You wish to be a Douglas fir
Tall, straight, almost immortal
But you stand like a Peking willow
Prone to cankers, full of twisted twigs
Worse still, you are not so resistant
As the authentic willow that can bend gracefully
Shake off all its unwanted leaves in autumn
When there is a wind blowing even from nowhere
No matter how much sunshine you receive
During the summer, you have nothing but scars
To show off against winter storms
The scars that you can never shake off
Bio: Yuan Changming, an 8-time Pushcart nominee, is the world's most widely published poetry author who speaks Mandarin but writes English. Currently, Yuan co-edits Poetry Pacific with Allen Qing Yuan in Vancouver, and has since mid-2005 had poetry appearing in 1029 literary publications across 33 countries, including Best Canadian Poetry, BestNewPoemsOnline, Cincinnati Review and Threepenny Review.
Ebb and Flow
by Glenda Walker
Ebb & flow, ebb& flow, ebb & flow.
Some days it is like dancing on the head of a pin with the angels
Some days it is drowning in the sea of self pity and regret.
Some days the magic happens
All goes well, fabulous even.
Then it all goes to hell in a hand basket
And sinks in a cesspool of shit.
Ebb & flow, ebb & flow, ebb & flow
Plunge in that ice cold water
Take a chance
Come up for air glad to be alive
Feeling that vitality, that excitement,
That newness, that bliss.
Or fall into the pit of sorrow
Unable to contain your sadness, your gloom,
The futility of it all. Ebb & flow, ebb & flow, ebb & flow
Why go on? Why try? Why sing? Why dance? Why love?
Because there is no other way.
Because it hurts too much If you don't try.
Because it sucks and because it shines. Because it is... Beautiful and shit
At the same time Because...
# 3 Transition
by Glenda Walker
I am coming to love this land of contrast
Of coastal plains and sand dunes
Of palm trees and pines
Of gulls and hawks.
The sea calls to me often
Whispering and caressing my name.
It is a long way from North Texas
From the cedars and the prairie.
I've always been a woman of trees and hills...but,
there is something soothing and calming about this place-
the white Pelicans big as sailboats...
Beauty is everywhere in all things,
Alive with the heartbeat of the Earth,
The gentle lapping of the waves
against Her skin, the sand-
the tributaries and rivers her veins
Emptying straight into the heart of the sea...
Bio: Glenda Walker is a visual artist, poet, musician and all around free spirit! She currently resides in Victoria, Tx, where she is exploring oddball adventures and navigating new territory after living in Fort Worth, Tex for 54 years.
Life is always a surprise and an opportunity for growing and learning something new!
Gumsmoke
by Gary Langford
We are held without permission on the jawline.
A bank is opened for a tooth withdrawal.
Gum threatens to be a slum. Sites need clearance.
You consider joining the teeth party of politics.
A white truth is unburdened by race and history.
You'd swap a triumph to avoid a fallout.
News is that bad down in the aah language.
Teeth chat themselves to the bone. Your bone.
Your mouth is a cavern of gurgling tyrants.
Painkillers prepare you for the bill.
You have become supremely fanciful in the fields.
Shoes are off, clothes abandoned. Night comforts you,
only sleep's promise is overcome by a throb.
Dark music is out of tune in the howl of the moon
Bio:Gary Langford is the author of 32 books, including 14 works of fiction and 13 books of poetry as well as a CD of his poetry, Gary Langford reading from his poems, www.poetryarchives.org His tenth novel is Sohrab (Last of the Giants), Amazon Kindle, 2013 while a recent poetry collection is Unit 6, 3 Quake Road, www.steeleroberts.co.nz 2014. Gary is a writer and artist in Melbourne, Australia and Christchurch, New Zealand.
