Poet's Platform Column | 5 July 07 by Janet Nesler | The Scioto Voice | Wheelersburg, Ohio

My Shadow I took a long walk last night alone needing time to sort things out, find elusive answers, reflect on my life. Lately, loneliness has become my constant companion; going where I go, walking along with me— like a tag-along shadow on a sunny day. I took a walk last night along a dark somber path to free myself of the ubiquitous shadow that follows me by day and by night. But the dogged shadow is inescapable— it hides like a sleuth in the umbra of my saddened heart. Charles Clevenger New Boston   Dreams                                             Sleep comes on soft, feathered wings Its warm embrace quiets my restless mind My heart is at peace and my soul sings The songs of the sea and the wind I am surrounded by my dreams They take me on flights of glory On brave charges, on championship teams Enhancing my mundane story All my petty problems disappear I am rich beyond belief and loved by all No calamity do I fear No challenge too daunting, no barrier too tall I am bound in a youth eternal Attracted to and by the fairer sex My features chiseled and my body tall No storms impede or hinder my trek As the light intrudes on my imaginary world Its cold features erode my contrived foundations All my seams are unfurled There is no permanency to my illusions I must hurry through my busy day With its convoluted ways and means For when darkness falls and the sun is away I can lay me down and dream. Charles Lloyd Turner Hazard, KY   Really, No One Really, no one can say what sleep is or awake.  At night there are the shells that pull themselves from out the waves, only to run back in again and make a prank of foam. In sun and motion—white—they laugh and wave at sails, their brothers overcome with blue, or poke straight up and at the gingham skirts some windows try so hard to keep in place. And still at other times, they sit beneath the shade of dune grass rustlings, mantra-like. William  L. Bulson Minneapolis, MN