Winter 2015 Showcase

Here in the northern hemisphere, and particularly this far north, it’s a peculiar time of year. As I write this, we are ten days or so beyond the solstice, yet the mornings are not become any lighter – no, not even by seconds. They won’t start to do so for a few days yet. When the days do start to lengthen appreciably, there will be a peculiar phenomenon – the evenings will appear to become lighter at a faster rate than the mornings. This sounds weird and counter-intuitive, but I watch it happening year after year, and year after year I shake my head and wonder why. Given that the earth rotates through 360 degrees, meridian to meridian, one would expect an equal amount of daylight either side of the meridian. There will be scientific explanation, of course. It may have to do with the direction of the earth’s rotation and the speed of light, with the earth’s axial tilt and wobble, with the fact that the earth is moving relative to the sun, and the solar system relative to the stars – ah, dear old sidereal time. There is also a poetic explanation: this disparity of daylight happens so that it will catch our eye and our mind in a moment, and its morning liquidity or evening flush provide us with a thought to convey…

This Showcase brings some fine writing by a collection of poets and haijin and more of the same is scheduled for the Spring 2015 Showcase – writers waiting for their submissions to turn up, please be patient. Images this time are from a collection of watercolour sketches by Elena Caravela, reproduced here by kind permission of the artist. I changed my mind at the last second about what to borrow from her portfolio, which just goes to show how in-the-moment the zen space is! Elena’s web site is here; may I suggest you spend an hour or so following the links to all her pages and galleries…

Marie Marshall
editor
the zen space

__________

Josette Attard

 

Tourist in Egypt,
among tombs and pyramids,
searching for his roots.

 

On a lettuce leaf,
slowly discovering new ground –
a snail.

 

Heavy leaden clouds,
Restless birds seeking shelter –
weather forecast.

 

Colourful tulips
in a vase on the table –
a taste of nature.

__________

A A Marcoff

 

the still pool
of
memory
touched
by rain

 

joy, & sadness:
three gulls
fly out of the sun:
time moves like light now
curving on the wing

 

in
the stillness
of the morning
a kingfisher:
sudden burst of great light

 

is this
where word
& silence meet,
a meditation
on water & flame?

[after Hosokawa]

 

to & fro
the gulls go
their wings flow
with
a grey light

 

there
when the rain ceases
a land
that is silent
with stone

 

the mind
a scattered rainbow
deep
in the light
of day

__________

Margaret Dornaus

 

southbound the irresistible urge to follow

__________

Jo Pacsoo

__________

Martin Esposito

 

daring to weave dreams
through languages without ears
footsteps marry snow

 

do you remember?
the fanfare of our whispers
where salt and sand kiss

 

Danger! Do not cross
the thunder of the night train
I still take your hand

 

cyberpunk promise
our path out of this firetrap
goes straight through the fire

 

full moon walking home
was there cheese on my burger?
…negative review

 

a man and a stick
unattended luggage scare
urban safari

__________

Seán Conroy

 

terse Japanese
and haiku how-are-ya
briefly outdone

__________

Basem Farid

 

sudden breeze
for a moment
the dry leaves stir

 

the summit
straight ahead
zigzagging all the way up

 

as the hail stones
pound the church window
they exchange their vows

 

new glasses
now that I can see it clearly
it’s no longer interesting

 

a hot bath
to wash away
the fixed smile
she wore all day

 

family gathering
the old story retold
with new ornamentation

 

another leaf swirls downwards
to join all the others

__________

Alice Keys

 

and stones walked among:

since before time grew
castles of harness leather
and stones walked among

her ruby satin
pooled in wild silver moonlight
horned dancers leaped flames

oak shadows flickered
while she bent the arrow’s flight
to stitch heart to heart

then slipped far away
left rough net to others who
only know to thrash

__________

Di Davy

swishing through dried leaves
over gnarled roots
vibrant bird song

shutting the door
as he left
silently

__________

James Roderick Burns

Spring budget –
driving sleet, cat slipping
through a fence

__________

Donna Fleischer

the bobcat
from out of nowhere
vanishes

perches
on a breath
the purple finch

ensō –
earthworm drying in –
the shape of

wind –
the last few leaves
cross the sky

late summer sun
leaning in
with the weeds

__________

Angelee Deodhar

resin scented breeze
on the blue ridge mountain
shifting sunlight

at the traffic light
music from the other car
gets my feet tapping

train tracks
disappear into a tunnel
unbroken silence

__________

A search online may reveal more from/about the writers in the Showcase. The editor has been asked to draw to readers’ particular attention the sites belonging to Martin Esposito and Alice Keys.

Issue 4:1 of A Hundred Gourds is now available. When visiting, please let them know that you saw it mentioned here. Thank you.

__________

The next Showcase at the zen space will Spring 2015 which will be released, subject to karma, on 1st April 2015.

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.