2011 / 2012 Poems
Pattaya
***
lines on loss
brush
away
these tears.
they are not mine,
I disown them;
only borrowed
for a while
to reveal
raging
sorrow,
crying cannot
quell.
Vaughan Rapatahana
Maori (Te Atiawa, Ngati Te Whiti) who lives & works in Hong Kong, with a house in Te Araroa, East Coast, Aotearoa-New Zealand, married to lady from Philippines - where we also have a home. Living now over 14 years in various parts of Asia.
Published in variety of genre worldwide. Ph. D Existential Literary Criticism, University of Auckland. Poetry editor MAI Review Journal until end of 2011. Semi-finalist inaugural Proverse Prize in Literature, 2009. Two collections of poetry published end of 2011 - Home Away Elsewhere (Proverse Hong Kong) and china as kafka (Kilmog Press, Dunedin, Aotearoa).
Very significant book English Language as Hydra (Multilingual Matters, U.K.) to be published June, 2012 - link as here:
http://www.multilingual-matters.com/display.asp?K=9781847697509
****
Round the Gate
Cold, the day opens, ice covers the way,
As the dim sun rises.
Empty, the door gapes open, dark shadows,
Lurk within.
Howls, the gale blows the snow, building drifts,
Round the gate.
Cattle gather near the fence, lowering, sad,
Hunger their new master.
Gone, the mother, gone the son and his sister,
Seeking new fields.
Only the solitary form, once lover and father,
Stands on the road.
His sad path is open, his heart is cold,
Tears frozen.
Hope lost, the way to the fate beckons,
Calls now to the lost.
Jerome Brooke
***
Not Alone In Our Galaxy
We are not alone
in our galaxy,
this I believe is true
people live on Mars too,
green people-Martians,
that's what we call them,
big bug eyes,
yellow hair,
robotic arms and legs,
advanced civilization
they live underground,
they fly in big saucers,
We are not alone
in our galaxy
There are people on Jupiter
blue people-Jupiterians
big tall aliens
with pink eyes
mechanical arms and legs,
and magical powers,
There are other forms of life out there,
We are not alone
in our galaxy,
this I believe is true
people live on Venus
they are purple people,
with red, laser eyes,
automatic arms and legs,
and musical voices,
Yes, we are not alone
in our galaxy.
Celine Rose Mariotti
The poet reports -
My work has been published in many US publications, some Canadian publications as well as publications in England, Scotland, Australia and India.
I am also an author and my first children's book, "Olivia MacAllister, Who Are You?" was published by Rock Village Publishing of Massachusetts in the USA. I also wrote, "Leapy the Frog" an e-book for children that was published by MagBooks of Hong Kong. I have self-published my poetry book, "Through Celine's Eyes" and also self-published a nonfiction book, "What Corporate America is Really All About".
***
Simultaneous states
By Jekwu Anyaegbuna
He gabbles worship songs
sitting on the sacred altar,
a basket of eggs in his left hand
for thanksgiving, a dagger on the left,
irritation punctuating
his praises, his face a verse
of exasperation and excitement.
How does he do it?
End of poem
Imprisonment of the Hills
By Jekwu Anyaegbuna
The water crushing the heart of the hills captures
the spirit of the sun like a troubled rat on double traps.
The hills in prayer, wondering how many hours it takes
their frantic meditation to catch its destination.
The catapult of the Almighty is never asleep, always
conscious of its glory, its bullets and bulletins of victory.
The sun has witnessed burning hills, red-legged wind
enveloping the rocks with bloodied fog draped in fire.
Now, watered hills expose the contents of their stomachs for
exploration, and the sun is flabbergasted to see secret duodenums.
Of what use is a bullet without wars, without deaths, without blood?
Anything without a purpose is like a head without a tail or buttocks.
Can the fire from the mouth of the sun consume this ocean swallowing
these hills, to rescue the substance of this challenge from imprisonment?
End of poem
Jekwu Anyaegbuna was born and educated in Nigeria. His work has been published or is forthcoming in literary magazines in the United States and the UK including Orbis, Other Poetry, The Journal, Bow-Wow Shop, Eclectica Magazine, The Talon Magazine, Dark Lady Poetry, Asinine Poetry, Vox Poetica, Breadcrumb Scabs, Haggard and Halloo, New Black Magazine and elsewhere. He graduated from the University of Ilorin, Nigeria. Jekwu lives and works in Lagos. He attended the Farafina Trust International Creative Writing Programme taught by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie.
***
Ode to My Guitar
Orgasms should be this pure. Your
soft maple neck, holding the same
fingers that hold you. The way light
shimmers off your glittering body
when I swing you in my arms. My
digits slide up and down your
strings, stopping at frets only long
enough to make you sing or scream.
William Wright Harris
The poet reports -
My poetry has appeared in such literary print and online publications as Ascent Aspirations, Write On!!! and The Houston Literary Review, Exercise Bowler, Carcinogenic Poetry, RedRiverReview.com, Languageandculture.net, Kota Press, Bewildering Stories, and Bread Crumb Scabs and in three countries. I am a student of English Literature and Creative Writing at the University of Tennessee- Knoxville, and have been fortunate enough to study poetry in the workshop setting from Marilyn Kallet, Arthur Smith, Jessie Janeshek and Marcel Brouwers. Some of my largest influences are Jack Gilbert, E. E. Cummings, William Carlos Williams, Emily Dickenson, Pablo Neruda, Arthur Smith, Mina Loy, and Ezra Pound.