Take 5ive Issue Three Twenty Twenty Two
Tuyet Van Do
Job application
rejection
after rejection
she
dyes her hair
for an online interview
Forced vaccination
to make a living
they were forced to walk
through
the valley of death
queuing for the injection
Bryan Rickert
getting an old roll
of film developed
I hope to find
a few missing pieces
of my fractured family
I will die
in the same small town
where I was born–
this wanderlust
left unfulfilled
from the bridge
tossing a coin
into the river
wishing
it were me
Susan Burch
following it
from the bedroom
back to you
the slimy trail
of a slug
another breakup
over something silly -
I zigged
when I should have
zagged
50 years post-Covid
a grandmother reading
to her grandkids
how China took over
the world
Chen-ou Liu
a sparrow
chased off the feeder --
go back
to where you came from
lingers behind my back
quiet and quieter
and unable to walk
on his own --
my father's decade-long
marathon with dementia
a black hole
of press one for this,
two for that ...
the dim light from my cellphone
amid late night snowfall
Ram Chandran
when
the night is so long
and even cicadas are asleep
in my solitude
I long for your warm hug
her smile
at me, a jasmine blossom
I am sure
she's opening
a new chapter in my life
parched my heart
in this l o n g monsoon night...
by fireside
the flames dance to the tune
of my solo songs
Minal Sarosh
standing
on the railway station
the train whistle
taking me backwards
to another spring long ago
transferred
to another city
fleeting twilight
this is all we have
for today
sunrise
one by one the rays come
open windows
time counts my breaths
I count my days
Christina Chin & M. R. Defibaugh
barb wire
a shrike butchers
its prey
trying
to escape
meditating
among the peonies
a stone Buddha
I pretend
to be
M. R. Defibaugh & Christina Chin
the sky full of stars
burning
an old flag
in the moon's
shadow
Christina Chin & Linda Ludwig
coral red
… on the rose lip
butterflies
tender traces
memories of a first kiss
sweet scent
tied in red ribbons
red roses
the gentle touch
his finger traces her cheek
cows grazing
the summer field
thistle flowers
their bells tinkle
every move rings
Daipayan Nair
from the branch
of a ripened Java Plum
in this rain
onto its leaf blade
the tree snail crawls
a swallow
hovers over the hedge
after the storm
the unscripted language
in which it grieves
obituary
of another singer
in today's news
I read the sorrow
of a magpie
Lorelyn De la Cruz Arevalo
the rose
in the yellowed pages
of my memory
becoming
paper moon
soliloquy
waltzing
hand lightly
on my left hip,
right around
a glass of red
I was 7
shaking trees
beetle caught
and mangos fell
dipped in shrimp paste
the best summer
Joy McCall
like the pilgrim
he comes from the bog
muddy but alive
heading for the open road
and the far green hills
sadness
overcame me
I just lay
watching drifting clouds
... remembering
small hedge sparrow
picking in the seedheads
you know nothing
of politics, wars, religion
... I wish I was you
Pasquale Asprea
I take a breath
before diving
in another world
everything follows
unwritten rules
broken silence
from a distant motorboat
I follow with my eyes
a strange
multicolored fish
stretching my body
in slow strokes
to the rhythm of the breath
I feel
the sea embracing me
Giuliana Ravaglia
Pensieri
Vagano i pensieri oltre le montagne
nella luce bassa della luna
nuvole di sogni scostano deserto e notte
selvaggio galoppo dʹirriverenti chimere
davanti al cielo nero del dolore
Thoughts
Thoughts wander beyond the mountains
in the low light of the moon
clouds of dreams push aside desert and night
wild gallop of irreverent chimeras
in front of the black sky of pain
Ritmo
Travolta dal ritmo
di spazi gitani
frantumo i cancelli delle ore
evado dal tempo ‐ nuova ‐
inafferrabile alata poesia
Rhythm
Overwhelmed by the rhythm
of gypsy spaces
I shatter the gates of the hours
I escape time - new -
elusive winged poetry
Roberta Beach Jacobson
each winter
I shake our snow globe
to rid
the world of warfare
yet the bloodshed continues
her
80 year-old hand
shakes
as she cuts out a coupon
from the Sunday newspaper
defeated chef
removes his toque blanche
pondering his
meager collection of recipes
only 63 ways to prepare eggs
Jerome Berglund
sunburnt panhandler
just off the freeway exit ramp
looking parched
litter removal
courtesy of the Kiwanis club
cleaning out vehicle
twenty years of insurance cards
a hundred repair slips
three sets of jumper cables
and a nickel
Michael H Lester
one day
you will be that old man
chasing his hat
down the windy boulevard
panting like a dog in heat
she washes her hands
of that slovenly lover
once so true
he, who covets now
only the neighbor’s wife
he’s late for the dance
over some foolish wager--
her mother
won’t let him in the house
with eyes that cry good riddance
George Schaefer
ARMENIAN GODDESS
Seeping into dreams
an Armenian Goddess
not Kardashian
provide some clear inspiration
firing imagination
JUXTAPOSITION
Juxtaposition
a cool word with little meaning
we worship Oxford
but simplicity in life
would benefit so much more
Ruth Holzer
listening
to the Shipping Forecast
a lost pleasure
before falling asleep
becalmed in the London night
I have walked
all the roads of Ireland
blessed
every solitary day
by the kindness of strangers
unable to sleep
I rise and read
another report
on the endangered lives
of migratory songbirds
Ron Scully
VFW
grandfather
sits in his Canadian rocker
beside the window
in the black night
listening for planes
the word
məˈtastəˌsīz
the cell phone voice
sounds Latin
driving
into the tunnel
lily niamh
where are the wild things
the teasels and hops
field mice and foxes
glittering starlight
on stones that feel alive
where are the waves
the movement of the sea
that you can still feel
even hours later
as you lie in your bed
where are the breezes
from sunny meadows
and rustling trees
or drifting off the shoreline
to salt your skin
a better question
where are we
and why do we walk
this path of concrete
that leads nowhere
Michael Hough & Christina Chin
thunder on the far
edge of hearing… closer
the sound of sunset songs
laid table the smell
of early dinner
birds in summer haze
sing to gathering twilight
after a warm rain
a flock of swallows
catch mosquitos
batwings flutter
soon to blend with darkness
a breath of cooler wind
weaves through
silk white hair
Dave Read
the streetlights come on
a few minutes early…
I look into
the night
for my son
a biblical verse
becomes new again…
she tucks
her Mom in
at the hospice
another strange dream
shakes me from sleep…
I look out
on a night
without stars
Jackie Chou
gray sky turning blue
making the mountains
visible...
a dab of hopefulness
on this ordinary day
the city
outside my window
kissed by dusk
your sweet poetry
painting my world pink
Covid scare
after three vaccines
new variant
troubles don't come alone
but in succession
Uchechukwu Onyedikam & Christina Chin
i write your name
transferred across my chest
butterfly tattoo
only to wish
he hasn't
new yam festival
at the table of harvest
after libation
warrior songs
and beat of gongs
Steve Wilkinson
a city of lights
a stones throw away
from the quiet loch
I choose my place beneath the stars
listening to the water's music
slipping silently
through the evening mist
the slow river
flows below the curlews cry
into a strange new world
the gentle lapping
of the sea loch's tide
in the evening
I wish for stillness like the heron
at the waters edge
