EVAN LEONE

Since I was young I've always been searching for the best way to express myself. From art school till now, my opinions, life and medium for that expression have changed dramatically. I started with drawing which stretched into painting. Into art school I realized my gift of gab and love of hip hop which turned into writing rhymes. As I matured and realized I could mold my thoughts into poems without a beat, I turned to poetry.
After a few years of just writing in notebooks from time to time, I entered a contest last year and won the editor's choice award. Now in my early twenties, I've taken a sincere interest in putting my thoughts on paper and to get them out there for people to read. My works can be found in three books from the International Library of Poetry; including Finding Your Wings, The Best Poets and Poems of 2003 and also publication in Europe. My poem News at 10 can be found on (www.hot-poetry.com), under my pen name, Sevan.
Since my work has been viewed publicly I've grown very conscious in social and political issues, which have added a new dimension to my life that I can't describe. I know that whatever path I choose in life, my ability to put my thoughts into spoken or written word will help me maintain my balance through it.

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DOUBLE-EDGED FAME

That elevation you think you're so above,
Is actually you're brains mis-understanding that fame
Is only a weapon to degrade,
Because when you're on top you got to watch whose behind you.
The one you ran passed is scheming dreams with the rear
to cause the same fear
And cause you to tear
the same drops that they suffered by your blessed year.

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NEW GLORY

Who's that hidin'?
Oh, it's Old Glory.
Who?
The symbol, the shield for 4 what's right.
Why's it look so shabby?
It's old, hence the name, the ones that came by set it in stone,
Now we watch as it crumbles stone by stone.
It was right back when but now times have changed,
& so has our God.
In God we Trust, that he will pay our problems,
Loan our debts & depress the fortunate less.
How you get to him all depends on how often you read that phrase.
If oil spills in your wallet or blood stains your pocket,
You won't say that to him when he's signing autographs at the gate.
We're the present with no future & surely no past.
Those notes were traded 4 C''s & G's w/o permission from your soul.
But how much did that cost?
The man in the red suit has been getting it at discount rates.
He's lost count on how many he's stole so cheap.
His count may someday outnumber His sheep.
6 rings plus 6 cars plus 6 suits put our minds to sleep.
Newborns don't recreate the old but something new that's been on-hold,
Again & Again & Again.
And what we can & should be was foretold and should be re-told,
Again & Again & Again.

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ADMIT YOUR DEMONS

A high horse you choose to ride as you find time to open to a call or plea,
To an action of sympathy.
Donations not introspection are easier on your souls,
As you place your cold feet on your warm rugs and hot bath tiles.
Take your insecure look in the mirror with the same eyes to your lover
That SCREAM you can do better.
The weather should never cause raw emotion other than joy
When you realize those drops fall on panels and not your forehead.
An empty stomach isn't three hours since a last meal,
But that overpowering urge to get what some are too scared to desire.
Ambitious aren't evil,
They only get what is left for the taking that majorities pray they never get offered.
Call the kettle black until it's you whose boiling in shame
As your name is splashed on newspaper page.
Police beat around the point that they can't survive without that metal at their side.
Their small erections subside as drama is created and not a physical,
But their insecurity is masturbated.
Frustrated boys who can't tackle or swing for a paycheck drive faster and drink harder,
While the artistic hide from the majorities slaughter of their patient pace.
WE CANNOT JUDGE ANYONE!
No degree, doctorate or religion gives you the right to throw that stone
You so eagerly want to cast onto your SELF-chosen enemy.

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REASONS IN SOME KARMA

Do you fear what you hear?
Or can you're mind create worse?
What if science proved we're all from something organic and not in his image?
Would your faith refuse it?
Would your mouths deny it?
Would miracles defy it?
They tell you He's up there.
I feel what's up there.
They warn you what's down there.
Sometimes it's hot enough up here.
Risk is so much to take because complacency takes so little.
The reward in chance is so great,
But unless you can see it,
You don't feel it.
You can drive the same road for years and never wonder where the other side leads.
Of course it's new,
Damn right it's a risk.
But the accident on that side is so more dynamic than the rut you drove into
On the same side so many have traveled.
Do you like boxes?
Well someday there's one waiting for you so why are you speeding to get there?
Everyone wants a challenge so start small.
Challenge the TV, the caffeine, challenge your body.
Your only hurdle in life is your brain reflecting another's image of you!
Sad, because we all don't venture.
Don't treat risk like a repressed memory or an arch-rival
Because no one's gonna broadcast it or pay to see you face it,
So that's your reason to walk on by it.
So while you neglect the risks become greater making change that much harder,
Like a $50 bill at a pretzel stand.
You want it to be compared to that!?
We only get one.
You don't choose how you go,
but you can choose the destination that you were supposed to get to,
before your life stopped taking risks and forgot how to change.
It's better to die alive than lead that dance to death.
Dramatic?
Yes.
Hate my words?
Well, God Bless.

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BAR STOOL PROPHET

I'll drink away this pain to forget this constant shower on my heart,
I'll take another shot at her to prove what's left that I got.
So yes it hurts my heart to see girls pay more attention to men with green in their hands Than the boy with cold hands because we all know the warmth in his heart.
If only the girl could see that the man's eyes are green with envy
Of that boy that can still dream.
He doesn't live in permanence or 4 walls,
He wants his foundation built on the inside of her eyes that see through his.
He can't love another because his will is to keep,
And not try to find a glare to take her place.
A new face will only take him back to that old place,
So he dodges the smoke screen of fancy cars and bright-lit bars,
For the brightness his pen makes and his daydream of far-off fancy places.
That don't mean luxurious hotels with sexy cocktail waitresses,
But exotic beaches Inhabited by those exotic races
That don't care what time it is to watch what show is loved,
They have basics that define content
And dreams of eternal life to repeat their movement.
Ask for what you need,
Be thankful for what you don't need.
As poor mothers cry and fathers stare into the night,
A lawyer flushes a tissue of blood down the same hole the condom that separated him
And their daughter from the high of novocaine numbness in their nose and throat.
So here I sit with cold hands three stools down dreamin' with a drunk's mind,
On how I could be flushed with a push,
Like we all could.
So take the time to measure what it is that keeps you up,
And realize you don't need a reason to wake up.