Ghazal by Agha Shahid Ali
Ghazal BY AGHA SHAHID ALI Feel the patient’s heart Pounding—oh please, this once— —JAMES MERRILL I’ll do what I must if I’m bold in real time. A refugee, I’ll be paroled in real time. Cool evidence clawed off like shirts of hell-fire? A former existence untold in real time … The one you would […]
The Solitary Oak On Mount Kremlin Bicetre
The Solitary Oak on Mount Kremlin-Bicêtre by T. Wignesan for Jean Lapresle, the “Father” of neuro-pathology in France: 1909-2000 On Bicêtre Mount a stately oak did spread its unmeshed boughs to swarms of sparrows beating retreat To turtle-doves and flapping pigeon-mates a frolicksome haven Where now […]
The Prison Of The Past
The prison of the past by Mirela Sula I escape from the prison of the past Haunted by illusions gone awry Filled with accusation against own self There I go to enjoy the air of renewal Desire Touches me To seduce me Pushes me To regain myself again Released Like a […]
The Dead Woman
If suddenly you do not exist, if suddenly you are not living, I shall go on living. I do not dare, I do not dare to write it, if you die. I shall go on living. Because where a man has no voice, there, my voice Where blacks are beaten, I […]
Pathos Is The Skyward Tanka
pathos is the skyward tanka by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé a mother swathed in muslin scavenging, rubble behind the sea of biscay a burned down house on a mound a bargain respect, absent what was us, what was sweet home lost to an ornery sound shanks pressed into the pallid […]
Nominalism Is A Liquid Kuhi
nominalism is a liquid kuhi by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé solomonic column, white scraped clean of spirals here lies a similar name safe, lamp-lit passage maybe tomorrow, a shine as a flute flourished flushed garlands atop, around us wet down, barley sugar too extravagant with hope? frugal enough […]
My Mother’s Grief
My Mother’s Grief by Richard J, Hobbs Six years have since ensued, And yet the right words Persist to elude. A grim day, hard to fit the mood.. And if I wasn’t slim paid, Her name I’d get tattooed. I know it’s hard not to cry, Or keep emotions subdued I […]
If Truth In Hearts That Perish
If truth in hearts that perish Could move the powers on high, I think the love I bear you Should make you not to die. Sure, sure, if stedfast meaning, If single thought could save, The world might end to-morrow, You should not see the grave. This long and sure-set liking, This boundless will to […]
I Havent Betrayed You My Hometown
I haven’t betrayed you, my hometown by Mirela Sula I’m leaving… My poor shadow remains There, wandering on the streets In the grip of gigantic shades Though sick, I’m leaving Hidden under covered wounds Without medicine I’m leaving… How am I leaving? I still hear earthly songs Following me down the […]
Eclipse Of Love
Eclipse of Love by Tanisha Avarsekar Are those tears or fires in my eyes? Reality is being manifested by the thought I most despise. The day I had hoped would never come is here. Taking away my soul and what I hold most dear. My pride is your dignity, The image […]
Divided Passion
Divided passion by Mirela Sula Push me…. Tell me “How much time do you need to come”? How much time to get to you? One side of me is in denial I feel like a victim of the aggressor Still being held in the wide open? How do I protect myself? How […]
Death039s Claim
Death’s claim by Tanisha Avarsekar When life stops, but time goes on. When you go, but I have to move on. When the world’s successful in tearing us apart. When death comes to claim, what’s been given by the past. Flames in the graveyard burn through the dark… […]
Dear Bhikkhu A Eulogy
dear bhikkhu: a eulogy by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé what will you will to endure, bhikkhu? what will you remember, twenty lake days saffron robe to keep out the cold, keep out the stares keep off the wax moths and blinding light? watering hole no lodging, jeta’s grove like amber […]
As With A Senryu S Hardening Ridge
As with a Senryu’s Hardening Ridge by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé jalousie windows open six months of chill as welcome as five years, seven inflections precise, scaled dots dropping off and the rubbing out of the fire in the hole flailing legs like broken twigs lost torso in grass – […]
A Gogyohka And The Forgotten Panopticon
A Gogyohka and the Forgotten Panopticon by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé There, a quiet remembrance – thin walls, colloquium volte-face, inversions the same mirrored shine and glass so we sleep better slipping naked under sheets roster-retractions and altercations and always inward-looking the way your pulse races up percussive, a […]
A Faded Postcard Is A Tanka Daydream
A Faded Postcard is a Tanka Daydream by Desmond Kon Zhicheng-Mingdé but of the firewalker of his frame, a rush of flame look at both faces, closed eyes this, what you were born into to grasp, that expectation a forward hesitation – to love only once to endure, outlast […]