It made sense to watch him grow;
the foolish things he did to girls,
the endless hours he filled their
bedrooms with delight-I swear
he was an Indiana boy.
He was a whisper of dreams & words.
The pines of Alberta fanned his brain, the
intensity increased the blaze of conviction.
The voices of many personalities
formed in his larynx over the early Indiana years.
Names, ideas, beliefs, & images gathered in a garden
of imagination & sand merged, bred & spread Northward
outward like eagle wings.
It was a cancer without a cure or antibiotic.
The wind had stopped prayer when he was born
& he had felt his own creation with his own breath.
More than new desires or old desires, or old war memories of the past,
this boy was a proclamation of potential rejected by his peers.
But then a war, the Vietnam curse,
a conflict that ripped the internals of a nation/guts wide opened
by opinion & past dreams then men died.
Blue north wind now blows icicles through his hair,
& he works against the wings of the red/white-& blue-eagle-
while blood torn stars blend in his blue eyes
the border of two dissonant countries divide
& another night passes to sleep in exile.
Michael Lee Johnson, Chicago, USA
Sunday 28 January 2007
Friday 26 January 2007
Hawk by Pete Lee
the wind skimming
off the edges
of the hawk's wing
makes a dull hum
as if the hawk
were a sailor
alone at sea
the hawk dives and
the hum sharpens
to a high scream
then the heavy
beating of wings
as the hawk drags
the rabbit off
and the hawk hears
the rabbit's heart
beating of wings
the mind's low hum
Pete Lee, California, USA
off the edges
of the hawk's wing
makes a dull hum
as if the hawk
were a sailor
alone at sea
the hawk dives and
the hum sharpens
to a high scream
then the heavy
beating of wings
as the hawk drags
the rabbit off
and the hawk hears
the rabbit's heart
beating of wings
the mind's low hum
Pete Lee, California, USA
Wednesday 24 January 2007
Chestnut-backed Chickadee by Mike McCulley
to a flit
without the weight
to activate
gravity
what difference
up and down
Mike McCulley, Montesana, WA, USA
without the weight
to activate
gravity
what difference
up and down
Mike McCulley, Montesana, WA, USA
Sunday 21 January 2007
A Meeting by Pete Lee
startled great egret
angular ascending cloud
its shadow upon me
for a passing instant
hello father death
Pete Lee, California, USA
angular ascending cloud
its shadow upon me
for a passing instant
hello father death
Pete Lee, California, USA
Friday 19 January 2007
Haiku by Corey Cook
Sunday 14 January 2007
Bread Crumbs For Starving Birds by Michael Lee Johnson
Stretched across the ravine,
the walking bridge
is covered with snow.
Steam lifts from the narrow river bed below.
The hand guided ropes are glazed over with ice.
Raccoon tracks are pepper sprinkled in front of me
like virgin markers leaving a fresh, first trail.
Once across, and safe,
I toss yellow bread crumbs across white snow
for starving birds.
Michael Lee Johnson, Illinois, USA
the walking bridge
is covered with snow.
Steam lifts from the narrow river bed below.
The hand guided ropes are glazed over with ice.
Raccoon tracks are pepper sprinkled in front of me
like virgin markers leaving a fresh, first trail.
Once across, and safe,
I toss yellow bread crumbs across white snow
for starving birds.
Michael Lee Johnson, Illinois, USA
Friday 12 January 2007
Both Sides Out by Gerald England
Following
a cold, wet tramp -
arriving,
snow-dripping from neck's back -
a two-hour-chat-cum-cup-of-coffee -
a lift returns me
to where green tulip leaves in the window-box
poke their life
out of the whiteness
Below - the virgin-white garden
Beyond - the ravished slush of road
Inside I warm myself.
a cold, wet tramp -
arriving,
snow-dripping from neck's back -
a two-hour-chat-cum-cup-of-coffee -
a lift returns me
to where green tulip leaves in the window-box
poke their life
out of the whiteness
Below - the virgin-white garden
Beyond - the ravished slush of road
Inside I warm myself.
Gerald England, Hyde, UK
Sunday 7 January 2007
31st by Chris Major
Every year's arse
end we try to
fight the darkness:
colour and tinsel,
sparkle and glitter,
the parties which explode
with noise and cheer
sending people 'over the top'
to fight for fun and meaning.
Charity appeals:
children,
animals,
the homeless;
the brief crusade
that never lasts,
the coming year,
approaching darkness-
streets lined with
the tracer fire of fairy lights......
Chris Major, UK
end we try to
fight the darkness:
colour and tinsel,
sparkle and glitter,
the parties which explode
with noise and cheer
sending people 'over the top'
to fight for fun and meaning.
Charity appeals:
children,
animals,
the homeless;
the brief crusade
that never lasts,
the coming year,
approaching darkness-
streets lined with
the tracer fire of fairy lights......
Chris Major, UK
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