Sea Turtle Sonnet - Zeina Hashem Beck

Our parents stayed during the civil war.
Don’t say we escaped, just that we too failed.
We left Beirut on the verge of collapse
& revolution. That clearing of hope,
where would we be without it? Ask Ziad,

Home - Pio Manoa

Beneath that tree is buried
the lifecord.
The energy that pulses
through that trunk,
up into those branches
is within us too
by a power of exchange,
of life-sharing…

Hope - Edith Södergran

I want to let go -
so I don't give a damn about fine writing,
I'm rolling my sleeves up.

Why does my lover rage - Moses ibn Ezra

Why does my lover rage and tyrannize me,
      While my heart
            Bends like a reed to him?

Dedication - Bala S.K. Saho

As long as I live
I will sing my mother’s song
With her old broom
That kept our yard forever clean

The Empty Chair that Hugs Your Breath - H.MAR

The chair is still warm,
although you vanished yesterday.
Even the sky is guilty:
why will the pillow not own up to its loss?

Keys of the Better Place - Heritier

Before this distraction
Life was a simple word to describe
We were used to mingling with different people from different cultures and races.

Blindman's Bluff - Victor D. Questel

i
Ash Wednesday
and
No one goes for cane
in this island anymore.

Blissful valley: Bumthang - Kuenzang Dorji

in the southern chumey entrance
hello the swaying fagopyrum
in the eastern ura leasow
defy not the dance of yekos

After lunch - Po Chü-i

After lunch–one short nap;
On waking up–two cups of tea.