I apologize, but I didn't see a Discussion thread already started to hold poetry. Lan Lian held it's first poetry contest and reading, open to all. With Lindens provided by Flynt Firebrand and the theme of "dangerous conversation", we heard a number of poets read their own works, and more have their poems read by Aqua and Saaz.

These readings will become a regular event and get even better. Below, please find the works presented with winning poems (audience vote) denoted. 

1st Place
Glass by FionaFei

hushed
voice
in the dark shadows of my thoughts
shattering glass beneath my feet
quiet
drumming rhythm of our hearts
beating faster with fading words
moving lips
silenced only by flowing tears
look what we have done
shattering glass beneath my feet

=============

2nd place
Dangerous Sherberts by Zai Yi

Sherbert often finds the houri's favour
fizzing lightness upon a soft pink tongue
each sparkling with their own secret flavour
each wanting, even needing, to belong

her looks alluring, yet full of savour,
her words so discrete will leave you undone,
can you meet her alone, are you braver
than those who failed thinking they were the one

but now make haste, for your time is running low
can your talk excite her sense of danger?
will you know her, from head to dainty toe?
or will you retreat, and leave a stranger

She knows, she waits, she watches, weighs
and in the darkest night, she walks her ways

=============

2nd Place
Conversations by wisequill

sitting at this beautiful place, i wonder

i contemplate deep;observes; ponder

thinks of all old times

words exchanged, conversations

few couldn't stay for long

few are still in heart

like a deep feeling

making me smile in each breath

the poet inside me asks

"why to some talk become dangerous"

"what makes them unbearable"

perhaps to expect

when we know we can't

or to express

when we know we shouldn't

or when we feel taken granted

or is it about the sweet lies

that make us dream

and we wait long for nothing

but to understand and become silent

do the silent hurts most ?

or is it the harsh words ?

it is the ego ?

or the feeling of losing someone ?

or is it just when we lose ourselves ?

sitting at this beautiful place, i wonder

i contemplate deep;observes; ponder

=============

3rd place
Conversation with a crow by Tevor Zenovka

I'm a dark shadow on a black night,
Watching her glow in the 20 watt light
Like damp dress on a clothes line
A silent body in the wind

She sits alone at the kitchen table in a lonely northern shack.
My dry words blow across her path like a brandy and shortwave.

The black crows laugh, mean voices on on this mean November night
They sit up on the high tension wires in a dark, uneasy wind

My words unheard are meant for you and only you. You and you alone.

Do you remember the death row toll road?
The iron bed frame and the plastic sheets?
The unread books and the dry wide eyes?
The appeals denied?

And with the flip of a switch to the battery
I heard you cry
Dark cold whisperings

The crows sing in the high tension wires,
they sing in the high black trees
Static - stories rustle in the leaves
I rattle on your window pain

The clothes still shift in the shadows
Still hang damp on the line
I'm a silent body in the wind
I fling for your attention.

=============

Broken Mirrors
by DharmaBum

Let us discuss opinions and beliefs
Mine are righteous; how 'bout yours?
Of course your viewpoint is much too narrow.
You haven't seen the the whole damn picture.

I resent your thought that i am less than.
You are posing such irritating Questions!
Surely you are lost in you tangled thinking.
Just look and see how I have seen it.

Where am I now, oh crap again, no!
I have lost sight of how this happens.
Myself I see in your confusion.
Forgive me friend, this broken illusion

We share again a lost moment of light
Relax and breathe to set all right.

Let go...

Still can't smile?
Turn up the corners of your mouth!

This too will pass.

=============
Conversations are dangerous
by June Clavenham

Conversations are dangerous
Because they assume so much
The world you live in
And the world i live in
Are different ones
We only can be missunderstood each other
When one describes a landscape
That the other has never seen
But believes its the one
They see every morning from they window.
There are no dangerous conversations
Only uncaring ones

=============
[Untitled] by Carlyle Chaparral

ll these eyes looking at me.
And I am looking at me too.
I know I don’t see real eyes.
But the eyes I see, see me.
I know you don’t see the real me.
But sometimes this me you see
is more real me than me.

=============

I Told Her To Give Him Up
Tevor Zenovka

She said it was bad love and fast cars
I said “Trust breaks your back, rips your heart from the socket and serves it on a silver tray.”

Accidents
And apologies
Crutches and a fruit basket
A hospital bed and a big bouquet.

Love is the blind spot in the rear view mirror
The rush hour traffic where your heart's been sent to play.

He was a nutcracker bad love with a head like a walnut, and you , a hairline fracture in your eggshell porcelain heart

It was a bad love that taught you to look after you leap
Rancid candy that rots your teeth
a bad love that leaves your heart singing to the dentist.

It was a bad love

=============

Vertrauen...by Aby Ti Qi

Jeden Abend,
wenn ich des Sommers
ins Bett gehe...
... da hängt da eine FETTE Spinne
in ihrem Netz, da! im Fenstereck!.
Ich fühle, wie sie sich diebisch freut
da so dick in ihrem Netz hockend
in mir Angst verbreitet
sie könne mir
über des schlafens Zeit
in die Nase beissen!

Doch jeden morgen,
immer und immer wieder,
da hockt sie da...
....still in ihrem Netz!
nur ein paar tote Mücken
und etwas Fliegendreck
zeugen von ihrer stillen Kraft...

Nur langsam gewöhne ich mich
ihrer unangenehmen Anwesenheit.
Doch sie scheint treu
ganz nach ihrem Motto
"In der Ruhe liegt meine Kraft!"
mir wohl zu gewandt.
Und mit jedem neuen Sommertag
-etwas mehr-
erfreue ich mir ihrer,
Denn auf ihrer Fanges Treu -
da ist Verlass!

Mac, 29.122017

Trust...

Nightly,
while the summer time
I go to bed ...
... there is a FAT spider hanging there
in their network, there! in the window corner !.
I feel like its thievishly happy
there crouching so thick in her net
spread fear in me
she could
along sleeping time
bite me in my nose!

But every morning,
over and over again,
there she sits ...
.... still in her net!
only a few dead mosquitoes
and a little flycatcher
father to its silent power ...

Only slowly do I get used to it
her unpleasant presence.
But she seems faithful
according to their motto
"In the peace lies my strength!"
well turned to me..
And with every new summer day
-a bit more-
I enjoy her,
Because on its fangs good faith -
there you can trust!

Mac, 29.12.2017

=====================
Clickbait: Your Relationship is in Trouble if You Hear These Fifteen Phrases by Saazerac

You know what's wrong
with you? Can I be honest
about something? Where

do you see this
relationship going? Here's
this thing I want, do you

want the same? Here's
my heart, do you
want it? Do you

love me? I don't love
you. I don't *love*
love you. I don't

love you like
that. I don't like
you. I'm not like

you. Well, I'm not
you. Mad? I'm not mad. Why
would I be mad? No.

Fine.

***

It Wouldn't Be a Picnic by Saazerac

If we're perfect and still
then nothing will break, not the cups
in our hands, not the sweat
on our hands, not our hearts
in our hands. Our talk
plods like ants, steady,
hard-working machines. At first
we pretend not to see
one in the strawberries, a speck
of unwash, a countable group
seeking the open bag of chips,
a steady line finding
their way to the lemonade. How long
'til we're overrun and surrender, leaving
so many crumbs behind, to dissolve
under the march of words?

----------------------------------------------------------

Breaking It Down 05-21-2020 by Aqua Aura Firecaster

Dangerous conversation
Is not to be confused with dangerous speech such as inciting a riot
Or yelling fire in a crowded theater
But this is gonna be just me and what it means to me
Your mileage most definitely will differ
Which is what keeps it interesting
And exactly what I am looking to have happen here

Speaking truth to power is dangerous in conversation or otherwise
Fomenting an uprising is dangerous speech
But conversation implies willing exchange between us
An openness to hear each other
To really listen and then to be honest and real and even raw sometimes
In response
None of this is easy
And none of this is welcome everywhere you go, even here
But as this is the world we create
And this space in particular is the one my heart and spirit intends to co-create with you
I have wanted from day one to have the atmosphere be welcoming
And even encouraging for such exchanges

Historically there have been places where folks felt free to talk with others
Of like mind
Perhaps they were off the beaten track
Or you had to come by invitation only
Or they were hidden in secret locations where people risked their lives to show up
Here we are open but still we attract those drawn by
Love
Relief and pleasure in dancing for a bit
Or having a quick beer
Or exchanging thoughts and ideas and dreams with others

These last couple of days have been difficult
Reflecting that which is around
I have been breaking down
Exposing the structural cracks internally
Just as one would do with the foundation of a building one wants to preserve
Or decide if it needs tearing down and rebuilding from the bottom up
So in this case all the dangerous conversation has been in my own head

I am happy to not be alone today

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I Imagine Myself Sitting on the Ground Outside 05-04-2020 by Aqua Aura Firecaster

I sit as one sits a circle
I sit protesting what my species has done
And I sit to lay this burden down
Because right now I just want to cry
Because before the altars talking to the Gods as I made offerings
I owned up to being absolutely clueless
Feeling overwhelmed by the magnitude of people hurting
It was one more post saying please help these folks

I do not know how
I have a roof over my head
That much is paid by my stipend
And a little bit more but not enough
To meet all the bills

But I have more than many
And if I could, if my coffers were big enough I would empty them
And fill the need of any who approached

Oh!

The God sits next to me now
And I cannot tell if he is smiling or serious
Maybe both because He just took me to the place
I needed to go
It is not about whether one has enough to do all the things
No one person does
But it is about looking at one’s heart and seeing
Yes I am willing to give everything I can to help

He laughs and says please do not empty your bank account
Because that will not serve except to give us somebody else
To worry about
Because you would then need to be totally supported with the basics somehow
And we have already set you up with just enough

Instead of feeling guilty about having just enough
Trust Us to lead you to places where you can be kind
Where you can share healing
Where you can open your heart in willingness

Have I not always been the one to tell you how to stay alive
By acts of generosity

And yes you can allow yourself to be clueless as to when and how
And just accept, from past evidence if you are doubtful,
That when the proper time to give comes
We will let you know how and what and where

When the proper time to receive comes
We will also let you know
Even though you may not understand that receiving from another
Is a gift to them as well

Now don’t you feel better?
Off to bed and not to cry yourself to sleep
There are better ways to end your day

Thank you An Dagda Mor