Sheep Dreams
My sheep stumble down the plank
and jump ship
crashing into waters whisking with every shark
that ever detected the drunken cologne
of my blood
PLACE SETTING
Where you live when you are not where you are living, and by living, I mean residing.
And by live, I’m referencing the space constructed of memory and curiosity. And by curiosity,
I speak of the galaxy where dead wishes can’t be piled like bodies. They float seamlessly,
snag your eyes with a twinkle of a wink. A location as unattainable as those aspirations you
gifted pulse and game plan. Then suffocated, ripped to portions, and ingested slowly. Well, shit.
The setting of a play, a place, the actors are not all actors, you are writer, director, knowing
it will never be produced.
FIN
Ghosted
I ghosted myself
or am I a ghost to myself?
Haunting my leftovers, haunted by what
I left over in a geography
without space or proof.
Hushing Heroes
I’ve been reading my heroes wrong
I’ve been reading my heroes bedtime stories
A collection of heroes
is a herd of one’s own insecurities
I’m rocking both to sleep
Bekah Steimel is an internationally published poetic person who was “mostly dead, slightly alive” on VV ECMO life support in 2019 from double lung failure (get your flu shot! And, COVID vaccine as well!). An artist reporting back from the other side. Developing Chance Books LLC. She can be found online at bekahsteimel.com and followed @BekahSteimel.
Cherokee Travelers' Blessing I
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
I will extract the thorns from your feet.
Yet a little longer, we will walk life's sunlit paths together.
I will love you like my own brother, my own blood.
When you are disconsolate, I will wipe the tears from your eyes.
And when you are too sad to live, I will put your aching heart to rest.
***
Cherokee Travelers' Blessing II
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Happily may you walk
in the paths of the Rainbow.
Oh,
and may it always be beautiful before you,
beautiful behind you,
beautiful below you,
beautiful above you,
and beautiful all around you
where in Perfection beauty is finished.
Set to music by Patricia Falanga, a compiler of American music
***
Cherokee Travelers' Blessing III
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
May Heaven’s warming winds blow gently there,
where you reside,
and may the Great Spirit bless all those you love,
this side of the farthest tide.
And wherever you go,
whether the journey is fast or slow,
may your moccasins leave many cunning footprints in the snow.
And when you look over your shoulder, may you always find the Rainbow.
***
Sioux Vision Quest
by Crazy Horse, Oglala Lakota Sioux (circa 1840-1877)
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
A man must pursue his Vision
as the eagle explores
the sky's deepest blues.
***
Native American Travelers' Blessing
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Let us walk respectfully here
among earth's creatures, great and small,
remembering, our footsteps light,
that one wise God created all.
***
Native American Prayer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Help us learn the lessons you have left us here
in every leaf and rock.
***
Cherokee Prayer
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
As I walk life's trails
imperiled by the raging wind and rain,
grant, O Great Spirit,
that yet I may always
walk like a man.
This prayer makes me think of Native Americans walking the Trail of Tears with far more courage
and dignity than their “civilized” abusers.
***
Cherokee Proverb
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Before you judge
a man for his sins
be sure to trudge
many moons in his moccasins.
Published by The Cherokee Native Americans and A Hundred Voices
***
Native American Warrior’s Confession
loose translation/interpretation by Michael R. Burch
Oh my love, how fair you are—
far brighter than the fairest star!
***
Native American Proverbs
When you were born, you cried and the world rejoiced.
Live your life so that when you die, the world cries and you rejoice.
–White Elk, translation by Michael R. Burch
The soul would see no Rainbows if not for the eyes’ tears.
–Native American saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
A brave man dies but once, a coward many times.
–Native American saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
A woman’s highest calling is to help her man unite with the Source.
A man’s highest calling is to help his woman walk the earth unharmed.
–Native American saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
Speak less thunder, wield more lightning.
— Apache proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
The more we wonder, the more we understand.
— Arapaho proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
Beware the eloquence of the rattlesnake's tail.
— Navajo saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
The rattlesnake's tail is eloquent.
— Navajo saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
Adults talk, children whine.
— Blackfoot proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
Don’t be afraid to cry: it will lessen your sorrow.
— Hopi proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
One foot in the boat, one foot in the canoe, and you end up in the river.
— Tuscarora proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
Our enemy's weakness increases our strength.
— Cherokee proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
We will be remembered tomorrow by the tracks we leave today.
— Dakota proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
The heart is our first teacher.
— Cheyenne proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
Dreams beget success.
— Maricopa proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
Knowledge interprets the past, wisdom foresees the future.
— Lumbee proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
The troublemaker's way is thorny.
— Umpqua proverb, translation by Michael R. Burch
What is life?
The flash of a firefly.
The breath of the winter buffalo.
The shadow scooting across the grass that vanishes with sunset.
—Blackfoot saying, translation by Michael R. Burch
Michael R. Burch is an American poet who lives in Nashville, Tennessee with his wife Beth and two incredibly spoiled puppies. He has over 6,000 publications, including poems that have gone viral. His poems, translations, essays, articles, letters, epigrams, jokes and puns have been published by TIME, USA Today, BBC Radio 3, Writer’s Digest–The Year’s Best Writing and hundreds of literary journals. His poetry has been translated into 14 languages, taught in high schools and colleges, and set to music by 23 composers, including two potential operas if the money ever materializes. He also edits www.thehypertexts.com, has served as editor of international poetry and translations for Better Than Starbucks, is on the board of Borderless Journal, an international literary journal, and has judged a number of poetry contests over the years.
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times at Artvilla.com ; You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author & https://poetrylifeandtimes.com See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)
(i.)
Pure
Standing under the downpour
of a cold shower trying to scrub away this
dull movement that spreads within me darkly.
Even the water is disgusted by my failures,
abandoning me for the moist escape of the plug hole.
(ii.)
Dental Care
Flossing my teeth, I noticed her toothbrush
still there in the mug on the sink.
I picked it up,
feeling the bristles rough underneath
the flesh of my thumb &
dropped it in the trash
knowing she’d never use it again.
(iii.)
It’s Time to Go Home
There’s a rent dodging fool
called Love in my heart with a
loaded .38 in his fist &
a bullet-riddled target in sight but
the last train is at the final station.
The lights snap off one by one,
I can’t remember where I left my coat.
(iv.)
OCD Dinner Date
I notice the finger smudges on the surface of the table.
Listening to the buzzing fan circulating the dusty air.
A water stain a smirk on a fork.
Someone on a table across the way snorts and sniffs.
I’ve lost my appetite but will grin through dinner
until the check comes, go home and shower.
Stephen J. Golds was born in London, U.K, but has lived in Japan for most of his adult life. He enjoys spending time with his daughters, reading books, traveling, boxing and listening to old Soul LPs. His novel Say Goodbye When I’m Gone will be released by Red Dog Press in October 2020 and another novel Glamour Girl Gone will be released by Close to The Bone Press January 2021
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times at Artvilla.com ; his publications include
All the Babble of the Souk , Cartoon Molecules, Next Arrivals and Moon Selected Audio Textual Poems, collected poems, as well as translation of Guadalupe Grande´s La llave de niebla, as Key of Mist and the recently published Tesserae , a translation of Carmen Crespo´s Teselas.
You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)
Chapter 2Moving forward, I want my disease to be my companion,
so she can help me write my canon.Eclipse
I borrowed the eyes of an eclipse,
to wink Eden under the table,I saw a secret, which is to say –
I didn’t see it:to borrow eyes from not a friend, but Mother
Nature,to see what I can’t see unseen.
Gunshot romance
There’s a girl sitting next to me,
belongs in a Tarantino movie.
But I’m not dodging bullets;
I’m only dodging a longshot kiss.How Terrifying…
How terrifying death is
in the middle of a thought.
My eyes wanted to slam shut
such that they could defend
against what I know not.Kindness
Sometimes human kindness
to one another
is so short
as to be nonexistent.Nausea
There is nothing more repulsive
than the smiling photo of a politician
in their ad,
those papers glued to surfaces many,
like a parasite —
those who themselves are but a surface plenty.Waterfall
I want my thoughts
to descend
like a waterfall,
such that the droplets form
an image of you.When…
When every word you’ve used
Too much —
It’s a hollowed word,
Sans thought.
Word Map of a Cat on a MatPutting the indexes out,
I saw the cat,
Sleeping with torso outstretched
While I, unheimlich, rushed to and fro;
On a mat, it sat — in peace,
And I said sighing, what I want is that.
Bio:
Michael T. Smith is an Assistant Professor of English who teaches both writing and film courses. He has published over 150 pieces (poetry and prose) in over 80 different journals. He loves to travel.
Robin Ouzman Hislop is Editor of Poetry Life and Times ; his publications include
All the Babble of the Souk , Cartoon Molecules and Next Arrivals, collected poems, as well as translation of Guadalupe Grande´s La llave de niebla, as Key of Mist and the recently published Tesserae , a translation of Carmen Crespo´s Teselas.
You may visit Aquillrelle.com/Author Robin Ouzman Hislop about author. See Robin performing his work Performance (University of Leeds)