Poetry
Flower God, God of the Spring FLOWER god, god of the spring, beautiful, bountiful, Cold-dyed shield in the sky, lover of versicles, Here I wander in April Cold, grey-headed; and still to my Heart, Spring …
We present the five winning entries (in alphabetical order) of our sonnet contest in honor of the 400th anniversary of William Shakespeare’s death (April 23, 1616). Eulogy for Broadway (Downtown San Diego) By Georges Alvina …
Flight Path I wake to the suctioning shriek of a plane flying low overhead and imagine the jet just wants to be invited for tea. This plane is sick of mindless movement. It screams for …
Air sharks skirt you as you hold the line the eagle rays take conchs into their mouths consuming their flesh as bits of shell drift empty to the ocean floor the barracudas crosshatch themselves above …
Whan that Aprille with his shoures soote, The droghte of March hath perced to the roote, And bathed every veyne in swich licóur Of which vertú engendred is the flour; Whan Zephirus eek with his …
A Pale Monday Morning - I I went to sleep late last night, and woke up early this morning. A very kind note to a friend wasn’t kind enough! I woke up feeling sad and …
Dreams of the Prairie The last night in Dakota, bird hunting on the butcher’s land, you see rows of burning hedge, pages of prairie illuminated. You will remember this: smell of James River sedge borne …
I arise today Through the strength of the love of cherubim, In the obedience of angels, In the service of archangels, In the hope of resurrection to meet with reward, In the prayers of patriarchs, …
Near Paisley, Oregon the ancient lake’s giant redband trout fin small creeks. Among swirling ice sculptures in thawing Chewaucan River, I daydreamed their lateral lines as one long red sunset after a bad storm, Buddhist …
Road Accident A night of glassy ghosts in the meadows. A black night of ice and rain, winter’s voltage set hard to stun, the earth hammered into unpredictable motion. The road was closed, I later …
The Chalk of Moses Skreeks Between My Fingers The chalk of Moses skreeks between my fingers. Milton’s blindness burns through my sheer eyelids. Edmondsen’s hammer and chisel weigh down both my hands. Yes, in my …
Uncertain “Someone who, dreaming, says “I am dreaming,” even if he speaks audibly in doing so, is no more correct than if he said in his dream, “It is raining,” while in fact it was …
Sonnet 23 As an unperfect actor on the stage, Who with his fear is put beside his part, Or some fierce thing replete with too much rage, Whose strength’s abundance weakens his own heart; So …
the wilder shores of love cannot sustain life, so love is only an abstraction feral ghosts carve in the hard sand. the coconut’s endosperm is inedible, too salty, its meat without sweet. syringes and bottles …
Moment to Moment for Wallace Stevens 1 Orange poppy-speckled glass vase alone on a shelf, neck twisted to one side like nothing else in this guest room, you organize nothing. 2 Overbearing, that sleek leaf, …
An Insomniac’s Prayer I should have listened when they said it was unlucky to point at the moon and count the stars. But while at the mountain, I was foolish. Too close, I invaded their …