Your reflectors!! Red rubber shoes!! and Grandmama's pot!" Charlie wearing Red rubber shoes eye-lids peeling back, pushing a swollen tongue through his five-year-old face. Lucy-Ann and Charlie breathing fast, faster! and faster! Two smackering hot blow-fish bouncing off each other- Lucy-Ann & Charlie! Both now burning, reflecting Red. As Red as Charlie's reflecting rubber shoes! Relinquish only to gain you muddled under black self, i am chained in dry places of carnality a tormenting, troubled sea within stirred by vanity; tossed by conceit entrenched in this my fleeting fantasy, but upon the mirror see i only this gaping hole eyes of lustful flames now quenched put out by your consuming gaze, ablazing from meek embers of divine love hear thou my desolate whispers, confessions of grey and bleak spirit a plead to render me worthy to abide forever in your pure embrace and in this moment my death is my life your humble eyes, ever golden, rise upon me a glory that i cannot declare fully o as a morning sun thy gaze doth satisfy every yearning of my soul your look, piercing as far as my bone and marrow, silences my weeping sorrows thou arise until my ashes vanish into a beauty granted solely by thee envelope me round and round till as an oak you and me are rooted ever more "remember me" thou softly utter into my inner chambers your words my liberation and healing from me and my restless toil and heaviness doest thou snatch in that instant we are eternal and one, this, your reverent oath ever binding thou forbid a path apart from this and in thy presence is fullness of peace, comfort and rest in thy presence i arise from dust of tears and death to breathe anew and deep once again

DJ Hayes

Age:

20 years old

Location:

Las Vegas, Nevada

3 Words I Embody:

Narcissistic, Humble, Boisterous

My Life Vision:

20/20.

Braddock i know i have the tendency to toss low blows at you but my thoughts of you always were below the belt I-15/Charleston. 10:27 Friday Night. the stench of stale urine in my nostrils as my smoke rings turn red orange red-orange as they erupt from a cloud just inches from my mouth But they can't keep a beat. Do you see this? this night is ours for the taking Old News I found your picture in an antique store, framed by all the misconceptions of you that I once had. I bought the frame just as I once took the picture: for my soul ownership. I broke the frame and burned the picture even though I had already done both 07242007 and as this sunk in i felt at peace with chills drifting down my spine watching the sun break through the clouds and water dot my page you know you've never seen something shine until you've seen it in the rain

Rebecca Webb

Age:

21 years old

Location:

Las Vegas, Nevada

3 Words I Embody:

Driven, Generous, Honest

My Life Vision:

To live in contentment as a result of my own hard work and successes.

Starbucks We talk We sit We laugh We sip Over a cup of Starbucks coffee We cry We ache We whine We pain Over a cup of Starbucks coffee We chat We plot We think We plan Over a cup of Starbucks coffee The two Of us Are just Best friends Over a cup of Starbucks coffee The Drink My angel in the darkness The sweet surprising savior From all the pain Every ounce of anger and fear I don't know why This is where I turn The choice I choose this time And never before It burns down my throat Pulses through my veins And somehow helps me heal Until I don't know how to stop This new feeling is good Pour another - what could happen? Hands start to shake Wow ... this feeling It feels like I'm not myself This new me is weird - not right But I manage to ignore it And down one more of many Now the shadows scare me They creep out from everywhere They remind me of The gloomy fear I began with It hits me that I should stop Everything an illusion But what can you do When you are miles past gone ...

Unknowing They think she's perfect So many of them They look at her With glimmering admiration But she knows the truth How she isn't so perfect She lives with the pain Deep inside herself She can't explain To anyone else How she feels Because they wouldn't believe She wants to run To get away From this earth That knows nothing of her

Lucius Esquire

Age:

20 years old

Location:

Las Vegas, Nevada

3 Words I Embody:

Passionately Beyond Semantics

My Life Vision:

To explore my potential, and cultivate that desire in others.

Number Nine Blind, My tears for you filled the oceans, From the trenches to the beaches. The rumblings of my heart, At your name's recognizance, Shook the earth's foundations And brought forth the fire from within. There was a day When my eyes sought you alone. Like sunlight lures a flower, And its nectar the bees, So did your skin draw my gaze- And my touch. In the caverns of my memory, The echoes of your voice haunted me, Ever murmuring, softly, just beyond my ears. The windy moods I would endure Shaped the sands of many a lonely desert And those dunes cast long shadows Under the pale moonlight of my regret. But one day came Where I was blind no more. My vision was released As I watched the world turn- A perpetual sunrise. Somewhere my mind was awakened And cut through your mist, Exposing the unseen. Revealed was something Beyond my understanding Or desire. Something unspeakable, A truth Which fashioned mountain peaks to dust clouds, Islands upon themselves, Rivers back into the earth, Healing deep divisions, And the flames of the stars were unleashed, Scorching the earth new. All that was once was believed Was forgotten. All that was once old Was again new. All that was once trod upon Was remade. The new earth gleamed, Playfully and beautifully. As the birds sang in harmony once more, Their flocks rose in flight lifted by my spirit to the height of all dreams. Sailing over the horizon Into the new morning Of tomorrow, Forever. IN THE BLUSH OF YOUR PERFUME Our gazes but touched once- before my thoughts traced your embrace, senses lusted your sex. My lips grace your exquisite shell, every breath drawing deeper, as your passion and warmth boil to the surface. You whisper words for me alone, making me weak and bold all at once. Eyes speak an ancient language, rich in ways tongues will never know. And long after the fury has passed, in the cradle of my arms all of you will melt into me. And in the sweet blush of your perfume, I'm enveloped in a bliss- all of me, all of you- at last.

Cassandra Ashworth

Age:

20 years old

Location:

Las Vegas, Nevada

3 Words I Embody:

Loud, Caring, Crazy

My Life Vision:

I want to be the mom who fosters great ideas in her children, who gives them the confidence and drive to do great things.

Blue Veins Blue veins in my arm Leap with a thrill of alarm And gasp futilely in disgust At this blade I call a must And pump the harder in their fear Till bloody ringing is all I hear Then turn from blue to crimson red And pray so loud I'll soon be dead And how my veins must envy me For all the pain that I conceive

(Continues...)

Excerpted from Exposedby Chariane Fife Copyright © 2009 by Chariane Fife. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Edition details

• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Publication date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 143898247X
• ISBN 13: 9781438982472
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 112