Guidelines



Submission Guidelines: Send 1-3 unpublished poems in the body of an email (NO ATTACHMENTS) to nvneditor[at]gmail.com. No simultaneous submissions. Use "Verse News Submission" as the subject line. Send a brief bio. No payment. Authors retain all rights after 1st-time appearance here. Scroll down the right sidebar for the fine print.
Showing posts with label blossoms. Show all posts
Showing posts with label blossoms. Show all posts

Saturday, May 04, 2024

THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE THAT MATTERS

by L. Lois



the chill in the air
means the glacier ravines
running down the peaks
jutting above the treeline
to the north
are vertical cuts of white

this bench sits low
comfortably leaning back
with the lake at my feet
the surface broken
by the gentle rippling
of the wind
 
a lone eagle circles
on early spring's
thermal winds
and the cherry blossoms
I passed on my way
are holding fast
in the lingering crispness

distant blue skies are lighter
overhead
coloring is calm
painted solid for peacefulness
rounded white clouds
perch as if to tell
the mountains where they should be

ducks scatter
when the Canadian geese
come in for a noisy
landing
two herons fly by
to the west 
and their rookery's young

New York and Washington on fire
Trump's on criminal trial
Netanyahu plays chess with Hamas and Iran
Putin threatens Ukraine’s future
while Congress dithers on the eve of chaos
everything here
ignores our foolishness


L. Lois lives in an urban hermitage where trauma-informed themes flow during walks by the ocean. She is pivoting through her grandmother-era, figuring out why her bevy of adult children don’t have babies, nor time. Her poems have appeared in Progenitor Journal, In Parentheses, Woodland Pattern and Twisted Vine.

Saturday, July 13, 2019

CONTINUOUS MIGRATION

by Joanne DeSimone Reynolds 


“[At McAllen TX detention center on July 12, 2019] VP saw 384 men sleeping inside fences, on concrete w/no pillows or mats. They said they hadn’t showered in weeks, wanted toothbrushes, food. Stench was overwhelming. CBP said they were fed regularly, could brush daily & recently got access to shower (many hadn’t for 10-20 days.) Facility we saw earlier in the day with children was new & relatively clean and empty. There were cots & medical supplies & snacks. Children watched TV and told Pence through translator they were being taken care of. But at least two said they’d walked for months to get here.” —Josh Dawsey @jdawsey1 White House @WashingtonPost

The species depends on the freedom of movement
It's in the DNA
Wings of the fathers and fathers and of the mothers and mothers too
All come for one milk
Metabolizing a weed's poison to foil enemies
Five generations to complete the journey
Butterflies like bees tell the harvest

The species depends on the freedom of movement
It's in the DNA
Baja or ports of call or the Bering Strait
All come for one milk
Who knows the many generations to complete the journey
Fear a poison to a nation's people
Children like blossoms tell the harvest


Joanne DeSimone Reynolds is the author of a chapbook, Comes A Blossom published by Main Street Rag in 2014.