Inspired in church to write LOVE NEVER DIES, first published poem which won Editor's Choice Award in The National Library of Poetry's Anthology 'Sea of Treasures.' Has had about 400 poems published in NLP's anthologies, and in various books and magazines in the United States, Great Britain and India, winning many 1st, 2nd, 3rd prizes, many Editor's Choice Awards and Honorable Mentions. Writes poems on request. She has published books which you can learn about by going to the homepage. Floriana is a Distinguished Member of ISP-NLP, Honored Writer of Cleveland Poets and Writers League, The Famous Poet's Society, WHO'S WHO IN INTERNATIONAL POETRY, WHO'S WHO IN US WRITERS, EDITORS AND POETS, AND MARQUIS WHO'S WHO IN AMERICA. Her poetry and short stories have been compared to Poe and Hawthorne by Taj Mahal Review, India, June 2003. Contact Floriana.
MARIE DELGADO TRAVIS is very proud of her Nuyorican roots. She writes poetry and prose in Spanish and English. She worked in Marketing /Advertising on behalf of top international companies for over twenty years. Marie is married to Edmunds, a retired attorney. They divide their time between homes in Houston, TX and Isla Verde, PR. Contact Marie.
Family Tree Cuisine
By, C. Heidi W. Drew
September 7, 2003
Though our ingredients are important
We grow from our roots up
When we can reproduce
We branch out
With tiny buds at the end of a bough
Our secret recipe is revealed
In our own time, though
Our roots remain
As the buds blossom into our own history
Dropping onto the earth below
Yet above our roots
Another life grows
Then as ingredients are mixed together
The tree becomes the forest
New flavors are explored
Family secrets absorbed
And myths remain
In second grade I had my first poem, "A Clock" published in my elementary school journal. I obtained a bachelor of fine arts degree in California and a Masters degree in art education in Connecticut. Now that my three children are grown, I am living, writing and teaching art courses in Wellington, New Zealand. Contact Heidi.
Old Granny's Tales
By Christina Mavricakis
Old Granny was napping, that's what they all thought
But her eyes were wide open as she lay on her cot.
Outside her door they were waiting, you see
The small boy and the girl, he was four she was three.
Granny spied them at once and nodded her head
They ran into the room and hopped on her bed.
"Tell us your story," they begged, "Oh, please do.
We want to know all that's happened to you."
"Oh Granny," asked Liz, as she stood on her head
"Where have you been since you got out of bed?"
"I slept in the wood box 'till I was too big
Then rode to school on the back of a pig.
"I gathered brown eggs from a nest in the stable
I went out to dinner with fat, old Aunt Mabel.
"I painted fine pictures and hung them on hooks
Drank lots of green tea, and read oodles of books.
"I whistled for Fido and threw him a bone
And tooted a tune on my new saxophone."
"Oh Granny," asked Will, as he spun on his knee
"What else have you done since the time you were three?"
"I wanted to visit in Old London town
So I finished my chores in my flannel nightgown.
"I milked all the cows and cut all the hay
Told all the chickens I was going away.
"I dusted a table without getting dirty
Then left on a ship with a Greek crew of thirty.
"I've seen Piccadilly and Trafalgar Square
Who would have thought I would ever go there?
"I crossed a great river by walking a board
I went on safari in an '89 Ford.
"Oh Granny," they shouted with a hop and a run
"What a life you have lived, it sure must have been fun."
"I wish I could tell you," Granny said with a smile
"But I just couldn't say, for I slept all the while."
This poem was first published in October, 2004 in Creative Copy, a small Midwest magazine. It also appears in Epiphanies and Other Absurdities, an anthology from The Writer's Association, published in January, 2005.
My love of writing began in childhood, but the necessity of full-time employment and raising a family kept writing to a minimum. After retirement I joined a local writer's group and have completed additional online courses, and am now earning small successes with publication of several poems and short stories. Contact Christina.
Just Another Wednesday
by Peggy Tabor Millin
Just another Wednesday
with the sun diffused by thin gray clouds,
the light, the air even, a gauze drapery
enfolding the earth.
Just another Wednesday
with the dampness of yesterday's rain,
the bellowing call of the little wren,
the thunder of the woodpecker
hammering his red head
against the eave of my house.
Just another Wednesday
in which to rise and face the east in gratitude.
Another Wednesday to fill
with anonymous tasks and to touch what I love.
Another Wednesday
to seek living life.
I do not want to die not knowing
I have lived. I will take
just another Wednesday,
Thursday, Friday too,
along with a cup of strong Darjeeling
with warm milk and half a teaspoon of sugar.
Only half a teaspoon, please,.
I don't want the sweetness to dull
the seeing, smelling, feeling, tasting
of this Wednesday:
the breath moving my ribcage,
my back against the chair,
my feet on this jeweled earth.
I want nothing between me and this life,
Nothing in the path of me on this Wednesday-
just another.
Peggy Tabor Millin teaches writing to women through her business ClarityWorks. She is the author of a nonfiction book, Mary's Way, and articles in New Realities and Native Peoples. Her fiction has been published in Lumina and Thema. She lives in Asheville, NC and can be reached at clarityworksonline.com.
Gwendolyn Joyce Mintz lives in the New Mexico desert where she writes and raises children and turtles. She can be reached atgwendolynjoycemintz@yahoo.com.
