Author: Ian Trimnell

Grammatical Error By Faiz Ahmad  A sky replaces the sky almost imperceptibly until we turn our heads around face-to-face with the unholy axe that chopped our seeing in two: the-world and a-world Good morning and welcome to Morning Prayer The night has passed, and the day lies open before us; let us pray with one heart...

Memory, Flooding Back  By Jeremy Michael Clark  The river’s rise out of itself began in the west, the lowest part of the city. Its first breach of the bank: subtle, just a thin film of water over the land, like a hand coaxes a child to sleep. Within hours, it reached our homes. When the water...

Souvenir of the Ancient World  By Carlos Drummond de Andrade [Translated from the Portuguese by Mark Strand] Clara strolled in the garden with the children. The sky was green over the grass, the water was golden under the bridges, other elements were blue and rose and orange, a policeman smiled, bicycles passed, a girl stepped onto...

Any community that we construct on earth will be only a small model of a universe whose community includes billions of stars and planetary systems. Are we alone? We don’t know, but if we don’t know how to become a community with our own species, how shall we find harmony with other life forms in the...

We meet in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen Opening Sentences Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us. Establish Thou the work of our hands; establish Thou the work of our hands. Presence  Dear Lord, you have called me by my name. You have carved me...

House  By Stanley Plumly  Door frames off the square, the inside sweating tile-brick walls uncovered, the checkerboard linoleum floors tilted toward infinity or at least in the direction of my northern bedroom window, which in winter is half-frozen with ice thick enough some mornings to draw on with a fingernail, while in the dust of summer...

A World Created by the Powerful  By Seifu Metaferia  [Translated from the Amharic by Alemu Tebeje & Chris Beckett] They say “come here! go there!” with a gun to emphasize their words “just drive me, please!” they say mixing polite and threatening because they like to blur distinctions —              ...

No Nonsense  By Charlie Smith  split off for a sec I thought I might say something truthful but couldn’t come up with it and lingered in the rosy twilight unpacking an old suitcase I found under the stairs sometimes I stay as still as possible and tell myself a limitless vista’s opening up when it’s not...

XLIII Judica me, Deus  By Malcom Guite  Shucked of the husk of all my wasted years I long to step forth, free of all encumbrance To set aside the heaviness, the tears, The sin that clings so close, the doleful hindrance Of resentment and regret, to let them go Roll them below the cross, as Christian once...

VII By Malcolm Guite  35 At close of day I hear the gentle rain Whilst experts on the radio explain Mind-numbing numbers, rising by the day, Cyphers of unimaginable pain 36 Each evening they announce the deadly toll And patient voices calmly call the roll I hear the numbers, cannot know the names Behind each number, mind...

Between Nothingness and Eternity  by Sri Chinmoy  Barren of events, Rich in pretensions My earthly life. Obscurity My real name. Wholly unto myself I exist. I wrap no soul In my embrace. No mentor worthy Of my calibre Have I. I am all alone Between failure And frustration. I am the red thread Between Nothingness And Eternity....

Heavy  By Hieu Minh Nguyen  The narrow clearing down to the river I walk alone, out of breath my body catching on each branch. Small children maneuver around me. Often, I want to return to my old body a body I also hated, but hate less given knowledge. Sometimes my friends—my friends who are always beautiful &...