:On Ambivalence:
Poetry Contest Winners 

Congrats to our winners, 
and thanks to everyone who submitted!

Veils
Bett Collett

Through a haze of sleeplessness I wrestle with vague memories of today.
Elusive words silently transcend a language unspoken.
Thoughts transform.
Meanings meld.
And somewhere, someone chants.

A flirtatious sunbeam, timeless as the dust it illuminates, dances on the wall.
A rainstorm brews on the horizon, demanding decisive attention.

Dare I disappear into the peacefulness of far away
Or reluctantly return to the idle ramblings of tangible chaos
Inside my head?

Dreams are forever.
A crystal bowl sings.

I quiver
AJ Bin'ash

I quiver
At the humble touch of a beggar
I prefer
The crusted fingers
With black dirt
On the nail line
(mascara for the finger)
Than
That which the rich exploit
(tongue and cheek sales pitches)
Results in …
Selling exploitations back to us
Claiming:
“It’s all fashion baby!”
FOR!
It’s not a form of protest
To buy spray paint at Wal-Mart
And use it to advertise your ego
On the buildings
Of hard-earning workers
FOR!
It’s not a form of protest
To explain revolution
Over a meal of food stamps and caviar
Rebellion is independence
A place in the suburbs
With a white picket fence
That keeps the beggars away
Living on a dull grass plain
With
Betty White
And
Larry Flynt
As your neighbors
In the morning
You wonder if the butter knife you use
To cut your children’s PB&J sandwiches
Into little triangles
Would be better used
For suicide