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Linked Forms, Sequences and Contrapuntal Poetry

edited by Clayton Beach

Details

ochre rock
ground to a paste
spirit shadows dance
from the flames

from a rotting log
the quoll
begins its hunt
crescent moon

a black beetle’s
long journey
climbing
the mountain ash

milky way
the light of stars
in the lens
of his camera

those indigo skies
the nights we spend
gazing
into moon-washed hills

Details

dawnlight
droplets of dew
on pink plum blossoms

garden pond
a frog turns into stone

dusty mirror
another déjà vu
in V formation

lights out in the valley
the elder tells his story

soft lullaby
as she cradles her baby
the scent of honey

summer sunrise
father sips a cup of coffee

warm layers
the first snow
bathed in moonlight

under one blanket
rose oil on her skin
rising incense…
two lovers share
their secrets

morning fog
the forest fills with birdsong

call to prayer
my skirt fringes become one
with seagrass

combing the old stray cat
winter wind

faint whispers
the subway rattles
in the dark

plucking a guitar string
the room fills with tension

wedding day
a butterfly flies between
the groom and the bride

under the silk chuppah
candles glimmer in a breeze

glimpsed behind
drifting storm clouds
harvest moon

pumpkin patch
so many faces in the crowd

orange streetlight
a wrinkled leaf falls
without a sound

melting into a shadow
the doe’s eyes

half-open window
an orb spider rebuilds
her web

a dreamcatcher spins
above his pillow

nascent breath
in Sakura blossoms…
the birth of a star

spring evening
the child scribbles her first poem

 

Michelle Hyatt, Canada
Jacob Salzer, USA

Details

Ephemera

no leaf stirs. . .
yet mist rising
from the water's surface
. . . . . . . .swirls
in slender vortices of light

a feather
floats from empty air
into my mind
the desire comes
to live as lightly

mayflies
on a sunlit stream . . .
riding
the earth’s soft breath
into a single dusk

grass bows down
before the wind
and grass rises . . .
the valves of my heart
open and close

the wind harp
in my narrow room
sings
on a whispering breeze
harmonics are enough

 

Quicksilver

in old age
I dream once more
of horses
opalescent as the mist
wheeling around me

dappled
with moonlight
a mare stops
to touch my hand . . .
velvet breath

I twine
my fingers
in the wind’s
wild mane . . .
follow, follow

crossing
a river of starlight . . .
the current
carries us swiftly
toward the sea

a glint
of fools’ gold
as we reach
the farther shore
the scent of thyme

 

Spindrift

a swirl of birds
across the winter sky . . .
I sing
the shifting shapes
of star and starling

my song
has no words,
or only one—
the syllable that seeds
both emptiness and form

no name
for the no-thing
that flings up foam
and draws it back again—
this froth of stone and oak

I am a leaf
caught in an eddy
singing
my way downriver
to the distant sea

silver fish
dancing on moonlit ripples
don’t die
when the wind dies down. . .
they were always water

Details

delicate sounds
of the early spring
taking time
to melt the waterfall
shining in the sun          

sound of rain
outside my bedroom
morning lullaby             

soft drops
of humidity
in Tokyo
no one notices
my tears                

shall I go. . .
                    shall I stay?
the absence of thunder    

pouring
your favorite
blueberry tea
under the stars
scent of firewood

cloudless skies
seedlings after
last year’s ashes

    by Mariko Kitakubo and Deborah P Kolodji

 

Details

wiping off
and wiping off
the dark. . .
footsteps
in the cloud

foggy morning
searching for a ray of light
within the gray

I can't see
my fairy shoes
in the weeds
trapped by gravity
within the haze

blurry-eyed
a bee dusts
the pollen 

loving
your crossed 
fingers...
a bottle of mead
across the ocean

outstretched wings
the scan beep
of a boarding pass

        Mariko Kitakubo & Deborah P Kolodji

 

Details

warm breath
catches at the door . . .
too much night

            flicker of recognition
            before the power outage

plenty of time
to tell stars from planets
thick silence

            singles night
            at the stardust ballroom
            his ring

driving till dawn
no other lights

            dark galaxy
            caught in the cloud
            of lies

Ann K. Schwader & Deborah P Kolodji