Writing Through Hard Times – May 2019
Each month, the Denver VOICE publishes a selection of writing from workshops sponsored by Lighthouse Writers Workshop. The Hard Times Writing Workshop is a collaboration between Denver Public Library and Lighthouse Writers Workshop. This workshop is open to all members of the public—especially those experiencing homelessness. Hard Times meets every Tuesday from 3-5 p.m. on the fourth floor of DPL’s Central branch. The Lighthouse sponsored workshop at The Gathering Place is specifically for that organization’s clients.
To check out more writing by the poets featured in this column, go to writedenver.org.
Fran Ford
Where Are They Now?
It’s Denver’s kind of monsoon.
March’s bomb, Winter’s boomerang—
Whatever the newscast calls it,
all about the B, it’s big:
monstrous seizure of sizable storm,
full-bodied, floppy wet flakes,
huge howl, hefty throat’s holler,
air less air than ice, cold breath
if a frozen corpse could breathe.
For the unhoused it is the proverbial
day in Hell, if they succumbed
and never woke from drug or drink
or more likely from despair alone,
or coupled with political disgust,
and talking in such kind of sleep
words big winds that bend won’t bear.
Oh, it’s big
and getting bigger.
Kevy Michaels
The Well
I was parched
Drained from battling
...All day long
So...
I went to
The Well
...To quench my mind
...To rest
For a little while
But a spiritual war
Was ongoing
...I had to return to
I partook of
Another cup
...For my Spirit
Seems that it
Lifted me Up
I could see
Adversaries
Looking Up
...At me
I headed back
To my journey
...On life’s road
Effervescent
With Gratitude
Knowing that...
Whenever I needed to
I would always
Have a sup
Waiting for me
...At
The Well
Shaleen Figueroa
Willow Breezie
I am very weepy.
Yeah,
That Willow,
She has nothing on me.
Feeling the hunger pangs in your gut,
Knowing you gotta make it through
Never trusting a whole lot,
And merely trusting a very few.
Heartache tends to harbor a very sick order
Troublesome, at times, to conceive
Romantic love, from a bleeding heart,
Just making it harder & harder to breathe.
