--------------------------------------------------------------------------- ISSN 1063-8377 __ _______________ // ) | S T A N Z A | // \/ |_______________| // \/ The Free Online Poetry Magazine // \/ // \/ // \/ - A Forum for Poets of All Kinds to // \/ Share Their Work - // \/ _________________ //__/ - STANZA is free to anyone who wishes ()_\ \ ///\ to download it - | a RAM Online | __//__ | Publications | | | | online | | | _| periodical | /_______\ ()|______________| \|_______________) August 1992 - Volume 2, Issue 1 --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cover art extracted from Writer's Ink RT on GEnie - done by SHADOWRITER, used with permission [_________________________________________________________________________] | | | Table of Contents | |___________________________________________________________________________| | | | Title Author/Poet Search Code | |{-------------------------------------------------------------------------}| | This Month in "Stanza"........................ Ryan MacMichael......... A | | How to Use the Search Codes............................................ B | | | | Messiah - Batteries Not Included.............. Jason Colflesh.......... 1 | | My Own Little Hell..................................................... 2 | | Night's Blossom........................................................ 3 | | | | Cantaberry Wind............................... Kelly Ford.............. 4 | | | | Epigram to Thine Own Self..................... Todd B. Fehey........... 5 | | The Unfolding.......................................................... 6 | | Hard to Handle (ode to Pigpen)......................................... 7 | | | | Oddity........................................ Elizabeth Millican...... 8 | | | | Tension....................................... Ryan MacMichael......... 9 | | | | Back Issue List........................................................ C | | The Final Verse........................................................ D | |{-------------------------------------------------------------------------}| |___________________________________________________________________________| ___________________________________________________________________________ | o All information Copyright 1992 RAM Online Publications. | | o All poems Copyright 1992 by their repective authors. | | o No part of STANZA may be reproduced, in part or in whole without | | permission from RAM Online Publications and its authors. | | o This magazine may be freely distributed in TXT or any compression | | format as long as no part of the magazine is changed and there is no | | fee involved other than standard connect/phone charges. | | | | STANZA, the Free Online Poetry Magazine -- ISSN 1063-8377 | |___________________________________________________________________________| [A] This Month in STANZA Ryan MacMichael Hello everybody! It's me, the guy from RAM Online Publishing! I bet you thought after I discontinued PC REVIEW ONLINE and STANZA, you'd never hear of another RAMOP publication again, huh? Well, we're back with STANZA, the free online poetry magazine. After six months, I'm glad to be back on the online publishing scene. I am hoping that STANZA will be more widely publicized than it was before. Hopefully we should be soon listed in several national and international periodical directories. The home for STANZA discussion is still CATegory 28, TOPic 3 of GEnie's Writer's Ink RoundTable (page 440) and is part of your $4.95/month subscription fee. Stop by and say hello to let us know how you're doing. The Writer's Ink RT's software library will be the main place on GEnie for you to find issues of STANZA in both .TXT and .ZIP formats. As I've said many times, this magazine simply cannot survive without submissions from the readers. There is no payment for submissions at this time since RAMOP makes no money from this magazine, but nonetheless, we hope to continue to be a distributor of good poetry. All rights stay with the poet, by the way. This month we feature several entertaining poets. Jason Colflesh has three poems in this issue. Mr. Colflesh is a master of the language of emotion. His vocabulary and usage of words send across a very strong message in each of his poems. Also in this month's issue is Kelly Ford. Ms. Ford's look at the "Cantaberry Wind" is very well done -- its topic closely resembling a poem that I wrote not too long ago. Todd B. Fehey, an English teacher at Weber State University and experienced poet, graces us with three of his poems this month. Also, returning from the graves of the old issues of STANZA is Elizabeth Millican with a new and very abstract poem. I also reprinted a poem of mine that appeared in the January '92 issue (now with a shorter name) that seems appropriate now because of the events that have occurred in the last three or four months. Hopefully, after each December issue, I can put out a "Best Of" collection of the ten best poems that appeared in STANZA in that year. And who knows -- there may be a few contests along the way. Stay tuned! I certainly hope you enjoy this issue and pass it around wherever you can. If you have something to share with us, please do. I look forward to hearing from you. [ END - A ] [----------] [B] How to Use the Search Codes Ryan MacMichael The search codes listed in the Table of Contents are very easy to use. Simply load STANZA into your text editor, or viewer, or whatever. Then find the search code you wish to search for in STANZA, then do your FIND command and type: [x] where x is the search code. Simple! In the future, we may be lucky enough to have a specific viewer for STANZA. If you think this would be a valuable asset, let me know. [ END - B ] [----------] [1] Messiah - Batteries Not Included Jason Colflesh A young maiden wandered in the woods one day, Searching for a good knight. She was one who searches for someone Who'll arrive and make things alright. As she wandered she heard a voice call, "Oh, help! Won't someone help me?" She found a boy lost in the woods And told him, "Of course I'll help thee." She guided the boy to the edge of the wood, Where he turned to her and said, "I wasn't really lost in the woods, But only alone, searching for a friend." So the moral of the story, you see, Is so clear I really shouldn't bother. When you are alone and search for a savior, You are liable to become one to another. [ END - 1 ] [----------] [2] My Own Little Hell Jason Colflesh Once I built a fire, Built it fierce and tall, And basked myself in its warmth. I had not thought the weather cold, Not before the fire. But soon the fire began to die, As fires are apt to do, And I could not stand the cold. So I threw your letters on the fire, And kept myself from the chill. But again, the fire began to die, As fires are apt to do. So I threw your photgraphs on the fire, And again kept myself warm. But once more the fire began to die, As fires are apt to do. I had nothing left to feed my fire, You were gone. As people are apt to do, When faced with the fire. I had nothing left, so, to keep warm, I stepped into the fire. How warm it is! Won't you join me? [ END - 2 ] [----------] [3] Night's Blossom Jason Colflesh Black. Black upon black Darker than the endless night. But within burns The light of a thousand suns, Purer than an angel's radiant countenance, With passion as would Burn men's souls. But this beatific luminosity Is no better than a dismal spark If it is not shared. And how can the light of should be shared When it is enveloped by shade? [ END - 3 ] [----------] [4] Cantaberry Wind Kelly Ford Blow softly gentle wind, Comfort me in my time of sadness. Bring to me hopes and dreams, Take from me fears and pain. Let me know your every direction. Let me see you in all your forms. How can you be so diverse? How can you be so passionate in summer? How can you be so frigid in winter? How can you be so unpredictable in spring and fall. I think I know you and you change course. I want to hate you and you warm my heart. I want to love you and your icy fingers stab deeply. To you, my emotions are a child's toy to toss about. You fling me about like a piece of dust. Cantaberry wind can you hear me calling? Cantaberry wind don't blow me away. [ END - 4 ] [----------] [5] Epigram to Thine Own Self Todd B. Fehey A greater source of fiction are we Who invent ourselves in others' hopes, Then vanish before the mirror. [ END - 5 ] [----------] [6] The Unfolding Todd B. Fehey Layer upon crumpled layer Our lives come to fold, Chapters stained Or marvelous in some brief sections: The wedding, the first-born, A trophy, Most Likely to Succeed-- But promise often tarnishes Before the glint is noticed By anyone who matters, And we are left to cradle A plaque engraved in disappointment, Etched in fragile psyches Not so much as words But in words of praise not heard, In the promotion given To one who has not yet oxidized, Whose gifts have been employed, Whose rot is young, Whose scent still lingers sweet Before the putrefaction. [ END - 6 ] [----------] [7] Hard to Handle (ode to Pigpen) Todd B. Fehey I never knew Ron McKernan, and I wonder how many ever really met that scared little boy behind the scowl, behind 200 pounds of beer-fat; If he complained, it was only through a harmonica, Then he'd tell you about that deep-soul hurt-- a lonely dire wolf under a singular moon, stomping out life's last chords on a rawhide liver. [ END - 7 ] [----------] [8] Oddity. Elizabeth Millican Odd how my knuckles assume a certain decadence to their being Run faster your vision implodes vegetable laughter happy Who wants to be E.E. Cummings? she shouts she filled her glass and he does his beautiful dance I am you! she screams pleasing aftertaste someone find the meter waves of yelling from the lower room salt and a gorgeous shriek Of a character tears and fear rapid shaking of heads not the music Stupidity... Shut up. [ END - 8 ] [----------] [9] Tension Ryan MacMichael I sit alone and ponder, Begin to think and wonder, What's going through your mind? Are you dreaming of scheming, A plan so redeeming, Just awaiting the proper time? Or are your thoughts geared, To concentration of your fears, Living in total anxiety? Thoughts of dying, You start crying, You are afraid of me. Or are MY thoughts geared, To concentration of MY fears, Living in fear of another? I can feel the tension, So I just must mention, I won't hurt you, my brother. [ END - 9 ] [----------] [C] Back Issue List These are the back issues of STANZA. They are obtainable from the Writer's Ink RT Library on GEnie (M440;3). Included are the plain ASCII text versions as well as the ZIPped versions. Below the chart is a brief overview of each issue. MONTH ISS .TXT .ZIP -------------------------------- Nov '91 1 2437 2578 Dec '91 2 2535 2579 Jan '92 3 2577 ---- Nov '91... PREMIERE ISSUE... Poet of the Month: Elizabeth Millican... featured poets: Charles Daley, Edward Michalski, Robert Gratix, D. Scott Anderson, and Linda C. Shelton. Dec '91... Poet of the Month: Charles Daley... featured poets: Apurva Dave, Ryan MacMichael, Wild Rose, Kirk Haines, and Mike McVeigh. Jan '92... LAST ISSUE BEFORE REINCARNATION... Poet of the Month: Christopher G. Saypack... featured poets: Michael McVeigh, Ryan MacMichael, John Travailian, Apurva Dave, and Wild Rose. [ END - C ] [----------] [D] The Final Verse Questions and submissions should be sent to editor Ryan MacMichael at: GEnie : R.MACMICHAEL Prodigy : XVJJ45F VirtualNet : 52@6291 US Mail : Ryan MacMichael Stanza Magazine 22 Lightning Dr Medford NJ 08055-9752 o All submissions can be made via e-mail on any BBS that I am on, on the network addresses listed above, or the above US Mail address. With US Mail questions and submissions, include a SASE for a response. o STANZA is published monthly by RAM Online Publications with a temporary release date on each issue of the third Monday of each month. o If you are on GEnie, you may visit our home on the Writer's Ink RT (M440;1) at Category 28, Topic 3. This is a GEnie*Basic service that is part of your $4.95/month subscription fee. [ END - D ] [----------] [ :END - Stanza, 08/92, Vol. 2 Issue #1: ]