Appreciating Gratitude
by Mario Starace, Queens, NY

Appreciation for my life appears in
a flash, as I ruminate on regrets
and self recriminations.
Gratitude for the great gift of a
glad heart, dispels the doom and
gloom feelings greeting my mind a
moment ago.
Memories of the love engendered
for the departed remains ever
present, making mourning for
them a mockery.
Indeed to be downcast when I am
so abundantly blessed by those
whom I cherish in the present is
paradoxically ridiculous.
Amazing how even a small shift to
gratitude, can create a space for a
flood of appreciation to
abundantly pour in, where despair
once held sway.

Why I Love My Pen
by Seena Russell Axel, Ph.D., Plainview, NY

My Pen dances fluidly
through life
even when I am most stuck,
Capturing feelings, thought,
images, emotions
transferring the abstract
into the concrete,
transcending the illusions
as well as the realities,
helping me to grow
(sometimes in spite of myself).

The Anthill
by Ken Fisher, Franklin Square, NY

I still cringe with every memory of abuse within my childhood,
A dance of vile corruption with a grim, perverted Devil.
Where burning flesh was sensual, crucifixion was perceived as good,
And reverence for death and torture, disguised the callous evil
Which plagued my soul, left wallowing in the sin
Of glorifying death, which hung obscenely on a pin.
I hear the screams of those I hurt, I feel their blazing pain
When they became the chosen ones, the focus of my fascination.
I turned the wrath of God toward them, and only felt disdain
For how they suffered at my hands, which trembled with elation
To know the power channeled through my magnifying glass
Was mine to wield from high above, or benignly let them pass.
I collected all their brethren, pinned them down on styrofoam,
Butterflies and beetles, their fight preserved eternally,
Created a memorial to death within my home,
With specimens of bones and shells, stuffed heads which stared down vacantly.
Although I never hunted, and escaped that vicious slaughter,
I often teased the murky depths, pulling panic from the water,
Yet here I am, now sensitive to all God’s living creatures,
Refusing to accept their pain as part of Nature’s grand design.
Still fascinated by all forms of life, I’ve grown from teachers
Amazing in diversity, whose grace of spirit is divine.
We share the world and live its wonders, accept the gift of sacred breath,
And through my soul’s illumination,, my heart resists all pain and death.
I once looked back with guilt and shame upon my youthful ignorance
And begged for absolution from whomever seals my fate,
But now I think I understand the wisdom of experience-
How sympathy flows from the pain, how love evolves, transcending hate.
The path I follow, which began with cruelty to those ants
Insists on passionate embrace of every soul which shares this dance.

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