For all you fellow moderates & wingnuts, here are a few political poems. If you don't agree with one or the other, take heart - maybe the next one will be of your persuasion.

There is a point in life when people are on the brink of giving up. This is the in-between time when you contemplate whether you are strong enough to move on or exhausted enough to stop trying. Although we fight to see the sun, even the lightest soul is tainted... Copyright © 2013 - All rights reserved.

Norah is a patient of a Juvenile ward at a Psychiatric Hospital.She spends most of her time meditating and trying to help other patients with their problems. But when gorgeous Dylan arrives and things start getting weird. Norah might have to stop hiding behind other peoples issues and start fixing her own.

A series of poems of different styles, united by the theme of monsters. The first ten were my entry into the 2012 Attys. Audio performances can be found at the link below: http://soundcloud.com/jonnycastoardern/sets/monsters/

In the summer of 1918 a tragedy echoed across the world when the Russian Imperial Romanov family was murdered by communists leaving much of the country crying out in mourning. Yet, there was a myth that one daughter, the youngest daughter; the Grand Duchess Anastasia had escaped. Though many disbelieved, for some this would prove to be more than a rumor and it would change their lives forever. Annalisa Peterson, a senior in high school, is dying to get out and move as far away from her family as possible. Not that she has had a rough childhood, but she wants to get away from constantly being expected to be the perfect A student and consistently having to visit her great grandmother who doesn't seem to like her, and oh yeah, doesn't speak a word of English. One final class assignment could change everything that she's ever known, and could literally re-write history. To find out the truth about her family's history, it isn't long before she's digging through old papers, books, photographs, and even travelling to Russia; not to mention getting her heart tangled up with the enemy along the way. As Annalisa finds out more and more, she's quickly discovering that once the real truth is out, her entire life will be turned upside down, and life will become much more dangerous for her, and those around her. Secrets are revealed. Questions are answered. One thing is certain; Annalisa never thought that her senior year would end like this.