W.S. Merwin: To the New Year
our hopes such as they are
invisible before us
untouched and still possible
Neil Shepard: That Sad Clapping
applause that crushes the way the singer comes back
into the song
Martina Reisz Newberry: Ode to Escrava Anastacia
Dear phantom,
I have nothing save love
for you.
Gerry LaFemina: Frisbee
Remember how effortlessly those guys caught it behind their backs or else by tapping it first from underneath so it paused in place and spun like a galaxy.
Judith Sanders: First Lesson
…assess this particular pebble’s
cool weight in your palm,
the diameter of its smoothness,
the course it traveled over the seabed
Majid Naficy: Seven Sacred Songs
There is a footstep
And the light of a lantern.
I hide myself beneath an old blanket
And become filled with the aroma of wheat.
Video: The Chicks | March March
“If your voice held no power, they wouldn’t try to silence you.”
Max Ehrmann: Desiderata
Speak your truth quietly and clearly; and listen to others, even to the dull and the ignorant; they too have their story.
BJ Ward: Christmas Eve
Along the cold streets, my townsfolk ignite
their faith. Each states that heaven’s gate’s a star
brighter than its neighbors. I’m in a car
with a coughing carburetor. Big night
for our Lord.
Joy Gaines-Friedler: Winter, Go Ahead
see the moon lay its Templar light
over everything
even the swing-set in its cold metal
David Adès: Tomorrow
the day ticks inexorably by with its seepage of light, and I note the stirring in the air
as neither warning nor blessing
Linda Parsons: Visitations
Everything seems to glow richer before first frost, a last hurrah before the ghostly breath passes over.
Michael Simms: The Great Conjunction
I think of the sun rising between
great standing stones,
and the Persians gathering for Yaldā Night
to eat pomegranates
and recite the poems of Hafez.
