Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 06/07/2008
this lathe grinds fine circles within balls of fire head tonsured patchwork on foot walks watery in afternoon sun this season’s mangoes outside the vodka shop once emperors walked barefoot to ask the sun for a son boon granted the corn is dull yellow heavy bent dynasties outgrew this gate that once led to crossroads of the moonlight a huge red fort and a hospital for the birds let me buy you a mirror-work...
Byrne's Blog (Free subscription) | 04/07/2008
Yup…that time again…but with a difference… On August 12th the London launch of issue 18 will be @RADA foyer bar, Malet Street. W1. Why? Because our usual venue of the Poetry Studio doesn’t allow for the poet-musicians who will be accompanying sets of poetry in a one-off show to launch issue 18 of the magazine. [...]
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 04/07/2008
creek of my boyhood, through carefree days we roamed its banks, we swam, we fished, and took it all for granted, but it is just a shadow now of what it used to be, life-giving floods are all too rare, yet still it flows. now, when I cross the little bridge that spans the sheltered reach before it meets the river, I gaze upstream through older eyes made wiser by the years, to see the dappled sunshine...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 29/06/2008
He dreamed of rafting out of his schoolbook life, trustful under stars that chart the course of rivers, to a destiny of praise. He’d dig for treasure on an island off the map and out of time. He’d dare the ghost with grinning teeth and make it say its dead secrets. So he dreamed all summer-long till summer ended in a fall of river toward sea, and Huck Finn drifted out of childhood. Taylor Graham, California,...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 27/06/2008
Trees stalk me in sleep. My silence is the dirge of A river collecting shadows Where the sun is a wanderer And the lonely canoe A wayfarer. Dike Okoro
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 22/06/2008
so it has come to this hungry bulls with their balls cut off cows who cry because their udders are dry this is a perishing garbage hunt without brasseries automatons with nose rings perky like my granddaughters are towards grass flowers they say the next avatar will be a horse out of the east not as east as we are where horses carry grooms calculate dowry and then chew their emaciated food until death...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 19/06/2008
Each unnecessary tribe is restless, fabric stressed Against the moments frame, until it seems That each part but reflects the whole, compressed Until boundaries are merged with troubled dreams Of vague borders amid the random air. Where the new graves bloom, words flower in empty Concession to each camera, aware Of the distance between record and play. Between distant land and voyeur's womb Waves alone...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 15/06/2008
We never quite know what accumulates within us, it sort of collects, images , stories read, heard, experiences, childhood memories, family, friends, the everyday survival, we never quite know what accumulates within us, strangers that mattered in a glance, death knocking on doors all around us, we go on, we make it through hell's days to get to Love's gardens, a cold beer and a friend, we never quite...
Byrne's Blog (Free subscription) | 12/06/2008
For those of you that don’t know - shame on you! - Lemn Sissay will be giving his ‘Under the Influence’ talk on June 26th at the Arts Theatre - a wonderful little venue next to the Photographers Gallery. You’ll find full details below. I anticipate this event to be crammed and would recommend booking [...]
Byrne's Blog (Free subscription) | 12/06/2008
Yup, 18 has reached its cut off point and will be launched sometime between the last week of July and the first week of August. It is likely that there will be 2 London events to mark the issue (exact dates forthcoming). I shall be responding to all submissions two weeks priot to the launch of [...]
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 11/06/2008
The shuffle of the shopping bag, The bewilderment of a companion snatched away too soon, The can of soup and the packet of Rich Teas - The sense of someone missing from your side, The key opens a silent tomb of memories No flowers in the wedding present vase, No heat from the stew bubbling in the oven, No chatter - no sound. Sitting on the chair, looking out of the window, A child whizzes by on a skate-board,...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 08/06/2008
I stay up too late for someone who keeps aging against my wishes: the aging- not the staying up late; I want to catch the gloaming the nightfall and rosy 4am calls to rise. The young can catch the early dawn a shared secret between them and the beetles scurrying across dewy grass and fat worms; not nightcrawlers, but those of the early rising type- the ones who are afraid of robins and sharp beaks....
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 04/06/2008
The Angels' Garden~ Cement cherubs, Full winged ceramic Celestial ladies, And heavenly Resin figurines, Thoughtfully arranged Next to white roses, Lilac bushes, Lush gardenias, With lavender, And chamomile herbs, Gracing the summer air With a scent As close to heaven As a mortal can reach . . . Her fragrant haven An intoxicating delight Where butterflies Look like fairies And Mourning Doves And Song...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 31/05/2008
i might see spring as a charlatan but still i plant flowers in may chinese lanterns & morning glories beneath the beige chipped shingles & the gray cracked foundation outside my tiny apartment i might see the sun as a giant zippo under our flimsy flesh britches but still i walk about & light cigarettes & flirt w/the flames by blowing smoke back at its towering lethal tongue i might see silence as the...
Bolts of Silk (Free subscription) | 30/05/2008
Watching doves peck away, all day long at a full bowl of mixed seeds, out on the balcony of my condo- the cat curls up on the sofa, after a meager meal of house flies- and dreams of sparrows with wide soaring wings. Michael Lee Johnson , Chicago, IL, USA
