Thursday 31 October 2019


Two Poems

by Lisa Fields


Cancelled Vacation

Are we lost
without the beckoning—
new sky
unwalled places
that open the rib
out from the lock



Tied to Home

Canceled plans
anticipation falling
back to routine
We will be here
for the ripening
wrapped in the whir
of hummingbirds­­––
sunglow of
tomato blush
the twist of chile stems—
green shoulder in the curl
of my thumb
slender eggplants
sweetened under flame—
dogs stretched across the floor
in a halo of fur


* * * * *

Lisa Fields lives in Southwestern New Mexico. Writing poetry expresses her desire to be immersed in a state of balance. Her inspiration comes from the joy of wild places and the challenge to live happily in the domesticated world. She is a contract writer for Quirine Ketterings, Professor of Nutrient Management in Agricultural Systems, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY. In her home state of NY, Lisa served the farming community as an Extension educator for 10 years, and then worked for 10 years as a self-employed advisor.


Wednesday 30 October 2019

Holding On

by Jeanette Cheezum


We glance from the drip of her saline bag to her face. We barely recognize the once strong woman in charge. Her breathing is labored and she no longer knows we are there.

We still hang on because we know at any minute she will open her eyes, get out of bed and insist on going home.

The reality is…not this time; we are approaching the end. Too many strokes, but the heart keeps its rhythm.

An empty chair on Christmas day.


* * * * *

"Holding On" was first published 2013 on Vox Poetica and nominated for a Pushcart Prize.

Jeanette Cheezum is a 2014 Pushcart Prize nominee and was awarded The Helium Network’s Premium Writer’s Badge and a Marketplace Writers award. Her work has been published on several online writing sites and in print. She’s published in fifteen Anthology books and four books of poetry. Three of these books have made the New York Times Best Sellers list. Recently she’s published thirteen e-books waiting for you at Amazon and Barnes and Noble for children and general adult audiences. Jeanette is the publisher of Cavalcade of Stars and gets her writing inspiration from life and peering out her window on the Chesapeake Bay.

Tuesday 29 October 2019


Auntie Sphinx

by Jane Yolen


She has the stare of a raptor,
talons long as an eagle's
and she gazes below as if even
a colony of ants might be prey.
She reads the New York times,
does the acrostic without cheating.                           

When it comes time for dinner,
she puts her napkin on like a bib
because eating is a marathon
and she plans to win every race.
Do not ask her for hugs,
or small talk, or speak of the weather.
But she will discuss the minutiae
of Boris Pasternak's work all night,
or the depth of the aurora borealis,
as easily as she discourses upon
the motives of angels
dancing on the head of a pin.

And when you say your goodbyes,
she will hand you a bag of bones.
"For the story," she says, every time.
Till one day you understand,
and write down the story, bones and all.
It is the only way.


* * * * *

Jane Yolen's book count is 382—the majority of them children's books, 10 books of adult poems, plus adult novels (fantasy and historical), nonfiction and memoirs. Twelve music books and 2 cookbooks, and . . . she has a low threshold of boredom. She has written a poem a day for the past seven years. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates for her work.


Monday 28 October 2019


Light Through a Bedroom Window at Eighty

by Jane Yolen


As I sit writing this poem,
light filtered through my bedroom window,
dust-curtained, a January tease,
reminds me that we have miles to go,
not before we sleep, but before
we wake to spring.
It should make me sad,
But the light is slant and perfect,
offering its own invitation.
I take its hand, get out of bed,
lift the skirt of my night’s gown,
and dance.


* * * * *

Jane Yolen's book count is 382—the majority of them children's books, 10 books of adult poems, plus adult novels (fantasy and historical), nonfiction and memoirs. Twelve music books and 2 cookbooks, and . . . she has a low threshold of boredom. She has written a poem a day for the past seven years. Six colleges and universities have given her honorary doctorates for her work. www.janeyolen.com

Sunday 27 October 2019


Most Unwelcome 

by Mary McCarthy


The secrets women keep 
Go unnoticed 
Like the steel webs 
Inside our walls 
Holding them up 
Sometimes like swallowed lye 
They burn through our throats 
So we may never 
Speak again 
Dangerous 
More dangerous 
Than enriched uranium 
Demanding the most 
Exacting care 
Offering a terrible 
Opportunity 
To guard the home you have 
Or speak 
And set it all 
To falling down 
Around you 
  

* * * * *

Mary McCarthy has always been a writer but spent most of her working life as a Registered Nurse. Her work has appeared in many print and online journals, including Third Wednesday, Earth's Daughters, the Ekphrastic Review, and Verse Virtual. Her electronic chapbook, Things I Was Told Not to Think About, is available as a free download from Praxis magazine.

Saturday 26 October 2019


On Reflection 

by Mary McCarthy

  
After a lifetime 
Your story broke too close 
Blowing my foundation 
Opening the earth  
Calling up the dead 
To walk again 
Dragging their sins back 
Into the open air 
Until each necessary breath 
Invites corruption 
And I taste your secret 
Like some foul communion 
I must swallow whole 
Or choke 
  
It will be as hard to forgive you 
As to rebuild these walls 
And drive the dead back down 
Too hard to forget your voice 
Telling my story 
As if it were your own 
  

* * * * *

Mary McCarthy has always been a writer but spent most of her working life as a Registered Nurse. Her work has appeared in many print and online journals, including Third Wednesday, Earth's Daughters, the Ekphrastic Review, and Verse Virtual. Her electronic chapbook, Things I Was Told Not to Think About, is available as a free download from Praxis magazine.

Friday 25 October 2019


We Are All Refugees

by Nancy Gerber


We are all refugees.
For who are we
if not seekers
of asylum
from the ghosts
of the past?
We all need
shelter, a place
to call home
as we cast our lines
toward
the distant horizon.


* * * * *

This poem is excerpted with permission from the author’s poetry chapbook, We Are All Refugees (New Feral Press, 2017). For more information or to order copies please contact Nancy Gerber at nancygerber79@gmail.com. The author wishes to thank Beate Sigriddaughter for her support.

Nancy Gerber writes fiction, poetry, and essays. Her most recent book, A Way Out of Nowhere (Big Table Publishing), is a collection of short stories featuring female protagonists negotiating the complexities of relationships; it is available on Amazon.


Thursday 24 October 2019


In the Garden, Stuttgart

by Nancy Gerber


Captive forever in black and white,
my family seated in the garden.

Great Uncle Louis, Great Grandma Clara,
her daughters, Flora and Ilse,

my father, his sister Ruth,
their cousins Lore and Peter.

The year is 1930, my father seven.
No one imagines the gassings.

Five years later Flora is gone.
Felled by infection from an asylum,

her mind diseased
before her body.

My grandfather Kurt reappears
to care for his children

though he has married
another woman.

After the war, a reunion,
for those who are left.

The U.S. their new home.
Learn a new tongue.  Try to forget.

The garden still beckons but my father
returned only once.

I’ve never been, though at night
I dream of deep forests, rushing rivers

a woman’s voice calling Mein Leibschen,
a castle where everyone waltzes.


* * * * *

This poem is excerpted with permission from the author’s poetry chapbook, We Are All Refugees (New Feral Press, 2017). For more information or to order copies please contact Nancy Gerber at nancygerber79@gmail.com. The author wishes to thank Beate Sigriddaughter for her support.

Nancy Gerber writes fiction, poetry, and essays. Her most recent book, A Way Out of Nowhere (Big Table Publishing), is a collection of short stories featuring female protagonists negotiating the complexities of relationships; it is available on Amazon.

Wednesday 23 October 2019


ANGEL IN MY LIFE

by Bilquis Fatima


Opening her twinkling eyes in my arms.
Left me spell bounded with her innocent charm.
Unbelievable was the gift of God bestowed upon me.
My daughter’s advent heralded a wonderful serendipity.

Hitting her tiny feet in a mirthful rhyme.
Trying to converse in gurgle and chime.
Her seraphic smile spread like sunshine.
Elated was I when her tender fingers held mine.

Angel of change indeed is she,
Growing gracefully spreads veritable joy and harmony.
Tiptoeing into the corridor of a listless life,
Illuminates my life with faith divine.

Invested with halo of love and compassion
Wings of protection she wraps around me.
An aura of warmth and serenity she exudes
A sense of confidence she infuses in me.

Surely she came in my life, to embellish
Waving her wand for my woes to abolish.
And when I am in a pensive mood
Planting a kiss, she breathes in life and beatitude.

Her innocence fails to wither with time.
Malicious manipulation eludes her flawless mind.
Caring and patting she incessantly spreads her vibes.
No doubt on such gentle souls the world thrives.

Copyright © Bilquis Fatima
22/10/2017


* * * * *

Bilquis Fatima, an innate lover of nature and speaker for social issues, has allowed her feelings to be expressed as short writings and speeches from her college time on. Though being a post-graduate in chemistry, she has also mastered the skills of poetry appreciation and writing. Her poems reflect the situations that are prevalent in society and have been appreciated in some groups of poets and writers lately.


Tuesday 22 October 2019


BE SILENT, MY SPEAR!


by Alisa Velaj


Be silent, my spear,
and watch how, over nights,
rocks become illuminating stars.
Amazing – their journey
away from the home yard...
Watch how, over days, these same stars are carried along
and dropped all around, cold and colorless.
Their sharp nose-dive to the heart of the earth
reconceives despondent, dumb suns.
Be silent, my spear;
even farther beyond silence, silent you stay,
with the mystery of illumination
as a testament!

Durrës, June 8, 2016


* * * * *

Alisa Velaj has been shortlisted for the Erbacce-Press Poetry Award in 2014. Her poems have appeared in more than ninety journals and magazines worldwide. Velaj's poetry collection With No Sweat At All will be published by Červená Barva Press in 2019, while another poetry collection, Dreams, was published by Cyberwit Press (summer 2019).

Monday 21 October 2019


ORANGES IN OCTOBER      
                                                                 
by Dianne Moritz


That crisp October day we raced to Greenwood Park: Judy, Patty, you, me. No fear of strangers, then, who lure children away with promises of puppies and candies.  

We scouted the outhouses, on the lookout for nasty words and graffiti.

“I know what f-u-c-k means!” I bragged. (Judy tattled and her mom banished us from their house for one long week.) Remember? 

But, that day we climbed the twenty-one steps of the double-humped slide, placed smooth waxed paper beneath our blue-jeaned butts, and flew…down, down, down, faster than a speeding bullet...little Super-girls!

Heading home, I spied a dollar drifting over the green carpet of Mrs. Wilson's perfect lawn. “We’re rich!” you shouted, but I insisted we give it back. So we marched to her back door to relinquish our treasure. 

“Oh, you darlings!” she gushed, turning on her shiny linoleum, and bringing down a large wooden bowl, Sunkist oranges nestled inside, big and round as baby suns.

Oranges! Oranges in October!

Back outside, we made monkey lips with the rinds and you called me a dumb shit.

“We coulda bought 20 Hershey bars!" you screamed. "Last one home's a monkey’s uncle!" Remember?

Then Mother asked us where in the world we got oranges in October, the tart scent of citrus lingering on my fingertips.


* * * * *

Dianne Moritz is a children's poet and picture book writer with two published books from Kane Miller. She is a frequent contributor to Highlights for Children magazines and others.


Sunday 20 October 2019


Mother Birth

by Jeannie E. Roberts


 ―for my son, Thanksgiving morning

 The moment a child is born, the mother is also born. She never existed before.
 The woman existed, but the mother, never. A mother is something absolutely new
                                                         ~Bhagwan Shri Rajneesh (Osho, 1931 - 1990)


So new
the night
heightened
by storm

snowflakes
cascade
blanket
the Earth

bounty
bestirs
enlarged
by birth.

Gratitude's
table
holds bundle
shares joy

cradles
beginnings
inspired
by form

two spirits
align
a mother
is born.


* * * * *

Jeannie E. Roberts has authored six books, including The Wingspan of Things (Dancing Girl Press, 2017), Romp and Ceremony (Finishing Line Press, 2017), Beyond Bulrush (Lit Fest Press, 2015), and Nature of it All (Finishing Line Press, 2013). She is also author and illustrator of Rhyme the Roost! A Collection of Poems and Paintings for Children (Daffydowndilly Press, an imprint of Kelsay Books, 2019) and Let's Make Faces! (author-published, 2009). Her work appears in print and online in North American and international journals and anthologies. She holds a B.S. in secondary education, M.A. in arts and cultural management, and is poetry editor of the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs. When she’s not reading, writing, or editing, you can find her drawing and painting, or outdoors photographing her natural surroundings. 

Saturday 19 October 2019


Haunting the Understory

by Jeannie E. Roberts


Where asters scatter and fungi thrive, M. uniflora
grows. Wan and curving, in pallid-colored groupings,

ghost plants haunt the understory, lift like ballerinas
from stage Earth’s trap door.

Inhabitants of the unseen world plié, move as traces,
share lonesome spaces, where greenery’s pockets

swell in soil of abundance. As light pirouettes,
spectral forms echo humanity’s division, a company

of the haves and have-nots perform in distant orbits,
yet, upon the same stage.

*                      *                     *                       *

The plight of homelessness is increasing in rural
America; despite its existence, it remains
a hidden crisis. Like the ghost plant, invisibility
besets the homeless. In compassionate effort,
we must create awareness, cultivate brighter
stories as we reform the dance, lift our brothers
and sisters toward united orbits, where humanity’s
stage can become one in the soil of abundance. 


* * * * *

Jeannie E. Roberts has authored six books, including The Wingspan of Things (Dancing Girl Press, 2017), Romp and Ceremony (Finishing Line Press, 2017), Beyond Bulrush (Lit Fest Press, 2015), and Nature of it All (Finishing Line Press, 2013). She is also author and illustrator of Rhyme the Roost! A Collection of Poems and Paintings for Children (Daffydowndilly Press, an imprint of Kelsay Books, 2019) and Let's Make Faces! (author-published, 2009). Her work appears in print and online in North American and international journals and anthologies. She holds a B.S. in secondary education, M.A. in arts and cultural management, and is poetry editor of the online literary magazine Halfway Down the Stairs. When she’s not reading, writing, or editing, you can find her drawing and painting, or outdoors photographing her natural surroundings. 

Friday 18 October 2019


Misplaced Apostle to the Apostles

by Pamela Williams

Inspired by Cynthia Bourgault


Her own gospel was there.
Deleted in that patriarchal way,
leaving a repressed and gravely wounded
divine feminine, communion denied.
We watch the repeated dynamic
pervasively played out in boundless examples
from sexual harassment in a Minnesota iron mine
to degradation in a supreme court hearing.
Sixteen hundred years to refine and deepen
that dysfunctional comfort zone.
From its inception,
fluid and diverse.
Prayers for its resurrection.

Where have you been for so long,
voice silenced,
while we careened through
assorted shadow interpretations
in the darkness?
Celebration now, for glimmers
of the transformative alchemy
of kenotic love,
with all its glorious interwoven archetypes.
Beloved.


* * * * *

Pamela Williams is a writer, poet, and visual artist, searching for the poignant truths, with provocations from the heartbreaking beauty of a miniature wing on her studio floor, to the current pain on our border, and following the ties that either bind us or tear us apart. Her poems rich in irony, compassion, and challenge, she invites us along on the Fool’s Journey, embracing the gifts of vulnerability. Her poems and assemblages have appeared in the Poets Speak Walls and Survival anthologies, three of the Lummox Anthologies, Live Out LoudPoetry Lovers epub from Larry Robinson, and her own Hair On Fire from Mercury Heartlink, at amazon.comhttp://amzn.to/2eD5lxL  

Thursday 17 October 2019


THE THEORY OF THE POST-PARTUM FETISH

by Marion Deutsche Cohen


A baby comes out smeared
with that wet sticky stuff
smelling even stranger
than seaweed or sex.
The mother, too, gets slimed
with something
something
yes, something has radiated
and stopped on her skin.
They wash it off the baby
as much as they can
and keep telling the mother
to go take a shower.
But the film persists
dense, solid.
The film insists
oily, dry.
It sticks to the skin of others
which explains why, when she touches, she lingers
and why, when she touches the baby, she lingers more.
It takes up space, possesses weight
and clings to the dust and air
which explains why she moves so slowly.


* * * * *

"The Theory of the Post-Partum Fetish" is from The Fuss and the Fury (Alien Buddha Press, NM)

Marion Deutsche Cohen is the author of 27 collections of poetry or memoir; her latest poetry collections are “The Project of Being Alive” (New Plains Press, AL) and “New Heights in Non-Structure” (dancing girl press, IL)., as well as the forthcoming “The Discontinuity at the Waistline: My #MeToo Poems” (Rhythm and Bones Press, PA) and “The Fuss and the Fury” (Alien Buddha Press, NM). She is also the author of two controversial memoirs about spousal chronic illness, a trilogy diary of late-pregnancy loss, and “Crossing the Equal Sign”, about the experience of mathematics. She teaches a course she developed, Mathematics in Literature, at Arcadia and at Drexel Universities. Other interests are classical piano, singing, Scrabble, thrift-shopping, four grown children, and five grands. Her website is marioncohen.net.


Wednesday 16 October 2019


Nature as an Inspiration

by Padmini Krishnan


Change! They tell me
and install the new software
I smile and raise my thumbs
while fear screams with all
Its strength, gripping
and crippling my brain.

I try and try
but fail every time
My hands and mind
tremble at the mention
of the software

I look out to see
tiny droplets turn
into long needles only
to submerge in the leaves, the pond,
the buildings and the earth

Those droplets are not glued to
the sky or petrified
with fear mid-air

Taking strength from
the unresisting droplets
I slowly unshackle the
chains of fear and
walk up to my trainer.


* * * * *

Padmini Krishnan is a Web Copywriter. Her haiku and haibun have appeared in Shamrock, The Neverending Story, A Hundred Gourds, Proletaria, Cattails, Chrysanthemum, New Wales Journal, The Heron's Nest, Contemporary Haibun Online and Haibun Today. Her Short stories for children have been published in My Light Magazine, Short Kid Stories, and Children's Stories.net. She lives in Singapore.