History is rife with injustice, bias, and ignorance. But perhaps at no time in written memory has that been more true than in the early days of settling the New World. We've all heard tales of the Salem Witch Hunts, and while the dark phenomonen wasn't constrained to only America, it was certainly here that it reached its zenith.

This poem tells of one incident during that time of evil. An incident that probably never really happened. Probably.

Fantasy epics date back to the time of Homer, and likely before. This poem tells a wonderful tale about a very magical book, a mythical figure brought to life by the modern magic of words and rhythm, and a difficult decision that has far-reaching effects.

And like any good story or poem (and this one is both), there's an underlying message you would do well to seek. The dramatic conclusion to this ode may not be as much a fantasy as some of us would like to think.

I don't really know what inspired this . . . It was just after an end of a relationship, but I don't really think the poem was about that. (Those are just usually the times I end up writing . . . at the end of something. ) I just remember for the first time in my life identifying with the ancient Siren from the Odyssey. She's always thought of as an evil monster, but I've never heard anyone ask the question, "Where did she come from? What is she like? " So, in my poem, I gave her human- like qualities of perception, guilt, love, bitterness, sadness, and hope. I suppose I was trying to convey a woman accepting that the thing she wants most she will never have, so she must close her heart, and try to make the best life she can without it.

This poem is fiction. It's my first attempt to write a poem about something that doesn't have basis in the personal experience of myself or my friends. It's the story of one stormy night in the life of a man living a solitary existence and mourning the loss of his love.

Americans are lucky - they can immigrate within America. The country is so large that people can change cultures by moving from New England to say, Texas. But most of us have to change countries in order to immigrate. Whatever kind of immigration, it creates a challenge. Such a change offers opportunity, but you need to have a vision, and strive to achieve the accomplishment of that vision. This poem is about two different immigrants.

In many ways, our environment, and the changes around us, serves to make us who we are...and sometimes we become that which we despise.

This was inspired by and is dedicated to Terry Pratchett's book "Lords and Ladies".

For this story was not about the two lover's who got back together, it is about standing up for yourself. Never going back to that pain......

This is my effort to show the futility of warfare, or for that matter the uselessness of most combat of any sort.

There was a day that I was sitting in class, bored to death, and an image of a girl on a desert isle (Gilligan style!) would not leave me. Then came to mind the movie "Message in a Bottle". This poem is not related to that movie. I have never even seen the movie! But I found a way to integrate the phrase and the image, and this is the result.