Colored pen and ink by Don Dean titled “The Embrace.”

Long-time CTI member Don Dean, known to everybody for his music featured on the main page and also for the creative collage of images on his profile, has provided us with a Valentine gift in the form of a new…

Grandfather’s Poem

Before your deathbed, grandfather,

I watched your passing,

waiting for the parting kiss

of white stubbled lips.

Three days your gnarled hands held tight

to comfort those of the living.

Three days I…

What a pleasure and honor to be featured in this issue of the BHF Magazine.

Click on the links below to view my pages:

http://bhfmagazine.com/bhfadvert_articles/bhf_perfectman.html…

Original Photography and Digital optimization by Kimmy Van Kooten

"The Hatching"

Copyright 2008

All Rights Reserved

Root From All Evil

Afternoon, just over my head, and clearly,…

Photography Artist: http://sdxe.deviantart.com/

Desires…

Gardener’s Harvest

what is this I see

sitting upon my african tree

could this be rest for my soul

the shadow for my overbearing days



I give to you my earnest prayer

bless the morn

for the sun rises upon my eyes

bless the noon

for my heart rejoices in the day

bless the eve

for it brings peace to my…

The First Tree" by Kimmy Van Kooten

Copyright 2000

All Rights Reserved

The Ballad of a Winter Damned

Make…

Fatha’ Time

With goateed chin and white sailor’s cap

he rocks in his chair and speaks

from eighty years of memories,

“ When I was in the CCC,’ he says,

“ I stayed at Warm Springs,

knew F.D.R. and his wife and kids,…

The Smoking Poet’s first annual short story contest is open to all writers in any genre.

An entry fee of $10 per submission is required, payment to be made through…

THE SMOKING POET: CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS – SPRING 2008



A fine cigar and good literature: two of life's finer pleasures.



THE SMOKING POET publishes flash fiction; fiction; nonfiction; poetry; feature author with novel excerpt; feature poet; book and cigar reviews. We publish work that ignites our…

~to the 70+ year old person who sent me the wonderful compliment~



thank you

I wake to

springtime with

the color green

dangling from my

roots

winter's frost

done clear…

In the forrest when the branches quarrel, the roots embrace"

-Doudou Diene





I believe it is detrimental if we do not come together as a race of people not only for our survival as a people but the world as well, if our elders don't come together and stand, our children (you can see it in our family

union today)are dying and killing something awful, we need come together...it is

in the hands of our elders…

there should always be sumptin to sing about and i sing like springtime

i sing like fall

i sing like summertime

and i sing bitter sometimes like winter's frost



and this is my memory song





Aya Oh LaLa Aya Oh LaLaLa 

Sunrise over sadness…

curled from the heat

like a raisin in the sun

drawn into myself

yearning to be explored

with only the zeal

of love

the kind that embellishes worlds

making my existence as large

as eros

pain as only nature knows

compells my imagination

remembering

the dance that made the skies

open

pouring on to me

makin me laugh



after thoughts lingering on my skin

being brought back…

This is a poem/piece that is apart of a play that I am working on in the tradition of Ntozake Shange's "for colored girls who've considered suicide/when the rainbow is enuf

I was so anger child

dat when I saw da rainbow

I leaped on it and I started to run

my feet smashed into colors

and…

Got a wonderful book "Reflections of The Spirit" By Maggie Oster watched Angela doing Tina Turner in "What's Love got to do With It" and oh well enjoy...............



I'm going to start this one nice n' easy

I was sitting on blue clouds

Counting Gods

As they…