Welcome to the Gogyohka Society


 

 

Linda Umans:


Gobbling turkeys
walking white and
violet violets
patchwork feathers shining
in the surprising April heat.		 Sandra Parrot:

In deep woods lurking
among the dead leaves
and rotting logs,
a bunch of daffodils
shining yellow.

 		 Sandra Parrot:

Snowmelt puddles 'round
greening swamp cabbage,
and ferny marsh mallows
with yellow blossoms
listen to frog's chorus.

"Something there is that doesn't love a wall."*
 
Sandra Parrot:

Yet, still, some things do:
chipmunks, field mice,
rabbits, moles and lizards,
the occasional black snake.
 		 David:

Steel Talons
Silent wings
Golden orbs
follow the Sundown
Death comes quickly
 		  

Columbia Club Workshop Poems
Colored candy
costs twenty-five cents
no fancy gem,
no matter how valuable
can be eaten


Tom Shelford
 

 This day
We met
Three years ago
Today
It still rains


Nicole Velasco
 

 Hungry men
built
these city spires
Pierce only
themselves


Nicole Velasco
 
Heavy heart seeks levity
Hidden thoughts
Now written
Tied to a balloon
Take flight


Alexis
 

 Spring evening
Heavy rain
Gogyohka reading
makes
me smile


Jyothirmai Gubili

 It is a pleasure to be here
To hear you
To ponder your thoughts
And expand my horizon
So be it


Joanne Booth

 
Pen
and I
wordless
without
each other


Dorothy McLaughlin
 

 indoors
I forget
the coldness of rain
till I hear it, stronger now,
pelting the window


Dorothy McLaughlin
 

 a high fence
between our houses
only children’s voices
reach our yard
and sometimes a ball
Dorothy McLaughlin
 
Motor humming
nearby
and I
am dreaming
the sky


Carol Pearce-Worthington
 

 Tulips blooming
And rain
Coming
A puddle outside
forms


Carol Pearce-Worthington
 

 My wife has
no time
The kids, the job
Each moment
belongs to me


Ed Hoffmeister
 
How
will I know
you have been reborn
when I did not know
you had died?


Marilyn Hazelton
 

Rye Neck Middle School Creative Writing Class Workshop Poems

 
Stephanie De Rosa (age 17):

You’re faced with obstacles
that make you a stronger person
and when they’re done
a giant wave of relief
flows through your whole body
 		 Constantly
there is fighting
the miscommunication
is frustrating
when will it end
 		 The ignorance
is astounding
to make themselves feel better
they make others feel small
the guilt will soon hit
 
Monique Rose (17 years old):

Dance to it
sing to it
make love to it
Be yourself with it
It is music
 		 The instinct to kill
kills me still.
Nothing to substitute
my wrath or my rage
I am just saturated with revenge.
 		 Just to wake up next to you
To smell your aroma
To have that sensational touch
To be renewed by your persona
Oh, how much I want to.
 
Imagine a world with no more sin
No more lying
No more killing
Everything perfect.
Would it be a world then? 		To be neglected
To be rejected
To be left alone
in a hopeless state
Nothing present to preserve my fate		 Servando Rodriguez (15 years old):

Pain is momentary
It fades with time
However
Happiness will last
Forever
 
Freedom is not
always free
But it is
up to you
to determine the cost		 Amanda Mercado (16 years old):

Why try harder
I tried to the point where my heart spilled more than I thought it could.
We were once one
I thought you knew
But I guess I was the one who misunderstood.
Gerson Monroy (17 years old):

Fumes instead of clouds of thoughts
They’re colorless dreams
Broken
and shattered
Never to be dreamt of again
 		 My words caress the paper
so much
it makes
everyone else’s paper
jealous
 		 Kailly Diaz (17 years old):

Materialistic
things
will never
show
how someone feels
 
Words trying to come out
I just want to scream it out
Muffled
Why won’t it come out?
do I really want to show people what I’m about?
 		 Ja’nae Stewart (14 years old):

Envy
Corrupting your mind
Why are you so blind?
Do you not see
This is your fault
 		 Awake
in silence
inevitable truth
nothing is real
not even you
 
Moving along
you want me to stay
You hold me back
Never can I win
This game of tug-of-war		 Blank page
Nothing to w rite
I’m starting into oblivion
Searching my mind
The end?		 Alexis Woodbury:

Forced into submission
submissed into lies
Lying to return to who you were
Forgotten
You are a submissed lie
 
Quiet for so long
Chapped lips, Dry tongue
Inhale to scream
Exhale
To realize your voice is lost
 		 My lighthouse on the shore
Flares to remind me
Of the sands my sodden feet
no longer remember
This was my home?
 		 A two-faced coin
as polar as my heart
and yours
Flipped on its side
I see, both sides are the same
 
I thought we spoke the same language
so I wrote my heart on a stone
You tossed the stone aside
misunderstood
I am alone.
 		 Rick Marata:

Why is it
that our time
is limited
and so quick
but all so slow
 		 i am flying
i am
I am filled with air
but please
don’t let go
 
you can be lost
you can be dead
you can be angry
you can be envious
but you can smile
 		 i am shouting
i am yelling
i am expressing
i am feeling
the world is not my audience
 		 Grab hold
as the whips lash
as the knives stab
as the fists beat
grab hold
 
Stephanie Platero (17 years old):

have you forgotten
the time we had together
the fun, the silly faces, the laughter
you were a friend
I miss you
 		 You hurt me
I’d never thought you could
You left me as a little girl
Why?
What did I do?
 		 You gave me grace
You gave me joy
You gave me a heart
You gave me the world
What did I give you?
 
Today’s gonna be the day
that day
I say
The day I never thought
I’d ever create
 		 Sinai Orea (17years old):

I’m full of air
tied to a string
let me go
let me float
let me fly
 		 I’m full of air
tied and held to a string
let me go
let me float
let me fly
 
your grip is too tight
loosen it up
but don’t let go
I’m not ready yet
soon I will
 		 Elizabeth Reyes (age 14):

To dance
with no emotion
is to see
life
without character
 		 Amber Okin (14 years old):

Fleeing, running
away
from the
heart
Will be worse than confronting your fear
 
The
mutual standing
is
better
than no standing
 		 Teena Alex (age 15)

Like a phoenix
death comes
but blossoms
bright and new
like the spring
 		 My refuge
from the cold
is many miles away
getting there
is my fear
 
Sukhjit Kaur (age 15)

The sun shines
as someone smiles
happiness is brought
to life easily
as the rain clouds float away, like sorrow
 		 Lucy Hatem (age 14):

The Earth is
drying up
like a plant with no water
if only we could
water the Earth

 		 In the meadow I see
a flower
it was trampled underfoot
but it still
grows
 
Carlos Burgos (age 17):

You want 5 lines?
Wait, I can only write 5?
O.k. I got it.
So here is the 4th
and here’s your 5.
 		 Write wherever you can
Paper plates
Napkins
Cell phones
As long as it’s there
 		 Sure, force me to write
I don’t mind
But don’t complain to me
about my topic because
writing about anything is fine
 
Francesca Lombardo (age 16):

Nothing is ever
what it seems
The world is full
of deceit, jealousy
and lies.
 		 A smile
A laugh
Those little things
that light up
your heart.
 		 Gregory Goafar ( age 15):

I wish
that the
world was at peace
with no wars, no fighting
just so there would be peace
 
Lauren Sepa (age 14):

Stars
they lead the way
but after so long
you must lead
yourself.
 		 Ashley Carr (age 14):

Anger does
it rise
only in the dark
or does light
lend a hand
 		 The peaceful flower
blooms only in
the deepest of night
So why does day
compel her
 
In the darkest hours
light leaks through
from the heart
of the pure
to the world that has fallen through
 		 As the sword of truth
strikes the scared
could the
lies become
our truths
 		  
     
     
     
     
     

 

 

The U.S. Chapter of The Gogyohka Society was established in Autumn 2008 by Linda Vovos, Elizabeth Phaire, and Joseph Gesick, along with founder Enta Kusakabe. The Society is devoted to introducing gogyohka to the public in America and around the world, encouraging people of all ages to write poetry for authentic self-expression. Click here for upcoming Gogyohka workshops. Or, contact us to set up a workshop in your area.