Four Poems by Lorraine Caputo

 

THIS RAIN MOON

 

Soon the moon will be full again, that

Snow Moon as northerners call it,

large & white, beaming behind

the clouds of our rainy

season, perhaps to

once more rain all

the silent

& dark

night 

 

MEDITATING ‘NEATH THE

ECLIPSING FLOWER MOON

 

In the full moon’s

light, I meditate

 

opening a door

to another realm

 

where my mind will

wander to insights

 

I will not remember

 

~

 

& with a start

I awaken to

 

the Flower Moon

eclipsing, turning

 

to russet rose

red, zinnia-orange

 

~      ~

 

I try to focus

my camera’s eye

 

on its visage …

 

~      ~      ~

 

Only to be

beckoned to the door

 

I left ajar

to enter once more

 

to that other realm

 

~      ~      ~      ~

 

& all night ‘neath

that eclipsing moon’s

 

presence I wander

 

~      ~      ~      ~      ~

 

Only not to

remember nary

 

a thought when

I awaken to

 

a pouring pre-

dawn rain … & that door

 

a-slamming shut … 

 

SEARCHING FOR THE LIGHT

 

Thunder Moon hidden behind clouds

thick & scuttling, wavering shrouds

 

Will they ravel this night,

shedding light below, upon crowds

 

of no-one, world’s silence aloud,

searching for the lune’s light 

 

AUTUMN NIGHTS

 

Waning Harvest Moon rising

in this velvet night,

disappearing … reborning …

splendid Hunter’s Moon 

 

Lorraine Caputo - Wandering troubadour Lorraine Caputo is a documentary poet, translator and travel writer. Her works appear internationally in over 500 journals and 24 collections of poetry – including Orinoco Plains (dancing girl press, 2025) and Santa Marta Ayres (Origami Poems Project, 2024). She also authors travel narratives, articles and guidebooks. She is a Parliamentary Poet Laureate of Canada honoree (2011) and multiple Best of the Net and Pushcart Prize nominee. Caputo has done literary readings from Alaska to the Patagonia. She journeys through Latin America with her faithful knapsack Rocinante, listening to the voices of the pueblos and Earth. 

 

Social media

https://latinamericawanderer.wordpress.com

https://www.facebook.com/lorrainecaputo.wanderer

https://www.instagram.com/lorrainecaputoc

https://bsky.app/profile/lorrainecaputo.bsky.social

 

Three Poems by Yuu Ikeda

 

Spring Song 

 

Under the umbrella of winter,

I hope raindrops of spring.

Every flower breathes deeply,

every breeze dyes the sky blue,

every future begins to grow up

in warmth and softness.

Surrounded by thorns of winter,

I imagine a silky cocoon of spring.

Someone is singing,

for immature but priceless dreams.

Someone is singing,

for every human who never give up their souls. 

 

 

The Unnamed Snowman 

 

He is just waiting to melt

under the sunlight.

His eyes are blinking.

His mouth makes the shape of joy.

Although his destiny is decided,

any despair and any sadness

don't dwell in his heart.

He is just waiting to melt

in winter breeze.

He is like me.

I'm like him.

 

 

The Ode To AKATSUKI JAPAN 

 

You are the symbol of the morning glow,

the symbol of hopes,

the symbol of passion.

Even in waves of the darkness,

you never give up on the sunlight that will

cocoon you someday.

Even in vortex of regret,

you keep on believing flowers that will bloom

someday.

The road that you are walking with belief

and immortal souls

leads you to the goal that you hope.

Yuu Ikeda (she/they) is a Japan based poet and writer. She loves mystery novels, western art, sugary coffee, and japanese animation “呪術廻戦 (Jujutsu Kaisen)” and “ブルーロック (Blue Lock)”.

Her favorite novelists are Agatha Christie, Conan Doyle, J.D. Robb, Jeffery Deaver, Nele Neuhaus, Peter Swanson.

She writes poetry on her website. https://poetryandcoffeedays.wordpress.com/

She is the author of poetry collections ;

“The Palette of Words”,

“Seasons Echoing Around Me”,

“Phantasmal Flowers in The Eden Where Only I Know”,

“Her Favorite Broken Glass”

and more.

One of her big dreams is to write while traveling around the world.

Her Twitter and Instagram :

@yuunnnn77

One Poem by JoyAnne O'Donnell

 

 Love Stars

 Love is in the star of a flower 

 Upon the high clouds glamour,

 Love is in the meadow 

 When the wind blows 

 Among the stars colors 

 The white blossoms to shadows glow

 With light from the green grass, 

 Warm light feeling much better, 

 Like ivory stars wander 

 clouds puff powder

 The sun drapes the hour.

 

JoyAnne O'Donnell is a poet from Pennsylvania, she loves to take walks by a golden pond frequently to write and muse. Her five poetry books are on amazon. Two time Pushcart nominee. 

 

Five Haiku & Three Poems by Paddy Donoghue

 

Storm – A Haiku

 

Dark threatening clouds

streak across a sullen sky

thundering evening. 

 

 

Gone – A Haiku

 

Etched across a lawn

shadows, windblown and sun kissed

ghost clothes of a child. 

 

 

Intimacy – A Haiku

 

Side by side we stand

hands brush stroking each other

a heart beats faster. 

 

 

Healing – A Haiku

 

Your cinnamon skin

radiates beauty within

healing hurting hearts. 

 

 

Dusking – A Haiku

 

Vagrant sun

alluring skyline

crimson set. 

 

 

Ending

(Spreagadh – Evocation) 

 

Words              spoken in love

Keep spinning the reels in his head. 

 

Touches           gentle and delicate

Keep rippling echoes on his skin. 

 

Eyes                tuned for seduction

Keep drawing him into the labyrinth. 

 

But the reels

Only flatter to create an illusion 

 

And the touches

Only become frost on dry bones 

 

And the eyes

Only tease what has been starved 

 

Leaving him crushed - with a heart full of sorrow.

 

 

Harmonised 

 

When hope seems like a stranger

And moonlight reflected on water seems lifeless

The earth still spins

The sun still shines

And the rain still falls.

 

When control seems like a danger

And wars create a vacuum that seems timeless

The sun still shines

The rain still falls

And the poor still starve.

 

When nations seem to become loath

And good people choose to defy growth

The rain still falls

The poor still starve

And the light still flickers.

 

When the rain nourishes the earth      as it spins

And the sun draws light from a flicker          cleansing sins.

 

When good people take control         conflict will cease

And hope dances with moonlight       serving peace.

 

When wars have wearied the nations

And control no longer entices the mighty

When the world order is returned to station

Only then will the poor no longer starve nightly.

 

Sillage

 

(For the Voyager) 

 

Voices drift

across an open space

giving words to thoughts

when

from the midst of this coven of poets

I catch your aroma –

soft                  it lingers in the air

haloed around your presence

casting your spell

the way a gas light might illuminate a fog

I lean               into your orbit

close my eyes             inhale  deeply

breathe you into my skin        and oh…

how lovely.

 

 

 

Paddy Donoghue was born in Glencolmcille but now resides in Bundoran, Co. Donegal. Writing poetry since secondary school days, he has had several pieces published over the years, in many literary journals and magazines. He has won awards for his poetry in both the Irish and English language. Read his work at several literary events including, at Cúirt, Scríobh and the Macklin festivals. 

Paddy facilitates writing workshops and was a founding member of the original Bundoran Writers group and the current Atlantic Writers Ink group. This year he was selected as the Bealtine poet and facilitated at workshops across Donegal. 

His last collection, Leave Taking, published in 2024, was shortlisted for the CAP Awards 2025 in the anthology/poetry section.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

One Poem by Thompson Emate

 

Letters

 

Letters to tomorrow, 

Visions of the future, 

The hidden signs seen in the daylight, 

The obvious signs seen at twilight, 

Perceived by the gifted and chosen. 

 

Letters to the day, 

Words from the depths of the heart, 

Grief expressed in words, 

The aches for the departed, 

Hope for the days ahead. 

 

Letters in the night, 

Turbulence of the mind, 

Mysteries of the chamber, 

Emergence of the unknown, 

The pursuit of redemption. 

 

Letters in autumn, 

The whistle of the forlorn wind, 

The swaying of feeble boughs, 

The solace found in solitude, 

The impermanence of transition. 

 

Letters in summer, 

The radiance of the day, 

The fun in the fields, 

The songs sung under the sunshine, 

The happiness and home in every embrace.

Thompson Emate spends his leisure time on creative writing, particularly poetry and prose. He has a deep love for nature and the arts. His work can be seen in Poetry Potion, Poetry Soup, Visual Verse Written Tales magazine, Writers Space African magazine, Spillwords, Borderless Journal and elsewhere. He lives in Lagos, Nigeria.