Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving
You tease and play
always a jester
While the aroma of
Home, long ago,
fills each room
one
by one...

I looked at you
Standing in the kitchen
and I knew
I would always love
Your smile
Your laugh
Your touch...

Thanksgiving
Gratitude runs thick
like cold, raw oil
And I'm most grateful
to have you
in my life.


Angela J. Schleicher © 2008

Religion on Steroids

The phone ring, ring, rings,

and I ignore the incessant tone

of Patriarchy submerged in Zealotry:

Religion on steroids, I muse

Closing my eyes, I imagine ignorance

Feeling its warm embrace

for too brief a moment...

In a flash, its gone with the ring, ring, ring

of technology's death to privacy

Bringing me back again

To the persistant realization

that you are no longer the parents

I once knew.

Angela J. Schleicher © 2008

Bigotry's Great Divide

Standing at the precipice of bigotry's great divide
I watch history unfold before me
Tears drown my eyes

No tears of joy for me this day
No Hollywood sunset to end this play
Do not be fooled by the hoopla
I say

For I have seen the Great Farce of a country swollen with pride
My fellow citizens chant "Liberty and Justice for All"
But the pertinent information
That always gets pushed aside
Is this"All" only applies
If you so happen subscribe
To a particular set of ideas, principals, and lies

Do not be fooled by this color blind election
I say
Because today, as much as yesterday
Hate lives in America
Hate breeds in her belly
His attention having shifted
From the color of our skin
To the choice of our mate
And I say
What worse way to hate
Than to stifle love?

Angela J. Schleicher © 2008

A Citizen Appalled

I watch the world shift and crumble all around me
A treacherous path lay ahead
I tremble
I see the leaders of a once great nation
falter and stumble...
And I wonder, who will heal this crevice, this wound?
I look for a leader with honor, with valor
I find none.
My eyes shift from the wreckage of democracy gone awry
Now focusing upon the subtle strengths of
a woman determined,
a woman focused,
a citizen appalled.

Angela Schleicher © 2008

Winter

As the cold dark winter
of your life crept in
I was left to ponder
all the memories that we've shared
and how I would fare in the days to come.
You nestled your head against my chest
and let out a sigh-
I knew it was not discontent
nor resignation,
Simply relief
to be in the warmth,
the shelter
the company
of one you love,
and who loves you-
And what better place
to spend the final night of your life?

Angela Schleicher © 2/9/2008 for Max

Little Pageant Queens

I saw little girls on the TV last night
all dressed up like whores.
Mommies pimping them shamelessly;
Daddies funding it proudly.
I saw little girls who were overindulged and undereducated
and Mommies who were vicarious onlookers,
Or impudent facilitators
of a crime against girls, women, society.
I saw little girls on the TV last night
wearing more makeup than clothes.
I saw children act like livestock at the local 4-H
And it made me sad.

Angela Schleicher © 2008

To Overcome

I am trying to overcome obstacles,
With nimble fingers and a fractured heart
I persist
With trembeling knees and a wavering voice,
I stand firm and say
"You won't beat me!"

I know heartache for the first time,
with all of it's delusions and lies...
Still I persist.

Remembering to breathe,
Remembering to awake,
Remembering to dress...

One day, I will be ok,
and I will know,
that I can endure,
I can survive,
I can thrive and enjoy
this thing called life.

Copyright ©2002 Angela Jeanette Schleicher