Joycelin K Leahy©
So bravely, you let go
So gracefully you fall
You dance
And in seconds, you shine
And even the air
Would not dare
Grasp you
Leaves and Falls
Tag Archives: Poetry
Where Love Is
Where love once lived
wounds grow sturdy trunks
Roots go deep, flowers soar to the sun
Here, sweet fruit once dropped. Now there’s rot
Clusters the pests and diseases to feast
From the dark, where they are lost,
tales come from a child’s storybook.
The fantasy lands past and present
collide in a new hope of peace
and a place of bliss.
Chinese Red String – Love Poem J.K.Leahy
Chinese Red String – Poem J K Leahy
A knot in a soft Chinese red string
The red string of fate cries too late
Too weak and futile to unravel
A mystery of discord heightens
As I hold on, you slowly unbind
Rapidly, becoming sand in my hand
Grains isolate and quickly fall,
allowing the world, a key to pry
An unspoken goodbye at dawn
Hugged a ghost, a pale wounded doe
Unease hung in air,
like unattached wallpaper
Muttering words “see you later’
Decapitated and torn in fray
Fog engulfed an anticipated day
The doe cuffed in disarray of sheets
Trapped in the tides of a hurt heartbeat
(This is only a part of a longer poem – but I hope you enjoyed these verses).
Anointed – Poem by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner
A heart-wrenching poem about radioactive racism and the long quest for peace and justice, written and spoken by ICAN campaigner Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner of the Marshall Islands, where the United States conducted 67 nuclear test explosions. Produced by PREL, written by Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner (www.facebook.com/kathyjetnilkijiner) and directed by Dan Lin (www.facebook.com/danlinphotography)
I honour and respect the work of Kathy Jetnil-Kijiner, especially in her campaigns for justice in the Pacific Islands. This is a powerful message that needs to be shared. Please share.
Simply Falling – Iyeoka
Music and words from Iyeoka Okoawo, Boston-based Nigerian-American poet and performer. Daughter of Nigerian-American born parents who both hold Doctorate degrees from Boston University, Iyeoka was a practicing pharmacist before launching her career as a poet, singer, activist and educator. Read more
A Songbird of Articulate Words
A Songbird of Articulate Words – J.K.Leahy Story
A songbird is a bird that produces musical sounds which are like singing, according to the Webster dictionary. If that’s the case then photographer/poet Jenny Campbell is a songbird in my view.
I can confidently say this after listening to her at a lunch table last week in Brisbane, reciting one of her poems about the world we live in.
I share the love of birds with Jenny, but she takes her love for these feathered creatures to another level where she stalks them in the swamps and photographs them – then writes poetry about them. The ‘stalking’ is also called bird-watching. Jenny also writes serious poetry about life, the environment and politics.
I met Jenny a week ago in Brisbane through a dear friend Dr Susan Cochrane, an arts curator and a writer. Jenny is one of many artists participating in the Blue Mountains Garden of Earthly Delights Festival in November. In the Blue Mountains show, she will be featuring her bird photography and poetry. Dr Cochrane is the curator of the Blue Mountains Botanic Gardens show marking its 30th anniversary. Another artist participating in the botanic show, is Orly Faya.
Jenny is currently in Brisbane for the QPF2017 Australia Poetry Slam – Queensland Finals. She is one of 20 finalists. Below this story Jenny has kindly allowed me to feature one of her bird photographs and the poem she wrote for this bird – an Australian robin. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Let’s wish Jenny Campbell all the best in the poetry finals this Sunday, ( August 27th) at the Judith Wright Centre, Fortitude Valley, Brisbane.
Take us to another place
where vines entwine the heart
correcting misconceptions
through the first and final art
Untwine entrenched surrender
feel the struggle to betray
the very chains that bind us
as a Robin says: “G’day.”
Eastern Yellow Robin, Australia
Vanishing Point – Poem
A sleepless walker strides by dusk
The Brisbane River glassed
Beyond the vanishing point, houses blackened
A large orangey pink blanket covered the sky
It reflected on the river glass
Under the trees, an egret beamed
Its milky white feathers lit the roots
The walker disturbed the egret
The bird flew towards the orangey – pinkie sky
Looking to where the bird landed in the tree
The walker spots an odd couple – he tall and large
She is tiny and frail
They stand, side by side, arm’s length apart
Their arms are each folded; awkward
They stare into the river
Maybe they were speaking about the glassy river
Or the orange sky, the sleepless walker or the egret
There is a promise of love beyond the vanishing point
The walker smiles. Maybe sleep is coming tonight
A Pink Bundle with Price Tag – (Continued)
Pink Bundle with Price Tag – Poem
Poem – JK.Leahy©
(See verse one in the last post – This is a short story I tried writing in this format)
Pink Bundle with Price Tag
Arms to hold her first baby, folded on her crossed legs.
Suppressed in her expression, wrapped was her excitement.
I remembered Aunt on the phone telling,
“we are going to have a baby” while laughing at her husband.
A young school girl wanted to adopt her unborn baby.
Aunt said, “she would be beautiful like you, lady.”
The gossip; baby’s father was white and the mother was black.
The baby could own loose locks on a melted caramel tan.
My aunt had fought and climbed trees, just like a man
Not to happen, she would bear children like a woman
(To be continued in a book of short stories)
The Rainbow – Poetry
The Rainbow ©JK.Leahy
There is a rainbow
beyond the shadow
Where blended lights mellow
darkness lurks in shallow
Afraid of radiance’s glow
in obscurity, crevices open
Mind unlocks, and lets go
Beams will seek night
where bad memories hide
Upon the altar, a peace-offering
In spirit we build oneness
to end all writhing
And, we touch the rainbow
This poem is dedicated to all Papua New Guinean writers; fighting to find their voice in the literary world. To my readers, if you can relate to this poem and it applies to how you feel at this moment, then it is for you too.
Tribalmystic Stories 