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                                                              ISSN 1063-8377
                                     __         _______________
                                   //  )       |  S T A N Z A  |
                                  // \/        |_______________|
                                 // \/  The Free Online Poetry Magazine
                                // \/
                               // \/
                              // \/    - A Forum for Poets of All Kinds to
                             // \/       Share Their Work -
                            // \/
 _________________         //__/       - STANZA is free to anyone who wishes
()_\              \       ///\           to download it -
    | a RAM Online |   __//__
    | Publications |  |      |
    |    online    |  |      |
   _|  periodical  | /_______\
  ()|______________|
   \|_______________)

                           August 1992 - Volume 2, Issue 1          

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   Cover art extracted from Writer's Ink RT on GEnie - done by SHADOWRITER,
                              used with permission
 [_________________________________________________________________________]
|                                                                           |
|                               Table of Contents                           |
|___________________________________________________________________________|
|                                                                           |
| Title                                          Author/Poet    Search Code |
|{-------------------------------------------------------------------------}|
| This Month in "Stanza"........................ Ryan MacMichael......... A |
| How to Use the Search Codes............................................ B |
|                                                                           |
| Messiah - Batteries Not Included.............. Jason Colflesh.......... 1 |
| My Own Little Hell..................................................... 2 |
| Night's Blossom........................................................ 3 |
|                                                                           |
| Cantaberry Wind............................... Kelly Ford.............. 4 |
|                                                                           |
| Epigram to Thine Own Self..................... Todd B. Fehey........... 5 |
| The Unfolding.......................................................... 6 |
| Hard to Handle (ode to Pigpen)......................................... 7 |
|                                                                           |
| Oddity........................................ Elizabeth Millican...... 8 |
|                                                                           |
| Tension....................................... Ryan MacMichael......... 9 |
|                                                                           |
| Back Issue List........................................................ C |
| The Final Verse........................................................ D |
|{-------------------------------------------------------------------------}|
|___________________________________________________________________________|
 ___________________________________________________________________________
| o  All information Copyright 1992 RAM Online Publications.                |
| o  All poems Copyright 1992 by their repective authors.                   |
| o  No part of STANZA may be reproduced, in part or in whole without       |
|    permission from RAM Online Publications and its authors.               |
| o  This magazine may be freely distributed in TXT or any compression      |
|    format as long as no part of the magazine is changed and there is no   |
|    fee involved other than standard connect/phone charges.                |
|                                                                           |
| STANZA, the Free Online Poetry Magazine -- ISSN 1063-8377                 |
|___________________________________________________________________________|

[A]
This Month in STANZA
Ryan MacMichael

     Hello everybody!  It's me, the guy from RAM Online Publishing!  I bet
you thought after I discontinued PC REVIEW ONLINE and STANZA, you'd never
hear of another RAMOP publication again, huh?  Well, we're back with STANZA,
the free online poetry magazine.  After six months, I'm glad to be back on
the online publishing scene.

     I am hoping that STANZA will be more widely publicized than it was
before.  Hopefully we should be soon listed in several national and
international periodical directories.

     The home for STANZA discussion is still CATegory 28, TOPic 3 of
GEnie's Writer's Ink RoundTable (page 440) and is part of your $4.95/month
subscription fee.  Stop by and say hello to let us know how you're doing.
The Writer's Ink RT's software library will be the main place on GEnie
for you to find issues of STANZA in both .TXT and .ZIP formats.

     As I've said many times, this magazine simply cannot survive without
submissions from the readers.  There is no payment for submissions at this
time since RAMOP makes no money from this magazine, but nonetheless, we
hope to continue to be a distributor of good poetry.  All rights stay with
the poet, by the way.

     This month we feature several entertaining poets.  Jason Colflesh
has three poems in this issue.  Mr. Colflesh is a master of the language
of emotion.  His vocabulary and usage of words send across a very strong
message in each of his poems.  Also in this month's issue is Kelly Ford.
Ms. Ford's look at the "Cantaberry Wind" is very well done -- its topic
closely resembling a poem that I wrote not too long ago.  Todd B. Fehey,
an English teacher at Weber State University and experienced poet, graces
us with three of his poems this month.  Also, returning from the graves
of the old issues of STANZA is Elizabeth Millican with a new and very
abstract poem.  I also reprinted a poem of mine that appeared in the
January '92 issue (now with a shorter name) that seems appropriate now
because of the events that have occurred in the last three or four
months.

     Hopefully, after each December issue, I can put out a "Best Of"
collection of the ten best poems that appeared in STANZA in that year.
And who knows -- there may be a few contests along the way.  Stay
tuned!

     I certainly hope you enjoy this issue and pass it around wherever
you can.  If you have something to share with us, please do.  I look
forward to hearing from you.


[ END -  A ]
[----------]
[B]
How to Use the Search Codes
Ryan MacMichael

     The search codes listed in the Table of Contents are very easy to
use.  Simply load STANZA into your text editor, or viewer, or whatever.
Then find the search code you wish to search for in STANZA, then do
your FIND command and type:   [x]      where x is the search code.
Simple! 

     In the future, we may be lucky enough to have a specific viewer
for STANZA.  If you think this would be a valuable asset, let me know.


[ END -  B ]
[----------]
[1]
Messiah - Batteries Not Included
Jason Colflesh

A young maiden wandered in the woods one day,
Searching for a good knight.
She was one who searches for someone
Who'll arrive and make things alright.

As she wandered she heard a voice call,
"Oh, help!  Won't someone help me?"
She found a boy lost in the woods
And told him, "Of course I'll help thee."

She guided the boy to the edge of the wood,
Where he turned to her and said,
"I wasn't really lost in the woods,
But only alone, searching for a friend."

So the moral of the story, you see,
Is so clear I really shouldn't bother.
When you are alone and search for a savior,
You are liable to become one to another.


[ END -  1 ]
[----------]
[2]
My Own Little Hell
Jason Colflesh

Once I built a fire,
Built it fierce and tall,
And basked myself in its warmth.
I had not thought the weather cold,
Not before the fire.
But soon the fire began to die,
As fires are apt to do,
And I could not stand the cold.
So I threw your letters on the fire,
And kept myself from the chill.
But again, the fire began to die,
As fires are apt to do.
So I threw your photgraphs on the fire,
And again kept myself warm.
But once more the fire began to die,
As fires are apt to do.
I had nothing left to feed my fire,
You were gone.
As people are apt to do,
When faced with the fire.
I had nothing left, so, to keep warm,
I stepped into the fire.
How warm it is!
Won't you join me?


[ END -  2 ]
[----------]
[3]
Night's Blossom
Jason Colflesh

Black.
Black upon black
Darker than the endless night.
But within burns
The light of a thousand suns,
Purer than an angel's radiant countenance,
With passion as would
Burn men's souls.
But this beatific luminosity
Is no better than a dismal spark
If it is not shared.
And how can the light of should be shared
When it is enveloped by shade?


[ END -  3 ]
[----------]
[4]
Cantaberry Wind
Kelly Ford

Blow softly gentle wind,
 Comfort me in my time of sadness.
 Bring to me hopes and dreams,
 Take from me fears and pain.
 Let me know your every direction.
 Let me see you in all your forms.

How can you be so diverse?
 How can you be so passionate in summer?
 How can you be so frigid in winter?
 How can you be so unpredictable in spring and fall.

I think I know you and you change course.
 I want to hate you and you warm my heart.
 I want to love you and your icy fingers stab deeply.
 To you, my emotions are a child's toy to toss about.
 You fling me about like a piece of dust.

Cantaberry wind can you hear me calling?
 Cantaberry wind don't blow me away.


[ END -  4 ]
[----------]
[5]
Epigram to Thine Own Self
Todd B. Fehey

A greater source of fiction are we
Who invent ourselves in others' hopes,
Then vanish before the mirror.


[ END -  5 ]
[----------]
[6]
The Unfolding
Todd B. Fehey

Layer upon crumpled layer
Our lives come to fold,
Chapters stained
Or marvelous in some brief sections:
The wedding, the first-born,
A trophy, Most Likely to Succeed--
But promise often tarnishes
Before the glint is noticed
By anyone who matters,
And we are left to cradle
A plaque engraved in disappointment,
Etched in fragile psyches
Not so much as words
But in words of praise not heard,
In the promotion given
To one who has not yet oxidized,
Whose gifts have been employed,
Whose rot is young,
Whose scent still lingers sweet
Before the putrefaction.


[ END -  6 ]
[----------]
[7]
Hard to Handle (ode to Pigpen)
Todd B. Fehey

I never knew Ron McKernan,
and I wonder how many ever really met
that scared little boy
behind the scowl,
behind 200 pounds of beer-fat;
If he complained, it was only through a harmonica,
Then he'd tell you about that deep-soul hurt--
a lonely dire wolf
under a singular moon,
stomping out life's last chords
on a rawhide liver.


[ END -  7 ]
[----------]
[8]
Oddity.
Elizabeth Millican

                                                 Odd how my knuckles
                                                    assume a certain
                                                  decadence to their
                                                               being

                                                          Run faster
                                                your vision implodes
                                                  vegetable laughter
                                                               happy

                                      Who wants to be E.E. Cummings?
                                                          she shouts
                                                she filled her glass
                                     and he does his beautiful dance
                                                           I am you!
                                                         she screams

                                                 pleasing aftertaste
                                              someone find the meter
                                                    waves of yelling
                                                 from the lower room
                                                                salt
                                               and a gorgeous shriek

                                                      Of a character
                                                      tears and fear
                                              rapid shaking of heads
                                                       not the music

                                                       Stupidity...

                                                        Shut up.


[ END -  8 ]
[----------]
[9]
Tension
Ryan MacMichael
 
I sit alone and ponder,
Begin to think and wonder,
  What's going through your mind?
 
Are you dreaming of scheming,
A plan so redeeming,
 Just awaiting the proper time?
 
Or are your thoughts geared,
To concentration of your fears,
 Living in total anxiety?
 
Thoughts of dying,
You start crying,
 You are afraid of me.

Or are MY thoughts geared,
To concentration of MY fears,
 Living in fear of another?
 
I can feel the tension,
So I just must mention,
 I won't hurt you, my brother.


[ END -  9 ]
[----------]
[C]
Back Issue List

These are the back issues of STANZA.  They are obtainable from the Writer's
Ink RT Library on GEnie (M440;3).  Included are the plain ASCII text
versions as well as the ZIPped versions.  Below the chart is a brief
overview of each issue.

MONTH       ISS     .TXT    .ZIP
--------------------------------
Nov '91       1     2437    2578
Dec '91       2     2535    2579
Jan '92       3     2577    ----

Nov '91... PREMIERE ISSUE... Poet of the Month: Elizabeth Millican...
           featured poets: Charles Daley, Edward Michalski, Robert
           Gratix, D. Scott Anderson, and Linda C. Shelton.
Dec '91... Poet of the Month: Charles Daley... featured poets: Apurva Dave,
           Ryan MacMichael, Wild Rose, Kirk Haines, and Mike McVeigh.
Jan '92... LAST ISSUE BEFORE REINCARNATION... Poet of the Month:
           Christopher G. Saypack... featured poets: Michael McVeigh,
           Ryan MacMichael, John Travailian, Apurva Dave, and Wild Rose.


[ END -  C ]
[----------]
[D]
The Final Verse

Questions and submissions should be sent to editor Ryan MacMichael at:

GEnie      :  R.MACMICHAEL
Prodigy    :  XVJJ45F
VirtualNet :  52@6291

US Mail :  Ryan MacMichael
           Stanza Magazine
           22 Lightning Dr
           Medford NJ 08055-9752


o All submissions can be made via e-mail on any BBS that I am on, on the
  network addresses listed above, or the above US Mail address.  With US
  Mail questions and submissions, include a SASE for a response.

o STANZA is published monthly by RAM Online Publications with a temporary
  release date on each issue of the third Monday of each month.

o If you are on GEnie, you may visit our home on the Writer's Ink RT (M440;1)
  at Category 28, Topic 3.  This is a GEnie*Basic service that is part of
  your $4.95/month subscription fee.


[ END -  D ]
[----------]
[ :END - Stanza, 08/92, Vol. 2 Issue #1: ]
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