Almost
by Marlene Brubacher
I stared at Death, and he stared back.
I felt his breath upon my cheek.
And for his singular command
I listened, but he did not speak.
Continue reading . . . “Marlene Brubacher: Almost”
Rebecca Weber: The Heart of Day
The Heart of Day
by Rebecca Weber
Oh, for the day when time’s cold rule is lifted—
that day that is no day, and neither night;
when what are now dark boxes of existence
break forth in endless choruses of light; Continue reading . . . “Rebecca Weber: The Heart of Day”
Claudia Lehman: Mary Queen of Scots
Mary Queen of Scots
by Claudia Lehman
This poem was first published in the 2020 Leaf Magazine.
I wonder would it comfort you to know,
fair thwarted queen, that I looked through my panes
(when clouds were blowing through the old trees’ hair
and everywhere the scent and sound of rain, Continue reading . . . “Claudia Lehman: Mary Queen of Scots”
Dewdrop
By Amy Schlabach
Liquid realm
Suspended light
Quivering life
Intensified.
Continue reading . . . “Amy Schlabach: Dewdrop”
Marlene Brubacher: Shall Never Thirst
Shall Never Thirst
by Marlene Brubacher
Shall never thirst,
You said,
And at that Word
The fountain broke, and water gushed
Far richer than what Moses drank or dreamed, Continue reading . . . “Marlene Brubacher: Shall Never Thirst”
Christopher Good: Morning Break
Morning Break
by Christopher Good
Marlboro tar curls through a sluggish mist
heavy-white over the docks,
the low ten-o’clock sun muted,
atmosphere sullen, pregnant with autumn.
Continue reading . . . “Christopher Good: Morning Break”
Nest Hands
by Renea McKenzie
i fetal myself
into your
nest-hands
the fleshy Continue reading . . . “Renea McKenzie: Nest Hands”
Conrad Martin: By Long Division, Thoughts
By Long Division, Thoughts
by Conrad Martin
By long division, thoughts
must have impressed themselves,
self-cluttering, onto something pure which came before.
If only retracing the mind amounted Continue reading . . . “Conrad Martin: By Long Division, Thoughts”
This week we are publishing a video of a poem we originally published in October of last year. Recorded in Romania in Kyle and Claudia Lehman’s orchard.
To Sleep
by Lynn Michael Martin
O Sleep, dark baptism to the land of sight,
your floods rise over me; I sink beneath
where nameless tendrils turn a silent wreath
under the clouds of shadow-tinctured night. Continue reading . . . “Lynn Michael Martin: To Sleep”
Kyle Lehman: Where Are the Poems I Want to Write?
Untitled 47—Poetry Video
Where Are the Poems I Want to Write?
by Kyle Lehman
Where are the poems I want to write?
Where are the songs I’ve yet to learn? Continue reading . . . “Kyle Lehman: Where Are the Poems I Want to Write?”
Renea McKenzie: God Is a Storm
God is a storm. We live in the eye.
by Renea McKenzie
The roof over your head you did not
build. Extend an awning that another
might remove his coat-and-hat selves
in the warmth of your womb-like mouth, Continue reading . . . “Renea McKenzie: God Is a Storm”
Rowena Zuercher: Birth of Yellow
Birth of Yellow
by Rowena Zuercher
Yellow is the first to bleed into the clusters of green
that canopy the sidewalks, tidy lawns, and porch stoops
and the edges of golden harvest fields are ribboned with
mullein, yarrow, and dandelion that feed shy rabbits and curious deer. Continue reading . . . “Rowena Zuercher: Birth of Yellow”
Daniel Hess: Necessary Pleasure
Necessary Pleasure
by Daniel Hess
What were the senses sans smell?
Transient terrors they.
Taste gone, sight short, feeling fell,
hearing hard, for who could weigh Continue reading . . . “Daniel Hess: Necessary Pleasure”
Advent XXIV
by Claudia Lehman
Because our long impoverished race
has nothing more than straw to bring;
because we’ve lost the keys and maps
to doors away from suffering, Continue reading . . . “Advent XXIV”
Advent XXIII
by Claudia Lehman
Silly, silly, grown-up soul,
You take yourself so seriously
Eleven months out of the year.
Now that Christmastime is here, Continue reading . . . “Advent XXIII”
Advent XXII
by Kyle Lehman
We wake to sleep, we breathe to cry.
Our mothers dreamed and brought us forth to die;
For every cradle opens up a grave,
And every child is one we cannot save. Continue reading . . . “Advent XXII”
Advent XXI
Simon’s Waiting
by Conrad Martin
He fumbles at your Soul
As Players at the Keys
Before they drop full Music on—
He stuns you by degrees—
Emily Dickinson
The beautiful St. Michael’s Episcopal Church in Raleigh, North Carolina has a superb organ.
In this church, the Choir of Clare College once sang three ancient hymn texts to contemporary chorale music (complex, dissonance-rich, odd) composed by Jonathan Harvey. Continue reading . . . “Advent XXI”
Advent XX
by Kyle Lehman
One nation under God, our country stands.
The blood of a billion babies stain these hands
that push poor huddles of humanity
from golden shores where tired men breathe free Continue reading . . . “Advent XX”
Advent XIX
by Obi Martin
Mottled heart my own
these many years
like a piebald lamb
a memento of all things Continue reading . . . “Advent XIX”
Advent XVIII
by Daniel Hess
The daylight that I wished so long
has come at last, after
the upstairs indoor silence
of my Grandma’s house, Continue reading . . . “Advent XVIII”