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Zywa Sep 2023
The goats bleat among

the audience, bleat among --


lines of poetry.
"La Caravane de la Poésie" in 1999 - The Egyptian poet Zein reads on the village square of Ségou (Mali)

Tale "A Change of tongue" (2003, Antjie Krog)

Collection "SoulSenseSun"
Ira Desmond Aug 2023
The oil's spilled; the weekend’s spent.
Battering rams adorn our newest cars.
The coral's bleached, our girders bent,
and as the ash falls, drones fly on Mars.

The poker chips clank on the felt.
Sweltering mules sway drunk in bars.
A toddler falls, receives a welt,
and as the fires grow, drones fly on Mars.

I could not bear to speak the truth
when you had asked me where went the stars.
A cow sits in the kissing booth,
and as the sky blackens, drones fly on Mars.

The wind has fangs; my heart now sags.
A feral pig grunts to mass applause,
Now childish men hoist cryptic flags,
and as the crops fail, drones fly on Mars.
Andy Chunn Jul 2023
I did not know about the world, I grew up on a farm
Into the city I was hurled, it was cause for alarm
I found my solace and retreat, with tenants of the zoo
The animals that I would meet, were friendly to me too

His gentle eyes of wisdom bright, a creature to behold
This proud gorilla was a sight, a mighty presence bold
With grace his muscles ripple strong, a testament of might
His chest beats rhythms’ primal song, affirming his birthright

It was his eyes, that knowing gaze, that brought a world untold
A look that pierces through the haze, to help nature unfold
Quietly he would sit each day, he hardly ever moved
Indifference to what one would say, with nothing left to prove

In the primate house time would pass, I’d watch the people too
A few would yell or tap the glass, with nothing else to do
The gentle eyes would glance at them, and then would move along
But I noticed as I watched him, a glimpse of something wrong

I had observed this same old friend, and recognized that look
An agitation on his mend, I read him like a book
His annoyance was clear to me, although no one would know
I would have to wait and see, his anger bubbled slow

A thickened strong glass-like front wall, with concrete all around
Completed the habitat stall, so safety there was found
And then that fateful day arrived, busloads from nearby schools
Their youthful spirit was revived, by breaking all the rules

I sat there calmly in my chair, as they all crossed the line
The noise and chaos filled the air, I watched him for a sign
Unmoving he just sat there bold, I saw it in his eyes
Not sure of what might now unfold, nor what might now arise

The kids were knocking on the glass, and taunting my best friend
So I was hoping this might pass, and safely find the end
Then all at once he sprang to action, and struck the front glass wall
The kids were screaming, losing traction, I watched them as they’d fall

The shock of sound and vibration, that centered from his force
We now got an education, and feared the mighty source
That havoc and confusion reigned, the evidence was clear
His power need not be explained, as you could feel the fear

They ran out every door and gate, they disappeared so fast
My heart dropped back to normal rate, the fright was now the past
And just like that, we were alone, my friend looked down at me
And as he sat back down at home, as plain as day I see

Those knowing eyes and slightest grin, his laugh at our expense
Though when his movement did begin, my fright was most intense
With grace and strength he taught us all, his realm untamed and free
Sometimes it takes a bantam brawl, gorilla comedy
Sara Brummer Apr 2023
SEA GULL

Strange and wild
his laughter-silvered cry;
alone he navigates the heavy
silent blue inventing each
new hour, impaled on a ray
of sun.

On the doorstep of invisible,
he shatters nothingness --
a glide, a dive – he’s gone
beyond his presence behind
a dense gray cloud.

Then suddenly a splash,
a rupture of sea’s smooth
smile, then a wheeling
soaring swing and he’s
flung into the shouting
wind.

With easy grace he defies
the sanctity of space, rides
relentless tides, a fearless
spirit ever rising, disappearing
like a dream lost in waking,
like a mood forgotten in
the passing field of time.
Sara Brummer Apr 2023
SEA GULL

Strange and wild
his laughter-silvered cry;
alone he navigates the heavy
silent blue inventing each
new hour, impaled on a ray
of sun.

On the doorstep of invisible,
he shatters nothingness --
a glide, a dive – he’s gone
beyond his presence behind
a dense gray cloud.

Then suddenly a splash,
a rupture of sea’s smooth
smile, then a wheeling
soaring swing and he’s
flung into the shouting
wind.

With easy grace he defies
the sanctity of space, rides
relentless tides, a fearless
spirit ever rising, disappearing
like a dream lost in waking,
like a mood forgotten in
the passing field of time.
I am the ram
and you are the moon,
or at least that’s what
we’re told.

My footing stays precise,
to help leap across large gaps
or swiftly tackle obstacles,
avoid a potential mudslide
or traverse rocky waters.

But now the tide is shifting,
as your relentless core
pulls my heart above the earth
where I can see a haze of
lush mountaintops, free from the
uncertainty of life on the rocks.

I’ve seen this magic before,
but this time it looks
too real.
To my moonlit muse; for a Cancer.
Carlo C Gomez Mar 2023
descendants of those left behind,

they found fellowship with

a singularly brutal environment,

free roaming meanderers

of a crepuscular exclusion zone,

having trekked into

the camps of liquidators

to beg for scraps,

they nosed into empty buildings

and found safe places to sleep,

stopping at Café Desyatka

for some borscht,

the guides speak only of

visitor or occupant,

there are no tourists here,

only the genetically distinct
Zywa Feb 2023
Mist, with some shadows

of animals in the side --


of the road, hit, dead.
"Het Bureau - Het A.P. Beerta-Instituut" ("The Office - The A.P. Beerta-Institute", 1998, Han Voskuil), page 870

Collection "Not too bad [1974-1989]"
Gabrielle Feb 2023
There are cats in all my dreams,
And I don't know why

Cause I don’t dream of tuna
Or mice or flies

They sit on windows,
Waltz through halls

Stare from the ground when I fly
Nudge my knees when I’m naked at the ball

Watch as I drown in honey
Paw at the bugs crawling up my arms

Sit on my lap as the plane goes down
Chirp along to the fire alarms

Do cats run out of dreams when they sleep?
And so wander into other people’s?

Is that why, when I wake up,
My cat always kisses my temples
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