Untitled
by Kitiara Shellfish

Naked
I lay here,
Naked, open to the world
Screaming, demanding,
“Why, I want to know!?”
I heard no answer,
Save the fan blowing the dusty atmosphere,
As if the smell of smoke
Won’t linger.

Raw.

Muffled prayers,
Throbbing need.
Wondering when it is my turn
To take the plunge.

I’m just a silent part
Of the ‘nilla 9-5,
Sitting at home
In the suburbs, everything
Resting on next week’s paycheck ...

I want no part of it.

If I could come to you now,
Would you rape me
Of this insanity?
Could you
Be the part of that screams ...
“For God’s sake,
Take a risk!”

But, when you’re eighteen,
And in hiding
Risks aren’t an option.

Praying, hoping
Saying to Him
“Lord, let your will be done,”
But not meaning it ...
I lay here, naked,
Exposed to the world
That has yet to let me find
My place in it.

In Praise of Sign
by Hersius

In American Sign Language,
all poetry is blank verse.
In American Sign,
poetry is a visual performing art.
In Sign,
poetry is:
a sculpting of air into thought,
animated feelings,
articulated wisdom,
the physical expression of fresh images,
a stationary dance of ideas,
a sharing of self throrugh motion,
the essence of kinetic union.