Brandi
This is a poem that’s a part of the Sister Series, a series of celebrating individual women and sharing their beauty through poetry. This poem is titled, Brandi…
This is a poem that’s a part of the Sister Series, a series of celebrating individual women and sharing their beauty through poetry. This poem is titled, Brandi, after a sunshine of a soul.
brandi
by Regan Smith
• • •
Her thoughts are a garden,
exposing a glorious song.
During the day, she diligently sows seeds
and during nighttime she draws her flowers:
the Black-Eyed Susan, White Wood Aster,
the myriad of Goldenrod blooms.
She wrangles snakes, pulling them
out of her garden, grasping their bodies
right behind the eyes; she holds no fear–
for although she’s been bitten before,
familiar to the feeling of poison in her skin–
she now holds authority, victory over all:
depression turned to dreams,
anxiety turned to assurance,
her thoughts now at full bloom.
The Brevity of Oneness
I’ve been thinking a lot about the connection, and disconnection of our bodies and spirits…
I’ve been thinking a lot about the connection, and disconnection of our bodies and spirits. This poem further explores this thought; writing this poem really expanded my mind past the bounds of societal constraints on human anatomy, and into the realm of spiritual curiosity in relation to my earth-standing self.
The Brevity of Oneness
by Regan Smith
• • •
I know that my soul is separate
from my body,
for there are times where my body continues
to move, continues to breathe
but my soul is three steps removed,
overlooking this body
from a bird’s eye view.
It controls this drone of
legs and arms and eyes
moving it’s gaze from
left to right,
to smile at a stranger,
and the footing’s next step
but my feelings are
locked and sprouted within this soul,
detached
from the bones and muscles.
I wonder if my body
and soul will every marry,
for they’ve been separate for
quite some time,
allowing the brevity of oneness,
for the duration of a dance,
for my mother’s embrace,
for the exhilarating
jump from plane high–
temporarily united
as we soar through air,
falling through clouds,
occupying the space
that’s only meant for
the amakihi,
the white-tailed tropicbird,
the golden plover.
My body gets bathed,
but my soul can still hold shame.
My spirit can be filled,
and overflowing,
yet the peach figure I see,
is in languish with night
still ringing around her eyes.
And I know that my body,
will fall to the earth,
decompose and wrap itself with
the roots,
but my soul will soar,
for it has shed its weight,
and reunited with the
totality of eternity.
Photography by Farrah Emami.
End Still
I wrote this poem late last year, during a time where the hurt from family health issues…
I wrote this poem late last year, during a time where the hurt from family health issues weighed heavy on my heart. It was birthed out of the need to process, pen to paper, the hurt but recognizing that beauty still survives and thrives around us. That sometimes the best healing is staying in stillness. The photo that Farrah paired together brought me to tears. It reminded me of this once again - that everything is temporary, but the bird’s song still sings.
End Still
By Regan Smith
• • •
The fall birds congregate in the trees,
greatly outnumbering the barely-shaken leaves.
Their rainstick roar
reminds me that everything is temporary,
nothing is fixed—
and that observing holds a special freedom.
The air is so beautiful here.
Stay still, saturate,
and hear their song.
Photography by Farrah Emami.
Equinox
A short and sweet poem by Mark J. Mitchell pours out feelings of familiarity…
A short and sweet poem by Mark J. Mitchell pours out feelings of familiarity. It swells in my mind, allowing me to look out towards the horizon and reflect on how I spend my days, hours, minutes.
Equinox
By Mark J. Mitchell
• • •
Nostalgia rains across split light.
Days drop to one side or the other
like rivers divided by a ridge.
Evening hovers beyond the gate.
It will finally arrive once
you’ve spent blinding hours looking west.
Mark J. Mitchell’s latest novel, The Magic War is published by Loose Leaves Publishing. He studied writing at UC Santa Cruz under Raymond Carver and George Hitchcock. His work has appeared in the several anthologies and hundreds of periodicals. Three of his chapbooks— Three Visitors, Lent, 1999, and Artifacts and Relics—and the novel, Knight Prisoner are available. He lives with his wife, the activist Joan Juster and makes a living pointing out pretty things in San Francisco.
Photography by Farrah Emami.