Poetry - Year II - Number 5 - December 2016

POETRY BY LEE YUK SATranslated by Sekyo Nam Haines   About Lee Yuk Sa:Born 1904 in Andong, South Korea, Lee Yuk Sa belongs to the first generation of Korean modern poets. Korea was under Japanese rule...

DESPITEPoems by Gideon Sinke      DespiteI had a string of loversunder whose coversI thought I could hide.I condemned myselfto romance and lovehard and soft placeslong and smiley facesand in you I could confide.With you I was...

MR. ÉTIENNE HEIFARABy Kimo Armitage Mr. Étienne Heifara is sad that he left Tahiti on bad terms with his siblingsNight is an old woman with a canepoking the sun to come out.Mosquitos fill my childhood...

LADY ON A LENSBy William C. Blome A BLUEBEARD BRIEF LAMENT Roses no sooner get centered in my fireplacethan they send out a fragrance of hesitation,some wispy girl a-stumbling down the staircaseas if it were a...

CROSS COUNTRY TRIPBy Janet McCann  CROSS COUNTRY TRIPSigns on the highway, next exitThe marionette museum!  The bargain outlet!The ice cream factory! But you do not turnAnd you think, maybe you need never exit,Just ride down...

GREEN MEDITATIONBy Changming Yuan   ThicketStanding straight against the frozen skyYour skeletons are the exquisite calligraphyOf the seasonYour name is writNot in waterBut with wind  VentifactingA fact of fictionA fiction of factCarved with the invisibleChisels of the...

WHEN CUTTING FISHBy John Grey  WHEN CUTTING FISHConcentrate on your fingernot the creature's eye.Given half the chance,the blade will slip,the dead will stare right at you.Don't spill blood.Don't feel guilt.Here on earth,you need to knowwhen...

TO A CELLAR SPIDERBy Elizabeth Vignali   Reflection in the Window at the RedlightHis transparent hands liftpockets of blanknessand set them alight, brightflames birthed in reflection.This methodical heft and liftand flick of the red Bic lighteris...

POEMSBy Patrick Hurley ***there is no port of entrywhat atlas charts thesesaturnine territories?ingress is a dangerous fictionradioactive particlesare ubiquitoustoxic energies fix our hopesbut only choice computes  ***these voices are not frenchand this is no paradisetry for...

EMBERFOOTBy  Richard King Perkins II Gasp, my stranger. Contract like burning paper.You’re distant; as loud as footsteps on anthraciteechoing away from where you once belonged.Hold on to my hand. Just don’t break my fingers.Below the...