Poetry soothes our soul, captivates our imagination, and makes us think. Check out the October poems from our wonderful poets.

Sustenance

I live each day,

perform each act

to create an authentic legacy

for my three daughters,

and all the while

alone in his head

and surrendering to his cat in Brooklyn,

to me he is a dynasty.

He has sequentially ruled my subconscious

like the monarch of Lefferts Gardens.

His power over me rising and falling

and rising and falling,

like the relentless call to prayer.

As much as I am certain I have not only succeeded at “life”

but actually enjoyed it,

it is at its core

fueled by a fantasy

for the sake of fantasy.

My decades long daily delusion

has propelled me.

I believe I have been gifted

a heart with elastic chambers

that can love an endless array

of persons, places and things.

My answer to the game of 20 Questions

Is that yes

I do

I do

I do.

~Nicole Freezer Rubens, author “The Long Pause and the Short Breath”

The Changing World

The internet is driving me absolutely crazy,

Really, It’s not because I’m suddenly lazy,

It’s so difficult to remember 100 passwords,

And understand the X for new Twitter birds,

Or the absurd banking system of autopay,

And never hearing a human being say,

Not to worry, the problem is actually solved today,

I really feel it’s a dark dragon to slay,

It’s so hard to decipher the riddle of code,

My brain, every day is on overload,

Everyone I see is always looking down,

Thumbing out a message with a serious frown,

On the phone that no one uses to talk on!

Because there’s no real person on the other end,

Unless the one you’re calling is family or friend,

I swear, the world I knew is over and dead,

Now is the hour to take to my bed,

My hair is turning gray when once it was red,

From losing the  position I held and have said,

Over and over how happy I once was,

Now my mind is filled with a disturbing buzz,

The old fashioned world, a simpler time,

Is over and definitely not yours or mine!

Oh well,

Forgive me, not to scold or harass,

Maybe we should take a computer class?

~Carol Ostrow, author, “Poems from My Pandemic Pen”

Ruminations

We are a unique group

Living through an historic time

We sometimes lose sight of that

Living where I have a history

I see things differently now

Today I drive past a place

Which, just a few years ago

Or was it 25?

Had no trees between house and road

The house was in full view

Now the house cannot be seen

Separated from the road

By fully grown trees

With deep golden foliage

Glistening in the sunlight

I pass another house I knew well

Growing up

Owned by my then best friend’s family

It boasted a cave in the mountain behind

I see the cave for the very first time

What is yet to come?

I wish I knew

Or do I?

Part of what make life wonderful

Is not knowing

~Stephanie Sloane, author “Dear Me”