Category: Journal

Flying High | Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

May 18, 2022

To fly up high in the sky like a kite 

would be so very sublime 

.

Higher and higher I would go until barely my tail would show 

.

Up into a sky so blue leaving the land far below within fluffy white clouds above 

.

And kites of every size like me

waiting patiently to be set free 

Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris lives in Southport, NC. Published in Cameron Art Museum’s Writers Respond to Art Program, published in Whisper’s & Echoes, and in 50 Give or Take for her story, Love, also in Visual Verse for Mother Earth. She received competitive honorable mention for Abandoned Memories in 2021. 

Website: https://gypsieswritingmusingsquotesgripes.wordpress.com/

and

http://theuniqueweddingofficiate.yolasite.com

Oh, Mighty Egg | Sunra Rainz

May 16, 2022

said the woman, only you know the 
meaning of unseemly power.  
You writhe with quiet knowing
waiting to undress, slow-
-ly cooking.  I can’t
wait for you to 
manifest
and wake
up.

Sunra Rainz is a British Pakistani poet, artist and teacher based in Birmingham, UK.  She has previously had work published in Whispers & Echoes, Harana Poetry, Visual Verse, Free Verse Revolution and two Sheffield Libraries anthologies entitled Re-imagining Ageing and Dear 2021.   

She blogs at www.sunrarainz.wordpress.com and tweets at @NusraNazir

Pondering | Britta Benson

May 13, 2022

Reeds and rushes, we,

like moorhens, whisper

red billed truths through

debris, duckweed. Reflections

of our freshwater hearts

flash white and echo

the bottom of our soul,

forever present, forever secret.

Britta Benson is a happiness & poetry blogging, circus skills instructing German, a writer, performer and linguist thriving in Scotland, her chosen habitat since the year 2000. She runs a creative writing group and writes a daily blog, Britta’s Blog – Letters from Scotland brittasblog422041504.wordpress.com as well as the poetry blog, Odds & Ends oddsends707138946.wordpress.com. She also stares out of her window a lot and drinks far too much tea.

Early Tulips | Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

May 11, 2022

quiet laughter whirred the mists

tips of early blooming tulips 

shouldered through the 

blur of old snow drifts

stretched to touch the dawn

returning to turn off

the cold weather months

and welcome once again 

Spring!

Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris lives in Southport, NC. Published in Cameron Art Museum’s Writers Respond to Art Program, published in Whisper’s & Echoes, and in 50 Give or Take for her story, Love, also in Visual Verse for Mother Earth. She received competitive honorable mention for Abandoned Memories in 2021. 

Website: https://gypsieswritingmusingsquotesgripes.wordpress.com/

and

http://theuniqueweddingofficiate.yolasite.com

Denim Blues | Sunra Rainz

May 9, 2022

Perhaps you ought to
try out a new groove.

The truth is
I was only pretending to like
your blues solo.

But I didn’t get
what the funk it was all about.

None of it
made me tremolo.

Sunra Rainz is a British Pakistani poet, artist and teacher based in Birmingham, UK.  She has previously had work published in Whispers & Echoes, Harana Poetry, Visual Verse, Free Verse Revolution and two Sheffield Libraries anthologies entitled Re-imagining Ageing and Dear 2021.   

She blogs at www.sunrarainz.wordpress.com and tweets at @NusraNazir

The Perfect Shot | DA Whittam

May 6, 2022

From his position at the top of the cliff Martin focused on the most distant point, waiting for the perfect image before taking his shot.

Leaning back, he brought the photo up on the screen, his brow furrowing as he noticed that the two people in the inlet seemed to be struggling.

No, that wasn’t right, one person was struggling, he was being held down by the other.

Alarmed Martin rose to his feet, searching for the pair, but they’d disappeared, and for a moment he dismissed his panic, just kids playing.

The he saw the body floating face down.

DA Whittam is an avid reader and writer who enjoys the unexpected twist.  She can often be found perusing blog prompts to determine how she can turn her tale on its head.

Blog: http://nopenotpam.com

Rat-a-Tat-Tat-Tat | Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris

May 4, 2022

Rat-a-Tat-Tat-Tat – The woodpecker taps spring is come again along the flowing streams of melted snow 

Fun has just begun for one and for all crowed the big black crow

.

Rat-a-Tat-Tat-Tat – Serenaded the 

melodiously tiny little red tailed woodpecker as warm air tickled his 

feathers and soothed his poor sore aching beak 

Ami (Gypsie) Offenbacher-Ferris lives in Southport, NC. Published in Cameron Art Museum’s Writers Respond to Art Program, published in Whisper’s & Echoes, and in 50 Give or Take for her story, Love, also in Visual Verse for Mother Earth. She received competitive honorable mention for Abandoned Memories in 2021. 

Website: https://gypsieswritingmusingsquotesgripes.wordpress.com/

and

http://theuniqueweddingofficiate.yolasite.com

Stitch Your Words | A J Wilson

May 2, 2022

grasp your needle and cotton

and pierce it with the thread

hold this silence in your mouth

and stitch tightly your words

like a handwoven linen

then loosely weave them into the sky

with a thin wash of colour.

Angela (she/her) was born and lives in rural North Wales, UK, she has recently returned to poetry after many years. This last year Angela has been published in a number of magazines and is currently compiling her work for her first poetry collection.

https://poetisatinta.wordpress.com

Dear | Yuu Ikeda

April 29, 2022

Paints of summer dwell in petals of spring.

Soaring cherry blossoms

seem to be crying

because vehement heat

is about to burn them away.

Dear spring,

I’m sorry I can’t stop waves of summer

but I can carve you in me.

Yuu Ikeda is a Japan based poet.

She writes poetry on her website.

https://poetryandcoffeedays.wordpress.com/

Her published poems can be found

in <Nymphs>,

<Selcouth Station Press>,

<Remington Review>,

and more.

Her poetry collection

“The Palette of Words”

has been published

from Lighted Lake Press.

Her Instagram :

@yuunnnn77

Spotting the Heretic | Frank Hubeny

April 25, 2022

Clyde knew enough theology to spot a heretic. He cursed them in capital letters. He exaggerated his words till they slipped through the nets of truth. He ridiculed without mercy. He wanted every heretic to feel just how hot hell would get.

During his massive heart attack Clyde heard a soft voice say, “What do you think you’ve been doing?” “I’ve been serving You, Lord,” he responded, but he realized, much too late, that he had been serving only himself.

No one expected Clyde to recover anymore than they anticipated the joy his revived words would bring when he did.

Frank Hubeny has poetry published in Snakeskin and The Lyric. He has published flash fiction in Whispers and Echoes. He regularly posts poetry, prose and photography to frankhubeny.blog.