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Poetry 1 Fall 2017
 
 
 
 
Spirit and Soul
      by  James B. Nicola
 
For some the words are interchangeable
but I see one as dark, the other bright,
like sky, one half of which is visible,
the other half, thick jet. But on a night
of stars or fireworks they work as one:
the backdrop’s Soul, her end beyond our sight;
Spirit, flashes of wild and noisy light,
or flickering quiet calm, beyond our ken.
 
On loud nights they leave pinwheels in the air
of swirling smoke, dissolving. Though it seems
to be my eyes that light them from below,
it can’t be, since I’m sleeping. Then they go
as if to a back room—and close the door
behind them, to dance privately, in dreams.
 
 
 
Bio:James B. Nicola's poems have appeared five previous times in Green Silk Journal, as well as in the Antioch, Southwest and Atlanta Reviews, Rattle, Tar River, and Poetry East, and in many journals in Europe and Canada. A Yale graduate, he won a Dana Literary Award, a Willow Review award, and a People's Choice award (from Storyteller), and he was featured poet at New Formalist. His nonfiction book, Playing the Audience, won a Choice award. His poetry collections are Manhattan Plaza (2014), Stage to Page: Poems from the Theater (2016) and Wind in the Cave (2017).
 
 
 
 
 
 
Teach Me How to Burn
      by Terri Ward
 
Teach me how to stand in the flames
of compassion for the world
and burn like a wild fire for truth
without searing my heart to ash.
Show me how to plunge deep 
into the waters 
of Love’s divine ocean
and swim beneath the waves
without drowning in the salt 
river of Mother Earth’s tears. 
Take my hand and guide me
to that bridge in the darkness
where together we will spread our wings, 
wayshowers lighting the path  
back to Love.
Fear’s army is gathered
in the valley of the shadow,
and this tender heart is weary,
wounded and broken open
in battle again and again.
Look into my eyes and remind me,
let your heart whisper 
its song of courage to mine.
Look into my eyes and remind me,
show me how to live
with this soul wide open
like empty blue sky 
embracing the world.
Teach me how to stand in the flames
and burn like wild fire for truth…
look into my eyes and remind me,
this fire is why I came.
 
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 WakenThe Magnolia ReviewMountain InkSage WomanSnapdragon: A Journal of Art & Healing, and She Who Knows: a Magazine for Awakening Women. Her poetry chapbook, Songs of the Wild She, is available through Amazon. She is currently at work on her first full-length book of poetry. 
 
 
 

 

 

 

 

 

Glitch

     by Carolyn Wolfe

Late at night

The glow of my computer screen

Suddenly went dark

I

Being so used to its sterile blue light

Was caught, surprised

Not sure what happened

How could it just

Shut off?

I had just turned away for a moment

Getting a glass of tea

Iced

To soothe my parched throat

I had been reciting

A novel

With Dragon

Speech  recognition technology

The latest software

(Don’t you love shortcuts?)

But suddenly

Nothing

No blue screen

No black words on a white background

Just a black screen

I checked the wires

I checked the plugs

I checked the fuse box

I checked everything

I drank my tea

And pondered

There was no explanation

Then

I heard a voice

It sounded more like a buzz

But the words were clear

“Why?”

I looked around

But knew

I was the only one

In the room, in the house

And suddenly

In the dark, as all light went out.

The voice continued.. Buzzing

“Do you”

Now I was in a state of panic

Where did I put the flashlight?

The candles, the matches…?

The voice continued as I swept the room

For any portable, battery operated

light source.

“Need me?”

 The buzzing stopped for a moment

And the left side of my brain started working on the question.

Need You? Need Who?  My brain stammered…

“To tell your story?” The buzzing  rose and then was silent…

The screen suddenly came back on

Two enormous cat-like

Slitted, red eyes

Stared at me.

I stared

They stared

The buzzing came from the screen..

“Answer me please.”

 Uh, I write the story… I began

Saying it loudly, defensively,

“aah.” The buzzing said..

“then you don’t need me.”

 

The red eyes blinked for a moment

I saw a giant head of scales,

 a torso, the hint of a wing

A long barbed tail…

Then a sound reminiscent

of air and fire…

Then the screen was brilliant blue again.

I looked, but my story was gone

And my dragon icon too…

I sighed.

Man, I hate computer glitches.

 

 

 

 

No Halloween

     by Carolyn Wolfe

Halloween is at a disadvantage this year

I mean

Come on,

We’ve had

Hurricanes,

Flood,

And Fire

Violence in protests,

Violence from terrorists

Violence for no reason.

Animals being chained, fenced in or crated

Left to drown in the storms fury

Children screaming

People fleeing for their lives…

 

The dark spirit of Man

The heavy hand of Nature

The homelessness,

The hopelessness

The despair…

 

So, yes, Halloween decided

To pack it in this year

Give it a miss

After all

Nothing it could do

Could top this…

 

Bio:  Carolyn Wolfe is a free-lance writer, published poet, and author of eight books, four of which are illustrated children's books. Those include, "Am I YOUR Pet?", "The Drowsy House," "The Bedtime of The Sky and Other Sleepy-Bye Stories" and "The Unhappy Little Dragon, Lessons Learned." Her books for general readership include: "Miracle Paws, A Love Story" a story of rescue and light romance, "The Moonsparrow Collection" a collection of her short fantasy stories,  " Notes From the Shadow Self" a collection of her original poetry, and an adult Sword and Sorcery novella, "Blade's Magic"  which is about dangerous magics and an attraction that spans two worlds. 

All her books are available on amazon.com , Barnes and Noble and Books-A- Million- (online)
Wolfe lives with her photographer husband, Scott, and a houseful of her own rescued animal companions. If you would more info about this Author, here is her website info: 
http://wolfecarolyn.wix. com/
carolyn-storyteller