Percy Bysshe Shelley
POEM OF THE MONTH:
THESE POEMS THAT WANT TO FLY
by Maria Ercilla
I am writing,
and writing,
and then writing some more....
desperately believing
in the power of words
to manifest dreams,
like a sorcerer calls up ghosts
with his spells,
a shaman with his chants,
a woman with her prayers.
I am writing these poems
that turn into fierce crows
flying across the page
crying out your name
hoping you are listening
and follow them
back home
to me.
MARIA ERCILLA was born in Havana, Cuba and came to the US at the age of four. She graduated from UCLA and has taught English, ESL and Special Education to high school students for more than twenty years. Her latest writing accomplishments include Second Place in the Writer's Digest Competition for Poetry and publication in Calyx and CHICKEN SOUP FOR THE LATINO SOUL. She has written a short story collection called THIRTEEN MIRACLES AND COUNTING and is working on her second novel. Maria and her family live in Los Angeles, CA.
GHAZAL FOR SPRING
by KB Ballentine
The pond ruffles, winks in April’s ice blue.
Buntings riveted in trees, jays rail blue.
Blush bouquet discarded, golden circle
severed, empty sanctuary – veil blue.
Flakes sputter through spring sky oblivious
to dogwood, redbud blossoms, lips frail blue.
Faint melody vibrates air, warblers
silent, still – riffs on piano scale blue.
Gliding thick, flurries obscure the mountain.
Daffodils stoop, magnolias hail blue.
Carry on till tomorrow, hope will win.
Wrap today’s sorrow in a ball, wail blue.
KB BALLENTINE resides in Tennessee, and teaches English, theatre arts and creative writing. She has a M.A. in Writing and a M.F.A. in Creative Writing (Poetry). Her work has appeared in numerous publications, inc. Bent Pin, MO: Writings from the River, Apocalypse and Touchstone. In 2006, she was a finalist, Joy Harjo Poetry Award. She won the Dorothy Sargent Rosenberg Poetry Prize in 2006 and 2007. KB's credits include two poetry collections, Gathering Stones (2008) and Fragments of Light (2009). Website
MUSINGS ON POETRY
by Linda Cosgriff
I’m not averse to terse verse; it could be worse:
In the next room sits a gloomy pensioner,
Wrestling a pantoum. Inured to his doom but
Free-versed inside. A villanelle – poetic
Hell – I will not dwell upon it. Compose me
Hell – I will not dwell upon it. Compose me
A sonnet. Halve the ballade to make me glad.
I’m a fan of the epigram – short ‘n’ sweet.
A rare treat in poesy, unlike the booze-
Filled ramblings of half the English Canon. I
Sing no paean, no refrain; no lyric ode.
Perhaps…a neat quatrain to condemn the cruel
Creator of the sestina. There has been
Nobody meaner. Look to the Japanese –
Elegance and brevity: senryu and
Haiku. Seventeen syllables. I like you.
LINDA COSGRIFF is a mother, wife and recent graduate of the Open University. She has been writing for many years but has only recently begun submitting work for publication. She hopes to start a Masters Degree in Creative Writing in 2010. Blog
TRAVELING THROUGH THE DARK
by Patricia Wellingham-Jones
In my young years
traveling through the dark
was fraught with excitement,
the chance for adventure.
Reader of mysteries
I loved going out in the night,
hoped an owl would set my path,
a wolf lure me into the woods.
Little happened
leaving me full of wonder
about star-struck skies.
News report of horrors
unleashed after dark
made me wary as I got older.
A few ‘adventures’
I was glad to survive
washed the thrill away.
Now I prefer hearth and home
to traveling through the dark
unless my car is packed with friends
and we’re not going far.
PATRICIA WELLINGHAM-JONES has a longtime interest in 'healing writing' and the benefits people gain from writing and reading their work together. Widely published, her chapbooks include Don’t Turn Away: Poems About Breast Cancer, Voices on the Land, and End-Cycle: Poems about Caregiving. You Tube.
THE POET
by Joseph Roque
My muse rides the night wind-
whispers dark murmurings
on voice-throated breezes,
whose tender mystic touch
by day caresses flowers and leaves,
by night unfurls its frightening
thrusts upon the marshes and reeds
of an opiate mind, searching, ever searching.
Moaning growling screaming howling
the wind consumes the poet’s eye,
wreaking on him all its fury, pressing
crushing words from his mind until the
poet tired and weary is the wind and
speaks for the wind and like the wind,
who knows no time, so too he dies and
lives again with every tortured line.
JOSEPH ROQUE is a New Englander near retirement, who is re-acquainting himself with his favorite pursuit, walking in the woods, where he seduces nature and gathers words in glass jars. Most recently, his poetry has appeared in Silver Wings Magazine, and A Tender Touch and a Shade of Blue, online.
A HERETIC’S PRAYER
by Rosemary Biggio
In the rawness of human emotions,
In love and grief, heaven and hell,
Solace is found in the poets’ holy words.
I find no consolation in empty creeds,
No comfort in the worn words of scripture,
No relief in church hymns or cold dogma.
Redemption is found in the poets‘ sacred words
by Rosemary Biggio
In the rawness of human emotions,
In love and grief, heaven and hell,
Solace is found in the poets’ holy words.
I find no consolation in empty creeds,
No comfort in the worn words of scripture,
No relief in church hymns or cold dogma.
Redemption is found in the poets‘ sacred words
ROSEMARY BIGGIO was born and raised in NY. She presently lives in New Jersey. A retired teacher, she now dedicates herself to the writing of fiction and nonfiction.
MIRACLES
by Floriana Hall
While you are searching for a miracle
And you are gathering clues
Some miracles take time to develop
Faith synonymous with strength
What happens will happen
Coming from a concerned God
Who reveals to us what He's meant.
In His own good time
In charge of fate
Sometimes when we are close
To despair
Plans come to fruition
God shows us He cares.
FLORIANA HALL is author / editor of ten nonfiction inspirational books and two poetry books, THE SANDS OF RHYME (2006) and GATHERING GRACES (2008). Founder of the Poet’s Nook at Cuyahoga Falls Library, she is Editor of the group’s four books. She is mentioned in WHO’S WHO IN US WRITERS, EDITORS AND POETS, WHO’S WHO IN INTERNATIONAL POETRY, MARQUIS WHO’S WHO IN AMERICA and is a Poetry teacher, YOU, ME, AND POETRY, LSS Writing School
POETIC TRUTH
by Barnali Saha
I hope the dispossessed rhythm were true
The diction of a living heart
For poetry soothes our poisoned senses
With echoes of a false mirth
The hungry gallows sniff disgust
Mossy walls and doors barred
Where senses cry for utmost freedom
Poetry provides us wistful woe
Behind the banned clutches of antiquity
The solemn plea of love is denied
And poetry gives us false hope
Beyond the horizon despairing
I wish I could shatter the covert expressions
And break the shackles of the subservient language
To create a spontaneous flow of cherished senses
Unthrottled rhetoric, unflinching verbiage
Unclasped hands pen poetic truth
Lines of love, pain and grief would flow
From the honest heart and its sinews
The purged soul would crash and write
Poetic truth with mortal hue
Oft cherished senses would now fade
And die in the contemporary lyrical bed
The full moon would stark reality arise
While dreamy senses death reprise
I would read poem knowing they are true
Uncouth poetry rust accrues.
BARNALI SAHA is a creative writer from Kolkata, India, currently living in Nashville, TN. Her poems and short stories have appeared in The Statesman, one of India’s oldest newspapers. She also wrote for a woman's magazine, DNA-ME, among others. In the U.S., her work has appeared in Many Midnights and Pens on Fire. Barnali recently published her first book, FIGMENTS OF IMAGINATION through Wordclay.com
A GARLAND OF VERSE
by Ashutosh Ghildiyal
Let me make a garland of verse for you
For words are all I have to give
Long have been your days and nights
Lengthy your weary trials
Let me create word music for you
And elevate you to soaring realms
Where the milky white clouds floating
Upon the lustrous night's canvas
Shall give testimonies of your poetic grace
And words will join together in applause
ASHUTOSH GHILDIYAL was born in 1984 in Lucknow, India. He is a salaried professional and a part-time author. He writes short stories, poetry, and essays. His work has been published in both print and online media. He is currently based in Mumbai. Blog
HAIKU
by Raquel D. Bailey
drifting contrails
stretch the growing silence
to the sun
RAQUEL D. BAILEY, originally from Jamaica, is the Founding Editor of Lyrical Passion Poetry E-Zine, sponsoring haiku, tanka & short fiction contests year round. An F.S.U. English graduate, she has earned Honorable Mentions in the 2009 Satoyama Haiku Contest, 2009 With Words Haiku Contest (UK, Japan). Her poetry works appear in The Heron's Nest, Atlas Poetica, Modern Haiku, Modern English Tanka, Wisteria and Cider Press Review. She resides in Florida.
EXCUSE ME, SIR, BUT...
by Marie Delgado Travis
Is this the same poem
We wrote before?
The one you and I
Have written over
And over again?
Tell me then, Sir,
Why children’s
Bellies bulge
With hunger.
Why do they die or
AIDS?
And when “religious”
Men blow them up…
Well, Sir,
Doesn’t that seem strange?
Has no one read
—Or even heard—
Our poem?
The one we’ve written
Over and over again?
MARIE DELGADO TRAVIS is an award-winning author. She writes poetry and prose in English and Spanish. Her humorous new poetry book, WHAT IF..., magically illustrated by artist John Rivera, explores what would happen if all the magicians in the world suddenly quit. You'll find it...Poof!.. at a 10% discount during April 2010 (promo code: SHOWERS) on Marie's personal storefront. See Lulu.com for offer details. Reviews.
WAR OF THE WORDS
by Cher Green
Words flow from his fingers,
fighting for their place.
One after the other,
forming sentences,
dialogue, descriptions,
Now it’s time to edit.
The words find
themselves slashed,
and replaced by others,
and wait patiently
to flow onto the page,
hoping they can stay.
CHER GREEN was introduced to the world of poetry by the works of Emily Dickinson. Bitten by the bug, she began pouring her heart into her poems.
farming
by cm
was told recently
“you have an amazingly
fertile mind”
“really,” i said
“you mean like
growing squash
or corn?”
a farmer
prepares the ground
cultivating
long, even
furrows
nurturing seeds
to sprouts
then
at sunrise
long under
a blazing, blistering sun
insert small plants
six inches apart
into the moist soil
“yes, my mind seems fertile,
bursting
through the dirt
sweat, and sun,
spread over
a vast, rich earth,
but in reality
it’s the fertilizer
bountiful and plenty,
that i’m full of”
CHARLES MARIANO is the author of THE WHOLE ENCHILADA: Recipes, Photos and Stories from Merced, CA, available at Amazon.com . Charles is, in his own words, "Elusive, reclusive, and otherwise quiet."
APRIL CELEBRITY POET
Percy Bysshe Shelley
(1792 – 1822)
nationality: english
“To a Skylark”
(excerpt)
Hail to thee, blithe Spirit
All work the copyright of the respective authors.
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