Four poems from POND – by John Stanizzi

1.12.19 7.12 a.m. 16 degrees Prescient wind anticipating the ice, leaves its handprint on the obsequious water which obediently freezes in place. Naysayers of the cold, a fistful of chickadees tossed into the bramble, will not deign to my plans; instead they demand I get busy feeding them. ** 1.13.19 8.23 a.m. 15 degrees Priding […]

Run to the Water’s Edge – a poem by Rupert Loydell

Run to the Water’s Edge All the noise in the world is something I have said. I can mumble about indiscretion, try to blame it on somebody else, but the fact is (short version) my underwater song is not sufficient as atonement. Let me kneel before you, breathe in and breathe out. At least you […]

A Sacred Migration – a poem by Mark Tulin

A Sacred Migration They arrived from a larvae dimension, blew past me in a magical blur, whirling in steadfast discipline, a zillion yellow, black, and white migrating butterflies fluttering in syncopated rhythms. A series of rapid wing movements while everything else stood still. As the Monarchs migrated south, nothing got in their way. Not the […]

Dusting – a poem by Kim Malinowski

Dusting I always believed there was more to praying than kneeling or reciting a prayer holding hands. In the silences the hidden prayers came through. Doubts, sighs, a child giggling in a pew. I always thought that praying was more about dusting—wiping greasy fingerprints off glass doors and sweeping up dried mud. Not the hymns […]

Keen to eat – a poem by Stephen Kingsnorth

Keen to eat (Reflecting on Painting: Talitha Kum) It is the keening I notice, news cameras eager to record; though propaganda can call zealots when scoped drones are on the loose. Grief is heartfelt naturally – the west alone not knowing loss – despite embassy commentaries or as heard generals observe. Timed slot cabled to […]

Hiking – a poem by Clayton Arble

Hiking The antelope looks at me and then runs off, carrying his world in his head. There are hills behind his eyes, secret fields and backyards only he can visit. Suddenly I am back in my original self, watching him bend his neck down to graze and entering a moment of total thoughtlessness: I am […]

A Walk Through Orleans Cemetery – a poem by Judy DeCroce and Antoni Ooto

A Walk Through Orleans Cemetery Under a parish of birds headstones limp uphill, bones arranged in time’s neglect. Names remembered, Crosbys, Doanes, and Snows of long ago. Sea captains, strong wives, and innocent children, with lives of storm and joy. We imagine stories— epitaphs from the age of sail. ~ Here, lichen covers, damp as […]

December Meditation – a poem by KB Ballantine

December Meditation When winter stalks into view let the fringe of day stir, finches and bluebirds mimicking the sun let buds shaped like nails pierce magnolias waxy leaves, blossom let the lazy buzz of a wasp remind you that summer soon greens let dawn’s chill and later flame fill you with tomorrow’s promise KB […]