This page will include original material produced by members of our neighborhood. We will start with a written Poetry section, but we expect we will also include performances of poems, songs, audio stories and other original materials..

Poetry

Poems from the Neighborhood:
To view or download a PDF file for viewing.

Tower-Poetry Download

To download a PDF file suitable for printing and folding into a booklet.

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Poems

Hidden Battle

 He woke this morning
Another night of her dreams

He glanced into the mirror
She’s not real it seems

Society unknowingly accepts
The image presented
Unaware of the damage
Being self-inflicted

He hides her for fear of rejection
She battles for her reflection

Nov. 2014: Submitted March 2022

I was honored to have this poem chosen by T.E.N.T. (Transgender Education Network Texas) for the Austin, Texas 2014 Transgender Day of Remembrance ceremony at City Hall. 

The Kingdom Belongs to Such as These

Sun drenched bubbles, floating,
spiraling about a child dancing
with sunbeams in a spring meadow.

Laughter, cascading over the hillside
bubbles winking out, abandoned, joyous
sounds tingling within my head. 

A swirl of lithe young body
renewing enchanted capsule of light,
drawing my reality back to dreams.

Huffing breath upon a plastic bubble pipe
spraying lavish love, releasing
trapped souls to sigh in remembrance.

Submitted March 2022

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Chinese Puzzle

Polished wooden keys criss-crossing,
interlocked unseen beneath the surface
leading my thoughts and dreams searching within.
Urging my mind down to wander amidst
the silken surfaces of rosewood and walnut.

It sits dismembered now upon my windowsill
reflecting through a crystal pyramid,
disjointed angels peering out of polished faces,
all straight lines and smooth sides,
and it came apart so easily, one instant complete,
the next a scrambled pile tumbling from my hands.

It’s come to be a part of me, this jumbled cube.
It draws my eye and hand to fumble futilely
at joining it together again.
it teases me, when I think I’ve won,
and relentlessly rejects the final piece.

Surely I am learning to dream its totality,
mirrored in the crystal, reflected in my soul.
Shadows drifting towards solidity, slipping into being.
Each new intersecting segment seeking its own place,
helping me resurrect my disoriented world

Submitted March 2022