Poetry from Christina Chin and Uchechukwu Onyedikam

stir fried offerings 

for vegetarians

pure friday

the day of congregation

oh ye adherents





shine

after the flood

sunflowers washed

away in tumultuous 

current






roofless belonging

a room to each

blue bird of paradise

water and seeds


at the bird feeder






contaminated 

dark fumes up above 

a scarcity of breath

the sirens and speakers 

signal evacuation 






families trapped 

on the rooftop others run 

to higher grounds

the heavy flood 


of strangled waterways





naked sky

sprinkles

stardusts

a body of beauty


to lust after







their love

private practice

the tell tale

wild daisies 


in her hair 





graveyard 

shift

approaching me

the cemetery digger


with the victim's eyes






the village boy:

learning to talk 

grandma bites her tongue 

when he mimics 


her tone on his name





slow world

under its weight

a tortoise

tumbles and flips


back in the pond

Poetry from Ian Copestick

                A Flickering Flame

                        Blazing

Daffodils, daisies,

and dandelions, the

colours, yellow, and

white. Blazing against

the green background,

even when wet, and

rained upon is a sight

that gladdens my heart.

After the months of

skeletal, naked trees,

and muddy, churned up

grass, to see colours

other than grey, and green.

The beautiful pink, and

white of the cherry blossoms,

as well as the blaze of yellow, 

gold,white, and orange that make

up the flowers of the daffodils,

dandelions, and daisies uplifts

my spirit.

It confirms in me the belief in

something, even if I haven’t a

clue of what it could possibly

be.

Consciousness is both

Heaven, and Hell. We’re

going through both of them

right now.

Of that I feel quite sure.

I don’t know which religion,

if any, suits my needs, but it

doesn’t really matter.

As long as I am happy with

myself, and the world.

I can work these things out

later.

Poetry from J.J. Campbell

Poet J.J. Campbell

in that little notebook

i love when people start

staring at the weird fucker

in the corner

scribbling down something

in that little notebook

i’ll look up and then they

see this long ass goatee

and suddenly remember

it’s best to not poke at

something that might

just bring

some hell along with him

————————————————————-

the extra minutes needed

one thing

about these

cold weather

months

the beautiful

women with

a couple layers

on excite my

imagination

even more

i would enjoy

the extra minutes

needed to peel

back the layers

if ever given

the chance

—————————————————————–

ending a cycle of madness

i remember when i was a child

i always thought i would marry

the most beautiful woman in

the world

but sometime around the time

my father told me he married

my mother because he needed

someone to knock the shit out

of his underwear

i realized children wouldn’t be

the most responsible thing to

bring into this world

it never dawned on me that

thought would become a deal

breaker with so many women

it’s hard to justify ending a cycle

of madness while arguing with

a thundering ball of hormones

good thing i learned how to

drink as a child and in the

process got over any fear

of loneliness

thankfully, my imagination

hasn’t become old demons

seeking revenge

————————————————————————-

passed on down the generations

there’s a long line

of hate that runs

through my blood

it’s a cancer passed

on down the generations

and as much as i want

to be better, to rise

above and all that

bullshit

it’s useless at best

i simply temper

expectations

understand that failure

does not equal death

and eventually, the

stupid do fucking die

————————————————————————–

the endless parade

the endless parade

of what could have

been

this town is full

of regret

that happens when

nostalgia is replaced

with a hardened heart

that is confused with

religion

and of course

these are the fucks

that breed children

like cats have kittens

and i always laugh

when i think about

the first time that

mother finds her

daughter kissing

a black boy

or listening to

something she finds

too sexy for her age

of course, religion

means there is no

room for evolution

yet alone humanity

or any willingness

to learn

J.J. Campbell (1976 – ?) is old enough to know better. He’s been widely published over the years, most recently at The Beatnik Cowboy, The Rye Whiskey Review, Yellow Mama, Terror House Magazine and Horror Sleaze Trash. You can find him most days on his mildly entertaining blog, evil delights. (https://evildelights.blogspot.com)

Poetry from Jeffrey Spahr-Summers

bonfire

that day i torched all the poetry
i was a sick but determined man
i was looking for liberation like
the great bra burners of the 60s
in pajama bottoms at high noon
i dragged out the olive trash can
gathered up 29 years of poems
every one i could lay hands on
doused them with liquid starter
struck a match and tossed it in



con-trary

having known desire
having drank of pleasure
and purple pain
i stand in front of the mirror
a ghost stirring inside me
inside my musty mind
a hand and
suddenly a razor
rushing through me
one
day someday
one never knows



yaka mountain

lets bury our dirty little secrets

in gods backyard
under yaka mountain

in the heat of the desert

lets challenge the devil
lets dig a hole



sylvias mother


listens outside sylvias door
what is that girl doing why
wont she come out
for dinner why
wont she talk to anyone she
doesnt understand



ripvan winkle

white hair down to his knees
white whiskers of time asleep in her arms

 



--
Jeffrey Spahr-Summers
Poet, Writer, Photographer, Publisher.
spahrsummers@gmail.com
www.jeffreyspahrsummers.com
www.jaspersfollypoetryjournal.com

Bio: Jeffrey Spahr-Summers is a poet, writer, photographer, editor, and publisher. Jeff is the editor and publisher of Jasper’s Folly Poetry Journal.

Short story from Rakhshona Akhmedova

Rakhshona Akhmedova

FORGIVE ME, KUMIKO

(Short story)
By Rakhshona Ahmedova

1

I knew Kumiko in Japan. We had been studying in the faculty of History at Tohoku University. I visited her house after the classes. She taught me about Japan. And I had to speak to her in English. She had short boyish hair and narrowed eyes. If I said that she was not a pretty girl, she wouldn’t be sad. She was embarrassed that her teeth were protruding, she tried to cover her mouth with her hands when she was laughing, but she couldn’t. She stepped slowly as every Japanese woman. That aspect separated her from the boys.
Sometimes she asked me:
“Are all your girls beautiful in your country?”
I felt queer.
“You’re beautiful too, Kumiko,” I said smiling. “Every girl has her beauty.”
She was a very kind and cheerful girl. She was more like us Uzbeks who were friendly, well-spoken, and talkative than the quiet and recluse Japanese people. However, she did not like to talk about herself, and the topic of our conversation with her turned only around me.
“Do you talk to your mother?”
“Every day.”
“Every day?” she wondered widening her eyes. “What do you talk about?”
“About us. Am I doing well? She asks what I am busy with, and what I am doing. I also wonder about her health. I want to know if everyone in the family is okay, what news.
“Aren’t you bored?”
“Why? I would like to talk every day if it was possible.”
While she was wondering, she was silent and thoughtful. She was the only child in the family, however, she lived separately from her parents. And it seemed strange to me, it seemed as if she had grown up in an orphanage. She didn’t talk much about her parent, she had only a cute but barking puppy named Kiyoshi. Kumiko loved him too much.
She took her puppy to the ‘’Beauty Salon” once a week, and took him to the veterinarian twice a month. They washed and combed him, his wool was cut short. When they combed his wool and put a ribbon on his head, the fluffy puppy became so cute, but it made me angry. If it was my business, instantly I would have kicked him out. It hurts a person, after all, how many homeless people live without enough food? Maybe I was jealous of him, I didn’t know. However, every time I saw him, I felt angry. I tried not to let Kumiko know it. Kumiko went out with him to walk every day and cleaned up his poops. It disgusted me. The puppy didn’t like me either, he started to get mad as soon as he saw me.
“Stop it, Kiyoshi,” Kumiko said, pointing her index finger at him in a commanding tone.
The puppy immediately stopped barking. He should respect her. He looked at Kumiko differently, I could see a special kindness in his eyes. No matter how angry I was, I should admit that it was the first time I saw such a close relationship between a human and an animal.
Another serious reason for my anger was that I never saw Kumiko sitting in front of the mirror, not paying attention to herself at all. She never made up.
Once I was irritated and said:
“Why do you love that animal? Instead, you should be married, and have children. And you should love them.
“I don’t want to get married,” she said laughing.
“Why? Why do you think so?”
“Family is a serious matter, I have to think about it,” she said, patting his puppy’s head as usual.
“Hey, what do you think,” I said, “Getting married isn’t as scary as you think, besides, you’ll be forty years old before you know it. What do you do next?”
“Age is not important, the most important thing is that you meet a person who is suitable for you in every way,” she said softly.
“There is no perfect person in this world, my dear,” I said without hesitation.
However, we had different opinions on this matter. It was clear that our thoughts would never collide at the same point. She believed that one day she would meet the person she wanted, but I lectured her that she should get married early and that if a woman got old, she would not find the person she wanted tomorrow.
Soon I said:
“Then adopt a child from the orphanage. Many children need for mother’s love. I don’t know if I said this to get rid of the puppy.
“What are you saying, Shona?” she used to call me like this. “Child is a burden! I can give up a puppy whenever I want, but a child…can’t.”
It was hard to understand Kumiko. Her words made me think. I wonder why she loves a dog that she can give up whenever she wants so much.
2
Kumiko was helping me as much as she could as my thesis approached. We were together on that miserable day for Kumiko. She promised to correct some sentences in my graduation work, so I was at her house. Both of us did not notice that it was getting dark.
“You can stay at mine today, I’ll have coffee in a little while, we’ll discuss it again,” Kumiko said kindly.
“Well,” I said, taking this offer with pleasure because I had only two weeks left for my thesis and I hoped to finish our work today. As usual, Kumiko began to prepare her puppy for a walk.
“Let’s not go out today, I don’t want to go out today,” I said as if I felt something unpleasant in my heart.
“No, Kiyoshi is bored, after all, we must go out,” Kumiko refused to stay home as usual, so I reluctantly followed her.
We talked all the way. Kiyoshi kept pushing forward, snatching, and Kumiko was trying to hold him. When the puppy started pulling the rope, I got irritated.
“Let me take it, your hand hurts,” I said with kindness.
I don’t remember what the purpose of saying that was. I didn’t have any bad intentions, but… Kumiko hesitated at first. As my stretched hand hung in the air, she felt embarrassed, and hesitatingly handed the rope. At the end of the rope, there was a holder with a red button, if you pressed it, the rope would not stretch. I pressed the button hard with my thumb. The walk was going well. We stopped at the last intersection to cross the road, and our conversation became intense:
“You should get married soon after you return to your country?” she said laughing. Because she knew that our girls get married early.
“My mother says that the matchmakers are coming, I don’t know,” I said in the sense that it is still difficult to say anything about my fate.
At the same time, Kiyoshi’s sudden push forward made me angry. Where are you going? I said to myself. Then I put my finger on the button. Kiyoshi ran forward, we were startled by the sound of the car’s balloon. It all happened within a minute. We could not realize what happened.
I did not expect this to happen. Kiyoshi was lying under the car, making only moaning sounds. We approached him in fear, he was dying. Kiyoshi knew to stop at the intersection, to wait with his tail wagging, and to walk when the cars stopped moving. He wouldn’t have run away from his owner, or Kumiko wouldn’t have let the rope get too long. I couldn’t understand why Kiyoshi was moving forward today. I was surrounded by strange dreams, I felt sorry for the puppy, but now I was not happy to get rid of him.
Kumiko was completely shocked. She didn’t even notice that the owner of the car bent over and apologized again and again. She just shook her head.
“Maybe we shouldn’t go out,” Kumiko said looking sadly as she was carrying her puppy home in her arms. “Would it be better if I did what you said?”
I didn’t know what to say, what to console. I was very embarrassed. If I had not left the rope, this incident would not have happened. Was I guilty or… I didn’t want to admit it, but what should I have done when he was pulling me? I consoled myself in front of my conscience.
After she buried her puppy in the foothills behind her house, Kumiko prayed for her puppy for a long time. I started to feel uncomfortable, and as I begin to leave, she said:
“The best friend does not leave a person alone when he was in sorrow. I was upset. I stayed with Kumiko that day. While she was drinking sake continuously, she cried recalling the day she bought Kiyoshi and other memories related to him one by one. I just sat next to her. We didn’t sleep all night, and when she went out with me in the morning, I saw a heavy sadness in her eyes, which were red with tears.
3
Kumiko did not come on the day of my thesis. She didn’t invite me, so I couldn’t go to her house. On the day of the graduation, I was looking for Kumiko among the crowd. After that, I decided to go to her home. I push the doorbell for a long time. Then she appeared. She was drunk. She changed after that accident and there was no trace of Kumiko who spoke and laughed. Her hair was matted, her eyelids were swollen, and her eyes seemed to narrow again. She didn’t have a smile on her face like before, I couldn’t recognize my friend.
“I would have invited you to come in, but I’m sorry…” she said looking down.
The inner room was visible through a half-opened door. Bottles, cans, newspapers, and other things, of them, were spread on the floor.
“I came for a while. I’m leaving next week,” I swallowed. “I wanted to thank you.”
“What did I do to be thanked… Thanks to you, I spent many happy days with you.”
“What are you saying?” My heart was crushed as I looked at Kumiko. “I never thought that I would see you in such a bad condition. Get a hold of yourself, after all, he was just a puppy! People get used to their fates even after being separated from their mother and father, they don’t be sad like you.
It was hard to say these words. She listened to my words in silence. Although I believed in my heart that everything would be better after a while, Kumiko’s current state indicated that it was impossible to hope for that. She didn’t say anything. She was drunk, I didn’t know if she realized my words or not. She said goodbye coldly. I heard that she was not allowed until the next semester.
As I was entering the airport, I looked back. There was no sign of her. As soon as I returned to my homeland, I wrote a letter and send it to her on the Internet.
“Ohio.
Kumiko, I miss you so much. I have achieved a lot of things with your help. Thanks for everything! You have to get a hold of yourself, life goes on. Time cures everything… I love you
Your friend Shona”
Many days have passed since then. I sent the same email again when there was no response. Then a letter came from her. She wrote:
“Ohio.
Shona, my dear, I miss you so much too. When you were here, I could only think about you, I would ignore my loneliness. When you left, I was empty…
I see Kiyoshi in my dreams. I see him with a flower garland on his head. If there is a paradise for dogs, he must have walked there…
When you don’t have loved ones, you don’t have any interest in life. I feel like I’ve lost the guiding star that keeps me going.
Take care of yourself.
Your friend Kumiko.”
After that, I did not receive another letter from her. She never responded to my letters. I was wondering what happened to her. Kumiko was a well-educated girl. She lost her favorite puppy because of me, but she was not on bad terms with me. She could blame me, but she didn’t say any bad words. She even wrote a reply to my letter and showed a compliment, she showed her patience.
I was sorry. I realized now that I had unknowingly ruined my friend’s life. I was guilty. One word went out of my heart and transferred to my tongue: “Forgive me, Kumiko!”

Rakhshona Akhmedova was born in 1987 in Ferghana region of Uzbekistan. She graduated from Uzbek State University of World Languages in 2005. She is the winner of the national literary contest of short stories “Water is a priceless blessing”.
In 2020, her first book “The Sea of Dreams” was published in Uzbekistan and second book “Woman under an Umbrella” was published in 2021, by publishing house Akademnashr. Currently She lives and works in Seoul.