All of the poetry in this Gallery was created by Victoria Lee Croasdell.

 

   Searching

 

                I am the lake

                    caught in violent storm

                        surging

                        waging

                        constant war

                        against resisting rocky shores

                            striving to seek a space to ease

                                to flow

                                to course

                                to free myself

                                and rush into the vast terrain

                                  to find the peace

                                    to begin again

 

                                      V.L.C.    1998

           Desecration

 

                Humanity's abominations blossom in my mind

                As green essence slowly flails

                        comes shame for all mankind

 

                Till only in memory is sweet smell of green leaf

                Gone is its magnificence

                        nor will its coolness ever quench

                        nor of urban man will it quell the stench

 

                Destruction and extinction of sweet deep green

                The guilt of humanity

                        an abominable burden clings

 

                          V.L.C.   1994

Mask

 

A shuddering darkness devours my soul

    an emptiness writhing with a life of it's own

 

Despair is the word

     in this hour, on my lips

         as I stand on the edge

             of this yawning abyss

 

Somewhere out there the sun is burning for me

    but my sight has gone black and my eyes cannot see

 

The wind that blows threw me

    has the taintings of hell

        reflecting horrors of life

           of which I can't tell

 

Loosing my balance between the dark and the light

   being blinded without love, how do I put up a fight?

 

I, a tortured child

   of the dark and the light

      wear a mask of two colors

          reflecting my plight

 

The ground shakes beneath with a fury to spite

    oh God, let my consciousness leave and take flight

 

    V.L.C.   2004

 

Treacherous Hold

 

Frozen swells of waves

   captured in a moment

       of winter’s embrace

          crunch beneath my feet

             and move

                with surges of

                   still deeper waters

 

Each step carries me

    into otherworldliness

       an expanse of white

          silhouetted against

             darkness

 

A treacherous hold

    that can collapse

       under my weight

          still, eagerly

             I move forward

               leaving behind the safety

                  of the solid familiar shore

  

Risking all I am

    just to embrace

       a reality

          more expansive

              then my own

 

              V.L.C.   2004

   Confinement

 

    Falling

        plummeting

            deeper down
        into the chaotic maelstrom
            of black anguish
            of a rejection that consumes

 

    Hitting bottom

       slamming into a slimy pool
            of sticky self contempt

       I look up at my beginning
            to see the lid of my confinement
            held tight by my own hands
 
            V.L.C.    1996

     Xeno Yahweh's Zoo

 

                Ain’t  bad
                    cause Dad even fights
                Getting hit
                    I jab
                        kicking life
                Me

                    no one pushes
                Quietly realizing
                    society taints us
                Victory's War
                    xeno Yahweh's zoo

                       V.L.C.   1997

             The words in this poem are written in alphabetical order.
                Xeno: Greek word meaning strange
                Yahweh: Old Hebrew word meaning God

   Survivor Of Man

    A seeker of peace
         of compassion long spent
         I exist now merely
         a survivor of man
    Thoughts that are war torn
         from memories cry
         weep with pain and frustration
         for the losses of life
    Of anger and hatred
         destruction and death
         comes frozen breath of darkness
         that exists in assailable man
    Confined not merely to war fields
         or terrorists acts, it blows
         freely through all countries
         all families, all friends
 

    Abandoned
 

    I feel the vast void of despair freezing
       as I exist abandoned
          midst a billion suns

           Like You

 

                       Don't let my appearance cause fear

                                cause inside I'm still just a dear

                                while chewing on my rubber duck

                                wearing a peace sign just for luck

                                with a ring in my nose tucked

                       Like you

                                it's my God that I'll always revere

 

                                V.L.C.   1998

 

        Of Importance

 

                It seems to me that many things
                    bring thoughts of great importance
                    yet what stands strong in mind's eye
                    is the love held for my children

 

                It is their faces beaming brightly
                    their laughter ringing true
                    which dims in comparison all else
                    deemed of importance in this world

 

                If given choice to cleave to one
                    one thing of likeness closely
                    and all else would be swept away
                    till left standing with my chosen
                       it is my children I would choose
                       to have and to hold dearly

                       for nothing else in material life
                       seems to shine with such importance

 

                V.L.C.   1997

 

    Resentment

 
    What is this strife I do detect
       which thickens in between

    We sit beside, converse as friends
       yet something is unseen

    Compassion have I given
       love with hand held out

    Yet something foreboding

       clings unsaid!

 

    What do you harbor

        that is ill?

    It speaks of a sullenness

       brooding

    And makes known

       with no honest word
    The depth of resentment

       within you
 

       V.L.C.  1994