Delicately painted in blueOn pottery and ChinaWeeping branchesWafting in waters at rivers’ edgesUseful for erosion controlAnd windbreaksDense canopies birds’ safe havensOffering nesting sites and refugeHardy trees, softPliant but toughWood fibres criss-crossingPerfect for cricket batsShaped, oiled, lovedMillions of athletes beltingLeather balls for sixFamilies cheering onYin and Yang. ResilientRepresents flexibilityAnd strengthAbility to adapt toAll of life's challengesA … Continue reading AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Nine Willow Trees” by Julia Vaughan
AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “She Painted the Willows” by Ken Allan Dronsfield
Colors of the leaves in autumn wove a lovely quiltcovering the countryside, woods and waters.Falling like winter snow from the tallest of treeslighting the forest like a candelabra until the first snow.She was there by the pond, painting the weeping willows,she never spoke a word, just watched the trees and theirswaying branches in the late … Continue reading AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “She Painted the Willows” by Ken Allan Dronsfield
AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “the audacity of poppies” by Farin Martinez
on the bustling campus footpath an audacious red poppy pops out of the earth alonenot a single other scarlet around her,that loud proud poppydoesn’t even hug her petals around herself or shiver from the wind and rainshe spreads her petals openfor all the world to admireno one can disturb her peacenot the wind, not the … Continue reading AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “the audacity of poppies” by Farin Martinez
AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Willow” by Isabelle Audiger
In the morning lightThe gift of your voiceReproachful intonationsAbout my lightnessSerious words againstMy lack of seriousnessSaving meFrom the abyss of despairGiving, not giving upAgainst poor faithThe shield of conversationThe song of smilesThe melody of laughterSunshine within the stormI hail theeI thank theeMy complementMy attemptAt wholeness and truthMy willow Isabelle Audiger is a 62 year-old, published … Continue reading AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Willow” by Isabelle Audiger
AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Present Celebrations” by Stephen Kingsnorth
My paper, your papyrus, hide,that vellum inscribed with designlike leather, swine turned into wine;now genesis of scribbled notes,ex libris flyleaf annotate,turned libraries as Dewey shelved.For toddler, cotton, first play bookwith pictures set to stimulate,accompanied nursery rhymes.whose echo words ring rhythmic chime.But bolls, sung protest, cropping shared,remember evil, weevil ways.Wood printing blocks with ink appliedthat means … Continue reading AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Present Celebrations” by Stephen Kingsnorth
AHM’s 9th Anniversary: “Lapis Lazuli” by Elanur Williams
A silent, cooling palm pressed against the forehead of the world; the gift of stillness wrapped in gold-speckled light. Elanur Williams is a teacher who has taught in elementary and adult education contexts, specializing in reading and writing instruction.
Staring Out into the Ocean
By Dana Park There was a huge painting hung on an endless white wall.The back of a woman and a man, clutching their handsstaring out into a vast blue ocean.“What are they looking at?” I asked“There’s nothing interesting about the ocean.” My mother shook her head, then said,“What makes you think it’s an ocean?”“The thin … Continue reading Staring Out into the Ocean
What the Rain Didn’t Wash Away
By Olivia Koo It rained for days.not a storm,just steady enoughto fill the cracks in the drivewayand make the air smelllike endings.The ink on your notebled through the paper,letters slipping into one anotheruntil you're sorry.’wasn’t even legible anymore.I thought the sky might help,that it would take the sharpnessof that nightand smooth it into somethingI could … Continue reading What the Rain Didn’t Wash Away
Irony
By Alexis Lee In liminal space,Epiphany bloomsThen fades in eclipse,In ennui.The serendipity feels like a chimera.Leviathan in Metropolis,This totem of confusionTransforms into mosaic rhapsody,A labyrinth of alchemy.Epitaph carved on the monolith.The mind becomes a quagmire,A parallax of what is real,What is true. Alexis Lee is a high school student and emerging poet who finds inspiration … Continue reading Irony
The Cathedral Tapestry
By Irene Kim The cathedral tapestry in the twilight labyrinth Breathes dust when I brush my hand against the wallA lanternfly vessel on driftwood at the tideDrums its wings like thin paper, struggling not to drownThe compass is a mosaic of the prism and the auroraIt’s needle trembling, pointing toward a colder windMercury eclipse and … Continue reading The Cathedral Tapestry
Academy of the Heart And Mind 