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Poetry 5 Fall 2015

 

 

 

Betraying
 
     by Yuan Changming

 

You wish to be a Douglas fir

Tall, straight, almost immortal

But you stand like a Peking willow

Prone to cankers, full of twisted twigs

 

Worse still, you are not so resistant

As the authentic willow that can bend gracefully

Shake off all its unwanted leaves in autumn

When there is a wind blowing even from nowhere

 

No matter how much sunshine you receive

During the summer, you have nothing but scars

To show off against winter storms

The scars that you can never shake off

 

Bio: Yuan Changming, an 8-time Pushcart nominee, is the world's most widely published poetry author who speaks Mandarin but writes English. Currently, Yuan co-edits  Poetry Pacific  with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver, and has since mid-2005 had poetry appearing  in 1029 literary publications across 33 countries, including Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Cincinnati Review  and  Threepenny Review.

 

 Ebb and Flow

      by Glenda Walker

 

Ebb & flow, ebb& flow, ebb & flow.

Some days it is like dancing on the head of a pin with the angels

Some days it is drowning in the sea of self pity and regret.

Some days the magic happens

All goes well, fabulous even.

Then it all goes to hell in a hand basket

And sinks in a cesspool of shit.

Ebb & flow, ebb & flow, ebb & flow

Plunge in that ice cold water

Take a chance

Come up for air glad to be alive

Feeling that vitality, that excitement,

That newness, that bliss.

Or fall into the pit of sorrow

Unable to contain your sadness, your gloom,

The futility of it all. Ebb & flow, ebb & flow, ebb & flow

Why go on? Why try? Why sing? Why dance? Why love?

Because there is no other way.

Because it hurts too much If you don't try.

Because it sucks and because it shines. Because it is... Beautiful and shit

At the same time Because...


 

 

 

# 3 Transition

       by Glenda Walker

I am coming to love this land of contrast
Of coastal plains and sand dunes
Of palm trees and pines
Of gulls and hawks.
The sea calls to me often
Whispering and caressing my name.
It is a long way from North Texas
From the cedars and the prairie.
I've always been a woman of trees and hills...but, 

there is something soothing and calming about this place- 
the white Pelicans big as sailboats...
Beauty is everywhere in all things, 
Alive with the heartbeat of the Earth,
The gentle lapping of the waves 
against Her skin, the sand-
the tributaries and rivers her veins
Emptying straight into the heart of the sea...

 

Bio: Glenda Walker is a visual artist, poet, musician and all around free spirit! She currently resides in Victoria, Tx, where she is exploring oddball adventures and navigating new territory after living in Fort Worth, Tex for 54 years. 

Life is always a surprise and an opportunity for growing and learning something new!
 
 
 
 
 
 
Gumsmoke
 
     by Gary Langford
 
   
We are held without permission on the jawline.
A bank is opened for a tooth withdrawal.
Gum threatens to be a slum. Sites need clearance.
You consider joining the teeth party of politics.
A white truth is unburdened by race and history.
You'd swap a triumph to avoid a fallout.
News is that bad down in the aah language.
Teeth chat themselves to the bone. Your bone.
Your mouth is a cavern of gurgling tyrants.
Painkillers prepare you for the bill.
You have become supremely fanciful in the fields.
Shoes are off, clothes abandoned. Night comforts you,
only sleep's promise is overcome by a throb.
Dark music is out of tune in the howl of the moon
 



 
Bio:Gary Langford is the author of 32 books, including 14 works of fiction and 13 books of poetry as well as a CD of his poetry, Gary Langford reading from his poems,  www.poetryarchives.org His tenth novel is Sohrab (Last of the Giants), Amazon Kindle, 2013 while a recent poetry collection is Unit 6, 3 Quake Road,  www.steeleroberts.co.nz  2014. Gary is a writer and artist in Melbourne, Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand.