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
May 2010 Silent Lotus’ Selected
Poets’
Milner Place
and his guest Larry Jordan
Ivan Granger
and his guest Elizabeth Reninger
Milner Place
corazon paz and the weathered virgin
bunches of dead and dying
flowers lay on the hill
at the feet
of the wooden lady
brought by tired shoes
laboured breathing
a gaudy array
propped against the knees
by concha
donna eulalia’s criada
corazon paz came panting
knelt
before la virgen
placed a water lily
picked in el pozo escondido
its stem
between the toes
through scarlet lips
she berated
the lady
for taking her two children
demanded
that she give them plenty of tamales
an ice cream
each fiesta
went down the hill
with brisk steps
an extra swing
to her hips
crossing the plaza
pozo escondido
you must approach
with slink of puma
through whispering grasses
past vigilant crows
guarding thorns
where a tunnel
will open in magnolias
and the sun
is a far fire beyond
imagining
only then
will you hear the voices
of decisive macaws
smell the lichen
of solitude
discover the colours
of all the faces of water
in the deep pool
bathe
with topaz-eyed
horses
where a moon floats
among water-lilies
beware
you must approach
with slink of puma
Milner Place, born England, Yorkshire, 1930, led a wandering life for 25 years in many countries, including 11 years as a skipper of working sailing vessels and yachts. His first poems were written in Spanish, and a small collection published in Spain in 1977. Settling in Huddersfield (UK) in 1987, he started to write again in English. He has had 10 collections published, is widely represented in UK mags, done innumerable readings, and presented his poems on radio and television. He has frequently worked with musicians in performances.His broad experience gives him many and varied backdrops for his poetry. An essay by the late Todd Moore on his writing can be seen at:http://outlawpoetry.com/2009/09/01/the-sea-the-poem-and-the-house-of-all-possible-myths-the-poetry-of-milner-place/ He is currently one of the editors on Poetry Circle, a forum for |
Larry Jordan
As Close as That
Mirabel sweeps up
little puffs of dust
into remarkable shapes
of clouds with her strides
up and down the avenues.
I can follow her on sunny days,
the wisps furling to steeple height
then pose and bow—nothing idle
in their come and go.
She swirls balloons
as bulging jowls full of wind,
snapping the ends of a mane.
The gallop is westward,
beyond the headlands.
Hushed to not disturb her
I sit behind an oak
and listen to her talk
with the fish in the creek.
She speaks of her father
and the other side of the world
saying nothing of the sky.
The air gets cool as the light
pales from a passing cloud.
Her voice wavers,
diesels balk, the swallows
shudder in the leaves.
Though still curious,
I too must look away.
Larry Jordan survived 33 years of the Postal Service ending his career as Postmaster of Columbia, South Carolina in 2002. He has been writing poetry for 15 years. His work can be seen in the online journal, Millers Pond and is currently an editor for an online poetry forum. |
Ivan
Granger
The Warbler Knows
The warbler knows
only dawn’s shaft
of light
on her breast.
Forgetting false future
suns, she sings
in no voice
but her own.
Every Shaped Thing
Sighing,
every shaped thing
turns
heavenward.
Your altar
cannot seat
the thousand thousand
idols.
Holding them,
what do you have?
Each gilded god
says:
“I am
impoverished
by the sun.
I can only
point
up.”
![]() | Ivan M. Granger is the creator and editor of the Poetry Chaikhana web site, www.Poetry-Chaikhana.com. He grew up in Oregon and Southern California, and has lived on the island of Maui. He now lives in Colorado with his wife.When asked why he writes poetry, Ivan says, “Poetry has an immediate effect on the mind. The simple act of reading poetry alters thought patterns and the shuttle of the breath. Poetry induces trance. Its words are chant. Its rhythms are drum beats. Its images become the icons of the inner eye. Poetry is more than a description of the sacred experience; it carries the experience itself.” |
Elizabeth Reninger
Reflection
dusk is a pink
glow through mist
(soft as the belly-skin
of a newborn)
pencil-thin traces
of mountain ranges
flirt here with a quiet
blue tapestry
a saphire crown
of stars approaching
mingle with the pink
horizon with
something eons
in the making
— delicate
as lace
i call out my
name yearning
for an echo: silence
takes us all
beyond what beauty
has initiated…
Elizabeth Reninger is a practitioner of the Taoist arts of acupuncture, tuina, qigong and poetry. Her first collection of poems, And Now The Story Lives Inside You, was published by WovenWord Press in 2005, and can be ordered at http://elizabethreninger.webs.com. She currently resides in Boulder, Colorado, and can be reached via email at halfmoon108@yahoo.com. About her poetry, Ms. Reninger writes: “My poems most often have their origin in the delight and mystery and wisdom I find within the natural world … and how these processes, these movements of the elements, can be mirrors to the sort of intra-psychic transformation described by the world’s great mystical traditions (Yoga in its Hindu, Buddhist, Taoist, Sufi and other varieties). It is through poetry that I explore the playful relationships between mind and body and spirit and world … with the hope of — in some small way, through the view that my work offers — bringing to them a greater balance, clarity, and freedom.” |