Animal Story
A Pantoum with Consonance

by Ardalan Pourvali

Squawking seagull beaks prey upon candlefish
while a high tide invades the mainland
but barriers block a tsunami
the storm surges; people withstand

While a high tide invades the mainland
raiding squirrels invade the coots nest
but barr...

https://youtu.be/JG8EGDLt2G0

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

You got that midnight skin,
that deep, dark water
that takes the moon to pierce.

I've thread my laugh
on the end of a needle
and stitched it between every breath.

You don't just kiss.
You cut.
Deeply.
That Scorpio tail,
swinging,...

Performed by Val Cole
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———The Birthday
The celebration,
Returns once again for us.
All gather for joy,
But mixed deep within it all,
Amongst food and gifts,
Reminders of all that’s lost,
And sorrows I’ve kept,
Have bestowed my heavy heart,
With the gift of life.
One born of sweat and strug...

https://youtu.be/bLIuidQNpUg

POEM:

For Beth on our 25th anniversary

Your fists plunge into a mound of elastic dough
a subtle smear of flour above your eyebrow,
and wisps of dusted hair
the back of your wrists could not wipe away,
pursed lips, flattened palms,
back bent driving your elbows dow...

https://youtu.be/2fraP2i1Gf4

Poetry by Val Cole

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———Salvation
With a single act,
All merit burns to ashes,
Only death forgives.

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/IOYekvb8zBk

Poetry performed by Val Cole

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POEM;

Upon ox-eyed daisies, a curse seemed struck
every mid-summer, when I was a child.
One by one, their petals, girls would pluck
‘til no stem held white blossoms in the wild.

Thus-tortured flora, guilty of no crime,
would stoic...

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

SOME PEOPLE

Some people really make me feel so ill
That I just wish I could go out and kill.

If only it was legal would the deeds
Be executed, as I'd make them bleed.

By that, I'd be talking a swimming pool
Full of blood, for I don't mesh well with fools.

I...

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/vK9Dvsq7C68

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Open Spaces By Kevin Cahill

When she looks at me
I understand only
That we have to get this close
To see how infinitely far away
We are from one another
I have to caress her bare skin carefully, tenderly
to see how far we have str...

Performed by Val Cole

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———Dreams

To what end is education,
When all refuse to learn,
To see the lies they build upon,
And cry for what they earn?

To each will come their own demise,
Designed and shaped by time,
Hidden amongst their hopes and dreams,
They’ll cry it is a crime.

To what en...

Performed by Val Cole

Pieces

You handed over the pieces
of your life without hesitation
your breath, your time,
your love,
because that’s what you thought love was.
Not once did you think to keep
anything for yourself.
You reached in and revealed
these pieces of yourself over time,
wrapping the...

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

When we were whole
My brother and I laughed with mirth
Jumped without reason
Spending smiles carelessly as if without worth

Hugged and touched and kissed one another
Fairies fairly magically inclined
Surreal soaring youthful wonder
Diwali lanterns floating p...

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/tA420TWmaHU

Performed by Val Cole

POEM:

Demoiselle, by James Ross Kelly

In the last part of that time of dusk
when shadows meet the first departure of light.
over three fingers of the river
a Great Blue Heron performed an aerial pirouette.

Down with wisped blue gray feather...

Performed by Val Cole

Together on the shore, we ache for something

Together on the shore, we ache for something
What? Is the question, like contests of Will
One ever know the shape of two other
Questions why? Why? Is one we ask at the gate
Two questions, one answer is existence
Do I exist to yo...

Performed by Val Cole

Performed by Val Cole

https://youtu.be/AksbJTrKD8E

Performed by Val Cole
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POEM:

On Solstice He Replaces Her Flowers with Cabbages

rain on gray pebbles
twinkle pinks and green spasms
autumn valentine

hands in the old dirt
on the roots – gentle pressure
deny my regrets

daylight saving dark
wake to haze-blurred s...

https://youtu.be/K0SK6Sv01xE

Performed by Val Cole

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From writer: This is an echo verse poem in response to my identical twin’s death (drowning). Identical in virtually every way as children, we grew to look different as adults, but our voices remained identical. We were echoes of each other....

Performed by Val Cole

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POEM:

Loud crack, and a sting.
Tongue feels around,
chasing single, salty-sweet drop,
losing it under thick lower lip.
Hand grabs abdomen.
Grab: make a fist,
let go.