Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.
michael w. nason

Little Girl Lost
By Mike Nason

Little girl walking round
Little girl don’t know this town.

Wandering not sure where
Looking for, someone to care.

Little girl feeling rain
Walking fast, hiding pain.

Little Girl you’re all alone
Night air chilling to the bone.

Little girl tears falling free
As you walk no one to see

Little girl what will you do?
Will this world be missing you?

Little girl what is the reason
No time of change within the season

Just times so hard no place to run
Little girl lost without the Sun.

Little girl you ran away
Try to find a place to stay.

Troubles follow everywhere
See the men the way they stare.

Little girl the night draws near
Down your cheek a little tear

In your throat a little cry
In your pain you ask why.

Little girl one calls to you
Knowing what he wants to do

Can there be someone here
To hold you close and calm your fear

Little girl before your face
Looking down at his disgrace

He smiles as he looks at you
Whispers words that are not true

Little girl he holds you tight,
Feigning love throughout the night.

Innocents have paid the cost
In a world of Little girl lost.

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.
Sam portraits with short hair 009

Sanctify Your Reason
By Samantha Noelle Golt

Have you seen the mess we are in
the illusions and the sins?
Have you seen the different faces
and the lights in their eyes?

Do you think that life’s a game?
There is no time, no space.
Yet one moment is too much too late.
Will you stand up and be brave?

I have the solution to this ordinary confusion.
Say no to the devil and Sanctify truth.

Come through to life,
Come with the fool,
Come into salvation.
Come through to love,
Come with your peace,
Come even through temptation.

Salvation, salvation, invasion from within.
Salivation, salivation, liberation from sin.

Do you know what’s bad, are you
the emotions and the thoughts?
Have you heard their different voices
the vibrations in your form?

Have you been searching for the truth or your youth?
Is your lifetime an endless journey? Where’s your permit?
Did you ever think to stop or to Rock?
And to follow somebody’s Mission? Get the Vision?

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.

WITHOUT THE MEETING OF THE WATERS
By Samantha Noelle Golt

I SEE WITHIN, THE MEETING OF THE WATERS
I SENSE A CHANGE, INSIDE YOUR HEARTS MY DAUGHTERS
I HEAR IT NOW THE MOMENT
I KNOW IT’S REAL, OUR FULLNESS

AND WHEN I PRAY, MY ANCIENT GOD RESTORES ME
I NOW BELIEVE OUR PATHS ARE JOINED IN WHOLENESS
I SEE YOU NOW MY BROTHERS

CONSCIOUSNESS RESTORED
OF RESURRECTION

I SEE WITHOUT, THE MEETING OF THE WATERS

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.
sean trott

Budget Cuts
By Sean Trott

The state is over spending
so cut homeless agencies
Voted to cut NOP
Although they help fill the vacancies
Across our state there’s housing
That the homeless can’t afford
But we overlook the facts
The issues continue to be ignored
How many have to become homeless?
In order for them to see
I guess we aren’t even close
Although the homeless number
climbs beyond 4,003
We rallied showing how important
This program was to us all
They didn’t want to listen
They chose to dismiss us to the hall
We face a new challenge
How will we survive?
When government targets
The less fortunate too deprive
We are truly in need
Of help and support
But I guess it ends as another
Lesson taught
The day has arrived that all of us
Are forced to fear
We are in an emergency situation
Screaming for them to hear
Can’t they see they’re eliminating
The middle and lower class
We are only asking for a chance
Not expecting a free pass
The wealthy remain stable
Continue to look down on the rest
The emergency broadcast
system is speaking
Except “this is not a test”
We have reached crucial times
We are poor as we can be
I want to be helped and heard
Stop poverty from raining down on me
Let us have the chance we are entitled to in this
American promised land
Don’t walk over or push us aside
Please lend us a hand

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.
Book Launch - Paradise Bound 2008 030

Mothers
By Sonia Golt

Like an Ocean deep within her
The love was again portrayed
For the children she had carried
Nine months till she gave them birth

There is not a greater love
For a woman to have known
Than the love she feels inside her
For the children that she bore

No one really ever warns you
Even though books you have read
That mention love for your children
Is the greatest love on earth!

This love can sometimes be painful
For their suffering you bear
No matter how many years
You will still forever care

Atoms fly within your body
Like little love hearts galore
Whenever you see the faces
Of your kids as they grow old…

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.

Simple Pleasures
By Sonia Golt

You know what makes me happy
the simple things in life
Like giving you a tender kiss
or just holding you tight

I love to hear the rain outside
and see the moon that shines
to smell a perfumed rose
or gaze up to the sky

I like to see the birds in spring
and hear their chirpy songs
and I adore seeing you smile
when we are both alone

I love to touch a baby’s face
because its silky soft
and to hold hands with my old man
who needs my firm support

I love to listen to your voice
when you call out my name
and for these moments I thank the Lord
for never losing faith!

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works.
timothy seal

BRICKS
By Timothy Seal

Brick’s looking in at me
Ceaselessly staring me down
Not a thought can I keep to myself
The mortar taunting me
“Look! Look at me!”
“Look at how I stick!”
I scream but it does no good
It does no good at all
I scream but it does no good
Because the bricks absorb it all

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Published in October, 2011 in Creative Works and News.

An Ode To Life
By Timothy Seal

Such is the life of an old sea snail
Silently sauntering within the boundaries of the sea
Unable to comprehend the beauty engulfing it
Simply because it is an old sea snail

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Published in September, 2011 in Creative Works.

Alone
By Robert J. Levasseur

Alone now, and I don’t like it.
Forgotten and not remembered.
Never thought of, ever;
Never dreamed of;
Never visited alone
And hoping for love.
My love is gone away.
I wait for her return.
The days and nights are long
As I wait for my love’s return.
When will she appear?
My loneliness surrounds me
And overtakes me.
Is it love, or fear of being alone?

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Mr. Perry’s Service

Published in September, 2011 in News.
OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERA

Held at the Mathewson Street Church in Providence

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Both Sides Now

Published in May, 2011 in Creative Works.

By Tom Deighan

I’ve seen both sides of the fence now
Someone who has had the dollars to
Do most of what he wants
Presently finding it hard to
Scrape two nickels together
While opening the store door
The eyes that looked at me
Were ones of Hope
And they were mine
“Please help me…” the dog did say
Although his mouth was closed
On the way out, I stopped
To run my fingers through his fur
He was a stray, who had
Carelessly been thrown aside.
The animal enjoyed my
Small amount of affection.
And when it was over,
He just stared and said,
“Why do you leave me behind?”
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In the Works: Legislative Roundup

Published in May, 2011 in Columns.
4/26/2011                 Blazejewski bill would aid investment in social ventures

STATE HOUSE – Social ventures – privately-funded companies seeking to serve a public good – are a growing trend in new business formation. Rep. Christopher R. Blazejewski has submitted a piece of legislation that would help Rhode Island become a national leader in this emerging economic sector.

“With many students graduating from our colleges and universities with a focus on entrepreneurship and community service, Rhode Island is well-positioned to become the Silicon Valley of the social venture movement,” said Representative Blazejewski (D-Dist. 2, Providence, East Providence). “As a tool for economic development, it is critical that we aid investment and foster growth in these socially responsible businesses.”

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4/26/2011                 Bill would recoup lost revenue from companies getting tax credits that relocate out of RI       Continue reading ‘In the Works: Legislative Roundup’

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Every Day Holds Something New

Published in May, 2011 in Creative Works.

By Lance Ellis

Always looking forward…
Never behind you…
Nothing else matters.
Never second guess your first thought!
Guard your heart…if not, it might be ripped out!
Look for the one that is trustworthy.
Some only want to play games (NO TIME IN LIFE FOR THIS).
Keep an open mind.
Something good is just around the corner.
People come and go, but true friends stick by your side!
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Homeless Experience and Grief

Published in May, 2011 in Columns.
By Chandra L Stone, M.S. ED., NCC

It is a sad fact that when one looks at grief, one does not see much about the homeless population in the literature or in research. Often, these people have such high levels of grief and trauma resulting from crisis situations like abuse, bad choices resulting in self-esteem issues, home loss, not being able to support onself, incarceration or other consequences. When you look at the homeless population with Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, it can show a sad state of affairs.

Even if the person manages to find a homeless shelter, often the time period for stay and policies around stays negate the ability to remain for any length of time and get assistance on issues that made this person susceptible to become homeless. Only their physiological needs are met and only for short periods of time. Even if a transitional home with a longer stay is found, regardless of the best intentions of those running the facilities, these people often do not get their safety needs met. They know that at any time they could be thrown out if they break the rules.  They also know that the time of stay is limited. When leaving transitional facilities the homeless do not maintain the support structure that was built.  They are often embarassed by the fact that they were homeless. This negates the ability to even think about belonging and needs being met as they hide that part of themselves. Thus there can even be grief about not being able to be open about oneself. While that is not always the case with people in transition, it is more often than not. Continue reading ‘Homeless Experience and Grief’

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Warning Signs of Suicide Risk

Published in May, 2011 in Columns.
By The Samaritans
Most people who are feeling depressed or desperate enough to consider suicide give clues to how they’re feeling. You can be the first step towards help for someone you care about by learning to recognize these clues to suicide risk.

Verbal Signs

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How to Get “Self-Control” Over the Urges and Cravings of a Bad Habit

Published in May, 2011 in Columns.
Self-control is what you build up, develop, create and learn by controlling your behavior repeatedly. We should regard self-control as a skill. It is not a character trait or a thing you either have or don’t have that decides if you can control your behavior If someone says, “I have no self-control over my drinking or drugging, or eating sweets or whatever,” it might be asked, “Are you well practiced at resisting your urges or opportunities to use or to overeat the wrong things?” The answer would likely be, “No.” This person is well practiced at giving in to those urges and opportunities to use. (No criticism from me! I did this for years and years.)

Getting control over your urges and opportunities is like getting control over a bicycle or roller skates or anything else. You’re not going to start out as an expert. You will get control of it only by forcing yourself at first to act differently than you feel! It looks like the bike should fall over, and it may feel very difficult or strange, but by practicing over and over, you learn to ride the bike! So the reason people correctly “feel” that they don’t have self-control is because they haven’t been practicing what would give it to them. In this case, the skill is in resisting urges or opportunities to use. Continue reading ‘How to Get “Self-Control” Over the Urges and Cravings of a Bad Habit’

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Alone

Published in May, 2011 in Creative Works.

By Stacey Marie

Hard to get by on my own
Never thought of the loneliness
Without you
Today…
Just another moment in time
Spent all by myself in my mind
Wandering…Wondering…
Why am I so alone?
Tomorrow is never quite clear…
It will never fill up the void that I feel
So I shut out the part of myself
Once so alive
Alive, but only to survive another day
Without you in my arms, in my mind
Alone for the rest of my life
Like a breath of air
It will be over too soon
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Who Was General Burnside?

Published in May, 2011 in Profiles.
By Dennis Boisvert and Stan Kapelewski

Across from Kennedy Plaza in Burnside Park there is a statue honoring a man on a horse in a military uniform. This man is General Ambrose Everett Burnside. He was the fourth of nine children, and was born to Edghill and Pamela Burnside of Liberty, Indiana on May 23, 1824. As a young boy, Burnside attended the Liberty Seminary until his mother’s death in 1841. Cutting short his education, Burnside’s father apprenticed him to a local tailor. After learning the trade, Burnside elected to utilize his father’s political connections to obtain an appointment to the US Military Academy at West Point in 1843.

Graduating in 1847, he then served in the Mexican War. In 1849, Burnside was wounded in the neck during a fight with the Apaches in New Mexico. Twice Burnside was offered command of the Army at the Potomac and twice he refused. Burnside knew he was best at a Corps command level. He proved himself a successful commander at the battle of South Mountain, giving General McClellan a chance to destroy Lee’s army at Antietam. But McClellan attacked piecemeal. General Burnside made a good fight at a stone bridge but he had received orders late in the day. He was slow in taking the bridge, giving General Lee time to build his lines.
Continue reading ‘Who Was General Burnside?’

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Taking Your Life

Published in May, 2011 in Opinions.
By Tom Deighan
Sometimes we have to take the blinders off to discuss one of the most difficult subjects — the intentional taking of your own life. We are afraid to say he or she took this precious gift away. It is a situation where you feel no hope. Sometimes the cause is a relationship, a loss of a job, financial worries, trying to compete for a woman — I can remember wanting to take my own life on a cruise and it was a combination of things that led me to the 10 foot waves. People coaxed me out of the water. These situations are often temporary, but in our minds, they appear permanent.

It was not the desperate situation that I thought it was. People often wait the longest of time to get help for their problems. Very often, the person making the decision is not thinking of loved ones who are still here and the tremendous emotional pain — the fear, guilt and shame, to name a few — they will feel in knowing their loved one has done this.

There is a saying that a problem shared, is a problem halved. I like this. Be honest in how you feel. Life will be easier and someday you will not be faced with this decision.

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Struggle

Published in May, 2011 in Creative Works.
By Arline Bolvin
Can we protect ourselves from struggle?
Not if we want to be alive and in the world.
When I avoid simple communications and rely on technology
to provide only what A human voice can reveal
I put myself at the mercy of that technology.
Fear of stress and struggle creates more stress and struggle
than just giving in to the reality that life is struggle.
Creation is struggle. Love is struggle. Friendship is struggle.
Working is struggle. Parenting is a lifelong struggle.
Just as Jacob struggled through the night with the Lord
We struggle through our lives with ourselves,
with others, with God, with every aspect of life.
Avoidance of life’s basic truths only
brings more pain and struggle that
does not have to always be painful.
We can struggle without feeling anger.
We can struggle with humor and love
We can laugh and sing as we try each day
To recognize ourselves in each other
And know with certainty that only love conquers all.
That the effects of our actions, thoughts, and words,
Can seem permanent but really God has the last say
The Universe aligns itself with love.
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