3 poems by 3 poets

illustrated by rhoda penmarq and roy dismas

song of the damned number 21 by horace p sternwall i am just a lonely moocher with no present past or future and the windows watch me well on the rainy street to hell and my brain begins to hum for a taste of opium and its incandescent streams of fervid fleeting dreams i would sell my ragged soul for the tenth part of a bowl there's nowhere that i wouldn't slink for just one more - one more drink all you mandarins and missionaries in your mansions museums and libraries will you know a brighter final fate than the stranger dragging past your gate?

voyager by wiggly jones, "the little hippie boy" i'm just a lonely boy, lonely and blue i go to the library when my books are due i turn on the tv when its time for my shows i scratch my head and wiggle my toes i do everything right on time my socks are rolled and my poems rhyme the patriots are my favorite team and i think reality is just a dream i sit on my bed because i don't own a chair they say there's a great big world out there i've never seen it so how do i know? my bags are packed and i'm ready to go here to go and ready to roll i've got a gypsy in my soul spring turns to summer, summer to fall i am still waiting for the call

poem #4 by genghis gilgamesh have you ever loved a woman and she didn't love you back? have you ever been hit by a freight train when you were walking down the track? have you ever watched a bumblebee hover over a flower? have you ever wished you could live forever just for one hour? have you ever watched a raindrop disappear down a drain? have you ever stepped on a spider and never felt its pain? have you ever gone to the drugstore and ordered a sandwich there and eaten it and eaten it and eaten it until people started to stare? have you ever loved a woman and she called you a pathetic fool? have you ever sat on the sidewalk and wished you didn't have to go to school?