Category Archives: Poetry

NICK YOUNG: Haiku

Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , , ,

He set himself a poet’s challenge: to catch the lightning flash of life within the form — five, seven, five — ancient, timeless, perfect. With great care, he smoothed the rice paper, tipped his brush with indigo ink and wrote:

Brittle dawn air stirs
Quickening steps through hoarfrost
Miles ahead, hot tea

Nick Young is an award-winning retired journalist whose career included twenty years as a CBS News correspondent. His writing has appeared as part of the episodic novel “The Whole Wide World” (Sweetycat Press) and in the San Antonio Review, Short Story Town, CafeLit Magazine, Fiery Scribe Review, 50-Word Stories, Pigeon Review and Vols. I and II of the Writer Shed Stories anthologies.

STELLA FERNANDEZ: Roses

Poetry, Submissions, Touching, , , ,

When sunlight kisses
the queens of flowers,
their petals blossom
in most beautiful colours,
their fragrance dances
to the melodies of winds.

Within these moments
I only miss
one of the loveliest roses
I have ever met.

In loving memory of Rosy.
May your soul rest in peace forever, grandma.

Stella Fernandez wrote this poem for her grandmother’s death anniversary on October 23.

CATHRINE GOLDSTEIN: Time

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

The woman in the old farmhouse
stares into her bathroom mirror
ignoring the crack at the bottom of the glass
and the matching cracks on her face.

Humming, she brushes her most prized possession
(although her once sun-kissed hair is now moon-drenched),
preparing for the tomorrow
that has never come.

Cathrine Goldstein writes a whole lot of gritty, real-feeling “stuff.” Most of it takes place in NYC. She also eats boatloads of chocolate pretty much every day. This story came to her on a trip out of NYC, as she passed an old farmhouse on the side of the road. To find out more about Cathrine’s bestselling novels, award-winning plays, and other writings including articles, short stories, blogs, and poetry, please visit CathrineGoldstein.com.

FREDRICK HUDGIN: The Bear

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , , ,

Feel the change in the air.
Feel the energy, the power,
Undulating just out of sight.

This is a time of the looking-in,
It’s a time of peace and growth.

The wind is blowing,
Carrying the pulse of what will be,
__________________what has been.

Guide me, brother.
I will listen.

Fredrick Hudgin is the author of the End of Children Trilogy, Ghost Ride, The School of the Gods, Four Winds – A Collection of Poetry, A Rainy Night and Other Short Stories, Green Grass, and Sulphur Springs. See more at fredrickhudgin.com.

GABRIELLA BERTELMANN: Life is a Dream

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , ,

I once did dream I was a swan
who reigned upon a placid lake
where gentle ripples cheered me on
with cygnets trailing in my wake
the morning sun lit on my crown
water glistened in the light
upon my pillow then I found
a downy feather soft and white

Gabriella Bertelmann is a literary translator, editor, and polyglot with a passion for poetry, good stories, and Mother Nature.

KEN GOSSE: In the Mood in the Moor

Adventure, Amusing, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

The girl would romp at the edge of the swamp,
for they were quite poor and lived near the moor.
Her beauty attracted a prince who enacted
the role of a frog to entice dialog.
They shared her first kiss—
that’s when his sweet miss
became his betrothed princess frog.

Ken Gosse prefers writing short, rhyming, humorous poetry. First published in First Literary Review–East in November 2016, he is also in The Offbeat, Pure Slush, Parody, Home Planet News Online, and other publications. Raised in the Chicago suburbs, now retired, he and his wife have lived with their dogs and cats in Mesa, AZ, over twenty years.

KATHERINE DARLINGTON: Rain

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , , ,

Her neighbor’s children
Are awake
Before the roosters crow,
And even in gray October
They play
In their treehouse
Before the sun rises

Drinking coffee on the patio,
As cool as it is,
She remembers thirty years ago
When a swing held
Her two children

She wonders:
Are ghosts real?

Katherine Darlington has articles in many publications including poetry anthologies, along with several published novels. When she isn’t riding horses or hiking on some mountain trail, she’s working on a story. See more of her work at katherinedarlington.com.

CATHRINE GOLDSTEIN: The Man at the Door

Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, Touching, , , , ,

The Man at the Door
says goodnight to no one,
dons his hat,
shuffles down the steps,
climbs onto a bus
and off,
lumbering up four flights of stairs
to eat his half-thawed frozen dinner.
With TV flickering,
he watches out the window
for fireflies as elusive
as his dreams.

Cathrine Goldstein writes a whole lot of gritty, real-feeling “stuff.” Most of it takes place in NYC. She also eats boatloads of chocolate pretty much every day. To find out more about her bestselling novels, award-winning plays, and other writings including articles, short stories, blogs, and poetry, please visit CathrineGoldstein.com.

KATHERINE DARLINGTON: Scent of Tears

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, Top Stories, , , , ,

The market is busy
Lovers, arm in arm
Shop together

But She
Flirts with the flowers
Spilling over the corner aisle
Like her tears

She finds a delicate bouquet
With daisies and one rose
She’ll put them on her kitchen table
And pretend they’re from
Her Lover
(Who never
Was)

Katherine Darlington has articles in many publications including poetry anthologies, along with several published novels. When she isn’t riding horses or hiking on some mountain trail, she’s working on a story. See more of her work at katherinedarlington.com.

MAXIMILLIAN LAYLAND: Still Being

Artistic, Poetry, Submissions, , , ,

I don’t mind the meteor.
I do not mind
The ethereal veil finally broken.
Just once.
And every worry ever uttered,
Put to rest.
All assured.
And the dawn no longer assured…
Dawn. No longer. Assured.

I lie here, Today, the last,
with all questions answered,
forever and always,
Done.

Maximillian studies at UF, writes less than he’d like to, and is trying to fix this.