Pañuelos de La Alhambra by Mara Romero Torres

Pañuelos de La Alhambra by Mara Romero Torres Qué brillantes son las luces de mi ciudad. ¿Te parecen hermosas? Desde este cerro se vuelven castillos de colores: azules, verdes, rojas, amarillas, blancas. Todas cobijando ilusiones como esta mía de pretenderte en mis ojos compartiendo mi mirada, repartiendo las luces debajo de estas estrellas. Míralas, ¿te […]

Ontological by Maggie Anderson

Ontological by Maggie Anderson This is going to cost you. If you really want to hear a country fiddle, you have to listen hard, high up in its twang and needle. You can’t be running off like this, all knotted up with yearning, following some train whistle, can’t hang onto anything that way. When you’re […]

Only Iraq by Mahmoud Darwish

I remember A’SSayyab*, shouting at the Gulf in vain: Iraq, Iraq, Only Iraq… And from echo comes the only answer. I remember A’SSayyab….at this Soumari space A female had triumphed over the sterility of haze And bequeathed us both the earth and the exile. I remember A’Ssayyab…that poetry is born in Iraq So be an […]

Oh My Father, I am Yusif by Mahmoud Darwish

Father! I am Yusif Oh father! My brothers neither love me nor want me in their midst. Oh father, they assault me, they stone me and with insults they shower me. My brothers wish me dead so they give their false eulogies. They shut your door before me, and from your field I was expelled. […]

October Journey by Margaret Walker

Traveller take heed for journeys undertaken in the dark of the year. Go in the bright blaze of Autumn’s equinox. Carry protection against ravages of a sun-robber, a vandal, a thief. Cross no bright expanse of water in the full of the moon. Choose no dangerous summer nights; no heavy tempting hours of spring; October […]

Nube by Manolo Arriola

Nube by Manolo Arriola Allá en el Momotombito Hay un ciudadano chiquito Llamado Manuelito Volador de nubes Una chiquilla risueña, cantarina Le echó un copo de harina Jugando, jugando fueron llegando -Un día- le pidió una estrella Alcánzala, dijo él Vas a volar en el cielo Tan alto, tan alto……….. ¿Y si me caigo?………….. Depende […]

No Matter What You Write by Mac McGovern

The paper upon which I write a testament to my failure; words scratched through, lines obliterated, soon join paper wadded, torn strewn around the floor. My pencil, nearly a stub readies a new sheet, a clean slate, radically blurs back and forth above the paper as if frustrated to be put to use. My eyes […]

Neighing at the Slope by Mahmoud Darwish

Horses’ neighing at the slope. Downward or upward. I prepare my portrait for my woman to hang on a wall when I die. She says: Is there a wall to hang it on? I say: We’ll build a room for it. Where? In any house. Horses’ neighing at the slope. Downward or upward. Does a […]

My Mother by Mahmoud Darwish

I long for my mother’s bread My mother’s coffee Her touch Childhood memories grow up in me Day after day I must be worth my life At the hour of my death Worth the tears of my mother. And if I come back one day Take me as a veil to your eyelashes Cover my […]

For My People by Margaret Walker

For my people everywhere singing their slave songs repeatedly: their dirges and their ditties and their blues and jubilees, praying their prayers nightly to an unknown god, bending their knees humbly to an unseen power; For my people lending their strength to the years, to the gone years and the now years and the maybe […]

Muhammad by Mahmoud Darwish

Muhammad Living on his father’s lap frightened by the sky’s inferno: Protect me father from flying above, my wing is too small for the wind… and the light is pitch-black Muhammad wants to return home without a bicycle or a new shirt. Wants to go to the school bench to the syntax and etymology notebook. […]

Lulu by Manolo Arriola

Lulu by Manolo Arriola ¿Qué prístino canario es ese? Posa los cristales de avellana Ave canora revolotea la mirada ¿Qué besos son esos? Guindados de frambuesas Dulces, hermosas………………………… Tiernos, amorosas ¿Qué besos serán? Te vi en el pajar Te escabulliste Fugabas entre mis yemas La mañana, el mar, el sol La brisa al rostro El […]

Khanaa’s Song by Mallika Sengupta

Listen o listen: Hark this tale of Khanaa In Bengal in the Middle Ages Lived a woman Khanaa, I sing her life The first Bengali woman poet Her tongue they severed with a knife Her speechless voice, ‘Khanar Bachan’ Still resonates in the hills and skies Only the poet by the name of Khanaa Bleeding […]

In Jerusalem by Mahmoud Darwish

In Jerusalem, and I mean within the ancient walls, I walk from one epoch to another without a memory to guide me. The prophets over there are sharing the history of the holy . . . ascending to heaven and returning less discouraged and melancholy, because love and peace are holy and are coming to […]

If Old Men Fought by Mac McGovern

If Old Men Fought by Mac McGovern An old man, looking out his door, gaze fixed on a distant shore, reminiscing to a time, not of happiness, or, the prospect of a bright future in store, to when he was sick to his very core, to when as a youth, he went to war A […]

Identity Card by Mahmoud Darwish

Write down ! I am an Arab And my identity card number is fifty thousand I have eight children And the ninth will come after a summer Will you be angry? Write down! I am an Arab Employed with fellow workers at a quarry I have eight children I get them bread Garments and books […]

I Didn’t Apologize to the Well by Mahmoud Darwish

I didn’t apologize to the well when I passed the well, I borrowed from the ancient pine tree a cloud and squeezed it like an orange, then waited for a gazelle white and legendary. And I ordered my heart to be patient: Be neutral as if you were not of me! Right here the kind […]

I Come From There by Mahmoud Darwish

I come from there and I have memories Born as mortals are, I have a mother And a house with many windows, I have brothers, friends, And a prison cell with a cold window. Mine is the wave, snatched by sea-gulls, I have my own view, And an extra blade of grass. Mine is the […]

I Belong There by Mahmoud Darwish

I belong there. I have many memories. I was born as everyone is born. I have a mother, a house with many windows, brothers, friends, and a prison cell with a chilly window! I have a wave snatched by seagulls, a panorama of my own. I have a saturated meadow. In the deep horizon of […]

I Am There by Mahmoud Darwish

I come from there and remember, I was born like everyone is born, I have a mother and a house with many windows, I have brothers, friends and a prison. I have a wave that sea-gulls snatched away. I have a view of my own and an extra blade of grass. I have a moon […]

I Want To Write by Margaret Walker

I Want to Write I want to write I want to write the songs of my people. I want to hear them singing melodies in the dark. I want to catch the last floating strains from their sob-torn throats. I want to frame their dreams into words; their souls into notes. I want to catch […]

Hora Cero by Manolo Arriola

Hora Cero by Manolo Arriola moreno punzante…….. cortina rota leones bailando mambo bacinica………. flores…………. más flores madera seca verde follaje hojas del árbol viejo Machado profundo manchado franquistas………. enquistas balas al pecho machistas marchitas………… marchistas marxistas gritó el caballo………………se apago el foco gallo afectado salvaje pedernal ballenero tomada de pelo…………… la llevé……………….era casada monte la […]

He Is Calm, and I Am Too by Mahmoud Darwish

He is calm, And I am too. He drinks lemon tea, And I drink coffee. (this is the only thing different about us) He, like me, wears a loose striped shirt, And I stare, like him, in a monthly magazine. He does not see me as I eye him discreetly; I do not see him […]

Hate Survives by Mac McGovern

Hate Survives by Mac McGovern Prejudice learned now encapsulates willing souls only hate survives End of the poem 15 random poems   Poetry by subject Some external links: The Bat’s Own Poetry Cave  Talking Writing Monster. Duckduckgo.com – the alternative in the US Quant.com – a search engine from France, and also an alternative, at […]

Halloween by Mac Hammond

Halloween by Mac Hammond The butcher knife goes in, first, at the top And carves out the round stemmed lid, The hole of which allows the hand to go In to pull the gooey mess inside, out – The walls scooped clean with a spoon. A grim design decided on, that afternoon, The eyes are […]

Frijolita by Manolo Arriola

Frijolita by Manolo Arriola pícara frijolita tierna mirada encantadora gira………………..…..……. gira al son de los timbales p i e l cobriza entre mis brazos gira…………………….gira florida camisa hawaiana s o n r i e n t e p e r l a sombrero en tú ventana paloma morena silueta de sirena manjar del fondo del […]

FREEDOM by Mac McGovern

Fought on bitter fields tainted red Revolution quells garroted oppression Emporté-moi the cry Engagement protects treasured belief Declaration defines a people Oration warns tread not on me Muskets herald the voice of freedom End of the poem 15 random poems   Poetry by subject Some external links: The Bat’s Own Poetry Cave  Talking Writing Monster. […]

FLORECER by Manolo Arriola

FLORECER by Manolo Arriola Florezco en la primavera, Como el Cardo nuboso, De arisca persona, Que florece en el invierno. Florezco en enero, Como el amor caído, De las Rosas de otoño, Que florecen en el ocaso. Florezco cuando florezco, En el momento de florecer, No esperando siendo fruto, Ser flor en el atardecer. Florezco […]

Fleeting Thoughts by Mac McGovern

Fleeting Thoughts by Mac McGovern We write our thoughts, not to forget, but, to document a moment of fleeting thought shared from memory, then gone forever. Thoughts converted to memories as age surges toward twilight, expressed as vivid reenactments of history and genealogy. To let memory pass into obscurity, decry the sadness that exists in […]

Father And Son by Mac McGovern

Father And Son by Mac McGovern The years as they pass, like the orange blossom and the rose in the purest hope of spring; rise to create a new beginning. My yearning heart exalts in celebration of lost years end, leaping for joy at the whisper of your name. As evening descends, shaded by the […]

Eco en la madrugada by Mara Romero Torres

Eco en la madrugada by Mara Romero Torres Mis versos te mecen en las horas ausentes de sueño. Ellos son los brazos que te rodean y encienden el fuego en mi pecho, cuando, en la noche sin ti, vierto en mi almohada el deseo y repito, repito, tu nombre e imagino, imagino, tu cuerpo y […]

Down in the valley by Marcin Malek

Down in the valley by Marcin Malek There is a valley between the Ballina and Sligo where birds and humans are fading with delight There is a valley where mist is composed of the last breaths of those who dear to enter its gates Christ himself walks along its sharp ridges to stroke with a […]

Diary of a Palestinian Wound by Mahmoud Darwish

For Fadwa Tuqan We do not need to be reminded: Mount Carmel is in us and on our eyelashes the grass of Galilee. Do not say: If we could run to her like a river. Do not say it: We and our country are one flesh and bone. Before June we were not fledgeling doves […]

Childhood by Margaret Walker

When I was a child I knew red miners dressed raggedly and wearing carbide lamps. I saw them come down red hills to their camps dyed with red dust from old Ishkooda mines. Night after night I met them on the roads, or on the streets in town I caught their glance; the swing of […]

As He Walks Away by Mahmoud Darwish

The enemy who drinks tea in our hovel has a horse in smoke, a daughter with thick eyebrow, brown eyes and long hair braided over her shoulders like a night of songs. He’s never without her picture when he comes to drink our tea but he forgets to tell us about her nightly chores about […]

An Interchanging Poetry Expression Of Love by Mac McGovern

An Interchanging Poetry Expression Of Love by Mac McGovern I write about all the various stages of love; defined by the length of a relationship regardless of longevity including, relations of our youth to love strong enough to survive the challenges presented throughout marriage. I define love as a cyclical process as related to generative […]

AN INSPIRATIONAL VILLANELLE: by Manish Thakur

There is no such thing as LUCK, only INSPIRATION There is no such thing as SUCCESS, only WILL POWER Remember these lines and you’ll build a NATION. There is no such thing as HAPPINESS, only REALIZATION Very few might believe what you say, but say you must There is no such thing as LUCK, only […]

An Honest Poet’s Life Is Full Of Care by Malcolm Massiah

An Honest Poet’s Life Is Full Of Care by Malcolm Massiah Now to myself this comes as some surprise I’m sitting writing here a tuneless song My rusty hand’s in need of exercise For I’ve been far too lazy for too long In honeyed indolence I’ve spent my days I’ve watched the changing colours of […]