Connections by Solstice Initiative

Connections

Copyright Notices All artwork and design layout are copyright Solstice Initiative 2013. The poems are copyright of poets. For reproduction or re-use of the work please contact the poets directly for permission.

Contents Editorial ................................................................................................................................................. 7 The Origin ...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 The Etymology and Iconography ...................................................................................................................................... 7 The themes of Connections ............................................................................................................................................... 7 The Future...................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Connected by Loss................................................................................................................................. 9 LAST BUTTERFLY............................................................................................................................................................ 9 Phillip Larrea ................................................................................................................................................................. 9 GRAVESIDE ................................................................................................................................................................... 10 Colin Dardis................................................................................................................................................................. 10 LATE IN NIGHT ............................................................................................................................................................. 11 Iulia Gherghei ............................................................................................................................................................... 11 FRACTURED LIVES ....................................................................................................................................................... 12 Máire Morrissey-Cummins ............................................................................................................................................ 12 CHILDHOOD’S END ..................................................................................................................................................... 13 Amos Gideon Greig ...................................................................................................................................................... 13 Connected by Love ............................................................................................................................... 15 NO CLEAR WINTER MOON ........................................................................................................................................ 15 Claine Keily .................................................................................................................................................................. 15 THE SEDUCTION .......................................................................................................................................................... 19 Ryan Ramoutar ............................................................................................................................................................ 19 THE BRIDGE OF LOVE ................................................................................................................................................ 21 Marietta Mardirossian .................................................................................................................................................. 21 GOLD IS WHERE YOU FIND ........................................................................................................................................ 23 Chryssa Velissariou ...................................................................................................................................................... 23 3

Connections SONG OF UNFAILING LOVE ....................................................................................................................................... 25 Rob Charles .................................................................................................................................................................. 25 Connected by observation of a place ................................................................................................... 27 KAVRE ............................................................................................................................................................................ 27 Bhuwan Thapaliya ........................................................................................................................................................ 27 ASSOIL ............................................................................................................................................................................ 30 Kaleen Raja .................................................................................................................................................................. 30 TSUNAMI ........................................................................................................................................................................ 31 Connie DeDona ............................................................................................................................................................ 31 BRIDGE OVER THE LUBA ........................................................................................................................................... 33 Arjun Choudhuri .......................................................................................................................................................... 33 THE CYCLICAL DAYS ................................................................................................................................................... 36 Jeff Tindell .................................................................................................................................................................... 36 AS THE DAY .................................................................................................................................................................. 38 Chris Lawrence ............................................................................................................................................................. 38 Connections as Memories.................................................................................................................... 39 TRANSIT ......................................................................................................................................................................... 39 Aprilla Zank ............................................................................................................................................................... 39 MADE VISIBLE .............................................................................................................................................................. 41 Harry Owen ................................................................................................................................................................. 41 WHEN MY WORLDS COLLIDE ................................................................................................................................... 42 Patrick Connors ............................................................................................................................................................ 42 LYNCHING ..................................................................................................................................................................... 44 Michelle Dâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;costa ............................................................................................................................................................ 44 Connected as a universal state ............................................................................................................. 45 CONNECTIONS.............................................................................................................................................................. 45 Tania Roberts ............................................................................................................................................................... 45

DESCONECTADA .......................................................................................................................................................... 46 Marcia David ............................................................................................................................................................... 46 IN THE NAME OF HUMAN .......................................................................................................................................... 47 Bahman Lordd Amidi .................................................................................................................................................. 47 IN THAT STATE.............................................................................................................................................................. 48 Rohitash Chandra......................................................................................................................................................... 48 UNTITLED ...................................................................................................................................................................... 50 Cohen Asher ................................................................................................................................................................. 50 YEARNINGS(THROUGH TIME) ................................................................................................................................... 51 Leonard.C. Gesinsk...................................................................................................................................................... 51 THE LINE ....................................................................................................................................................................... 53 Saumya Rajan .............................................................................................................................................................. 53 RECONNECTIONS ......................................................................................................................................................... 54 Iarla Molloy .................................................................................................................................................................. 54 COUNTERPART.............................................................................................................................................................. 55 Rachel Abeyta Newlon.................................................................................................................................................. 55 DOORS ............................................................................................................................................................................ 56 Med Kanour.................................................................................................................................................................. 56 Connected by Society........................................................................................................................... 57 LORD OF THE WAR ....................................................................................................................................................... 57 Chinedu Jonathan Ichu.................................................................................................................................................. 57 AWAIT DREAMS OF YOUR ANCESTORS ..................................................................................................................... 59 Hillary Taley ................................................................................................................................................................ 59 US .................................................................................................................................................................................... 61 Cleber Pacheco............................................................................................................................................................... 61 SCENES FROM AFRICA ................................................................................................................................................. 62 Travolta Masango ......................................................................................................................................................... 62

Connections Connected by the solstice .................................................................................................................... 64 LIGHT ............................................................................................................................................................................. 64 Michele Baron ............................................................................................................................................................... 64 WINTER SOLSTICE........................................................................................................................................................ 65 Michael Corrigan .......................................................................................................................................................... 65 SEA SALT FOR SOLSTICE ............................................................................................................................................. 66 Denise Weaver Ross ...................................................................................................................................................... 66 Connected by Poetry ............................................................................................................................ 68 THE MOMENTARY WORD .......................................................................................................................................... 68 Samantak Bhadra ........................................................................................................................................................ 68 POETS DELIGHT ........................................................................................................................................................... 70 Christopher Azzie & Polly Munnelly ........................................................................................................................... 70 DREAMING OF A ROOM OF ONE’S OWN................................................................................................................. 72 Lorna L. Kelly.............................................................................................................................................................. 72 PSYCHOTIC EPISODE ................................................................................................................................................... 74 Vensan Kamberk ......................................................................................................................................................... 74 WHEN THE MISSION IS DONE! .................................................................................................................................. 76 Sean Ratcliffe ................................................................................................................................................................ 76

Editorial Welcome to the first publication of the Solstice Initative. Before proceeding, I would like to thank all the poets that contributed to the overall success of the initiaive. Initially, I will provide some of the background, ideals behind the Solstice Initiative and its future direction. The Origin The Solstice Initiative idea was born in Galway ireland early 2012. It was setup to create a community of poets worldwide, sharing and reviewing each others work and more importantly celebrating global diversity through poetry and art. Over time, the initiative will evolve to include photographic pieces and film centered on a common theme. The Etymology and Iconography The goal of the Solsitce Initiative is to create a bi-annual publication in which submissions end at each of the solstices ‘summer and winter solstice’ The iconography for the solstice is derived from an interpretation of light. Each colour in the rainbow represents each of continents and the ‘tetris’ like morphology is a result of mapping the wavelength to a grid. The themes of Connections The theme for the initial Solstice Initiative project was ‘connections’. The poets in the community have approach the concept from a number of perspectives. The perspectives range from lost connection to direct observation of the environmments To reflect the perspective, the remainder of publication is organized into the following sub categories        

Connected by Loss - the poets explore lost connections with life Connected by Love - the poets explore connections made by love and lose Connected by observation of a place – the poets explore the connection to a place or an event Connections as memory – the poets reflects on times and memories of the past Connected as universal state – the poets reflect on connection as a concept and role in universe Connected by society – the poets explore the connection and aspects of hertiage and society Connected by the solstice – the poets express the solstice in poetry Connected by poetry – the poet explore the connection between them and their art

The Future I would like to thank all the poets that are contributing to the ‘Solstice Poetry 1’ group on a daily basis. As part of the progression of the idea, a number of poets are exploring the theme for the next solstice cycle on the ‘solstice invent’ facebook group.

Connections

Connected by Loss Last Butterfly Phillip Larrea

Surely the last person you would expect To exterminate a species. To know so much, understand so little, Was not for lack of study. “Such a shame,” he thought, “that this lepid Is so rarely seen in cities.” Collateral damage at most, to pin just one For the benefit of posterity. Who would have thought this one Was the source of all others? That this sole death, would kill them all. Love murdered the last butterfly.

Copyright Phillip Larrea 2012 Phillip Larrea is a wealth adviser and business columnist live in California, U.S.A. His poems have recently appeared internationally in Outburst Magazine, The Poetry Bus Magazine and FourPlay, Nostrovia To Writing, and the Brooklyn Voice. Phillip is the author of two Spoken Word CDs, "Loose Change" and "Scrapbook"

Connections

Graveside Colin Dardis The leaves have formed a mosaic across the lawn, cracked tiles of decay looking for their return, once emerald blanket now patchwork.

Trees have bent down to kiss the earth and left their auburn lipstick behind, ginger smudges blistering on greenery.

A season to be dying; mother branches struck bare with grief, mourning their fallen children, as Father Time decrees them all to be bastards.

He condemns them to death, the trees standing as womenfolk around the open grave, already feeling germination in their bellies.

Copyright Colin Dardis 2012 Colin Dardis is a poet, artist, and musician from Northern Ireland living in Dublin. He edits FourXFour, an online journal focusing on poetry from the North of Ireland. He is also the founder of Purely Poetry, an open mike poetry night in Belfast, and a member of the Voica Versa performance group.

Late in night Iulia Gherghei It is late in another's night mine is full of stars dripping tears

I will scramble eggs for breakfast this morning is so far but I still smell the dawn's aroma while stars are dripping tears

hopes and dreams building the ladder to the next sunshine I hang on tight while stars and tears are dripping on my soul...

Copyright Iulia Gherghei 2012 Iulia lives in Burharest Romania. She works with the national radio broadcasting â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Radio Romania Cultural as a technical director. In her space time she writes poetry.

Connections

Fractured Lives Mรกire Morrissey-Cummins

Funeral day siblings stand united in grief,

the death of our father and as we exit the crematorium our footsteps separate distance grows voices fade we drift into the comfort of estrangement.

Only the ripples of the sea shine back at me to wave goodbye.

Copyright Mรกire Morrissey-Cummins 2012 Mรกire Morrissey-Cummins live in Co. Wicklow Ireland. After working in the financial sector she retired to a life a writing and painting. She is a published Haiku poet with the Irish Haiku Society and Haiku Ireland. She as number of poems published in local and foreign poetry anthologies, journals, e-zines and online forums.

Childhoodâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s End Amos Gideon Greig

I was 7 and a half When I lost my Childhood.

I had many friends My closest was called Peter.

Your actions turned him Against me, my family My religion.

Home became a prison School a place of fear.

You who embraced anger Stoked the fires of Hatred Used violence to give yourself a voice.

I was 7 and a half your deaths stole my childhood My home, my friends.

Only now at 35 can I look back And realize that was the beginning 13

Connections Of all my later emotional problems.

I still bear the emotional scars wounds that run deep. I no longer hate you for what you took from me. And yet, I Still Wake In The Dark Afraid Because of you.

Copyright Amos Gideon Greig 2012 Amos Greig is a recent graduate from Queen's where he studied English and Ancient History. Amos has designed covers for Lapwing Publications, designed their logo , Amos has had work published in Poetry in Motion's The Poet's place and Speech Therapy. He is currently editor of a literary and arts magazine called A New Ulster. His first book of poetry called Lord's of the hill is with a publisher pending publication.

Connected by Love No Clear Winter Moon Claine Keily Strange now to be gone of you gone without clothes and no longer there for your eyes I follow the sun on the pavement no moon here no clear winter moon I have had you all night ranting ranting ranting with love reading your name to the dark listening to the songs of my new love blind and pornographic for you, for you

And you still not dead even after all these years I realise now how it is that you so suffer give me this remedy so I can make a sin of this singerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s dream oh yes, sing, remember and prophesies also and no, 15

Connections no answers just you by the lake at dawn growing colder

If we could have back our time an acceleration apocalyptic the end would bear no flower no resemblance to the end for you are in what comes after in your own American city looking away and “yes” I say “yes you were, you are my China or a crumpled bed” together with me for all existence like skin in the dark we escaped that summer you and me being a disappearance buying none, screaming, being giving

And I am not sure this worship is through longing, no, I have no longing for anything new

And when I walk the streets, the tiny cloistered windows shoulder the night and you pass a cloud tall and even the sky knows of this instance and is no longer open and blue

And I seem before you a little girl forever for you are always older and the poisonous plants are beside you you bid me not to pick them while I am waiting for you on the empty dock

Now struggling here for what? Towards you the hard candy the soda bright in brightened glasses hand churned

Connections the orchards and musty brown the fields now know autumn

Copyright Claine Keily, 2011 'The Practice of Beauty' by Claine Keily Claine Keily has published poetry in various Australian journals, and has produced limited runs of art and literary books. Her writing is influenced by french symbolism and currently teaches literature to high school students.

The Seduction Ryan Ramoutar

The heat for passion goes on,in my mind and in my groin As you sleep on our luxury bed,i start feeling fuzzy in my head... The atmosphere is hot;sweat run down your face in beads,you've worked a hard day but my lust do exceeds Like a cat on the prowl i get behind,causing your naked body to press onto mine.. In slow caresses i touch you about,a soft sweet moan escapes from your mouth Coming back you starts to stir,as i lick your ear with a seductive purr I rest my hand to keep 19

Connections you still,and cupping your womanhood sending you a shrill thrill My blood close to my skin burns like fire,my raging manhood throbbing with needed desire... Can't take anymore of this my wife,i need you now the love of my life Soothing kisses and pleasures of moan,as our two bodies became one in an amazing groan.......

Copyright Ryan Ramoutar 2012 Ryan is a poet and writer based in Trinidad and tobago. His latest book â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;breakable momentsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; was published on August 2012 and in available on amazon.com

The Bridge of Love Marietta Mardirossian I stood on the bridge at midnight And waited for my charming knight By the light of a shining moon I knew that he was coming soon

I saw his shadow before him With a light on his face so dim Longing for his presence deeply At last he came smiling sweetly

As I stood on my fingertips He placed a warm kiss on my lips The river has begun to sing Through its waters gently flowing

He filled my heart with joy and care I got lost in his arms right there Intoxicated with his eyes Gaining his whole love was my prize

That bridge became our bridge of love The stars danced in the sky above As long as the river has flown Passionately our love has grown.

Connections

Gold is where you find Chryssa Velissariou

Maybe he is not you but he is the one the first one after you who makes me forget I was too long in sorrow I was too long in mourn I was demolished by you He is helping me to stand He wants to give me the end I 'm deprived of you He wants to draw for me the stars you erased from my night's skie she never touch my scars your implacable love's plies You were my bright star so soon withdrown in the shade he is the tremendous sun who tames my soul's tide waves Tonight I'll dream again without the usual nightmares Maybe he is not you bu the's decided with me to stay Copyright Chryssa Velissariou 2012 Chryssa is a professor is physics at a state high school in Larissa, Greese. She has published poems and translations in a number of international journals. Her most recent publication â&#x20AC;&#x153;THE 23

Connections SEASONS OF LOVEâ&#x20AC;? ,BOOKSTARS 2012 is her first poetic composition in Greece. Her poetry and work are posted to her blog http://velissariou11.blogspot.gr/

Song of Unfailing love Rob Charles

Verse 1: The Autumn colors wither away. warmth of summer pursue a cold day, winds of change will gust and die, but your unfailing love is a binding tie.

Chorus: I cherish the time we have together as one, home, family, and love for everyone, Though I hurt you bad, you stayed with me . and our unfailing love lasts eternally.

Verse 2: I remember when we first met. The love we felt Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ll never forget. Your sweet kiss and gentle way; your un-[D]failing love won my heart that day

Chorus:

Verse 3: Like headwaters flowing to the sea Time grows more precious to you and me, When kids are grown and youth is gone; 25

Connections your unfailing love helps me carry on.

Copyright Rob Charles 2012 Based in the US, Rob Charles is a performing singer/songwriter who writes and performs both contemporary christian and secular music. s. The title song to his new CD, "The Little White Cross," has been received with loving support by DJs and radio stations throughout the USA.

Connected by observation of a place Kavre Bhuwan Thapaliya

In Kavre, near the village, ‘Baluwa’,

I heard the chatter

of young kids

not yet corroded by the parade of the broken bricks

and the uprooted roadside metal railings

in the streets of Kathmandu,

as they played marbles on the buffalo fields.

It was a poem I’d forgotten.

It was a jingle 27

Connections not yet crushed by the voracious jaws of the bull dozers.

It brought back in a rush

the Nepal I’d known:

the rhythm of children playing in streets

free of the racket, and danger, of passing trucks.

In Kavre near the village, ‘Baluwa’,

I heard the song of life against life.

I sat on the porch of the old hut

and through the arched gateway watched the wisps of steam float upward

from wiry ferns

to kiss

the cuckoo birds nest.

Copyright Bhuwan Thapaliya 2012 Bhuwan Thapaliya was born in Kathmandu, Nepal and is one of the most widely read Nepali poets writing in English today. Thapaliya, who works as an economist, is the author of four poetry collections, the most recent being Safa Tempo: Poems New and Selected.

Connections

Assoil Kaleen Raja

Upon the stroke of your death-hour, When the glower of embers have dinged in the hearth, Before the burn of the pyre or return to the sodden earth From whence you sprung The crows caw having drunk their last, and then shall be the moment when The heavens move mountains in a murmur and cleave the firmament And gently grant The power to assoil yourself of all your somnolent cares. Solemnly you forgiveness give. And know then the dead live and are past your fears.

Copyright Kaleen Raja 2012 Kaleen lives in Nariobi, Kenya where is work as a deputy headteacher. His fiction, poetry is available at http://artsscape.webs.com/gallery.htm

Tsunami Connie DeDona

And the waves come. The wave comes The wave pulls up its skirt puckers its lips drawing them in leveling their dare insatiable. And the waves come. The wave comes. The wave bitch slaps blackened hearts pleading and panting for a kinder gentler tap. Tempting fools and bullies. As it cracks facades, splits foundations sucking out their essence, until their base, isolated harbors scream no more. And the waves come. The wave comes. The wave roars, devastating coastlines rupturing and tossing mettle at will. Striking and fierce winking at the blue moon as it tallies their cheek on its terrible shores.

Connections Living in Hawali, Connie is an award winning author of â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Letters to a Prisionerâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Her art work is available on Fine Art America.com. She leads a monthly creative writing class for Habilitat, a drug rehab in Kaneohe. She is a member of the National League of American Pen Women and the Friends of the Library in Honolulu, where she also volunteers year-round. She is also a sustaining member of the Academy of American Poets.

Bridge Over the Luba Arjun Choudhuri

You are blue like the breath of death that torments the bearing wife, and green like the needles of a summer that seldom visits this tacit crowd of placid mounts, and languid hills, and sudden founts. Luba, river of potency barely blued with severe bouts of monuments with memory together glued. This, Luba, is a bridge which flows just like you. This, Water, Mater, is a cross between ancient blocks of sandy floss and granite boxes made of fire and sandy pines with road's ire. Here, Luba, we make parts between there in Assam and here and now in these serious abodes of cirrus clouds.

Ten thousand moon-rises ago my father brought us here one wolf-night 33

Connections and I and my mother we wept to see my sister wrapped in palsy because of the cold that these hills draw into the heart of men, and women. Ten thousand sun-sets past my brother calls to me from distant Calcutta and calls me his heart and calls apart the fear I am the fear the tear I am and he tells me, 'Brother, let us go.' I, in reply to his art, gently sit and flow

as tears to tears to fears you grow crossing into Assam and there to know how this bridge of gates connects the pain of the past as it bisects the pleasing present and its turbulence.

And there in the milky heart of the groves the driving winter sits and roves the imaginary road that runs away from that end of the bridge's sway till where they wait for nightly ray.

Till the end of this world you must go Bridge over the Luba silent grow and wait till the fires of yesteryear burn a newly bridge for all of us here.

And there we will walk and walk and know the recent bridge is but shadow of the past that last winter came like watery you. Like nightly dew.

Copyright Arjun Choudhuri 2012 Arjun Choudhuri is a poet and a translator from North East India. Arjunâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s first book of poetry titled In the House Next Door was published in 2006 from Writers Workshop, Since 2006, Arjun has successfully produced a significant count of poetry collections, as well as works in other genres too, with both national and international publishers. Arjun is a regular contributor to journals and poetry magazines in India as well as in the USA, the UK and other countries in South East Asia.

Connections

The Cyclical Days Jeff Tindell

The autumnal days are changing. They are turning over and over, Just as they have in seasons past. Transforming themselves into the cold winter shell. It's is an ongoing process: It's how the worlds hows off its personality.

These frozen times brought from the winter solstice only stick around for a while; Onlyfor a season. The trees that have shed their skin will so regain what was lost from them. 36

The spring somehow finds a way out and blooms new life again. It's a time for rebirth; A time to grow again. This will be the first step for everything.

It's through these cyclical days that life comes and life goes; It's through these cyclical days that everything on this planet goes through change.

Connections

As The Day Chris Lawrence

all things breathless watch landscape of early winter days, silver insides of spring, a distant away, tameless days in front of ice lake mirror, the wonder before the winged things grew,i am a vagabond air whispers my words, the light reaches me and i feel the cold, watching a low sun, a promise warms inside in it's shortness it offers most, and i feel the ancients rise to me and bring me peace

Copyright Chris Lawrence 2012 Chris Lawrence lives in West Kirby, England, and writes poetry, stories and screenplays, been published in Troubador 21, ds, guerilla pamphlets, the literary burlesque and Vending Machine poets for change anthology

Connections as Memories Transit Aprilla Zank a lifeful of years ago when my feet fitted in deer hoof tracks I would challenge the wind for races against the hour and thirsty for light I would throw nets for fleeting sunbeams I would twine seagull feathers in my hair and let it flow with spring streams I would bathe in dew drops amidst chicory fields and sense ether blue on the tip of my tongue

now the sky hangs like old linings blue scorching into cinders of grey seagulls expire under scum feathers sand turns to dust 39

Connections on my barren path the wind effaces deer traces the sun blinds me with splinters of light

Copyright Aprilla Zank 2012 Dr. Aprilia Zank is a freelance lecturer for Creative Writing in the Department of Languages and Communication at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, Germany. She was born in Romania and studied English and French at the University of Bucharest. She is also a poet and a translator.

Made Visible Harry Owen I once saw the wind: a stream like crystal water flowing.(Norman Morrissey)

I too saw, today, as on others like it and not like it, sand spirits possessing the beach, swirling open-armed towards me, crying welcome! in their gestured wordlessness, the breath of parents, of ancestors, ghosts of which I am one, to which you, we, all living things tend in our strange, obtuse geometries (much as the length of this felled palm, absorbed as fossil in the sand, its ancient vertebraic spine, whispers an incontestable 'yes!').

Copyright Harry Owen 2012 Harry Owen is a poet, performer, teacher and writer living in Grahamstown, South Africa. He is author of four collections of poetry: Searching for Machynlleth (2000), The Music of Ourselves (2004),Five Books of Marriage (2008) and Non-Dog (2010).

Connections

When My Worlds Collide Patrick Connors

My world was always meant to come together. To have flow, unity, and coherence.

Even as a little boy, I lived in many worlds. Problems always would arise when they would collide. Especially when I forced them to.

Now, I live in that flow, embrace my reality, the uniqueness of who I am. I accept the differences of all the worlds in which I walk. I love each one of them individually, as well as part of a collective blessing.

Now, when my worlds collide, there is no confusion, no fear, no resentment. And I am free to be myself, not the guy I am within any crowd.

Now, I can try to help make the world the kind of place I have always wanted to live in.

Now that my life has begun Copyright Patrick Connors 2012

Patrick Connors is from Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was Lead Artist in Making a Living; Making Art, a pilot project of Cultural Pluralism in the Arts and the Neighborhood Arts Network. He has been published in Barrie and Belgium.

Connections

Lynching Michelle D’costa

At first my swing Then my noose Your strands tightened Around my innocence Cradling then strangling In childhood I had held onto You for support But you snapped When I needed you the most I should have recognised Your disloyalty then But what does childhood know? Later, I hated being dependent on you But aren’t you too? You hold onto your fellow strands Or friends whatever Without them You’re nothing But for now you have the power So what is it? Cradle or noose Copyright Michelle D’costa 2012 Michelle D'costa is an Indian writer/editor born and raised in Bahrain. She has been published in more than 25 publications. She edits at Decades Review and her blog is www.pikoomish.wordpress.com

Connected as a universal state Connections Tania Roberts Fragile threads weave across unknown, universal truths thrown into the abyss, there is no separation in the grand design, and with every breath we come to realise there is only one, to nurture to restore to love.

Copyright Tania Roberts 2012 Tania is a poet and writer from County Clare, Ireland. She has been involved in regional ‘art and disability’ programs. He paintings include ‘Orange Birds’ and ‘She’

Connections

Desconectada Marcia David

Que notas me caem sobre a cabeça? Chuva de Sol, girassol, Lá, do lado de Si. Mesmo. Desconexo da vida. Desconheço o que me liga. Um poeta sem plug and play. Ávido por ir. Apenas seguir. Olhando de lado. Olhando em frente. Conexão sem fio. Desfio. Um rio sem veios. Entremeios para fugir. Um mundo que não creio, um digo que não vejo. Nada toca, nada guia. Sensível à luz, ao som da boa música. Mas o medo desata. Desanda. Gente que não reza, nem olha, nem estende a mão.. Impacientes, doentes sem flor na lapela. Desconectada. Sorri e segue. Candanga, sentida, de Lua.

Copyright Marcia David 2012 Marcia David works as poet and journist from Brazil. Her works may seen on http://marciadavidpoeta.blogspot.com/

In the Name of Human Bahman Lordd Amidi

In the name of human, creator of God: Painted gold of framed land… Owing you of making own, Flowing blood of still vein…

Begat I, glowed ripe, A season balled in seizing… One of doing and of try, Wonder waking till sharp eyes…

Love’s dream grows, our heart’s bond, All will happen precise. Love’s dream grows ever more, Confessed in your eyes… Love’s dream grows forever more, Till the sleep of death!

Copyright Bahman Lordd Amidi 2012 Bahman Amidi is an Iranian who writes English poetry in the theme of love and philosophy but remarked as someone who likes to express his anger and disappointment in his lines and written work. His book poetry ‘Siren of the thief’ is available on amazon.

Connections

In that state Rohitash Chandra

I become a drop of ink And lose my intensity In the wholeness of the ocean.

All is nothing Nothing becomes everything Zero and infinity are one And there is silence.

I am naive like a child And wise as a sage I move in and out of myself And yet remain constant.

I gulp a breath of Love And a flower blossoms in me I become the breeze And move in the trees I feel ripe like a Guava And tender as a baby skin I am more aware of myself.

I break free from my ego Free from the shadow of desires 48

I feel like a river flowing Soon I become the ocean.

I know that life has been a dream Now I have woken from this Maya And experience the Brahman Where 'You' and 'I' become one.

Copyright Rohitash Chandra 2012 Rohitash Chandra lives in Fiji and holds a PhD in Computer Science from Victoria University of Wellington, He is actively involved in literature and has been the editor of the Blue Fog Journal. He is also a poet and his third poetry collection is named ‘‘Being at Home’’ which is due to be launched soon.

Connections

Untitled Cohen Asher

one name calls one an other, returning every one's called names, circularly arguing for name's sake, though every one is self: centered

Copyright Cohen Asher 2012 Cohen Asher (Devin Cohen); is Alien Architect; is D: Writer, poet, ponderer, drummer, dreamer, jammer, improvisationalist, and artist

Yearnings(through Time) Leonard.C. Gesinsk

Through Strained and Teary Eyes Two Pairs of Outstretched Arms Reaching and Stretching Beyond Far Shores Towards Each Other Through Fogged Corridors Of Many Eons and Generations Past Hints of Mother Tongue Pleasantly Foreign To My Own Ears Voices and Song Wielkopolska Past Dialects, Dreams, Allusions Finally Silent Understandings and Knowing Smiles Finding Common Ground Through The Ages 51

Connections No Longer Perfect Strangers Ambivalence Resolved

Milo mi

Copyright Leonard.C. Gesinski 2012. Len is a Haiku poet. Len's poem "Layers" has been published in The Poetry of War and Peace. In addition to poetry, Len is a bass guitarist.

The Line Saumya Rajan

In search of an immense relief Surfed new places, But, no respite it was, I opened up to the tying sorrow of Great Barrier Reef! Seawards washed away, the glooms worn, Creeping in the shady lines, the rust ruminates, The pasty-petals fallen, the reason torn, The ivory-tower toppled, the petal dissipates. The corals congregate own vicinity, Reds and greens point to that same ease. Now, that itself is translucent, Vanishing and reduced by fifty percent. Weeping Mother Earth with pith out to poise, Purifying the existing part, blocked for brilliance, Living to live, supporting her trounce, Race ravished her, demands more percipience. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t we want to see those glittering? Like crystals held in reserve against the skies, Nothing to ruminate and ache: Difference to bring in by the choices we make!

Copyright Saumya Rajan 2012 Saumya works as academic officoe with the Goverment of India. Her first book of English Verse: Common Shadows ( Guerrilla Ignition Publishing USA) appeared in 2012. She was been published in a number of journal worldwide and have won a number of internal competitions

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Reconnections Iarla Molloy

I whispered upon a butterfly, my secrets flew away

I cryed a tear of rain clouds, begging only in vain

I reached out for the lost resulting in, chaos of disappointment

I touched a soul fading away, reconnections prevail

Copyright Iarla Molloy 2012 Iarla Molloy is IT professional and part time poet based in Galway Ireland. The solstice initiative is his first excursion into the world of poetry

Counterpart Rachel Abeyta Newlon

We’d stand and stare at the absent space between toes Number Two and Three on both her feet. Skin stretched tight attaching the digits together like Siamese twins.

You should name the twins I’d say.

She giggled at my suggestion, swatting the idea out of the air with pudgy fingers. Her conjoined twins. She wiggled and they twitched together like synchronized swimmers. I told her they made her run faster, swim longer, kick harder. She believed her big sister and swore she would never separate them.

They’re close, like us.

Copyright Rachel Abeyta Newlon 2012 Rachel lives in Colorado, USA. She is an emerging writer of poetry and prose. A mother of three children, she is undertaking a MFA in creative writing. He work may be found on the following blog http://rnewlon.wordpress.com/

Connections

Doors Med Kanour Il vaut mieux- as there was nothing. None knocks at the door, as I don’t knock more A horse doer, escaping from the stable I penetrate a place then dropping from the window Humming – hawing, Rushing, Sighing, -In a far bench I count the stumbling words, trailing the weakened tongue Il vaut mieux- as there will be everything. I come looking for incision to run away The scattered papers, I let go Trying another iron or wooden door I’m crazy about wall’s hole Joyful, Sorrowful, Lustful, Our relation is like railway lines We meet underneath the pressure of changing the course. Copyright Med Kanour 2012

Med Kanour is poet and writer based in Rabat Sale, Morroco.

Connected by Society Lord of the war Chinedu Jonathan Ichu “you are most welcome, sir” I have something special For you today

It is called “brown-brown” A mixture of cocaine And your very own gun powder Your gift for us Back to you At no extra cost, sir” It sinfully seeps into you Just like it does The virgin blood stream Of under aged boys Before they embark On blood shed Rather than the four walls Of formal education Have you seen those boys lately They remain malnourished Yet the carry mature Kalashnikov’s “brown-brown”, they wince Possess us with super human strength.

Connections Copyright Chinedu Jonathan Ichu 2012 Chinedu ichu, a married African of Nigerian decent. He has been writing for a number of years. His works reflects the time, life and thought of a typical African irrespective of race, gender and tradition.

Await dreams of your ancestors Hillary Taley

Heroes and heroens fall for you to rise Lives lost for you to live Look at your history it'll tell your story Sacrificies were made dare not to forget You wanted freedom now you 've ur freedom After so many days of darkness God gave you sunshine Carefully trade your freedom Explore your wisdom Black beauty it begins with you Don't give in your storms hope for sunshine You are like an eagle never cry in bad weather You are like a lion roar in your jungle You are like a strong horse always pull your chariot 59

Connections You are a blessed mother nuture your babies Dream of your ancestors not yet come to pass Africa, never give up!

Hillary Taley is a part time poet lives Nakuru, Keyna.

Us Cleber Pacheco

I have roots that reach your stones and this symbiosis brings next transfusions among us: confidences of sap and sand, whispers of diamonds and dust, dialogues of scream and silence. Roots and stones embracing the abstruse, strange osmosis discovering the rudimentary art of tenderness, refined meeting of divergence, substratum of the intangible.

Copyright Cleber Pacheco 2012 Cleber Pacheco lives in Brazil. He has contributed poetry collections published in Canada, United Kingdom and India. His play Intimidades [Intimacy] received two awards and his book of poems, entitled â&#x20AC;&#x153;Mysteries,â&#x20AC;? has recently finished first in a competition and will be published in the United States.

Connections

Scenes from Africa Travolta Masango

Frost covered child lying on porch Eyes stuck on a passing porsche Sight fills his heart with unfamiliar hope Bravely wiping cold tears about to drop Tightly fixing grip on the one thing he owns A cheap grey blanket,old and torn His has been a path carpeted with thorns Didn't choose it,for he never chose to be born

Sauce smudged politician yawning on couch Eyes gazing at his latest rolex watch Time to indulge in a warm bubble bath His is a never ending gold paved path Overdue reward for eloquence and wit Welcome bonus accompanying his cabinet seat Befitting privileges for hearts like his Common lifestyle for men like these

Pale painted woman giving final coughs Unfair ending to a life deprived of laughs Hers has been a slow and painful death From the very second her mother gave birth Severely bruised by the only love she has known Of his every game, the sacrificed pawn 62

Blind to her tears; the envy of nile HIV; only thing he ever gave her with a smile

Grief stricken mother fighting for breath Common pain for all who've given birth One thing to have lost him to the street gangs Quite another to lose him to a law that hangs His has been a life devoid of example and education Hers has been a cycle of loss and rejection

Sorrow filled poet not blind to the positive Scenes from Africa are not all negative Like carefree couples holding hands Hope filled farmers tilling their lands God believing families singing hymns Fashion conscious teens high on heels Fun loving children playing hide and seek And mercy adorned beings caring for the sick All these and more lend this poet hope That for every life in a pit,is a rope.

Copright Travolta Masango 2012 Travolta is Zimbawaen IT professional and part time poet living in South Africa. He is greatly inpired by Shakespear and Kipling. More of his work can be found at http://www.thisdeep.blog.com/

Connections

Connected by the solstice Light Michele Baron

bathed in the light of the shortest day, northern hemisphere, planet earth; from another clime, the longest day, sun unchanged in glorious march... from the heavens, there are no seasons, nor solstice seen, as here from earth, yet are we not all somehow connected, in deepest dreams of longest night, in prayers for peace from distant berth?

Copyright Michele Baron 2012 Michele Baron is a part time poet based in Morroco. Michele has an extensive background in research, teaching, and bioethical, xeriscaping, green and sustainable projects development. She has volunteered in neighborhoods in the North Americas, Europe, Asia, and Africa. More of her poetry can be found on http://www.facebook.com/norabele

Winter Solstice Michael Corrigan On the shortest darkest day of the year beneath the frost below the rime the quiet land holds sleeping secrets of renewal and rebirth.

Copyright Michael Corrigan 2012. Michael Corrigan has been published in a wide range of journals and periodicals including Revival Journal, Upstart.ie, Five Poetry Journal, and Prairie Schooner Magazine(USA). He lives in County Kildare, Ireland.

Connections

Sea Salt for Solstice Denise Weaver Ross

I want to go down to the sea and breathe the salt air, bathing in the spray until my sun-baked skin slips off like a Selkieâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s coat, leaving my transparent bones shining white and clear on a forgotten beach lit by a solstice moon.

Copyright Denise Weaver Ross 2012 Denise Weaver Ross is an artist poet and design based in Albuquerque new Mexico. Her poetry includes Midwest by Northeast by Southwest.

Connections

Connected by Poetry The Momentary Word Samantak Bhadra

You spit me out Like a necessity Like a volcano Impatient I adorn your paper Resplendent Beautified with ink

In a moment of indiscretion You grow blind Forgetting me Strike through Death knell Maybe you are lost Therefore, losing me

In a moment I fall through To the nethers Glory in tatters Once desired Now despicable Scribbled out 68

The birth The cause Of the death To live To die In the same breath I was alive

Scribbled me out Disfigured me But I remain On the page Hapless reminder You had wanted me Even if for a brief moment

Copyright Samantak Bhadra 2012 Samantak Bhadra is an IT professional, a writer, an entrepreneur, that currently resides in Bangalore, India. He is a new entrant in the world of literary pursuits. His works have been accepted for publication in a number of literary journals and anthologies.

Connections

Poets Delight Christopher Azzie & Polly Munnelly

Serenity exists, Amber warm nights Through red tinged soul,

Burning fire, flames pounce Burning deep, dancing glow.

While flickering shadows bounce. From mind to hand, These words do flow Pouring straight, From my amber warmth soul.

Natural beauty, Tumbling leafs, Slowly, slowly Gracefully falls Harmony grows, As the cold seeps in.

Filling my senses Earth, wind and fire, heartfelt desire, Harnesses thee to still! Tranquil within, Ignite this passion, 70

Opening my mind.

Words do spin, Swirling, twirling, Bursting to life, Pouring straight, From my amber warmth soul, Capturing moments in time,

Poets delight...

Copyright Christopher Azzie & Polly Munnelly 2012 Christopher Azzie and Polly both live in Navan, Ireland. Christopher has published a book of poetry called â&#x20AC;&#x2DC;Hidden Dreamsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;. Polly Munnelly, a mother three children is an avid music listener, writes and has started to perform her own poetry.

Connections

Dreaming of a Room of Oneâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Own Lorna L. Kelly

The word crafter sits in a room of her own. Her thoughts flow with pretzel logic. Poetry and prose permeate the very air

she breathes. In her sanctuary on a mountain side her children sleep safely, protected from the biting cold.

The world, outside, is silent. Twenty five thousand a year buys the peace of mind found in a lock on the door and a warm, down filled comforter.

Her fortress stands on a foundation of poetry and prose Therein, her muse resides, satisfied. Growing plump on a steady diet of toddler giggles, honeysuckle nectar, political hijinx, ashes of bad lovers, and double shots of espresso. Virginia would be pleased. 72

Copyright Lorna L. Kelly 2012 Lorna is a writer and poet that lives in Denver Colorado, USA. She is a member of the The Poetry Society of Colorado. Her poem, “How to Burn a Bridge”, has been published with Incarnate Muse Press (www.incarnatemuse.com) in their publication, “The Venomed Kiss. Poems of Childhood Emotional and Psychological Abuse

Connections

Psychotic Episode Vensan Kamberk Heat and smoke rising from wrinkled paper. Words rushing rampant as estranged utterances devour their source.

The poet is shivering in hysterical compulsion. A straight jacket rests on cluttered table the witness is forced into subliminal submission. As scarlet ink leeks from hollowed sockets scorched paper reads of heavy thoughts.

Holy waters boil in anxious anticipation of a psychopathic feast to be consumed painlessly by rubbing vigorously with leftover gossip. Enough!, enough of this rants the exorcist is sitting in his pants! 74

Copyright Vensan Kamberk 2012 Vensan a poet and artist based in Montreal Canada but has extensively travelled the work. A collection of his poems may be found on http://cloudsouth.co.nz/vensan/index.php

Connections

When the Mission is Done! Sean Ratcliffe

I sit here staring at the blank page on my screen Strangely, my fingers ache for the touch of my keyboard My contacts dry and cling to my eyes, slowly becoming one My back aches from leaning over the board too long The cold, damp night air chills me to the bone And yet I still sit here, a picnic table beneath me The watersâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; edge is merely a few feet from me It gently rolls over itself as it washes the traces of itself away The break wall has calmed its bashing waves The spray flitters over me like a sunny day drizzle But the cold finds a way into meI came here to be inspired But once again, Mother Nature has overwhelmed my senses It is 3 in the morning and all is dark Occasionally, headlights flicker from the lovers cars I donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t see the colours. All is black and white like an Ansell Adams photo The flicker of the lights is like a camera flash The image is imbedded into my mind Not unlike the card in a digital camera My mind enhances what I perceived to be what I saw But the beauty does not change It grows with my imagination Every drop of that spray is critical to my image The curl of the wave as it careens off the break wall Its shape contorted into an unrecognizable flying sheet 76

And then it breaks atop the wall giving up that fight Only to continue unnoticed as it trickles down to the shore side The wall tamed it but could not keep it from it’s’ mission Its whole purpose is to remove every trace of its brother Leaving behind a cleansed, but altered sand canvas And then rolling back into extinction Allowing each subsequent wave to clone his actions And that is how our lives really are We come rolling into this life Each with a purpose of making it better or different Most of us are silent in our actions Some crash and hit the wall But each of us becomes extinct as we are rolled in that gilded box Our mission has been fulfilled And tomorrow another of us rolls out Silent or a crasher, only time will tell When the mission is done! But like that single drop that goes back to make the lake or sea Each of us has our place in the Sea of Humanity.

Since joining the Loose Leaf Poets and Writers, Sean has begun to have fun with his creative side. He is playing catch-up, but doing it with vigour. His current writings can be found on Amazon Kindle where he has published a number of stories and a collection of poetry include ‘Mind Stenographer’ and ‘Black and Blue’