Take 5ive Issue Five -- Twenty Twenty One
Nani Mariani
sorrow
yellow flower
sunglasses
it's getting cloudy in the afternoon
nothing lasts forever
Mona Bedi
your favourite dinner
grows cold on the table
how hard it is
when i know for sure
you won't come
palm reading
I don't ask about
my future
but make a resolution to
complete my bucket list
Chen ou-Liu
a slit of light
beneath the bathroom door
for hours
no sound or movement
from her dropout daughter
waiting
for the woman I met
in a dream
the rippling voices
of prairie grasses
(for Laura Ingalls)
for the third time
this morning Father asks me
the same question ...
wisps of winter fog
shrouding our oak tree
my underwear
mingle with hers
on the floor
my date night brighter
than the full moon
Earth Hour Party:
we switch off the lights
walk hand in hand
to the city square
listen to the world unfurl
Ram Chandran
like the hues of grey
between
black and white
I am
and I am not
hey
give me the wings
to fly
and brush the moon
with riots of colours
that day
when we first met in twilight
and now
when we depart into shadows...
the same moon
Christina Chin
Today
The twigs drift
as the river flows
in those sweet
moments we did not
utter a word
Old Gang
The times
when old friends
meet
faded memories come
to life once more
Twilight
Fresh crisp night
under the porch light
how sad
to watch moths
gather and fall
Desmond Childs
The monk
The cowl hung loosely
deep eyes set well back in its
cover of darkness
eyes shrewdly scrutinising
the shape and curve of your soul
Shaman
he spoke with voices
imbued with narcotic words
supernatural
rhythmic shaman chanting
a world within his words
Death
death lingers - perched
picking lives clean to the bone
insatiable -
peering over your shoulder
hungered for life to consume
Neon
the allure emits
in hues from late night windows
the neon flickers
from the hordes of roaming eyes
exhorting into the night
Pebble
pebble stone worn -
etched indelibly by time
burnished of age -
geology closeted
in the smoothest of rind
Douglas Lanzo
Guiding Lantern
a lantern
gently guides our raft
through morning mist
lifting with your bridal veil
into a world of bliss
Mount Fuji’s Waters
glistening waters
tinged pink with cherry blossoms
reflect the majesty
of Fuji’s snow-capped crown
reigning serenity
Butterfly Pair
butterfly pair
cling for tender moments
before parting ways
ephemeral as your love
fading with the close of spring
Bryan Rickert
here alone
on the autumn breeze
my song
and the loon’s cry
equally lost
early spring
through the open window
honeysuckle scent
a long lost lover
returning for more
once again
the mockingbird
switches it’s tune
I look deep in your eyes
in search of a lie
all night
the wind blown branch
on the window
the hand of your ghost
reaching for me
inhaling
the first cold
autumn air
I long for a warmth
that isn’t yours to give
Ron Scully
ring neck mallards
ride the swells
in the rain
listlessly
no plans either
hot oven pizza
blisters the soft palate
2nd degree cheese
or was it something
I should have never said
Tracy Davidson
glimpse of Perseids
through a gap
in the shutters
secret lovers
pass love notes
another night
another bar
tongue
too thick with thirst
to step away
I had a brother once
I barely remember...
second chances
blown in back alleys
and broken veins
Remzi Gülsün
to the young man
getting his fingers caught
in a machine
the insurer says
choose one
Joshua St. Claire
stopping the pain pills
because it hurt her hands
to open the bottle
the rheumatologist says
she's seen much worse
rain lily
after the shower
opening
her petals
for me to taste
old wire factory
gentrified into condos
one winter night
a homeless man shuffles by
memories his only warmth
Mirela Brăilean
a butterfly's wing
landing on the windowsill -
the moment you left
you'd taken with you a piece
from my broken heart
between two flowers
of cherry trees on a branch
top of the mountain –
our hearts remain together
even despite the distance
Steve Wilkinson
ostracized
and cast out for the crime
of being true to myself
propaganda has the power
to bleed a family dry
silence
is your weapon of choice
but silence
is also the shield
that God gave for my protection
cold November night
I stare into the darkness
identifying constellations
if only you could see that
I am the same man that I've always been
a cloud
moves across the full moon
every now and then
the light we wish to be to the world
is dimmed by discouragement
sorrow
yellow flower
sunglasses
it's getting cloudy in the afternoon
nothing lasts forever
Mona Bedi
your favourite dinner
grows cold on the table
how hard it is
when i know for sure
you won't come
palm reading
I don't ask about
my future
but make a resolution to
complete my bucket list
Chen ou-Liu
a slit of light
beneath the bathroom door
for hours
no sound or movement
from her dropout daughter
waiting
for the woman I met
in a dream
the rippling voices
of prairie grasses
(for Laura Ingalls)
for the third time
this morning Father asks me
the same question ...
wisps of winter fog
shrouding our oak tree
my underwear
mingle with hers
on the floor
my date night brighter
than the full moon
Earth Hour Party:
we switch off the lights
walk hand in hand
to the city square
listen to the world unfurl
Ram Chandran
like the hues of grey
between
black and white
I am
and I am not
hey
give me the wings
to fly
and brush the moon
with riots of colours
that day
when we first met in twilight
and now
when we depart into shadows...
the same moon
Christina Chin
Today
The twigs drift
as the river flows
in those sweet
moments we did not
utter a word
Old Gang
The times
when old friends
meet
faded memories come
to life once more
Twilight
Fresh crisp night
under the porch light
how sad
to watch moths
gather and fall
Desmond Childs
The monk
The cowl hung loosely
deep eyes set well back in its
cover of darkness
eyes shrewdly scrutinising
the shape and curve of your soul
Shaman
he spoke with voices
imbued with narcotic words
supernatural
rhythmic shaman chanting
a world within his words
Death
death lingers - perched
picking lives clean to the bone
insatiable -
peering over your shoulder
hungered for life to consume
Neon
the allure emits
in hues from late night windows
the neon flickers
from the hordes of roaming eyes
exhorting into the night
Pebble
pebble stone worn -
etched indelibly by time
burnished of age -
geology closeted
in the smoothest of rind
Douglas Lanzo
Guiding Lantern
a lantern
gently guides our raft
through morning mist
lifting with your bridal veil
into a world of bliss
Mount Fuji’s Waters
glistening waters
tinged pink with cherry blossoms
reflect the majesty
of Fuji’s snow-capped crown
reigning serenity
Butterfly Pair
butterfly pair
cling for tender moments
before parting ways
ephemeral as your love
fading with the close of spring
Bryan Rickert
here alone
on the autumn breeze
my song
and the loon’s cry
equally lost
early spring
through the open window
honeysuckle scent
a long lost lover
returning for more
once again
the mockingbird
switches it’s tune
I look deep in your eyes
in search of a lie
all night
the wind blown branch
on the window
the hand of your ghost
reaching for me
inhaling
the first cold
autumn air
I long for a warmth
that isn’t yours to give
Ron Scully
ring neck mallards
ride the swells
in the rain
listlessly
no plans either
hot oven pizza
blisters the soft palate
2nd degree cheese
or was it something
I should have never said
Tracy Davidson
glimpse of Perseids
through a gap
in the shutters
secret lovers
pass love notes
another night
another bar
tongue
too thick with thirst
to step away
I had a brother once
I barely remember...
second chances
blown in back alleys
and broken veins
Remzi Gülsün
to the young man
getting his fingers caught
in a machine
the insurer says
choose one
Joshua St. Claire
stopping the pain pills
because it hurt her hands
to open the bottle
the rheumatologist says
she's seen much worse
rain lily
after the shower
opening
her petals
for me to taste
old wire factory
gentrified into condos
one winter night
a homeless man shuffles by
memories his only warmth
Mirela Brăilean
a butterfly's wing
landing on the windowsill -
the moment you left
you'd taken with you a piece
from my broken heart
between two flowers
of cherry trees on a branch
top of the mountain –
our hearts remain together
even despite the distance
Steve Wilkinson
ostracized
and cast out for the crime
of being true to myself
propaganda has the power
to bleed a family dry
silence
is your weapon of choice
but silence
is also the shield
that God gave for my protection
cold November night
I stare into the darkness
identifying constellations
if only you could see that
I am the same man that I've always been
a cloud
moves across the full moon
every now and then
the light we wish to be to the world
is dimmed by discouragement
