By Jessica Ricks Your lips crush against Mine, soft and determined to Take in every taste of What you have long since Claimed as yours. Your body Envelopes me in your warmth allowing me to feel safe, Loved, and needed. Your Tongue explores my mouth in A desperate urge to feel every Inch of … Continue reading When You Kiss Me
Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
By Thomas Page I visited the place where I was born when I was ten-ish. Like most people my age it is a hospital. A place frozen in that January for my family However, many years ago you read this poem. It is beige-looking With a koi pond in the middle Water enclosed in … Continue reading Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula
Her Way
by Wanda Morrow Clevenger when girls my sister and I were made to scratch her back and her head until our fingers came away oily she said it was nerves from raising 4 girls alone a doctor told her to take a glass of wine at night to relax but her faith … Continue reading Her Way
Breathe In, Breathe Out
By Jessica Ricks Breathe In, Breathe Out Everything stops. Shaking hands, heart palpitations Throat tightens, There is someone standing on my chest Weighing me down. I am falling through space, accelerating, The world is a haze. My breath is stuck, oxygen deprived Concentration long gone. Breathe in, breathe out. Time freezes. Suddenly … Continue reading Breathe In, Breathe Out
“Ithaca” (Haiku 196-203)
By Thomas Page A father and son, Telemachus and The lost Odysseus Penelope’s basket and Sisyphus’ rock; Both always undone Dyed-blue bearded god, Brother heavenly thundered, Mimics by shaking Homer’s xenia, Custom hospitality, Stories and cyclops Boiling marrow Dry from bones, fear slowly cooks Courage from strong legs The eagle and geese War in Penelope’s … Continue reading “Ithaca” (Haiku 196-203)
“Poésie D’Hiver” (Haiku 189-195)
By Thomas Page Am I limited To what I can know? Modern Scholar, future fool? Gray-white wildcat Who loves my garbage Hiding in the urban woods Can I string these pearls— Random passing thoughts— Into beautiful jewelry? A recursive clock Continuously chimes at Intervals sixty Paradise by the Sea is sweeter when you’re in Cold … Continue reading “Poésie D’Hiver” (Haiku 189-195)
“Secondary” (Haiku 204-209)
By Thomas Page Numbers, decimals Black strokes on a page, A grade book or old ledger Chalk-coated blackboards Hung scuffed off white walls; Academic yin and yang A snow warning on The news. No delay did the District. Go to school. Colorless ice does Not shine when headlights happen Upon frozen streets A rainbow of … Continue reading “Secondary” (Haiku 204-209)
Honorable mentions of the Contest
Here are some really good works that I wanted to include as well. It is kind of a long list but they are all really good. By Meekha S Dreams Come to me tonight Scarlet dreams Violet skies Silvery plumes of biting cold As I stand bathed in moon, will you crave for a taste … Continue reading Honorable mentions of the Contest
“Digging Fox” (Haiku 178-182)
By Thomas Page Is a digging fox, Scraping at rosewooded grave, Reanimator? What separates whey And curd, butter and cream, wheat From casted chaff? The endless river Of thought flows frameless without Regard to sequence Is flowing language A loose arrangement of mixed Confusing writing? Will this haiku mean The same thing as when I … Continue reading “Digging Fox” (Haiku 178-182)
Tommy Haiku #141-145
By Thomas Page White on blacktop, stark Declarations of commands To obey the known law. Facades of stone and Wood with white paneling o’er Vivid colored signs Shivering sun ignited With the frigid air Of new winter Frosted glass, white panels, Sleigh bells on leather straps ‘round A ring on doorknob. Slow as molasses Time … Continue reading Tommy Haiku #141-145
Academy of the Heart And Mind 