As color fills the dome of azure skies,
The frozen lengths of empty twig and blade
Scratch bare against unbounded barricade.
The pulsing sun burns west to rhapsodize Continue reading . . . “Gloria Kurtz: Advent”
Samantha Trenkamp: Planting Hope
Dry.
Land so dry.
The skies are filled with smoke.
Fires rage in the nearby hills, Continue reading . . . “Samantha Trenkamp: Planting Hope”
Lynn Michael Martin: A seer has tasted of the world’s delights.
A seer has tasted of the world’s delights.
incidental poem to Bach’s Brandenburg Concerto No. III: I. Allegro
by Lynn Michael Martin
Sing of what is and has been,
and can sing and cannot sing,
and in my age, I will tell you
that singing is being, Continue reading . . . “Lynn Michael Martin: A seer has tasted of the world’s delights.”
Matthew Cordella-Bontrager: Assurance
Suspicions be damned. Know this:
He gave His decree to the Sea
when He appointed the foundations of the earth, Continue reading . . . “Matthew Cordella-Bontrager: Assurance”
Roger Biehn: Daybreak over Sinai
On the summit when the breeze hit my back
I turned to take the wind on my face;
the moment of triumph dissolved in capitulation,
in wondering why I had made the climb; Continue reading . . . “Roger Biehn: Daybreak over Sinai”
Roger Biehn: American Thanksgiving
Branches, black bones of November
damp against putty sky;
maple, basswood, poplar, ash;
bleak sisterhood against the whisper Continue reading . . . “Roger Biehn: American Thanksgiving”
Perhaps the angels tell the story
as we would tell a fairy tale.
Perhaps they whisper it into the hush
between the stars— Continue reading . . . “Claudia Lehman: Perhaps”
I am a vagabondish soul,
lugged about in a knapsack
— of breathful dust;
restless feet beneath it Continue reading . . . “Krislyn Shank: Vagabond”
He woke me from long night;
Crusty eyes cracked,
Dreams of daylight dawned,
Hints of laughing light. Continue reading . . . “Kenneth Kauffman: Restless”
Sheri Yutzy: Death at Summer’s End
This morning, as the green fades to gold,
I think Grandparents are put here
To leave us behind. Continue reading . . . “Sheri Yutzy: Death at Summer’s End”
Must Dogwood buds that sprang from April’s warmth,
break loose and fall;
The work of June: this twisted twig sloughed off
at Autumn’s call? Continue reading . . . “Kyle Lehman: Must Summer End?”
Out of grasp of the golden stunned leafy light hills
See the skies set adrift, and those heavy clouds spilled
On the crisp lit panorama crowding piled, ripped
By a filament panning its thin yellowed light, nipped Continue reading . . . “Gloria Kurtz: October Clouds”
7:21 PM
Oil City
by Kenneth Godoy
It’s that kind of town,
that rains
two hours until twilight. Continue reading . . . “Kenneth Godoy: Oil City”
Matthew Cordella-Bontrager: Ground Cherries
Ground cherries are growing on the hell-strip
between the sidewalk and the street
in the scrubby patch where weeds grow wild, fertilized
by passing dogs and fed with tattered plastic wrappers, Continue reading . . . “Matthew Cordella-Bontrager: Ground Cherries”
Krislyn Shank: Alchemy of Happiness
In our dungeon cells of stone,
Wizened, recluse, all alone;
We are smelting with strange fire Continue reading . . . “Krislyn Shank: Alchemy of Happiness”
Julie Atkinson: Dream Planters
This is for the ones who walk
with their eyes open,
looking up.
It is for the wanderers Continue reading . . . “Julie Atkinson: Dream Planters”
Kenneth Godoy: The Road from Sinjar
The Road from Sinjar, 9:15 AM
by Kenneth Godoy
My mind is broken like the granite mountains.
And they are fractured and fissured,
Shattered to a myriad shards of glass and stone. Continue reading . . . “Kenneth Godoy: The Road from Sinjar”
Magdalene
by Claudia Esh
Her hands, the hands that dabbled in the coals,
caress the cool curve of serenity.
The liquid gold within is clear as dawn,
and smells of spikenard and prosperity. Continue reading . . . “Claudia Esh: Magdalene”
Unto Thee, O Lord, Have I Made My Supplication
Obi Martin
Song like song that is song,
bright as world’s-birth, but widening,
Shattering, out of equilibrium of nothing,
out of balance, out of essence, cries existence, Continue reading . . . “Obi Martin: Unto Thee, O Lord”
Lynn Michael Martin: Mortality
Ah Death, cold-throated king of impotence,
Robber of powers, lord of the certain peace,
Thou world where we are borne, and all worlds cease,
And all songs end, all cantos and laments— Continue reading . . . “Lynn Michael Martin: Mortality”