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poetry  7

 

 

The Beginning

           by Kevin Vibert

In the beginning, there was nothing.

And that was fine for a while, anyway;
without any noticeable landmarks around
(or any landmarks to be around, or anything for
those landmarks to be around, were they around)
rent was low, and that was alright.
But low rent alone is no reason to live somewhere,
especially nowhere,
and soon nothing got bored.
So nothing decided to pick up, and move out,
and find somewhere a little more exciting.


And in its wake, Something was born,
Blinking at its own light,
Its stars and planets and moons,
Its trees, animals, people,
Technicians and lobbyists and people who count things when they're nervous,
And technicians'  breakfasts and lobbyists'  lunches and things to count,
Including other people, counting other things,
And on the side some hope, and a little happiness, in places.


But eventually nothing got bored of looking,
just as nothing had gotten bored of not looking,
and wandered back home.
So in the end, there was nothing, too;
except maybe the wisdom that sometimes low rent is reason enough to 
live somewhere,
especially nowhere.



BIO: Kevin Vibert is an undergraduate English Major at the University 
of Massachusetts at Amherst.  This is his first publication.

 

 

BEES. BARELY REMEMBERED

     by  Lois Beebe Hayna

 

What comes back in rare moments

is the warmth of spring sun

on her shoulders, mixed with

the humming of hundreds of bees

intent on plundering pollen, heavy

with nectar, vibrating up there

above her. Something fierce in that buzz

but contented too, so the child she was

that early spring sat

with sun warm on her back

to gather dandelions. Bright dusty-gold

she hoards them, never mind

that they go droopy almost as fast

as she fists them. but maybe also

she remembers that backdrop

of vibrant humming,

a tree come suddenly white with blossom

and alive with bees.

 

Bio: Lois Beebe Hayna's  fifth collection of poems, Keeping Still, was released in 2005. She has  been widely published in poetry journals including, The South Dakota Review, The MacGuffin and The Wisconsin Quarterly Review. She has  received a Colorado Arts Recognition grant and is the Poet Laureate Emerita for Colorado Springs.

 

 

 

when you used to be young

 

      by  Kate Ladew

 

your once lovely thin arms wobble back at you,

your twin with the hooded eyes frowning

you pull the sleeves thick, just reaching the crook of your elbow and smile at the collarbones bright under stretches of skin like wire hangers holding you up

hide the wobbly parts, reveal the thin veined hands, the lips plumped and red, your eyes

he said it was the wisp of curls at your temples, the flyaways you despised 

when you were young,

when you used to be young, 

fingering them now, framing them with your beautiful hands, sleeves tight

 

 

 

Bio: Kate Ladew  is a  recent graduate from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro with a BA in Studio Art.

 

 

When a Caught Star Shines

       by A. J. Huffman
 

An everyday look
and an everyday grin
is a strange torture.
Something worse
than beautiful.
But still akin
to hell.
When it passes
for a glance
from the ebony eyes
of her god.

Bio:   A.J. Huffman is a poet and freelance writer in Daytona Beach, Florida.  She has  previously published her work in literary journals, in the U.K. as well as America, such as Avon Literary Intelligencer, Eastern Rainbow, Medicinal Purposes Literary Review, The Intercultural Writer's Review, Icon, Writer's Gazette, and The Penwood Review.

 

 

 

O Michael

  by Joan McNerney

 

Today I feel

myself slipping away

into this dark hole.

Longing to sleep sleep

long deep sleep

through the cold night.

Slipping away through

wells of sorrow.

 

I remember how brightly

constellations shone

in their orbit. Now

there is nothing but

this bowl of blackness.

When did all the

stars collapse?

 

Bio: Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Boston Review of the Arts, Kalliope, Mudfish, Spectrum and Word Thursdays. Four of her books have been published by fine literary presses. Her latest title is Having Lunch with the Sky, A.P.D. Press, Albany, New York.