By Ethel Mack

Once I lived a life as someone I didn’t know.

When in others company, it started to show

I had become another person, another in my body,

who I couldn’t ignore, I became ugly, said

things I didn’t mean, people around me,

became very bored of me.

So I went off to be by myself and relieve some

of this pain that was in my chest,

trying to figure out how I got in this mess.

This pain has clouded my heart

and needs something, someone to help pull the stress apart.

I need a fresh start.

I’m kicking, punching, screaming for someone

to hear my shout. I’m lost within myself, and I

want to be freed.

I need your help, please help me.

I realized that this person I’ve become isn’t made

of stick and stones.

I no longer want to live in here all alone.

I no longer want to live in here all alone.

By Paul Norris

A breath I take, a sigh revealed.  

Old wounds that never healed.

An empty glass, that is me.

Yet shattered not, oh, destiny.

Once filled with hate and bitterness,

reached for more but found less.

Jesus called, with Him I rise up.

Once an empty glass, now an honored cup.

This new wine I now hold,

this honored cup remade to gold.

By Rose Browne

My mind is playing tricks on me.

Confused about days and nights,

wrongs from rights.

So I channel my energy to The Universe,

hoping and praying for a better outcome,

realizing that I have more choices,

I pray that the decisions I have made will not distract my focus on what

seems like my future, which I thought I had already planned.

So I turn my antenna to a different direction,

hoping to get a more transparent response.

My mind is playing tricks on me.

For a minute I thought I was free

to make a choice instead of making

an educated guess, so I dot all my i’s and cross all my t’s.

All this time I thought that I was focused

with a mindset of what I wanted and the means and ways

I was going to get it.

My mind is playing tricks on me and now it got me tripping,

trying to figure out if I’m going crazy or if it’s just my illusion.

I’ve had horrible nights

and too many restless days.

My body has lost its coordination.

My mind has taken over my lifeless body,

leaving me paralyzed.

By Paul Norris

Wind tossed waves that set me adrift.

Churning my insides like the foam tossed sea, bashing against

the rocks.

Not willingly ceding ground,

but reluctantly having it taken

away.

Adrift on the winds,

adrift on the seas,

adrift on the sands of time.

Adrift even in the passages of my mind.

Desiring to be anchored…  

even as I drift away.

By Rose Browne

And as my pain run deep I find it hard to sleep so I twist and turn trying not to peek.

I feel like I’m being hunted by my ancestors. It feels like someone somewhere is trying to give me a message. As my ears rang out like a church bell, I try to listen and respond.

I try to the answer to the issue, a call.

But only when I tried everything seems so unresponsive, making it seems like I’m talking to myself. I feel strongly that they was trying to give me a message. Maybe I wasn’t paying attention. So I twist turn, and I twist and turn. Wondering whether or not I should get up and face my fear. Or should I stay in this dream, or is it a nightmare?

The ones that I claimed I never had were I gets up out of my sleep crawling on my knees in agony.

With bloody hands and feet,

pleading with my ancestors.