Questions
Do you remember the zero visibility
of our bodies walking through hills’ mist
the discomfort of wetness on exposed parts
like meditation in full attention of wannabes
Category Archives: Poetry 2022
ADR poetry published in 2022
In Évora by Christopher Clauss
In Évora
Perhaps on our honeymoon, which she allowed me to plan
I should have skipped the Capela dos Ossos
Not much else to see in that part of Portugal
but when would we ever see anything like it
In the Desert by Edward A. Dougherty
In the Desert
for Mary Hood
Blackberries by Tina Carey
Blackberries
In the delivery room. I
land on the smell of my mother
embraced by strangers
she only woke from her dead emotions
for me in june
when we searched for ripe blackberries. she
glowed at the site of the blackish fruit. she
awed at the perfectly shaped bush. she
kneeled as nature’s breath helped drop her blessing.
she
tenderly plucks and cradles each one in her dainty hand and
places the overflow in the tiny folds of mine.
be careful
she said.
don’t hold them too tight
she said.
the juice— stains
if only I had never washed my hands. at least
at least
we’d have that.
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image Credit: Collage of mulberry branches [wallpaperflare.com] and the abstract pregnant woman [nicepng.com]
A Modern Saint by Doug Jacquier
Immigrants by Louise Wilford
Immigrants
We sail across the sky to Lonely Isle,
a lozenge in the ether, filled with sand.
You steer us into harbour, tie up while
I scan the hills, eyes shaded by my hand.
We step onto the mossy-green seawall,
take lungfuls of the salt-air of this land.
Remembering the Love You Told Me to Forget by Melion Traverse
Remembering the Love You Told Me to Forget
Bright moon on water
rippling waves wash against sand
a sleek head appears
in starlight we dance
laughter blends with foamy waves
a crumpled pelt nearby
water sings to you
hands slip inside a furred skin
the sea calls its own
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image Credit: The Haiku sequence is complemented by a selkie under moonlight, the artist is unknown but the image is found on a defunct blog [intricate cantrips] featuring an article “Seal Women, Stolen Skins, and Stories Old and New” by Amanda.
All God’s Children by Lauren McBride
All God’s Children
On wet, wavy worlds
of vast oceans
where air is deadly
and all living things
breathe water
do the sentient envision
angels with gills
and without wings
swimming through
the heavens?
And here on Earth,
might similar images
comfort the
finned intellects
swimming through
our oceans?
Who am I to know?
Yet surely, when in death,
such beings join
heaven’s angels,
they, too, enter through
universal pearly gates.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Image Credit: An abstract “mermaid” is used to represent alien sentient sea life [Pink Wall // wallpaper.dog]
farmer’s market in june by Claire McNerney
Farm Storm by Stephen Schwei
Farm Storm
The barn swallows
the barn swallows
as torrential rains
flood the farmyard.
Escaping dragonflies
fly on the backs
of diamondbacks
and dragons
over beach bums
panhandling
sand dollars
in front of beachfronts
and sand castles.