2nd Place Springtime Contest: “Rejuvenation” by Aiman Siddiqui

Growing out of love, my turbulent heart is at peace My spirit blossoms, my mind's now at ease On the verge of uncaging my sabotaged soul I know, bad times have begun to cease You'd been the wildest part of my favorite dream Delusional, daunting, untimely and extreme Blinding my mind from what lay ahead, …

1st Place Springtime Contest: “A Flash of Blue” by Mike Turner

A flash of blue Just a hint In my peripheral vision As I gaze across my yard What have I seen If anything at all? Cobalt sky laced with white clouds? No, ‘twas more ephemeral Indigo cats-paw ripples Dappled with golden sunlight On the surface of the backyard pool? Nay, ‘twas more elusive There, again …

Meaningless Crusade

By Wayne Russell   The electricity that we felt between us, is now snuffed out. The flicker of a flame, now doused. No more euphoric rapture, only a whirlpool consuming emotions, everything pulling into a dark void. Life is one meaningless crusade, they will forget that we ever existed by morning. They will leave our …

Only They Are Mine–My Parents

By Sahaj Sabharwal   When everyone is there, concerned with their own lives, Only they are here with me, Not concerned about themselves, But with my life only. When everyone is against me, Only they are with me, And as they believe me and know me well , Are enough against any number of people …

Poems by Ursula McCabe

We used to sing more We used to sing more- Mothers murmured refrains to babes, children danced in the forest, sticks waving, all master conductors, singing out from under bobbing hemlock branches. During world wars, the infantry would shout out bawdy tunes full of drink and women, their boots caked with mud and blood, but …

Respite

By Mike Turner   Wild bluebells grow On rolling field And sway in gentle breeze While gold sun’s glow Through cotton clouds Filters through rustling leaves Grass soft and green Lays as our floor Our roof the vaulting sky A moment’s rest From labor’s toils All seen in my mind’s eye   Bio: Mike Turner …

Pancakes

By James Bates Auntie Gertie spent more time that summer teaching me how to make pancakes than was probably necessary but I was just a ten year old kid who'd rather have been playing baseball or video games than fooling around in the kitchen learning to cook; that didn't matter to Auntie. She had a …

Moirae and Transcendental Idealism

Moirae and transcendental idealism: How can dreams be categorised as transcendental idealism? An essay on my book Moirae, based on Kant’s doctrine of transcendental idealism vs transcendental realism. By Mehreen Ahmed This paper focuses on my published book, Moirae. In this, I discuss dreams in the light of Kant’s doctrine of transcendental idealism. From the outset, …

My Tears, Dreams and Songs

By Tabassum Tahmina Shagufta Hussein   Your dream resides in my tears. Your dream lives silently, Softly in solitude. Do you know that? My tears mirror you. And I only see you in my tears As a reflection. How can I feel you? Silently, he lives in my fathomless heart, As a song and sings. …

Poems by Linda Imbler

When All Looks Dim, You Keep Shining Do not give up the fight to keep love from growing dark. Your endeavors to light up the world do matter. It will seem that those who hate do not slow their efforts, but nothing changes quickly, and all hearts can find truth. When it seems like fear …