Category: Journal

It’s a date! | Peter Matthews

February 17, 2023

Once upon a universe I came upon a lass

I wooed and chased her every day and caught her on the grass

She didn’t seem to fancy me and told me to get lost

But I was rather adamant and didn’t count the cost

Her father took exception and went to see my Mum

She shouted rather loudly and smacked me on my bum

The outcome of this saga I’m happy to relate

Is that the lass now fancies me, tonight we’re on a date!

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.

Confetti Days | Angela Hoffman

February 13, 2023

Those sweet days unburdened

full of delights, happy hearts

awash in blues, pinks, yellows

are swallowed in satisfied bites.

In the process, our lips become frosted

sprinkled with confetti wishes. 

They offer up cupcakes kisses 

on those days that seem to be colored 

in nothing but gray.

Angela Hoffman’s poetry collections include Resurrection Lily (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Olly Olly Oxen Free (forthcoming, Kelsay Books, 2023). She placed third in the WFOP Kay Saunders Memorial Emerging Poet, 2022. She has written a poem a day since the start of the pandemic. Angela lives in Jefferson, Wisconsin. 

https://www.facebook.com/angelahoffmanpoet

Old Love | Peter Matthews

February 10, 2023

The years have been so very kind

despite us having made few plans

It’s often said that love is blind

That may be true in many lands

But not for you and me my dear

Our eyes were wide, we had no doubt

Our love was deep, we had no fear

and that love grew and sprouted out

But now you’re gone and I’m bereft

Our lasting love is all that’s left

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.

The feather that found me | Britta Benson

February 8, 2023

I picked up a feather that found me

at the side of my path today,

something you would have done,

you never returned from a journey

without at least one, a prize,

your collection ever growing.

.

I picked up a feather that found me

at the side of my path today,

thinking perhaps, you put it there,

so that I could return from my journey

with this gentle stroke of remembrance,

for my collection ever growing.

Britta Benson is a 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, The Procrastinators, and writes a daily blog, Britta’s Blog – Letters from Scotland (brittasblog422041504.wordpress.com) as well as her poetry blog, Odds & Ends (oddsends707138946.wordpress.com). She also stares out of her window a lot and drinks far too much tea.

Kissed by Winter | Angela Hoffman

February 6, 2023

The flakes float like feathers, melodies of silence

spilling over everything: the ground, shoulder’s burdened

onto the pocked park benches. Brush it aside.

Come, sit, pause in the hush, this unknowing.

Tilt your head back, lift your eyes to the sky

face the dark. Remember what it felt like

when you pretended to be asleep, your mother

kissing the lashes of your closed lids.

Angela Hoffman’s poetry collections include Resurrection Lily (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Olly Olly Oxen Free (forthcoming, Kelsay Books, 2023). She placed third in the WFOP Kay Saunders Memorial Emerging Poet, 2022. She has written a poem a day since the start of the pandemic. Angela lives in Jefferson, Wisconsin. 

https://www.facebook.com/angelahoffmanpoet

Love, Young and Old | Peter Matthews

February 3, 2023

Oft our hearts go where they will

and we are dragged behind them; still

our minds stand little chance of calm,

but hopefully no lasting harm.

It’s just a passing phase we’re told.

As we get older we get bold.

Then love is gentler, softer, kind,

and permanence will still our mind.

We’re blessed to match like hand in glove

Enriched with deeper lasting love.

Peter Matthews, a country boy at heart, lives with his wife in the suburbs of Nottingham, England.  His greatest achievement is that he has aged fairly gracefully but has avoided growing up.  Peter has written poetry from the age of sixteen and blogs regularly at www.pollymermaid.wordpress.com.

At the end of the day | Britta Benson

February 1, 2023

At the end of the day,

I have a question:

Where did my words go,

after I sent them into the world?

Is there a secret spot beyond ethers,

perhaps buried deep in a soul,

where all the lost ones,

that didn’t get caught,

all the lonely ones,

that never quite reached,

all the heavy ones,

that simply fell,

and fell,

keep

on

falling?

Britta Benson is a 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, The Procrastinators, and writes a daily blog, Britta’s Blog – Letters from Scotland (brittasblog422041504.wordpress.com) as well as her poetry blog, Odds & Ends (oddsends707138946.wordpress.com). She also stares out of her window a lot and drinks far too much tea.

Rituals of Change | Angela Hoffman

January 30, 2023

A soft summer rain

The amber and golden leaves

The first snowfall that quiets all

The thaw and drip of spring

break apart the ordinary days

strung out like gray socks on the clothesline 

elevate them 

into sacramental garb. 

Angela Hoffman’s poetry collections include Resurrection Lily (Kelsay Books, 2022) and Olly Olly Oxen Free (forthcoming, Kelsay Books, 2023). She placed third in the WFOP Kay Saunders Memorial Emerging Poet, 2022. She has written a poem a day since the start of the pandemic. Angela lives in Jefferson, Wisconsin. 

https://www.facebook.com/angelahoffmanpoet

Against the Storm [Triolet] | Julie A. Dickson

January 27, 2023

Shuttered windows against the storm

Birds huddled high up in the trees

Sit by the firelight that’s warm

Shuttered windows against the storm

.

For sunbathed afternoons I mourn

Comforter wrapped around my knees

Shuttered windows against the storm

Birds huddled high up in the trees

Julie A. Dickson advocates for captive elephants, loves rescued feral cats, is a Push Cart nominee, former poetry board member and a poet. Her work appears in various journals including Misfit, Open Door,Blue Heron Review, Masticadores and Ekphrastic Review. Dickson holds a BPS in Behavioral Science.

https://www.facebook.com/julie.dickson.94/

In the dark | Nolcha Fox

January 25, 2023

of early morning

stars stud silence ears.

Black the cloak

that warms the waiting

for the sunrise to appear.

Nolcha’s poems have been published in Lothlorien Poetry Journal, Alien Buddha Zine, Medusa’s Kitchen, and others. Her three chapbooks are available on Amazon. Nominee for 2023 Best of The Net. Editor for Kiss My Poetry and for Open Arts Forum. Accidental interviewer/reviewer. Faker of fake news.

Website: 

https://bit.ly/3bT9tYu

Facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/nolcha.fox