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WHAT YOU DID

How can I explain what you did
What you gave
You brought sunlight
Where there was only dark
You brought laughter
To a stark and bitter heart

You painted fields of red and yellow
made me believe
you could be my fellow
brought such joy
then it had to go away
took me awhile to realize
that the love will always stay

your body
I had to release
didn't bring me joy
didn't bring me peace
don't have your scent
between my sheets

No more lazy Sunday morns
no more late night sex
no more playing
with your erects

Was left with a void
didn't know if
I was up to the test
I won't date,
lost my love
the hell with the rest.

Fast forward a year
no longer shedding
those salty ass tears
Found someone deep
someone who will always stay
someone who won't
give my lovin away

Only he ain't a he
He turned out to 
be a she
and the she's
name is
ME

Karen Roberts (c) - KAYC918@aol.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
the breakup, chapter two

asses shift
hands wringing hands
nails tapping surfaces worn with scars and grooves
breath heavy upon unbreathed breath
eyes lowered
empty dark and dripping
your lips moving
remembering lips and tongue and teeth and hair
so shamed and so fulfilled
there is no other path around this piercing
we chat about the job and weather
speak once familiar dialects
of body language revisited
you scratch your head
releasing a memory embedded
behind the ear in which she last left whispers
and convulse involuntarily while you think
of the second hour taste
of the fingers on your right hand
LOOK AT ME
i am not going to make this easy for you
not going to pat your back
or shake that hand
give you a box lunch and carfare
not going to run the tape
WE CAN ALWAYS BE FRIENDS
WE CAN ALWAYS BE FRIENDS
WE CAN ALWAYS BE FRIENDS
i mean
just how many times
are you going to leave me
before i have been left
indeed...

Jaci LaMon (c) - mchwoman@aol.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A Promise

translation
Te Quiero = I want 
Te Amo = I Love you
Es neccesario = i need
Para me = for me

A Promise

Te Quiero
With each passing moment
Te Amo
The light of your spirit
Es neccesario
The touch of your soul
Para me

With each moment spent apart
my love for you grows
with each day
that feeling expands
for every second without you
my mind spins an eternity of fantasy
love stories and comedies
with you as my lead
and infinite of happy endings

So I say
Te Quiero
I feel
Te Amo
the touch of your soul
Es neccesario
the light of your spirit
Para me

Lita (c) - BoNitaLita@aol.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Cyber Convo

We've had interesting conversations u  &I 2 the point of being
obscene all in the name of chat room fun.

But who r u really, yet again who am I.
Why did we meet in this place &yet not meet 4 I have yet 2 hear 
the soft breathing of your melodious strong Black voice, my eyes 
have never gazed deeply intently into yours.  I have only our 
descriptions of each other, mental photographs of imagination for 
my scrapbook if u will.

who are we really but shadows and whispers of people we'd like 2 b.  
Who is mark &what is his game plan? what makes him tick, think, 
act, react, engage in dynamic dialogue?

But who is pam? with her feeble writings as a foggy, smoky window 
to her soul, barely letting the sun in to chase all the cobwebs away.

Who r we &why did we happen chance upon this room &why have we 
gravitated to one another with only snippets and snatches of phrases 
mostly in crowds during a busy and often hectic work day.

Could it b our astrological likeness being both fair-minded and 
creative that we somehow stimulate our cerebral cortexes.

Nah, I just like the way you type.................... :o)

Pam McCullough (c) - FYNEZZE@aol.com

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Sleep Walkin’ (for Naeemah)

I kissed a shadow 
not my own and laid to rest
a fear, that a stranger, dark
may be a test 
of what I did hold dear.

I talked with someone
not known to me, in 
conversation rare, then
looked around to find no 
one, except the shadow there.

We walked in shoes
that were not ours, for about
a mile or so then we 
returned from whence we came 
 -- or perhaps, we didn’t go?

I shared this dream 
as dreams are shared
with God and no one else
and found the dream, no dream 
at all; but god within myself.

So as you walk upon this earth 
be gentle as you go, for 
"shoes of  strangers" and 
"shadow dreams" are meant to 
make us grow

Saleem Abdal-Khaaliq (c) - nsa@vgernet.net

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Retrobution

No longer do you need to have heavy shoulders
It's my turn to carry the weight of the world
For years you were my light in a tunnel of uncertainty
But now it's my turn to shine and find a better passage
In this cruel world you were the savior to my soul	
Rescuing me from an unknown fate
You stood by my side when I was considered a burden to society
You listened to my spirit when it told you stories of my struggle
Beautiful you are in any exquisite shade
The grace you have bestowed upon me is one of passion and love
You were my crutch when my soul was broken with despair
Never again will I let you down
I owe you for not being a man and I thank you for making me one
When the clouds were over my head, you brought me sunshine
When the rain began to fall, you gave me shelter
Your aura is that only equal to heaven
You are the essence of my being

Shawn Goins (c) - sagg@methode.com