But you don’t know about flowers that grow from a sardonic earth:
African Violet, Azalea, Amaryllis and lovely Gardenia.
I have blossomed through droughts and hell.
It’s your turn to fight against dying.
(ii.)
I Made the Mistake of Loving a God
I made the mistake of loving a God who appeared stronger than stone.
His skin crumbled in my hands and I found only the beginning of sorrow in the broken ruins of our passion.
I discovered a heart made of clay can be shaped into love once more but a fractured mind may never be whole again.
(iii.)
SEPARATION
A grain of sand is not a cliché because no matter what we write, we can’t grasp it unless we compare our life to it, then we feel the light as it passes through that small space which once belonged to something greater than itself.
***
Bio: Zayra’s creative writing is published in numerous print journals, anthologies, on-line e-zines and magazines: The Zimbabwe Situation, Panhandler Quarterly, Voices for Africa, Eyes of the Poet, Kreativ, Reflections IIT Madras (India), Edge Life Magazine, Poetry Life & Times, Astropoetica, Alehouse Press, 34th Parallel, Feeling is First, Memoir (and), Aquillrelle, The Enchanting Verses International Journal and The Cherry Muse.
She has appeared as a featured artist and/or guest speaker at: New Sun Celebration; CIIS California Institute of Integral Studies; on Ken Wilber’s Integral Naked (2006 & 2007);OneMindVillage; West Marin Community Radio; SW Radio Africa; North Western University Chicago; Zimvibes; Coolfire (UK); Women’s Radio Network; Perfectly Said; Mazungue Studio One; TWiN (UK); Genpo Roshi and Bill Harris’ Big Heart/Big Mind seminiar in LA; UltraFeel TV; UniVerse of Poetry; BlogTalk Radio, The Awareness Network and Today’s Revolutionary Women of Color.
Awards include:
In 2010 Zayra was the winning poet from the “An African Legend: White Lions and Leopards” contest 2010. She joined the conservation team at Tsau where the White Lions live in Timbavati, South Africa, as her prize, plus publication in the book.
In 2012 she received the World Poetry Empowered Poet 2012 award beside several other amazing International poets at the World Poetry Canada & International Peace Festival 2012.
In 2013 she received the “Woman of Goodwill Award 2013” and “Plaque of Appreciation” for her role as a Panelist at Pentasi B in the Philippines.
Her short story “Exit Ashes, Exit Blues, Exit This Life” won an honorable mention in Francis Ford Coppola’s Zoetrope All Story contest.
Zayra’s fine art collection has appeared from 1998 to present at the following California locations: Dore Dore Gallery, San Mateo; Somar Gallery, San Francisco; UC Berkeley, San Francisco Campus; Body Harmony, San Francisco; Dana Street Cafe, Mountain View; Cafe Libro, Mountain View; Maitri Art Show & Auction, Embarcadero Center; Cad’s Coffee Shop, Los Osos; One World Cafe, San Francisco; The Hive Gallery, Los Angeles; The Artist’s Alley, San Francisco.
She has four audio collections:
1.) Crowned Compassion 2.) Sleep in the Sea Tonight with Me 3.) Retrograde Motion 4.) Lanterns
In addition, she is the author of four books:
1.) Empty as Nirvana 2.) Ordinary Substance 3.) Color Me Pomegranate 4.) Leaving You Unpainted 5.) Floating in the Dark
You can purchase these collections directly on line or for more information send an email to: express.positive@gmail.com
Currently she is producing a new audio recording and a fine art collection.
portrait of Joe Ruggier executed by Vancouverite visual artist Virginia Quental (born in Brazil)
Joe M. Ruggier was born in Malta in 1956 and has written and published poetry in both Maltese and English. He currently resides in Richmond, British Columbia, where he manages a small press, Multicultural Books. Multicultural Books publishes poetry, poetry leaflets, sound recordings, fiction and literary fiction.
Joe Ruggier has sold over 20,000 books, many of them door-to-door, including over 10,000 books he wrote and published himself. There are over 5,700 copies in print of his book Out of Blue Nothing. Information on Joe M. Ruggier’s books, cassettes and poetry journal:
Intelligible Mystery (1985) Out of Blue Nothing (1985) ISBN 0-9694933-0-4 The Voice of the Millions (1988) In the Suburbs of Europe (1991) Moods for Lovers (1993 ) Cassette This Eternal Hubbub (1995) regrets hopes regards and prayers … (1996) Lady Vancouver (1997) A Richer Blessing (1999 ) ISBN 0-9681948-3-4 The Poetry of George Borg Translated from the Maltese by Joe M. Ruggier (2000) The Eclectic Muse, a poetry journal edited by Joe M. Ruggier
To order any of the above, please write or call first for availability and prices. Please make checks payable to Joe Ruggier.
Managing Editor Joe M. Ruggier Board of Academic Consultants Professor LeRoy D. Travis
S. Warren Stevenson (Professor Emeritus, UBC)
“There are many mansions in Parnassus!”
The Eclectic Muse has published poets and writers from Canada, Malta, the United Kingdom, the United States, and elsewhere. The Eclectic Muse publishes poetry and prose of various styles, but always reflects the passion of its Managing Editor, the acclaimed poet, essayist and critic Joe M. Ruggier. Mr. Ruggier’s passion is for poetry that sings and moves, for poetry that embraces rather than denies or defies the traditions of English poetry. If you believe as he does–that there is a revival of traditional poetry, and that the world is better place for it–we think you’ll find The Eclectic Muse well worth the price of a subscription.
Biography: Nominated for the Pushcart Prize and Best of the Net, Neil Ellman writes from New Jersey. More than 1000 of his poems, many of which are ekphrastic and written in response to works of modern and contemporary art, appear in print and online journals, anthologies and chapbooks throughout the world. His first full-length collection is Parallels: Selected Ekphrastic Poetry, 2009-2012 (Omphaloskeptic Press).
*** 2 Poets Laureate — New Westminster Poet Laureate Candice James and Canadian Parliamentary Poet Laureate Fred Wah at Royal City Literary Arts Society Setp 22, 2013 membership drive
***
Poet Laureate, New Westminster, BC
President, Royal City Literary Arts
Honorary Professor International Arts Acadamy, Greece
Board Advisor, Interantional Muse, India
Board Advisor, Federation of British Columbia Writers
Candice James is Poet Laureate of New Westminster, B.C. and President of Royal City Literary Arts Society. She is a poet, musician, songwriter and author of six poetry books A Split In The Water (Fiddlehead 1979);Inner Heart―A Journey; (2010), Bridges and Clouds (2011); Midnight Embers–A Book of Sonnets (2012); Shorelines-A Book of Villanelles (2013); and Ekphrasticism (2014). Websites: http://saddlestone.shawwebspace.ca and www.candicjames.com
Mister Tom thinks his people should be educated up.
And now I’m to Paris,
Going to Paris with Mister Tom.
I’m going to be a Chef.
I’m going to Paris, France.
***
Paul Strohm is a free lance journalist working in the Houston, Texas area. His poems have been published in a number of print and online literary journals. He is married to a HS English teacher who hates contemporary poetry,which makes for a happy meeting of the two minds. Paul has only one full frontal photograph of himself on his IMAC. He loves this photograph because it symbolizes the constraints of the culture he lives in. The hat was one size fits all. So everyman had to use it for his official military ID photograph. However, the wife says Paul has a big head.
(from the title “At Play in the Fields of the Lord”- Peter Mathiessen)
Often times, I am stuck sitting
For hours and hours on end
In between meetings
On which the day’s success depends.
Some odd spot, no amenities.
Maybe a coffee
In a parking lot
Descending to serenity.
This ridiculous pilgrimage
Not between temples dark.
More like an amusement park where
Madcap harlequins pillage plots.
She asks, “How did it go today?”
“Oh, fine… bad… okay.”The best part, I can’t really say,
Was spent in the Lord’s field- at play.
***
***
Bio: Phillip Larrea was born and raised in Sacramento, CA., lived in N.Y.C. and Northern New Jersey most of his adult life, but has since moved back to Sacramento “where the New York City winters aren’t bleeding me.” (Paul Simon- The Boxer”). He studied poetry with Thom Gunn and Karl Shapiro at the University of California at Davis during the late seventies, and then all but abandoned writing until 2011. Since 2011, Phillip has had poetry published in over sixty journals and anthologies, is the author of Our Patch (Writing Knights Press), We the People (Cold River Press) and hundreds of non-fiction essays about the economic conditions of the average working household.
Joan McNerney’s poetry has been included in numerous literary magazines such as Seven Circle Press, Dinner with the Muse, Blueline, Spectrum, three Bright Spring Press Anthologies and several Kind of A Hurricane Publications. She has been nominated three times for Best of the Net. Poet and Geek recognized her work as their best poem of 2013. Four of her books have been published by fine small literary presses and she has three e-book titles.
