If blue is namely white and black is namely red and gold is transparent as crystal and light makes the soul smile forgetting the sun moon and stars and you were filled with wisdom, drunk for thousands of years and back to the prehistoric giant city and that giant is just like another me from the heavens by the lotus throne in the golden palace.
Tonight I thought of the platinum city above in distant space Where there is no day and night and the giants are interstellar travellers by spaceship Their words have the dignity of God and create the holy Kingdoms So that the pictures of the soul in the maze of memory lasts a billion years Standing by the azure sea near the great palace with swirling sweet music in the city of the gold
Prehistoric words of the gods are waking up in my body The platinum city from a strange planet is as if in a fantasy on the blue coast The giant men and women who walk by the light do not know trouble or sorrow There where the temple of the gods is in their heads, whose light is like wine flowing in the blood And the music of the stars sways gently around them, which is like the bath of the cool breeze on the earth The huge ship of stars which they have ridden can arrive at the other side of time To let you get a glimpse yourself yesterday in the future and in the divine light of fragrance
Yuan Hongri, born in China in 1962, is a poet and philosopher interested particularly in creation. Representative works include Platinum City, Gold City, Golden Paradise, Gold Sun and Golden Giant. His poetry has been published in the UK, USA, India, New Zealand, Canada and Nigeria.
It was always you, It was almost you, In all ways you, Always almost you.
Your sex-scent on the breeze That comes in through the window and mingles with the perspiration Of my lonely sheets. Your image just out of focus in my bedroom mirror. Every slamming door is you leaving. Every key jingling in a lock Is you arriving. Every car splashing along the wet road outside as I try to sleep Is you moving past me unaware.
Lying in torpor, staring at the cracks, Knowing you would heal them With the wild branches of your hair And the dark frigid oceans of your eyes, Holding me in the shiver Of beyond the second half of previously disused Lives. Contented in mirrors at last.
It will always be you, Almost you, In all ways you, Almost always you.
Before I Knew Love
I loved you before I knew you, Before I knew love, Before I breathed my first breath In this life. I loved you before my first concept of love And yet, here you are, Telling me love is something Reserved for those who pretend But I tell you this – Nothing I am and nothing I own And nothing I was matters to me Compared to your love Because before you Was before I could imagine, Reason or pretend. There was just me floating there, Yearning for your arms around me, Not knowing who you were But knowing I would know you When our paths finally crossed.
Now we are at a physical and emotional distance, Your body breathing without mine, Your heart beating without mine. Music plays here as I sit alone, Music I can no longer share with you The way we shared so much, But clearly not everything. I listen to this song and all I can think Is how much you would probably like it. Searching for you all those years, finding you, I imagined I would breathe my last breath Loving you as I did before my first And I will indeed love you when I shed this mortal coil And after But not the same. Not the same but I will.
As I am about to live again after this body dies I will likely love you again Before I breathe my first breath Just like I did before And before that. There is no choice. There is just what is.
Gentle and Fierce
She took my words close to her heart
And laughingly told me “You’re so gentle and fierce”
And then I pulled her close And gave her a kiss so savage and so tender She lost her breath
And she trembled all over, wet and melting like hot wax Against the force of my eyes and my body And my words and my lips and my loudly beating heart.
I Might As Well
I might as well shave my head. I might as well wear a necktie. I might as well turn off the music and get some sleep. I might as well stop writing about her. I might as well stop calling them on the phone. It’s a new day! A new me! A new day all about me! I might as well get laid. I might as well smoke cigars. I might as well not love. Loving is hard. Life is hard enough. I might as well tell you all that it’s time to be about me. I might as well shave my face clean, Buy a new suit and lose some weight, Waiting for the inevitable promotion or firing That will only lead to more opportunities In this wonderful America. I might as well stop crying. Tears have no worth. I’ll turn off the music now And turn in. I might as well get a good night’s sleep. I’ll shave my head tomorrow.
My Poems Arrive
My poems arrive At your doorstep, Sometimes one by one, Sometimes in a bundle. There can be weeks of silence And then they arrive, these paper boats with paper sails, One by one by one Onto your shore Under a dusky moonlight And a light steady rain.
You hear the knock on your door at 6 a.m. To find a poem questioning your love Or comparing your eyes to the moon reflecting off of The bottom of the sea. It must be disconcerting To potentially find undying love or petulant rage At your door at any given time. Often both.
My poems arrive Singly or by the dozen When you are making dinner Or taking a shower Or sleeping in your bed without me. Some come wrapped in ribbon, Some in undescriptive cardboard boxes, Some in plain brown wrappers
But they keep coming As relentlessly as the tide And, like the tide, There is no point in swimming Against them.
John Tustin started to write again in 2008 after a ten year hiatus and his published poetry can be found here.
Dreams of white sand, And golden stars, And silver bells, Wrapped round the moon… The moon whispered across the lands, Peaceful dreams, Sleep soundly, For I will protect you throughout the night.
The Moon beams, Down lights of silver rays, As the silver dust sprinkles on the land, And spreads throughout the night, Giving sleepers of slumber, Their peaceful dreams.
I wish for brother to be not such an unfamiliar word to me lighting candles and minds with stories, climbing mountains made out of the storeys of the house we almost grew up in together – backpacks on, climbing shoes, ropes made out of bedsheets, tiny mountaineers opining on everything, opening gifts at Christmas, now pining for rewinding – if we could, I wish we could do it together
Dad Says
Dad says “Fluids!”, when we complain we are hot. “You’re dehydrated,” he says, even if we think we’re not.
“You need fluids!” Dad says, when we’re playing in the garden. “Fluids!” he says, when we pound the streets of London.
“Fluids!” he says in Paris as we watch Mickey’s parade. “Fluids!” he says, as we retreat into the shade.
“Fluids!” Dad says, in Portsmouth and in Yarmouth. “Fluids!” Dad says, and every time we laugh.
“Fluids!” Dad says, as we walk on Jersey’s shores “Fluids!” he says, in every place that we explore.
“Fluids!” he says, putting a drink in front of us. “Looking forward to some fluids”, as we ride the airport bus.
“Fluids! Get it down yer”, when we’re in town, shopping. “Fluids!” in Orlando, when we’re Disney park-hopping.
“Fluids!” is his mantra up in the Scottish Highlands. “Fluids!” as we float towards Gothenburg’s islands.
“Fluids!” he says in Miami, Wales and Spain And on the beach in the Bahamas he repeats himself again.
“Fluids!” Dad says, in Nottingham and Birmingham. “Fluids!” Dad says, by the canals of Amsterdam.
“Fluids!” Dad says, as we push through Times Square. “Fluids!” he barks and wags his finger in the air.
“Fluids!” he will say when we hunt for the Northern Lights, “Fluids!” he will say when we sample Stockholm’s delights.
“Fluids!” He grins and stretches out the word. “Fluids!” we all chant, as we explore the world.
Shards
I have been sheltering people subconsciously and still when I send them the miniscule the threads the summary the dregs they do not respond why do they not respond? it has been too hard to give them anything so far and now I have given something they do not take it take it take my ovaries take my diseased womb take everything that has to come with it take my tears take my worst fears my operations take everything I am showing you because it is nothing compared to the rest of the things I have I have so much stock in the back room take this and then if you run out I will give you some more see how you get on with this first I say and they don’t take it I can’t say anything more to convince them because my voice box is shattered and speaking is too hard it is shattered as in tired shattered as in destroyed shattered as in shards sticking in my throat and what am I supposed to do with this? what am I supposed to do with these fragments of words they won’t take? I cannot pull them out of my own throat and put them inside someone else’s there are other people who would happily take these shards and eat them like sword swallowers like fire eaters if it would spare me there are people who would do anything to spare me and other people who will not take my spare words who will not spare me their words any words would do just to say message received a delivery report a read receipt signed in their handwriting fucking anything what am I supposed to do with this silence? I can’t replace the shards in my throat with silence I could soothe them with something soft I could soothe myself with something soft I can’t reach out I can’t reach out there is no future I can see I am too afraid to look cover my eyes this isn’t me I have shelved myself temporarily maybe forever and I need people to tell me that they still see me to tell me I exist to remove these shards to tell me shards are not the only thing left in my world replace the shards with real words walk to me reach out to me touch me without expecting me to reach back sometimes I can’t reach back so quickly it’s the shards you see those damn shards every time I move every time I try to speak they stick I need everyone else to stick softly take a shard and sand it down sand me down make me see me make me see them and in seeing them see me make me see them and in seeing they will see me make me see them and in seeing them I will see me remove the future from my sight where it can’t hurt me remove the shards from my throat where they can’t bite me fight for my sanity make me make me see only the soft make me see softly speak to me softly say anything softly fucking anything softly
Sam Rose is a writer from England and the editor of Peeking Cat Poetry Magazine. Her work has appeared in Scarlet Leaf Review, Rat’s Ass Review, The Bitchin’ Kitsch, Haiku Journal, and others. In her spare time, she enjoys listening to rock music and eating too much chocolate. Find her at her website and on Twitter.
My thoughts came together While strolling in the fall, As the leaves were tumbling. Acrobats soared through The sky with A coloured silhouette. Glorious colours were scattered At my feet.
Tracker
I saw footprints In the snow today. I could be part Indian. The tracks were on a road To another woman’s house. I should have seen it a long time ago. All the signs were there.
Winter Chill
The soup told us winter was coming. The beef bones had stewed all morning Until the vegetables and spices were added. I dipped my cornbread Into the stew, Getting ready for the upcoming chill.
Party Pooper
Here comes my regular customer. I’m getting the peanuts out. She’s not a good tipper And she is so messy. We won’t make a profit today. She’s such a party pooper.
Moss Covered Shoes
Moss covered shoes were found In the forest. Had someone walked a mile in them? There is probably a story here. Perhaps the moss felt like carpet beneath someone’s toes, And they left the shoes there to collect dust.
Mary Bone has been published at Literary Librarian, Spillwords, Vita Brevis Literature, Halcyon Days, Best Poetry Website, and Family Friend Poems
the morning red sky the pearl diver on board ship ferrymen’s ayres seaweed under sea with the most propitious pearls hidden by seaman matutinal sun keel swimming to new island laden with the pearls when the tide is out pearl diver is fetching pearls from sunken vessel weird of afterglow pearler singing song of moon breaks sea-solitude under summer moon a pearl in dreamy gull’s beak marine wizardry
Pawel Markiewicz was born 1983 in Poland (Siemiatycze). His English haikus and short poems are published by Ginyu (Tokyo), Atlas Poetica (USA), The Cherita (UK), Tajmahal Review (India) and Better Than Starbucks (USA). More of Pawel’s work can be found on Blog Nostics.
Before I sleep and slip, Into a deep coma of dreams, I place my feelings into a bottle, And throw that bottle in the ocean blue, To cast out negativity, And to reach some form of life, In my dreams.
I send out thousands of words, But no words are strong enough, To express how I really feel.
There are some stunning humans, On this planet, Yet when I look in the mirror, I see a dark creature, Not worthy to walk this land. When the night comes, It covers my imperfections, When the sun rises, I slither back, Into the shadows.
I don’t feel like a human being, Maybe because, Deep down, I don’t speak human.
In mercado cages dull peach-faced love birds lack the sunshine they need The carcasses of dead animals are more vibrant than the live ones
A poster shows two female boxers One is Elena Menendez They are both heavily muscled and know that they will be hit as hard as they hit and that it will hurt them in the day and damage them in the night and in the weeks and months to come until the next fight which will be worse and the next worse yet until they can no longer raise their fists to defend themselves
I look in Elena’s eyes and see her thoughts: Why did I have to be a fighter? I love the sweet sounds of the violin Why couldn’t I have been a violinist?
A peach-faced love bird escapes its cage flies up and perches on a dead electric wire next to Elena’s photo posed with her fists up dangerous despite her fear
My wife is having a manic episode and has convinced herself that she is invulnerable that it is safe for her to drink the local water I leave the bathroom give the attendant ten pesos return to my wife standing under Elena’s poster just as she is finishing a big dirty glass full
Mitchell Krockmalnik Grabois has had over fourteen-hundred of his poems and fictions appear in literary magazines in the U.S. and abroad. He has been nominated for numerous prizes, and was awarded the 2017 Booranga Writers’ Centre (Australia) Prize for Fiction. His novel, Two-Headed Dog, is based on his work as a clinical psychologist in a state hospital, is available for Kindle and Nook, or as a print edition. His new poetry collection was published by Pski’s Porch Publications in 2019, The Arrest of Mr Kissy Face, He lives in Denver, Colorado, USA.
i still remember the look in her eyes the first time i heard that song blasting between the neon at the club
i had dreams of forever
and she just needed another free drink
neither of us left satisfied that night
for the rest of our lives
i stopped believing in love when the woman of my dreams decided she’d rather have a life without my dick in it
of course, we were going to remain friends for the rest of our lives
until three weeks later
she called with the news of a new boyfriend
i was out two thousand dollars and had a broken heart that never would be repaired
that was twenty years ago
time doesn’t heal shit
an old lover whistling in a graveyard
embrace the pain
an old lover whistling in a graveyard
that haunting laughter in the distance is god
she doesn’t necessarily expect and wish for your failure
but success is as likely as the souls in this graveyard ever seeing the sun
again
my therapist
the empty page eventually becomes my therapist
i only wish it would ask better questions
pressing my lips
the rain touches her lips like tears from a god we all stopped believing in years ago
i remember unbuttoning her shirt and pressing my lips to a nipple
she started to pull down my jeans and i was thankful i lived a quarter mile off of the road
and none of my neighbours could see this part of the property
J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is currently trapped in suburbia, plotting his revenge. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at Record Magazine, The Dope Fiend Daily, Horror Sleaze Trash, Synchronized Chaos, and Chiron Review. His most recent chapbook, the taste of blood on christmas morning, was published by Analog Submission Press. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights & Goodreads
