Joseph Bottone

How Weeping Comes to Be a Joy

I don’t know
…………any other way
to say a song might come
or a leaf fall
……..or the smallest thing brighten my eyes, and
I’ll begin to weep.
……..Certain words slip out someone’s mouth
and I am all giddy, yesterday it was waves
washing over a rocky shore, a stillness as the waves
retreat back to eternity.
Today I heard someone mention the air, fire, earth, water
and I lifted my head full of gratitude.
The warm healing thrill of someone’s words, a prayer
for someone’s healing
gently push me forward, light
…………..strong enough to free a quarantined house.
Radiance, as when we say, light shines brightest
on the broken.

Joseph Bottone was born in Brooklyn, NY. His work centers on the poetic language of the seer. His language craft is minimal and precise, infusing the word-image with power and identity. It is an alchemical and transformative language. Bottone resides in a cabin in Camaldoli Hermitage at Big Sur, where he spent three years as poet-in-residence, or somewhere in New Mexico by the river of dreams.

Brigitte Goetze

Daring to Question

…the women should keep silence in the churches.
For they are not permitted to speak, but should be subordinate…
––1 Corinthians 14:34

You dig a potato, wash it,
peel it, cook it, eat it.

Each action a perfect expression
of unrestrained self-interest—

the earth could not prevent
your robbing its riches

nor could the water refuse
being burdened with your refuse.

Just as the snake promised:
you have become like a god.

Snakily, it advertised the apple’s power,
not a word about Terms and Conditions.

You swallowed the bait. Hooked by the taste
of new potatoes and tender carrots

you are now snared into the universal
spider web of natural law:

Every action creates a reaction
of equal strength and opposite direction.

Polluting lead and micro-plastics
force your cells’ ballet

into angry inflammation,
steadily sapping your strength.

Now you wonder: is dominion
a god-given right or a tricky mistranslation?

Brigitte Goetze lives in Western Oregon. A retired biologist and angora goat farmer, she now divides her time between writing and fiber works. She finds inspiration for both endeavors in nature as well as in science and the stories and patterns handed down from generation to generation. She likes to eavesdrop on the never-ending conversation between the biological and spiritual dimensions of life. Her website can be found at: brigittegoetzewriter.com.

M. Ann Reed

Compassion’s Leap

Drawing the midnight shift––
……………infant intensive care––
……………………….all cribs, crabs, and play-fish––

each child’s ark brimming
……………stuffed-animal friends setting sail,
……………………….he counts sheep

(remembering
……………he, too, still bears a bald spot,
……………………….a tender growing space) able to join

all sixteen entraining with each other’s
……………slow, deep, and even breathing, sinking
……………………….into oceanic sleep––

all failing to save creation,
……………all liberating that circadian god
……………………….of destruction.

Though he imagines their dreams
……………whimsical interplay between
……………………….whale and dove

soon all sixteen feel their crisis––
……………awaken to each other’s
……………………….terrified cries until

all, in empathic chorus, join
……………the emergency, compounded
……………………….by his failed response.

Choral panic evokes inspiration––
……………spontaneous ingenuity,
……………………….his unpredictably bright

barrier-breaking magical
……………shamanic leap
……………………….into the playpen

joining unmoored cribs
……………to fascinate each child at once
……………………….with his shared choral cry,

meeting them
……………in their silent nightmare
……………………….with his attuned

voice, transforming
……………their anxiety into its opposite
……………………….all shall be well calm––

then their laughter, joined by nurses,
……………balance fear with courage,
……………………….tragedy with imagination

sorrow with joy, now at play
……………within bald spots, our common
……………………….fragile core.

Author’s Note: According to western medicine’s surgical protocols until 1987, all kinds of surgeries were performed on infants without anesthesia because it was believed that infants lacked fully developed nervous systems and so wouldn’t feel much pain. Attendant nurses found otherwise, as did surgeons. Yet surgeons were bound and could not give benefit of doubt. This intern’s leap of ingenuity and compassion showed that, indeed, infants have nervous systems and respond both to pain and its opposite.

M. Ann Reed offers the Bio-poetic Study of Literature supporting the Deep Ecology Movement for global and local academic and creative writing students. Her chapbook, Rain flowering stones, was a finalist in the Saguaro chapbook contest 2022. Finishing Line Press published her chapbook, making oxygen, remaining inside this pure hollow note. University Press of American initially published her co-authored non-fiction book, Strange Kindness, now offered by Rowman & Littlefield.

Eric Christopher Uphoff

Role Play

Did mother ever tell you
there is a star inside
your apple that won’t
be found with molars?

With those I found
popcorn inside of gemstones inside
of pomegranates.
A favorite of Persephone;
many girls I know too.

My friend once told me
she had a boy inside of her.
The little girl inside me smiled,
invited him to play.
Tea and cake were imaginary,
but the apple slices crisp.

Eric Christopher Uphoff is a wanderer who has called Texas, Japan, and Taiwan home. Owing to a few twists of fate, he currently finds himself an early childhood educator at a bilingual school in Taipei. He holds an MFA in writing from Lindenwood University and a BA in music from the University of North Texas.