You would think that, by now, we would be used to radical changes, to suddenly finding ourselves in a new situation. So why was I surprised to find myself… well… surprised when I had to change my idea of how to arrange this Showcase? First there was a copyright problem. Then for technical reasons too boring to go into I have had to switch direction totally and start from scratch.
Which is good, isn’t it, in a way?
It’s the “scratch” time of year here in Scotland. Autumn is thanking us for summer by throwing blackberries at us, its last act of generosity before changing green for brown and finally going into the mourning of winter. The Showcases here at the zen space are so governed by the Scottish seasons that often I forget to ask, “Hey! How are things where you are? What is in your field of experience while I look at the leaves turning on a beech hedge?
Is the turn of a season so radical a thing? Is the slide through autumn to winter not rather a very gentle metamorphosis before the metempsychosis of spring? What a Northern-Hemisphere, temperate-zone way of looking at the world!
Here’s a leaf or two. Here’s a word or two.
Marie Marshall
editor
the zen space
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Lance Brender
Like Florida
wet hot air reminds
me that she liked how it stirred
memories of home
.
Fire
after the lightning
the evergreens turn to ash
and fall on my roof
.
Tent Noises
the soldiers’ sleeping
fills the tent with the tired snores
of ambitious men
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Elena Naskova
Summer rain…
the smell of the ocean
reaches up to the hills
.
silenced mind
birds singing before
sunrise
.
corona pandemic
the six feet distance
deepens
.
Quarantined
failing to visualize the light
at the end of the tunnel
.
Skyscrapers
the rising sun
at floor sixty-six
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David Watts
winter tree
white with snow dumplings
black grackle
.
the oboe of longing
between her lips
the reed sings
.
light spatters my wall
calligraphy of night
street lamp and branches
.
when the moon hangs low
even leaves give off light
lanterns in the dark
.
each morning
I wait for your touch
house far away
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Words: Gabriel Rosenstock. Images: LJean Zito
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Jerry Levy
x plus x
chromosomes
she loves algebra
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Maya Daneva
a lonely swim
the fear of the second wave
on her skin
.
her smile
under her mask
wrinkles
.
wearing masks
the triumph of
the genuine smile
.
seashore
the waves bury our steps
with empty shells
.
first steps
she moves to a hospice
close to him
.
naked snail
the way she feels
on Instagram
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an’ya
__________.
the tail end
If I’ve managed to get my act together on time – which these days would be totally amazing – I am due to have a short piece about haiku published in the journal of the Haiku Society of America. I’m honoured even at the possibility. I’ll let you know in due course, readers.
The Cherita continues. Do visit, and if you leave a comment please mention you heard of it here at the zen space.
Also worth a visit, the wonderful Muse Pie Press.
Another exciting piece of news is that the Frontier Poetry Awards are now open. Do hurry, because the competition closes on the 15th of November.
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The next Showcase at the zen space will be Winter 2021 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st January 2021.
Please note that the copyright of all written work and images used in this Showcase and elsewhere in the zen space is held by the creating author/artist, even when not explicitly stated, and may not be used elsewhere without permission.
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