Bright Light

Many bright lights

Reflecting off the snow

Miles from any where

Many bright lights

Where so few used to go

Travelling up a highway

To the mines and sites

To work for oil to flow

Miles and miles from here

Instead of black as night

Someone flicks a switch

And enjoys a bright light

by Jenny Berube

Words In Motion 2014

Brokenhearted Workoholic

Songwriting workshop at the bar

you never heard of it and neither did I

but there is one happening every day

I think I'm joining unless you stay

In front of me notebook and a Bud

serious look and plenty sad

sharpen the pencil here comes the line

it looks to strait pour me some wine

Big Joe walks in and greets me 'Sis

how about giving me a kiss'

I ask him if everything is Ok

he yells 'Life's great I'll drink a bay!'

Down goes the wine up comes the gin

two full bottles and garbage bin

for do not expect that by chance or by luck

someone will hand you a hit like that

by Mario Eric

Words In Motion 2014

Chirping Birds

Don’t listen to the mocking birds

Who grin from beak to beak

All their words, are little turds

That plop down as they speak

The cuckoo birds sing silly songs

To remind us all, of all our wrongs

And we find ourselves singing along

‘Cause it’s been repeated for so long

Remember those chirps are only words

That spin a web of lies

And the intentions of these little birds

Is evil in disguise

I think it’s time for a new flock

Of friends instead of foes

Ones who praise rather than mock

As we go through trials and woes?

So let’s sing our song and dance our dance

In a tree just for you and me

No one will sing along or take our stance

But we’ll be as happy as we can be

by Lauren Elliott

Words In Motion 2014

Colour of the Sky

Every morning when it rains

sadness starts to flow

first through my arteries

and than through my veins

Every day when it rains

I long for you my goddess

your eyes are a bright sun

your pretty face a clear sky

Every evening when I tell you

how special you are

the sky turns red

because you are shy

Every morning when it rains

sadness starts to flow

first through my arteries

and than through my veins

by Mario Eric

Words In Motion 2014

Coney Island

The smell is like bitter rubber

or A-B-C gum stamped into the concrete:

the A-Train that takes us to Coney Island.

A woman wraps polka-dot viscose around her face,

eyes shift down to the floor

as her children pass the time with leap frog,

legs slick with a continual bend and snap.

Every freak show has a clown

that looks like a checkerboard,

triangle tears slowly sweating off his face,

paint surely ready to bubble like a fried egg.

Sally does burlesque on the beach,

tassels are glittering against sun-damaged skin

and distract the men on Steeplechase Pier,

who bait their hooks with a bloodworm,

swollen clitella tempts the bluefish that

fill their pails, fins stack up like poker chips.

It is 85 degrees in April, the gulls

are covering the shoal and how odd it is that
a fat brown bottle washed to the shore

is what we can relate to the most.

by Sarah Watson

Words In Motion 2014

Confidence

Have Confidence

In The Things You Do

And Other People Will See It Too

No Matter What Conflicts

You Carry Around

Just Be Yourself

Keep Your Feet On The Ground

by Debbie Proulx

Words In Motion 2014

Conversation Going Nowhere

As I knelt by your graveside, thoughts of your

coolness licked against my fiery skin. I traced

the S’s of your name, chased the moss from

the curves of earth’s granite. Your hand upon

my shoulder, slipped past—

a breath of displaced air, disguised

in a sigh.

I wanted to tell you that Gerry finally came home. Four paws

clicking and tail hung low. Thought you might

want to know. Deer ate the tulips again, a young doe

with twins. Tiny spotted things.

I wanted to ask where you put the instructions

for the furnace. It’s mighty cold this spring: the bees

might not hatch. And where’s the edging shovel,

the green handled one?

I wanted to know, if I‘d said sorry, would

you have left in such a fury? Would you have paused

long enough to scratch Gerry behind the ears? Long enough

to fasten the gate? And in that moment

robbed fate

of her early morning meal?

by Cathy Yard
Words In Motion 2014

Count to Ten

Son when you were small we'd always play this game

No matter where I sent you the question was the same

Mommy will you watch me and will you count to ten

I bet before you get there I'll be home again

Now that you have grown and gone away from home

I'm here counting no matter where you roam

I'm still here counting but I'll never get to ten

Until you are home safe and in my arms again

So Lord when you send him to some little thing

Will you watch over him and always count to Ten

by Carmel Giles
Words In Motion 2014

Cowboys Ways

You’re a certain kind of woman..

But I’m a different kind of man..

For a simple aching empty soul..

fate’s twisting render had began..

Discerning eyes that scan the pieces..

Where only you could see the whole..

Truth that knocked down my defenses..

Spawning sweet surrender that you stole..

A willing victim given the circumstance..

To natural beauty that you alone exude..

Twisted my thoughts and common senses..

So that nobody can but help to conclude..

That all the scattered pieces of my heart..

I  proffered freely a gift surrendered to you..

No I’m not relieved of all my common senses ..

Simply just that I’m a man no longer run askew..

by Billy Graham

Words In Motion 2014 

Crave

I gave you a wounded heart.. You were willing to cradle..

Broken trust needed mending.. You the only one able..

Music came alive again.. words now touch the sound..

My heart is in your hands now.. addicted to the pound..

I always get lost in you.. and somehow that’s OK..

Wrap the moon around us.. shadows like to play..

You have slain me.. many times I’ve told you that..

Where am I going .. I don’t even know where I’m at..

You are my only reason.. You are my only truth..

I’m a slave to my cravings.. the innocence of youth..

It’s been within me to this day.. and it has never died..

If only to experience you.. for this my soul has cried..  

Your love would be.. everything that I’ve ever craved..

Humbling would it be.. self thought has never waived..

Only heaven above.. will ever know exactly how I feel..

Would a thousand romance novels.. capture this appeal..

Truth is that I really need you.. the feeling of your heart..

The strongest part of presence.. that only you can impart..

Because I’ve started it over again.. I have a need to be free..

Because you’ve also been there.. It’s like staring back at me..

Would you think this was a come on.. and would it be a lie..  

If I surrendered my heart .. could I expect an honest reply..

Shattered trust has tainted me.. so please can you  forgive..

So if I placed all my trust in you.. May I once again but live..  

by Billy Graham
Words In Motion 2014

Dear Prince Charming

Dear Prince Charming,

Why aren’t you harming

That fire-breathing dragon

Instead of ridding a wagon?

Dear Mr. Right,

Why won’t you fight

For our honour

Instead of acting like a goner?

Dear Perfect Guy,

Why won’t you try

To act more romantic

Instead of being all frantic?

Dear Knight in Shining Armour,

We know you’re just a charmer

So don’t be surprised

When we see through your disguise.

by Leah Theroux

Words In Motion 2014

Dedicated to the ones left behind...

A gentle kiss and child's embrace,

The sweet and smiling little face,

A star that shoots and burns in flight,

That falls creating endless night,

I know too well that all must end,

The days move on my heart won't mend,

My thoughts still gust, billow and blow,

And I know not why the stars still glow.

I touch you no longer and cannot see

In my heart you will always be.

by Michele Paull

Words In Motion 2014

Deep Rooted in Bold

She could swallow lightening,
But it would make her spew venom.
Garish and outlandish,
She sat quietly and settled for beige.
Eggshells and maybe moss.
For the times she spoke,
Which there were few,
her words had a count on them.
Only so many. You may only have so many.
The blood she carried was blinding with gold.
The soil in which her body was rooted,
Grew redwoods thicker than your arms could spread.
She climbed out one day to see the world.
Quickly, bills and duties and wants filled up her days.
Eyes filled with glare of work,
Mind resembling manufacturers how-to's.
The sense of mindless exploration soon got gobbled up with endless tasks of nothing fun.
Her days and months went quickly, though the time passed slowly.
Routine and the same meals.
Pepper was bold, and colour was rare. 
This is how she lived,
Which made her die.
The soil soon dried,
And trees spoiled. 
Infection they said.
From the inside out.

by Julia Bennet
Words In Motion 2014

Deking the Deer

Long past mid-night,

traveling through winter’s dark,

following the snake-back of Draper Road.

Trees…telephone poles…rat-a-tat past,

I’m at least 30km over legal,

reliving the game—the pass

that scored

the only goal.

Sweat dries on my spine as

the blood cools.

There he is: straddling the centre line,

a six-point buck of a d-man,

ready to go, caught

large in the lights.

White-crested jersey

in my face.

We make our moves, no

sticks on the ice.

He wheels left: I deke right,

in a dangle that would have

done Messier proud.

Sweat collects on my spine as

the adrenaline rips…

by Cathy Yard

Words In Motion 2014

Dirty Water

Rub-a-dub-dub

Three men in a tub

The politician, the entrepreneur

and the undertaker

Rub-a-dub-dub

Wet heads together

They make slippery deals

Dirty the water while passing the soap

that never cleans, even when scrubbed

Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub

Into a huddle they make

splash and foam until

the politician climbs out 

promises tucked close to chin,

while the entrepreneur scrambles

with tax laws and penalties,

as the wrinkles set in.

Rub-a-dub-dub, two men in a tub

The soap now a sliver

as thin as the promises given, disappears

Water cools and businesses fold

as the entrepreneur sinks under

the soap-scummed water

Rub-a-dub-dub, an undertaker in a tub

wearing nothing

but a grin.

by Cathy Yard

Words In Motion 2014

Don’t You Shush Me Now

Are you listenin’, are you listenin’ good

Open them big flaps and get somethin’ understood

I don’t care if you leave and I don’t care how

Baby, don’t you shush me now

You said you’d be right back, heading through that door

What’s a week or two, it’s a looooong way to the store

Baby, don’t shush me now…oh no

It’s a longer way home, crawlin’ through the dark

Your belly draggin’ low, no baby, don’t you park

No baby, don’t shush me now … don’t shush me now

Don’t you park your tom-cattin’ tail by my front door

I mean it Baby, no more…no more

I said, Baby…don’t you shush me now

I’m just winding up. Gonna have my say

You’d best be on your knees and commencin’ to pray

No Baby, no more shushing now

That girl you been charmin’, she dropped by and said

All sassy and braggin’, tricked out in red

Listen, Baby, don’t you shush me now

She told me you was moving on, but I said get this understood

I was giving you away, this time for good

Oh yeah, Baby, don’t shush me now

Jimmy-two-step-shoes, keep on prancin’

Keep those slippery soles a dancin’

Yeah, Baby, here it comes…don’t you shush me now

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again

Don’t care if you leave, don’t care when

Baby…don’t you dare try shushing me now

So before you take your lies down that one-way road

Paradin’ them stories of your heavy load

Baby…baby listen up good, hear me now

You raggy-assed piece of useless bone

This here’s a call from the reality phone

Yes baby, that’s you I’m talkin’ to…

Don’t even think about shushing me now

Oh no…no more shushing now.

by Cathy Yard

Words In Motion 2014

Don't, Please

Don't sit too close,

Please don't touch me.

Don't sneeze in my face,

Please don't breathe on me.

Don't pretend we are friends,

Please don't talk to me.

Don't mock my clothes,

Please don't stare at me.

Don't act like I'm contagious,

Please, you don't know me.

by Michele Paull

Words In Motion 2014

Emptiness

You’re gone now.. no longer lying on my bed..

The softness of your hair.. the way it falls about your head..  

No more gentle sighs.. I find I’m missing you already..

Soothing sounds of breathing.. comforting and steady..

I find my mind wanders more each day.. now that you’re gone..

Nights are filled with restless sleep.. lasts ‘til morning’s dawn..

Lonely hours and empty days.. I find that I’m missing you..

Lost and listless all the time.. I miss the Ex’s Shih Tzu..

by Billy Graham

Words In Motion 2014 

Empyrean She-Devil

I call you rapturous,
you disagree, “I'm dangerous.”
Maybe I'm vivacious;
or you're just delirious.
All I know for sure is,
that you make me anxious.
You say you are vicious,
and I think that it's precious.

I must be Celestial,
in your presence.
You are paradisiacal
in your essence.
I am language,
you are fluent.
I am Anguish
recklessly ebullient.

You are my infuser;
my hearts beleaguer.
When those lips speak
I can't make a peep.
You paralyze my eyes
and tantalize my thighs.
This is my final ride
as you leave me pulverized.

by Jody Pratt
Words In Motion 2014

Entwining

Entwining fiction and reality

Every day is a masquerade

A tempting game of hide and seek

A shielding veil of every shade

Entwining fiction and reality

The feeling of rich velvet smoothing out the rough terrain

Shallow graves and creases gone without a pain

But yes that white shirt collar is left with a foundation stain

A sandstorm of ash like powder settling on a pale face

Our blood stopped flowing years ago

There’s a cure though

A puff of pink and there you go

Paint on the eyes to hide the years of showering tears

A thick dark coat of black

A blind fold from reality staring back at her in the mirror

The truth strikes an attack

It’s a search for happiness at the beauty counter but it’s never found

The cycle simply goes round and round and round

Entwining fiction and reality

by Maria Fustic
Words In Motion 2014