Nourish Moon
by Terri Hadley Ward
I gazed up at the full, wild moon
burning her white fire through a blanket of darkness
made magical by her light, and I swear,
she gazed with tender love
on my face, and called through the wind,
“What does your soul need?”
My tears fell, rivers to the earth,
as the broken heart I didn’t know was mine
split open and offered its secret yearnings
to the embrace of soft night
and the hushed presence of the cedar trees,
circled and waiting like prayers
reaching to heaven.
Across ink shadow fields,
an owl called a name that was not mine,
but my heart jumped anyway,
as though my life was soft fur
and hollow, matchstick bones,
as though I could run through moon shadows
and still be taken to the sky.
“What does your soul need?”
The prayers of trees when
I lose my faith,
the song of the owl
when I forget my voice,
the nourish moon pouring her light
over me like love.
Bio:Terri Hadley Ward gains inspiration from the sacred feminine and from being in nature. Her poems have appeared in The Greensilk Journal, The MOON magazine, When Women Waken, The Magnolia Review, Stumptown Publishing’s Mountain Ink, and Snapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing. Her poetry chapbook, Songs of the Wild She, is available through www.amazon.com. She recently completed Usui Holy Fire Level 1 Reiki training, and nourishes her soul through yoga, meditation, Reiki, and painting.
Passage
by Deeya Bhattacharya
A Garden-lily caresses my gaze;
it bequeaths a pristine glory on me
the ubiquitous moon cannot
out-shine its glow that smears
my courtyard
its this bit of moon; this shredded legacy
and nuptial bliss bestowed upon me
that I bask under its illustriousness
The voluptuous moon, frustrates your
inane awkwardness, that you inhale
among crackers, matchboxes
among festivals and rituals
You travel deep, deep down among
throaty silences and mindless fissures
till our breath mingles in an explosion.
I inhale your skin among fresh mint and banana
syrups and lozenges, your apricot skin allures me
among untrodden ways
Your eyes are gateways to Gardens Of Babylon.
Bio: Deeya writes to please her senses. The words that outflows her pen have enigmatic charm. She has several poems to her credit in national & international, e-zines, websites and anthologies. She is an award winning poet. She has read her poems at fests. She teaches poetry and English in a Govt. Sponsored School in Westbengal, India.
When “Goodbye” Isn’t Enough
by Holly Day
My son tells me
the world has gotten so small
that even if he gets swallowed up
by the trees in the Amazon
by the heights of Nepal or Kilimanjaro
by the noise of icebergs crashing somewhere past Alaska
he will be able to call me on his cell phone
I can see his face on my computer
I can talk to him any time I want.
I want to tell him
that even the smallest places
can feel gigantic and empty when you’re all alone
that even as close as a telephone call might make us feel
we’ll still have to hang up sometime, and that every minute
I don’t hear his stereo playing in the basement
that I don’t trip over his backpack in the hallway
that I don’t hear him rummaging around in the kitchen
I’ll wonder how he’s doing, if he’s okay
if he remembers
how much he is loved.
Bio: Holly Day has taught writing classes at the Loft Literary Center in Minnesota since 2000. Her published books include Music Theory for Dummies, Music Composition for Dummies, Guitar All-in-One for Dummies, Piano All-in-One for Dummies, Walking Twin Cities, Insider’s Guide to the Twin Cities, Nordeast Minneapolis: A History, and The Book Of, while her poetry has recently appeared in New Ohio Review, SLAB, and Gargoyle. Her newest poetry book, Ugly Girl, just came out from Shoe Music Press.
