performed by Val Cole

performed by Val Cole

Read Poem:

THE DEVIL WEARS BLACK, by Nico Green

The devil wears black, invisible in the night.
God wears white, he has nothing to hide.

The devil drinks whiskey and cries for his pain.
God drinks water and casts all the blame.

The devil’s seen much evil and taken part ...

performed by Val Cole

Poem by Laila Jones

with her tears, she bathed you.
hurt aside, she tightened your ties,
and made you love the mirror.
no clocks in her home, your keys in the door told time.
5am laughed at her every weekend.

a lesson learned for you both,
but the true teacher is her.
now...

A Modern Day Cinderella

A candidate must not be soiled
Virginal as the freshly fallen snow.

So that with his first thrust all will know that the issue is his, not another's.

Her beauty shall be as the airbrushed ads

That taunts us into buying their products to achieve what is beyond our grasp...

Performed by the writer.

Read Poem:

When the boy sits on the tree’s stump at the end of the Giving Tree, I used to think it was sad
because they had both lived their lives and been used up. Then, I grew into a woman and
became a mother. I have despised my trunk, abused my trunk, expected it ...

Read Poem:

You deserved girlhood
But were called a slut
Instead. Smothered in extra
Layers of resentment and
Expectations made from
Plastic dolls with painted
Smiles. You deserved more
Than projection of the
Lives you weren’t allowed
To live. You deserved your
Own mistakes. You deserved
To be m...

On the Landing, by Eileen Moynihan

A man in a tweed coat climbs the stairs,
We meet on the landing and lock eyes,
We recognize each other’s soul,
A special man who draws me in.
I feel a connection deep and sincere,
In that moment our love is real.
We reach forward to connect,
For a touch longed ...

If Winter Comes, by Frank William Finney
(translated from the Human)

Nothing will stand
or sit
or walk
or crawl.

No creature
will sing
or chirp
or growl.

No loved one
will whisper
or scream
or weep

and nothing
worth
living
will live.

Voice Over: Val Cole

Dandelion smashing, by PRESTON MEHR

Sprinting and tearing through the dandelion field while afterward every puny plant atop will have keeled over in the dead dirt and my whole body will horribly hurt however all the yellow flowers will face sorrow by the towers that stagger...

Voice Over: Val Cole

Read Poem:

CHATAKA, by Vinita Agrawal

Chataka Never mind that I’m a brood parasite flawlessly matching the turquoise blue of babbler’s eggs never mind that I watch nonchalantly, my chicks being raised as their own I eat berries and caterpillars pressing the worms end to e...

Voice Over: Val Cole

Read Poem:

New release: Fade Out: The Beginning
Inspiration
Countdown to Failure
The Courtship of the Sun and Moon
Nature's Inspiration
A Modern Day Cinderella
Tides of Life
Good Ole Joe
Swimming with the Sharks
Shorties: an Anthology of Shorties
Away We Go: Travel Tips f...

Performed by Val Cole

Narration by Val Cole

Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?

What my wife and I were experiencing when we got her diagnosis and later learned she would indeed die

2) What motivated you to write this poem?

It helped me to put into words a lot of what I was dealing with...fro...

Narration by Val Cole

POEM:

Grandma’s favorite hat is all flowers,
All sizes, all colors, full of beauty.

Her hat is so big,
It hides every
Inch of her head
Except the tip of her nose.

In our neighborhood park,
Grandma’s hat staves off the sun
Until a bright breeze comes along and
Lifts it i...

Narration by Val Cole

The Pillow: by Judi Beecher

I close my eyes to sleep
and hold you tight.

My body wraps around yours
as you gently stroke my hair.

Your gaze ignites a fire
deep within my soul.

A knowingness overcomes me,
I soar through the air
with newly grown wings.
Unstoppable ...

Narration by Val Cole

READING A MAP, by Joanne Leva

Fall River. Smith Mills. New Bedford. Freetown.
A slow drive into charcoal blue. Silver
Beach. Ethereal Grey Gables. Frozen
Creek. Flying Horses Carousel. The wind

was whipping along the coast and you were
West Chop bent at the hip. Your arms...

Narration by Val Cole

FLIGHT OF THE HEART, by Murray Blanchard

A gust of wind sets a lofty leaf,
black foreboding sky lends me to
grief.
Rivers collide, forceful oceans
swell, my thirsting lips, his to
quell.
Weary watered eyes break the spirit
free, reborn soul within allows me
to see.
Raindr...

Narrated by Val Cole

POEM:
Sweet gratitude because I can walk, talk, eat, drink, enjoy a beautiful sunset , have a home , carry a home within myself, share of myself with loving kindness to those who I meet, and inspiring others to do the same because love and compassion for me is a start of a ...

Performed by Val Cole

My God
Has not guaranteed me a reservation in Heaven
Nor has he threatened me with purgatory.
For he knows no purgatory-
Except mental
In the minds of the living.

I walk with God down the beach,
Lie back with him at night...

Performed by Val Cole

Intoxication

By Duane March

Ask me to describe my earnest fascination?

Ask me, might as well, pi's endless calculation,

Words do not suffice to offer explanation.

Her eyes gleam a golden brown,

Athena’s owls, soft as down,

Her hair is a mane of chesnut fire,

It t...

Voice Over by Val Cole

Get to know the poet:

1) What is the theme of your poem?
Fantasy, adventure, humanity, optimism, recovery, inspiration, motivational, entertainment, healing, sanity, utopia and kindness

2) What motivated you to write this poem?
I first wrote a short fake humorous advert...

https://youtu.be/vhZODR_ecOE

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/W7c4_wMFMbY

Performed by Val Cole

1) What is the theme of your poem?
Shame - acknowledging the impact of being shamed

2) What motivated you to write this poem?
A simple moment when I asked a question in a Q&A after a talk about what motivated her to do something she had discus...

https://youtu.be/Li-8sXlZdi4

Performed by Val Cole

Get to know the writer:

1) What is the theme of your poem?

The theme is the quest for existential belonging.

2) What motivated you to write this poem?

I have been writing poetry my whole life.

3) How long have you been writing poetry?

...