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DAMN... I'M ALMOST 30!

I mean,
I feel HUNGRY all the time
I crave nourishment constantly
I eat until I'm full but it doesn't satisfy
I fill my home with the aroma of sweet smells
But it's not enough
It's as though all of my senses once deprived, 
Have suddenly awakened and want to be used fully

My nose craves and searches for satisfying scents
You know
Like the smell of your man right as he comes out of the shower,
While he's still wet 
All squeaky clean and manly at the same time
Or when you and your baby have just finished loving each other 'til you're sweaty
And the sex funk mixes with the passion fruit oil and the vanilla candles
And you're so full and content you could just float away
Or how 'bout the smell of Sunday dinner just out of the oven?
Then you understand what my nose seeks

So
Can you understand then
Why my fingers and hands long to feel someone's skin
Especially when he knows how to care for his skin and its smooth like a baby's ass
And begs for your tongue and lips to trace delicate designs as intricate as mendhi
Or the feel of satin sheets against your silk negligee 
How 'bout the heat from Grandma's fried fish right out of the pan?
You know 
You could never wait 'til it cooled properly to pick it up for that first bite
Don't you get high siddity wit' me an act like you ain't neva ate wichyo hands befo'...
I know better

While we're speaking on food...
How 'bout the taste of that secret spot that makes him wiggle...
EVERY TIME
You know that taste of power you have at that precise moment 
When he's just a bundle of nerves...
Just worming and squirming around uncontrollably...
In YOUR bed?
Nothing tastes as good as that
Oh and let me give you a secret of mine
It's better with mango.

Ok...so I've got your attention
Well, my ears are craving excitement too
How else can you explain my wanting to hear 
Roy Ayers and Busta Rhymes
Lauryn Hill and Rare Essence
Chuck Brown and DMX
LLCoolJ and Maxwell
Sade and Al Green
Jon B and Jimi Hendrix
All at the same time?

I love the sound of my name on his lips
Nobody can say it quite the way he can
And I never cease to be amazed 
When I've got him tongue-tied and all he can manage is a moan

I know it's got to be medical attention I need
Because even my eyes are playing tricks on me...
I see him when he's not there
And you best believe that I see him everywhere

My vision needs stimulation
I crave loud colors and busy patterns
Red and orange
Blue and green
Stripes and polka dots
It really doesn't matter
I walk down the street and people appear to be multicolored.

Yesterday
I saw a lilac Latina with a blue bambino
This morning
An apricot colored African American diva said hello on the subway...
Hmph...my mailman is mauve most days
And lately, 
My Kentucky-bred, blue-blood boss has been colored in kente and mud cloth
What's up with that?
Boy, I know his momma would scream to see him the way I do

When I wake up in the morning
I look blue
But after a vanilla shower
I feel like Venus through and through

I will say this about turning 30
I'm getting ready for one hell of a ride
And I can't wait to see what 40 has in store for me.

Nicole McLean (c) nmclean@nafcunet.org

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WHEN THE MILE MARKERS STOP WHIZZING BY

When the mile markers stop whizzing by,
And the fuel tank is bone dry,
And every sentence is the question why
No one can hear my cry.

Stranded out here beyond suburb,
because she wanted the curb.
My life's journey has sped to a halt,
And it's all my fault.
I still want to blame you
For discontinuing our friendship, boo

You were still someone to talk to
but I found myself yelling in the wind
of a heart you were trying to defend
Ignoring your heart is a sin
It's something I can't do.
Not for me, sure as hell not for you.
Distracted in everything I try
It puts a low ceiling across the sky

There was thunder from me
and lightning from you
my action and your reaction
Then silence
and big paindrops
I'm left twisting a hair knot
watching you walk down the road
with a imaginary umbrella you hold
I'm reliving the car door slamming
will I'm still flimflamming
you didn't turn around
you didn't miss a step
you did pause once
when I screamed
"half on a baby
We went half on a maybe"
But I whispered, "Don't leave me, please."

Staring out in space
shaking my head I see my face
in the windshield mirror
wiping my eyes to see clearer
Why is life speeding by on the left
and the mile marker mocking me on the right
the moon behind me is pulling the night
I was racing towards the sunset
I was racing towards happily ever after
Pop the trunk, then pop the hood.
Get out the car and fix your manhood
Use space as a tool.
No over heating be cool
Search for the problem
using the question.
Check the erection.
It's only a quick fix.
Listen to your spirit.
Use your strength to tighten down
knowledge and truth.
Discipline, motivation, and determination
were clogged in the fuel filter.

Back in the driver seat.
Life is bitter and sweet.
I'm turning the ignition key.
There's still daylight ahead of me.

Reyhan Wilkinson (c) raw2587@mwsc.edu

========================================================

NO, REALLY

If I had a dime
for each and every rhyme
that came into my head
after I went to bed
I would be rich
but I'm broke

Yet I'm happy
hair still nappy
spirit be flowing
knowledge be growing
rhymes be blowing
teeth be showing
you be knowing,
right?

John Riddick aka Sadorian (c) JRiddick24@aol.com

========================================================

YESTERDAY AND TOMORROW

Yesterday's dust
Pushed along North 			
Scouring rust,				
As it scurries hurriedly forth.

Yesterday's thought	
Tickles my brain, teases my heart,
Rambles recklessly uncaught,
And scrabbles, rips, tearing apart.

Yesterday's life	
I thought was good and grand,
But it was stridor, strife,
Heartache, envy and demand.

Yesterday was
What I hated about today,
Why?  Well because,	
I know why you went away.

Tomorrow's dust
Pushed, and herded south,
Carried I trust
By blown kisses from your mouth.

Tomorrow's thought	
Tickles my fancy, excites my brain,
Enticing, Expecting to be caught,
By my soul, showering in a lovers rain.

Tomorrow's life,
I know will be all that I can live,
Rolling drums, trumpets, fifes,
Fireworks, fireflies, all that I can give.

Tomorrow is
Not going to be today,
Tomorrow is,
Why you are going to stay.

Shaun Cecil (c) unteteunbois@usa.net

========================================================

TO MY LOVE, FROM YOUR LOVE

To be loved....Not for what I do,
But just because I breathe breath
Not to be simply caressed by one's eyes
But held in one's heart, 
Despite the change of the seasons
Not to be loved always
But to be loved for eternity

To be reached for....Not with mere hands
But with a soul

To be kissed by lips....
Which would transcend absence
With permanence

I'd miss you when you're not with me
Knowing at times we must be apart
Knowing even apart we are together

Trust me I say
Though I'll not always be perfect,
Tomorrow I'll be better than I am

We'll communicate 
Without words being spoken
But will speak in harmony 
In the midst of disagreement,
Finding peace together, no one loses

To know that a flame of passion will burn until.....

To be loved without conditions....

We could paint pictures of a place
Others call utopia
Together on a rainbow that will never end

KNOW MY LOVE

That you'll be loved 
By one who loves you all the same

UNCONDITIONALLY YOURS

Brian Henry (c) b.henryjackson@gibralter.net