Vol.1, No.5 •
            November 2007


            
 


            
The Poetry Of Michelle
            Angelini


            


            No Life Too Small

            
Life, 

            a broken butterfly,

            makes leafy imprints 

            in hearts' concrete.

            Setting suns

            on beating hearts:

            the sorrowful cries

            and shed tears

            can't absolve sadness 

            or separation.

            Memories cradled 

            in togetherness

            where hushed nights 

            remain longer

            than active days.

            
Saying good-bye

            to a life, no matter 

            how small,

            cuts rivers 

            that weren't 

            there before. 

            No Lethe,

            only the flow

            of painful parting

            and too much

            remembrance.

            
She Only Comes Out At Night When

            
city lights hide stars' kiss, sublime and
            dreamlike

            or moon's eye either winks or stares in wide yellow wonder

            
crickets move in thin lines across her
            path, chirruping 

            their presence, while they ignore this tall, complex creature

            
secrets hidden from a golden sun, fly free

            into darkness's anonymity, no tears or sweat

            
only factions of misfortune abate without
            the sun's

            severity, dissolving into the temperate air

            
she is a common moth not drawn to adversity,
            for her spirit 

            thrives in nimble deportment-a queen on her throne

            
yet this night creature senses only the
            orbit brings, covering

            her like the skin she sometimes wants to change for new wings

            
while remote but repetitious echoes slide
            in and out of chambers 

            cocoon-like holdin caterpillars metamorphasized into butterflies

            
she desires the elegance of a hitched a
            ride on a full, flaxen moon's 

            trajectory, where a sun's burning rays travel not

            
separating chaff from chains, her strength
            renews 

            just as it was depleted in sweat coaxed out of her by the heat

            
hopes glanced during the sun's flight lean
            on the gentleness

            of night's quietude, and the knowledge of this rotation's division

            
lead into new and greater expectations-she
            sits in no fear 

            of tomorrow, it will take care of its own bundle of sticks

            

            
Michelle Angelini is a Southern
            California poet who's love of poetry began more than 27 years
            ago. She lives in Hollywood with her 2 cats, Sasha and Gandalf,
            and her guinea pig, Tiger. In 2004, Michelle graduated with her
            BA in English/Creative Writing and went on to tutor students
            in the LA Unified School District in Language Arts and math.
            Having been published in many SoCal publications, such as the
            San Gabriel Valley Poetry Quarterlies, she writes poetry, using
            as her subject matter and themes: animals, nature, music, life,
            death, and everyday experiences. Michelle also enjoys reading,
            volunteering with the humane society and a small theatre, plays,
            photography, and watching football.