Monthly Archives: December 2023

Credos


Carceral frames are an offshoot of jadedness. In
an unkind ecosystem, the kind clan is isolated.
Your beat lights my landscape, even though
the holders are faulty and the bulbs fused. How
do I know this is for real? I volplane towards
you: the caret remains. Faith is our password.

Sanjeev Sethi has authored seven books of poetry. His latest is Wrappings in Bespoke (The Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK, August 2022). He has been published in over thirty countries. His poems have found a home in more than 400 journals, anthologies, and online literary venues. He edited Dreich Planet #1, an anthology for Hybriddreich, Scotland, in December 2022. He is the recipient of the Ethos Literary Award 2022. He is the joint winner of the Full Fat Collection Competition-Deux, organized by Hedgehog Poetry Press, UK. In 2023, he won the First Prize in a Poetry Competition by the prestigious National Defence Academy, Pune, in the “family members category.” He was recently bestowed the 2023Setu Award for Excellence. He lives in Mumbai, India. 

X/ Twitter @sanjeevpoems3 || Instagram sanjeevsethipoems

Labyrinth

I look into the world: 
so many paths
bewilder me with multiplicity.
Which do I choose?
Where do I start?
What way will I go?
How will it end?

Then I see
there is only one path,
the one named
Who am I beyond appearances?
I pick up this thread
and walk.

Back and forth
around and about
distant and close
backtracking, backsliding
foregoing, forgetting
but following, following
till I come to the center,
the heart.

My heart
your heart
our heart
the heart of hearts
still center of silence
pulsing with faith.

There the thread of love
leads me outward again
to rejoin myself
to collect, to connect
the fragments broken
through heartlessness.

So hope is born
in the restful place
where nothing moves
except
everything.

Lory Widmer Hess is an American currently living with her family in Switzerland. She works with adults with developmental disabilities and is in training as spiritual director. Her writing has been published in Parabola, Heart of Flesh, Solum Journal, Ekstasis, Time of Singing, and other print and online publications. She blogs at enterenchanted.com. 

A leaf in the shape of a faerie 


in the shape of a leaf slipped 
upon the twilight’s pink 
& retreating winds. 
The rays of the sun scattered 
across the earth’s atmosphere, 
& as the globe tilted toward 
nightfall, I could see you clearly 
in the shape of a word

as if a great blue heron 
slipped along the water, 
the dark muck of lake 
retreated & ripples spread
in concentric circles, 
the sounds of each letter 
holier than the one before.  

If you happened upon the scene 
at that moment, you would have heard 
what sounded like a star exploding 
in another galaxy, for that is what happened 
on this solitary fall day into night.  
And the word was lovely,  

the word was germane, the word  
settled my heart where it made 
gossamer feathers whereby all my traumas 
lay down their burdens & their wings 
expanded across the rich, strong muscles 
of their backs like Gods in flight. 
I sat at the edge of the forest—

all my traumas lifted upon each leaf’s 
spine & dissolved by the mercies 
of acceptance. I wanted to follow you, 
chaste faerie, into the nothingness 
of night, but you left me there, 
settled in the dirt with rocks 
in my shoes & a word 
on my tongue that tasted 
like honey & went down 
like the juice of one hundred
hallowed pomegranates, each seed 
its own blessing. I finally knew 
the way to save myself—
I rose to my feet & headed home. 

Alicia Elkort‘s first book of poetry, A Map of Every Undoing was published in 2022 by Stillhouse Press with George Mason University, after winning their book contest. Alicia’s poetry has been nominated several times for the Pushcart, Best of the Net, and the Orison Anthology, and her work appears in numerous journals and anthologies. She reads for Tinderbox Poetry Journal and works as a Life Coach in Santa Fe, NM. For more info or to watch her two video poems: http://aliciaelkort.mystrikingly.com/

The Secret Life of a Winter Angel

The old man of winter reaches for immortality.
His name is a colloquialism for the winter season 
derived from ancient mythology. Transformed

into a modern adaptation, he rides upon icy winds 
with a lengthening shadow, explores the aging process 
and presents darkness as a comfort rather than a fear.

A blue vector explorer, he milks the sky of cobalt,
recreation and adventure as I proclaim: He's a comin' 
he's a comin', on a cold and frosty morning. I chant,

sing notes only dogs and my secret demon can hear,
am the original angel who fell and fell. I offer you 
my free song of the month: girl singing, singing,

singing, and am renowned for quick response time,
excellent communication and warm winter clothes. 
Lost heaven is never further than a breath away.

Rupert M Loydell is a writer, editor and abstract artist. His many books of poetry include Dear Mary (Shearsman, 2017) and The Return of the Man Who Has Everything (Shearsman 2015); and he has edited anthologies such as Yesterday’s Music Today (co-edited with Mike Ferguson, Knives Forks and Spoons Press 2014), and Troubles Swapped for Something Fresh: manifestos and unmanifestos (Salt, 2010).