For the inner ear, the voice of the vessel of silence is an embrace
felt by an infinite number of scribes.
It is my wish to offer here an oasis of present day poetic
pens.
Each month i shall invite new poets to breathe with, and they in
turn will bring guests of their own.
Poetry Corner at TIFERET has evolved out of Donna Stein’s
enthusiasm to nurture the spirit of beauty in all its forms.
silent lotus
March 2011 Silent Lotus’ Selected
Poets’
Kevin Jackson
and his guest Shari-Lyn McArthur
JoseMarGuerr
and his guest Gabriella Garbo
Kevin Jackson
Back to the war
When all is done
Nightmares seen square
Wounds repealed
Shattered words reformed
And silence overcome
That blasted oak
Still sticks up proud
And young faces
Leave to die again
Silent dancing
More gripes in my stomach
say pill time,
tug dad back
thirty seven years,
bringing hospital fingers stiff
with duty,
Mum’s urgent eyes.
Two fixed bodies.
Him centring a world I was too young to know,
me, seeding a galaxy with origami.
It’s said they’ve seen two black holes dance.
Slow ages chafe
laughter, rose-buds,
summer waves, walks watching ball flip dog,
drawing light that quickens a universe,
till it falters, falls,
dis-remembers, relinquishes, separates,
fades.
We two, strangers these numberless years,
pull closer now,
tensed each by each.
Silent.
Dancing.
| Kevin Jackson is a trainer, personal coach and editor. His poems have been published in journals and online, most recently in the Tipton Poetry Journal (Fall 2010). He has work upcoming in a US anthology by Poetry Circle. His poem “Passing by” was short-listed for the Canterbury Festival Poet of the Year 2010 and he is published in the recent UK anthology “On the Line”, available from Amazon. His blog http://kevnjacksn.wordpress.com offers poetry/reflections on diverse themes. |
Shari-Lyn McArthur
Pedagogy
My disciples listen
when they should be speaking;
worry when they should be doing.
They buy my water from beside the river
when I ask:
Why is the river muddy?
They dine on my marrow
as I go hungry;
dwell in my house
instead of building;
anoint my feet
with snake oil and then
when my disciples should surpass me–
I am a prophet.
| Shari-Lyn McArthur was born in the 1960s, in Victoria, Canada. A graduate of Carleton University, her formal training is in Human Factors Engineering. After a time engaged in creating intellectual property for a corporation in Silicon Valley, she returned to her Island, where she resides by the sea, surrounded by the stories of her ancestors. Shari is a co-founder and editor of After Literature, a collaborative portfolio development site for writers and artists. Some of her photography can be found at flickr. An eager proponent of creative collaboration and pro bono endeavours, Shari can be reached at stiletta@gmail.com |
Jose
Mar Guerr
At the edge of pasturelands
All I have to do is smoke
and disabuse myself.
Rigor carries all last hurrahs.
I’ll not pay for it
come morning.
I’m to the end of my poke
and I don’t want to be seen
hobbled in withdrawal.
I’ve never seen a u-haul
behind a hearse.
Pregunta
Como puedo saber
Que mañana regresa
Como puedo probar
La miel de tu boca
O tocar tus ojos verdes
Llenos de fantasía
Vacíos de penas
Abiertos como el cielo
Como puedo saber
Que tú querer
Es el árbol de vida
Como puedo saber
Question
How can I know
That tomorrow returns?
How can I taste
Your mouth’s honey,
Or touch your green eyes
Full of fantasy,
Empty of sorrows,
Open like the skies.
How can I know
That your love
Is the tree of life!
How can I know?
While Death Comes To Take Us Home
Our candle flickers
as the seasons descend
their knotted rope.
Flowers smile at first bloom,
life at first breath.
Shorter days compress.
We will gasp when rooster’s call awakens
the napping morning dew.
We will rise without fluidity
and with a little more rigor
surrender to the last
stroke of a freshly cut broom.
| José Marcial Guerrero (JoseMarGuerr) was born and raised in Laredo, Texas. He ended up transplanted to west TN through the Navy’s relocation program. He is a retired US Navy veteran. A writer of poetry with a Mexican/ American cultural twist, Jose has been published in Poetic Voices without Borders One and Two (Gival Press). He was also published in Ahani: Indigenous American Poetry, Vol-9, (Fall of 2006) by way of Poetry Enterprises, Department of Foreign Languages and Literatures, Oregon State University. “Perfection can only be achieved |
Gabriella Garbo
Spirit Guide
“I found eternity nestled in the iris
of a broken man.
His depth of indigo was swathed in stardust,
gleaned from some intangible land.
He was a vagabond of dusty wing
employing sagacious wiles,
and he kicked his heels with gusto,
invoked me with a smile.
He shook a shaggy head
at my dowdy thoughts of destiny,
and swept his hand in a great wide arch
that cleared a road before me.
“No time to seek where you already stand,”
His husky voice proclaimed,
A gruff kiss to send me on my way,
I finally know my name.
 | Gabriella Garbo is the voice of Amanda Trowbridge who is an English student studying at the University of Phoenix. Amanda leads a small, local writers group called the Southwest Tennessee Freelance Writers Guild where she tries to help new writers (including herself) with developing their poetry and stories. She hopes to someday teach creative writing, and to promote writing as therapy for psychiatric patients. Until such a time, she uses poetry to express her young, spiritual perspectives. Amanda Trowbridge |
Poetry Corner Monthly Archives
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … FEBRUARY 2011
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … JANUARY 2011
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … DECEMBER 2010
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … NOVEMBER 2010
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … OCTOBER 2010
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … SEPTEMBER 2010
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … AUGUST 2010
POETRY CORNER by silent lotus … JUNE 2010
POETRY
CORNER by silent lotus … MAY 2010
Dear Melissa:
I’m pleased the article resonates and helps you better articulate your intuitions. I did coin “creative spring mind,” borne of experience.
15 days: Years ago, when first immersed in the texts of Yoga philosophy and practice, I studied the Hatha Yoga Pradipika and the commentary. This text is one of the earliest texts that synthesizes the practices of Hatha Yoga – the asanas (postures), pranayama (harnessed breathing), mudras (hand gestures), etc. for shifting the body’s and mind’s energies. Following many of the commentaries for certain practices would be the statement, “Practice this for 15 days, and you will be liberated!” or something like that. At first I thought, “Wow – this is the first New Agey book of easy promises.” I also thought, “Sure, if you live in the Himalayas and do nothing but practice Yoga all day for 15 days then maybe…”
But as I’ve practiced over the years, I have discovered the inestimable value of practicing a few of these subtle tools every day for several days in a row. Only then can I better discern their effects on my elephant mind and physical energy. A fortnight turns out to be a fairly accurate span of time for me to discern these effects. And if I can observe a pattern of thinking, a physical habit, or a speech habit that no longer serves my creative life and if I then can practice consistently a tool that helps me reverse that habit, then I am free of that habit – at least temporarily if not longer. I am free. Truly.
When most Yogic texts speak of liberation, they usually are referring to our ability to free our thoughts, speech, and physical action from debilitating and obstructive habits.
15 days to that kind of freedom is actually possible for some people in some circumstances.
Try it out, and let us know what happens!
Peace