Birds chirp on branched trees.
Sakura petals I smell.
Spring is here at last.
“A Haiku” by Eric Feldstein
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“A Limerick” by Danielle Smith
A Limerick
The sun came out and blinded my eyes,
And all the shirts abandoned their guys.
Somehow I have bug bites
Beneath my black tights,
If this be spring, then give me grey skies.
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“A Haiku” by Danielle Smith
A Haiku
Spring is here at last
And I meant to write a poem,
But it’s too nice out.
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“A Memory ” by Danielle Smith
The feeling of a ceiling fan
Will always remind me of lying
On my back on the cool couch, black,
Eating pop-sicles with my sister–
Arguing about who would dodge
The invariable roaches in the hall
To get us more, and whether Ma
Would be angry if we ate them all.
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“Another Poem for My Love” by Danielle Smith
While you are mine, and I call you my own,
And lie in your arms, sinew etched in stone—
I try to love you and yet you must ruin
With words, a skill-fully crafted illusion.
But when you are just the ghost of a kiss
Whispered softly on slumbering lips
Then I’ll love you, as always I’ve wanted,
A perfect dream, and uninterrupted.
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“An Ode to the Sense of Motion: Part I” by Eamon Thomasson
The words to the song are hard to follow.
They fluctuate on each occasion of singing.
But the core of the tune remains:
An ode to the sense of motion.
Part I:
Tea orders the mind.
The ordinary room, well designed,
Holds the texts on which to meditate.
The hanging art is a base decor, aligning
with pastimes forgotten, and old debate
The realization stings, the air closes in.
Until, on the path, one regains the sense
Inside of the hour the bones begin
Their awakening, the closing of the past tense
The desire, upon reclining, not to rest
After completion, the lack of completeness
Felt in the gut, and heard in the voices
Of those engaged in composition
Echoing in the inevitable choices
toward achieving victory in some competition
Having awoken, noting the vanished hours
Who persuade you into a rush,
Into motion: the step, reach of the flowers,
Theatrical waving, a vigorous push
“A Short Pick Up Rhyme (For Valentine’s Day)” by Danielle Smith
Roses will be black.
Violets will be black too.
One day you’ll be a corpse
And then none will love you.
Thus, knowing you will die
And worms will eat your lips,
Won’t in my bed you lie,
And first give me a kiss?
“They Came One Day” by Eric Feldstein
They Came One Day by Eric Feldstein
They came one day,
Shouted out loud:
“We are here to proclaim to you,
Your new king.”
We gathered in the local square,
Jake, Lisa, Akimo, my friends
Lin, Brooks, Sarah, my family
To hear what they were to say,
“Your old king is gone”
White teeth gleaming,
Arms open wide,
“Recognize your new king”
We stood silently
Heads swayed in the breeze
This man who stood before us
Eyes above our heads
“He is your new king,”
hands up higher,
“He is your true king,”
eyes back to us
We stood silently
Heads swayed in the breeze
Jake got up and walked away
They embraced as brothers and walked away
I am just a simple farmer
What care I for kings
This is the land I know
My king was my own
They came one day,
Shouted out loud:
“We are here to proclaim to you,
Your new king.”
We gathered in the local square,
Lisa, Akimo, my friends
Lin, Brooks, Sarah, my family
To hear what they were to say,
“Your old king is gone”
Jake’s teeth gleaming,
Arms open wide,
“Recognize your new king”
We stood silently
Heads swayed in the breeze
These men who stood before us
Eyes above our heads
“He is your true king,”
arms raised higher
“He will reward you greatly”
Eyes back to us
We stood silently
Heads swayed in the breeze
Lisa and Brooks got up and walked away
They embraced as brothers and sisters and walked away
I am just a simple farmer
What care I for kings
This is the land I know
My king was my own
They came one day,
Shouted out loud:
“We are here to bring the rest of you
into our kings good graces”
We gathered in the local square,
Akimo my friend
Lin and Sarah, my family
To hear what they were to say,
“We said he was true”
Now they were four,
“We said he would reward you”
Now we were four
We stood silently
“Now, he will punish you”
heads swayed in the breeze
“if you do not recognize him”
Akimo, my friend
Lin, my son,
Got up and walked away
They embraced as brothers and sisters and walked away
I am just a simple farmer
What care I for kings
This is the land I know
My king was my own
They came one day,
Shouted out loud:
“We said you would be punished
For not recognizing our king”
We gathered in the local square,
Me and Sarah
They, now 6, approached us
To tell us what they had to say
They took my wife
They threw her to the ground
They lit a torch aflame
and pressed it to her gown
I stood restrained
Head forced toward my wife
These men who stood above her
We watched her burn to cinder
“He is the king,” the fire danced in their eyes
“one day you will answer to him”
And they walked away
And they took her cinder, and walked away
I am just a simple farmer
What care I for kings
This is the land I know
My king was my own
They came one day,
Shouted out loud:
“We have shown you punishment
Do you accept your new king!”
I gathered in the local square,
Just me,
All six surround me
To tell me what they are to say
Crazed, they yelled,
“Don’t you see, Don’t you see”
“He is your king, look at us and look at you”
There were six of them and one of me
I stood silently
Head swayed in the breeze
These men who stood around me
Eyes upon my head
They came at me all at once,
Did not relent till an hour passed
Beaten and crippled I fell down
Now we walked away to meet our king
They bound my head
They bound my limbs
The journey was so long
They walked about so merrily in song
I thought of my friends
I thought of my family
I thought of my village
Thought of the life they pillaged
But suddenly, a cloth torn off
My site was now restored
Below me was the ground going by
In front of me a golden castle in the sky
Door’s thrown open
We walk in
Brightness blinds me
The clamor deafens me
They throw me to the floor
I lay for some time
Then a warmly voice
Sings a simple verse
“Look at me, my subject”
“Do you not now see?”
“Hear my voice connect”
“unto your ears, once so absentee”
I look up, first blinded
By light so bright
But soon it fades
To see this man who has me in chains
His eyes were soft
His mouth in a smile
His powerful figure
In a throne of gold, configured
I start to speak
But he holds up his finger
“It’s too late now,” says he
“It’s too the rack with thee”
“They said I was your true king”
“They said I would reward you”
“They said on you punishments I would sling”
“And yet it was never me you choosed”
“Now it is done”
“Its over, we are through”
“I am sorry my son”
“But its to the gallows with you”
They pushed me against a wall
Tied a noose around my neck
I begged that now I saw my king
Around a pole, my rope, they sling
They strung me up high
My legs start to kick
I claw against the rope around my neck
I struggle to take my last breath
But every breath was my last
As I realized so suddenly
This wasn’t meant to kill me
But to torture me so lovingly
And now, as I glance around me
There are others here too
My compatriots at the gallows
And my hosts out of the shadows
Among my new friends I saw in particular
Her face beautiful, her voice serene
I saw her burn once, no twice
My wife was now paying the price
They took my wife
They threw her to the ground
They lit a torch aflame
and pressed it to her gown
It was to repeat, I found
Over and over
For the rest of my days
Watching my wife as she burned ablaze
It wasn’t just her,
It was all of us now
As we looked on longingly
To this feast in front of us appallingly
In front of us
Right there indeed
Was a feast of splendor unseen
It was a feast obscene
Golden plates, golden goblets
Silver forks, silver spoons
overflowing chalices, clinking glasses
Stomping feat, and clapping masses
Serenading songs,
Harps and strings aplenty
Merriment and laughter
Energy faster and faster
At the front was this king
Eyes warm, mouth a-smiling
He beamed at his subjects
Thus as we were subject
I saw Jake, and Lisa
Akimo too
I saw my kids Lin and Brooks
They were laughing with the cooks
I called out to them
Me, as a choked for eternity
Maybe they couldn’t hear me?
It seemed they ignored me
And then, it dawned on me
Finally at last,
On this I would swear
That they just really didn’t care
I suppose I deserve this,
Of course how can I not?
I ignored the king’s summons
For eternity, I deserve to rot
My friends and family got their wish
They get to eat and drink in splendor
Over me and my own they have chosen their bliss
As they make my future my body ripped apart in a blender
I am just a simple farmer
What care I for kings
This is the land I know
My king was my own
“A Super Smash Bros. Review from a First Time Player” by Danielle Smith
A Super Smash Bros. Review from a First Time Player
It seemed like it was all tongues and eggs.
I was dragged into a dark, shady dorm room to play Super Smash Bros, despite my many protests that I had never played before. The room was quite crowded, in fact. There were probably more than six people in that small college single. Definitely no more than eight. There were exactly seven people in that room.
“Come on, it will be fun!” No one actually said that. That’s just an example of the type of persuasive things people were saying to get me to play. Truth is there were no needs for words. I was dying for a chance to kill my friends. In a video game.
When the moment of truth came, I chose to be Yoshi. At least as much as one can truly choose to be their Super Smash Bros character. Surely for me it was really no choice at all—it was destiny. Holding the controller in my hand, I waited for the battle to begin—left thumb caressing the joystick, right thumb hovering over A, index fingers resting lightly on L2 and R2, because L1 and R1 are just uncomfortable.
I have a flashback. It’s all black and white. It’s a Thursday night. Bowling night. I’m eight years old. I’m in a bowling alley. Smoke is swirling around my head, I have a handful of quarters. I’m playing Mortal Combat with my sister. Or maybe it was Street Fighter. I hit the red button. I hit the other red button. I hit both red buttons at the same time. Combo. Nice. I played in that arcade my whole childhood. And it all led up to this moment.
I’m rudely brought back to the present by the shouting: “Press A! Press A!”
“I am pressing A!” I shouted back. Then I looked down. I was pressing B. “Whoops.”
The arena loads. Or maybe it’s called a stage. A mysterious egg appears on the screen. I’m baffled, but also intrigued. Suddenly Yoshi emerges from the egg. He pokes his butt out to the audience and looks over his shoulder—coy and deadly. As surely as my controller was connected to the Wii, Yoshi’s soul connected to mine. I pointed out Yoshi’s amazing entrance to everyone else, they weren’t impressed.
“You should have been Kirby.” I thought about that disgusting pink blob of a monster. An almost perfect sphere. Shoes soaked with the blood of his enemies. The same blood smeared across his cheeks.
The battle was beginning. I was crouching. I was jumping. I was kicking. Incessantly, I stuck out my tongue. I turned into an egg and rolled across that stage. Everyone else was fighting.
“God,” “Nietzsche,” and “Buddha” all in a rainbow slaughter. Part of me thought that perhaps this was the true reality and my life was just a video game. Part of me thought surely this is the chaos that will destroy humanity. Part of me thought that my friends were really pretentious.
I realized that if I touched someone with my tongue, I put them in a little egg time out. I never felt so powerful in my entire life. The other players found this very annoying. I wasn’t a threat, but I had to be killed. “Jesus” particularly became outraged when he saw me lowered to the ground, watching the battle from above. I rarely came last out of the four players. Subtlety was my middle name. (Actually my middle name is Yoshisaur. My full name is T. Yoshisaur Munchakoopas. Yoshi is just a nickname.)
I only made one kill the entire time I played. I don’t know when. I don’t know how. But Yoshi tasted blood. And he liked it.
9/10 I would recommend this game to a friend.
-“Sulla” (Danielle Smith)
Silenciosamente (Quietly) by Nicole Seleme
Silenciosamente (Quietly)
Sigue llorando el viento en su oído
A pesar de que solloza
Algo más silenciosa
Que las lunas del ayer.
El reloj susurra
Y la corta,
Suavemente.
Piel de piedra,
Corazón de azúcar.
Aún duele,
Suavemente.
______________________
The wind still cries in her ear
Although it sobs
Somewhat more quietly
Than the moons of yesterday.
The clock whispers,
And cuts her,
Softly.
Skin of stone.
Heart of sugar.
Still it hurts,
Softly.
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