Poet's Platform Column | 26 Jan 06 by Janet Nesler | The Scioto Voice | Wheelersburg, Ohio

A Queen You and I right now Are old Mail Pouch barns Chewing up life, spitting out What we can’t digest. We’re beginning to crumble— Our foundations have been taken away. But if we lean the same direction We will support each other And remain standing For another season of weathering. Somewhere in the Future Somewhere in the future There’s a shining knight for you and me He’ll probably have a Martin guitar or a banjo Sitting on his knee Somewhere in the future We’ll find “The Captain” of our dreams He’ll have a sense of humor But he’ll have to be the straight man To keep up with you and me. Somewhere in the future Our dreams will be set free We’re going to kill ‘em with our writing As you can see Somewhere in the future God has big plans for you and me And we’ll fulfill those dreams By being the best that we can be Somewhere in the future. Lori O’Dell Portsmouth From “On My Way To Somewhere” Rebirth The steel of her character glinted a warning to any man who might entertain the remote idea of conquest. She had learned well how not to trust a man. For eight thousand days her spirit had been contained inside the marriage cage. Manacled to dogmas of the past, her spirit fought in opposition to the nuptial pillow pressed tightly against her mouth, nose, eyes, brain and feelings. Strong women survive, and she made friends with the keeper of the key. When she had come to like and trust herself the cage door burst opened and in the evolution... a new woman came to appreciate the new man. Juanita Mays Milford, OH From “Dog Dreams by the Fire”