A Hundred Gourds

index

page 13

the nurse
draws more blood
from my vein …
a dried-up leaf
curls into itself

Mary Davila - USA

well concealed
are the scars of your love …
dressed up
with pretty bandages
yet weeping in the darkness

Gavin Austin - Australia

reminding me
if we both fell overboard
he’d save mom
the father who was absent
when I first learned to swim

Autumn Noelle Hall - USA

the clanging of boats
tethered to the dock
in high winds
echoes my longing
to cut loose and ride the waves

Thelma Mariano - Canada

how can I not be
seduced by the rhythm
of this summer night?
the surging of waves on shore
the deep sighing through the trees

Thelma Mariano - Canada

chimney smoke spirals
grasping stars
like the soft curl
of butter
around the knife

Kathryn Ross - Australia