Images

by: Guildford Windley

The Lily pad
______________________
The Lily pads upon the water
In a small pond, they float
Like small clouds in the sky lazily floating by
A world full of problems fades, as you lay on the ground in the shade of the weeping willow tree
To sit on the grassy mound above the shore
On a sunny afternoon with but a few clouds to dot the otherwise clear day I find myself lost in trance watching the birds come in
Landing on the water with a little splash, looking for food and a place to rest
Ducks and geese plenty playing among cattails and the reeds,
All they sing and fill the air with the sounds happiness
Water lilies layout before you, as if Monet Had dab the oils and had painted this beautiful day.
In the distance, you can see the old arch bridge that crosses the quite lily lake, and you can see the travelers as they make their way across heading for their destination to busy not to notice or even pausing to see the beauty that lies before their face
Here is a world at peace, where all sorts of creatures come to play and drink
If I had my way, on the bank I would stay, a portrait lost in time
A painting, I would be, a painting by Monet
Guildford H Windley
May 3, 2019

by: Mar’Kata Rhaimes

It was you that I met, at the very time when everything seemed to have been lost.
It was you that I met, at that moment when I thought I had to hate myself the most.
It was you that I met, when I thought I had prematurely reached my life’s very end.
It was you that I met, when this life had creased me beyond the kind of child that anyone could pitifully pledge to defend
It was you that I met, and somehow everything about me eventually changed.
It was you that I met, and all my life automatically was rearranged.

It was you that I met, and all my fears were ultimately estranged.
It was you that I met, and all the miseries of my heart, for love at first sight were exchanged.
I had always been around with you, but for some reason, the two of us had never really met!
Right now, it makes sense that I was wrong to believe that what you actually see is exactly what you get.
Because at the very time when all I saw around me was a ruthless outrage of pain and hate,
That’s when you showed up, and my hope to love again was automatically re-set;
Now I’m stronger, am wiser, am nursing colorful butterflies; all just because it was you that I met.

by: Guildford Windley

The Song that Beats within my Heart
____________________________________
The song beat in my heart
Beats a sad note to hear
The world that was so beautiful
Not so beautiful anymore
In a world of so much hate and racial divide
A world cold to those who are now marginalized
In a world where women, have to fight for their equal rights
My heart beats, with a song of sadness, of this place
The plant we call home
Where we turn the land that was once so good, now into barren earth the soil so poison
The air no longer can we breathe, for the smokestack of the cars and factories that billowing smoke does climb that air at one time was so fresh and clear
The water once pure no longer do we drink, for the poisons we flushed into them, the rivers and the creeks
Then the corporations have the gall to charge you for bottled water that you need
We did all this to make things that break within a week
So off to landfills do we seen this stuff we spent the time to create
More junk, more land do we need, but no places for the poor to sleep
No housing or a place to go, heartless are the answers for which the power gives, drive the homeless out is their solution
But much of the homeless are those who work, but the income that they make does not a living do they get
Sure there are those on the down and out who suffer from addiction and a mental condition, they need a helping hand, not the scorn of others and most of these here folks you wish to kick about, were at one time our countries fighter
We sent them off to war on a distant shore the person you see laying on the ground, unkempt and of foul smell is the shell of the body, the person who they were is still off on some distant shore in that god damn war
My heart does not sing a tune for the tears run from my face for the tragedy that we face
America, in some eyes maybe great to them, but what they see is greed to most human beings
We plunder and bomb the people we hate, and then extract their wealth
We overthrow the government and replace them for our own dictators and then have the gall to lecture the people on democracy all the while we’re an oligarchy
When people flee their home because of violence and poverty and seek a better life
They come to our shores, but what do we do
We tell them to go away our doors are closed
Yes we took your wealth, but we don’t want you
My heart is sad to think of the evil in our land
A war machine that keeps the wealthy rolling in the money, while we waste the youth on fighting
For wars that are never ending
Where corruption rules the day, a government that stacks the deck against the common man
A place where corporations do what they want and pay no heed to the people they steal and rob and no taxes do they pay
All the big shots send their money to their offshore accounts, their billionaires but when it comes to taxes they have taken a vow of poverty
The America I wish to see, take a new road where we are actually free where people matter more than riches
Where we can breathe clean air and drink, sweet water
The food we eat won’t actually poison us
A place where my heart can rejoice with a new beginning
A song that I can share of a world with hope and not despair
For a world at peace, with love and respect for all no matter who they were
This is the song I want my heart to sing
Guildford H Windley
April 28, 2019

by: Yasir Sulaiman

A short story dedicated to working women:

The clock struck 11 in the morning and everyone in the company was tense. Today was definitely going to take unexpected turns for all of them, as a new Managing Director had been appointed for their company. But there was no big deal in a new person being appointed for the post, but the problem lay in who it was. Though none of the staff or laborers had seen the person, they had heard from grapevine rumors that this person was a deadly and strict one, who was pretty infamous in the previous places that he had worked in. The faculty of this company had also learned from anonymous sources that he had been very harsh on workers who disobeyed the company’s rules, didn’t maintain discipline and punctuality or performed weakly in their respective posts. He was alleged to have even slapped a senior official of the company in broad daylight and in front of everyone, for sleeping during work hours.
This sent a shiver through all the worker’s spines as they waited for their new Managing director. They wondered how he would like and of what age he should be, if he indeed was as frightening as they had heard. Right then, the grand car of the chairman of the company arrived inside the company’s premises. As he was supposed to escort the new Managing Director to the company, all of them nervously stood the test of time to see ‘that’ new guy. Their chairman got out of the car first and then waited for his ‘guest’ in the car get out too. The faculty’s eyes nearly burst out of their sockets, as they strained to get a glimpse of the person and found out…it was a woman!”
Utterly confused with what was going on, everyone decided that she should be the chairman’s daughter or some other relative like that, as she was pretty young and appeared to be from an affluent family. Then their chairman accompanied her and came towards where the workers stood. He introduced her to them saying, “Meet Ashwathi Ramachander, your new Managing Director.”
Everyone stood still, not knowing how to react. This was nothing like what they would have imagined even in their wildest illusions. They silently welcomed her into the company’s main office and studied her more carefully. She appeared to be just a fresh graduate, if one studied her delicate features and fresh glow on the skin. This immediately brushed aside their fear, as they felt she would have landed in this job owing to the pressure of some influential person and not on her own merit. So their expressions lightened and many went to the extremes of even teasing her anonymously with words. Ashwati ignored all this and elegantly walked to her new office room. On her way, the guard in front of the room went one step further in teasing her by brushing one of his hands on her bottom. Ashwati immediately paused and turned around to him. Ashwati then asked him with a smiling face, “What’s your name?” The guard replied that his name was Manoj. Then Ashwati asked him since how much time had he worked here as a guard. When Manoj proudly replied that he had been working here for five years, Ashwati then told him coldly that it would useful for him to find a new job, as he had just lost his job in this company. As Manoj stared at her in shock, she continued smiling and then in a jerking motion, slapped him harshly on his face. “And that is for touching me. This is from me personally and has nothing to do with the company.
Immediately all understood that she is not a woman anyone should mess with. She was efficient and had climbed up the ladder learning several things on the way and had reached her by her own skills. She had redefined the meaning of the managing director of a company. She belonged to the new era and should individually be known as the WOmanaging Director of the company.

More such stories can be found at https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07M5XRCHD/ref=dbs_a_def_rwt_bibl_vppi_i1

by: Yasir Sulaiman

Amazing! This book has literally captured my imagination “Beyond the Absurdities”! Combining elements of horror, mythology and science fiction, the author has ensured that everyone will love a piece of this book. It features 12 short stories; all of which contain a single theme. ‘What are we doing to the world today? Isn’t everything being destroyed around us? Then why aren’t we taking steps to save it? The future looks very bleak but we are not changing. Coming to mythology, “the Day of Judgment” is a common faith for several faiths. This book makes us imagine what that would be like. Hats off to Alexander! Ian author myself; but I imagined things which I earlier couldn’t even dream about.

This book can be downloaded freely for a limited period of time from https://www.goodreads.com/ebooks/download/18690888-beyond-the-absurd

by: Yasir Sulaiman

Run oh rebels, wait no more!
Forget those excuses you must
Race towards your goal you must instead.
Run my rebels, run immediately .
Cross those boundaries of words,
Race with your eyes only on success!

Have faith in yourself,
Remain that will be more than enough.
Adamant you must be,
Defy all rules and norms,
Determined you must be,
Make the world you must, to hear your own voice.

Fall if you do once,
Again try it ten more times.
Fly high, my dear rebels!
Come fly along with me, come join my rebellion
Do not you fall behind,
Despite how harshly back you are pulled
Have in your mind some ambition?
Lay the doors of your mind, first open.
Believe if you do in yourselves,
Follow you soon the world will themselves.

As the sun rises,
cast your eyes on it, oh warriors.
Aim for more than you can reach, aim for the sky.
Dream big dream yourself flying high!
On the goal keep your focus,
Feel the blood pumping through your veins.
Spread your wings to take the breeze,
time has come to soar over the seas.
Scattered with obstacles the path may be,
cross it we must with courage and humility.
Remember we must that we are not alone,
as in the journey to the destination,
we reach together, we reach as one.
Dream we shall and travel we shall beyond the sky,
beyond limits, beyond possibility!
When reach there we shall, we shall reach victory,
And staring at us, people will say,
They are flying high!

Fly high, my dear rebels!
Come fly along with me, come join my rebellion
Fly high, my dear rebels!
Come fly along with me, cross we shall the horizon.

– Starting a revolution soon with my books –

by: Yasir Sulaiman

I often forget how m any tales are hidden in each small moment of life. I often forget how lucky I am that I have my loved ones near. Yet am I “Still loved, still missed” by the hundreds of people (and perhaps animals) I was close to in life but have no contact with you? That is the central theme of this book which has 14 short stories and a poem. The author had mentioned in the beginning that this book penned down thoughts she had at different points of life. Right from “The Sepal” to “My Little Child” and from “Still Love Still Missed” to the “Bluebells in the Woods”; the theme of all stories is being pushed to the backdrop, but yet living those moments in the mind. I am not revealing anything more. Strongly recommends this book to lovers of nature and philosophy. Read this book before you go to sleep at night, and you will wake up smiling! Trust me!

by: alexis karpouzos

Our heart is so small,
almost invisible.
It’s a blessing from the light,
a touch of the stardust,
a whisper of the infinite.
Let’s give her a chance.
One life, just one,
breathe free.

by: alexis karpouzos

I dream that on day
we will look at each other
in the same way
we look at the sun.
and we will touch
each other like the sun on earth,
and the blessings of light
will flow into our hearts.

by: Yasir Sulaiman

I will start my review with an ending line, “Once I started reading this book, I couldn’t put it down until I completed it!” Set in war-torn Crotia in the early nineties, this book is a good fusion of the super-natural, teenage fads and an element of revenge. The basic concept is “visions in dreams” that predict bad-outcomes for people not favored by Helena; the central character. I am not revealing much more of the story nor the characters, as the book is a little small and I wish something to be left to suspense. Some cons in it though are too many characters who sometimes contradict themselves. That is a person who was declared to shy at first got rebellious just two pages later. However, I do admire the author Kristina Gallo for her narration style. Will suggest to work on her phrasing of sentences.

Giving it a 4 star. The book can be purchased from https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NRZBNVC/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_3RRzCb0CEVM20

by: Shirley Satterfield

Hi Facebook, Twitter and Linkedin friends. Now while most people my age are preparing to die, I’m preparing to just begin to live and to live and to just keep on living even after I die. Such are the personal thoughts of a baptized believer in Christ.

Sure, we believers have our little disagreements and our private tussles, but we have to keep our eyes on the bigger picture. We believers are building a Kingdom and sometimes we get a little weary in our work-a-day world, but God promised us that if we do not grow weary in well doing and we continue our work until the end, we will reap a just reward in the end. God bless.

by: Shirley Satterfield

.Willie, Willie
such a paradox of a person.
He’s a real nice guy,
he drives a church van,
cooks dinner for the saints on Sunday
and shares pizza with a neighbor under a shade tree.
But have you met his shadow man?
Have you met the him that sins?
The him that no one sees?
If only he would cozy up to Jesus
and be baptized
God would set this shadow man Scott free.

God would forgive him.
I have forgiven him.
He would then forgive himself,
Dear God
Amen and amen.

by: Guildford Windley

The Crash
_________________
h the air we breathe
The food we eat
The water we drink
The education that makes us thinks
The places we work or the places we play
The roads, bridges, and buildings
The various modes of transportation
Banking, insurance, medical and corporate practice
Communications and social media
In fact, all that could affect us, all we need to trust
Once were regulated, now they are not
Gone, they will go down in history, those federal agencies
FDA the environment, education, labor and others that we relied on
The Republican says look what we have done
We have freed up capitalism, cut their taxes we are going strong
But at what price have we given to them
As their profits soar and we can’t trust them anymore
Cut cost and pollute, don’t care what goes into the food
The air fills with toxic particles water you can’t drink
Will sell you water at a price and will overcharge you in fact
Our country facing global warming the big shots could care less
Yes the economy is moving along, but the deficit soars
Demands from the right to cut out entitlements do away with Medicare, Medicaid, and Social Security
No more unemployment, no more welfare
All will be gone as the people cheer the wealth will increase for the rich
Then as sure as there is a sun in the sky, the economy will fall
When the dust clears, it’s 1934.
Guildford H Windley
April 23, 2019

by: Guildford Windley

I Feel So Small
______________________________
One night as I looked up at the stars
It occurred to me how small I really must be
There up in the sky were trillions upon trillions of stars
Who knows how many, there is more than anyone will ever see
We live on a small planet, in a small solar system, one not of importance in the scheme of things
In fact, there are planets so big they could swallow our Sun and all the planets and still have room
When you put this all together, one can see why
I question my own existence, for what is my life
What if I never was? What if there was no me
How would the world change without little me?
For one thing that I know those who dislike me
Those looked down on me, who judges me so
Those that cared for me, and those who loved who I am
All these people and those who could care less
Will, if I never exist, would their life be amidst
For without my life, the footsteps that I walked would never show
All the lives that I affected for good or bad would be changed for we would never meet
What if I never was?
My wife would not be my wife, someone else would have the love she now gives to me
Also all my children their lives would not be and in the course of time, so many lives would so change.
All because, a little clog, like me, never was
When you think about the enormity of space and of time itself
Just reflect on this, if there were no stars or light to use for reference, just total darkness of space, there would be no time
For, time is a state of mind, without a reference it does not exist
So with that in mind, think of this no matter how small you feel
To all, that you see like time itself, you’re a reference
So it goes for each and everyone one of us no matter how small we see our self, we were meant to be
Just like time, there is a reason, just like space without a beginning, one without ending
No matter how big the universe, it’s still the little things that count
Remember this, my friend, for want of an atom; there would be no Universe at all.
Guildford H Windley
April 21, 2019

by: Guildford Windley

I Feel So Small
______________________________
One night as I looked up at the stars
It occurred to me how small I really must be
There up in the sky were trillions upon trillions of stars
Who knows how many, there is more than anyone will ever see
We live on a small planet, in a small solar system, one not of importance in the scheme of things
In fact, there are planets so big they could swallow our Sun and all the planets and still have room
When you put this all together, one can see why
I question my own existence, for what is my life
What if I never was? What if there was no me
How would the world change without little me?
For one thing that I know those who dislike me
Those looked down on me, who judges me so
Those that cared for me, and those who loved who I am
All these people and who could care less
Will, if I never exist, would their life be mist
For without my life, the footsteps that I walked would never show
All the lives that I affected for good or bad would be changed for we would never meet
What if I never was?
My wife would not be, someone else would have the love she now gives to me
Also all my children their lives would not be and in the course of time, so many lives would so change.
All because, a little clog, like me, never was
When you think about the enormity of space and of time itself
Just reflect on this, if there were no stars or light to use for reference, just total darkness of space, there would be no time
For, time is a state of mind, without a reference it does not exist
So with that in mind, think of this no matter how small you feel
To all, that you see like time itself, you’re a reference
So it goes for each and everyone one of us no matter how small we see our self, we were meant to be
Just like time, there is a reason, just like space without a beginning, one without ending
No matter how big universe, it’s still the little things that count
Remember this, my friend, for want of an atom; there would be no Universe at all.
Guildford H Windley
April 21, 2019

by: Yasir Sulaiman

Come before me you did a lot,
But words spoken between us were very few
Close to me when you were not,
Immensely, I still did feel you.

Don’t know how, why, or when,
Began to long I did, to see you more often.
Because, awestruck by your mischievous eyes,
And captivated by your rosy lips I was.

My hands wished to float through your silky mane,
And my ears wished to hear your voice again and again.
But I couldn’t!
Wish I did to say so many things to you,
Wish I did to reveal my thoughts for you.
But I couldn’t!

See you more I wanted to,
But I couldn’t!
Speak to you I wanted to,
But I couldn’t!
Touch you I wanted to,
But I couldn’t!
Kiss you, I wanted to,
But I couldn’t!

Eyes of mine were veiled by morality,
My tongue was held back by family,
Hands of mine were cuffed by chains of sensitivity,
And my heart was imprisoned by my own eligibility

Wish I did a lot of things, to do,
But now they can never come true.
Still wish I do, if you ever knew,
That I had fallen in love with you.

by: Yasir Sulaiman

Every individual alive today is known or recognized by a distinctive personality or character that he or she shows in his or her actions and the way they speak. And there are many who have multi-faceted personalities and whose individuality changes with their mood. But a common trait that one would find in
every individual no matter how different or distant each one from the other may be is that each one has two universal halves. One half where that individual shows strength, ambition, confidence and courage to the world and the other half is the half where one’s “fear” is hidden.

No matter how much ever people deny it, everyone has fear inside them. Throughout life, they keep getting afraid of something or the other. At childhood, everyone is frightened of darkness which continues to remain in some even as they grow up. Heights always instill a fear in people, no matter what their age or profession is. No matter how experienced and brave a stuntman or sportsman you are, the fear of heights will always crawl up your neck each time you see the ground below from the top. Your mind still remains tense in imagining, someone would pounce on you while you wait in the dark. Sudden bursts of sound in silent rooms still turn people’s skin yellow.

So what do we do about this? Can we make our brave-half stronger, so that the other half diminishes? Or should we just continue to ignore it, though we know it exists inside us? No! The best way to overcome fear is to admit it’s presence within us and think of it as a weapon instead of drawback. It is because we are afraid, that we refrain from doing things that could cause harm to us. For example, it is because we are afraid to touch fire that we don't touch it and save ourselves from the injuries it could cause if we had touched it in the first place.

Any tool in the world as long as it is used in the right way for the right reason at the right time. Fear too is no different from this and “as long as fear is used to stay away from harm, there is nothing to fear.”

by: Guildford Windley

She Is the One
_____________________
Feel the wind blowing in your face; it is her touch that you embrace
Feel the rain as it falls from up above it’s her tears of love
Look into the mirror do you see, who holds the key to your inner being
It’s her face like an etching burned into the recesses of your mind that’s where it dwells and holds it spell upon your thoughts
She there, right beside you each night do you see her, in your eyes
She’s every woman that can be
She’s every woman that you’ll ever need
She picks you up when you down, she knows just what you need to make you whole, to make you complete
For she is every woman, but she is all the woman that you need
You find yourself bewildered and confused under the spell she has on you
For she is every woman, but she is all the woman that you need
Your life is what you make of it, but she the one who makes that life complete
For she is every woman, but she is all the woman that you need
You may try to run but it’s you won’t get far, the urge that burns within you, is her tender love all aglow as it rages in your heart
Soon you back at her side knowing there is no place to hide, the spell she has on you, you know it keeps you satisfied
For in her loving arms is all that you desire
For she is every woman, but she is all the woman that you need
You look into her eyes, deep down within her soul you’ll see the truth that she bestows
Like a foggy mist that wraps around you, you’ll find your balance is lost, no compass to guide you
There is nowhere to run, there is nowhere to hide
As the power of her charms takes hold, her soul and yours are now one, the peace you seek you now have found
For, in the end, you know the truth
She is every woman
But she is the one, and only one that your soul was created for
She is every woman this is true, but she is the only woman that you’ll ever need!
Guildford H Windley
April 20, 2019

by: Shirley Satterfield

The Baptism

Stumbling, Trembling, Faltering
as I step down into the cold clean waters of death.
Oh how I fear.
Oh how I dread
the chilly abode of the dead.
But, down I go
as trust grips the likes of me.

Then up I come,
a slave of fear set free
as joy, joy, joy
grips the likes of me.
Now, what’s that I hear
in the background din?????-Its the sounds of angels singing!
So, now I know what I only knew in part;
It is really true-I was truly saved from sin.

by: Guildford Windley

A glimpse of a Dream
______________________
One glimpse of her eyes
Makes my temperature rise
Her movement is of methodic beat
She sways in the wind and moves with grace
Her face, a face that burns inside my soul
In my dreams she comes to me, I see her face
But yet no embrace can I share with her
She is of the wind, a free spirit born to fly
Outside of my reach, she taunts me with a beguile of a smile
In my dreams, I’m lost to no avail for I try to breach the barrier
My hopes, my dreams to touch her sweet smile with my fingertips
To hold at last and press my lips to hers
But such is not to be, for the spirit of the wind takes her away from me
She rides high, into the sky, she moves through the clouds, away from me
Out of my reach, out of my life, but forever in my dreams!
Guildford H Windley
April 13, 2019