Roundabout Course
First breath came as wail
Borne out from within
Purged from Sanctuary
Comes collecting pail
All Knowledge poured in
Learn all Mystery
To Fight never Fail
Strive to always Win
Goal for Victory
As one walks Life's Trail
Each Mark to Begin
Yesterday's History
So rises your Sail
Wind storms to Rein in
Journey Soul's Story
Be Strong even Frail
Strength never give in
Why even Worry
Faith and Love to bail
Kindness when all's Mean
Humbly say Sorry
Head tries to catch Tail
Ends where it Begin
Back to Sanctuary
Breathe of Life to hail
Core's Essence's clean
All in God's Glory
I Wanna Know What Love Is
Tell me what love is
Is love truly a disease
One acquired with a kiss
With bitter pill will cease
Tell me what love is
Is love when one you miss
Do everything for love to please
One's soul given as a lease
Tell me what love is
Is love but a carrot to tease
Where dignity must decrease
From moral laws to release
Tell me what love is
Is love a filthy grease
A nest to cuddle fleas
That even an angel flees
Tell me what love is
I wanna know what love is
The world has forgotten what love is
Show me what real love is
Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa was born January 14, 1965, in Manila, Philippines. She has worked as a retired Language Instructor, interpreter, caregiver, secretary, product promotion employee, and private therapeutic masseur. Her works have been published as poems and short story anthologies in several language translations for e-magazines, monthly magazines, and books; poems for cause anthologies in a Zimbabwean newspaper; a feature article in a Philippine newspaper; and had her works posted on different poetry web and blog sites. She has been writing poems since childhood but started on Facebook only in 2014. For her, Poetry is life and life is poetry. Lilian Kunimasa considers herself a student/teacher with the duty to learn, inspire, guide, and motivate others to contribute to changing what is seen as normal into a better world than when she steps into it. She has always considered life as an endless journey, searching for new goals, and challenges and how she can in small ways make a difference in every path she takes. She sees humanity as one family where each one must support the other and as a voice for Truth in pursuit of Equality and proper Stewardship of nature despite the hindrances of distorted information and traditions.
ABORTION OF A FLOWER
In October,
pomegranates ripen in the sheltered south.
This summer you wanted them to admire the blossoming in the swirling flames of your hair.
One flower became a fruit that never ripened.
Torn like a child from the womb, he dried in the heat
of Herzegovina stones.
A Promise
Earlier today
I was taking
my dog out
for her walk
Just across
the street from
me was two
old men.
I'm fifty years
old. So believe
me.
If I say that
they were old
they were old.
They were OLD,
but they were
standing next to
a Bentley.
Two guys who
must have been
at least mid- 60's.
Wearing shorts, and
summer shirts, with
at least three buttons
undone.
It made me feel
sick.
It made me make
a promise to
myself.
THE COLORS I NEVER SAW
Your heart will always belong to me
Wherever we go makes not a difference
as long as we are always walking together. Love has many colors and are not always red
But my love for you will always be crimson
I will never stop you from doing what you should
because those things are what make you who you are
But as long as you always look at me through love's eyes
you will see the many things that others do not see in me
The sparkle in my eyes for you makes me realize many things
But what it shows me most, are the many colors that I don't see
in myself, and the many colors I never saw in you until now...
I WILL ALWAYS CHOOSE YOU
I cherish you, and always want you near
When I wake, my first thoughts are of you
As I drift off into sleep, I can faintly hear your voice
You stand there waiting for me in my dreams
I would wait a lifetime for you if I had to
I will never be without you or the grip
of your arms around me.. How could I?
Together we are of the same heart
I know your hand always waits for mine
I pray at night that nothing takes you from me. Make no mistake.... I will always choose You.
A Poet/Author, born on April 9, 1957, in Oakland California, in The United States of America. Kristy has five books getting ready to publish soon. One anthology with a prominent poet from India, Dr. Prasana Kumar Dalai, which will launch in August 2023 called, “I Cross my Heart from East to West”, two fantasy books of her own called, “Rings, Things and Butterfly Wings” and “Princess and The Lion”, an anthology of poems in English,” Walking Without You”, one in French, “Little Rose Poetry”, and one in Arabic called,” Jasmine and Roses”. She is taking a course in Arabic to write this book. Kristy has received many literary awards for her unique style of writing.
+
Snow melt falls
from Granite Walls
Stands Beauty with
the Power to Exhale
with Eyes Raised to Test the
spray with tongue & Skin.
In testing
I've passed my own test
found within my Love I AM
Let go to Awesome
Given Self to Wisdom
to leave no concern
Knowing
& Seen the universe
disappear from demand,
received in satisfaction,
to continue finding a Welcome
with or without
change.
The Awesome Heat
that melts the snow
can wait upon
to let One know
& Allow,
My Heart,
the Fruits of Winter.
...........
Penned July 13, 2019
by John Edward Culp
No one is an island, as poet John Donne reminds us. We all exist within a unique network of relationships and environmental conditions. This issue explores how we co-create our lives in conjunction with our surroundings.
Z.I. Mahmud explores some of Donne’s works in his analytical look at a selection of British and Indian books addressing (among other themes) social justice and colonialism.
Mark Young also considers our cultural heritage in his narrative essays on how he has responded to various notable works of art and literature.
In a cultural analysis in keeping with the issue’s theme, Christopher Bernard concludes his essay “What’s Wrong with Liberalism.” In this essay, he claims that an unbalanced exaltation of personal liberty above all other social values underlies both neoliberalism and progressivism and paradoxically leads to increasing restrictions of freedom, extreme inequalities of wealth and power, and a sense of loss of control by voters and citizens over the political order as a whole.
Mark Murphy’s poetry also urges humans in industrialized societies to think beyond the pursuit of our own freedoms. We need to ask why we are taking actions that ravage the natural world and indigenous peoples and whether our planet’s future is inevitable.
Jaylan Salah interviews Mel Eslyn on the new film Biosphere which deconstructs toxic masculinity and environmental mismanagement through humor and camaraderie. Mykyta Ryzhykh speculates on who we’re becoming and where we’re trying and failing to find nourishment in an alienating modern techno-age.
Sayani Mukherjee’s poetic speaker asserts that she’s retreating from human politics to discuss the important subject of nature. On the other hand, Elmaya Jabbarova mixes the two topics in her patriotic call to live noble and sustainable lives.
Don Bormon’s piece revels in the fruitfulness of the rainy season and new growth in his native Bangladesh.
Aklima Anthi speaks to a complex, wounded, but unconditional relationship to nature. Duane Vorhees’ poetry mourns lost wildness and wilderness. Noah Berlatsky speculates on our genetic and physical linkage with jellyfish.
Kushal Poddar looks at our relationship to nature on a small scale, everyday encounters with insects and geese. Isabel Gomes de Diego sends us natural scenes of snow, forests, and beaches while Daniel De Culla does the same from a closer vantage point: thistles and trees.
Jonathan Butcher crafts scenes of curated natural and human-built environments, probing memory and decay. Jim Meirose’s story soundscape creates the atmosphere of an archaeological dig. J.D. Nelson’s subterranean haikus let readers glimpse bits of the world, like a child jumping up to a high window. Henry Bladon renders the noise and sounds of a city as music, bending the 90s and today into a dream. Alan Catlin joins words and cultural phrases together into a branching flow of meaning and consciousness while Channie Greenberg’s lines of different shapes illustrate a creative union between natural and technologically inspired aesthetics.
Azemina Krehic offers up a passionate love poem to the stars. Staring up at the moon inspires Mesfakus Salahin’s piece. Slava Konoval creates a poetic romance between lightning and thunder, while also speaking to the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Gustavo Galliano envisions a pandemic that mutates both the planet and human thinking. Graciela Noemi Villaverde denounces war and other violence against children and families.
Jerry Langdon makes that point more personal, illustrating the destructiveness of obsession with power, how it disintegrates a personality.
Many writers address destructive and constructive intimate personal relationships.
Chimezie Ihekuna explores the problems that arise in a marriage when people bring unresolved issues and irresponsible behavior into the relationship. Romantic feelings are not always enough to make things work.
Feruza Abdullaeyva describes the pain caused by a friend’s selfishness, while Richard LeDue mourns the slow death of fading love. J.J. Campbell’s speaker’s memories are interspersed with reflections on aging and the pain of loss and loneliness.
Bill Tope reminisces about a wild 1960s road trip where danger and adventure lurk beneath the surface. Some of the peril comes from fair-weather friends.
In contrast, Mahbub Alam writes of steady and nourishing emotional connections, and Annie Johnson honors a relationship that has grown and deepened over many years. Jasna Gugic illuminates the explicit and implicit connections among lovers.
Yike Zhang evokes a ethereal, intense, and transcendent love while Maja Milojkovic seeks authentic human connection rather than the illusions of empty religious practice. Czarina Daltiles writes of human striving, how the desire for accomplishment drives many of us, yet perhaps our greatest joys are simply being able to share little moments with our loved ones.
John Edward Culp expresses a natural and easy connection between friends, while Emina Delilovic-Kevric captures a simple and calm domestic scene. Santiago Burdon humorously details an encounter where two strangers see through each other’s subterfuge and bare their souls to each other on a plane. Steven Bruce relates a humorous memory of finding grace in everyday awkwardness.
Jasmina Ortikova encourages us to look to the past and honor our elders. Nozima Gofurova pays tribute to those who have helped her achieve, personally and academically.
Some other contributors focus on an individual person, while still clearly illustrating that the outside world shapes who they are.
In Obirija Joshua’s poem, he reflects on his place in the world on his birthday, guided by his grandmother’s prayers. Sayifov Botirali extols the importance of education and personal development, while Mohinur Murodova highlights some women’s contributions to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
Bella Angel Douglas outlines the experience of carrying the emotional pain of rejection, while Vern Fein’s work touches on the circumstances of life and death, what gives our lives meaning and dignity.
Finally, Lilian Dipasupil Kunimasa reminds us that life is short and we should make the most of the time we have on the earth.
